ILLINIWrestlingBlog

Although the topic may have seemed frivolous to some, it has now taken a deadly serious turn. We at The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond have officially petitioned the Mayor of Buffalo, the Honorable Byron Brown, for a city-wide proclamation heralding November 1, 2023 as National Singlet Day. Here is the petition in the form prescribed by the City of Buffalo:

7 hours ago, Ban Basketball said:

I ask in seriousness: why the Dickens do people do that? And it's not just a few who day,  they ALL do. 

Most baffling wrestling phenomenons out there. 

Back in the day, we used to do this because when you had the whole team in the room--called "the sweatbox" as the coach kept the thermostat very high--you'd only have a tiny area to drill in. After a short time, that area would become a sweaty waterpark.

Slippery! Gross!

That is, unless you tucked in your sweats. And if you wore plastics, you didn't dare break that seal until you were back in the locker room.

1 hour ago, 1032004 said:

So many questions.  Why is there a photo of a Hooters waitress but it was from a diner?  No photo of actual waitress or wrestler in singlet?  The receipt is from 4 years ago and the “lost a bet/next time table dance” is clearly photoshopped.

Yes. Clearly. It's entertainment, showmanship, glitz, pretty girls, clickbait, etc. That's how we turn a humdrum day into NATIONAL SINGLET DAY. 

To get your brain juices flowing with ideas and to rev you up for National Singlet Day, here are some examples published by https://www.instagram.com/proudsinglet/:

You can see what was written on the receipt in the image below.

We need more of this! As a community of Patriotic American Wrestlers, we need a National Singlet Day, a day during which Singlets are worn proudly, all day, in all walks of life.

If you are a doctor in the operating room or a state legislator on the floor of your state house, wear your singlet! If you are an auto mechanic, a student, a panhandler, a stay-at-home dad or a murderer, wear your singlet proudly!

We want everybody to wear singlets!

Mathematics will tell you that there are approximately 40 billion singlets out there. You have 250,000 high school wrestlers every year, 7,300 NCAA wrestlers, another 5,000 NAIA wrestlers and 5,000 who are post-graduates.

Walmart, Casey’s, classrooms and the doctor’s office; police stations, murder scenes, and in and around food trucks—these are places where you can wear your singlet on November 1, 2023. That’s the first day of the college wrestling season, which begins with the Buffalo Bulls Quad Meet against Brockport, Seton Hall and NCCC.

That’s National Singlet Day

Be sure to take a picture of yourself in a singlet. A panel of Singlet Experts will judge all submissions and award a prize package for the most controversial and the funniest use of a Singlet. The prize package will include an ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond t-shirt, two Chunky bars and a piece of wire. 

Originally posted at The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond. 

9 hours ago, 1032004 said:

Was it in relation to this?

 

 

 

This tweet was on my mind when I wrote the original post. Insanity. 

As brother @bnwtwg has noted, the Freestyle preseeds are out for the World Championships. I personally believe that the best three wrestlers at the weight who will be wrestling in Belgrade are not included in UWW's seeds. Top four if you include Thomas Gilman. 

There is certainly a case for Abakarov being in the top four, though. He's seeded #2 and deserves it as returning World Champion. 

The wrestlers not included in the top eight seeds are Zavur Uguev of Russia, Rei Higuchi of Japan and Zane Richards. 

There's an interview of Higuchi posted on the UWW website that I think is pretty revealing. In my mind, he was going over his top threats. He had this to say:

"But a lot has changed at 57kg since he last wrestled internationally at this weight class. Most of the wrestlers have changed weight classes or have retired. Zaur UGUEV is the defending Olympic champion. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) is the world champion. Two youngsters are champions in Europe and Asia. Iran has lost its stronghold on the lightest weight. But Higuchi is updated.

'I don't care about the World Championships,' Higuchi says. 'I watched Final X and Zain [sp] RICHARDS (USA) winning it. AMAN (IND), Abakarov, Uguev, Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE). I watched them all.'”

Except for Rzazade, but including Higuchi himself, I think that his list contains the names of everybody who can win the Gold Medal. So excite! 

