Does anyone remember what team scoring was like in wrestling during the 1970’s?
If you pinned your opponent, it was worth 6-team points. A decision of any point differential was worth 3-team points. And a tie was worth 2-team points.
And everyone was happy with the way it was. Everyone.
But please notice, the pin was worth twice as much as a decision, and why I’m writing.
I would imagine all that was based on what children use to do in the back yards and on America’s playgrounds. Knocking someone down made you superior over your adversary; but sitting on their shoulders and making them say ‘I give’, in essence pinning them, was twice as special.
Enter the Rules Committee.
For some reason they felt, and I agreed with them then, that the system in the 70’s did little to motivate the producers. If you win by 2-points, that was worth 3-team points. So, why would anyone want to win by 12-points and still receive the same; 3-team points?
I did, but most didn’t.
Given the basis of that thinking, the Rules Committee made some reasonable decisions.
The first one . . . they created overtimes and ‘sudden death’ to eliminate ties. Then they altered the team scoring.
Win by less than 8-points and your team received 3-team points. Win by more than 8 points but less that 14-points and your team received 4-team points. Score 15 or more points during the match and your team received 5-team points.
Inequality solved; motivation generated.
But, not completely. They forgot to take that same thought process and apply it to the pin. It stayed where it was, at 6-team points. Basically, diminishing its role in the sport by 50%.
We all know what happened next, the only pins that occurred after that were the result of a complete mis-match of athletes or someone getting caught throwing a lateral drop.
Our leaders completely gutted the need coaches had to teach pinning. Why should they? They can get a greater bang for their buck by focusing on takedowns.
Let’s parallel that to football. What would you think if we keep touchdowns at 6 points, but for the sake of challenging the kickers and rewarding talent, like we did in wrestling, we alter what it is they do?
Going forward, teams will receive 3-points for field goals successfully accomplished from within the 20-yard line. 4-points if the ball is kicked between the 20 and 40-yard line and 5-points if the kick occurs beyond that.
Why not? I like it! Reward the producer.
A 56-yard field goal should be worth more than one kicked from the 12-yard line. I don’t think anyone could legitimately argue with that premise.
But they could, and loudly, if touchdowns stayed at 6-points. That would be dumb, as it was when wrestling kept the pin at 6-team points.
Remember, a pin used to be worth double that of a decision and no one had a problem with that; no one.
This is the challenge I have with the Rules Committee. It’s not that they don’t want to see wrestling expand, it’s they are either unaware of what they don’t know or aren’t willing to seek expertise advise beyond their focus when they think they do know.
The pin should have been changed to 10-team points when the other changes were instituted. But only if we want to hear the few fans we do have screaming as loudly as the football fans do for a touchdown.
