open practice
- Thread starter drunkengoat
- Start date
When you arrive just tell Tom all you're interested in recording are the live goes
I'll take an Alger or Lewis every day of the week. Except Sunday, of course, when I'm at church all day.
People (and their personalities) are different, but for some, I believe living the life year-round can and does make a difference in reaching goals.
That’s not to say living the life is doing the same ol’ shit everyday (most people need and thrive on variety), but avoiding certain things everyday helps to normalize the lifestyle so that “living the life” is not even a thing once the season rolls around. That helps the season be about wrestling and nothing but wrestling. Kinda like not cutting weight. Fewer “sacrifices” = fewer distractions psychologically.
Sounds good. But recruiting athletes living the life all year long hasn’t paid off with champions in March for Iowa. It just doesn’t work that way with top talent. And really never has, if you listen to some of the stories about Iowa wrestlers’ comportment back in the day.
Last edited:
PinDoxRico where are your videos from this morning?
These types of threads used to create excitement about the upcoming season. Not so much on this blog anymore.
Maybe it has not paid off yet for Iowa as much as you would have hoped but if you look at the kids that are winning nationals nowadays, they are living the right lifestyle year round for the most part. There are always a couple exceptions but they are just that, exceptions.
Maybe not for Iowa, but it seems to be working for PSU. Once Carl was a few years in and had a roster all his own, the squeaky-clean types seemed to dominate his lineup, and you know how it has gone since then.
There’s more to it than that, of course. Iowa’s squeaky-clean guys haven’t risen to the top at the same rate, so there has to be other factors at play. No groundbreaking news here, but I’d propose Psychological Prep, Training Regimen, and Gameplanning as Exhibits A, B, and C for outperformance vs. underperformance in March.
I didn’t make it… I just stayed at the softball tournament during the break because I was tired. And have caught on that’s it’s not really a media thing.
Wait….wut? You think Anthony Ferrari is a future champ? Who are the others? Woods might be this year and possibly Kueter in future if he sticks it out and gets good coaching. Who else are “our other future champs”?
I have no idea of the lifestyles led by kids on any team nor do I understand the criteria for considering a lifestyle to be correct. It sounds pretty subjective and a recipe for burnout.
I want guys who have different goto takedowns that are going to score them points early, and at the end. I want guys who are going to come up
With a successful match plan against PSU guys. I don’t know about this “lifestyle”, but I don’t care what they do on the side. I don’t care if they drink, smoke, kill animals, read the Bible—as long as they can get takedowns.
Gabe Arnold has the potential.
How does Ferrari look for the record? Not his brothers, but he was still a great prospect before he went off the rails and there’s talent there. Hasnt wrestled in two years though. If the coaches can somehow get him on track that would be a huge feather in their cap.
Absolutely.
This year possibly Franek and woods
Future- Ayala,Arnold,Kueter,Caliendo maybe Kennedy. Then there is the other Ferrari brother maybe two.
Id be happy with athletes who sow wild oats on Saturday night and then attend church on Sunday to pray for a crop failure.
I am not talking about being balls to the walls training 365 days a year but more so not spending time doing activities that are going to take away from your long term goals (OWI, excessive drinking & partying, etc). I did not know they is a controversial view, but apparently I have struck a nerve with you.
To develop said takedowns, guys need to be training and recovering properly pretty much year round. To be able to properly train, an athlete needs to be able to properly recover. If their lifestyle is crazy, the recovery process is going to be hindered. Better lifestyle = more takedowns.
Not really. I agree with the OWI point but I really don’t see it as anyone’s business what an athlete does in the off season if they’re getting the job accomplished on the mat. Comportment points don’t count at the NCAA’s. And many successful Iowa wrestlers have a history of partying when not competing.
The nerve you’ve hit is the fact that Iowa appears to care more about off season comportment than recruiting top tier talent who March to their own drum. Especially when those same guys go in to have successful careers elsewhere.
The more you F around out of season the odds of getting in trouble and not being as committed in season go up in my opinion. Lifestyle is important.
Exactly T8KUDWN. I don't even know how this is remotely controversial at this point. Just because guys in the past like Alger, Lewis, etc lived crazy does not make it a recipe for success. Len Dawson was puffing down heaters on the sideline of SB1 for the Chiefs. Should Patrick Mahomes pick up cigs as a habit because Dawson had success while smoking?? We need to adapt and press forward with the new information that we have as far as training and recovery processes and today wrestling at the collegiate level is a year round commitment. The guys that are having great individual success are by and large living the right lifestyle year round (see PSU, Cornell, Iowa, etc). If they are having success without living the right lifestyle, they are succeeding in spite of that, not because of it.
