Theo Brixton

I get the schtick. It's easier to be snarky. Daton Fix was/is a world-class wrestler. A world medal is a great accomplishment regardless of the circumstances. What I take exception to is using it as the basis of the argument that his performance has not been impacted by PEDs. He should have been on an upward trajectory, not peaking at 20. The eye test by me and others says he was better in 2019. That leaves one to speculate in light of his USADA violation. You like this pigsty well enough, how about some pearls for us swine?

These are the deep insights I expect from someone who calls it the "women's style". Thanks.

If there is more nuance to your argument than WORLD SILVER MEDAL, this nobody is all ears...

So when was "peak" Daton Fix vs. senior competition? I don't think his World silver is necessarily relevant. A 2021 World silver immediately after the Olympics in a non-Olympic weight? Who did he beat? An argument can be made for 2019 being his peak. This is when he beat Gilman, arguably his best domestic win. And HEW can absolutely be related to hormonal status. "Testosterone makes effort feel good". It also probably doesn't help to have his old man as his coach. Getting your ass chewed out by your father after losing is probably something that gets old real quick. I saw that up close in Nur Sultan and thought it was pretty lame. Who really knows what's going on. Maybe Mastrogiovanni stole his girlfriend and he never got over it?

Just waiting for Old Man Ferrari to pull the Billy Madison peeing-your-pants-is-cool routine by posting something lewd on social media to normalize his boys' behavior. Or maybe it will be Uncle Carmine...so many opportunities for degeneracy in this family.

Guessing he didn't find a suitable replacement for daddy's water bottle.

Whoever it was would have been ~10 years removed from the 1980 Olympics and he claimed the guy was in his 40s. Of the freestyle athletes, Peterson might have been the only one in that age range in 1990. But by the way it was described, it seemed like the guy was someone local. I guess you can't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

He seems like a great guy. I usually prefer comics in the style of Carlin or Bill Hicks but he is clearly talented and his routines are entertaining. Wholesome observational comedy with a Midwestern bent. Great delivery and impressions. He's a smart guy playing dumb which is always endearing. In his routine, he mentions getting the shit kicked out of himself in practice by a farmer named "Steve" that just happened to be a member of the 1980 Olympic team. I looked up 1980 team and didn't see anyone named Steve or even anyone that might fit his description. I am assuming he was just taking artistic license for the sake of the story but does anyone know who this person was (if it was anyone at all)?

Wow, a very good team. I expect Shapiro to be contending immediately in a weight that isn't particularly deep.

Let's see if they get a taste for poached gopher.

It used to be that the mentally ill were placed in psychiatric hospitals. Now they can be a brand ambassador for a multinational corporation. Or shoot up schools if they're not incarcerated (i.e. white). Perhaps we should address how, as a society, we deal with mental illness rather than clamoring to take away the one thing standing in the way from us degenerating into a fat, stupid version of China.

Meh, you and Vak aren't what I would call fanbois. Defining features of a fanboi (from my perspective): 1. Home team can do no wrong and are overly defensive when others point out valid criticisms. 2. Take perverse delight in the downfall/problems of rivals. The recent kerfuffle on Hawk Report is a good example of this. 3. Appear to tie part (or much?) of their identity and/or derive self-worth from accomplishments of a team for which they play no meaningful part.

Probably true for lower-tier schools but I would hazard a guess that many of the PSU fanbois have an even more tenuous connection to the school than that...

Gee, I dunno but I have to imagine that the last thing this poor girl wants or needs is for a bunch of pearl-clutching white knights to defend her honor by amplifying lewd comments made about her online.

Nah, not an Iowa fan per se. I admire the Brands but I like lots of people. The Brands definitely do not handle controversy and conflict particularly well but you don't have to be a cynic to realize this kid, for whatever reason, moves around a lot. To just chalk it up to Ferrari without further scrutiny when he was close to losing his spot due to a portal transfer is just naive.

Do you need to enter the portal if you are a grad transfer? Willie's Twitter indicates the window closed a few days ago so it seems unlikely at least for Ayala (unless they were already in).

There is a difference between knowing the kid is going to commit and active recruiting. And if it is true that he is not getting into school while apparently being accepted and on campus at OSU, which implies he passed the clearinghouse, it suggests the Brands are not going out of their way to help his admissions along. Of course they could have told Anthony to get lost but what would we have to talk about otherwise?

Everyone on earth knows Jordan. He is an icon and he is emblematic of the mixed bag of personality traits that make up highly driven champions. If an Olympic title in 1992 meant something to him, he was going to compete regardless of Thomas. And there is no way in hell someone with Jordan's mentality would allow himself to be pushed off a team by the likes of Anthony Ferrari. LOL, I am not even a Iowa fan. I admire the Brands but they don't need two of them on staff. That should be obvious to anyone.

Did they actually recruit Anthony? If Spencer's Barstool interview is to be believed, it came as a surprise to everyone.

My working assumption here is that the Ferraris had little, if any, to do with him leaving and were used as a convenient excuse. But the notion that two clowns, who have not and very well may not arrive on campus, will dictate where you live, train and get an education seems rather absurd. This is why I don't believe this is the reason he's leaving.

JFC, you think if being on a team with Thomas is what would stand between Jordan and something he wants, he walks? IDGAF about the Olympics in basketball and if Jordan was truly going to walk, neither did he. Clearly Jordan used his clout to prevent Thomas from joining because he could. And it was irrelevant to the team's prospects. But if that title truly meant something to him and the selection committee didn't balk, then Jordan plays with him. Clearly you aren't this naive? But Tom Brands should lose his job because a rolling stone decided to roll, right?

The number of shit takes you have is striking, even for a PortaJohn. While Jordan could be petty, above all else, he snarled. Someone with MJ's mindset, as a rookie, would have made it their mission to humiliate someone like Ferrari into submission or quitting. And he would have relished it.

LOL, his non sequitur proved my point. Chittum ain't Jordan.

I don't doubt that Chittum said these things. The issue is that a person providing quotes generally does so in a self-serving way (Larry Lee, anybody?). Clearly you don't believe everything you read just because someone was quoted in a paper, right? Do you think Chittum would admit that he is leaving Iowa because he is afraid he might not make the lineup? Let's get real. And Griffith was down to three schools, one of which was Iowa. So yes, there was most definitely talk of moving the lineup around. To think that it's not possible that it spooked Chittum is willfully naive. He allegedly ditched Minnesota due to far lesser threats. Can he even beat Siebrecht? I am not even sure he can do that at this point, in folkstyle at least. Will Chittum end up being a world-beater? Time will tell. But it doesn't take much of a cynic to realize that there could be more to this than simply not liking Ferrari. And if it is really true that he is leaving solely because of Ferrari, he doesn't have a constitution becoming of a champion wrestler. This is middle-school girl level melodrama that any sensible parent would slap out of their child. But it seems like it's being enabled, for whatever reason.