After a strong stretch he might pull the nurse's tape measure to 5'4" and he's proud in teetering in that dangerous post-125-pound obesity zone of 150 pounds with gravity tugging on his nipples.
This friend and I grew up wrestling. He was the partner that ran the extra sprints, logged an extra 45 minutes in the sauna and would scrap for points. He was also the teammate that would disappear for days on end, and when confronted by authority have an authentic tale of distraction, wrongdoing upon his vessel and only sprinkles of self-awareness of fault for his evaporation into the ether.
As lifelong friends, I'm not ashamed to tell him on the phone and in-person that I love him. Since hitting the road full-time I spend more time in Asia. I see him and his wife, and on occasion we meet up with a third childhood friend for vacations on islands.
It was such an occasion last week when my friends arrived to the vacation destination at 2 a.m. on a Saturday. The rest of the horde had arrived and descended on a local surf bar to imbibe tall bottle after tall bottle of light beach-styled beer. Properly loosened up for his arrival, which given his Batman-like acts of instant disappearance was not guaranteed (He once walked out of a bar in NYC at 11 p.m. and wasn't seen for three days. It was New Year's Eve and to this day his whereabouts -- his journey -- remain a matter of hot debate) we waited by the villa pool.
He arrived frazzled from an outbound journey that included hitching rides on motorbikes through Manilla. Hugs exchanged, we let the weary traveler and his recent bride crash in the room as we stumbled back to our respective mattresses. It was 3 a.m.
God's flashlight awoke me at 8am along with a confused humming of sounds. Like trying to read your iPhone during a 4 a.m. bathroom trip, I find my sense of hearing is often dampened first thing in the morning. After a night of drinking I can be excused if takes me a few extra moments to sort out light, sound and touch.
As the fog lifts the words "I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man" come into my mind's focus. A hip hop beat continues in the background and for a moment I'm once again confused: Why is there a hip hop song being played right now?
I pull the curtain to my room, which looks out over the small pool. Below I see my friend, teetering on the evil side of pudgy, skin paled from office lights and body littered with questionable tattoos from under-qualified artists with his arms raised high in the air, eyes closed and walking around the perimeter of the pool. The two speakers he'd commandeered for this personal performance sit blaring the words on repeat, "I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man!"
Were it normal circumstances or a less-charismatic, Quixotic human I may have groaned or yelled or worse. But it was my friend. My wrestling friend. So I slid open the doors, slipped on a squinty-faced smirk and told him what I really thought.
"I love you ... but you're fat."
I'm offering a copy of "Full Circle" to the first wrestler with the cajones to WALK into a dual meet with this song playing. You absolutely must walk.
To your questions ...
Q: Any word on exactly what the problem was with Logan Stieber on Saturday night? A second thought, the Buckeye young en's looked good in their debut.
-- Jerry M.
Foley: The medical team asked that he not wrestle. Unfortunately there are no official reports and no way to confirm. However, we know that he weighed in but was pulled from competition by the doctor.
Hope he is OK and feeling better.
The Buckeyes look thirsty and they showed in the opening weekend that they plan to win the NCAA title with the pedal smashed firmly against the metal.
Q: Do you like the Penn State coaching staff's decision to redshirt both Nico Megaludis and Zain Retherford?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Yes.
Nico Megaludis gets ready to wrestle (Photo/Bill Ennis)In my observation, the Penn State wrestling program is willing to risk a step down on the podium in 2015 to ensure unrivaled dominance for the next four years. But the real beauty is that the Nittany Lions don't win through conditioning, but technical skill. Thinking of how that will affect their rebuilding process, as opposed to the ass-slap-the-backup mentality that helped Iowa maintain dominance is, for me, very compelling.
Cael will also be presented with a new coaching challenge. He'll need to keep focused through whatever adversity careens towards the team, and keep his youngsters from falling back on the convenient excuse that they are losing as a team because many of their top grapplers are eating burritos at 4 a.m. and going to the movies with pretty gals.
The progress of these young talents and that overarching discussion of coaching ability and legacy will be a great storyline for the season, and postseason.
Q: Why you gotta hate on the Scuffle? bit.ly/scufflefield
-- Rocco M.
