Something Coach Russo mentioned to me this year was talking about doing a page dedicated to the FR/GR team, with pics, a small profile and what not. This got me thinking. I'd like to do a preseason preview of the HS rankings for each class in a similar fashion. A small profile, with a pic of the #1 ranked preseason wrestler per weight, in each class and maybe a profile of the #2 and maybe #3 preseason kids.
Then at the end of the year, do a pre state preview as well doing the same thing. I'd still have the profiles and pics on file and would more than likely only need to update a few here and there.
What this would entail is a little help from the coaches from around the state, helping to gather the info. Wouldn't be too much like GPA, possible college wrestling program choice or fan of, etc, then I would just need a head shot of the wrestler. Its something you could ask the parent to do or the coaches could do and just email it to me. I know you guys are busy like myself, but I think this could really benefit our sport more as we fight for more coverage.
I'm going to also try harder to possible come up with some topics to talk about during the year. One thing that I think separates us from the other sports, especially in OR, is that when you look at the message boards, its pretty much the same people talking about wrestling every year. I know a lot of coaches encourage kids not to talk on O-Live or my message board, but believe it or not, newspapers gauge a lot of interest based on message board chatter. So, my thought is, maybe we should be encouraging kids to talk about their teams or potential matchups on the open forums more often, in a positive way.
For instance, I can go to O-Live and see that the state wide wrestling board is on message 15826 today and go to the UO Ducks FB forum and see that its on 77421(yeah I know you're Beavers so it shouldn't matter) and even go to OSU FB and see that its on message 40441. That's a 25000 and 62000 message difference. Then you look at how much coverage they get and see that they get a ton of coverage. So, as a newspaper you see that and know that more people are interested in reading about FB in our state. If wrestling got those type of numbers, we'd start to see more articles about OR college and HS wrestling. Heck, maybe OR colleges take notice and see that OR wrestling is important. Trust me, I know I used to work for a newspaper.
My point is, as coaches, as much as it pains us, I'm thinking in order to make our voices heard in the state and keep things like UO from happening again, we need to get the wrestling public more interested in the cyber space chatter. We've been too quiet for too long.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
2008 End of year discussion
I wish I could've written this sooner, but I recently hurt my back pretty bad and just got back from the hospital, so apologies in advance.
After helping coach the Jr National team this year, our MS National Dual team, kids at West Jr's in Vegas and my own teams, I feel an end of year discussion about OR's progress in wrestling is due.
After seeing a ton of wrestling this season from various parts of our nation, I will try and dissect what I've seen and what we need to work on in the future. So, for those that read this, don't take this personal but use it as a learning tool to make your programs better. I'm sure others may take it personal, but rather than get upset, add to the discussion.
1. Reffing-Our reffing in OR has to improve in certain parts. We need more consistant stall calls, need more refs to understand what a takedown is or isn't and what's legal and isn't.
In the midwest and east coast, they call stalling all the same. If wrestlers start down and they come to their feet and the top wrestler doesn't bring his opponent down within a certain time, the top wrestler is dinged for stalling. If the guy is parallel riding, its called immediately. If the guy is not working to get away on bottom, its called immediately. You get my point. Stalling is called consistantly and accurately.
A takedown is called even if one wrestler has ahold of an opponents leg and the top wrestler has hooked the bottom wrestlers ankle and is controlling him. Too many times I see our refs avoid calling it a takedown when clearly the top wrestler is in control.
They also let kids run and arm bar or hold a chin when applying a move. Too many times I hear a coach yell "watch the arm" before the bar is even ran and then the ref stops it, even though its clearly legal. Or, I see where a ref won't even let you touch an opponents chin, even though this is clearly legal as long as you don't tweek it. The point is, refs need to call the moves according to the rule book.
Now don't get me wrong, we do have some good refs here in our state, but we also have a lot of inexperienced refs on the mat and its not doing our sport a service. Especially when it comes to wrestling at the state tournament or at national tournaments, where the calls are different than what may be called at home. We have a lot of young new refs that with a little work, could be very good. Especially when a lot of our older refs are starting to retire.
My suggestion is to get a refs clinic going in our state every year, with the lead ref being from the midwest to go over the rules and how they should be applied. This should be mandatory for all refs at least once every 2-3 yrs.
2. Our wrestling styles- Some of the moves we are teaching kids are putting us at a disadvantage . Not every move, but a few here and there.
For instance, when a kid shoots in and we defend with a whizzer, instead of staying side by side with our opponent, we should be coming around front to a front headlock, instead of trying to bump them over.
From the front headlock position, we give up elbow control way to easily. Our kids bury their arm so deep, that the opponent simply grabs ahold and puts us bad position almost everytime. Instead of even locking up the front headlock, we should be looking to spin behind without ever locking ours hands. This frees us up more and we should be scoring everytime.
And from our feet, when an opponent shoots, why even bother looking for a front headlock? Why not just bury their head and spin. Too many times I see us let a wrestlers in on our legs and rather than fight to get our legs back and keep their heads down, we look for a front headlock, and end up in terrible position, then give up the takedown.
