Before I get yelled at for bringing something over here, this is distinctly different than a poster on a forum. This is a paid writer slandering an Iowa wrestler on one of the biggest College Wrestling Outlets there is. He is a former wrestler and inevitably willful and opinionated. However, I think what he wrote borders on allowable. What is your take?
Foley's Friday Mailbag: January 22, 2016
T.R. Foley, InterMat Senior Writer
1/22/2016
foley@intermatwrestle.com, Twitter: @trfoley, Instagram: Trfoley37
At the end of a technical fall victory last week, Thomas Gilman caused a minor message board stir when he stood up at the end of the match. The problem wasn't some Cam Newton-inspired celebration, but that Gilman used the back of his opponent's still prostrated body and head to up himself from the Resilite.
That action, known colloquially as "face-mushing" is essentially grinding your opponent's face in the mat in a manner that is neither sporting, nor kind. Though unlikely to cause physical damage, face mushing is a disrespectful gesture meant to prove dominance opponent -- something you would think a 15-point victory already achieved.
This type of brutish and combative behavior isn't just dumb, reductive and immature; it also propagates the wrongheaded culture within wrestling that aggression and intimidation are weapons to be utilized. While fan boys of needless hostility might find gestures like face mushing as an endearing necessity of (faux) tough guy culture, in reality it's nothing more than a display of misplaced testosterone and underlying insecurity.
Winners don't denigrate and disrespect their opponents. Are they tough? Yes. Unrelenting in their forward pressure? Sure. Are they unapologetic in dominance? Of course.
The great ones were known as great in part because of a technical elegance, but also personal grace. John Smith, Gholamreza Takhti, Kaori Icho and Alexander Karelin -- none of these greats are prolific smilers, but they also weren't total jerks.
Trash talking, chest-bumping, and punch-throwing outbursts come about when wrestlers are taught to hide and protect their weaknesses and failures rather than explore them. The true champions don't see shortcomings as weakness, but as opportunities to improve. You don't get better because you emphasized the walloping of an opponent with a parting gesture more befitting a jailhouse than a wrestling mat.
Dollars to donuts, Thomas Gilman wins more matches if he tones down the bad boy rhetoric, and ceases to use intimidation as main wrestling skills. To fill the void of anger he (and others) could instead look at the technique missing from their repertoire and analyze it honestly and without bravado.
Wrestlers like Gilman (and there are many who act out in a similar fashion) could find enrichment from self-awareness and by default probably win more wrestling matches. But more importantly they could become better brothers, sons and teammates.
Foley's Friday Mailbag: January 22, 2016
T.R. Foley, InterMat Senior Writer
1/22/2016
foley@intermatwrestle.com, Twitter: @trfoley, Instagram: Trfoley37
At the end of a technical fall victory last week, Thomas Gilman caused a minor message board stir when he stood up at the end of the match. The problem wasn't some Cam Newton-inspired celebration, but that Gilman used the back of his opponent's still prostrated body and head to up himself from the Resilite.
That action, known colloquially as "face-mushing" is essentially grinding your opponent's face in the mat in a manner that is neither sporting, nor kind. Though unlikely to cause physical damage, face mushing is a disrespectful gesture meant to prove dominance opponent -- something you would think a 15-point victory already achieved.
This type of brutish and combative behavior isn't just dumb, reductive and immature; it also propagates the wrongheaded culture within wrestling that aggression and intimidation are weapons to be utilized. While fan boys of needless hostility might find gestures like face mushing as an endearing necessity of (faux) tough guy culture, in reality it's nothing more than a display of misplaced testosterone and underlying insecurity.
Winners don't denigrate and disrespect their opponents. Are they tough? Yes. Unrelenting in their forward pressure? Sure. Are they unapologetic in dominance? Of course.
The great ones were known as great in part because of a technical elegance, but also personal grace. John Smith, Gholamreza Takhti, Kaori Icho and Alexander Karelin -- none of these greats are prolific smilers, but they also weren't total jerks.
Trash talking, chest-bumping, and punch-throwing outbursts come about when wrestlers are taught to hide and protect their weaknesses and failures rather than explore them. The true champions don't see shortcomings as weakness, but as opportunities to improve. You don't get better because you emphasized the walloping of an opponent with a parting gesture more befitting a jailhouse than a wrestling mat.
Dollars to donuts, Thomas Gilman wins more matches if he tones down the bad boy rhetoric, and ceases to use intimidation as main wrestling skills. To fill the void of anger he (and others) could instead look at the technique missing from their repertoire and analyze it honestly and without bravado.
Wrestlers like Gilman (and there are many who act out in a similar fashion) could find enrichment from self-awareness and by default probably win more wrestling matches. But more importantly they could become better brothers, sons and teammates.