21 hours ago, Gus said:

My sophomore year I went from 185 to 152 at 6’2”. It was a miserable time getting down to weight. I had a negative association with running after that season. Spent a lot of time on the treadmill. 

This is almost exactly my story, except I only had to drop to 155. 

42 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

Something inside of me got messed up from consistently losing weight as a kid.  Now I stress-starve regularly.  Whenever I have something important or exciting coming up, I go couple days with just water and black coffee.  During the first month of the pandemic i lost ten pounds

This is a good time to talk about this ... before the kids start losing weight for the high school and college seasons. I had major problems making 155 my sophomore year in high school. No more diets for me after that! Too many nightmares. 

29 minutes ago, ionel said:

What was the starting weight?  

That was not indicated. All that that human said was what I quoted. 

I wrestled heavyweight in college even though I weighed 190 to 200 at most. I could still lose 9 pounds in an afternoon if I wore plastics. 

What the NCAA does regarding weight loss is pretty solid in my mind, but I'd like to hear from people who have recent involvement in the process. What the UFC does is insane, and I think somebody is going to die because of it. Still, probably better than the Subway diet. 

This is a testimonial on a national radio advertisement for Plan Z and the Crave Control Spray™. An actual human person during an actual human radio commercial actually said this. I was wondering what wrestlers think about that. 

15 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

Go get Hall, Futrell, and Thomas. Year 2 leap engaged

I'm rooting for them, but I don't want them to be that good. By the way, I think calling that schedule ambitious is an understatement. It will get them experience in a hurry, though, and that's good for down the road. 

One of the best locks to win a Gold Medal at Belgrade will not be there according to the list put out by UWW. That is Zavur Uguev of Russia. He's won 12 Gold in 15 tournaments since 2017. In the other three tournaments, he medaled. Now, is his absence because there is some unmet stipulation for the Russian athletes? If so, what happens if the stipulation is eventually met? 

To add to the mystery Belarussian wrestlers are listed but they are given the "under the UWW flag" designation. For 57kg, that means Aryan Tsiutryn, who was a Bronze Medalist last year. 

Still another mystery is the double listings for some nations. At 57kg, you have the exceptional Rei Higuchi listed along with that country's multiple age-level medalist Yuto Nishiuchi. Can you list multiple wrestlers if the main wrestler has a nagging injury? Are these practice partners? At 74kg, Dake and Facundo are listed. Why wouldn't Nolf be listed if Dake was flirting with an injury? 

In any event, even without Uguev the weight looks like the toughest at the World Championships, although perhaps it falls behind heavyweight if Uguev doesn't show up. Without him, there are still two returning World Champions from last year: Zelimkhan Abakarov (57kg) and Rei Higuchi (61kg). 

Besides Zane Richards, who I rank above all of the wrestlers including Uguev because I'm a complete Homelander, this is how I see the tournament shaping up: 

Rei Higuchi of Japan. He won 61kg last year, and he's a threat to win. Silver at 2016 Olympics. 

Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania. He won last year at 57kg. Zane beat him in a practice match. Will be #2 seed. Former Russian.

Aman Aman of India. Also goes by Aman Sehrawat. Dude has been on an absolute tear. 

Wanhao Zou of China. The #1 seed because of ranking series placements (1st, 3rd), but I don't think he stands a chance at winning. 

Almaz Smanbekov of Kyrgyzstan. He has finished with a 1st and 2nd at the last two ranking series tournaments. 

Throw Zane into that pot above, and I believe that you have your main medal contenders. However, that still leaves off previous World Championship medalists, including Zanabazar Zandanbud, who won a bronze last year, and the Belarussian Aryan Tsiutryn (another former Russian) also won a bronze in 2022. Other past World medalists include Stevan Micic of Serbia and Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia. Finally, the Uzbeki and Azerbaijani are age group world medalists. 

