The Stanwestern Wolvercats and the Commodification of Wrestlers

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

Needless to say, anything that makes Northwestern wrestling fans cry is a big plus for me [See Figure 1 below], but the creation of the Stanwestern Wolvercats maybe goes too far. You've probably heard by now that Michigan has taken three wrestlers from Evanston's Big Ten Team and added them to their new Wolvercats lineup. 

THE JOE MONTANA PARALLEL

Additionally, the Wolvercats added a wrestler from Stanford, which is basically a West coast version of Northwestern, but for hippies. What Shane Griffith has done is a Joe Montana, going from sunny California to a dank Midwestern city that is home to the most overrated football coaches in history (Schembechler and that current fellow). See Fig. 2 below. 

To lure Griffith from the land of long hair and LSD parties, the Wolvercats may have paid more for him than San Francisco originally paid for Joe Montana:
 

Quote

"Joe Montana signed a 3 year, $255,000 contract with the San Francisco 49ers, including a $50,000 signing bonus, and an average annual salary of $85,000."

 

Is $85k the going rate? I don't know, that's a guess on my part. Including the outrageous cost for what folks in Ann Arbor euphemistically call "an education"--while boldly looking you straight in the face and without the hint of a smile--it may actually be more. Is this going to be worse than free agency in professional sports?

FREE AGENCY IN THE PROS

In college, there used to be a device called the National Letter of Intent, which a high schooler signed to join a university's athletic program. It was binding. It was basically a contract. Now, it may as well be called a "National Letter of Perhaps, or Perhaps Not."  

In the 1980s, professional sports saw the development of free agency. This was an end to the "reserve clause" in pro contracts which allowed owners to keep players for as long as they wanted. After the rise of free agency, a player could negotiate with other teams after his contract expired and not be bound to the one team with which he had originally signed. 

So, it appears that at the present time, even professional sports teams are more stable than college teams because of that initial contract. See Fig. 3 below, featuring Lionel Hutz. 

Today, in college wrestling, in football and in basketball, athlete movement can be as volatile as a swinger's party in Palo Alto before Aids. 

Take the case of Aaron Nagao. 

He was wrestling last year for Minnesota but then transferred to Penn State for this season. My theory is that he jumped ship because of my nickname for him, "The Gopher Choker." It was too damn good. He fled that nickname, knowing that "The Penn State Strangler" was basically a rip off of Nick Simmons and probably wouldn't catch on. 

As you can see in Figure 4 below, Nick Simmons seized that nickname and won't let go. Nagao, instead of embracing his new moniker, transferred to a new school to avoid it! 

That's right. He transferred schools to avoid a nickname. 

A MODEST PROPOSAL

Some folks believe that the pendulum has swung too far. Other folks don't know what a pendulum is. I suggest to the former this reasonable solution: Give wrestling coaches the authority to trade athletes to other teams for other wrestlers, cash and/or a practice room partner to be named later. 

With this authority, a coach could see that one of his wrestlers had entered the transfer portal, and, before that wrestler could come to terms with another team, he could be traded to a third team. 

Problem solved! 

It is either that or wrestlers can decide to choose a school with an incredible staff of PATRIOTIC AMERICANS who will value them as human beings and not as a commodity, who will mentor them, and who will work with them to become overall better citizens of this the greatest country on Earth, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. 

Kind of like the ILLINOIS staff. See Fig. 5 below. 

 

___________

 

CODA

I literally cannot recall whether I did the photoshop art (below in Fig. 6) for the three-time California state champion Nevills or the four-time Cali state champion Nevills. Or, was it the pure-blood wizard from Hogwarts? 

 

___________

The original article was posted on The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond here. Come for the wrestling, stay for the Pizza!

 

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

Why do people have such nostalgia for when athletes were chattel?

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

12 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Why do people have such nostalgia for when athletes were chattel?

Wrestler X wears the jersey for Team Y at the home dual on Friday, then jumps in his car to wrestle for Team W on Sunday. He is paid in bitcoin and pizza. Is that the future you want, Wkn? 

Where do you want to draw the line? 

Now everybody's breaking up somebody else's home. Before somebody else starts breaking up their own, let's set some ground rules. 
 

[Dark Energy]

Money.  It does things.  Much good, but also bad.  
 

When once we had colleges that sought to balance mind and body, that saw the benefit sport … the boost in esprit de corps, the creation of bonds within the school community but also  connections to their local communities and other similar schools.  
 

Student athletes.  Fun sport.  Good stuff.

Hmmm, and then … realizations.  Good sports teams help create active alumni donors … let’s invest and earn ‘revenue’ from the effort of these  student athletes.  Wait, we can sell tickets and get ad revenue!  Let’s invest more and make more money from them ….

