This will likely get lost in all of the Ramos talk over the next couple of days, and that's ok, but I thought I’d give you something to take your mind off all of that.
Like many of you I was able to attend the OTT this weekend. It was an amazing weekend of competition on the mat and comradery in the stands / bars / hotel lobbies. Here’s a few of the people / topics that really stood out to me over the last couple of days.
Champions
I am very impressed with the public speaking skills of each of these young men and women. They were all very well spoken, calm and collected immediately after coming off the mat. Helen and Adeline are doing tremendous things for young girls in this sport and their message was very inspiring to them and the parents of little girls. Helen smiled the ENTIRE tournament and had a great comment in her post match interview with Sparks. She was talking about sacrifice and how of course she was willing to sacrifice for her dreams, but for her family and coaches to sacrifice for HER dreams was something very special. That perspective was great to hear.
Jordan, Kyle, Tervel and Bisek are all very inspiring individuals. Hearing Tervel say how he wanted to drop out 2 days before the trials, right after becoming an Olympian, shows the toll this sport puts on these guys, but the reward is so much greater. There is no doubt in my mind that each of these young people will do great things after they hang up their shoes.
Fan Favorites
Aaron Pico – When he said that he was forgoing the rest of his high school and college careers I was very turned off. What’s this punk thinking yada yada yada. After watching him compete more internationally and domestically I started to gain a little more appreciation for him and the way he wrestled. Well Saturday I jumped on board big time and I’m not even talking about his wrestling abilities. I was sitting in the first row right where the wrestlers walked in and out of the tunnel. Every time “my guys” walked out I’d clap and yell a bit of encouragement and every time Pico would look me in the eye and say thank you. Not just after the match, but BEFORE the match. This guy was about to compete at the highest level and he’s thanking me?!? Some Joe Schmo in a crowd of 10,000 Joe Schmos. He waved to the crowd every time he stepped onto and left the mat and signed countless autographs. After his final match with Molinaro, he took off his shoes and signed them both and handed them to a little boy. Very cool moment. I really hope Pico continues his wrestling career and isn’t too eager to jump into MMA. Either way, I’m a fan.
Jake Clark – I’ll admit I didn’t know much about him leading up to the trials as I don’t follow Greco very closely, but this guy was fun to watch. It was evident that he was out there having fun and was just going to see what would happen. Maybe it was the fact that he was 36 and had a different perspective, or maybe he’s always been that way. Either way it was refreshing and fun to watch.
J’den Cox – I’ll be the first one to admit that I was completely wrong about Cox coming into this tournament. There was no way he’d beat guys like Herbert, Dake, Taylor, Ruth, Reader. He proved me wrong and I’m glad he did. He took out a world silver medalist in Herbert and one of the best collegiate wrestlers ever in Dake... twice, to make the Olympic team. He was able to do this while juggling school on top of it all. Very impressed!
Appreciation
There are so many athletes that have done so much for this sport that came up short this weekend. I think of guys like Herbert who is so great with kids and is implementing the BASE training system to help younger kids learn wrestling along with Andy Hrovat. After losing to Cox in the quarters it would have been easy to bow out, like others had, but he came back and wrestled the backside. After his loss he graciously shook the hands and patted the backs of Cox and Taylor. That’s not easy when everything you focused on for the last two years is now out of reach. These are the things people will remember.
Coleman Scott is an Olympic bronze medalist who for about 30 seconds on Sunday thought he beat Ramos and was moving on to the finals, but then realized he didn’t have criteria and lost. That swing of emotion hit him halfway to the tunnel and he just dropped right in front of me and started weeping. That was tough to see even though it was “my guy” that won.
Words can’t express the hurt I felt for Metcalf. To see him come up short on the Olympic stage twice was very difficult to watch. The way he answered every question so candidly in his press conference is something that cements him as one of the all-time greats in my mind. It’s easy to answer the questions after a big win, but after a devastating loss…that’s something special.
Spencer Mango has been the guy for the US Greco team for the last decade. He came up short and left the shoes on the mat in one of the most emotional acts of any sport. To witness that is something I’ll remember for a long time.
Legends
One of the coolest parts of the weekend was to see so many Olympians in one place. Not very often do you get to see guys like Gable, Smith, Baumgartner, Sanderson, Peterson brothers, Banach brothers, Brands brothers, Steiner brothers, Zadick, Slay, Henson, Bono, Guerrero, Zeke, Gutches, Monday, Cross, Eiter, Lewis, Saunders….the list goes on and on. It’s a fraternity, that I’ll never be a part of, but for a weekend you almost feel like you are.
