David Taylor would have taken Gold

[KennyEBHS]

What say you?

[CHROMEBIRD]

He didn't even win OTTs. What's going on in your head that I'm missing?

[meZYNbrink]

Certainly could have. The beauty of it is we will never know. Brooks beat him fair and square (in a fairer and squarer system than most countries have). I think DT is happy with his 7M contract.

[mspart]

If he had been motivated he would have won OTTs.   I think there was talk about OSU coaching and that distracted him.   He did not look like he wanted a trip to Paris to me.   I could be wrong.   He could have placed first but the desire would have had to be there.   It wasn't.   He's doing fine. 

mspart

[Wrestleknownothing]

1 hour ago, KennyEBHS said:

What say you?

Perhaps with a time machine.

[Hammerlock3]

he didn't win a match at the OTT with the advantage of sitting out. What should brooks have had to do to earn the spot?

Anyone who claims to think this should have spoken before the tournament or shut up.

Edited August 15 by Hammerlock3

[headshuck]

Brooks is about a decade ahead of Taylor in development.

[wrestle87]

A motivated Taylor would have.  The guy who showed up and wrestled Brooks would not have.  He didn't have the sparkle in his eye anymore (zero judgement, just part of progressing in life, wrestling is not life).

[Hammerlock3]

14 minutes ago, wrestle87 said:

A motivated Taylor would have.  The guy who showed up and wrestled Brooks would not have.  He didn't have the sparkle in his eye anymore (zero judgement, just part of progressing in life, wrestling is not life).

This is accurate. I don't think you could point out a person who maintained "the spark" longer while also attending to the rest of his life (family, business etc.) appropriately. Keep in mind it took him 5 YEARS to make a team.

[KennyEBHS]

15 hours ago, Hammerlock3 said:

This is accurate. I don't think you could point out a person who maintained "the spark" longer while also attending to the rest of his life (family, business etc.) appropriately. Keep in mind it took him 5 YEARS to make a team.

What I was trying to say in this post is if Brooks had not been there and Taylor went instead, two things would have happened:

1. The atmosphere would have gotten him to the right level of motivation. I am sure Dake would have helped.

2. We would not have seen a great wrestler (Brooks) stop wrestling with six seconds.

[Hammerlock3]

7 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

What I was trying to say in this post is if Brooks had not been there and Taylor went instead, two things would have happened:

1. The atmosphere would have gotten him to the right level of motivation. I am sure Dake would have helped.

2. We would not have seen a great wrestler (Brooks) stop wrestling with six seconds.

Odd you didn't warn us of this after the trials.

[KennyEBHS]

58 minutes ago, Hammerlock3 said:

Odd you didn't warn us of this after the trials.

"Warn"? It's just a point of discussion.

[Hammerlock3]

46 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

"Warn"? It's just a point of discussion.

OK, btw we should have sent Yianni instead of Zain. He wouldn't have gotten hurt training.

[Wrestleknownothing]

1 minute ago, Hammerlock3 said:

OK, btw we should have sent Yianni instead of Zain. He wouldn't have gotten hurt training.

You sure about that? He got a concussion on a take down in CO and was in the hospital. Then he had a pretty weak OTT.

 

[Hammerlock3]

7 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

You sure about that? He got a concussion on a take down in CO and was in the hospital. Then he had a pretty weak OTT.

 

yeah that was at the trials, he would have been at a new level at the olympics, and Dake would have helped too.

If it can be said for Taylor I don't know why not yianni.

[mspart]

Yianni is not a multiple World and Olympic champ.   And the previous year's world champ.   No put down on Yianni but that's just a fact.

I agree DT shoudl not be at the olympics, he proved that in the trials.   But if he had been at the Trials and won as expected, then I think we would have had a different outcome in Paris.   But his heart was not in it, you could see no fire.   Nothing wrong with that, but if he felt that way he shouldn't have participated in the Trials.   Maybe he didn't know and just burned out training for the Trials and just didn't want that grind for any longer.  Or maybe he knew about the OSU job and was diverted.  

mspart

[Hammerlock3]

11 minutes ago, mspart said:

Yianni is not a multiple World and Olympic champ.   And the previous year's world champ.   No put down on Yianni but that's just a fact.

I agree DT shoudl not be at the olympics, he proved that in the trials.   But if he had been at the Trials and won as expected, then I think we would have had a different outcome in Paris.   But his heart was not in it, you could see no fire.   Nothing wrong with that, but if he felt that way he shouldn't have participated in the Trials.   Maybe he didn't know and just burned out training for the Trials and just didn't want that grind for any longer.  Or maybe he knew about the OSU job and was diverted.  

mspart

Guys, for the love of god, i floated the yianni thing as an absurdity and example of what I consider to be the flaws in the "Taylor would have won" argument.

[KennyEBHS]

I still say that if Taylor had gotten past whomever at the trials, there was no one in the field who had a legitimate chance besides Yazdani and he got hurt. Brooks made a rookie mistake by not wrestling the last six seconds.

[headshuck]

Are you calling the many, many losses Taylor experienced after college rookie mistakes?

[Hammerlock3]

1 hour ago, KennyEBHS said:

I still say that if Taylor had gotten past whomever at the trials, there was no one in the field who had a legitimate chance besides Yazdani and he got hurt. Brooks made a rookie mistake by not wrestling the last six seconds.

Thats fair enough, but would you understand if I said I'm normally hostile toward unfalsifiable opinions delivered at the safest possible time? It comes off like you're trying to say "i told you so" when you didn't.

I'm not saying your opinion doesn't make sense, but there is a rationale for the push back.

[Hammerlock3]

And its also off putting because your opinion is something that has already been considered by 100% of people before you started the topic.

[KennyEBHS]

1 hour ago, Hammerlock3 said:

Thats fair enough, but would you understand if I said I'm normally hostile toward unfalsifiable opinions delivered at the safest possible time? It comes off like you're trying to say "i told you so" when you didn't.

I'm not saying your opinion doesn't make sense, but there is a rationale for the push back.

I was just trying to have a discussion. No agenda other than I am disappointed in Brook's performance.

Edited August 17 by KennyEBHS