CHROMEBIRD

I've wondered if takedown scoring zones would add more excitement or at least mitigate a little bit of stalling and fleeing. Setup the mat as 3 concentric circles with takedowns in the bullseye zone (center mat) worth 2 points, then 3 points for takedowns in the middle ring, and 4 points at the outermost ring with continuation for OOB. Or maybe the points should be flipped to award more points in the center? Idk. But my thinking is that a wrestler sitting on a lead will want to minimize risk and not hang out at the edge of the mat, and force them to wrestle near the center rather than flee. No idea if this would work, I'm sure someone else here could game this out better than I can, but just some food for thought.

Yeah, that USC graphic also has some hidden fees, for example season parking is complimentary for the top 3 tiers, but the middle tiers (4-6) pay an additional $1,000-3,000 if they want to park their car. Tiers 7-9 aren't offered parking. California is supposed to have an "all in" pricing law now but that's just the seat + "required contribution" price; stuff like requiring a certain membership donor level just to qualify to buy season tickets, parking (since it's technically optional), etc. are still separate. I guess buying expensive season tickets might be a flex to some people, but even the pricing at lesser P4 programs seem a little out of step reality. That's a lot of money for 7 or so football games. I think the reason why the pricing is split between the seating and contribution is because of the revenue calculation as y'all say. The salary/spending cap is based on generated revenue. The contributions are basically fundraising and are to keep the athletic dept's lights on.

Wow. Ozzy, Theo Huxtable, and the Hulkster. These things really do come in 3s.

Also, check out USC's pricing model from last season. It's pretty crazy to see since they have Big Ten money (but also a Big Ten schedule and Big Wallet alumni). The sad thing is that with these sort of numbers, USC could probably bring back wrestling if they wanted to. The budget would be a drop in the bucket. But, market forces and running the department like a business and such.

My feeling is that pretty much all P4+ programs are doing that now in some form. Some programs just add on the additional fee; others bundle it into the price of seats, parking, wifi, etc. or spread it into higher concession prices. It's also a good idea to read the fine print because sometimes those donations are annual contributions that re-up each year. A guy I sorta know says his school has the regular season ticket prices and a variable per-seat fee, then another donation that gives you access to select-a-seat. There are different donation levels that (in combination with your prior season purchase history) adds up to "points" you can use to buy specific seats in a section. Then during a specific time window, fans pick their seats based on their total points, with higher point holders selecting first. He says it makes buying season tix a real hassle because they used to get the same seats every year and knew the people in their section. The whole process sounds like a nightmare tbh.

Lower the temp, easy on the top-p bro

What the? Another one??

Yeah, I agree with this. The last thing casuals want to see is a close but banal technical match won on criteria or something. Fans crave Spectacle Attachment Stakes So I don't see why RAF (or any other pro freestyle league) feels like they need to adhere so closely to UWW's format. Why not experiment and come up with something different but close enough to International Freestyle but with broader appeal? Fans are willing to sit through 100+ minute stretches of soccer players frivolously swatting the ball around just to catch a goaaaaal. Or a BJJ guy sitting on his ass like an idiot all match, only to finally see someone get caught in a submission. Why not encourage the same for wrestling? If casuals want to see wrestlers get pinned or tossed on their head, why not make slams legal, allow wrestlers to celebrate or even trash talk during breakages, or offer cash bonuses for pins? Also give casuals a reason to attach themselves to wresters. Create teams or play up wrestlers' affiliation with a city, region, or club that fans can get behind. Pro teams gain instant traction because a lot of fans, even if they aren't real fans of the sport, want to rep their city. And as others have mentioned before, there needs to eventually be real skin in the game for competitors. Title belts, a point system leading to a title, something. It would also help if the stakes were global and not just American as some might assume from the league name. And I'm not a big fan of sports betting, but that's another way of growing interest. People will bet on anything these days. I know this is all easier said than done, and next month's matches are just the first event. Just that, big picture, there's no need to be so strictly guardrailed by UWW's rules and that leagues have some interesting levers they can pull grow interest

Awesome stuff. A recent example that comes to mind though is Gable Steveson. Not that Minny is a crummy program by any means, but Gable was a generational talent but I don't think he propelled the program into the mix with the big three (or maybe he did, Idk how much separation there was pointswise between UMN and the top schools while he was there). It's probably not realistic to expect a generational talent to commit to a school without a great coach, but I hope one of the upcoming hs phenoms does it so we can see this play out.

Bob is weird, so idk about him specifically, but the two organizations have two distinct missions even though there's some overlap and they share the same facilities. One is general participation specifically for women & girls in the sport, the other is specifically to develop senior level freestyle & greco wrestlers. RTCs also have their own requirements and compliance rules with USAW (and maybe the IRS?), so having two entities might provide flexibility in the way they operate

The bill isn't really drawn around partisan lines and isn't a high profile piece of legislation (in the sense that it sparks engagement or sensationalism), so I wouldn't expect Trump to be interested enough to chime in either way. It has support and opposition on both sides, and narrowly made it out of subcommittee by one vote. The bill would essentially have a 60 vote hurdle in the Senate, if it makes it that far. OTOH, there's probably broad agreement and urgency in Congress for a standardized national framework, so there's that. The minimum sport requirement and antitrust waiver will probably help keep wrestling around. It'll still suck to be a non-P4 D1 program, but that's been well-hashed and rehashed in all the House Settlement discussions.

