• I really hope that Cory Cooperman's appearance on MTV's "True Life: I'm on a diet" is not what is driving Lehigh's stellar recruiting class. For the sake of all of us -- this better be a coincidence.
A few other observations from that MTV episode:
-I hope that MTV worked in some PowerBar advertising dollars for that show. I mean, Cooperman only ate a case of them on the hour-long show.
-I could not help but think that the restaurant argument scene between Cooperman and his mother is an argument that is played out one too many times between every high school and collegiate wrestler and his mother throughout the season.
-How did Nate Gulosh of Navy pull the short straw and have both of his losses to Cooperman aired on the show?
• Has anyone else wondered how the Asics marketing team determined that Rulon's signature shoe would be a higher-end shoe than Cael's signature shoe? I'll guarantee you that Nike's marketing guys didn't make the same mistake when pulling the product lines together for the Air Jordan's vs. the Air Barkley's.
Asics Cael retail price: $85.00
Asics Rulon retail price: $110.00• The pending Division I power shift to the East Coast will eventually pay dividends for non-Division I East Coast programs within the next seven years. You heard the "College of New Jersey/SUNY Brockport/Ithaca -- 2012 Division III national champion" prediction here first.
•
Lincoln McIlravy truly had a unique hairdo.• Lincoln McIlravy's haircut is still the most recognizable wrestling hairdo of all-time … or at least until Ben Askren wins his first national title.
• It has been 20 years since Vision Quest was released in theaters (that's right -- 1985). Do yourself a favor and rent it this weekend. Your girlfriend or wife will get a kick out of watching you execute imaginary takedown setups while "Lunatic Fringe" plays on the surround sound.
Here are a few additional Vision Quest notes (while you watch):
-It's difficult to root for Louden after he is caught sniffing Carla's undergarments, throws her to the bed unannounced, and writes on an inappropriate subject for the school paper. Did I miss all of this when I first watched the movie 10 years ago?
-The double leg penetration steps (AKA duck walk) that Louden uses while picking up the trash in the school yard is subtle but funny.
-The scoring issues when Louden and Shute go out of bounds in the final match are well documented, so pay attention to them, but also give a look for an uncalled clasping call. The evidence was inconclusive to me.
•
Matt Hamill was a three-time NCAA champion for Rochester Institute of Technology. He also won gold medals in freestyle and Greco for the U.S. Deaf Olympic Team at the World Games.• After unsuccessfully looking for 1997 Kaufman-Brand Open results on the Internet for over an hour -- I could not help but think we need to do a better job of archiving past results. I am talking about a set of key results/statistics that are REQUIRED for EVERY college match and stored in a shared manner by the NCAA (or designated body -- i.e. WrestlingStats.com). Today, past results are unreliable (unless you are holding the sheet) and hard to find. I feel like I could go on for hours on this … anyone have any solutions? What is done for other NCAA sports?
• I feel relief that the Alex Tirapelle/Michael Poeta wrestle-off was canceled. How would we explain that RevWrestling.com's top-ranked 157-pounder was beaten (albeit a small chance) by a guy on his own team? I'm not sure that our rankings team would be able to rebound from that … or on another note, would Tirapelle still be able to wrestle in the NWCA All-Star Classic?
• It's official -- Mark Perry/Ben Askren is the most anticipated college match-up of the year. Don't trust anyone who tells you differently. The Steve Mocco/Cole Konrad and Nate Gallick/Teyon Ware results are much more interesting than the actual action.
• I have not yet read Kyle Maynard's book, No Excuses, but my wife is almost through reading it. She's enjoying it -- but has been complaining that it has too many wrestling details. Too many moves, too many details about his wrestling training, etc. In other words … the book is a winner!
• I was working on a "Best Wrestle-Offs for 2005" feature until it was time to gather the potential match-ups and results -- virtually impossible. I'll be keeping an eye out for the NCAA wrestle-off policies and procedures document going forward.
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