Here's everybody listed, including the double Japanese and Canadian entries:

57kg
Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN)
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Bofenda David KALUWEKO (ANG)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Georgi Valentinov VANGELOV (BUL)
Darthe CAPELLAN (CAN)
Treye Colby TROTMAN (CAN)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Gamal Abdelnaser Hanafy MOHAMED (EGY)
Levan METREVELI VARTANOV (ESP)
Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Aman AMAN (IND)
Milad Jahangir VALIZADEH (IRI)
Simone Vincenzo PIRODDU (ITA)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)
Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)
Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Gukhyeon KIM (KOR)
Igor CHICHIOI (MDA)
Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Muhammad BILAL (PAK)
Darian CRUZ (PUR)
Razvan Marian KOVACS (ROU)
Gayan Kathurangana EKANAYAKA MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Zane Raye Rhodes RICHARDS (USA)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

Add another Championship run to the supernatural ILLINI Summer. 

In the UWW Grappling World Championships, former ILLINI wrestler Mario Gonzalez came out on top. He had to beat the defending champion on his way to the finals where he met the Polish BEAST you see in the video below:

Gonzalez was one of the strongest wrestlers ever to wear the Orange and Blue, and he liked to attempt the impossible in nearly every match. The video starts out eleven years ago with him as a Sophomore in college bumping up from 197 to wrestle Cornell's heavyweight at the National Duals. This was one of my top three ILLINI dual wins of all time. 

That win seemed to propel him to a Big Ten Championship at 197 a month later. 

Injuries then worked their evil magic on his body, but he was still able to do the impossible while beating an Iowa Hawkeye the next year. In the video, you can see Gonzalez with a whizzer while his Hawkeye opponent is in the seatbelt position. What Mario does after that has to be seen to be believed. 

To me, it looks like the video is running backwards! 

Fast forward eleven years, and Mario is a World Champion. What a Summer! Fall doesn't officially start until September 23, and I can't help but wonder what other sorcery the ILLINI and the ILLINI RTC have in store for us. 

8 hours ago, 1032004 said:

I’m sure Jimmy will quickly pivot to “the Brands brothers need to be fired and Spencer Lee named head coach in order to restore the Iowa dynasty”

It's never cool to kick somebody when they're down unless they are really, really down and you can get away with it. 

The worst aspect of the decision (besides taking a finals spot from somebody who worked hard to get there) is that the decision reinforces one of the worst aspects of wrestling: The brick thrown at the end of the match. The Hail Mary Brick. In every one- or two-point match in the future, expect a brick at the end. Who knows, you might win the lotto! Even if the other wrestler is doing exactly what thousands of wrestlers have done before him or her. 

How can we beat the system? Start celebrating before time expires. If the "running away" is just the run up to a back flip, then what can the ref and judges do? I've seen lots of wrestlers celebrate before time has expired. Haven't seen them penalized the match for it, either. 

25 minutes ago, WrestlingRasta said:

Or…we can look at what it is, and what we did that we can correct for the next time.   Everyone has their own way…

Or, we can do both, right?  

45 minutes ago, Jason Bryant said:

Because the Italians have such a big influence … Let’s not confuse possible ineptitude with corruption. They’re allowed to exist differently

I thought it was a bad call, but in asking some officials I know about it, they don’t seem to find it that egregious considering the last minute of the bout.

Horrible way to not win - I won’t say lose here. Not every bad call we perceive is anti-American bias.

You say possible ineptitude, I say possible bias. The reason I say bias is because it is a huge decision to end a match like that. Somebody was determined. 

1 hour ago, WrestlingRasta said:

Leaving the mat is not a requisite for fleeing the hold, nor is a warning before a point is given. 
 

In the USWOA webinar it discusses three options to evaluate for negative wrestling. The second one categorizes fleeing the hold, and a caution 1. It clearly states that if there is sufficient time in the match a warning can be given first, but if insufficient time remains a caution and one should be offered. 
 

It’s important to understand that it goes beyond the black and white reading of the rule book, because the rule book is interpreted into however many different languages. The concept is key, and the concept here as it relates to this match is she was avoiding wrestling, at the very end of the matcha caution and 1 is warranted…..

 

Your rule fails to mention the literal thousands of times a wrestler has disengaged in the waning seconds without a match-determining point being awarded.

I am aware of one instance. That's hard to explain, don't you think?

The new aphorism: Don't leave the match in the hands of anti-American bias.

