dragit

That son of a bitch stole it!

The AA sponsor/forger double bonus! There is literally a Seinfeld, Sopranos, or Wire scene that covers every situation in life. Or Curb Your Enthusiasm - is Groat's Disease named for Dick Groat?

Yet Lou Gehrig got Lou Gehrig's disease.

While it's kind of weird for someone at Starocci's level to get so very worked up by an opponent nowhere near, some super competitive guys always look to find motivation somewhere. Watch Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame induction speech sometime - the pettiness and score settling byt this demigod with mere mortals is beyond cringing.

Is it OK on this college board to point out that Garrett and DeSanto scored one point less in their match than the combined scoring in the 7 non-fall matches in the Penn State - Iowa dual? Sorry couldn't help myself.

Agree that's his usual M.O. But I think that the fact that he usually wrestles that way doesn't mean he can't, if needed, rack up a big score on an opponent not in his class. If I was in the situation OSU was in I'd feel good about him being able to win by double digits. World silver medalist vs 26th ranked college guy, lower weights, I think the outcome of that match was the likely one. It was just a 2 point near fall (actually I thought it probably wasn't two seconds past 45 degrees).

That's why he missed the rowing meet. He was busy breaking down football film.

Yes but to be totally fair to readers of the board, you posited Lee giving up wrestling for coaching or AD as a possible key reason he wouldn't pan out in freestyle. Now you are talking about 8-10 years. There are two Olympics in the next five, suggesting that if healthy he could compete and then be considered for the coaching job. He's not going to be hired as athletic director without substantial administrative experience.

Good question - answer is yes, basically. I think that if Lee is physically where he was during the pin streak, he's got a much higher ceiling. And I think that even if Lee gets impaired by injuries, he could come close to DeSanto. So to me overall I like Lee's future better. But I am intrigued and hopeful about DeSanto's prospects, he is so dedicated that it would be great to see him at least in the mix for U.S. world teams.

That first guy.

That's a pretty good guy he was up against.

You're 100%, totally correct - there has been a lot of this on Hawkeye Report, and for a while. But I still consider exporting that beautiful and completely baseless romanticism here or anywhere else to be essentially a troll. The idea that a big state school in one of the two big athletic conferences is going to hire someone in his early (or really anywhere in his) twenties to be athletic director is the dictionary definition of absurd. And isn't Brands signed until 2029ish? Regardless, although it's possible he could be hired as an assistant right after he graduates, I wouldn't see Lee being considered as head coach until after the 2028 Olympics, so none of this would likely be the determinative thing that keeps him from pursuing a freestyle career. It's his damned knees that would be the problem if there is one.

Wait. You're saying the idea that a major university would hire someone in his early 20s as its athletic director is a troll job?

Wait there's an easier answer. Just make every wrestler watch this match before they go on the mat.

I get what you're trying to do with that rule but think it a pushout would be much better. The automatic stalling is still subjective - which wrestler do we hit with the call. Pushout rule is objective, and I think that's a big part of why it's been a substantial plus overall. This would be a good move. The lack of action in the 3 minute first period gets too many matches off to a bad start. The sport is suffering. Even Penn State matches have less action. I thought that the Tom Brands press conference on this, assuming I heard things correctly, showed the problem. First, his simple retort is that they sell out NCAAs so you can't say there's anything wrong with the product - college wrestling leaders, don't take this for granted, if you do it will be too late before you realize you've got a problem. Don't be Rod Blagojevich - I've got this thing and it's f'ing golden. Also he was asked and answered generally about moving toward freestyle. I don't think they have to move toward freestyle. They just have to add one objective rule, which freestyle itself added not long ago to address the same problem. This is necessary because the referees make it as clear as they possibly can, every single match of every single season, that they are not comfortable with aggressive subjective stalling calls being the answer to the problem.

Agree. Was frustrating to watch, though, just lots of stuff that went wrong - particularly at 184, couldn't believe that first period ended with as close a score as it did. I'll try to take your approach, though, and look forward to March, which does show promise.

Despite all these close losses NU still has a chance.

Probably not a great call to tell Thomas to start neutral in OT. I thought he had a better shot at getting out in 7 seconds than he did to take down Sasso in 30. Sasso looked pretty confident after they said neutral.

If by "done" you mean that his likelihood of winning a gold medal, which I'm confident he would have if he hadn't had any more knee injuries after freshman year, is very much in the air, I'd reluctantly agree. If you mean that he's not the clear favorite at 125 in Tulsa because he didn't pin bit rather only easily beat one of his few top rivals, not there with you. He's still the clear, although no longer invincible, favorite to win both championship 4 and Hodge 3.

Yep. They need multiple things to go right, but none individually are a big stretch. To me a lot of it is right up top if they start at 125. They need d'Augustino to be on his game and not give back one of the ones they're supposed to win.

Just wondering. And hoping.

I don't think McKee was close. Even at the very end with Lee at his most gassed he took his best shot and Lee just swatted him off with a whizzer. Lee looked like himself during the pin streak and I think would have handled any of the above just as he dominated Suriano in their national final. The issue is going to the bigger brace followed yesterday by him showing noticeable gimpiness with the right knee. That's what moves him from 95% sure winner before yesterday to something less - based on concern that the leg could get worse and he could then be vulnerable over 5 matches in 3 days against the best in the country.

All true. I'd even underline that by noting that said top 10 opponent and former 3rd and 5th place NCAA finisher hit Lee with a blast double at the very end of the match when Lee was gassed -- and still couldn't score, Lee is so good that he, exhausted, still fairly easily fended off a move that would have scored on anyone else. But! The big story to me wasn't Lee getting tired, looking a little ragged by his standards, and not getting bonus. It's what, I thought, caused those results - in my opinion his right leg clearly didn't look right, worse than it's been this year. He many times couldn't put it down properly, his movement and balance were materially impaired. I don't see him as as prohibitive a favorite as I did a week or two ago. I think they should considering load managing for the next month, MFF in later rounds to Big Tens if necessary. All the while acknowledging all I have to go on is what I see. His medical situation is obviously complicated. P.S. If you are an Iowa fan, exactly how frustrating to you is Jacob Warner? I've always stressed that in the end he does well for them when it matters most, but - Geez!!

This thread should be locked. Thought provoking, relevant, well written, substantive original post followed by topical, entertaining, and good faith back and forth. WTF?

!!!!!