Worlds 2023

[de4856]

4 hours ago, Mike Parrish said:

No love for J'Den Cox?

So, as I understand it, J’den has committed to going 97. I believe that there is an interview somewhere that he said that he isn’t going to go 92 anymore. So this weight class should see a new guy. 

[MadMardigain]

5 hours ago, de4856 said:

So, as I understand it, J’den has committed to going 97. I believe that there is an interview somewhere that he said that he isn’t going to go 92 anymore. So this weight class should see a new guy. 

US squad is better for the rest of this cycle with him at 92 and Snyder at 97, but it’s still mostly an individual sport so can’t fault anyone for moving around. 

[krazzy]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:47 PM, Radik of themat.com forums said:

Hello everyone! maybe, you guys remember me, i'm a good friend of "coach J", "Cletus Tucker" and etc. I was very popular on the old board 2015-2019. So i come back! Old nickname was "Abdullahgadzhi Khuzin"

 

Russian voice for you! 

I remember you. You came hard on me for drinking beer because my ancestry is of Turkic origin, ha ha. On FB. You're not Russian, but Chechen I think. Shariah law is just not cool my friend. 

[Radik of themat.com forums]

On 11/13/2022 at 9:05 AM, krazzy said:

I remember you. You came hard on me for drinking beer because my ancestry is of Turkic origin, ha ha. On FB. You're not Russian, but Chechen I think. Shariah law is just not cool my friend. 

hahha sorry man hows it going?

[Dark Energy]

Instagram just told me that Belgrade will be the 2023 host.  
 

A repeat.  For anyone that went - would love to hear if it is an awesome place to go.  Was hoping for Istanbul.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Dark Energy

[Mike Parrish]

15 minutes ago, Dark Energy said:

Instagram just told me that Belgrade will be the 2023 host.  
 

A repeat.  For anyone that went - would love to hear if it is an awesome place to go.  Was hoping for Istanbul.

The article.

https://uww.org/article/belgrade-host-2023-world-championships
 

Belgrade was OK.
It's an older eastern European capital.
I spent a bunch of time for work in Bucharest.
It's similar.

[Dark Energy]

Thanks for that.  I don’t know Bucharest.  
 

I’ve been to Budapest - which I really enjoyed. Have you been?  If so, how would it compare?

[Mike Parrish]

9 minutes ago, Dark Energy said:

Thanks for that.  I don’t know Bucharest.  
 

I’ve been to Budapest - which I really enjoyed. Have you been?  If so, how would it compare?

Budapest is more western and much more picturesque.
Cleaner, easier to get around in, more polished, more expensive.

Belgrade is on the junction of the Danube and Sava rivers and the venue was north of the Sava with our Airbnb in the southern suburbs of Belgrade.
Driving that route 4+ times a day was painful. Narrow lanes, lots of zigzagging, lots of aggressive drivers, traffic laws as helpful suggestions.

The people were generally friendly, the younger generation, in particular.
English is widespread but sometimes limited in depth.

Prices are cheap if you get out of expat land.
We brought the family and we always go native, buying at local shops/stores/markets.
Lots of decent restaurants, local beer is good, salads (cucumber, tomato, etc) are excellent.
You WILL get tired of pork.

We ran into one hiccup when we went to the Nikolai Tesla museum.
Riot police everywhere, probably 200 in full gear, but we talked our way past with blue passports.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/ultranationalist-protestors-attack-police-cordon-at-pride-march-in-belgrade
 

We almost rented a houseboat, which I think we'll do this time.

When we came back after Dom won the championship, I was outside calling friends in the US to inform/brag and the owner of the Airbnb overheard me.
He came over, heard my tale, jumped up and down and hugged me and insisted that I come drink Rakija with him and his brother.

We killed 1.5 liters of the stuff and talked for a couple of hours about Serbia, the US, current geopolitical tensions, economics, wrestling (of course), each others' families.
A lubricated cultural exchange which was one of the highlights of the trip.


 

[Dark Energy]

Thank you!!  Great color and sense for things.  Appreciate it.  
 

If went, would likely be meeting up with friend who is also a big fan - he would fly in from Singapore.  We’d have to make sure it will be worth it for both of us.  Want a good vibe and experience in the city, on top of the wrestling.  

Will need to do some research.  But if the people are good, food is good, English is not rare, and the beer is good and cheap, that goes a long way.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Dark Energy

[Mike Parrish]

12 minutes ago, Dark Energy said:

Thank you!!  Great color and sense for things.  Appreciate it.  
 

If went, would likely be meeting up with friend who is also a big fan - he would fly in from Singapore.  We’d have to make sure it will be worth it for both of us.  Want a good vibe and experience in the city, on top of the wrestling.  

Will need to do some research.  But if the people are good, food is good, English is not rare, and the beer is good and cheap, that goes a long way.

