most historical significance of tonight

[dragit]

Obviously the stories of the night are the 5x champ and the commissioned officer with the biggest upset in half a century in front of the Commander in Chief.  But in terms of overall historical significance in the big picture, David Taylor's first season might end up having the biggest impact on the sport. 

He came in to a train wreck and brought them up to a solid third.  He took a guy who was 6-6-blood round and beat two champs to take first place.  He took another guy who hadn't been in the finals who also beat two champs to take first, in that gigantic upset.

It's just one year and they are only in third place now, but it's definitely possible to picture OSU under Taylor being the next great power at a level competing with Penn State (which I don't see Nebraska or the current regime at Iowa doing).  

[Hammerlock3]

imagine is you've never watched the finals before, how confused you'd be when the Olympic Champ/WWE Legend/NFL Pro Bowler etc gets hyped up all night and then gasses in the first and loses....

[pokemonster]

3 minutes ago, dragit said:

Obviously the stories of the night are the 5x champ and the commissioned officer with the biggest upset in half a century in front of the Commander in Chief.  But in terms of overall historical significance in the big picture, David Taylor's first season might end up having the biggest impact on the sport. 

He came in to a train wreck and brought them up to a solid third.  He took a guy who was 6-6-blood round and beat two champs to take first place.  He took another guy who hadn't been in the finals who also beat two champs to take first, in that gigantic upset.

It's just one year and they are only in third place now, but it's definitely possible to picture OSU under Taylor being the next great power at a level competing with Penn State (which I don't see Nebraska or the current regime at Iowa doing).  

But I heard he was being weird and flossing his teeth instead of paying attention to his wrestlers

[pokemonster]

Just now, Hammerlock3 said:

imagine is you've never watched the finals before, how confused you'd be when the Olympic Champ/WWE Legend/NFL Pro Bowler etc gets hyped up all night and then gasses in the first and loses....

Everyone on Twitter is like "it's 1 vs 2, why's this even a big deal?" haha

[dragit]

2 minutes ago, Hammerlock3 said:

imagine is you've never watched the finals before, how confused you'd be when the Olympic Champ/WWE Legend/NFL Pro Bowler etc gets hyped up all night and then gasses in the first and loses....

Just like those rookie announcers who no one has ever heard of who were absolutely stunned.  Although I guess a lot of Burroughs' experience is actually wrestling in the finals, which technically isn't watching the finals.

[Hammerlock3]

1 minute ago, dragit said:

Just like those rookie announcers who no one has ever heard of who were absolutely stunned.  Although I guess a lot of Burroughs' experience is actually wrestling in the finals, which technically isn't watching the finals.

Cormier wrestled in the final too

[1032004]

lol they weren’t a train wreck, but I agree that this performance is really going to launch his coaching career and make guys want to go there even more than they did already.

[dragit]

1 minute ago, pokemonster said:

Everyone on Twitter is like "it's 1 vs 2, why's this even a big deal?" haha

Yeah agree that is wrong even though I don't think it's the biggest ever.  I probably would put Gable Dan's loss below Dan Gable's loss as number two in terms of surprising.  Hendrickson is a very bad man with a very nasty record, a more fearsome opponent than Owings.  And he's huge.  But it's still stunning.

Made me think of a few other matches.  Reminded me a little of Snyder and Gwiz.  As the match went on, you could see that he was figuring out how to deal with the other guy's advantages, and he was close enough that if he could hit the big takedown and do it late enough for the rideout that he had a chance (Snyder's rideout got him to OT, not the win, but that's all he needed because Gwiz was gassed).

Also made me think of Gable and Cassar.  Shorten the match, get it to the end, Gable might have a brain cramp, which is a little bit what happened tonight, I thought, it looked to me like Gable could have gotten out of the attack if he went pure defense, but thought about trying to turn it into his own takedown which he didn't need, and that split second let Hendrickson pull him in far enough to be able to eventually get control.  

Not perfect analogies but I think relevant.

[MPhillips]

Seems like a pretty solid start...

[dragit]

5 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

lol they weren’t a train wreck, but I agree that this performance is really going to launch his coaching career and make guys want to go there even more than they did already.