How is it leaving the match in the hands of the ref when there was no previous caution, attention or warning? That is my understanding of what happened. If that's the case, it would be like awarding a point for stalling after an NCAA finals match when the wrestler had not been given a stalling warning during the match. She didn't crawl out of bounds to deserve a fleeing or a caution. 

In this case the saying should be re-jiggered to: Don't leave the match in the hands of anti-American bias. 

On 8/10/2023 at 4:50 PM, blueandgold said:

If the United States and other nations in the Americas (North, Central, and South) introduced an association wrestling system the way we see with association football (soccer), how plausible is it that it could find success to some degree? I've been active in the sport of wrestling for over ten years now as a competitor, coach, and fan, and I've recently become a big association football fan, and I wonder if how well it would work if we borrowed their system for wrestling. In the United States, it seems we try to build cards like boxing, mixed martial arts, or professional wrestling when in reality it's hard to promote a freestyle match in the same vein as the aforementioned sports due to lack of perceived violence. From RPW to the recent Flo cards, the promotion and events are fine, but they don't click.

So, what's next?

Well, association wrestling. When people hear "professional wrestling", the term immediately makes one think of WWE, AEW, NWA, etc., so the first step is stepping out of the shadow of sports entertainment. Second, what would it look like in the USA? Here's a quick write-up I made borrowing some elements from both Premier League, La Liga, NBA, NFL, and the current NCAA wrestling system.

The Name

• The League of American Wrestling Premier Division (Legal); American Premier League (Informal)

Country

• United States of America

Confederation

• Union of American Wrestling Associations (UAWA)

Number of Teams

• 24

Level on Pyramid

• 1

Relegation to

• National Wrestling Championship of the United States (Legal); League II (Informal)

 

Competition Format

Each club wrestles a 20-match regular season schedule including six matches from a double round robin against the three other teams in their region. The top two teams from each region will qualify for the final stage bracket to determine a league champion. The top four teams based on record (total dual meet points used for tiebreaker) entering the final stage will automatically toggle the top four seeds and receive a bye, while the remaining teams will do battle in the Round of 16. Teams are ranked by record and dual meet points. Individual weight class champions are determined prior to the beginning of the final stage of the team tournament. The top 12 wrestlers from each weight (based on record and total points) will compete in a round robin of four pools, the winners from each of the four pools are then paired in a bracket to determine the individual champion. The top four wrestlers who make the final stage of the individual tournament will be named to the Iron League (compare to NBA All-Star or NFL Pro Bowl) while champions and runner-ups will also be named to the All-America first and second team (compare to All-NBA or NFL All-Pro).

Weight Classes

1. 126 lbs.
2. 134 lbs.
3. 142 lbs.
4. 150 lbs.
5. 155 lbs.
6. 165 lbs.
7. 175 lbs.
8. 190 lbs.
9. 225 lbs.
10. 285 lbs.

Rules and Scoring

• Two 4-minute periods
• Par terre optional only after a wrestler scores
• Takedown (three points of contact) = 2 Points
• Exposure = 2 Points
• Feet to Back = 4 Points
• Grand Amplitude Throw = 5 Points
• Reversal = 1 Point
• Passivity = 1 Point (2nd Warning), 2 Points (3rd Warning), Disqualification (4th Warning)
• No points awarded for push-outs
• Takedown can still be scored out of bounds as long as contact was previously established on the mat
• A match ends by technical fall when a wrestler is ahead by 15 points minimum

Win Conditions and Point Totals

• Fall = 3 Points
• Technical Superiority = 2 Points
• Decision = 1 Point
• Disqualification = 1 Point

A wrestler will receive 0 points for a loss and will be deducted 0.5 points for a disqualification.