Foley: Ha. I think this screed needs the sarcasm font.
Like Midlands, the Southern Scuffle will be loaded with talent, which makes it appealing to anyone who loved NCAA wrestling. That "anyone" includes my lovely parents, who have purchased tickets to watch the Scuffle despite having no DNA in the fight. I'd say the prompt was that my my father likes watching the 'Hoos wrestle, but I'm getting the impression my mother likes to sit back and judge the "effort" of some wrestlers. This is high-quality entertainment.
Who knows, though. I've spent a year in-transit to cover wrestling tournaments in poorly lit gymnasiums with no bathrooms. I might be persuaded to spend my few days of family time inside a gymnasium in Chattanooga. Could be nice to put down the pen and just enjoy the competition.
This is a New Year's tournament. Do the fans have any insights into where we might enjoy a celebratory drink to welcome 2015?
Q: After watching the All-Star Classic what are your opinions on the experimental rules?
-- @Rhino184
Foley: The new rules were a good first step to improvement, but were not implemented with the gusto I thought it could have enjoyed.
The counts from a side headlock and drop to the ankle were well-executed and exposed those maneuvers for their obvious stall tactics. (Nobody scored back points from those positions.) I'd hope to see this called with more frequency and possibly adopted before the end of the season. Verdict: No-brainer.
The no-point escape calls did seem to keep more matches on the feet, which I thought prompted more action. Still, there is a strategy to manipulating this rule that hasn't been fully explored. It stands to reason that every reversal or takedown made near the out-of-bounds will result in a free release on the restart, especially at the end of a match. There was some threat of this rule affecting matches at the All-Star Classic, and without more understanding of how it'll be exploited en masse (we need a larger sample size) I'm hesitant to give a full-throated endorsement. Verdict: Wait-and-see
The out-of-bounds rules were a massive failure. Either the spirit of the rule wasn't carried into the referee instruction, or the writing of the rule was faulty. Look, I know that the NCAA hates black and white (ask them to define "amateur") but out-of-bounds should be, well, OUT-OF-BOUNDS!
When you have a boundary it shouldn't imply that maybe, kinda, sorta things can be in AND out-of-bounds because of an imaginary cylindrical sphere stretching upward to the International Space Station. Out-of-bounds means OUT-OF-BOUNDS and should be treated with a penalty. Let me layman's this for the non-wrestling crowd.
I'm terrible at golf (still better than Brian Muir) and every time I hit the ball OUT-OF-BOUNDS I take a stroke penalty. Perfect and clear guidance is provided by the rulebook, thus when I'm betting BIG money on the links I'm very conscience of going OB.
Here is a list of sports with a fuzzy boundary: NCAA wrestling
Here is a list of sports with clearly defined boundaries: All (minus NCAA Wrestling)
In college wrestling no penalty exists for going out-of-bounds, even as the rule has proven an incredible competitive additive in all three styles of international competition. Until it changes it'll be a lot of dancing on the edge and 3-2 matches with guys getting creative about how to lay on top of one another to ensure ONE POINT of riding time via #snoreride. Who wouldn't want to see that point come from a spectacular action on the edge of the mat?
Verdict: Failure
Q: Does summer training make winter champions?
-- @Rob_SwagginU
Foley: Only if you are willing to "leave it all out on the mat in March."
See you at state, bro.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Bourdain does Iran. Worth the watch, if only for the reference to traditional Iranian wrestling and challenging any misperception you may have about the beauty of the Iranian people.
Bourdain Unknown Iran by limukohou
Dude ... Wow
Two looks at Hakuh? and sumo wrestling. Mr. Phillips is one of the best sports writers on the planet and weaves a monster story. His story will win awards and mine will go (largely) ignored. He is cool. I am not. He is handsome. I am ugly. He has GIFS. I have Black and White's.
Foley: Japanese Sumo: In respect of domination and diversity
Phillips: Sea of Crises
Q: Do #FBF video clips of NCAA finals! A great way to get people amped for the season. What do you think are the greatest matchups?
-- @MallnOates
Foley: I like your thinking. Let me start digging these up and posting each Friday. Any that you'd want to see?