And the slope was slippery.  Millions and millions made.  Powerhouses created.  Rich people with desire to influence and gain prestige are attracted like moths to the light. 
 

Early incentives are morphed and altered.  New incentives rise.  

 

[Tigerfan]

Every teaching certification program that I know of requires an unpaid internship of one semester before completion. This steep barrier to entry is partially responsible for the massive teacher shortage in the US. Yet it persists. Being a broke college student used to be a similar “internship” for prospective pro athletes. Millions of potentially great teachers and athletes dropped out or didn’t participate at all and pursued other avenues to make money. If the end goal is the best possible pool of teacher candidates or athletes, unpaid internships need to go away. 

[Southend]

1 hour ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Needless to say, anything that makes Northwestern wrestling fans cry is a big plus for me [See Figure 1 below], but the creation of the Stanwestern Wolvercats maybe goes too far. You've probably heard by now that Michigan has taken three wrestlers from Evanston's Big Ten Team and added them to their new Wolvercats lineup. 

THE JOE MONTANA PARALLEL

Additionally, the Wolvercats added a wrestler from Stanford, which is basically a West coast version of Northwestern, but for hippies. What Shane Griffith has done is a Joe Montana, going from sunny California to a dank Midwestern city that is home to the most overrated football coaches in history (Schembechler and that current fellow). See Fig. 2 below. 

To lure Griffith from the land of long hair and LSD parties, the Wolvercats may have paid more for him than San Francisco originally paid for Joe Montana:
 

 

Is $85k the going rate? I don't know, that's a guess on my part. Including the outrageous cost for what folks in Ann Arbor euphemistically call "an education"--while boldly looking you straight in the face and without the hint of a smile--it may actually be more. Is this going to be worse than free agency in professional sports?

FREE AGENCY IN THE PROS

In college, there used to be a device called the National Letter of Intent, which a high schooler signed to join a university's athletic program. It was binding. It was basically a contract. Now, it may as well be called a "National Letter of Perhaps, or Perhaps Not."  

In the 1980s, professional sports saw the development of free agency. This was an end to the "reserve clause" in pro contracts which allowed owners to keep players for as long as they wanted. After the rise of free agency, a player could negotiate with other teams after his contract expired and not be bound to the one team with which he had originally signed. 

So, it appears that at the present time, even professional sports teams are more stable than college teams because of that initial contract. See Fig. 3 below, featuring Lionel Hutz. 

Today, in college wrestling, in football and in basketball, athlete movement can be as volatile as a swinger's party in Palo Alto before Aids. 

Take the case of Aaron Nagao. 

He was wrestling last year for Minnesota but then transferred to Penn State for this season. My theory is that he jumped ship because of my nickname for him, "The Gopher Choker." It was too damn good. He fled that nickname, knowing that "The Penn State Strangler" was basically a rip off of Nick Simmons and probably wouldn't catch on. 

As you can see in Figure 4 below, Nick Simmons seized that nickname and won't let go. Nagao, instead of embracing his new moniker, transferred to a new school to avoid it! 

That's right. He transferred schools to avoid a nickname. 

A MODEST PROPOSAL

Some folks believe that the pendulum has swung too far. Other folks don't know what a pendulum is. I suggest to the former this reasonable solution: Give wrestling coaches the authority to trade athletes to other teams for other wrestlers, cash and/or a practice room partner to be named later. 

With this authority, a coach could see that one of his wrestlers had entered the transfer portal, and, before that wrestler could come to terms with another team, he could be traded to a third team. 

Problem solved! 

It is either that or wrestlers can decide to choose a school with an incredible staff of PATRIOTIC AMERICANS who will value them as human beings and not as a commodity, who will mentor them, and who will work with them to become overall better citizens of this the greatest country on Earth, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. 

Kind of like the ILLINOIS staff. See Fig. 5 below. 

 

___________

 

CODA

I literally cannot recall whether I did the photoshop art (below in Fig. 6) for the three-time California state champion Nevills or the four-time Cali state champion Nevills. Or, was it the pure-blood wizard from Hogwarts? 

 

___________

The original article was posted on The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond here. Come for the wrestling, stay for the Pizza!

 

 

Nice presentation. Lots to chew on. I think the trade suggestion takes tje control out of the hands of the student wrestler. Opposite of what’s happening now. Dealing student wrestlers off your team for another student athlete from another team. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

40 minutes ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Wrestler X wears the jersey for Team Y at the home dual on Friday, then jumps in his car to wrestle for Team W on Sunday. He is paid in bitcoin and pizza. Is that the future you want, Wkn? 

