Tom Brands speaks at a press conference following Iowa's defeat to Minnesota last seasonThe Hawkeyes will win the NCAA tournament and they'll do so in dominating fashion. While it's always been easy to write critical words about what happens when their passion becomes unbound, it's clear that in 2015 their ambition, talent and work ethic are in sync. (If Iowa does face a tough test, it'll happen tonight against the Minnesota Gophers.)
Like the Yankees, Cowboys, Penguins and Tiger Woods the success of wrestling's dynasty will help the sport grow in America, but we all know the real gift is that Hawkeye success means more press conferences with Tom Brands.
That's always good for business.
To your questions ...
Q: Could the Grand Prix you propose be pulled off? I'm an entrepreneur and always cooking up ideas and have often wondered about this being I'm a lifelong wrestling fan. In this case figured too risky and not worth the effort -- on my part. But as a fan, if it was available, would be awesome! Would the top names be allowed to participate? You'd have to have more than one weight class per event to make it a go and long enough for the paying fan.
-- Paul E.
Foley: I don't think you need more than one weight class and I think you can prune it down to only eight wrestlers. Not only would the paying public show up to a shorter event, they would likely do so in HIGHER numbers than you would see at a tournament.
Good grief wrestling tournaments are difficult to follow and make for exceptionally long days. Imagine only eight wrestlers divided into groups of four with each wrestler facing three opponents. Instead of hoping that your two favorite wrestlers meet up in the finals of the Ivan Yarygin tournament, you are guaranteed to see them compete. And still there is an advancement aspect to the competition that is different from that of a promotional show.
I'm pretty webbed-in to what goes on and I know there is nothing that stands in the way of this being an independently-run event. The only issue might become if you could get it on the calendar. However, I think any successful run Grand Prix could potentially end up in the re-imagined schedule for post-2016.
Starting with what you know would work, it's easy to see how this could potentially make a lot of money. But more important is that the athletes receive financial compensation and the fans see that matchups they want. The media also gets the type of story and event that is easy to cover.
I say rock and roll.
MUTLIMEDIA HALFTIME
My boy Jim Harshaw tells the truth about failure and wrestling.
WooHoo for jiu-jitsu
Why wouldn't this work?
Post by Caio Terra BJJ.
Q: What do you think of Deflategate? Who you got in the Super Bowl? Will wrestling ever have this type of event?
-- Bryan L.
Foley: There are wars all over the globe, hunger, starvation and deprivation affecting billions of lives. The consumption of sports was never meant to replace the distressing headlines from around the world, but in being presented to the public as part of the news was meant to provide readers a respite from carnage, a place where heroes could emerge and heels be squandered.
In 2D and in print the sportswriter was able to build for audiences and readers a sense of the struggle and the scene as much as they provided the content of the action.
Today sport journalism is a world consumed with low-calorie, highly caffeinated opinions about stories that lack real journalistic questions to answer. The journalism of the sporting world is being replaced by realty television raunchiness.
Is this the way of things? Is the discussion of a hyper-minor cheating scandal outweighing the obvious and larger issues?
In the mind of the paid-for partner media entities of the NFL the answer is, "Yes." There is no incentive to report further on head trauma or discuss the relative merits of putting financially at risk cities in limbo so that rich individual owners don't have to pay for new stadiums. Instead of covering the rabid consumerism infused into the day and how it might affect our cultural values, or at least reflect them, we instead have thought pieces on HOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT THE PATRIOTS CHEATING SCANDAL.
We in the wrestling community always talk of validation by television and the need for the increased sales surrounding the sport. What we discuss with less frequency and ferocity are the consequences of selling up. What would it mean for wrestling to reach a platform 1/100 the size of the Super Bowl? Would we all be happier?
Having watched the MMA media not give a Buffalo nickel about Jon Jones' cocaine use and the football media attack the idea of under-inflated footballs, I can now predict the end of modern civilization. We have peaked. We are on the downslope of achievement and falling fast.
Wrestling doesn't need nor want the Super Bowl's disingenuous culture-culling swill. We are pure through sport and our intention should be to stay that way as much as possible. More money and notoriety seem like outcomes worth acquiring, but aren't when the consequences are the total loss of identity and the loss of reputation, the money loses appeal.
We've reached the saturation point of bullshit in the media's depiction of sports. Entertainment is not meant for the fans alone, it's a hybrid, a careful shell game where the puppeteers hide from the paying viewers the sausage-making to ensure profitable outcomes. The media is supposed to sit back with cynicism and pick apart the bloviating and entitled shrimps that preen on-stage for the sake of dollar bills. Today, they are more like the magician's assistant than a cynic in the crowd.
The real journos are gone and we only have left as few limp attempts at figuring out who mildly deflated balls used in a few football plays.
Wrestling should remain outside of the fray and be content with growing our sport for our fans, and not for a general public that desires the lowest common denominator -- a public that wants high ropes and cage matches instead of passion and athleticism.
Oh, and it's not a "World Championship" if nobody else plays your game.
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