US Mount Rushmore Speculation

[Jim L]

Hard to put Snyder on Mount Rushmore when is clearly not as good as someone in his own era, in his own weight class.

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Jim L

[jchapman]

29 minutes ago, Jim L said:

Hard to put Snyder on Mount Rushmore when is clearly not as good as someone in his own era, in his own weight class.

 

He has achieved what only six other US wrestlers have:  Olympic Gold and another Olympic Finals appearance.  This is the US Mt. Rushmore, not the world Mt. Rushmore.

[bdhof]

22 minutes ago, jchapman said:

He has achieved what only six other US wrestlers have:  Olympic Gold and another Olympic Finals appearance.  This is the US Mt. Rushmore, not the world Mt. Rushmore.

Kyle Snyder

1 OLY gold

3 World golds

1 OLY silver

2 World silvers

1 World bronze

Assuming Mt Rushmore has 4 carvings (it does), Snyder is an easy pick for #4.

[mspart]

Steveson does not belong there.   He is great.   Let him prove it over the long haul like others have.   Smith and Big Bruce wouldn't be in the conversation if they "one and done" it.  We are not talking about Brandon Slay in this conversation now are we?   They are in the conversation because of their greatness over the long haul. 

Olympic weights do matter in the conversation.    The non olympic weights do not bring in those aspiring to the Olympics.  Why would you go non olympic weight?  To get experience?  To still be in the conversation?  Yes to these, but when it comes down to it, anyone serious about Olympic glory will be in an Olympic weight.   The non Oly weights are not as deep.  Why did Dake and Taylor keep trying to get to 74?   So they could be in an Olympic weight.   Taylor never looked at a non Olympic weight.   Dake sat there at 79kg until 2020 and made his move.  There is a reason the Oly weights are tougher. 

It should not be this way.   It is only this way because of the IOC.   They artificially limited the competition to 6 weights for each style.  All those tweeners get shafted.  I don't understand the IOC's reasoning in this regard.   Swimming has all kinds of events for a Phelps to get 7+ gold medals in one Olympic Games.    Wrestling, they can only get one unless they do different disciplines.   Which is not easy.   Not like they can do a 50m, 100m, 200M FS, butterfly, breast, and back stroke, or the 500m or 1000m etc etc.   Bring on 16 more medals each and bring in the other weights.  To compensate, they could reduce swimming events if they want, gymnastics and track events too.    Of course they won't do that.   I just don't see why an additional 16 medals is such an issue for them.    

mspart

[AgaveMaria]

On 5/2/2023 at 5:51 PM, scourge165 said:

Great list. I tend to give Snyder a little boost given that I think he's Wrestled the Greatest Wrestler ever(IMO). 

I realize some may still have Saitiev ahead of him or Medved, but the Tank is still in his prime and well on his way to passing anyone else. IF Snyder could somehow find a way to win another over him...WC or OLY, I think I might put him #1. I'm not saying it'll happen, but...IF. 

Also, not sure I don't have Gable himself in there. The way he just DOMINATED the field...yeah, he didn't wrestle as long, but when you go through the WCs and Olympics like he did, what more is there to prove?

Your list is clearly based more on overall accomplishments. Certainly not arguing that. 

Snyder barely won his Olympic Gold with last minute technique. Not exactly "dominating" that one. Very good wrestler, maybe he wins a world title and even another Gold in the Olympics? Will wait and see. He sure did better this time than I thought he would.

[Eagle26]

Steveson does not belong there.   He is great.   Let him prove it over the long haul like others have.   Smith and Big Bruce wouldn't be in the conversation if they "one and done" it.  We are not talking about Brandon Slay in this conversation now are we?   They are in the conversation because of their greatness over the long haul. 
Olympic weights do matter in the conversation.    The non olympic weights do not bring in those aspiring to the Olympics.  Why would you go non olympic weight?  To get experience?  To still be in the conversation?  Yes to these, but when it comes down to it, anyone serious about Olympic glory will be in an Olympic weight.   The non Oly weights are not as deep.  Why did Dake and Taylor keep trying to get to 74?   So they could be in an Olympic weight.   Taylor never looked at a non Olympic weight.   Dake sat there at 79kg until 2020 and made his move.  There is a reason the Oly weights are tougher. 
It should not be this way.   It is only this way because of the IOC.   They artificially limited the competition to 6 weights for each style.  All those tweeners get shafted.  I don't understand the IOC's reasoning in this regard.   Swimming has all kinds of events for a Phelps to get 7+ gold medals in one Olympic Games.    Wrestling, they can only get one unless they do different disciplines.   Which is not easy.   Not like they can do a 50m, 100m, 200M FS, butterfly, breast, and back stroke, or the 500m or 1000m etc etc.   Bring on 16 more medals each and bring in the other weights.  To compensate, they could reduce swimming events if they want, gymnastics and track events too.    Of course they won't do that.   I just don't see why an additional 16 medals is such an issue for them.    
mspart

I agree that Olympic weights are generally tougher, but I’m not sure if it’s right to factor that in for an all time discussion. It’s only the last several years that were limited to 6 Olympic weights. When smith competed there were 10 weights every year so are we considering those weights weaker? Not to mention the Soviet Union had one rep.

[scourge165]

On 5/4/2023 at 8:47 PM, AgaveMaria said:

Snyder barely won his Olympic Gold with last minute technique. Not exactly "dominating" that one. Very good wrestler, maybe he wins a world title and even another Gold in the Olympics? Will wait and see. He sure did better this time than I thought he would.

Snyder was leading nearly the entire match and he was Wrestling a 3X Olympic Medalists, former WC. 

And the only point he gave up was on the shot clock. 

 

VERY-VERY few people "dominate" at the Olympics. Which is why I thought it was worth pointing out when Gable actually did(along with the World Championships). That's...amazing. The scores of his matches were...incredible. Nobody could touch him, nobody scored on him. 

LOL...I just found this. Damn Larry kept Dan from being perfect again;

[scourge165]

Just now, scourge165 said:

Snyder was leading nearly the entire match and he was Wrestling a 3X Olympic Medalists, former WC. 

And the only point he gave up was on the shot clock. 

 

VERY-VERY few people "dominate" at the Olympics. Which is why I thought it was worth pointing out when Gable actually did(along with the World Championships). That's...amazing. The scores of his matches were...incredible. Nobody could touch him, nobody scored on him. 

LOL...I just found this. Damn Larry kept Dan from being perfect again;

But...to be clear, you win the Olympics, you win a WC, I don't REALLY care how you got it done. Especially when you've done it 4 times as Snyder has with 3 Silvers...again, to the man who will go down IMO as the greatest Wrestler ever. 

 

Hard to see Snyder beating him given just how insanely athletic he is and how he can scramble(see him vs the Bulgarian who made the mistake of getting in on a shot vs him). I'm just saying IF he were able to, I'd consider that win to be a MAJOR one, give him his 5th WC/OLY Title and you could then very easily argue he's the best...

 

[de4856]

Well, my Mount Rushmore would be Big Bruce, John Smith, Jordan Burroughs, and SnyderMan