These are things we should be teaching our youth now, so these bad habits don't stick with them as they get older.
3. We need more HS coaches involved at the club level-This is a trend I see happening more and more every year.
Many HS coaches aren't very involved with their club teams. Every year at the Cadet/Junior state tournaments, we see the same HS coaches their every year, with very little new blood coming in. I can remember when these tournaments had 40-50 wrestlers deep at each weight, with coaches from all over the state. Now we're lucky to get 15 per weight. Not acceptable as far as I'm concerned.
Also, these are the same coaches who have the same programs at the top every year. Coaches from Roseburg, Newberg, Crater, Sweet Home, Tillamook are just a few of the teams I speak of. Is it any wonder, they are at the top every year at the HS ranks.
I think some of our coaches simply forget the reason why they got to the top of the podium when they were younger. They were the ones going to the FR/GR tournaments in the spring and then attending Cadet/JR nationals to represent our great state in the summer. Or attending an occasional camp here and their.
What it comes down to is committment to your program. If you're just a seasonal coach for the paycheck, then why are you coaching? To me, if you're coaching a sport, you either do it 100% or not at all. Sometimes that means taking a little time away from home, taking your kids to some FR/GR tournaments whether they have wrestled the style of not or just getting them info on camps during the summer. The point is, the success of your program lies solely on the person leading the way.
4. We don't have the depth other states do-In states like CA, PA, NJ, IA, MN and OH are sometimes 3-5 wrestlers deep at each weight class when it comes to quality wrestlers.
My point is that if those states' 5th best wrestler is beating our top wrestler, we have a problem. Now don't get me wrong, our top guys are right up there with most states, but what kills us is that our 2-5 wrestlers are sometimes not at the same level as the top guy. Now some will say its due to our 5 classifications in OR, but that's where I don't agree.
What I think it has more to do with is our coaches lack of wanting their kids to work out with other teams or wrestling clubs because they are only concerned with their team or don't want to give up any "secrets." Sure, there's nothing wrong with that, but imagine how good our kids could be if the top 5 at each weight worked out on a weekly basis. This is what these other states are doing every year and are pulling away from most states, including Oregon.
Now, what thing I'm starting to see is more coaches being open to this idea, but again, it tends to be the same coaches that have their teams at the top every year. Salem Elite is a new club that has placed more emphasis on making all their area teams better and its starting to show as we are seeing the Central Valley Conference starting to be a pretty tough league. My club alone has been open to outside teams, including out of state teams and its been beneficial to all those wrestlers development.
Bottom line is, area teams need to get over this trend and start opening up their rooms more regardless of which teams show. This way our states wrestlers are getting the best workout partners available and making the entire state better and not just a select few. Our state is only as good as our weakest link.
To conclude, these are just a few of my observations throughout the year. This is in no way trying to ridicule wrestlers, refs, coaches, but to simply open your eyes and hopefully make our state that much better from the youth, jr high, HS and eventually college levels. Add to the discussion what your thoughts are.
After helping coach the Jr National team this year, our MS National Dual team, kids at West Jr's in Vegas and my own teams, I feel an end of year discussion about OR's progress in wrestling is due.
After seeing a ton of wrestling this season from various parts of our nation, I will try and dissect what I've seen and what we need to work on in the future. So, for those that read this, don't take this personal but use it as a learning tool to make your programs better. I'm sure others may take it personal, but rather than get upset, add to the discussion.
1. Reffing-Our reffing in OR has to improve in certain parts. We need more consistant stall calls, need more refs to understand what a takedown is or isn't and what's legal and isn't.
In the midwest and east coast, they call stalling all the same. If wrestlers start down and they come to their feet and the top wrestler doesn't bring his opponent down within a certain time, the top wrestler is dinged for stalling. If the guy is parallel riding, its called immediately. If the guy is not working to get away on bottom, its called immediately. You get my point. Stalling is called consistantly and accurately.
A takedown is called even if one wrestler has ahold of an opponents leg and the top wrestler has hooked the bottom wrestlers ankle and is controlling him. Too many times I see our refs avoid calling it a takedown when clearly the top wrestler is in control.
They also let kids run and arm bar or hold a chin when applying a move. Too many times I hear a coach yell "watch the arm" before the bar is even ran and then the ref stops it, even though its clearly legal. Or, I see where a ref won't even let you touch an opponents chin, even though this is clearly legal as long as you don't tweek it. The point is, refs need to call the moves according to the rule book.
Now don't get me wrong, we do have some good refs here in our state, but we also have a lot of inexperienced refs on the mat and its not doing our sport a service. Especially when it comes to wrestling at the state tournament or at national tournaments, where the calls are different than what may be called at home. We have a lot of young new refs that with a little work, could be very good. Especially when a lot of our older refs are starting to retire.
My suggestion is to get a refs clinic going in our state every year, with the lead ref being from the midwest to go over the rules and how they should be applied. This should be mandatory for all refs at least once every 2-3 yrs.
