Olympic Wrestling ... Day 5

[JeanGuy]

  On 8/10/2024 at 1:07 AM, lisa morales said:

Spencer is actually a very reasonable guy, but he feels he needs to live up to the Terry Brands poor sport persona as depicted in the Flo documentary.   He feels he needs to act out to please Tom & Terry to show what a fierce competitor he is.  It's all a show.

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That may be, but Spencer is the one that comes off poorly. I understand the disappointment but you need to be better. The Olympics is if nothing else supposed to be about sportsmanship. 

[bnwtwg]

  On 8/10/2024 at 12:01 AM, Rassling said:

  On 8/9/2024 at 11:51 PM, bnwtwg said:

That is how champions think. Being happy for second place when you have trained for the pinnacle of your aspirations SHOULD leave you unhappy.

 hope the hell you’re not a coach or in charge of others in any way. You have to be young with an idiotic comment like that. 

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I am a coach. I don't hold this same attitude for kids or even college kids. I do for my professional peers and Olympic athletes. I'm not an Olympian but I am one of the best at what I do for what is arguably the best company in the world. I don't apologize, but I wouldn't expect you to understand.

[Gus]

  On 8/9/2024 at 11:12 PM, Pinnacle said:

Shades of another Iowa 125. Not a great example of sportsmanship. 

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He did nothing that was unsportsmanlike. Lame response. 

[alex1fly]

  On 8/10/2024 at 12:42 AM, scourge165 said:

Why is this getting so...contentious? The kid lost again when he was at the precipice of an achievement that would have put him in a particularly unique class. It has to be gut-wrenching. Finals in HS, NCAAs going for his 4th and the Olympics.

 

Just...cut the young man a little slack. He didn't flip anyone off or take a shit on the flag, he was just disappointed with the result. I get it. The US has had a brutal Olympics(but also somehow...pretty successful I guess). 

 

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100%

 

[billyhoyle]

  On 8/9/2024 at 11:48 PM, Pinnacle said:

I found the article and his quotes are worse than I had anticipated. He shows no respect for what a 2nd place finish means and, worse, imo he disrespected Higuchi. 

He implied Higuchi barely wrestled and he (Lee) should have, could have, would have won with just a little more effort. Poor form 

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What did he say that was so terrible? He was wrong about nobody remember silver in 20 years.  Stephen Abas wrecked by Batirov 20 years ago in the finals at the same weight.  But Lee is right to be disappointed in the result from this tournament. He was the favorite going into the tournament, and the best wrestler in the weight wasn't even there. He should be proud about his career as a whole, and I'm sure he will be. All that was represented in that interview was an athlete being honest about how he felt at the moment. 

Edited August 10, 2024 by billyhoyle

[WrestlingRasta]

  On 8/9/2024 at 11:23 AM, Eagle26 said:

Wow! I can’t believe they reversed that! Two cautions in the last six seconds to lose!

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People don’t like it, but it’s the right call. There’s nothing that says time left on the clock has anything to do with avoiding wrestling. There’s nothing that says there has to be a duration of time between the last caution.  He was absolutely avoiding wrestling. He was absolutely warned before they started dinging points. 
 

Very similar to the scenario that led to the Mongolian Strip Tease 

[Gus]

  On 8/10/2024 at 3:29 AM, billyhoyle said:

What did he say that was so terrible? He was wrong about nobody remember silver in 20 years.  Stephen Abas wrecked by Batirov 20 years ago in the finals at the same weight.  But Lee is right to be disappointed in the result from this tournament. He was the favorite going into the tournament, and the best wrestler in the weight wasn't even there. He should be proud about his career as a whole, and I'm sure he will be. All that was represented in that interview was an athlete being honest about how he felt at the moment. 

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Who is the best wrestler in the weight that wasn’t there?

[pokemonster]

  On 8/9/2024 at 11:43 PM, 4xJVchamp said:

Femke Bol is a great runner but Syd is a once in 50 years kinda athlete. Only Father Time will defeat her.

