peanut

Reportedly, Israel just launched an air strike on Iranian territory, killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh — ie, the leader of an Iranian-backed group — who was in Iran as a guest. I’m no expert on this sort of stuff, but it seems like Iran will respond. I have no idea what the response could be, but I assume it could potentially be big enough to affect the Olympics.

Olympic weights go from 125 pounds to 143 pounds. RBY competed in college at 133, and chose to go down to 125. So he had to lose 6% of his competition weight — which is a tough assignment.

Update: Apparently the scene at issue was a depiction of The Feast of Dionysius.

People are saying the opening ceremony included a version of the Last Supper featuring men in drag. If that’s true that might be why he stayed away.

Yones Emami was/is at +5000. However, he lost a close 2-2 match to Dake in 2022. Of course, he lost to Sidakov and Tsabolov last year.

He looked really good in Tokyo, until he hit Sidakov.

Sidakov taking out JB twice, Olympic Kadzi, and Dake is indeed impressive.

Tough to say. Sidakov caught JB when JB was already 30. IMO that was not prime JB.

Apparently Joe Rogan works out with kettlebells only. Is that a common habit these days?

Byes are certainly tough for challengers to deal with.

Tracy McGrady once told a story about Kobe. One offseason, apparently at a hotel, McGrady told Kobe that he was going to go work out. Kobe responded by acting like he was crazy. “What are you going to work out for? We’re in the offseason. You don’t need to work out.” McGrady eventually accepted that idea, went back to his room, changed, and relaxed for a bit. But after a short while he got antsy and decided to go lift. And once he got in the weight room, he saw Kobe lifting.

Only absolute wrestling nerds will care that Dake went 0-1 versus Sidakov and 0-1 versus Kadi, or that both were absent from the 2024 Olympics. They were both absent from 2021 worlds and 2022 worlds, and I have not seen anybody mention it.

If stating facts puts me in a certain bubble then I’m happy to be in that bubble.

On April 3, Trump — who was recently convicted of 34 felonies by a jury — said that undocumented people are “animals” and “not human.”

In Philly yesterday (6/22) Trump said he told Dana White that White should set up a “migrant league of fighters” and then have the migrant champions fight UFC champions. Very distasteful remarks IMO. You can discuss problems and solutions without dehumanizing people.

As of now, according to the IOC, Sadulaev is out.

As of now, according to the IOC, Uguev, Kadzi, and Sidakov are out.

Who wins Olympic gold @ 86kg, 97kg, and 125kg?

Who wins Olympic gold @ 57kg, 65kg, and 74kg?

According to an article in The Athletic, school administrators believe that when universities share their revenues with athletes, the amount shared does not have to be equal between individual athletes or teams. Of course, football and to a lesser extent men's basketball are the moneymakers. So I expect any revenue sharing to be built to benefit those programs. However, according to the same article, when universities share their revenues with athletes, school administrators also believe that the amount shared will have to be equal between men's and women's teams. So for every dollar of pay a school sends to an athlete on a men's team, another dollar will go to an athlete on a women's team. That will be amazing for the women who get paid -- but, of course, it will result in less money being available to non-revenue-generating men's sports like wrestling. All in all, I think it should be obvious that wrestling is in for a tough time.

Don’t be a dork.

Currently there are reports that an antitrust lawsuit will involve a settlement in which schools pay athletes going back a few years. I’m not sure about the details, but it seems that the general trend is for college football and basketball teams to operate more and more like minor league teams. And if male athletes are making bank, will that require equal expenditures for female athletes? I don’t know. I doubt courts have considered that question. At any rate all or nearly all wrestling teams operate at a loss. They get money from football and/or basketball revenue, student fees, and taxes. It’s been socialism all along, folks. But in this brave new capitalistic world — perhaps with added mandates for equal expenditures for female athletes — it’s hard to see how college wrestling survives in its current form for much longer. I don’t know what college sports will look like in 20 years, but it probably won’t look like it does today. Athletes might be considered school employees for purposes of collective bargaining. Some might be unionized. Some will certainly make millions when NIL is added to the mix. Big schools might even legally separate their moneymaking teams (or all teams) from the school. If elite high school basketball players are more tuned into paydays, they might opt for the NBA G League or overseas leagues more and more. Who knows? But whatever happens, it looks very likely that more schools will eventually drop wrestling. Time to get your kids out of wrestling academies and into the library.

A few things Steveson could consider: Return to college wrestling Enter the freestyle circuit Play a year of college football and hope to make an NFL team next year (seems bad for brain health) Pursue making an NFL team or NFL practice team (seems bad for brain health) Pursue MMA (seems bad for brain health) Pursue a career outside athletics

With regard to boys HS wrestling in 2023, California had the most participants and Texas had the third most. With regard to girls HS wrestling in 2023, California had the most participants and Texas had the second most. Based on participation numbers alone, it seems like those two states are deserving of better college opportunities. Just my opinion.

Penn State was not good until Cael took over. That’s why it was a giant, but sleeping. In a fantasy world it’s possible to see lots of schools become elite, based on a number variables working right, but obviously it’s not reality.