2. Our wrestling styles- Some of the moves we are teaching kids are putting us at a disadvantage . Not every move, but a few here and there.
For instance, when a kid shoots in and we defend with a whizzer, instead of staying side by side with our opponent, we should be coming around front to a front headlock, instead of trying to bump them over.
From the front headlock position, we give up elbow control way to easily. Our kids bury their arm so deep, that the opponent simply grabs ahold and puts us bad position almost everytime. Instead of even locking up the front headlock, we should be looking to spin behind without ever locking ours hands. This frees us up more and we should be scoring everytime.
And from our feet, when an opponent shoots, why even bother looking for a front headlock? Why not just bury their head and spin. Too many times I see us let a wrestlers in on our legs and rather than fight to get our legs back and keep their heads down, we look for a front headlock, and end up in terrible position, then give up the takedown.
These are things we should be teaching our youth now, so these bad habits don't stick with them as they get older.
3. We need more HS coaches involved at the club level-This is a trend I see happening more and more every year.
Many HS coaches aren't very involved with their club teams. Every year at the Cadet/Junior state tournaments, we see the same HS coaches their every year, with very little new blood coming in. I can remember when these tournaments had 40-50 wrestlers deep at each weight, with coaches from all over the state. Now we're lucky to get 15 per weight. Not acceptable as far as I'm concerned.
Also, these are the same coaches who have the same programs at the top every year. Coaches from Roseburg, Newberg, Crater, Sweet Home, Tillamook are just a few of the teams I speak of. Is it any wonder, they are at the top every year at the HS ranks.
I think some of our coaches simply forget the reason why they got to the top of the podium when they were younger. They were the ones going to the FR/GR tournaments in the spring and then attending Cadet/JR nationals to represent our great state in the summer. Or attending an occasional camp here and their.
What it comes down to is committment to your program. If you're just a seasonal coach for the paycheck, then why are you coaching? To me, if you're coaching a sport, you either do it 100% or not at all. Sometimes that means taking a little time away from home, taking your kids to some FR/GR tournaments whether they have wrestled the style of not or just getting them info on camps during the summer. The point is, the success of your program lies solely on the person leading the way.
4. We don't have the depth other states do-In states like CA, PA, NJ, IA, MN and OH are sometimes 3-5 wrestlers deep at each weight class when it comes to quality wrestlers.
My point is that if those states' 5th best wrestler is beating our top wrestler, we have a problem. Now don't get me wrong, our top guys are right up there with most states, but what kills us is that our 2-5 wrestlers are sometimes not at the same level as the top guy. Now some will say its due to our 5 classifications in OR, but that's where I don't agree.
What I think it has more to do with is our coaches lack of wanting their kids to work out with other teams or wrestling clubs because they are only concerned with their team or don't want to give up any "secrets." Sure, there's nothing wrong with that, but imagine how good our kids could be if the top 5 at each weight worked out on a weekly basis. This is what these other states are doing every year and are pulling away from most states, including Oregon.
Now, what thing I'm starting to see is more coaches being open to this idea, but again, it tends to be the same coaches that have their teams at the top every year. Salem Elite is a new club that has placed more emphasis on making all their area teams better and its starting to show as we are seeing the Central Valley Conference starting to be a pretty tough league. My club alone has been open to outside teams, including out of state teams and its been beneficial to all those wrestlers development.
Bottom line is, area teams need to get over this trend and start opening up their rooms more regardless of which teams show. This way our states wrestlers are getting the best workout partners available and making the entire state better and not just a select few. Our state is only as good as our weakest link.
To conclude, these are just a few of my observations throughout the year. This is in no way trying to ridicule wrestlers, refs, coaches, but to simply open your eyes and hopefully make our state that much better from the youth, jr high, HS and eventually college levels. Add to the discussion what your thoughts are.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Santiam National Training Camp
My wrestlers and I had the opportunity to spend that last week in Sweet Home for the Santiam National Training Camp and while we were all exhausted, I can honestly say, this camp was worth every penny.
We started the week out with a pretty tough first practice and ended the camp with a pretty tough practice. Mixed in were morning runs. So, from start to finish, you either worked hard or you were quickly left behind.
Coaches Steve Lander of Roseburg, Steve Thorpe of Sweet Home, Neil Russo of Newberg, Mike Simons of Thurston, Lonnie Eggert of Tillamook and Luke Cleaver of Nyssa ran the sessions. I even managed to teach a session on leg rides and was much appreciated to be included. Each wrestling session was broken down into much detail, with tons of intense drilling in all styles as well as much live wrestling as you could handle.
One room consisted of the National Team members training for Fargo and anyone else man enough to train with the very best. These practices were intense from start to finish. The kids battled hard and got the opportunity to work with tons of state champs and placers from the state of OR. When you left this room, you were walking away knowing you went with the very best and you were better because of it.
In between each session, we had camp/team activities in which the champions received special t-shirts. While my team didn't win, we had the fastest obstacle course time ever known to mankind at .59 secs. Don't let any of those coaches or wrestlers tell you otherwise. Watching the hot dog eating contest was worth the wait, though. We were clearly outmatched in the Tug of War and in Ultimate Frisbee we got hosed.
