Lee "excuses are for wusses"

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

3 minutes ago, Barracuda141 said:

A 3x NCAA champ with no senior level success, yet, is not a generational talent. Going back 20-30 years there are literally 15-20 wrestlers with better resumes than Spencer. And how many times is he going to get pinned? Will he make senior level teams? Can he mentally recover from his knee injuries?

 

Right now, I'm not picking him to beat Gilman

 

Has had domestic success.  That doesn't make him a generational talent, but it is a fact.

[WrestlingRasta]

19 hours ago, scourge165 said:

I'm a bit skeptical of Lee's Olympic aspirations. 

He was taken down quite a bit early in matches for a Wrestler of his caliber. The way he dominated in College was with that tilt, but with world Class Wrestlers being able to just lay there and not have to bring their arms in...so he can work the tilt, he's gonna have a lot more trouble turning people.

I'm absolutely NOT saying I don't think he can adjust. I think just getting healthier and in better shape will do wonders for him...but I see problems that will make a transition from Folkstyle to Freestyle...despite his very impressive credentials already.

His freestyle leg lace might be (or at least had been, we haven’t seen it in awhile) as good as his folkstyle tilt. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

27 minutes ago, WrestlingRasta said:

His freestyle leg lace might be (or at least had been, we haven’t seen it in awhile) as good as his folkstyle tilt. 

Yes. Also hit a lot of guts in his US Open performance.

I honestly would not be surprised if he has been working almost exclusively on freestyle for the last six years, at least as far as par terre.  It is not like he showed any evolution in his folkstyle top game.

[mspart]

I guess we'll see when we see.   How does he make it to Final X at this point?   Auto invite or does he need to qualify at some other tourney? 

mspart

[LJB]

he would have to win world team trials in may...

i would be somewhat surprised if we see lee ever wrestle again...

i would be hugely surprised if we see him wrestle again before trials for paris...

[scourge165]

6 hours ago, Bigbrog said:

Weird that people say they think Lee won't perform based on some perspective in their head of the style of Folkstyle wrestling he does...but then think it's ridiculous for someone to come back and say they think Lee will perform well in freestyle.  Especially when they are using past results as a reason for their opinion.  Can't make this crap up.

Anyway, I was and still am not a fan of Lee not finishing the NCAA's.  Doesn't diminish what he has accomplished, but it is disappointing.  I really hope he wrestles freestyle...he is a generational (if not once in a lifetime) talent and hope it translates to a lot of success on the international stage for the USA!

 

Can't make this crap up.

The hell you can't! You just did

Lets break this down;

Quote

Weird that people say they think Lee won't perform based on some perspective in their head of the style of Folkstyle wrestling he does

Hmm...never actually said I don't think he'll perform. I said I'm skeptical given how he was taken down fairly often on his feet.

Quote

but then think it's ridiculous for someone to come back and say they think Lee will perform well in freestyle.  

Did someone say it was ridiculous for someone else to believe he WOULD have success in Freestyle?

Or was it more the Twitter-ish response?

Quote

I'm absolutely NOT saying I don't think he can adjust. I think just getting healthier and in better shape will do wonders for him...but I see problems that will make a transition from Folkstyle to Freestyle...despite his very impressive credentials already.

YUP! People DEFINITELY saying they "don't think he CAN perform," and that it's "ridiculous" if someone else does!

 

The reasoning...or reading can be very selective on here at times. 

[scourge165]

6 hours ago, Barracuda141 said:

A 3x NCAA champ with no senior level success, yet, is not a generational talent. Going back 20-30 years there are literally 15-20 wrestlers with better resumes than Spencer. And how many times is he going to get pinned? Will he make senior level teams? Can he mentally recover from his knee injuries?

 

Right now, I'm not picking him to beat Gilman

 

Once in a lifetime talent was REALLY pushing it. 

He's great. But the Arujau I just watched work over Fix and RBY looked as slick and as dominant on his feet as anyone.

Gilman didn't exactly blow Vito off the mat the last time they Wrestled. IIRC, it was 2-1 Gilman with him winning the 3rd on Criteria and Vito doing most of the attacking that match. 

 

Spencer Lee's a stud. If we're talking about his Olympic Gold in...~16 months, I don't think people will be shocked. Will people really be shocked if he DOESN'T win Gold in London?

Kinda wild how being SKEPTICAL that he's going to win the Olympics is like spitting on Mother Teresas' grave or something...sacrilege! 

[Paul158]

2 hours ago, LJB said:

he would have to win world team trials in may...

i would be somewhat surprised if we see lee ever wrestle again...

i would be hugely surprised if we see him wrestle again before trials for paris...

I think you are probably right . Wrestling at the Senior level would get even more difficult.

[LJB]

5 minutes ago, Paul158 said:

I think you are probably right . Wrestling at the Senior level would get even more difficult.

i was wrong about one thing without question...

he would have to win the open in april...

one month...

i do not suggest holding your breath for that...