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Hopefully she starts branching out and reaches her true potential. Only running one event, that most don't care much about, like two to three times a year is so disappointing. Start competing in the sprints, the relays, etc. She's too good to be constantly running against herself. Imagine if Bolt saved himself for the 200m, skips the 100m and 4x100m relays because he wants to improve his 200m world record. Skips every diamond league event and barely shows up. That'd be so bad for the sport. 

[pokemonster]

Wish Spencer wouldn't lash out every time he loses like this. It always makes headlines and makes him seem like a poor sport. I get how terrible it must feel to lose this but he'd be much better off keeping it together, it's an incredible accomplishment. 

[billyhoyle]

  On 8/10/2024 at 3:38 AM, Gus said:

Who is the best wrestler in the weight that wasn’t there?

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Uguev would have been the favorite going into the event. If you want to say Higuchi is better, I won't argue with you, but my opinion is that it's Uguev. 

[skandar]

lol at Spencer. He’s not a kid anymore. He doesn’t get a pass for acting like one. Any other silver medalists have quotes like that? How about ones who have actually been champions in the past? The guy has been brainwashed. No ones saying he can’t be upset he didn’t win gold, but he needs to learn how to enjoy life.

[flyingcement]

  On 8/10/2024 at 3:43 AM, pokemonster said:

Wish Spencer wouldn't lash out every time he loses like this. It always makes headlines and makes him seem like a poor sport. I get how terrible it must feel to lose this but he'd be much better off keeping it together, it's an incredible accomplishment. 

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The downside of having minimal experience in losing.  

[Mongolian]

  On 8/9/2024 at 6:52 PM, gimpeltf said:

Is that Ramzanov or Khabib?

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I could have swore it was Khabib’s brother

[cowcards]

  On 8/10/2024 at 6:44 AM, skandar said:

lol at Spencer. He’s not a kid anymore. He doesn’t get a pass for acting like one. Any other silver medalists have quotes like that? How about ones who have actually been champions in the past? The guy has been brainwashed. No ones saying he can’t be upset he didn’t win gold, but he needs to learn how to enjoy life.

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I mean Artur Aleksanyan took his medal off immediately and didn’t get in any pictures after they got off the stand. Even left the mat early while they were taking pics.

I want to make clear I am not stating any opinion on Spencer’s actions. Just pointing this out since you asked about other silver medalists. 

[Pinnacle]

  On 8/10/2024 at 3:29 AM, billyhoyle said:

What did he say that was so terrible? He was wrong about nobody remember silver in 20 years.  Stephen Abas wrecked by Batirov 20 years ago in the finals at the same weight.  But Lee is right to be disappointed in the result from this tournament. He was the favorite going into the tournament, and the best wrestler in the weight wasn't even there. He should be proud about his career as a whole, and I'm sure he will be. All that was represented in that interview was an athlete being honest about how he felt at the moment. 

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Totally understandable to be disappointed in result, but there were better words to choose from to express that disappointment without demeaning 2nd place or diminishing opponent's accomplishment.

[bnwtwg]

  On 8/10/2024 at 2:00 PM, Pinnacle said:

Totally understandable to be disappointed in result, but there were better words to choose from to express that disappointment without demeaning 2nd place or diminishing opponent's accomplishment.

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People always complain that athletes always give canned non-responses. When one does give raw emotion expressing disappointment in their toughest moment he gets ripped to shreds. 
 

If Spencer Lee transferred to the French team after all the American wrestling crowd has put him through I would not blame him one bit.

[Scouts Honor]

maybe Lee should have praised God and thanked him for the opportunity?

would that make him a better sport?

or would we be griping about something different... 

[1032004]

  On 8/10/2024 at 12:54 AM, Eagle26 said:

Wow that is sad. With the heat Cael has taken so far, I’ll add a compliment… he definitely gets his guys to focus on more than just wins and losses

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Agree.  The whole “having fun” thing sounds cliche but there’s truth to it.  And I’m a little surprised Spencer didn’t have more perspective moving forward after the loss to Ramos, especially since yesterday he wasn’t the overwhelming favorite like at NCAA’s.  Maybe it’s just a Spencer Lee thing and nothing to do with Iowa vs PSU, but he just seems to put so much pressure on himself that it’s not really fun, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s done competing.