Teams (23 United States + 1 Canada)

1. Arlington WC (Arlington, Texas)
2. Atlanta WC (Atlanta, Georgia)
3. Atlantic City WC (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
4. Austin WC (Austin, Texas)
5. Boston WC (Boston, Massachusetts)
6. Carolina United WC (Charlotte, North Carolina)
7. Cheyenne WC (Cheyenne, Wyoming)
8. Chicago WC (Chicago, Illinois)
9. Colorado Springs WC (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
10. Detroit WC (Auburn Hills, Michigan)
11. Indianapolis WC (Indianapolis, Indiana)
12. Iowa City WC (Iowa City, Iowa)
13. Las Vegas WC (Las Vegas, Nevada)
14. Lincoln WC (Lincoln, Nebraska)
15. Los Angeles WC (Los Angeles, California)
16. New York WC (New York, New York)
17. Orlando WC (Orlando, Florida)
18. Philadelphia WC (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
19. Portland WC (Portland, Oregon)
20. Richmond WC (Richmond, Virginia)
21. Sioux Falls WC (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)
22. Tulsa WC (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
23. Twin Cities WC (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota)
24. Vancouver WC (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

Teams by Region
East

1. Atlantic City
2. Boston
3. New York
4. Philadelphia

Midwest

1. Chicago
2. Detroit
3. Indianapolis
4. Twin Cities

Mountain West

1. Cheyenne
2. Iowa City
3. Lincoln
4. Sioux Falls

Southeast

1. Atlanta
2. Carolina United
3. Orlando
4. Richmond

Southwest

1. Arlington
2. Austin
3. Colorado Springs
4. Tulsa

West

1. Las Vegas
2. Los Angeles
3. Portland
4. Vancouver

 

 

You have obviously put a lot of thought and time into this idea, and that makes me happy. It is likely that you can go even more granular with your plan, and that also makes me happy. Based upon the current state of things, it looks to me like what you have suggested is more of an end product. That's okay. It gives us all something to dream about. As President Snow said in The Hunger Games:

"Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear."

What it might look like to start out would be five teams in various regions, and although I really hate to suggest it, but economically, it might be that 6 or 8 weights is the way to kick off the enterprise. I would try to get some type of alliance going with the Beat the Streets organization. They have well-established facilities in New York City, Philly, Cleveland, Chicago and Baltimore/Washington, D.C. 

The alliance could involve use of their facilities, free admission to shows for the kids, and some mentoring/practices from the athletes with the kids, donations to the organization above a certain set net revenue. 

The real market would be streaming. You could sell some tickets at the door, but I would want all those screaming, jumping-up-and-down happy kids in the front row on the video that goes out. Exclamation points are free, but you can't buy authentic enthusiasm! 

If it catches on, grow. Add weights. Add cities. 

A couple of observations: First, the anti-ILLINOIS faction likes to jump over Fargo and National Duals on the one side to get to NCAA results. Then, they need to jump from the other side over the four ILLINOIS Final X winners to get to NCAA results.  

Second, I think that I've proven the case historically, morally, politically, comedically and scientifically. Until your state wins a Fargo, has at least four Final X Champions AND has a Great Emancipator, the two funniest (though currently dead) humans to ever live, a two-time-Golden-Globe-winning actress and a Rap Star, get out my face!

43 minutes ago, ionel said:

Don't forget:

I did not know this. I didn't even know who this was. Thanks for the education! From the National Wrestling Hall of Fame:

Quote

 

"Did you know that Rachal Brosnahan, the leading lady in Amazon.com's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was a high school wrestler? 

The thing about wrestling is it doesn't really matter what gender you are. You're wrestling against someone who's the same weight as you. They might be stronger physically. You might be quicker.... It's like improv. I wish I could've kept going with it because I absolutely loved it." 

 

But she's only the second most famous ILLINOIS high school wrestler to have wrestled at Highland Park High School. Coach Mike Poeta is number one. 

I just wanted to celebrate a great Summer of ILLINI and ILLINI RTC wrestling, but you folks had to start attacking ILLINOIS wrestling. Well, now I'm furious! So furious I had to post about it at The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond:

LOL at People Who Think Their State Is as Good at Wrestling as the State of ILLINOIS

As an unbiased journalist and a scientist—a Political Scientist no less—I can prove that ILLINOIS is, was, has been and will always be the greatest wrestling state in the union. You can take the other top five wrestling states combined, and they don't equal the Land of Lincoln. Word. 