[Paul158]

On 3/23/2023 at 12:54 PM, Formally140 said:

I think he was trying to overcome hew with that extra bit of arrogance and chippyness he had this year

I also noticed the  extra bit of chippyness and arrogance. But what stood out the most was Lees conditioning . Midway through the second period ( which he didn't get to very often)he was really struggling. I'm sure the opposing coaches and wrestlers saw it also.

[Formally140]

12 minutes ago, Paul158 said:

I also noticed the  extra bit of chippyness and arrogance. But what stood out the most was Lees conditioning . Midway through the second period ( which he didn't get to very often)he was really struggling. I'm sure the opposing coaches and wrestlers saw it also.

The cardio issues and bulky boy attitude were always there. Circumstances made them the vulnerability they could become 

[CHROMEBIRD]

2 minutes ago, Formally140 said:

The cardio issues and bulky boy attitude were always there. Circumstances made them the vulnerability they could become 

That's true about the gas tank. Even when he was in high school you could see that his conditioning was good but not great. He just hasn't wrestled a ton of full-length grinders in his career. The attitude comes with wrestling at Iowa and isn't necessarily a terrible thing.

[CHROMEBIRD]

30 minutes ago, LJB said:

i was wrong about one thing without question...

he would have to win the open in april...

one month...

i do not suggest holding your breath for that...

Yeah, I'm keeping my expectations in check bigtime. My bigger nightmare would be to see him dominate Worlds for 3 years and then miss the 2028 Olympic team in his last Final X match. That's not a jinx, just something I will steel myself for if we ever get to that point.

[LJB]

4 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Yeah, I'm keeping my expectations in check bigtime. My bigger nightmare would be to see him dominate Worlds for 3 years and then miss the 2028 Olympic team in his last Final X match. That's not a jinx, just something I will steel myself for if we ever get to that point.

my guess is you will never have to suffer that...

you lose half a step at 57kg and you don't make your national quarters...

[jmoney]

9 hours ago, Barracuda141 said:

A 3x NCAA champ with no senior level success, yet, is not a generational talent. Going back 20-30 years there are literally 15-20 wrestlers with better resumes than Spencer. And how many times is he going to get pinned? Will he make senior level teams? Can he mentally recover from his knee injuries?

 

Right now, I'm not picking him to beat Gilman

 

Gilman is tough as nails and has battled adversity to get where he is; he at least tasted losing on the big stage regularly.

[CHROMEBIRD]

gilman had fully functioning knees.

[AgaveMaria]

Lee & Olympic Gold in 16 months?

He will be lucky to match Askren. Maybe even Cormier. That is IF he even makes the team.

He is the victim of his body, injuries his talent can't make up for with the toughest competition.

[dragit]

1 hour ago, AgaveMaria said:

Lee & Olympic Gold in 16 months?

He will be lucky to match Askren. Maybe even Cormier. That is IF he even makes the team.

He is the victim of his body, injuries his talent can't make up for with the toughest competition.

I hope not, but sadly this is probably true.  He is not as physically able now as he was when he blitzed the US Open, and I think he probably won't get back to that level of health.

[Lipdrag]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:06 AM, scribers said:

Wasn't gonna wrestle if Mom couldn't see it.  Nuff said.

[scribers]

He has principles! 

[Sheerstress]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3503287336582793&set=a.1469012900010257

[Sheerstress]

[Pinnacle]

Did the sleuths around here ever determine Spencer's injuries? 

[82bordeaux]

On 3/24/2023 at 9:57 AM, Holtfan said:

And my not so humble opinion---mental state of mind can and should be a viable reason for MFF.  After all, didn't the world cheer and say how brave a certain young tennis star was when she dropped out of a major tournament due to this reason or the Olympic Gymnast dropped out of the games siting mental fatigue as the reason?  We like to believe that elite wrestlers are the strongest athletes mentally---but in reality, they are no different than any other elite athlete. 

Weren't these young ladies mentally strong enough in their diminished condition to state the reason that they were not competing? They were brave enough to step out of the shadows and advocate for mental health awareness. If Spencer's reasoning for not competing was a mental health issue, he is just perpetuating the stigma by shrouding it in silence. If mental health was the issue, Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles showed they were much better advocates for mental health awareness. Who would have criticized Spencer if he made a statement that said he was not mentally fit to wrestle, and needed to heal before competing again? Only A-holes would criticize him for stating that.

Of course the window hasn't closed on that opportunity to speak out. He could do this anytime. If he does, that should be the end of the discussion except for healthy conversation about mental health and wrestling. The sport is as mentally tough as it gets.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

2 hours ago, Pinnacle said:

Did the sleuths around here ever determine Spencer's injuries? 

“I didn’t want to tell anyone because F excuses,” Lee said after his final match when he revealed what he had to go through to win. “Excuses are for wusses. That was a tough tournament for me. I could barely wrestle. I could barely shoot. I can’t sprawl. I believed in my coaching staff and everyone that believed in me and here I am so here you guys go.”

I don't think most of the haters, really understand the context behind the "wusses" comment.  Lee probably only addressed it because Brands told him to post-match.