I am done with "Glory be to..."

[PortaJohn]

1 hour ago, BaldAt23 said:

Also, how big does your ego have to be to think that God is personally invested in your wrestling success? It's such a ludicrous thing to think. I find it unfathomable that people believe stuff like this. 

I'm agnostic myself and don't believe God or any higher power is invested in me being better than someone else.  But, I've been fascinated by the number of athletes across different sports who really go full in on the God psychology.  This is just my opinion and not based on any reputable study.  Right or wrong I think the "God" in most athletes psyches is just another tool to keep them motivated and focused on success.  Creating a God as some guiding light gives them a higher purpose and can increase motivation.  So it can be a very effective tool & when competing at the highest level you need every little angle or edge you can find to keep you ahead of your competition

Edited March 11 by PortaJohn

[wrestle87]

6 minutes ago, pokemonster said:

Aaron Brooks is insufferable on the mic each and every time, he makes himself look like a complete dumbass and anyone who isn't thumping their own Bible at the time knows it. The stuff he said after his last championship was ridic and the fact the NCAA deleted his interview from their tweets immediately due to backlash proves it. If he wasn't talking about God or Jesus, he'd probably be preaching about how the earth is flat. 

I don't get this "ergg, don't matter. nothing matters when you think about it" approach either. Let's hear some good ole fashioned wrestling talk about how the wrestler gritted it out and whatnot. 

Some would say that if him talking about finite existence and the importance of being comfortable with our temporary nature ruffles your feathers, you are exactly who that message is meant for. 

Is it frustrating for you that someone can be that dominant and be that calm at the same time?  The Dan Gable era of "angry wrestling" is over.  All of the best wrestlers are referencing "god" not because the big man has a direct hold on them necessarily, but because contemplating and being comfortable with the BIGGEST questions, which our society broadly hides, keeps a game like wrestling in perspective.  As a result, the best guys feel less pressure, feel motivated and supported on the deepest level, and are able to perform accordingly.  

Also, the NCAA is the lowest of low, beyond morally bankrupt.  Let's not use their behavior as any sort of bellwether or litmus test for what good and proper conduct is.

[wrestle87]

2 minutes ago, PortaJohn said:

I'm agnostic myself and don't believe God or any higher power is invested in me being better than someone else.  But, I've been fascinated by the number of athletes across different sports who really go full in on the God psychology.  This is just my opinion and not based on any reputable study.  Right or wrong I think the "God" in most athletes psyches is just another tool to keep them motivated and focused on success.  Creating a God as some guiding light gives them a higher purpose and can increase motivation.  So it can be a very effective tool

There is no more like button, which I am bummed about, but I would be giving you a trophy or a like right here for this.

[BloodRound]

But who will be the Judas to the Aaron Brooks story?  Hmm, I wonder now...

[BaldAt23]

11 minutes ago, wrestle87 said:

All of the best wrestlers are referencing "god" not because the big man has a direct hold on them necessarily, but because contemplating and being comfortable with the BIGGEST questions, which our society broadly hides, keeps a game like wrestling in perspective.  As a result, the best guys feel less pressure, feel motivated and supported on the deepest level, and are able to perform accordingly.  

How does our society hide it?

[ionel]

10 minutes ago, wrestle87 said:

There is no more like button, which I am bummed about, but I would be giving you a trophy or a like right here for this.

But you could give it a banana  

[NM1965]

16 hours ago, MinnesotaMustang said:

Do you guys not see the irony in complaining about a hypothetical regarding how Christians might complain if a hypothetical interview occurred? Christians aren’t on here complaining when others give non-religious interviews. 
 

KOT’s message was incredibly positive and respectful of his opponent. The sport needs more of that. 

The "christians" on here would most definitely be complaining if some guy won NCAAs and thanked Allah afterward and said "Christianity is false" and you are kidding yourself if you think the "christian" karens wouldn't cry very loudly afterward. 

[NM1965]

12 minutes ago, BloodRound said:

But who will be the Judas to the Aaron Brooks story?  Hmm, I wonder now...

Who else? 

[Bigbrog]

2 hours ago, BaldAt23 said:

What about when Aaron Brooks said Mohammad was a false prophet on national TV last year?

I could give 2 snits what he said or anyone says about what they believe.  Like I said...it says more about judgmental people like you who let it bug them so bad that they will bash someone for their beliefs.  I personally don't go to church or follow any prescribed religion...but I have zero problem when someone else does believe in God (or whatever their religion calls it/him/her).  What makes it so annoying/scary/bad for you when someone thanks the lord?? 

[wrestle87]

5 minutes ago, BaldAt23 said:

How does our society hide it?

Our entire societal structure is built around enhancing the individual and collective ability to control and manipulate the physical/material aspects of the world.  It is competition-based literally from birth for most people in the US.

The continued success of the system requires that people take on the premise of "more money = good, more things = good", and that they go forth fighting in the name of that particular set of principles.  

What brooks and kerkvliet are espousing is anathema to a society which functions based on the need for control and to fight for one's place within a physical world.

I imagine that their point of view(s) and their messages would be received rather differently in Bhutan, for example.  

[wrestle87]

1 minute ago, Bigbrog said:

I could give 2 snits what he said or anyone says about what they believe.  Like I said...it says more about judgmental people like you who let it bug them so bad that they will bash someone for their beliefs.  I personally don't go to church or follow any prescribed religion...but I have zero problem when someone else does believe in God (or whatever their religion calls it/him/her).  What makes it so annoying/scary/bad for you when someone thanks the lord?? 