I agree. To a point. However, “lifestyle,” can lead to burnout for some athletes, imo. And who is to decide which, “lifestyle,” is correct?
For instance, the lifestyle of the Ferrari clan may appear pious on the surface, but I really don’t think (one or two) comport themselves in a way that would make them ideal recruits.
It's not just for athletes and shouldn't be hard to understand. The best athletes live a healthy lifestyle. They don't spend half the year getting drunk, fat and out of shape and then get in shape and do it right just during season. I'm not sure how this would lead to burnout. Proper nutrition, exercise, sunlight and sleep are critical to being successful and having a healthy body. They don't need to train balls to the wall year-round, but they definitely don't need to jump off the wagon out of season.
Was it Todd Connor who did the great open practice reports? We don't seem to get anything anymore.
I do think we've heard examples of Iowa guys who take it a little too far. Gilman talked about how he kept his weight really low to "live the lifestyle." Spencer says that a lot. When Gilman got to PSU, they made him let his weight get up to 150 and he said he felt a lot better. I think that was the biggest part of his improvement. He didn't do anything different technically. He just moved better and looked stronger again.
When you're not holding your weight below where it wants to go, your body heals and functions better. We're not talking about beer and pizza every night, but guys should not be counting calories out of season. Eat good, clean food and let your body heal.
All right, I'll play along.
The issue is really not whether adopting a healthy year-round lifestyle is better for you than sucking down bacon chili dogs and Tequila Sunrises. That's an easy one.
The issue is how you define and weight the "lifestyle" criteria when recruiting. Is someone who wears an "I Love Jesus" shirt and only drinks herbal tea a 50% better scholarship prospect than a guy who is a foul-mouthed atheist who likes to get drunk in the off-season? The issue is whether we put too much emphasis on "living the right lifestyle" in our recruiting efforts.
Based on the signing of the Ferraris, maybe this is not the issue I supposed it was.
Alger and Lewboo (and Kistlers and Rico and Melchiore, etc, etc) all worked very, very hard, and were very, very good. They were as good as the Brands and the Steiners and Zaputil and Davis. They had different lifestyles. But if you only go after guys like the Brands and Steiners, you leave a lot of points on the board. You miss some Algers and Lewboos. Big personalities, big skills, big points.
You can argue that Alger would've been even better if he never sipped a beer, but I don't really buy that argument. Alger was just a mean, tough SOB. That trumped all other factors. Sometimes that happens.
The issue is really not whether adopting a healthy year-round lifestyle is better for you than sucking down bacon chili dogs and Tequila Sunrises. That's an easy one.
The issue is how you define and weight the "lifestyle" criteria when recruiting. Is someone who wears an "I Love Jesus" shirt and only drinks herbal tea a 50% better scholarship prospect than a guy who is a foul-mouthed atheist who likes to get drunk in the off-season? The issue is whether we put too much emphasis on "living the right lifestyle" in our recruiting efforts.
Based on the signing of the Ferraris, maybe this is not the issue I supposed it was.
Alger and Lewboo (and Kistlers and Rico and Melchiore, etc, etc) all worked very, very hard, and were very, very good. They were as good as the Brands and the Steiners and Zaputil and Davis. They had different lifestyles. But if you only go after guys like the Brands and Steiners, you leave a lot of points on the board. You miss some Algers and Lewboos. Big personalities, big skills, big points.
You can argue that Alger would've been even better if he never sipped a beer, but I don't really buy that argument. Alger was just a mean, tough SOB. That trumped all other factors. Sometimes that happens.
😆 point taken… I prolly do need to watch how much I am laying that on, for I don’t feel like it’s anything to brag about…. In fact, it’s reached a point where I don’t know sometimes what I’ve gotten myself into. 😬… but sorry if I’m coming off as a nuts-flexer because I’m a super-duper fanboy in media. 🤓
The recruits were there there to include Angelo F. All of our gambling guys were there. Kind of light workout…lots of drilling. Everybody seemed in good spirits….lots of smiling faces and clowning around. No spontaneous Dodge Ball games broke out so kind of disappointed. Feel very good that a couple of those big names will break our way.
Good to hear the gambling crowd was there along with the recruits. I imagine a lot of good energy by everyone. Any updates on injury’s? Drake?
TIA
Drake was drilling with Dennis last week, seemed fine. I wasn't there today.