Let's start on July 21, 1951 when Robin Williams was born in Chicago, ILLINOIS. He would go on to wrestle in high school and without him, of course, there is no Mrs. Doubtfire, No "Goooood Morning, Vietnam!," no Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, or Mork and Mindy. All of that and more brought to you by a wrestler born in ILLINOIS. Shazbot, Mother*******!

If Robin Williams wasn't the funniest wrestler who ever lived, then that honor falls to Wheaton Central High School Wrestler John Belushi. Without this fellow, SNL is cancelled season one, you think Dan Akroyd could carry the show by himself? We get no Animal House. Or the freaking Blues Brothers. On the other hand, thousands of Deep Dish Pizzas and Polish would've survived at least one more day. America thanks you, ILLINOIS Wrestling! 

In 1985, the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago saw William "The Refrigerator" Perry and Jimbo Colvert of the Chicago Bears save professional wrestling in Wrestlemania 2. One of the referees for that match was none other than University of ILLINOIS and Chicago Bear legend Dick Butkus. Think about it like this, folks, without Wrestlemania 2 there would never have been a Wrestlemania 3 or a Wrestlemania 4. Dick Butkus may have saved the sport! Thank you, ILLINOIS, sir!

In 2001, rap could've died on the vine but along came Ludacris (Chris Bridges) the former Oak Park River Forest wrestler with his platinum smash Word of Mouf. Without this former ILLINOIS high school wrestler, rap may never have bridged the gap from Jay Z to Eminem. ILLINOIS says, sarcastically, to all you ungrateful ********* ******* ******* *************, "You're Welcome!" 

Our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln was a senior at Carl Sandburg High School with a record of 36-2. He dreamed of a wrestling scholarship from the University of Illinois, but he was only #98 on Willie's Senior Big Board. So, the lanky rail-splitter hopped a wagon train to the Northwest Territory to wrestle in the 9 stone 7 pound weight class at Fargo.

Old Timers say he wrestled like a furious shaved bear. 

The young railsplitter teched his way to the finals, setting up a match with the Virginia champion, Robert E. Lee. Well, my friends, that match was a sight! Over 40,000 fans, dressed in their Sunday best, watched while munching on boiled squirrel and pumpkin sandwiches. 

In the first period, Lincoln emancipated and proclamated for the full three hours, building up a sixty-point lead. During intermission, though, his corner had to reattach a finger, which had been chewed off by the Virginian.

Forty minutes into the second period, his reserves exhausted, Lee surrendered. 

HENCEFORTH and THEREAFTER a table was set up in the center of the mat, and Lee formally signed "The Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Wrestler Robert E. Lee." You can see this document displayed on the second floor of the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.

Seriously, President Abraham Lincoln is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is said to have had a 299-1 wrestling record. He was also 1-0 against the South, and without him, y'all'd be barefoot and eating grits and collard greens. 

Unless your state has its own wrestling Great Emancipator or Blues Brother or Rap Star get the **** outta my face.

17 hours ago, Dogbone said:

Are we pretending Universities are run like for profit businesses or like public institutions?   Not sure I follow the financially part of the question. 

 

Wow! I have to agree with you! I wrote that very poorly. In fact, it reads like you have to choose between a quarterback and a physics professor for your University President. This is what I originally wrote:

Quote

Financially, which would you rather have as a University President, a five-star QB recruit like Trevor Lawrence/Justin Fields or a Nobel Prize winning research Physicist? What if the choice was between a Nobel winner in Chemistry and a top football coach like Dabo Swinney or Mike Gundy?

Ouch. That's bad. What I meant was more like:

Quote

If you were University President, which would you rather have if your goal was to make more money for your university: A five-star QB, a Nobel-prize winning professor, or a big time football coach? 

My belief is that you would want the professor rather than the QB because the professor will be around longer, will attract better students (with brilliant ideas that can lead to patents), will attract better research partners, will attract more research dollars, and will help create more patents and other discoveries. I would want the professor over the big-time coach as well, mainly because a coach is almost never a sure thing, while a Nobel-winning professor almost always is. 

And no, I'm not pretending that universities are run like for-profit businesses because the fact of the matter is that they are run like for-profit businesses. Instead of going to shareholders, though, "profits" go back into the university, the endowment, or some other accounting scheme. Cheers!