[Like Button, Trophy Button]

[PortaJohn]

9 minutes ago, ionel said:

But you could give it a banana  

I could've used some potassium 

[ionel]

1 minute ago, PortaJohn said:

I could've used some potassium 

K

[jackwebster]

1 minute ago, wrestle87 said:

What brooks and kerkvliet are espousing is anathema to a society which functions based on the need for control and to fight for one's place within a physical world.

However, what their actions prove time and again and in devastating fashion is that they have a thirst for domination. Maybe this thirst is sublimated, but they demonstrate it every time they emasculate their opponents.

[BaldAt23]

5 minutes ago, Bigbrog said:

I could give 2 snits what he said or anyone says about what they believe.  Like I said...it says more about judgmental people like you who let it bug them so bad that they will bash someone for their beliefs.  I personally don't go to church or follow any prescribed religion...but I have zero problem when someone else does believe in God (or whatever their religion calls it/him/her).  What makes it so annoying/scary/bad for you when someone thanks the lord?? 

So you think it's okay that he openly bashed another religion on national TV? That doesn't sound like a very Christian thing to do. Seems like the opposite of what a good Christian would do/say. Very sanctimonious attitude.

But beyond all that, I tend to believe in things when there is evidence. It blows my mind that people believe this stuff with no actual evidence. It's unfathomable to me. 

[wrestle87]

5 minutes ago, jackwebster said:

However, what their actions prove time and again and in devastating fashion is that they have a thirst for domination. Maybe this thirst is sublimated, but they demonstrate it every time they emasculate their opponents.

You are not wrong, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say emasculate though. 

The juxtaposition of the message and the performance are a real conundrum.  But maybe the answer to this success is that the hyper-competitive individual need something to balance the extremes of the psyche, and this is particularly effective. 

Or, maybe they view it as a spectacle to help others, to raise awareness for something, not really sure.

[jackwebster]

3 minutes ago, wrestle87 said:

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say emasculate though. 

No doubt, that's not how they think about it. But, having been on the losing end of matches like theirs, it is how I would describe the feeling. Hardell Moore is a nice guy, but I didn't feel like a man after that.

[jackwebster]

8 minutes ago, wrestle87 said:

Or, maybe they view it as a spectacle to help others, to raise awareness for something, not really sure.

Yeah, idk. The thumos doesn't square with the agape.

[pokemonster]

7 minutes ago, wrestle87 said:

You are not wrong, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say emasculate though. 

The juxtaposition of the message and the performance are a real conundrum.  But maybe the answer to this success is that the hyper-competitive individual need something to balance the extremes of the psyche, and this is particularly effective. 

Or, maybe they view it as a spectacle to help others, to raise awareness for something, not really sure.

There's something to be said of the placebo effect, and if you are dumb enough to believe God is pulling strings to make you a Big Ten Champ, or that Michael Jordan's Secret Stuff gives you superhuman basketball abilities, then you certainly can have a higher level of confidence that directly correlates to performance. Sometimes I wish I was that dumb. 

[gromit]

45 minutes ago, ionel said:

But you could give it a banana  

umm, no thank you

https://www.dictionary.com/e/emoji/banana-emoji/

Edited March 11 by gromit

[jackwebster]

14 minutes ago, pokemonster said:

There's something to be said of the placebo effect, and if you are dumb enough to believe God is pulling strings to make you a Big Ten Champ, or that Michael Jordan's Secret Stuff gives you superhuman basketball abilities, then you certainly can have a higher level of confidence that directly correlates to performance. Sometimes I wish I was that dumb. 

This makes sense, but their claim isn't about a covenant of works, that God rewards them for their faith and goid deeds.  Their claim is just that they are instruments of the divine and mysterious plan. That they win has nothing to do with the strength of their belief. Why they win is something that mortals can't know. 

Edited March 11 by jackwebster

[wrestle87]

37 minutes ago, BaldAt23 said:

But beyond all that, I tend to believe in things when there is evidence. It blows my mind that people believe this stuff with no actual evidence. It's unfathomable to me. 

14 minutes ago, pokemonster said:

There's something to be said of the placebo effect, and if you are dumb enough to believe God is pulling strings to make you a Big Ten Champ, or that Michael Jordan's Secret Stuff gives you superhuman basketball abilities, then you certainly can have a higher level of confidence that directly correlates to performance. Sometimes I wish I was that dumb. 

This is the stance that humanity has taken at every single major scientific re-envisioning of the world and the physical structure of the universe as we conceptualize it.  

We know so little scientifically, that it is still entirely up to individual choice to construct beliefs and frames of reference on the bigger questions.  We have no idea how we got here, or where we all came from.  Nobody has any answers as to where "life" started, or where it goes, or how the entire fabric of the universe we inhabit got here in the first place.

So, really, insistence that something doesn't exist is just an insistence in your own belief...=D    

Edited March 11 by wrestle87

[Pinnacle]

I see fans quite routinely express the notion that athletes are implying that God is helping them win, as in at the expense of another competitor or team. I don't believe that is the case at all. I believe they feel that God makes them better than only one person, and that is the person they otherwise would turn into if not for their faith. 

[wrestle87]

1 minute ago, Pinnacle said:

I see fans quite routinely express the notion that athletes are implying that God is helping them win, as in at the expense of another competitor or team. I don't believe that is the case at all. I believe they feel that God makes them better than only one person, and that is the person they otherwise would turn into if not for their faith. 

This right here, very nicely said.

[PortaJohn]

37 minutes ago, BaldAt23 said:

But beyond all that, I tend to believe in things when there is evidence. It blows my mind that people believe this stuff with no actual evidence. It's unfathomable to me. 

It's not that unfathomable.  There's the theory of the multiverse.  It's a respected theory that many of the brightest minds in science promote.  It can never be tested nor could we ever go there but if you ask your local Joe Shmoe if its real they'll tell you it's possible without being ridiculed