Maybe we can agree that it wasn't going very well before he got there.

[WrestleFan12]

14 minutes ago, dragit said:

Obviously the stories of the night are the 5x champ and the commissioned officer with the biggest upset in half a century in front of the Commander in Chief.  

How did Trump contribute to this night of great wrestling?

[Caveira]

Just now, WrestleFan12 said:

How did Trump contribute to this night of great wrestling?

I bet more people tuned in than normally would.  Someone will have to show YoY ratings to prove though. 

[WrestleFan12]

Just now, Caveira said:

I bet more people tuned in than normally would.  Someone will have to show YoY ratings to prove though. 

Alright, I'll give you that.

[Caveira]

Just now, WrestleFan12 said:

Alright, I'll give you that.

Forget politics.   A freaking president at the ncaa finals can only be good for wrestling.    
 

politics will ruin that.   But that is what it is.  

[dragit]

Just now, WrestleFan12 said:

How did Trump contribute to this night of great wrestling?

I said "the stories of the night."  A commissioned officer in the Air Force coming out with the flag and winning the biggest upset in half a century and saluting the president is a great story.  That doesn't mean Trump hit a slick slide by or that anyone has to like him or his politics, or even Hendrickson and the flag.  But it certainly by definition is a big story, whether the beholder likes the story or not.

[BaldAt23]

2 minutes ago, Caveira said:

I bet more people tuned in than normally would.  Someone will have to show YoY ratings to prove though. 

The ratings have been bad the past two years. Significantly down. Trump was there last year I believe (could have been the year before)

[Caveira]

2 minutes ago, BaldAt23 said:

The ratings have been bad the past two years. Significantly down. Trump was there last year I believe (could have been the year before)

Don’t quote me on this.  The math is down because the apps  viewership… or so I think that’s true.  
 

Someone with better / factual info can chime in but it’s the way they count tv vs streaming vs Nielsen vs whatever I think.  

Edited yesterday at 03:38 AM by Caveira

[BaldAt23]

1 minute ago, Caveira said:

Don’t quote me on this.  The math is down because the apps  viewership… or so I think that’s true.  

That's probably true. I watched on ESPN+

[dragit]

Just now, BaldAt23 said:

The ratings have been bad the past two years. Significantly down. Trump was there last year I believe (could have been the year before)

Couple years ago I think he was there.  Stayed for every match to his credit. 

Not surprising on the ratings.  Matches haven't been great, not a lot of action and the length of the TV timeouts and the other filler is demoralizing.  70 minutes of wrestling in 180 minutes of TV.  I can't watch it live, it's too boring, I start about an hour in and then fast forward through the commercials.  Only downside is I have to stay off this board and not look at texts to avoid spoilers.

[pokemonster]

9 minutes ago, WrestleFan12 said:

How did Trump contribute to this night of great wrestling?

I searched NCAA wrestling on Twitter and EVERYTHING that came up was Trump posts, so I think it is good for visibility either way

[Caveira]

1 minute ago, dragit said:

Couple years ago I think he was there.  Stayed for every match to his credit. 

Not surprising on the ratings.  Matches haven't been great, not a lot of action and the length of the TV timeouts and the other filler is demoralizing.  70 minutes of wrestling in 180 minutes of TV.  I can't watch it live, it's too boring, I start about an hour in and then fast forward through the commercials.  Only downside is I have to stay off this board and not look at texts to avoid spoilers.

I watch every year and I freaking love it.   This year included.  My 8 year and 10 year old loved it too.  
 

 

[BaldAt23]

1 minute ago, pokemonster said:

I searched NCAA wrestling on Twitter and EVERYTHING that came up was Trump posts, so I think it is good for visibility either way

Definitely gives the impression that wrestling is a conservative leaning sport

[Caveira]

2 minutes ago, BaldAt23 said:

Definitely gives the impression that wrestling is a conservative leaning sport

Why? 

[BaldAt23]

Just now, Caveira said:

Why? 

C'mon lol

[Caveira]

Just now, BaldAt23 said:

C'mon lol

C’mom lol what?