What you'll find is that Salopek's a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who, with the support of National Geographic, began a seven-year journey in 2013 to walk around the world (roughly) following the path of human migration out of Africa.
Salopek is undertaking something so simple, but extraordinary, that one can't help but be inspired. Every photo, recap and story. He's enduring seven years of pain and suffering to help the rest of us bums better understand how and why our world is composed of these vastly different cultures. He's slowing down so he can observe, report and, on the deepest level, feel.
Salopek's journey of loneliness and commitment stands against much of the world's current trajectory. As information has sped up to the lightning speed of distraction, Salopek has chosen to slow it down. We have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other technologies to pull us away from life. Salopek has his feet to draw himself (and us) closer to life.
Maybe Salopek's lesson can be adapted to wrestling and the way we monitor success. Our sport is no doubt on a slog not a sprint. We need focus, patience and diligence much more than we need 140 characters and 8-second highlight films. The Save Olympic Wrestling movement prompted significant change, but that was only to one sliver of our complex worldwide network of wrestling styles and cultures. Each could use exploration, promotion and adaptation. But that can't be done from behind our keyboards.
Salopek saw this when he set off in 2013. He isn't firing off about human migration and the intricate, delicate and subtle difference of cultures from the comfort of his home, he's out in the world documenting it through his senses and through stories that typically go unheard or quickly forgotten.
Seven years may be too long for most of us to give to the sport, and walking would be a tad nonsensical, but wrestling could use some more journeys of inspiration. We need this next generation to explore our sport's history first-hand, to intervene on its behalf in times of need and in a meaningful way. Young or old we all should to strive to become a little bit more than just monsters of social media. We should be a little more like Paul Salopek.
Follow Paul on his journey here, here and here. Maybe we'll all catch some inspiration.
To your questions …
Nick Suriano defeated Devan Turner (Dixon) to win the Doc Buchanan Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: What are realistic expectations for Nick Suriano this upcoming season as Penn State's starter at 125 pounds?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Nick Suriano's expectations are (I'm guessing) to be a national champion. Outside looking in I'd lay $200 to win $100 that he's an All-American and lay $50 to win $300 that he's in the national finals.
Winning the national championship? 15-1.
Q: Must we as wrestling fans tolerate UWW corruption with the understanding that Olympic wrestling would be gone without it?
-- @rickmathern
Foley: I don't agree that wrestling needs corruption in order to function. However, what I think you might also be hinting at is that there are a number of countries or individuals that keep the sport in play in Europe who may also have selfish reasons for governance.
As you might imagine I've been asked to answer a lot of questions about the federation since Rio de Janeiro, and most of the time I'm more than happy to engage with anyone who wants to hear how things work (this is different than my opinion of how I think things should work) and I tell them the same thing each time. International sports is dysfunctional for many reasons, most of which are outside of any federation's domain.
International federations tend to allot one vote to each nation in choosing their leadership councils. This naturally tips the balance of power to Europe, which has a multitude of contributing nations who can be easily co-opted come the time to vote. One side effect of that regional concentration of power is that the power leads to more nations in Europe hosting events, which means that they make money and now have more money with which to sponsor sport. It's almost cyclical in that way and is true in judo, fencing, and a ton of other sports including wrestling.
The one nation, one vote issue is also what hampers progress at the UN and other multinational organizations, as it doesn't weigh population or make adjustments for scale of influence, but simply gives Trinidad and Tobago as much power to influence as it does Russia.
From where I sit the one nation, one vote system causes imbalances that can negatively affect the sporting world.
FIFA has taken steps to reduce some of this influence by offsetting powers into regional committees, but who knows if that'll change much in the long run. In the meantime some creative thinking might be in order to try and ensure that smaller nations have a voice and that sport can enjoy a better worldwide balance.
Q: What did you think of Team USA's performance at the Cadet Worlds in freestyle?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Incredible. There is World Championships talent on that team, and as many people pointed out their opponents sometimes looked as though they graduated from high school last decade.
Regardless of their competitors age, the quality of the wrestling coming from the USA is arguably the best it's ever been. Much of the team's success comes from the implementation of a development program focused on introducing young talent to the national team coaches and athletes in Colorado Springs. Most, however, seems to come from the expansion of RTC's which has created the availability of high-level coaching from an earlier age.
The wrestlers coming through today are in a very unique position in that they also have full-time wrestling coaches in their hometowns and can train year-round with top-flight partners. Also a growing familiarity with the rules has improved the on-the-mat tactics and strategies for our Cadet and Junior level wrestlers.
Where does it go from here? That's a tougher question to answer, but I think we are topping out on what's possible since the folkstyle season remains dominant. While I don't doubt that the grind of the season and the number of matches and practices help our wrestlers win at the senior level, I think that changing the rule set to freestyle would multiply the advantage of that system. If not, I don't see more than seven medals in the USA's future at Cadets and more than four medals out of every eight weights at the senior level would shock me.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Africa's first-ever female medalist in wrestling, Marwa Amri.
Q: Mailbag million $ question: When will United World Wrestling take a hard stance on corruption and legitimize the sport at the international level?
-- @adamtirapelle
Foley: From my understanding there was an ethics report filed with United World Wrestling and the bureau agreed to hire an independent ethics panel to investigate certain cases.
While referees at the Olympics were dismissed for suspicion, it's important to remember that you don't want to over-adjust and allow people in positions of power to self-regulate. Let's assume for a moment that the leadership agreed that there was corruption and dismissed those responsible immediately, but didn't follow a process. What would then stop those same individuals from casting off anyone who disagreed with them on "suspicion" of corruption?
The wheels of justice are slow in some cases and faster in others, which I know is frustrating, but no matter where you land on the issues of the day the need to have a fair investigation should remain.
Here's to hoping it all gets figured out in the near future.
Q: Former Edinboro wrestler Gregor Gillespie is making his UFC debut this weekend. How do you see him doing in the UFC?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I'm bullish on Gregor Gillespie and his chances of becoming a massive success in MMA. First, he has the wrestling background, which means he is a proven physical learner, has been through the grind of the NCAA season, and has the skills necessary to thread together the various parts of the fight game. Secondly, he is lanky, which gives him distance for a jab and the opportunity to land leg kicks from a distance. Finally, I think that he is also fairly proficient at jiu-jitsu defense, which is more important than being proficient at landing submissions.
Also, he has a lot of tattoos and those play well for the UFC demographic!
Q: What's your problem?
-- Chris
Foley: Bah humbug.
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