TitleIX is ripe for reform

I have read that Coach Douglas traces his roots to what is now South Sudan, which has an impressive wrestling tradition. Here's a very brief (1 minute long) video of how South Sudan strives for peace among otherwise warring tribes by hosting wrestling competitions between them. Such showdowns are well attended.

I worry that restoring the 118 lbs. weight class would encourage unhealthy weight cutting more often than not. At least with other sports, folks who are "almost that light" aren't required to cut weight just to get to compete. There are pros and cons to the elimination of the 118lbs. weight class. I didn't see evidence of much resistance after the elimination happened though. I wasn't exactly ideally situated for detecting disapproval, however.

Was it a good idea to eliminate the 118 lbs. weight class in college that we had as recently as the late 1980s or early 1990s?

In this thread about boycotting Russia, someone brought up South Africa and racism as justifications for boycotts. In response, I put forth the effort to retrieve & share some assertions that have been submitted as facts by third parties. If only the MAGA crew does that, then that's not speaking well of other political factions, is it? That said, I'm proud of South Sudan for maintaining its strong wrestling tradition even after seceding and forming a new country. If only South Africa would embrace wrestling more. And if only Russia would let Ukraine have the freedom it wants. But admittedly the dissolution of the USSR 30+ years ago was done with haste. Still, the Ukrainians who would prefer to be with Russia could peacefully secede or otherwise relocate, couldn't they? I don't approve of Putin's murderous "solution," do you?

I'm glad to see that Patricia survived being shot and that her son learned to navigate the serious tribalism problem that plagues South Africa (and probably always has). Hopefully the upcoming autobiography movie about him will be grounded in truth.

Are you sure about that? The Koi and the San peoples (now reportedly heavily discriminated against by the Zulu) were supposedly the first humans in South Africa (even before the Europeans). It seems that the Zulu took over and ran off the whites with their anti-apartheid campaign, only to mistreat the Koi and San peoples during the aftermath. At any rate, the Koi and San peoples were reportedly not that abundant in South Africa when the Europeans reached it. Meanwhile the following has been published online and I've not yet seen it successfully refuted: "No pre-contact sub-Saharan African society ever created a written language, weaved cloth, invented the wheel or plow, or devised a calendar or system of measurement or complex math (arithmetic, algebra or geometry), built a multi-story structure, bridge or road or railway or ship, domesticated animals, exploited underground natural resources nor produced anything that could be considered a mechanical device until White colonizers did it for them. In sub-Saharan Africa the only countries that could be considered successful were White-governed, (Rhodesia and S. Africa). To this day they still can't even feed themselves even though they lived alone in Africa, a vast continent with temperate climates and abundant resources, for 60,000 years. So, they cannot blame racism, poverty, imperialism or anything else for their failures.” I can provide the source upon request. Meanwhile there's a narrative floating around in certain political circles (which love going after free money) that problems in Africa are the so-called white race's fault, and that whites owe reparations throughout the world. And then there are others who are puzzled about how forgetful some folks are: Isn't it remarkable how well blacks were doing in the USA as recently as the 1950s, before LBJ's New Deal (intentionally & conveniently) created so many dependents? https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/03/the_decline_of_the_africanamerican_family.html Personally, probably my favorite NCAA D1 wrestling coach of all time is Bobby Douglas (whose ASU Sun Devils won it all in '88, marking the only time any NCAA D1 national team title was won west of the Rockies). He went on to produce Carl, albeit from Ames. I'm impressed by pioneering achievement & progress, not pigmentation. As MLK said, we should judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Affirmative Action's become increasingly illegal in the USA so it's time to stop trying to encourage divisiveness & dependence. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has the courage to speak out and wager his political future on it. There are some wrestlers here who would do the same. But they're a quiet majority because others here would jump at the chance to call 'em racist, in part so they can feel less guilty about having drunk the kool aid for so long. Such kool-aid drinkers are the real racists though, IMHO. You hate Justice Thomas (who grew up impoverished in Georgia) for thinking and saying stuff independently of what you think he should be allowed to say. Welcome to the 21st Century....

Cal. State Bakersfield and Utah Valley U. are demonstrating, year after year, that teams can survive on lean budgets though. Maybe if power conference schools can be persuaded that that's a satisfactory pursuit. Excellence is measured in various ways, not just regarding championships won. Student lethargy & apathy resulting from a lack of athletics teams to inspire folks on campus are factors to be considered too. Is there a way to get more schools to embrace adding teams for their own sake, not just for championships that could consequently be won?