During our down time, our Pirate wrestlers brought out one of our storied games we play on every road trip, Burro. Eventually, some other wrestlers from various teams, managed to get the stones necessary to play our game and it made it that much better. Kids were watching and it felt like a mini stadium as we battled throughout the game. I can honestly say I am still the Burro champ. Only the strongest survive in that game.
We had a special treat during the camp, as the South African National Team came through and stayed the night and worked out with us as well. However, before we could get started, we had by far the largest and roughest game of Rugby known to man. Those South Africans are quite the rugby players. If you don't know what rugby is, its the equivilent to our football and quite huge throughout the world. I've heard stories of stadiums of 150,000 plus watching the South Africans play. My kids and myself even managed to trade some shirts and coats with the team. My kids were pretty stoked.
Highlights from the camp from my point of view:
Hearing about Thorpe's son Travis going on a Sno Cone break.
Eating by far the best PFS stew I've ever ate in my entire life, courtesy of Mike Simons.
Eluding Bubba Owens for the entire camp so he wouldn't crush me.
Watching Sam Mechams warm up session.
Maintaining my title as World Champion in Burro.
Meeting the Sausage King of OR.
Shooting the breeze with all the coaches from varous teams.
Chatting with the South African coaching staff.
Chatting with former Cadet National Team kids I helped coach last year and seeing their progress.
I'm sure there are plenty of other highlights from others, but the bottom line is, this camp was a great experience for all my wrestlers and they can't wait to come back next year. I hope to see all of OR's up and comers at next years camp striving to become the very best.
Side note-Joey Chandler will be a state champ and AA before its all said and done. That kid is straight up nails on the mat. The only kid I couldn't score on.
We started the week out with a pretty tough first practice and ended the camp with a pretty tough practice. Mixed in were morning runs. So, from start to finish, you either worked hard or you were quickly left behind.
Coaches Steve Lander of Roseburg, Steve Thorpe of Sweet Home, Neil Russo of Newberg, Mike Simons of Thurston, Lonnie Eggert of Tillamook and Luke Cleaver of Nyssa ran the sessions. I even managed to teach a session on leg rides and was much appreciated to be included. Each wrestling session was broken down into much detail, with tons of intense drilling in all styles as well as much live wrestling as you could handle.
One room consisted of the National Team members training for Fargo and anyone else man enough to train with the very best. These practices were intense from start to finish. The kids battled hard and got the opportunity to work with tons of state champs and placers from the state of OR. When you left this room, you were walking away knowing you went with the very best and you were better because of it.
In between each session, we had camp/team activities in which the champions received special t-shirts. While my team didn't win, we had the fastest obstacle course time ever known to mankind at .59 secs. Don't let any of those coaches or wrestlers tell you otherwise. Watching the hot dog eating contest was worth the wait, though. We were clearly outmatched in the Tug of War and in Ultimate Frisbee we got hosed.
During our down time, our Pirate wrestlers brought out one of our storied games we play on every road trip, Burro. Eventually, some other wrestlers from various teams, managed to get the stones necessary to play our game and it made it that much better. Kids were watching and it felt like a mini stadium as we battled throughout the game. I can honestly say I am still the Burro champ. Only the strongest survive in that game.
We had a special treat during the camp, as the South African National Team came through and stayed the night and worked out with us as well. However, before we could get started, we had by far the largest and roughest game of Rugby known to man. Those South Africans are quite the rugby players. If you don't know what rugby is, its the equivilent to our football and quite huge throughout the world. I've heard stories of stadiums of 150,000 plus watching the South Africans play. My kids and myself even managed to trade some shirts and coats with the team. My kids were pretty stoked.
Highlights from the camp from my point of view:
Hearing about Thorpe's son Travis going on a Sno Cone break.
Eating by far the best PFS stew I've ever ate in my entire life, courtesy of Mike Simons.
Eluding Bubba Owens for the entire camp so he wouldn't crush me.
Watching Sam Mechams warm up session.
Maintaining my title as World Champion in Burro.
Meeting the Sausage King of OR.
Shooting the breeze with all the coaches from varous teams.
Chatting with the South African coaching staff.
Chatting with former Cadet National Team kids I helped coach last year and seeing their progress.
I'm sure there are plenty of other highlights from others, but the bottom line is, this camp was a great experience for all my wrestlers and they can't wait to come back next year. I hope to see all of OR's up and comers at next years camp striving to become the very best.
Side note-Joey Chandler will be a state champ and AA before its all said and done. That kid is straight up nails on the mat. The only kid I couldn't score on.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Top 10 wrestling rivalries/matchups
Bored out of my mind with little wrestling action going on, and still a month until Nationals, I decided to post what I consider the Top 10 wrestling rivalries/matchups from recent memory. Now, I'm sure many will argue others out there, but these are the ones that stand out to me right now. I'm sure I may have even overlooked some, so feel free to point those out, but use good reason and discuss the things I mentioned. BTW, this is just in good fun and not personal in anyway.
