Wrestlers status leap : Speakers & Interviews

Cooper.... those are good ideas... we are working on something right now because of them... we are also going to list every contributor on the website...probably in alphabetical order regardless if they give $1 or $1000...I really want people to participate...

My comments were not intended to mean that this not a great idea to offer bonuses to the athletes. I'm making my contribution. It would be cool to offer a thank you letter officially signed by Gable, Smith, Sanderson, or some other former Olympic champs for donations over say $100 (mainly because I'd like to have that for the man-cave). Maybe have them all sign something for donations over $1,000 etc. Lots of possibilities for generating more interest and trying to expand the fan base. I didn't follow wrestling for nearly 20 years - now I try to follow it as much as I can. That all happened when I ventured over to the Palace of Auburn Hills to see if Andy Simmons could get his 4th state championship and finish his HS career undefeated (Division 3). That's when I also saw a freshman win the 130 pound championship in Division 1 and finish the season 56-0. That kid was Brent Metcalf. I saw every one of his state championships in High School. That renewed my interest again. Love the sport more than ever now.

The best way to support the athletes is to get more fans involved that will enjoy the sport and raise the level of the product that is being put out there by making some rules changes. The matches need to be more exciting and easier to understand the scoring. Too many casual fans have no clue who the competitors are - because they get no exposure throughout the year. The crowd at Council Bluffs looked anemic to say the least. What was the attendance there - 2,000 for the Sunday finals??

Thanks for all the support. I say you throw in a snake skin jacket along with with the stipend.

Way to secure the long domain name

I think it's a good first step. As it develops, It would be nice to fund our National team so that the guys who are #2-#5 on the ladder make enough to actually live on. As it stands right now, we have some weights that are not deep at all. People can only live in cramped apartments on no money for so long. I think having many people donate keeps things more legit. If the money comes from 1 source, there is too much influence from that one source ( ie: John DuPont back in the 80's and 90's). It's good to see our top athletes get the funds needed to be the best.

if you look real close this guy talks like the will farrell harry carey lol

where do i send my money?

Nywrestlingfan is absolutely right. These rules are a JOKE, and the longer they are in effect, the more the sport will die. Look, it isn't rocket science what needs to be done. #1 - penalize stalling of all kinds at all times, #2 - allow all points scored to accumulate over the course of the match, #3 - make conditioning a factor by having guys wrestle two hard 3-minute periods. Do those three things and the better wrestler will win 99% time and fans will love it. Right now, the better wrestler wins ... what ... half the time? It's hard to tell, because the rules encourage both wrestlers to stall. Can you imagine how boring and annoying the NCAA's would be if they were wrestled under the current rules? After a couple of years of it, the stands would be as empty as they were at the World Team Trials, and for good reason.

An idiot can jump off the top rope in Pro wrestling and make millions of dollars.... Its about time we took care of our athletes across the board.

Mike has the right idea and he is a very generous individual, that being said
with the current set of rules and the way MOST americans wrestle them, we will not draw a strong fan base.The drama of the sport has all but disappered.No more dramatic comebacks that made wrestling so fun to watch.The powers that be in USA wrestling must not let NBC dictate the rules of our sport.I may sound extreme but I think the wrestling world should strongly consider the possibility of opting out of the olympics and have a Super World Championship every 4 years go back to 6 straight minutes of wrestling. Look at the video in Spokane Brands vs Cross with these rules those classics are over.Guys like Mike should petition FILA to change the rules back.Im sure if he did he would have an easier time of raising purse money for the athletes.