dragit

Emphasis on "at most"

If he wants to keep wrestling and can afford to, of course it's his preference. Whether he can be successful and make world teams is another question. The last match over the weekend shows why that's unlikely. He just wrestles very conservatively in important matches and invariably the opponent makes something happen and beats him. There is only one reason to think this might change -- a good year with the new coaches, if they can find a way to get him to open up. Maybe Taylor's example on the mat could trigger something and maybe Taylor's coaching could get him the confidence he needs in the key situations to score.

It's complicated. The Jordan comparison is interesting. I do think that Burroughs has some similar uber-competitive traits which are a big part of his success, and that that includes using perceived slights as motivation. I'll also say that I'm not a giant Burroughs fan, I was rooting for Marsteller, whose travails I find compelling. And I'm not crazy about some things about Burroughs -- the head clubbing, not a gracious loser, etc. I also disagree with the notion that he is the GOAT over John Smith. But nothing he does is anywhere near being outside of a normal and acceptable range in the extraordinarily competitive and high stakes world he inhabits. To boo him or show anything but the highest respect for his achievements and for his life is bizarre to me. He is not a complete jackass like Michael Jordan, who has no ability to control himself even years after retiring from competition (someone mentioned cringing at Burroughs statement about Starocci's knee; if you want to cringe yourself into a seizure watch and try to make your way to the end of the absolute embarrassment that is Jordan's Hall of Fame speech). He has always been completely candid about the zero sum game that is competition for the one spot on a world team, and he makes no bones about his view that he has to beat people on the mat to provide for his family (he's an earnest family man). This to me is way more valuable to the fan to hear than platitudes. He trains like hell, he fights through major injuries, and he supplements his physical skills with as good a mental game as there is in sports. Plus he's further contributed to the sport as a knowledgeable, insightful, and well-expressed announcer who can adapt to a range of broadcast partners from Jim Gibbons to Cormier. And I have no way of knowing for sure, but it's possible that his success in the early 2010s helped contribute to a surge of top wrestlers of color in recent years. If he wants to be a little ungracious and not stay above the fray with Messenbrink's antics (a guy I love watching wrestle) and be a little over the top in his interview with the it's me vs the entire institution of Penn State wrestling when it was mainly one guy who was way over the line, I got no problem with that if it helped produce the viewing pleasure of the clinic that Burroughs put on this weekend at age 36 against a strong field.

Lot going on with the Penn State thing, which seems to have started at the NCAAs with Starocci and then blew up in the arena at OTTs. I'm on his side, my view there was nothing wrong about what he said about Starocci as a potential competitor -- it gave insight into his competitiveness, which sometimes rubs people the wrong way, but should be understood for what it is and what it has produced: An extraordinary wrestler and an extraordinary man. All American wrestling fans should be grateful for his presence in and contributions to the sport.

Give the people what they want!

Well put

A four time what? Transfer?

I suppose if Ferrari could make the finals that his loss to Starocci could be interesting but mainly because it would be so surprising that he made the finals.

I'd put him at closer to 1 in 10 without Starocci in the field, and in the Washington Generals range against Starocci.

Don't worry about it. I believe the research suggests CTE comes from repetitive hitting. Training camp and a little practice squad work shouldn't put him in danger.

Just a remarkable person.

He is a titanic intellect. Tempered by his great respect for others' views and his ability to disagree and argue in good faith. And the ellipses punctuated such an effective writing style . . .

OK I'll imagine that. 20-25 points at heavyweight guaranteed. Potential high finisher at 197 if everything goes exactly right. But the more likely range of outcomes is somewhere in the range of mid AA to different guy wins the spot to gets thrown off the team to gets thrown in jail. And with a very high probability of hurting team morale under all scenarios.

I think the best athletes in the world (top tier at their sport plus athleticism) are probably Carlos Alcaraz, Jalen Ramsay, and Mookie Betts.

People, Gable Steveson is not going to play in the NFL. He knows it and if he doesn't then the NFL does. Hopefully he will wrestle again. I expect he will. It's the thing he can make the most money doing. It's also a noble pursuit with respect to which he is the best in the world, whereas he will not be particularly good, let alone great, at anything else he does. That is not an insult; instead it is a commentary on how good he is at wrestling.