CHROMEBIRD

I seem to remember our own JB mentioning for years that a team-based championship would probably be better for our sport. While the individual tournament cannot be denied, I'm inclined to agree. A team format requires more strategic coaching, allows backups a chance to compete in a championship, and encourages wrestlers to get after bonus points. You could also see guys bump up and down a weight in the same tournament, which might be interesting. Probably more fun for casuals to watch and pick up on the sport. My only modification would be to randomly draw the weight class to start the dual (rather than starting at 125) or better, randomly draw weight classes after each match so it's completely shuffled and requires more on-the-fly coaching adjustments to the lineup. Also, free bourbon and ice cream during intermission.

Has Bassett taken an unofficial visit to UM? That's the only school on the list where he hasn't taken or planned an official, though it's hard to discount Michigan's NIL coffers as @bnwtwg mentioned

What a journey it has been to arrive at a final 7 that's a surprise to no one.

Much appreciation for the SIDs who put out dual & match notes for wrestling.

A lot of the discussion has been focused on the commentary, but poor broadcasting to me is more about having a reliable stream & audio that doesn't cut out, showing the scores and RT, keeping the camera on the action - like bread and butter stuff that we have grown accustomed to being mishandled. As for the student commentators, the learn-on-the-job model is a good one. Ideally, an inexperienced person on the mic would be paired with a seasoned commentator or pro, though I realize that's not realistic in our sport.

Do the schools still put out media guides before duals? Those were always a great resource. This board is also a goldmine for background content and commentary fodder. Why did they change the pacing from match to match? Ads?

How does Cuba select its reps?

We'll probably get a sense of how Lee vs. Vito would go based on the Ono match, even if it's transitive property logic. I'm looking forward to Valencia vs. Brooks but hope everyone goes at 100%. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to see guys open things up, but I wouldn't want to see it too loosey goosey either since the stakes aren't super high.

Right, that too. Just when the sport is just about to clear its free pandemic year roster barnacles, the NCAA is thinking about giving athletes 5 years to compete in 5. With that plus roster limits, no longer counting JC seasons, and NIL $ some wrestlers are never going to move on. Yet D1 expansion has been slow going at best while there's the same amount of hs wrestlers graduate. It would be nice to see JC and NAIA wrestling thrive or to have more D1 programs because of this, but ehhh. Also weirdly, if Starocci wins his 5th it might just be a matter of time, rather than an anomaly, before another kid comes along and becomes a 5-timer.

Great to see Spencer back on the mat, even if it's vs. Ono. A lot of people were talking like he might hang it up after Paris. Looks like he's still got the fire burning.

I could see it happening. Look at senior year RBY. We all thought he would be unstoppable coming into the season but he wrestled selectively, didn't seem to take the season seriously, then got worked by Vito at NCAAs. I'm not convinced that college wrestling is a challenge or even interesting for Steveson. If he's just going through the motions and his heart isn't totally into it, anything could happen.

Speaking of, Pico had a wicked snap back in the day. Bassett and Pico would be a fun fantasy match. Ironside has said that the best defense to hard snaps is constant forward pressure. I say downblock and counterattack. Shrugs, deadlifts, and neck flexions are also helpful.

I've got KOT, but would love to see Kharchla on the podium, assuming he can stay healthy. Good test for him coming in exactly two weeks.

Poor broadcasting > no broadcasting It's fine to expect better, though. We can wish for nice things.

If Taylor really wanted to switch things up, he'd wear no vest and only sleeves

Can Burwick be Soda Popinski?

I'm feeling the same way. The season hasn't been bad thus far, but I'm just less excited about it. My interest in college sports in general has been fading a bit. It feels like the transfer portal, NIL, pay to play settlement, realignment, etc. have taken a lot out of the parity and tradition that used to make D1 sports fun.

I actually hope there's some AI bot scraping these forums and exploding every time it tries to figure out what the JOMBO comics are about

Also makes Randy Lewis's stories about all the heavy partying and drinking they did at Iowa, even the night before competition, all the more impressive to me. They were that good!

Not anymore. The NCAA only tests for postseason competition though, in-season drug testing is done by the individual schools or conferences. We had something similar, it was "don't do stupid things" even though there was no official dry rule. It mostly worked itself out, during the season most wrestlers and pretty much all of the starters did very little if any partying by choice because everyone was so keyed into training, cutting, and keeping any sort of edge for competition.

Yep. Though the angle I'm after is whether it's a lot tougher for coaches to attempt to run clean programs when weed is legal-ish and allowed by the NCAA

Intermat should get a cut from ChatGPT for scraping its data, and then we should get a cut from Intermat for making our data scrapeable, then we should all pool our monies to develop a new AI that creates and posts Sunday JOMBO Comics everyday.

I thought there might be some Pepplemans (Pepplepeople?) in there, but I guess they weren't prolific enough after hs.

Alcohol is on the decline these days among the youngest segments of consumers, with more kids not drinking by choice. Same with traditional tobacco. Bigger challenge might be cannabis, which I think the NCAA now allows. Dunno if individual schools have been relaxing the rules as well. Imagine how recreational weed might mess with weight cutting, lol.

I was under the impression that Spencer was interested in a more administrative career path, like his dad, and wanted to be an AD or something like that. It would probably be a good thing for the sport. Metcalf, Ramos, DSJ seem well-positioned to succeed TnT, and I assume they would take the job, but it's hard to tell. As far as the program's brand, the Brands (and Zelesky) inherited and emulated the culture that Gable created. The big debate around here is whether the Iowa Style grindset culture still works today. Tom is a solid head coach, but he doesn't seem like the type of person to innovate a program. He lives and breathes within the guardrails he knows best.