Jim L

Wasn't part of the controversy in Kurt Angle's gold medal match that his opponent could have got two points for a turn where the ref ruled it hand to hand, but his elbow possibly touch so it should have been 2 points instead the 1 that was scored?

Wasn't it a single leg? The upper body clinch was horrible as well. I think the best tiebreaker ever was the original thirty second ride out. I know it was not perfect, though the many changes have made it worse. Also for folkstyle, my opinion is that tiebreakers should only be for tournaments, bring back draws for dual meets.

Unlimited OT is not a good option IMO. Judo has this rule and it has become a travesty. In big matches it seems like more than 50% matches go into OT as competitors seem to wait for OT to really try to score (I see this is Folkstyle matches with tied matches later in the third period, both wrestlers seem to slow down saving a good attack for OT) Additionally with close matches in Judo it is really hard to score and then as competitors tire, it is even harder to score. Too many big matches end up being decided on penalties.

Using Chrome and ridiculous number of ads. Is there a setting to block ads?

There was a time when hand to hand turns where one point and turns with true back exposure was two points. Seems logical that if you are sitting up going hand to hand and actually not exposing your back there should not be points being scored

Its actually more than just weights and measures, lots of US standards are weird and arcane while metric (ISO) standard almost always make intuitive sense. Really hard to make any coherent argument for the Imperial system besides MERICA!!

I was in general agreement with you until the end. The imperial system is much, much worse than the metric system

The better wrestler would not have been taken down and put in a leg lace. Part of being a better wrestler in FS is not getting leg laced. How is that different than hating to see someone taken down and pinned in the first period in a folk style match and we never get to see who the better wrestler is? I get that you and many US wrestling fans don't think that exposure should be scoring moves. I don't see how FS exposure is that different from Folkstyle cheap tilts, to me see like similar level of control/dominance. I do prefer the old rules that locks had to be released And finally I have not watched that many FS matches decided by a shot clock, probably about the same number of folk style matches that get decided by a referee's arbitrary stall calls.

Sounds like definitive proof MFS is more popular.

I suspect in the most populous countries especially India and China neither FS or GR is widely popular. I have read that even in Russia wrestling is a niche sport and wrestlers are mostly unknown except in the Caucus regions.

Don't think so as I am not smart enough to find info from sites that have gone dark. I did check number of entries on a bunch of tournaments through the UWW and remember that in generals for most international level tournaments and many continental championships there were more FS entries than. Another hypothetical - if the US states were to split up into fifty different countries and then each new country send a full FS team did FS just get much more popular worldwide? Yugoslavia split into 7 countries and the USSR into 15. I think in some (most?) of these new countries GR is more popular than FS. Most of though have populations smaller than US states.

Henry Cejudo agrees

I looked for this evidence and never found it. Numbers of entries does not equate to world wide popularity. I am not sure what would be a better metric, but that does not mean we should rely on a meaningless one. I think You Tube view numbers might be more reasonable. For instance, there are three countries in the Baltics with a combined population of ~6 million, where I believe GR is the most popular style (but still probably not widely popular) and if they all send complete teams to the World GR championship that means GR is 3X more popular than FS is in Iran with a population of 88 million and a passionate fan base.

Most years, GR has more entries at Worlds than MFS … If there are more entries in Fargo GR than Folkstyle nationals, does that mean GR is more popular?

It is hard for me to watch a 6 minute wrestling match without hitting a FF if I have recorded it, I know IBBJJF black belt were 10 minutes which was always way too long for me, nevermind 20 minutes. There is no incentive to go hard and take chances, lots of waiting. Five minutes is plenty of time to decide who is the better grappler

I think the IBJJF rules are about right on the points systems. TDs count less than establishing a dominant position but count more than positive actions that does not results in scoring. An almost sweep, guard pass or submission attempt is an advantage than only serve as a tie breaker. And there are reasonable standards on how good the attempt has to be to count as an advantage. A successful TD is my opinion should count for more than a good attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful. I hate guard pulling but it makes sense it the context of most BJJ mathcces There are lots of other issues with the BJJ rules sets and how strategies have evolved around them. IMO BJJ is just not a spectator friendly sport and not sure how much they should really change the rules to make it more exciting for spectators.

Where is his parade in Puerto Rico? Only half joking as Puerto Ricans seem to take a lot of pride in their Olympic performance. I talked to a Puerto Rican who knew that a Puerto Rican table tennis player made the 1/4 final round this year. And he knew about Espinal getting a silver in wrestling back in 2012 without being a fan of either sport. SeaBass does seem to embrace his NJ background a lot more than his Puerto Rican heritage

General agreement, and as a ex wrestler/ judoka I won a lot of matches against guys who were "better" than me at BJJ by getting a TD and then not getting swept. Maybe I would eventually pass and then dominate, but many times not. Most BJJ rules sets worked for my style, even if it was a bit ugly when I got the mat

Other countries were usually much better at the lower weights than the US. i have a to think those countries still have undersized wrestlers.

Kerk's match went exactly as I expected with the BJJ dropping right down to his but and Kerk doing some reasonable attempts at guard passing but not really threatening. Kerk size strength and athleticism is impressive and even when he was out of his element trapped in guard, he is so powerful that he threw off the triangle attempts with basic posture.

Just watched Nolfs match and the BJJ guy looked relatively good on his feet. I would not say Nolfs dominated on the feet He seemed cautious about going all in for TDs as he was clearly outmatched on the ground. Even when Nolf got a TD his opponent was able to get right up if he wanted to

Not sure of your familiarity with grappling competitions, but a TD is not that big a deal, possibly a high amplitude throw might wow the judges. But a nice single leg shot where the opponent immediately goes for a guillotine or pulls guard should not really score style points. A top level grappler will be active from the guard, throwing submissions and attempting sweeps. Even if the wrestlers block and survive I don't think this will be what judges want to see. Either way, a judging system is weird to have in a grappling

I don't think wrestlers stand a chance with this rules set. Solid takedowns are not that impressive in the BJJ world. No sure how a high level wrestler looks impressive enough in the eyes of a BJJ judge to win a round. I don't how you judge a round where a wrestler score a basic TD and then is trapped in the guard and is able to avoid a submission for the rest of the round. Also, I think there is close to zero chance a high level grappler gets submitted by a wrestler while the wrestle is always at risks being put n an unfamiliar position and submitted.

The counter to that is that NCAA T&F is world class and the US athletes compete with the best in the world in college. The US is by far the best in the world in T&F. There was Olympic T&F event where this year's NCAA 5th made the final. I don't remember which one as there were so many NCAA place winners making the finals and winning medals. I don't have statistics, but I would bet there are 10x the number of Americans on T&F scholarships v. wrestling

Not a fan of video review in any sport, but I thought the official giving a detail explanation was a big improvement. The reviews went fairly quickly and the announcement and his emphasis gave it a little bit more drama.