My favorite NCAA finals match? Don't call it a comeback!
Q: Should wrestlers get signature shoes if they never won Olympic gold? What about socks? What's the protocol for sock deals?
-- @JaroslavWrestle?
Foley: There is more to your question and it all stems from Tony Ramos and the Twitter machine.
To bring readers up to speed: Ramos queried why Daniel Cormier should get a shoe deal with CF Athletic despite not having won a gold medal, and who by Ramos' account ended up "missing weight" at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Ben Askren responded and took a hard line that the medals shouldn't matter and that we need to reinvest in the sport, something he felt CF was doing in signing Cormier to a shoe contract. He went on to confront Ramos about not wanting to wrestle in the hybrid-rule FPL, which ironically smelled a lot like a Dana White tactic -- someone Askren has openly beefed with on the Twitter machine.
But I digress ...
Cormier also tweeted though only to clarify that the Beijing debacle haunts him to this day, and that he in fact made weight.
It's short-sighted and self-defeating to claim Cormier doesn't deserve a shoe. As someone who writes at least one dumb thing once-a-week I don't fault Ramos. Twitter, like almost everything, has a learning curve and it was an ill-advised tweet. Maybe he regrets it, maybe he doesn't, but I'm sure it's not the image he wants out there and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
On a side note, #BreakBones
Q: What do you view as the best wrestling shoe ever made? My vote: Asics Gable Ultra XL.
-- Mike C.
Foley: Adidas Combat Speeds.
Next question ... :)
Q: The All-Star Classic used a random order. Why can't college duals use the same format? At weigh-ins, the home team gets first pick, visitors second, home third ... etc.
I believe it would have two effects.
1. It would keep team scores closer, longer. Coaches would pick winnable matches first.
2. It would usually push best matches last or late into the dual giving fans a buildup.
-- T. M.
Foley: I love that coaches would have to strategize, and though it's way too cool a system to be implemented by the NCAA I think it's worthy of a proposal.
Do consider that weight class alignment isn't just the simplest way to form a dual meet, but a fairly standardized progression of matches in many forms of wrestling. Think about it in a tribal sense. When asked to send out the best of a gladiator to settle a dispute, that would inevitably have been the largest man in the group. Extrapolate from there on your own and you will arrive at our current system.
Size, and what it says about your tribe (team) is a classic talking point of traditional sports. These are the biggest and baddest among the team and therefore have traditionally been given the spotlight. With collegiate wrestling and a shift in understanding of what it means to be dominant, the system could change to promote those wrestlers who score the most points, are most equally matched or will provide the most strategic advantage to a team.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
By Jerry M.
I looked at the NWCA rankings this morning and thought so many rankings are subjective, rather than based on some type of objective criteria.
InterMat along with Flowrestling are the two biggest of the ranking companies publishing their rankings weekly in season. I thought a subjective way to look at rankings was to think of golf, and the low score wins. So why not apply this to the rankings? In the charts below I took the top five teams as they are ranked by NWCA,(Actually also by InterMat and Flo) and took each of the ranked schools, by weight and input the ranking of the wrestler from that school (i.e. Logan Stieber No. 1 at 141).
If the school did not have a ranked wrestler at a weight the school was assigned a score of 21. As both InterMat and Flo rank each weight 1 through 20.
Hypothetically, this means that the team with the lowest score translates to the best ranked wrestlers. Iowa would be ranked No. 1 as they have a combined score (InterMat and Flo) of 148, Ohio State would be ranked No. 2 with a combined score of 162, and so on. I would have to grant that the individual InterMat and Flo rankings are subjective. However, looking the variables there is very little fluctuation in the rankings, usually only one or two points.
The exception is 285 pounds where Ohio State's wrestler is ranked by InterMat and not by Flo, making a nine-point difference.
It would make some sense that Minnesota is ranked No. 1 in other polls based on the fact they have three No. 1 wrestlers. However, that is quickly mitigated by the fact they have three weights without a ranked wrestler.
Is this "golf" ranking perfect not only no, but hell no. The great thing about our sport is that there are very few automatics. You have to step on the mat.
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