flyingcement

Kollin Rath should be a force too

We were fighting for the right to rename the English language as "American." Unfortunately there was a consortium of historians, librarians and school administrators who led a movement in the US from 1920 through 1950 that erased the claim made on the change in language. Even historical records were revised to act like this never happened. But we have been speaking American all this time. England is a nice place - as far as museums go. It's just not a place for modern commerce.

Oof let me guess - you sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War. I never thought about it, but you do have the air of a redcoat.

Also I'm guessing when he said football he meant soccer

this sounds like a challenge

@1032004 can be lacking in grace and perspective sometimes - fair but as I read this thread to figure out WTF was going on, what really jumped out at me was how much of a chip @LJB seems to have on his shoulder when it comes to 103. What's the story there? I can't see anything in this thread that would explain the level of animosity. I'm assuming there's some history elsewhere. That said, I do admire the honesty and self-awareness in the repeated GIFs of girls giggling in response to basically anything 103 posts. The visual is remarkably consistent with the behavior. If that's your preferred mode of engagement, by all means. Just own it.

Can you please change your posture before speaking? How can I hear you while you are standing like this

I love @Jon_Kozak for always being above the fray and trying to actually serve the customer base. College wrestling media companies could learn a lot from his approach.

If RAF was screwed by FOX, its time to get creative. Promise the viewers an extra bout for the next five RAF features to make up for what was lost. Something - anything - would be better than the cowardice of silence.

I was really hoping RAF could be the version of professional wrestling that didn't shoot itself in the foot. This recent episode has given me some serious doubts. The lack of acknowledgment afterward is particularly disappointing. If the issue was that RAF had its hands tied by Fox, then that's certainly unfortunate, but it also raises questions about strategy and execution. Allowing a network partner to put you in a position where your audience is left confused or frustrated, and then not addressing it afterward, isn't a great look. Poor strategy, failed implementation, and, unfortunately, a weak demonstration of character. I'm still hoping someone within the organization takes a step back, removes their head from their ass, and really thinks this through. If the internal mindset is anything like the RAFWiki response, essentially refusing to acknowledge that there was a problem, then I worry RAF is dead on arrival. We all want RAF to succeed. That's precisely why this has disappointed so many of us.

I have done a full 180. As a kid I had Notre Dame wallpaper and a Notre Dame starter jacket. I also had a Ron Powlus jersey (lol) As an adult I got my MBA from USC, but honestly I hate what both schools stand for in the sports world which is ultimately just being the entitled favorite by the committees. Always getting a free pass and the benefit of the doubt. As a college football fan, I'm a free agent.

That scenario doesn't really make it much different. Fox is the primary platform RAF chose to utilize in the US, which is their biggest market so far. If RAF allows itself to be put in a position where its network partner prevents it from delivering the product to its customers, that's still not a particularly good look for RAF. And do we really know the details of what happened there? Was this something Fox imposed that RAF had no reasonable way of anticipating? Was RAF going outside an obvious constraint of its network partner and simply didn't do its homework? I don't know, and I'm not pretending to know. But at the end of the day, the customer-facing reality is the same: RAF and Fox took people's money for access to an event and didn't communicate to those paying customers that they weren't going to receive what they paid for. Whatever happened behind the scenes may explain why it happened, but it doesn't really change the customer experience.

Did you mean to write that to someone else? None of what you said was responsive to any of the points I raised.

The executives don't report to the legal team - it's the other way around. Leadership isn't all down to one individual, but as a collective, the decision to not talk about it - advised by legal (as you say) - was a communication failure on their part. As I said, it's not the end of the world - I found a way to watch some of it. Not all customers are resilient, though. If you ask people to pay for something and they don't get it, you may have lost some already. It's just common business sense to treat clients with a certain level of respect and honesty. As I had already pointed out, there are different ways of measuring success for a global brand. But for next year's event in Moscow, this year's experience will have taught customers that the company is unlikely to be able to follow through on delivering to certain regions, just like they did this year. One year's advance knowledge that this isn't something the organization has been able to navigate is helpful for the more resilient customers who aren't already cancelling.

I have no issue with the idea to do this in Russia. I think sports can be a great unifier and the love of freestyle wrestling is something that can actually unite a lot of different cultures which are otherwise at odds. I think that going forward with this plan even though the ultimate broadcast reach may be very limited - also fine. If they are trying to grow a global brand, having a Russian episode is not a bad idea. The main thing that is frustrating as a viewer, is the lack of communication from the RAF to help manage expectations of American customers. I was able to catch some on YouTube. The Dake vs Kadik match was excellent. Would have appreciated a more open communication from RAF about how this would be going down, but whatever. I'm sure they learned a lot from this experience in terms of political sensitivities. I think they could also learn to communicate more clearly and quickly

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/rankings-overview 1 Central Magnet School Murfreesboro, TN

Pablo Macias from Cambell to Arizona Christian. I have also noticed that most other portal reports have sort of given up, but I am still grinding for updates with zero connections and almost have it all complete.

Aiden Beimel from Clarion to Penn State Behrend Billy Meiszner from UT Chattanooga to North Central Paul Woo from Ohio to North Central

So who is your favorite wrestler on Penn State then?

Least Favorite Team is probably Penn State but it would change to whoever happened to be the heavy favorite in a given era. Nothing particularly personal - it's more of rooting for underdog stories and smaller programs. Favorite wrestler on Penn State for me is Kasak or Desmond

Anders Thompson transferring from Oklahoma to Montana Tech to play football (as a running back!)

Tyler Garvin to Alvernia (DIII)

Trenton Donahue has medically retired

Nick Fine, Richard Fedalen, Joe Sciarrone, and Myles Griffin - all portal entrants from Ivy - have secured post-wrestling jobs and are moving on.