There is little question that dual meets are the most important form of competition in wrestling. It’s not the State High School Championships or the NCAA tournament; even though they are fun to watch. For those who might not have thought about it; dual meets are the life blood of wrestling. They’re where fans can… Read More: To Dual or Not to Dual . . . »
Don’t be surprised, for those of you who traditionally attend the NCAA’s Semi-Final Preview Show, when you notice a change. Gone is the individual whose vision it was to have the show; and sold the idea to the NCAA, along with the rest of the panel. I was told by someone who purported herself to… Read More: Semi-Final Preview Show »
As far back as I can remember, my favorite word was why. I’m not sure what caused it, but I’ve never stopped asking why things work the way they do; or don’t work; and then create work arounds to improve outcomes. Zeroing in on the sport of wrestling, what I found given my forward thinking,… Read More: Why I’m a Pain »
Were you aware; there are 1023 community colleges in America. 62, or 6% of them have a wrestling program. There are 437 Division III colleges in America, 109 have wrestling or 25% of the schools. At the D-II level, there are 303 colleges of which 64 have the sport, or 21%. At the D-I level,… Read More: Things that make you go hmmm »
In order to know where wrestling ranks relative to all the other sports, and with the folks in the entertainment industry, all we need to do is look at some statistics. There are 363 Division I universities in America. And out of that number, 34 of them have a wrestling program. That means that 91%… Read More: What Are We Doing To Our Sport? »
I think I’d like to change course from worrying about the NCAA Rules Committee and USA Wrestling’s lack of interest in the sports spectator appeal, and shift to the creation of a promotional video. Especially when wrestling’s two most influential governing bodies, mentioned above, have been asleep at the wheel seemingly forever. In support of… Read More: Are We There Yet »
When I awoke this morning I was thinking; what could possibly have been going through the rules committee’s heads when they created all the various scenarios regarding the pre-kindergarten skill of tying one’s shoes? As it is now, or was recently, if a competitor’s laces become untied, heaven forbid, the match is stopped, the offending… Read More: To Lace, or not to Lace . . . »
Regarding broadcasts, the general consensus within the wrestling community, and among its leadership is; isn’t it great that ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports programming, thinks enough of us to televise our NCAA Championships? But is that really a good thing? Not if you’re capable of thinking outside the box, or seeing outside the box… Read More: Television: The Devil You Don’t Know »
The most important aspect of school is to learn how to problem solve. Those who do it best, succeed the most. If I developed one skill that helped me achieve what I did in wrestling, it’s being able to solve problems. So let’s work on problem solving this. As we know, the NCAA is divided… Read More: Wrestling Needs Another Division »
Winning isn’t always about executing your most effective technique, it often comes down to stopping your opponent’s most effective technique. Kyle Dake didn’t beat Jordan Burroughs to make the Olympic team as a result of his offensive prowess. He was in Beijing because he was successful at stopping Jordan’s legendary, and lethal, double leg. The… Read More: Competitive Thoughts »
For those who know me, I’ve never shied away from sharing my perspective on subjects. Some of you seem to love my unfiltered openness, others not so much. But it seems I’m the only man in the arena right now to quote a partial line from Teddy Roosevelt. For this blog, as you read How… Read More: How Wrestling Wins »
A Point Earned, is a Point Scored Let me apologize in advance. This will be the longest read of the Super 6 solutions. Probably, because it’s the most important one of the group. For my detractors, note I didn’t say any of these suggestions were perfect, but they are a hell of a lot better… Read More: #1 A Point Earned, is a Point Scored »
Doubling Up: Creating Heroes and Legends We should seriously consider allowing wrestlers to “Double Up” but no more than three times per season—because if we want to create heroes and legends like baseball did with Babe Ruth, boxing with Muhammad Ali, and basketball with Michael Jordan, we need superstars who are as recognizable in wrestling… Read More: #2 Doubling Up »
I love this idea by the way. It makes Doubling Up; doubly exciting, doubly interesting and doubly strategic. Here’s how it works. The sport still has a flip of a coin before the match with the winning coach selecting the first weight class to be contested. But after that, with jumbling weight classes the other… Read More: #3 Jumbling Weight Classes »