Nonetheless, he had a great tournament.  Higuchi was just better.

[PortaJohn]

  On 8/10/2024 at 2:23 PM, 1032004 said:

 The whole “having fun” thing sounds cliche but there’s truth to it.

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There is and there is also a counter argument to it that was so eloquently explained by Coach Beard in season 1 of Ted Lasso

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

  On 8/10/2024 at 4:01 AM, billyhoyle said:

Uguev would have been the favorite going into the event. If you want to say Higuchi is better, I won't argue with you, but my opinion is that it's Uguev. 

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Uguev has won maybe three international matches since Tokyo and has lost two. 3-2 record or something similar. Definitely not a favorite. 
 

He was fun in his prime though. 

[Pinnacle]

  On 8/10/2024 at 2:12 PM, bnwtwg said:

People always complain that athletes always give canned non-responses. When one does give raw emotion expressing disappointment in their toughest moment he gets ripped to shreds. 
 

If Spencer Lee transferred to the French team after all the American wrestling crowd has put him through I would not blame him one bit.

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Again, in addition to disappointment there are better ways to express "raw emotion" than to demean 2nd place and diminish the Champion who also trained his heart out and won. 

"Create action, force him to wrestle me. Yeah, he scored one scramble, but I think the action favors me, and I let him hang on my hand and kind of just stand there. And he won one scramble and that was it."

I guess Higuchi didn't even show up and wrestle. Spencer just "let him" hang there and stand there and beat him. 

 

 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

  On 8/10/2024 at 3:28 PM, Pinnacle said:

Again, in addition to disappointment there are better ways to express "raw emotion" than to demean 2nd place and diminish the Champion who also trained his heart out and won. 

"Create action, force him to wrestle me. Yeah, he scored one scramble, but I think the action favors me, and I let him hang on my hand and kind of just stand there. And he won one scramble and that was it."

I guess Higuchi didn't even show up and wrestle. Spencer just "let him" hang there and stand there and beat him. 

 

 

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Bro, your NLWC anti Iowa shtick is so tired. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

  On 8/10/2024 at 1:24 AM, JeanGuy said:

That may be, but Spencer is the one that comes off poorly. I understand the disappointment but you need to be better. The Olympics is if nothing else supposed to be about sportsmanship. 

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He was fine on the podium, no?

[denger]

So what if Lee is disappointed in himself? Why is that a problem for us? 

I'm glad his sister took his medal for the time being. It will be a pivotal moment in his career. I hope he turns it into something positive with some perspective. I doubt that will ever include him believing that his performance in that match was acceptable, but I hope he learns something more productive than the simplicity of his word, "effort". It's not as if he didn't get after it in that match, Higuchi just won. It's a different simple reality...

I think @Spladle08 observation that he put a lot of effort into a pushout rather than a takedown is agreeable enough - I think that show's us where Lee's head is at the time of his interview, which is just about strategy on the particular level. Reflecting on the bigger picture will teach him other things that we might never know. He doesn't owe us anything. If he wants to capitalize on this experience by sharing that with us, he will. 

I mean, if he decides to give his sister the $50K from the Living The Dream Fund, I'll get on board with him overreacting. In the mean time, I'm happy to leave him alone and let him process what it took to get here. There are countless incentives for him to do more than sulk about it, so I doubt that'll be what we fans are discussing in the coming years. He wouldn't be Spencer Freakin Lee if thought losing was acceptable. There's a lot he can do with that. 

[gimpeltf]

  On 8/10/2024 at 3:44 PM, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

He was fine on the podium, no?

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I could see he didn't really want to be there but he did everything asked and smiled when appropriate. To be fair, both Bronzes seemed aloof too but they all smiled for the Lee taken Selfie.