10. Ben Askren vs Donny Pritzlaff(Freestyle)
The internet has done wonders for our sport. We can get faster results, read great articles, look
at state and national rankings, watch more matches than ever before and even talk trash. In watching my first match of Pritzlaff and Askren, I knew it was a rivalry in the making. Websites like Flowrestling gave them an avenue to voice their opinions of one another and it was clear there was a general dislike for one another. Pritzlaff won a couple of battles, but Askren won the war. But did we expect anything less. Askren is the new face of US wrestling. Fear the Fro!
9. Johnny Hendricks vs Mark Perry(College)
Who can forget Johnny Hendricks? This guy loved to be hated and played the crowds well. It seemed like the more boos he got, the more likely he would win. And who can forget Mark Perry's crying? It seemed like every match we saw he had tears in his eyes. Hendricks owned Perry during the season but when it counted most, he gave up a quick 2pt near fall and gave Perry the match.
Thus, making Perry the new guy to hate. He won another title, but not without shedding a few tears along the way.
8. Reese Andy vs Les Gutches(College)
These two met numerous times and who would've thought. Oregon St being a powerhouse and Wyoming being a nice state to vacation at. Who would've thought they had a wrestling team? Andy made sure of we all knew, by beating the legendary Gutches.
Gutches, would win the war though winning two NCAA titles, while Andy would have to settle for always being a bridemaid and never the bride.
The internet has done wonders for our sport. We can get faster results, read great articles, look
at state and national rankings, watch more matches than ever before and even talk trash. In watching my first match of Pritzlaff and Askren, I knew it was a rivalry in the making. Websites like Flowrestling gave them an avenue to voice their opinions of one another and it was clear there was a general dislike for one another. Pritzlaff won a couple of battles, but Askren won the war. But did we expect anything less. Askren is the new face of US wrestling. Fear the Fro!9. Johnny Hendricks vs Mark Perry(College)
Who can forget Johnny Hendricks? This guy loved to be hated and played the crowds well. It seemed like the more boos he got, the more likely he would win. And who can forget Mark Perry's crying? It seemed like every match we saw he had tears in his eyes. Hendricks owned Perry during the season but when it counted most, he gave up a quick 2pt near fall and gave Perry the match.
Thus, making Perry the new guy to hate. He won another title, but not without shedding a few tears along the way.8. Reese Andy vs Les Gutches(College)
These two met numerous times and who would've thought. Oregon St being a powerhouse and Wyoming being a nice state to vacation at. Who would've thought they had a wrestling team? Andy made sure of we all knew, by beating the legendary Gutches.
Gutches, would win the war though winning two NCAA titles, while Andy would have to settle for always being a bridemaid and never the bride. 7. Hazewinkel vs NCAA Title
Has any wrestler ever been so close to winning a title like Hazewinkel? Three 3rd place finishes would be tough on anyone, but four? This was the talk of 125lbs a couple of years ago. Haze made the finals, but came up short once again to join Reese Andy in the bridesmaid line. However, Haze is a pretty good Greco wrestler, so maybe he caught the bouquet to continue on in his Greco career. Maybe a Hazewinkel vs Mango rivalry in the making?
6. Kurt Angle vs Sylvester Terkay(College)
People seem to forget(not the diehards) the battles these two had. The semis of the NCAA's in 1991 and then the finals of 1992. Angle being all of 220 and Terkay being the monster cutting to 275. It literally looked like David vs Goliath. The story ended no different with Angle winning in the finals, moving on to the world scene and winning Olympic Gold.
Angle went on to to be a traitor and compete for the WWE, be accused publicly of steriod abuse and kick the shit out of some guys on Pros vs Joes. And we all know what happened to Terkay. He finally won his title after some fat guy tried to throw him in the first round and he just smiled, laid on him for the pin. Then he changed his name and went on to be one of the bad guys from Tango and Cash.
5. Common Sense and Truth vs LIMartin(Message Boards)
Now to the enigma that is LIMartin. A fan on his beloved Island that Snake Plisken once tried to save, he neither uses truth or fact to back up his arguements. Being a quitter will have that affect on ones brain. However, he never lets silly things like those get in the way of trying to put his beloved Long Island on the wrestling map. He makes weekly claims like how Matt Valenti never wrestled freestyle, Missouri and Montana are the same states, Pat Flynn is the greatest wrestler
of all time because he beat Nick Simmons once and that he could take a group of the 10th best freshman wrestlers in Sullolk county and beat any states best wrestlers hands down, including most college wrestlers. He's brash, puts down wrestlers from all over, is mentally unstable, talks crap about wrestlers mom's and catches an occasional beating from them, but won't let up. He is the true red-headed step child of Long Island wrestling(sad). Oh and this guy too. (right)
4. Iowa/Tom Brands vs everyone
Every sport needs a team that everyone loves to hate. Especially one that wins all the time. The Iowa Hawkeyes are that team for our sport. They constantly win and the more they win, the more they are hated. Whether its Tom Brands attempts at outdoing Shaquille O'Neal with his witty quotes or talking whole teams into transferring to Iowa to bring him
home a title and glory back to Iowa and coin the phrase "Hokeyes", Iowa is the team to hate. But everyone likes a winner, so I'm confused. How can you be liked and hated at the same time? Maybe its Kentucky Mudflap as he posts Iowa updates from a drunken stooper? Maybe its that flavorful corn that keeps us all from finding out the real answer. However, all I know is the Iowa trophy case is too full and its time for the trophy to head out West. Oww, my tooth. A damn popcorn kernal! Tom, you sneaky booger.
