LJB

And history…

this has been known for a minute... the biggest impact will be for any athlete who considers competing in age group and seniors at the open... the oldest is only going to wrestle seniors at the open specifically because of the added importance this year... he is totally ok with that... and there is the real rub... many things that make considerably more sense with for the athletes and the organizers are not going to make the "fans" sitting on their couch happy, but, those "fans" are rarely "happy" about anything and rarely attend anyway, so, setting schedules with them in mind do not make much sense at all... i can tell you, extra tourneys being manufactured for a non-existent fan base does not make those in the game happy at all...

You reap what you sow…

i have started and stopped several different responses... i feel like my best/most appropriate/smartest/whatever response is just to say that timmy hands absolutely loves greco and for him to feel this fed up speaks volumes... he is not alone...

schultz and amos both have the same problem right now... they are still wasting time learning how not to wrestle... amos has the advantage currently just because we have very little depth at 97kg... rulon is coming back at 130kg this year... that adds excitment... and there is a kid aden attao who just picked up a bronze at U20 this summer while terrorizing heavies all across this nation...

i watched a YT video of war pigs where every still frame of art in the vid was created by one of these AI generators based off of the lyrics... horrifying is not too strong a word...

Tanner is out… the Rulon match will be slightly modified rule set… no par terre…

@Fadzaev2 you are wasting your breath... “Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it” -Mark Twain

it is times like these where i think to myself all these great ideas... all these "solutions" to the same problems wrestling has always faced in this country... all these grand proclamations about how it should be done... and yet... not one person with all these great ideas is doing anything about it other than hanging out on a forum... and that is a damn shame... all of wrestling's problems so easily solved... tsk tsk...

4 team titles in the women's style... 1 in greco... i know everyone forgets, but, it wasn't until very recently that the US as a "team" were not also rans... some bright spots for sure, but, not like it is now since some enterprising figures pushed the RTC format... RTCs definitely make USAW look like they are doing something that deserves real praise, but, are they really? i wonder what could help greco in this country? maybe some enterprising figures decide that it is up to them...

i have started several replies that i have scrapped for various reasons... mostly because a bunch of old guys whining on a forum does nothing to help... absolutely nothing... what is even more horrifying is that speaking to people involved in the program does not seem to have any affect either... personally, i am about ready to wash my hands of USAW... any guesses on how many in the greco program feel that exact way? this hiring process for the OTC coach feels like the last straw... i could spit out 2 names that were not even granted an interview that would make your head swim... form letters were sent out in response to their applications... we are talking about world and olympic medalists... there are not many of those in US greco, so, anyone could make some pretty decent guesses and would be right on almost all of them... again... i have no "inside" info on why ivanov "resigned" but clearly USAW and he were not seeing eye to eye on how he was conducting the search for a new coach... did he throw up his hands and tell them to kick rocks because they were meddling in his job? possibly... did USAW throw up their hands because ivanov was going off the reservation and doing some things that did not fit in with their "just barely support greco enough so we can say we are supporting greco" and (more importantly) don't cause waves and just show up and keep the machine limping along? possibly... either way, the events of the last couple of weeks, last year, last quad, last whatever are not being learned from at all... it is still a bunch of little kingdoms warring with each other over whatever scraps are thrown out the back door... the cattiness that goes on is similar to what anyone can witness on a daily basis on these forums... the comments i heard (secondhand) made by a coach at the camp this week made me want to punch a baby... they were in regards to one of our senior world team members... the lack of support and commitment was a little shocking... based off of the one conversation i have had with this coach, i was not surprised per se, but, still incredibly disappointing... so... what does someone who truly loves greco do now? well... some do their own thing... results vary...

i would not argue the call in cannon vs nasir in OT being questionable at best... but... no less egregious than the non escape call in the 2nd that led to a couple of backs that should have never happened... point being... whining about bad calls is long term counter productive... and whining about correct calls just because they went against the color of singlet you like is even less so...

I feel like exasperated is a decent description of the tone… https://www.fivepointmove.com/usa-greco/editorial-watching-dominoes-fall-forward-operating-base/

it was 1-1 in OT and lockett already had 3 cautions and a stall call on him... if he had been interested in wrestling he would have not have been in that situation to begin with... i don't think i have ever seen 4 cautions in a match... that is squarely on coaching...

"some people would bitch if they were hung with a silk rope..." - my grandpappy

i am pleasantly surprised... it is rare to read a greco post that is knowledgeable, nuanced, and not total rubbish... **tip of the cap** the ivanov situation is interesting... i was super hopeful when he took that job... then some things happened that i was not impressed by even a little... i have no knowledge whether this was his decision or USAW's decision, but, it could have been either just as easily... he was not making friends within the program... the world team camps last summer were awful... lots of coaches alienated with little to no tact... the actual training was suspect at best... large number of athletes not impressed and not looking forward to repeating that training philosophy... and most importantly, the results were the exact same... i was willing to look past all that having had good experiences with ivanov personally and knowing how little USAW actually cares about greco... gotta shake things up... cause some waves... and if people are not happy then that is what was needed in the program... clearly, the hiring process for the OTC coach was the tipping point... i was not even a little impressed with how that has been handled... how some clearly qualified candidates were not even granted an interview... it was not encouraging in the least little bit... and some athletes were told not they were not allowed to train with particular coaches... i heard grumblings about the OTC being used as a "commercial" for side businesses'... blah, blah, blah... point being the fit was not great and a large number of the greco community were not unhappy with last weeks news... i would encourage everyone to read timmy hands full thoughts on the twitter verse... they could have come from me word for word... all the issues in the program still remain, but, as the eternal grumpy optimist i see things happening that are going to impact the program positively coming up... we have a coach back on the scene that is proven, highly motivated, and showing the best technique in the country and there is not even a close second... he has some outside financial support and they are doing some things that no one else is doing at the moment... and... as important right now, rulon is coming back for a very specific reason... he could very easily turn some heads at the open... https://www.instagram.com/p/Clh0ZbisJ6f/