Where do you want to draw the line? 

Now everybody's breaking up somebody else's home. Before somebody else starts breaking up their own, let's set some ground rules. 
 

Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say.

[MPhillips]

2 hours ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Some folks believe that the pendulum has swung too far. Other folks don't know what a pendulum is.

This just about sums it up. 

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

16 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say.

I had hoped to run that schtick the whole day. Instead. Found out immediately. Cheers to you! 

[Wrestleknownothing]

18 minutes ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

I had hoped to run that schtick the whole day. Instead. Found out immediately. Cheers to you! 

You were in my wheelhouse. Elvis, The Clash, The Who, John Hiatt, The Replacements, Paul Westerberg, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams ...These are my people.

[moodybooty]

Will continue to read this report in a second, but wanted to clarify: Northwestern, also, is for hippies.

[1032004]

The Northwestern thing seems to be driven more by the free Covid year.   I wonder if we’ll see a little less transfers in wrestling after everyone with the extra year is gone.

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

17 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

The Northwestern thing seems to be driven more by the free Covid year.   I wonder if we’ll see a little less transfers in wrestling after everyone with the extra year is gone.

That is possible. We don't have much data, that's for sure.

The fact that they all ended up on the same team in the same conference kind of freaks me out.

[ionel]

1 hour ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

That is possible. We don't have much data, that's for sure.

 

ohh no!!  Don't say the word ... the word that shan't be said!

[nhs67]

Someone is salty as shit that there is a large gap between Michigan and Illinois (still).

The school and alumni are willing to do more so their product succeeds.

Let us be clear on one thing: College sports have always been a product.  The schools have been getting paid since their doors opened.  Some of the athletic departments have over $500 million in revenue each year.

Now the people making the money for the schools can get paid.  People are upset that some schools and alumni are willing to support their product?

Eat it.

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

32 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

Someone is salty as shit that there is a large gap between Michigan and Illinois (still).

The school and alumni are willing to do more so their product succeeds.

Let us be clear on one thing: College sports have always been a product.  The schools have been getting paid since their doors opened.  Some of the athletic departments have over $500 million in revenue each year.

Now the people making the money for the schools can get paid.  People are upset that some schools and alumni are willing to support their product?

Eat it.

Wow. I've got you talking with your hands. 

Instead of being angry, why not enjoy the humor in the post? Just don't dwell on the fact that you support a creepy Frankenstein team, stitched together from other teams. 

 

[ionel]

56 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

Let us be clear on one thing: College sports have always been a product.  The schools have been getting paid since their doors opened. 

I dont know about that but what about the new mascot, does anyone have a pic?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ionel]

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Caveira]

Compare NIL to European soccer.  Not exactly the same but similarities.   Plenty of teams are bought in their transfer market.  

[ionel]

3 minutes ago, Caveira said:

Compare NIL to European soccer.  Not exactly the same but similarities.   Plenty of teams are bought in their transfer market.  

Think it would be more entertaining if had a premiere league with relegation and a dual team championship, ought to also get ride of the ducking problem.  Think of the advertising, image monetizing etc.  But of course will never happen.  

[Caveira]

Just now, ionel said:

Think it would be more entertaining if had a premiere league with relegation and a dual team championship, ought to also get ride of the ducking problem.  Think of the advertising, image monetizing etc.  But of course will never happen.  

That would be an interesting way to determine teams that flow from d1 all the way to d3 / naia.   Relegation tourney would be interesting. 

[MPhillips]

Bottom three out of twenty drop down a division in the PL.

If DI dropped the bottom nine that seems like a great way to can more wrestling teams. The rich get rich the poor get children.

Arsenal beat Newcastle 2-0 to put them a point behind leaders Man City. Go Liverpool!

[nhs67]

2 hours ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Wow. I've got you talking with your hands. 

Instead of being angry, why not enjoy the humor in the post? Just don't dwell on the fact that you support a creepy Frankenstein team, stitched together from other teams. 

 

I did.  I am equally poking fun back.  I think it's great.

I also enjoy your blog and what you bring with that.

[ionel]

5 minutes ago, MPhillips said:

If DI dropped the bottom nine that seems like a great way to can more wrestling teams. The rich get rich the poor get children.

 

Not necessarily because can still have championships for the lower levels. The dual team structure gives other teams a better chance to trade for key wts to then have a chance to knock off a Penn St.  

BTW: Liverpool got lucky, two off the post.  

[MPhillips]

3 minutes ago, ionel said:

BTW: Liverpool got lucky, two off the post.  

They really miss Mane'.

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