3. Terry Brands vs Kendall Cross(Freestyle)
Who can ever forget these epic battles to make the Olympic team? Cross got the upper hand, made the team, brought home the Gold and is forever
remembered as Gumby. Brands went on to wrestle in the 2000 games and brought home the Bronze, currently helps coach the US Freestyle team, but is most famous for his coaching style from the sidelines during the Abas/Cejudo finals match this year. CobraKai Never Die!!!
2. Larry Owings vs Dan Gable(College)
I had to bring this up because it would be a shame not to. Owings is a good old Oregon boy, who made his way up to Washington to wrestle for the Huskies. Rumor in OR was that Owings said he was going to drop down a weight class to take the "Man" down and be the one to keep him from his 3rd title and end his undefeated streak. Owings and Gables match
is probably the most watched match in wrestling history as Owings backed up his claims and beat the "Man." Maybe this is where the Vision Quest storyline came front. Owings went on to wrestle in the NCAA finals two more years and finish as a runner up both times. Gable went on to Olympic glory and led the Hawkeyes to college wrestling history.
1. Wrestling as a sport vs change
Nothing has damaged our sport more than our lack of willingness to change our ways. We have sat back and done nothing to promote or market our sport and its been our demise ever since. Nothing like being stuck in the ice ages to help our beloved sport disappear from existance. We assume our sport will just get respect from the outside because we've been around forever. How wrong have we been. While other sports have adapted and overcame the times, we've insisted on trying to stay the same. Then when there is any sign of change, we scream and cry about it, only furthering to hold us back. Fact is folks, unless people in the wrestling community wake up and start being willing to change, wrestling will be nothing more than an afterthought.
Has any wrestler ever been so close to winning a title like Hazewinkel? Three 3rd place finishes would be tough on anyone, but four? This was the talk of 125lbs a couple of years ago. Haze made the finals, but came up short once again to join Reese Andy in the bridesmaid line. However, Haze is a pretty good Greco wrestler, so maybe he caught the bouquet to continue on in his Greco career. Maybe a Hazewinkel vs Mango rivalry in the making?
6. Kurt Angle vs Sylvester Terkay(College)
People seem to forget(not the diehards) the battles these two had. The semis of the NCAA's in 1991 and then the finals of 1992. Angle being all of 220 and Terkay being the monster cutting to 275. It literally looked like David vs Goliath. The story ended no different with Angle winning in the finals, moving on to the world scene and winning Olympic Gold.
Angle went on to to be a traitor and compete for the WWE, be accused publicly of steriod abuse and kick the shit out of some guys on Pros vs Joes. And we all know what happened to Terkay. He finally won his title after some fat guy tried to throw him in the first round and he just smiled, laid on him for the pin. Then he changed his name and went on to be one of the bad guys from Tango and Cash.5. Common Sense and Truth vs LIMartin(Message Boards)
Now to the enigma that is LIMartin. A fan on his beloved Island that Snake Plisken once tried to save, he neither uses truth or fact to back up his arguements. Being a quitter will have that affect on ones brain. However, he never lets silly things like those get in the way of trying to put his beloved Long Island on the wrestling map. He makes weekly claims like how Matt Valenti never wrestled freestyle, Missouri and Montana are the same states, Pat Flynn is the greatest wrestler
of all time because he beat Nick Simmons once and that he could take a group of the 10th best freshman wrestlers in Sullolk county and beat any states best wrestlers hands down, including most college wrestlers. He's brash, puts down wrestlers from all over, is mentally unstable, talks crap about wrestlers mom's and catches an occasional beating from them, but won't let up. He is the true red-headed step child of Long Island wrestling(sad). Oh and this guy too. (right)4. Iowa/Tom Brands vs everyone
Every sport needs a team that everyone loves to hate. Especially one that wins all the time. The Iowa Hawkeyes are that team for our sport. They constantly win and the more they win, the more they are hated. Whether its Tom Brands attempts at outdoing Shaquille O'Neal with his witty quotes or talking whole teams into transferring to Iowa to bring him
home a title and glory back to Iowa and coin the phrase "Hokeyes", Iowa is the team to hate. But everyone likes a winner, so I'm confused. How can you be liked and hated at the same time? Maybe its Kentucky Mudflap as he posts Iowa updates from a drunken stooper? Maybe its that flavorful corn that keeps us all from finding out the real answer. However, all I know is the Iowa trophy case is too full and its time for the trophy to head out West. Oww, my tooth. A damn popcorn kernal! Tom, you sneaky booger.3. Terry Brands vs Kendall Cross(Freestyle)
Who can ever forget these epic battles to make the Olympic team? Cross got the upper hand, made the team, brought home the Gold and is forever
remembered as Gumby. Brands went on to wrestle in the 2000 games and brought home the Bronze, currently helps coach the US Freestyle team, but is most famous for his coaching style from the sidelines during the Abas/Cejudo finals match this year. CobraKai Never Die!!!2. Larry Owings vs Dan Gable(College)
