AgaveMaria

All hype and hope aside. Who wins the dual with Iowa next season?

Is this enough for him to examine what is actually working and make even small changes? This is the question I asked. I am not calling to Fire Tom. I do not hate Iowa wrestling. Was a fan when Danny was the coach and a fan of him on the mat before that - when he was Danny before he maturing and change to Dan. I am a fan of wrestling and see Iowa in a rut. Dan Gable was "one Way" to many but his way put guys with various talents on the mat on the podium. His "one Way" allowed for different types of wrestlers to do well and he had the ability to push guys to bring out their potential. Cael is doing this. Tom is not. Tom is not a failure nor is Iowa. It is small things keeping them down. Gable teams owned the third period. This is no longer the norm. Dan Gable benefitted coming into a program on the rise with Gary Kurdelmeier the head coach. Without it I think he would have still been great but it would have taken a few more years to fill out. Cael is great - but he wasn't great at ISU before the move, was he? Very good but still had to develop and moved to a place he felt would work for him. I believe Tom has the drive to do it. What we don't know and why I posted initially is WILL he make the small changes to get better results?

Can they make it through a winter?

No, I'm not cinnebutt. Not at all. Never, ever. If I bet I pay off. Tom is mired in the past and unless he modifies his approach and maybe some of his behavior Iowa will only get worse. Add in that Iowa can easily write a check to buy out his contract and bring in a new Coach and he has little rope left to hold on to. You don't forget where you came from or what it took to get there but ignoring the reality that what was good 30 years ago just might be improved by checking on and even adopting some of the advancements others are embracing successfully.

I think getting pinned by a Double Grapevine would be more embarassing. A bit more rare than a spladle and many on the mat haven't seen one in competition.

Coach almost breaks down at the press conference. Biggest accomplishment at the Big Dance is once again having ONE guy in the finals. No championship..., again. Yes there are excuses and Tom is holding on to them for all he is worth. Is this enough for him to examine what is actually working and make even small changes? Or will he keep banging his head against the wall, blaming everything else and do the same thing once again? Too many of his guys are not improving on the mat after the first year or two. Getting stagnant and maybe predictable. Not getting better, just getting older and seeming to settle for second tier status. Tom is not Dan Gable but does not seem to be able to push out of that mold and fine tune things to move forward. Even Gable his a stretch of a few years out of Title contention, but figured things out and made small changes and got back on top. Tom is not doing that - not so far. The question is - can he do it? If so..., WILL he do it?

I think Danny sat back and silently contratulated Cael for a great tournament and a good job coaching young men to excellence.

The first time one of Your Guys gets screwed by the time limit when an extra 30 seconds would have changed a call in their favor you will be on here crying more than a Catholic priest caught with a 12 year old under his robes.

"Iowa has always been “no excuses get better”, but the gambling probe was nothing but excuses. Brands never really took responsibility. It was just the blame game." ----------------- Contrast this with how J Rob handled the drug peddling trouble at Minnesota. I don't like what he did at all but admire him for proecting his wrestlers. Just hope they learned and straightened up after costing him his career.

Not to worry, Tom Brands is accepting that Iowa is a perennial 2nd placer and as such is hiring Dayton Fix as his top Assistant Coach since he has so much experience in that position.

Two Gable records Cael won't touch. Winning the Conference 21 straight years he coached and nine straight NCAA Titles. Most others are within reach if he stays as head coach.

Am hearing he is going to add Dayton Fix as his new Top Assistant.

If they are going after the ferraris they are either desperate or trailer trash refuge suffering from tornado damaged brains.

When has Manning served in the Athletic Administration? Hasn't he only been the coach?

No one stops the musician, chemistry and physics prodigies from transferring when and where they want. Why should athletes be any different? This is especially important for those whose Coach bails on the team for greener pastures.

f1.com where you can watch the greatest motor car racing in the world. Speeds from 33mph in the corners to 225+ on the straights. All this from an engine of98 Cubic inches and electric motor boost. So much information and so many camera angles you feel almost like you are in the car. Then you can watch as Freestle wrestling gets going. Not as exciting as College wrestling but a lot better than quilting competitions.

Has there been a time change? ESPN+ is showin the 2nd session has not started and it is 15 minutes past time. When I go on F1.com I can see hours, minutes and seconds until they start broadcasting... Don't have a TV and this is the first time I tried paying for watching the NCAA tournament. Have time changed for the start?

Crooham did not look good. Not on their feet and not on the mat. Hope it was just the "don't lose contact" and unfamiliarity, but he was not getting in on anything.

Earthquakes, volcanoes and rising ocean levels. Sharks and killer whales and deadly eels in the waters offshore.

Watched and they seemed content in not going for a pin. Nagao & the next guy... almost a joke on he mat considering the opponents. If Starocci wrestles like the first match he will end it as a 3 timer.

Looks like a few Penn State guys spent the past week reading their press clippings instead of working hard in the room. A team that in the past has been kown for Bonus points looks like they don't believe they matter.

If illegal & performance enhancing drugs are a problem have everyone tested the week before the tournament. Winners after.

It is the difference in Donald Trump having filed 6 business bankruptcies and calling it "smart business using loopholes" and finding the best pricing and suppliers. May be technically legal but it is not OK.

Mark Manning doing his Nikita Khrushchev imitation of getting mad, taking off a shoe and banging it on the chair/podium in protest?

How about we make it "Minutes on the Mat" rather than total matches? Twenty matches comes out to 140 Minutes of wrestling - if all go the limit & no overtimes. So, 140 minutes of actual mat time as shown on the clock. Injury time, lung time, shoelace reties and blood time doesn't count. Only that time after the ref says "Wrestle" until the end of the match counts. If you get a quick pin - you know you have to have some matches go into overtime to get your minutes. If you are an overtime type of wrestler - maybe you get along with fewer total matches? If you are Cael you search for ways to work the clock or find loopholes - and then only spring them on the competition when you wrestle Nebraska?