boconnell

I agree that this Iowa situation is the worst thing that can be done in the current rules. I also agree that it was far worse on athletes in the past. I think right now athletes can collect large amounts of money that is mostly based on their college affiliation. Nobody is paying those guys to wrestle after graduation. They are paying them specifically to be associated with the university. As for revenue split, you have a point in football or men's basketball. Wrestling produces no meaningful revenue, so any pay is far outside of a revenue split. Good college wrestlers are getting far more right now from being apart of a college wrestling team than the schools are getting from the arrangement.

It would have been. It also would have been easier for the schools that got jilted by guys leaving for Iowa. These transfers might be the worst it can get in the current system. It's still massively helping the athletes compared to situations of the past.

It is. It's almost as bad as it used to be when guys got kicked to the curb in the summer and sat for 15 months.

What about when the school collects murky money as donations like happened for the past 50 years? I feel much better about athletes getting checks then I do about the boosters sending money to the university to spend on locker rooms and coaches who are the highest paid employee in the state. Should coaches be limited to one free transfer and have to sit when they leave more than that? The way it's currently being executed is awful and messy. Almost as awful and messy as the way it used to be executed. I wasn't driven away by how it used to be and I'm not driven away now.

I agree there are a few things that are tough on athletes, while the overall field is massively slanted towards the athletes. Lots of kids got recruited over in the past. They lost a year of eligibility if they transferred back then. This might happen more last minute and more sudden change, but it's still far more beneficial to the athletes then when nobody was allowed to leave without losing 25% of their college eligibility. A guy getting pushed out in August is bad. A guy sitting a full calendar year is far worse. The free movement has obvious downside, but it is still massively in favor of the wrestlers over the universities.

Do you think athletes should have the freedom to move and the freedom to earn? The system is heavily slanted to the athletes benefit (as opposed to the past). The fact that a few guys lose starting jobs while retaining scholarships does not change that.

If schools were using this to recruit over athletes while athletes were stuck in place, then it would be bad. But there is just as much or more of athletes using the portal to get theirs. If athletes don't owe anything to the schools that developed them and they can look out for their own interests, then I see no reason why schools owe loyalty to the athletes they recruited rather than looking out for the school's best interest. It is unadulterated free agency, and the athletes are getting more money, more control, and more choice then they ever got before. It might be ugly, but it's definitely not unfair to athletes no matter how many get recruited over.

If coaches should be removed for failing to hang with PSU, then fire everybody in the country.

I bet the national participation in the USA is the highest in the world. I would further bet it is the highest by a good margin. We just push athletic participation at a much higher rate than most large nations.

Among men Greco is the most widespread style worldwide. That is not the same as being the most popular. More countries entering a wrestler does not mean there are more people doing Greco worldwide than there are doing FS. If you looked at participation numbers in each nation, I'd be very surprised if there were more worldwide participants in Greco.

You mean the media guy reported stuff without asking permission?

There is no imaginary scenario that sends the 20-25 best recruits to Freestyle wrestling by choice. The fact that you were making an imaginary response to an imaginary scenario doesn't make it any more plausible.

There is zero chance of this happening. There are 6 male FS olympians every 4 years. The idea that 20-25 recruits a year would skip college wrestling to pursue those spots is absurd. You are inventing a fairy tale and then arguing what might happen if that fairy tale happens.

You're right Zain Retherford was only a World champ and not an Olympic champ. If you think that's a great point about how our system isn't working and somehow dominating internationally is at cross purposes with winning college titles, then there's no point discussing it further.

Why would anyone need to give up their NCAA title for an Olympic gold? What possible benefit could there be to giving up the title? Pico is the last guy mentioned and he fell down the ladder the further he got away from his decision to pass up wrestling in college. Our young guys are better than ever, and there is zero to suggest that folkstyle wrestling is holding them back.

The OSU forum also had some talk after Taylor was first hired that Williams had talked repeatedly about not continuing in the sport. It seems like he's just a young man who is still figuring out life. He seems to want a few different things that are not totally compatible. That makes him like most young men, but also makes him unlikely to reach all of his considerable wrestling potential. I'm sad to see him go. He was a ton of fun to watch. Every minute he was on the mat I felt like I might see that incredible duck under he hits.

Thanks for letting me be defensive and angry and not turning it into a thing. John Smith is definitely not about having fun. I think if you wanted to say he looked miserable lots of the time, I'd agree. I just don't think it was connected to whether he loved his guys (most of them at least).

It's absurd you keep pushing this idea that John Smith was known for hating his athletes. I've probably seen you say something like that a dozen times on here. It's a fairy tale with no basis in reality and I'm not sure why you keep saying it.

You're beating up a strawman here. Nobody is judging Williams. Almost every post in this thread is about Tayor and Cael. I think everyone is happy to extend understanding for JW and root for him to do well going forward.

How dare they charge money for a product that had value! They should have given it away for free forever because they once did!

I agree that some people like it and some don't. I am not sure of the percentages. I know I had enough after two years at the lowest level of college wrestling.

So people tell you it wasn't a living hell for them and your answer is don't act like it's not a living hell. You really can't accept that it's not the exact same for everyone?

Tell us you don't watch wrestling without telling us you don't watch wrestling. Burroughs hit far more singles in the last 5 years than doubles. He's extended his career through a massive technique evolution.

This comment says way more about you than it does about Zain. I have no idea what his health status is, but concussions are as serious as it gets. If anything I wonder what he was doing competing at all and not giving up the spot before the games.

I'm glad I don't have to wake up and watch tomorrow. It's nice to get the results early.