I had to bring this up because it would be a shame not to. Owings is a good old Oregon boy, who made his way up to Washington to wrestle for the Huskies. Rumor in OR was that Owings said he was going to drop down a weight class to take the "Man" down and be the one to keep him from his 3rd title and end his undefeated streak. Owings and Gables match
is probably the most watched match in wrestling history as Owings backed up his claims and beat the "Man." Maybe this is where the Vision Quest storyline came front. Owings went on to wrestle in the NCAA finals two more years and finish as a runner up both times. Gable went on to Olympic glory and led the Hawkeyes to college wrestling history.1. Wrestling as a sport vs change
Nothing has damaged our sport more than our lack of willingness to change our ways. We have sat back and done nothing to promote or market our sport and its been our demise ever since. Nothing like being stuck in the ice ages to help our beloved sport disappear from existance. We assume our sport will just get respect from the outside because we've been around forever. How wrong have we been. While other sports have adapted and overcame the times, we've insisted on trying to stay the same. Then when there is any sign of change, we scream and cry about it, only furthering to hold us back. Fact is folks, unless people in the wrestling community wake up and start being willing to change, wrestling will be nothing more than an afterthought.
Coaches need to constantly be promoting their programs and never assume people will just show up just because you're there. We need to be more creative in how we market our sport to the public. Fans need to get off their butts and start making a serious attempt to show up for duals, US Nationals or the Trials. We need to teach our college and senior level wrestlers how to market themselves to the public. Look at Ben Askren if you want to know how to market the sport. Here's a guy we could rally around. We need to start donating to our local programs to help support them financially. And quit waiting for programs to be dropped before you decide to do any of these things.
Those are all things that we are in control of. These are all things we need some serious improvement on if we are to ever see our sport make it to mainstream once again. And don't think there isn't people out there trying and try to stay away from playing the blame game because it all starts with us.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
New MMA Blog/Message Board
While I'm always trying to have new things featured on The OWF website, one thing that I haven't seen take off yet, is the MMA message board.
With all the former wrestlers from high school and college levels, trying their hands in the sport of MMA, I would figure this would be a great way to share your thoughts with other fellow Oregonians who love to watch a good MMA fight.
Another thing people fail to realize is that Oregon has some great links to the MMA world. Randy Couture and Matt Lindland's Team Quest, is based out of Gresham and trains some of the very best fighters out there.
Oregon has two fight leagues in Full Contact Fighting Federation, which is ran by former UO wrestlers, Kevin Keeney and Chael Sonnen, and Sportfight, which is ran by former CCC JUCO Champion, Matt Lindland and Randy Couture.
Recently, former Oregon State wrestler, Nathan Coy, competed for Sportfight and won the welter-weight title belt. He competed against former wrestler, Michael Pierce. One thing not known is these wrestlers both have a Oregon wrestling club connection as they wrestled for Peninsula and USA Cobra.
Another sport that is making its way up the ranks is grappling. Grappling is a form of wrestling sanctioned by USA Wrestling. Parkrose HS will be hosting the Grappling World Team Trials Qualifying Tournament July 18-19. This is a series of three events that determines who will be part of the Grappling World Team Trial Tournament. Go to www.tqmma.com for more details.
Wrestling and MMA go hand and hand folks and as more and more events are shown on TV, more and more of our former greats are going to find an avenue for competing after their wrestling days are over.
Go to the Official OWF MMA Message Board to talk about fights, upcoming fights and more as much as possible and spread the word.
With all the former wrestlers from high school and college levels, trying their hands in the sport of MMA, I would figure this would be a great way to share your thoughts with other fellow Oregonians who love to watch a good MMA fight.
Another thing people fail to realize is that Oregon has some great links to the MMA world. Randy Couture and Matt Lindland's Team Quest, is based out of Gresham and trains some of the very best fighters out there.
Oregon has two fight leagues in Full Contact Fighting Federation, which is ran by former UO wrestlers, Kevin Keeney and Chael Sonnen, and Sportfight, which is ran by former CCC JUCO Champion, Matt Lindland and Randy Couture.
Recently, former Oregon State wrestler, Nathan Coy, competed for Sportfight and won the welter-weight title belt. He competed against former wrestler, Michael Pierce. One thing not known is these wrestlers both have a Oregon wrestling club connection as they wrestled for Peninsula and USA Cobra.