The one thing I think I would change for this next year is that I would stay on the same side of the river as the competition venue, but find a place further out.
5-10 minutes away in a quiet village but within easy driving distance.

[Mike Parrish]

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/31823158

[Mike Parrish]

Looks like dates will shift too.

https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2022/November/14/Belgrade-to-host-2023-Senior-World-Championships

Quote

The dates for the tournament are subject to change from the original September 16 to 24 as it clashes with the Asian Games which are scheduled to begin on September 23 in Hangzhou, China.

Not moving the dates would suit me fine!

[Mike Parrish]

UWW has fixed its calendar

 

[ScarletKnight]

3 hours ago, Mike Parrish said:

UWW has fixed its calendar

 

now it says 10 - 18

 

[Mike Parrish]

2 minutes ago, ScarletKnight said:

now it says 10 - 18

 

They knew they were going to have to adjust the dates to avoid the Asian Championships.

Still wrong on the main Events page.

This looks like they're manually updating things in multiple locations.

Inside the event itself.

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by Mike Parrish

[mspart]

Been to Belgrade when it was Yugoslavia.   Spent a week there.   I did not care for it.  It is called Beograd there, meaning white city.   It might have been a white city at one time but was very drab and run down looking when I was there.   Storesfronts were empty and those that were open had few things.   I remember a bookseller that had some stuff.  I may have bought a book written in Cyrillic just to have one.  

One memory I have is getting in a taxi to get to a certain place.   The map was in our kind of alphabet but the street signs were all in cyrillic.   I had no idea where we were going, but got there anyway.   They like Cyrillic better because it requires no notations above letters like ours does.  

Probably not a bad place to go,  but twice in a row?  Istanbul would have been a better choice.   Perhaps they felt Belgrade was safer?  I have no idea but it would seem that Turkey or Bulgaria or Las Vegas would have been better venues. 

mspart

[Mike Parrish]

41 minutes ago, mspart said:

Been to Belgrade when it was Yugoslavia.   Spent a week there.   I did not care for it.  It is called Beograd there, meaning white city.   It might have been a white city at one time but was very drab and run down looking when I was there.   Storesfronts were empty and those that were open had few things.   I remember a bookseller that had some stuff.  I may have bought a book written in Cyrillic just to have one.  

One memory I have is getting in a taxi to get to a certain place.   The map was in our kind of alphabet but the street signs were all in cyrillic.   I had no idea where we were going, but got there anyway.   They like Cyrillic better because it requires no notations above letters like ours does.  

Probably not a bad place to go,  but twice in a row?  Istanbul would have been a better choice.   Perhaps they felt Belgrade was safer?  I have no idea but it would seem that Turkey or Bulgaria or Las Vegas would have been better venues. 

mspart

And the President of the UWW is from Belgrade...

[mspart]

Ah well that explains it then.   Keep it close to home.

mspart

[Mike Parrish]

7 minutes ago, mspart said:

Ah well that explains it then.   Keep it close to home.

mspart

Looking forward to the mandatory 'ticket packages 2.0'.

[Husker_Du]

yo, Mike P! let's run it back, baby!

[krazzy]

On 11/15/2022 at 12:53 PM, mspart said:

 

Probably not a bad place to go,  but twice in a row?  Istanbul would have been a better choice.   Perhaps they felt Belgrade was safer?  I have no idea but it would seem that Turkey or Bulgaria or Las Vegas would have been better venues. 

mspart

I'm biased, not against Serbs, but for Istanbul as I'm of Turkish descent. Belgrade is still recovering from the oppressive Soviet era. Sure, Istanbul one might say is the same under Erdogan, but it truly has a unique personality.  A thug can't change the vibrant culture of a deeply established modern yet historic and ancient metropolis, it was and still is futile. 

What was the criteria to pick Belgrade over Istanbul? A bigger more sophisticated city and a more passionate wrestling fanbase? Yeah I guess...

 

[flyingcement]

Inflation in Turkey over the last year as measured by CPI is hovering above 80%.  It's not a stable place right now and has becoming worse sadly.  

[Mike Parrish]

25 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

Inflation in Turkey over the last year as measured by CPI is hovering above 80%.  It's not a stable place right now and has becoming worse sadly.  

I bet the beer is cheap then...

[mspart]

When I was in Istanbul years ago, I was there for 6 weeks.   When I started it was roughly 80000 lira to the dollar.   When I left, it was roughly 125000 lira to the dollar.   That is a 50% inflation in 6 weeks.  That was a long time ago.   Stuff was generally cheap for a visitor but not for the folks that live there.   If you deposited money in dollars at the bank you could get 3% interest.  If it was in lira, you got 50% interest or something like that.    And that is losing value over time.   Just crazy.

mspart

[Cherkov]

I don't care so much where it is, but it would be nice to actually have a tournament where all the strongest wrestlers show up. We haven't seen that since 2021 Tokyo and it's not looking good so far.