Jagger's Friday Mailbag - 8/30/2024

Welcome back boys and girls to what is essentially the last Summer mailbag before we roll into pumpkin spice mailbags, spooky mailbags, gobbler bags, and all the rest. As we enter the final holiday weekend of the Summer trilogy, we inch closer to preseason wrestling with All-Star events, some World Championships still to go, and of course, the college season which rules all. So have that final barbecue before you break out the sweatshirts and flannels, and enjoy a little mailbag before your favorite football team disappoints you. 

What are your thoughts on New Jersey’s Chad Walsh settling down in Philly with the Drexel Dragons? Kevin McGuigan 

Just another in a long line of Jersey guys getting poached by Philadelphia to save wrestling. Valenti and the entire RTC at Penn, Jamison at Ursinus. Correnti is already at Drexel along with player-coach Mickey O’Malley. Luckily, we have plenty of talent to go around. Just pay me back by taking a couple of games from Atlanta this weekend. 

Do you think recruits begin to look at places like Iowa and Michigan differently now that NIL rentals appear to be larger components of their year-to-year lineups? Rhino 

I imagine it plays a role in the future and likely already has. Whether you’re a star recruit or a walk-on, the idea is that you’re supposed to get a fair shot at competing for a spot in the lineup. But can that really be true if your team is bringing in guys on five-figure or maybe even six-figure deals? Do wealthy boosters now control the teams? A school Like Iowa has always had a reputation where kids wanted to wrestle for them so badly, that they would rather sit for three years and start one, than start for multiple years somewhere else because it’s Iowa. I’m not sure that exists anymore. But also, I’ve never walked the streets of Iowa City, so I really don’t know what goes on over there. And I get that the point is to win and these teams are doing everything they can to topple the beast that is Penn State (who also brought in multiple stars in recent years) and aren’t doing anything illegal since there are no rules anymore, but you have to feel for the guys getting pushed out. The good news is that the guys get to leave without consequence and do get to find a spot where they can attempt to fulfill their goals and maybe bring a little parity and balance to the sport. 

I’m not sure anyone really knows what the future holds in this pay-for-play landscape of college sports, but it has been exacerbated by the extended eligibility of the athletes as most are grad transfers, who are cashing in the last few years of eligibility. I just don’t want to see kids at lower-level schools find success early then jump to free agency and join one of the blue blood's year-after-year. It simply isn’t good for the sport. 

Do you think that Crazy Joey Votto will be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Eric “Gagne” Asselin

I just don’t know. It seems like he spent more time taking on his own teammates in the mafia than just trying to be a good earner. Oh, you said Votto I thought you said Crazy Joe Gallo. Yeah, I think he gets in. Baseball Reference has him as a borderline guy, but I don’t see any voters holding a grudge and keeping him out. 

Any truth to the rumors that @nottomnotterry is being offered a stack of money to do the Friday mailbag blog? 

Any truth that Jagger has now applied to WIN Magazine because he's getting recruited over? Inquiring minds want to know. Burger King of Kings 

Son, when the day comes that I’m not writing this mailbag, it probably means my days of covering the sport in a journalistic fashion are over. I’ll make sophomoric jokes on the Twitter/X for as long as I can. But I’m not that hot of a commodity I can assure you of that. And it’s not a blog, as I’m not a 25-year-old hipster and this isn’t 2007. But it would be a lot cooler if it was.