You Can’t be Saved by the End of a Period One of the next changes the rules committee should immediately adopt is a simple but crucial rule: A wrestler should not be saved by the end of a period if he’s on his back. The ultimate goal of wrestling is the pin. It’s what fans… Read More: Super 7 Rule Changes, #4 »
Dual Meet Centric How do we move wrestling toward sustainability? One of the next steps is simple but crucial: Wrestling needs to return to being a Dual Meet Centric sport. Here’s why: spectators and audiences engage with activities that, on average, last no more than two hours. So why does wrestling cling so stubbornly to… Read More: Super 7 Rule Changes, #5 »
A Winter-Spring Hybrid Season: Wrestling’s Path to Growth How do we make wrestling sustainable and relevant? One critical step is moving our season from being purely a winter sport to becoming a Winter-Spring hybrid. Imagine this: we start training in December, begin competitions in January, and space our national events to land before and after… Read More: Super 7 Rule Changes, #6 »
Over the years there has been plenty of arguments regarding which martial art is the oldest, and the father of all the others? With a little research, I believe you’ll find the answers here. Three to four million years ago Homo sapiens appeared on earth . . . naked, hungry and in constant danger. Survival… Read More: The History of Wrestling, Part I »
Lifetime of Achievement Award Amateur wrestling has its share of national awards, but when we compare our numbers to other organizations and sports, we need to do better. Especially at the elementary and middle school levels where we have so many outstanding coaches, mentors, and administrators who play pivotal roles in our children’s development. At… Read More: Lifetime of Achievement Award »
Nothing I’ve read in the past two weeks has mentioned Rich Bender’s name and his contributions to our successes in Tokyo. There’s no question our athletes did an amazing job. Greco, not so much, but that pretty much follows a trend. More on that later. As for Rich, he’s America’s CEO when we talk about… Read More: Tokyo Olympics »
For this edition of How Wrestling Wins, I will attempt to put an end to the pandemic of forfeits, and then offer a suggestion regarding how we can improve wrestling’s pinning percentages. I hope you’re sitting down . . . To begin, I believe everyone would agree that we can’t allow forfeits to continue, they… Read More: Solving the Problem of Forfeits »
I would like to begin this blog by expressing my extreme gratitude to all of you who have been so supportive of my musings. The last five years have been more than enjoyable, while being equally as frustrating. I have tried to make a difference, and maybe I have, but it seems little has changed.… Read More: Doubling Up and Jumbling Weight Classes »
Over the years, individual collegiate sports have been classified as either revenue or non-revenue; with wrestling being the latter. It’s been that way for over 100 years, and we still can’t figure out how to make a profit. What an embarrassment. And, if I were to guess, I’d say that at least 80% of all… Read More: A Point Earned, is a Point Scored »
The NCAA’s are this week and I’m so glad that most schools are back on the mats. COVID has been a terrible experience for the country in so many ways. Good luck to all, and may the sport once again, demonstrate to all those in attendance, just how amazing wrestling is. . . . In… Read More: Remove Regional Training Centers from College Campuses »
Friends, I’m struggling. I know what we need to do as a sport, but to say what needs saying only upsets many of those that I consider friends. But I love wrestling for all the same reasons as you do, or you wouldn’t be reading these words. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that the… Read More: Change, It Isn’t Easy »
After you read the following, if you agree with me, or have found what I wrote was interesting, may I ask you to share it with others? InterMat this past two weeks, did 21 stories on dual meets and triangulars, and listed the results on their home page. But only two of the articles mentioned… Read More: Attendance is Survival »
I think it’s time for a list; they’re always popular. This one isn’t that long, but for those I mention here are the most iconic wrestlers in the history of the sport. This group of greats, are yes, at the very least, legends of the sport. But more than that, they were the most exciting,… Read More: The Juggernauts »
Another wrestling season is here and a lot has happened since August. I’d like to begin by paying tribute to the many legends of the sport who have sadly passed away in the last 12 months. Without a doubt, these gentlemen left their mark on the sport; and in our hearts. May each of these… Read More: COVID-19 »
Wrestling, and those who are in charge have, once again, stepped in it. I could be wrong, but either I’m operating on 70 years of experience, or, I’ve severely overestimated what I learned during those 70 years? Recently, both the leadership of the EIWA and the NWCA have come out with statements relative to coronavirus… Read More: Another Opportunity Blown »