Like many of you I was able to attend the OTT this weekend. It was an amazing weekend of competition on the mat and comradery in the stands / bars / hotel lobbies. Here’s a few of the people / topics that really stood out to me over the last couple of days.
Champions
I am very impressed with the public speaking skills of each of these young men and women. They were all very well spoken, calm and collected immediately after coming off the mat. Helen and Adeline are doing tremendous things for young girls in this sport and their message was very inspiring to them and the parents of little girls. Helen smiled the ENTIRE tournament and had a great comment in her post match interview with Sparks. She was talking about sacrifice and how of course she was willing to sacrifice for her dreams, but for her family and coaches to sacrifice for HER dreams was something very special. That perspective was great to hear.
Jordan, Kyle, Tervel and Bisek are all very inspiring individuals. Hearing Tervel say how he wanted to drop out 2 days before the trials, right after becoming an Olympian, shows the toll this sport puts on these guys, but the reward is so much greater. There is no doubt in my mind that each of these young people will do great things after they hang up their shoes.
Fan Favorites
Aaron Pico – When he said that he was forgoing the rest of his high school and college careers I was very turned off. What’s this punk thinking yada yada yada. After watching him compete more internationally and domestically I started to gain a little more appreciation for him and the way he wrestled. Well Saturday I jumped on board big time and I’m not even talking about his wrestling abilities. I was sitting in the first row right where the wrestlers walked in and out of the tunnel. Every time “my guys” walked out I’d clap and yell a bit of encouragement and every time Pico would look me in the eye and say thank you. Not just after the match, but BEFORE the match. This guy was about to compete at the highest level and he’s thanking me?!? Some Joe Schmo in a crowd of 10,000 Joe Schmos. He waved to the crowd every time he stepped onto and left the mat and signed countless autographs. After his final match with Molinaro, he took off his shoes and signed them both and handed them to a little boy. Very cool moment. I really hope Pico continues his wrestling career and isn’t too eager to jump into MMA. Either way, I’m a fan.
Jake Clark – I’ll admit I didn’t know much about him leading up to the trials as I don’t follow Greco very closely, but this guy was fun to watch. It was evident that he was out there having fun and was just going to see what would happen. Maybe it was the fact that he was 36 and had a different perspective, or maybe he’s always been that way. Either way it was refreshing and fun to watch.
J’den Cox – I’ll be the first one to admit that I was completely wrong about Cox coming into this tournament. There was no way he’d beat guys like Herbert, Dake, Taylor, Ruth, Reader. He proved me wrong and I’m glad he did. He took out a world silver medalist in Herbert and one of the best collegiate wrestlers ever in Dake... twice, to make the Olympic team. He was able to do this while juggling school on top of it all. Very impressed!
Appreciation
There are so many athletes that have done so much for this sport that came up short this weekend. I think of guys like Herbert who is so great with kids and is implementing the BASE training system to help younger kids learn wrestling along with Andy Hrovat. After losing to Cox in the quarters it would have been easy to bow out, like others had, but he came back and wrestled the backside. After his loss he graciously shook the hands and patted the backs of Cox and Taylor. That’s not easy when everything you focused on for the last two years is now out of reach. These are the things people will remember.
Coleman Scott is an Olympic bronze medalist who for about 30 seconds on Sunday thought he beat Ramos and was moving on to the finals, but then realized he didn’t have criteria and lost. That swing of emotion hit him halfway to the tunnel and he just dropped right in front of me and started weeping. That was tough to see even though it was “my guy” that won.
Words can’t express the hurt I felt for Metcalf. To see him come up short on the Olympic stage twice was very difficult to watch. The way he answered every question so candidly in his press conference is something that cements him as one of the all-time greats in my mind. It’s easy to answer the questions after a big win, but after a devastating loss…that’s something special.
Spencer Mango has been the guy for the US Greco team for the last decade. He came up short and left the shoes on the mat in one of the most emotional acts of any sport. To witness that is something I’ll remember for a long time.
Legends
One of the coolest parts of the weekend was to see so many Olympians in one place. Not very often do you get to see guys like Gable, Smith, Baumgartner, Sanderson, Peterson brothers, Banach brothers, Brands brothers, Steiner brothers, Zadick, Slay, Henson, Bono, Guerrero, Zeke, Gutches, Monday, Cross, Eiter, Lewis, Saunders….the list goes on and on. It’s a fraternity, that I’ll never be a part of, but for a weekend you almost feel like you are.
