CHROMEBIRD

Good stuff. I appreciate your posts, always knowledgeable and well-thought out. I think you might be smarter than Gable and Cael (j/k). I've also looked up a number of the old videos and matches you mention and have been enjoying them.

Hasn't participation in youth sports in general gone down over the last 20 years? I don't doubt that success rate (which affects enjoyment) is a factor but so have concerns from parents about cost, safety (CTE), and their own time commitment. Plus kids get a lot of stimulation and gratification from video games. But, I digress. D1 wrestling needs to fix its RPI algorithm.

That right there is the difference. Watching old tapes, it's pretty noticeable that a lot of the top wrestlers have been in the sport for maybe 5 or 6 years and just went out and brawled, as opposed to wrestlers today who travel the country, compete year round, and study positions from a young age. Kids today are very measured and slick, and look more comfortable in any situation. So many wrestlers in the old videos look clunky by comparison. I do like how the old school guys really went after it and scrapped, but today that can get you countered and stuck.

Barstool?? Oh, ffs..

Last I heard he was at the team banquet and was doing fine. Give him a little space.

Good points about PSU wrestlers praising Cael. The jury is still out for me again, because he doesn't really say much so it's hard to tell what's going on in his head. Iowa wrestlers similarly exalt Brands but I don't think he's a coaching genius. Don't get me wrong (I could never have said that on HR) I like Brands fine, but don't believe is he more than what he shows us. Gable was more. Cael might be more. I do get a bit of a zen master vibe from him, like maybe he says things to calm his wrestlers down and help them focus... but then Cunningham does the work to make it happen, lol. On the other hand, I think ol' Tommie could benefit from better support in the room than M* and Telford or even Terry. Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse. It's an interesting discussion.

Revisiting this. Someone made an earlier comment about making the preseason tournaments a ranking series to boost participation. Sounds good. Another idea: in this age of NIL could a group of people put together a pool of prize money so there's are financial rewards for winning or placing in tournaments? No idea if this is "legal" under NIL, just throwing ideas out there to boost participation and curtail MFF out of consis.

Revisiting this. One way to prevent ducking and encourage wrestlers to compete the whole season is to reform the RPI system so it has more impact for the postseason. For starters why not consider: Total # of matches (higher = better) Winning % Bonus % (or total dual points) Strength of record Quad 1 wins (home matches vs. 1-10, neutral matches vs. 1-15, away matches vs. 1-20) Opponent's winning % Opponent's bonus % Opponent's strength of record Strength of conference? Dunno Weight those factors and raise the minimum # of matches needed for an RPI ranking. Maybe add a "big match" credit where wrestlers who wrestle a Quad 1 match outside of the weight they compete at for 75% of the regular season... this incentivizes guys to bump up or move down a weight for big dual matches. In this age of analytics, I'm sure there are other metrics that could be incorporated. Anything to bring more excitement to the sport.

Nice. The riverboat casinos might be an interesting diversion, too.

Wow. I thought Roselli was starting to get a little traction with the transfer portal. Slightly bad timing.

Is this the old Country Club Plaza area in KC? Also if anyone is a T-Mobile phone customer keep your eyes peeled for perks as we get closer to 2024 Nationals. If the KC T-Mobile Center is like the one in Vegas, there are some pretty good benefits for subscribers like free parking, access to pre-sales ticketing, seating upgrades, "premium" event passes, private entrance, and other stuff. It varies by event.

Yep. Tsirtsis Northwestern to ASU, McKenna Stanford to tOSU, Dean Cornell to PSU... Was Seabass a grad when he transferred?

MAHO-NEY!!!!

Simple doesn't necessarily imply simplistic. As others have mentioned, Gable was tap into something and extract the most out of his wrestlers. You can also tell by the way he speaks that he thinks deeply about these things and put them into practice. I don't get that from Brands. He's a model Gable disciple and mimics what he's learned under DG but he has always come off more like a meathead than someone who spends time thinking through his coaching philsophy and style. That might help him relate to his guys, but that alone doesn't make him a good coach. As for PSU, I'm not convinced that Cael is on Gable's level as a coach, mostly because he doesn't say very much and it could be Cunningham doing the real work for all we know.

Yeah that was the year Ironside had the crazy comeback at the All-Stars against Kolat. I like the way Ironside ran off the mat after that NCAA match.

What's going on at Northwestern? I thought Storniolo was respected and well-liked over there..

KMF? Is that you?

Your comment reminded me of St. John vs. Ironside (1996 NCAAs), definitely not one of the best matches ever. Especially after bulldozing his way to the semis.

That's exactly right. Brands runs a Gable-style team in a world that has moved past that type of coaching. The powers that be wanted another Gable and ol' Tommie fits the mold like no other (well, maybe not Ironside). Brands has been trying to evolve his coaching style but it's been in inches rather than miles. Maybe he's being held back by the "Iowa Style" institution, maybe it's because he's trying to figure it out but doesn't know what to do. But I do think that Gable was much smarter than both Brands and Sanderson.

Come on, read between the lines. It was a promotional video from the Iowa Athletic Department to show the human side of a pair of fierce competitors and let their personalities shine through. Maybe also to blunt some drama around Spencer Lee earlier in the season, heh. People who only know Spencer from what they see on the mat don't know that he's not "all business" and is actually a regular, down to earth kid. Similarly, many might think of Caitlin as the hyper intense chippy b theyn see on the court, but we see from the video that she's funny, self-deprecating, and smart. Personally though, I wish Caitlin was team psychologist for ol' Tommy and Clarissa's kids. She competes with passion and puts up points like she was coached by Gable.

Also for those who drove in to Tulsa, how were the highways going in and out of there?

The year they held Nationals in NYC people were bitching up a storm about how difficult it was. St. Louis is fine and familiar, but a lot of people seem burnt out on that location.

Solid lineup. Impressive.

Could also be from the officials, coaches, and other folks walking on the mats in street shoes.

Yeah, Angel Reese (the LSU player) was talking after the Final Four about how Clark disrespected South Carolina, flicking her wrist and leaving her player unguarded, and she took it personally. Great game, though. And great tournament. I heard the WBB tournaments had the highest TV ratings ever this year. Now, if ESPN would go all-in on wrestling like they did with WBB this year they might be able to draw more viewers away from MBB which CBS has exclusive rights to.