The events in France, the shooting of police officers and Black Lives Matter movement show us all a world that's violent and divided. It's easy to embrace fear during turbulent times and without an external jolt we individually, and as a culture, can fall into a cycle of anxiety and hatred.
There is no doubt that as a nation we are heartbroken by the recent spat of violence and frustrated from what feels like a lack of answers. We look to France and within our own borders and we've never been less secure in the experiment of democracy, or the idea of freedom.
That trepidation infects everything we do, which makes the Olympic Games a well-timed distraction, but also something more. Something like a lesson in humanity.
The Olympics are a time for the world to enjoy what's possible and reflect on the best qualities of Man. On the field of play the passion of the planet's most-gifted and hardest working athletes will inspire us to do more with our minds and bodies; and in the post-competition embraces we see inspiration for the possibility of peaceful interplay between cultures, ideals and societies.
Our sport of wrestling is special even among Olympic sports. The contact and measured aggression creates a deeper level of compassion than most athletes and fans will ever understand. Still, wrestling is only a small part of these Games. There are thousands of other athletes taking the field with stories to inspire and we should all watch with wide eyes and open hearts.
I'm looking forward to the Olympics for many reasons: I want to see Jordan Burroughs repeat as Olympic champion; I want to watch as Kaori Icho or Saori Yoshida win their record-setting fourth Olympic gold medal; I want to watch greatness in action.
But more than medals -- more than the on-the-mat heroics or medals -- I'm eager for the opportunity to disregard anger and fear. I'm ready to celebrate love and embrace forgiveness. I'm ready for the chance to move forward. Together.
To your questions …
Q: The Olympics are around the corner. It rubs me the wrong way when I hear people refer to Michael Phelps as the 'greatest Olympian ever.' I know they will be wearing that line out on TV. Maybe it's accurate, but it's all relative to the sport athletes compete in.
Granted I'm biased, being a wrestler, but how many golds does he have per event he has qualified for? How many events can a SINGLE swimmer/track athlete/gymnast qualify for in one Olympics? Medal count shouldn't be used to represent 'greatest ever.' Understandably competing in multiple events takes a toll on a body and should be taken into consideration too, but c'mon.
Obviously wrestling has multiple weight classes and two styles, but if you lose one match, it's 'OK, make the team again in four years.' If Michael Phelps loses an event, heck he can still win multiple golds tomorrow! What other sport does a single athlete only have one chance to medal every four years? Can you think of any other athletes across the board that have dominated their sport across multiple Olympics? It would be interesting to see an infographic of events qualified/gold medals from different sports.
Also, some countries don't have as much participation in certain sports as others. I feel participation should be taken into consideration when dominance is the topic. Which sport has the most participation across the board at each Olympics? Soccer I'd assume?
Hope I'm not asking anybody for too much research. I just thought this would be a fun topic right now.
-- Willy D
Foley: The most dominant athlete across the Olympics is Carl Lewis. I don't think Jordan Burroughs can upend Lewis.
Carl Lewis is probably most famous for his FOUR straight Olympic gold medals in the long jump, but he won an additional FIVE gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and the 4x200m relay.
Like Phelps, you could discount the relay for its repetitiveness, and then again discount 100m and 200m for being the same activity but different lengths. However, Lewis is STILL the most dominant athlete as he was able to RUN and JUMP to gold. Those aren't the same skill (at all) as evidenced by the fact nobody since has medaled in both, much less earned gold.
Burroughs can certainly lay claim to the greatest ever in freestyle should he win a third Olympic gold medal in 2020, but prior to that the argument is just opinion. I realize that the one USSR entry is now 25+ and that the weight classes have shrunk from 10 to 6, but unless he captures three there just isn't the gold on the table to make it happen. Remember that no matter how many countries entered or how many weight classes there were the Olympics are still four years apart -- and length of domination has to be a criteria in terms of Olympic dominance.
Also, we absolutely don't have the budget for your research request and infographic!
Mark Manning talks to James Green at the Freestyle World Cup (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)-- Mike C.
Foley: Mark Manning probably doesn't have the name ID he deserves given all he's accomplished at Nebraska. Burroughs and Green are just two examples, but in addition to his freestyle commitments he's done a heck of a job with his college program over the last decade.
Manning won't be the national team coach any time soon, as USA Wrestling recently hired Bill Zadick through to the 2020 Games in Tokyo. I think Zadick will be around for a while and I think USA Wrestling (and the nation as a whole) seems to really benefit from Coach Manning raising talent in Lincoln.