Another sport that is making its way up the ranks is grappling. Grappling is a form of wrestling sanctioned by USA Wrestling. Parkrose HS will be hosting the Grappling World Team Trials Qualifying Tournament July 18-19. This is a series of three events that determines who will be part of the Grappling World Team Trial Tournament. Go to www.tqmma.com for more details.
Wrestling and MMA go hand and hand folks and as more and more events are shown on TV, more and more of our former greats are going to find an avenue for competing after their wrestling days are over.
Go to the Official OWF MMA Message Board to talk about fights, upcoming fights and more as much as possible and spread the word.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The best year in wrestling coverage
While I revolve my life around trying to cover all that their is of Oregon wrestling, one thing worth mentioning is all the national coverage our sport has been receiving this year.
It started out with all the duals they showed this year. The Big 10 Network was in its first year and it didn't disappoint. I saw dual after dual on that channel and it was awesome. Cable people complained because they didn't get it because of some beef with Comcast and the Big10. However, Dish and Directv people were not left out and I was grateful.
Second came the live webcast of the Pac-10's. Of course it had a little more edge to it, considering it was being held at MacCourt in what possibly was the last match held in Eugene for the Ducks.(Check www.saveoregonwrestling.com for their latest effort to get the program back). For people who couldn't be in attendance, they got to watch some pretty good wrestling online those days. I believe it was something in the range of 15,000. Word is, the numbers for the webcast have been so good, the Pac-10's are supposed to be shown on Fox Sports next year.
Third, it was the NCAA's. I have never seen so much coverage on ESPN of wrestling, ever. They showed the quarters, semis, placing rounds and the finals over three days. Its was outstanding coverage. Got to see a lot of future Olympians and MMA fighters compete.
Fourth has to be the coverage of the Olympic Trials over the last two days, with a third still to come. The people from the NWCA, USAW and Intermat really pushed for some live coverage and we got our wish when www.nbcolympics.com announced they would be doing a live stream of the best of 3 challenge matches over the 3 days of the Trials. Would it be out of line to say I sported a little wood when that announcement was made? Not meant to be gross, but it was nice since I had to cancel my original trip to watch the Trials this year, in order to take my wife on vacation to Reno. This was a must in order to stay married longer. ;) I bought some pizza on the first day, invited some of our wrestlers to the school and hooked it up to the big screen and we got to witness some great matches. Nothing wrong with that. On day two, got to hang out at home and chill with the kids while we watched high schooler, Jake Deitchler, make his way to the Olympic team and Henry Cejudo(21) beat Olympic Silver Medalist, Stephen Abas to earn his trip to Beijing. Even got to hear about OR great, Oscar Wood, announcing his retirement by leaving his shoes at center mat. What a great career he had.
The internet age has really been something else for our sport as its helped to spread the word about us fans wanting more coverage of the sport, to the masses. They answered our call and I'm grateful. Hopefully, you are too.
Leave some comments about what you've thought of the coverage of wrestling this year.
It started out with all the duals they showed this year. The Big 10 Network was in its first year and it didn't disappoint. I saw dual after dual on that channel and it was awesome. Cable people complained because they didn't get it because of some beef with Comcast and the Big10. However, Dish and Directv people were not left out and I was grateful.
Second came the live webcast of the Pac-10's. Of course it had a little more edge to it, considering it was being held at MacCourt in what possibly was the last match held in Eugene for the Ducks.(Check www.saveoregonwrestling.com for their latest effort to get the program back). For people who couldn't be in attendance, they got to watch some pretty good wrestling online those days. I believe it was something in the range of 15,000. Word is, the numbers for the webcast have been so good, the Pac-10's are supposed to be shown on Fox Sports next year.
Third, it was the NCAA's. I have never seen so much coverage on ESPN of wrestling, ever. They showed the quarters, semis, placing rounds and the finals over three days. Its was outstanding coverage. Got to see a lot of future Olympians and MMA fighters compete.
Fourth has to be the coverage of the Olympic Trials over the last two days, with a third still to come. The people from the NWCA, USAW and Intermat really pushed for some live coverage and we got our wish when www.nbcolympics.com announced they would be doing a live stream of the best of 3 challenge matches over the 3 days of the Trials. Would it be out of line to say I sported a little wood when that announcement was made? Not meant to be gross, but it was nice since I had to cancel my original trip to watch the Trials this year, in order to take my wife on vacation to Reno. This was a must in order to stay married longer. ;) I bought some pizza on the first day, invited some of our wrestlers to the school and hooked it up to the big screen and we got to witness some great matches. Nothing wrong with that. On day two, got to hang out at home and chill with the kids while we watched high schooler, Jake Deitchler, make his way to the Olympic team and Henry Cejudo(21) beat Olympic Silver Medalist, Stephen Abas to earn his trip to Beijing. Even got to hear about OR great, Oscar Wood, announcing his retirement by leaving his shoes at center mat. What a great career he had.
The internet age has really been something else for our sport as its helped to spread the word about us fans wanting more coverage of the sport, to the masses. They answered our call and I'm grateful. Hopefully, you are too.
Leave some comments about what you've thought of the coverage of wrestling this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)