Idk, I feel like Northern Colorado could win a title if they hired Cael. I know a lot of pieces need to be in place, and he didn't exactly start with an empty cupboard, but Cael won a team title and had his first individual champion (Ed Ruth or Quentin Wright, I forget which) in his second year at PSU. I'd love to see a team try this and to be proven right or wrong either way.

Great to hear that he's on the cusp of going home. Any update on whether they discharged him today?

Just a guess, but the IWWC/HWC designation might just be the sponsoring organization that is funding the wrestler's travel, entry fees, etc.? Similar to the way some wrestlers are affiliated with a school/RTC but show up as TMWC at tournaments?

Good eye!

Something to keep an eye on: the NCAA and power conferences have actively lobbied Congress to codify a federal NIL framework, which brings us to the SCORE Act (HR 4312). The proposed legislation would: Prohibit schools from charging mandatory student fees to subsidize athletics programs and NIL (e.g., Cleveland State's $90/yr "save wrestling" tuition fee, Clemson's $150 athletics fee, portions of Fresno State's $495 instructional activities fee; but not "talent fees" and similar add-ons that are tacked onto season ticket sales) Require agents to register and carry a license, and caps their compensation at 5% of the athlete's NIL contract Require schools to cover all medical expenses for athletic injuries for at least 3 years after they graduate or leave school, and provide academic, career counseling, and financial assistance if they decide to return to college Keep the FBS 16 sport minimum (with at least 8 women's sports), applicable to any program with a coach that earns more than $250k/yr Block athletes from being classified as employees of the university based on their participation in sports Go back to the one-time transfer rule; multiple transfers still be allowed but the athlete would have to sit the season out Grant the NCAA, conferences, and programs an antitrust exemption, as long as they comply with the SCORE framework, mitigating further lawsuits based on anticompetitive practices So, a mix of good and questionable rules. The bill is still making its way through committee (current draft is here, for the legislative masochists) so who knows how it might be amended or modified, but I think expectations for now are that it'll pass the House and be a cointoss in the Senate.

How do you do, fellow wrestlers? There is no Carter Starocci here. It is I... Starter... Carocci... doing wrestling camps around the country. Please don't forget to stay off the internet until you've paid your registration fee!

Does ban_basketball have a new roommate? What happened?

PA LE reciprocating the Snyder bust in OH

Anyway, all the recent talk (not just in wrestling) of "affording" superstar athletes had me wondering, why not drop some serious cash on an elite coach and build from the ground up?

Thanks for those takes, @fishbane - that's interesting stuff. My instinct tells me that, if given a choice, spending the money on a GOAT coach is a better investment than a GOAT wrestler because a coach can instill a long-term culture, build a deep recruiting pipeline, and develop talent. They may also have more leverage with the AD to keep the sport well-funded for the long haul. But you make good points for the value of superstar athletes. Look at how Caitlin Clark changed wbb at Iowa. In pro sports, star players definitely fill seats and move merch, but I also think that there's less risk to splurging on "big pro sport" talent these days since we are in the moneyball era and unknowns about performance, fit within a system, etc. are mitigated to an extent; whereas in college wrestling we don't have similar quantifiable reassurances to fall back on. Imo though, a big reason for the salary disparity between the best players and coaches in the NBA comes down to basic supply & demand. Sports like basketball cast such a huge net that there are tons of great coaching candidates who could step in anytime and be very successful with whatever roster they are given. Maybe not so much with college wrestling, where the shortlist of elite coaches like Gable, Cael, maybe Taylor/JB/Dake/Nolf, etc. to choose from is a pretty small pool, esp relative to the # of teams. The market also prices coaches based on different metrics than players. Even under the CBA, athletes leverage their own stats and free agency to command premium salaries; opportunities for coaches, otoh, are tied more to overall team success (or the movement or firing of coaches elsewhere). I can see how guys like Spencer and Taylor have created or reinforced a winning culture and opened new doors for recruiting and other stuff, but at the end of the day I think top wrestlers are still drawn to a program and a coach, not just a big bag. The converse might also be true, but in theory a top coach could take raw talent and develop a kid into something good, whereas star athletes don't really develop coaches.

Was Nolf robbed? Seemed like he was robbed. His opponent was kind of a dick and I wanted to see him get wrecked

Alternate and in-between answers are also fine, like Spending the money to hire a mid coach and pay a pretty good, but not great lineup of wrestlers, with a chance of finishing the season with 10 mid/low-AAs (idk...) Dumping the money into the construction of the world's best wrestling facilities (zzz...) Putting the money into a long-term interest-bearing investment account specifically for wrestling (smart long game, but zzz...) Buying a bot farm to hype your janky team and spread disinformation about the competition (I like the potential...) Hiring a fleet of bulldozers to raze PSU and OSU's wrestling rooms (possibly the correct answer)

With all the NIL talk going around these days, here's a little bit of a chicken-or-egg (but maybe not) hypothetical for you all: Imagine that you're AD of a D1 program that is NOT one of the wrestling blue-bloods or traditional AA factories. A deep-pocketed donor wants the school to be the next PSU/Iowa/OSU/etc. and has earmarked a large sum of money that could be used to pay for a world-class coaching staff for 4 years, or fund the NIL/salary of a generational athlete for 4 years. Assume we're talking best-of-the-best here, like bringing on a coaching legend like Gable or a superstar wrestler with the high potential to be a 4xer and break Cael's NCAA record. Transformational talent along those lines. Also assume that the pay is high enough to lock-in the coach or the phenom wrestler and prevent them from being poached. Which do you choose, and why?

Until your senior year, you could've asked freshmen wrestlers to buy you booze. Missed lifehack.