Q: How far can Frank Molinaro and J'den Cox go in Rio? Medal?
-- Mike Z.
Foley: Of course they both can medal. In a seeded, balanced bracket they both have a low-percentage chance of placing, but in a lopsided bracket with repechage I think that they both have a great chance at making it to the medal round.
If made to bet I'd give Cox more of a chance if for no other reason than 86 kilograms is not as deep as 65 kilograms, thereby reducing the chance that he loses to someone who isn't in the finals.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Link: Conquering a video game addiction
Iranian Pahlevani
Q: Are you surprised this University of Minnesota investigation is taking so long? What's your hunch on what comes out of it?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Colleges and universities are the worst when it comes to internal investigations. If I had to guess they know the outcome but are being diligent in ensuring that they are covered for all legal eventualities.
From afar the safe bet would be to keep Coach Robinson on staff. Regardless of how it looks to the outside world, that Advocare shake has already been spilled. The Minnesota wrestling team and athletics family is tied to a Xanax case. Unwashable. The only way to really prolong this case would be to fire J Robinson and get dragged into court where ALL your departmental emails are under subpoena review. That's not what anyone wants, especially a new athletic director.
#FreeJRob
Q: If Jordan Burroughs wins gold in Rio, where does he rate in regards to the greatest wrestlers in United States history, including college and international? I have it John Smith, Jordan Burroughs, Bruce Baumgartner, Dan Gable.
-- David D.
Foley: I don't think that talk of greatest American wrestler ever can extend much past John Smith and Bruce Baumgartner. Smith won six titles, two of which were Olympic gold medals to go along with two NCAA championships. Baumgartner has 14 Olympic and world medals -- by far the most in American wrestling history, and he's the only one to medal at four Olympic Games.
As much as Gable is a saint in the sport and leader of men, I don't think that the single Olympic title really equates to that of Smith and Baumgartner's accomplishments at the world level, even with his two undefeated seasons and two NCAA titles. As a coach, I think there is no equal to Gable, but on the mat I don't think that it's the same company, if it were then Cael Sanderson would be ranked higher than Gable.
Burroughs winning a second Olympic gold to go along with three world titles puts him on the heels of John Smith for aggregate gold should he win another world title. Pulling even with Smith in gold medals would probably give Burroughs the overall edge since he also has a world bronze medal in his pocket and the potential for a heck of a lot more gold.
Q: Explain to me how a wrestler/athlete can be banned from competition for failing a drug test and then readmitted later? How confident can we the public be in a system that flags multiple athletes and then allows them to compete anyway?
-- Nanette R.
Foley: Athletes who violate USADA's and WADA's anti-doping regulations earn either a two or four-year ban, with four years being the more common outcome recently. That is a VERY long time to be out of competition and punishment enough for an action, in my opinion. Athletes who violate the doping policies are out until the end of their suspension.
There is a review process by which athletes can appeal suspensions on the grounds of tainted supplements or other extraordinary circumstances and have their ruling reduced. Geno Petriashvili successfully defended himself a few years ago and earned a reduction. Olympic wrestler turned UFC fighter Yoel Romero also earned a reduced sentence after claiming tainted supplements, and then providing substantial documentation and proof.
Q: InterMat listed the fundraising pages for the individual members of the Olympic wrestling team that had them set up. I'm glad they did. Hopefully it helped and if you're reading this and haven't drop at least 10 bucks in your favorite wrestlers account, you should. They entertain us all year, the least we could do it support them in their quest to be the world's best.
So … I only follow wrestling, but I would assume other sports (fencing, swimming, lacrosse, etc.) have college-eligible athletes on the team as well. My questions is, if an athlete still has college eligibility, would or could taking donations from a GoFundMe account affect his/her eligibility? Could the school or university support them in any way or does the NCAA have rules against this? I know I'm just a fan and don't understand all the NCAA rules, but if I were an AD and had an athlete make the team it would only make sense to put the support of the school behind them.
Just curious to see what's "doable" and what's not?
-- Jason R.
Foley: The NCAA has apparently made some exception for college athletes to use GoFundMe as a method to get families to Rio, since Kyle Snyder has a page. My guess is that he can't be in charge of the account, though I noticed he raised $25,401 of the requested $20,000. Some big donations in the mix, too.
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