I've been told that South Africa was largely barren and occupied until the Europeans went there and colonized the place. Then some opportunists arrived and demanded freebies of the colonists' descendants. I've also been told that South Africa was not so barren and unoccupied when the Europeans arrived, but that there was a lot of unoccupied land available. With the ever-increasing influx of undocumented immigrants coming to the USA and demanding freebies, this sort of analysis will be worth revisiting as time progresses.

Might you have any proposed solutions in mind? As you know, raising tens of millions of dollars to switch from club to NCAA D1 isn't feasible...

According to this article, 65 countries boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow: https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sports-columns/ron-kantowski/1980-olympic-boycott-still-stings-wrestlers/ There are bitter feelings about that boycott to this day, as Lee Kemp can confirm. In 1984, a vengeful counter-boycott of around 14 countries took place during the summer Olympics in Los Angeles (including Cuba, East Germany and the U.S.S.R.): https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/los-angeles-1984 Nevertheless, around 140 nations participated in '84, which was (at the time) an all-time record. In the initial article, above, Lee Kemp points out the (for him painful) irony of how we eventually occupied Afghanistan for longer than the U.S.S.R. did and yet we didn't boycott our own Olympics or do anything like that. A criticism I've seen over the decades regarding the two Olympic boycotts of the modern era involves how such international events encourage dialogue and greater mutual understanding. That said, I don't think Vlad Putin could be swayed by such diplomatic outreach, do you? The U.S.S.R. cracked and dissolved within a dozen years after the 1980 boycott, too. Evidently its citizenry didn't trust or like the dictatorship government, and productivity was consequently out-the-window. I can't say that I oppose disqualifying the Russians from the Olympics nowadays. But there are tradeoffs to doing so. At least in 1984, both groups held their own Olympics. I.e. the U.S.S.R. held competitions anyway, as did the so-called "free world". Any thoughts?

That's an interesting observation. Thanks for sharing it. Well, U. Washington seems to have an active club program: https://ncwa.net/teams/uw Washington State's appears to be more active, though: https://ncwa.net/teams/wsu Meanwhile around half a dozen women's club team programs exist in Washington, as well. I see that the state of Washington has around half a dozen men's club team programs, too. That's really encouraging. What if Larry Owings got involved with the endeavor? Even if they don't achieve NCAA status again, the club program has plenty of in-state rivals to help minimize travel budget pressures. Heads up: It seems that universities at the D1 level don't just want a team, they want a GREAT team. That's very costly. The U. of Oregon's A.D. said tens of millions would be necessary. Fortunately we have the club team league nowadays.

Even if Tarleton State doesn't go the NCAA route, a club coach could conceivably earn a respectable living while making a favorable difference in a substantially underserved region for the sport (s)he loves. Liberty University's former wrestler (and now coach) Jesse Castro remains at the helm of the Flames' post-elimination club program: https://ncwa.net/teams/lib He was in charge when they were still NCAA D1, too. I am not aware that he's a volunteer. And they have a women's program now, too, suggesting more team growth's on the horizon. Texas is within driving distance of his native Missouri, but as for Palo Alto: not so much.

Notre Dame's also affiliated (to varying degrees depending upon the sport, I've read) with a conference with at least half a dozen wrestling teams: https://theacc.com/news/2023/9/1/general-the-atlantic-coast-conference-welcomes-the-university-of-california-berkeley-southern-methodist-university-and-stanford-university-as-new-members.aspx Clemson used to be a wrestling member until 1995 & Georgia Tech. until the mid (to late) 1980s or so. Syracuse joined the ACC after dropping wrestling. Boston College did something similar, but I'm not sure of the timing with them. Meanwhile there's been talk about Louisville's possibly adding wrestling... The same goes for incoming programs USC & UCLA, while Stanford already has wrestling. Southern Methodist University (SMU) is in a wrestling hotbed (Dallas) and might be a viable candidate, as well. Apparently SMU has never had a college wrestling program though, and they have no club presently, either: http://www.ncwa.net/teams

Lauren lurks... Might she have offered anything in exchange for Rep. Jordan's concession to Rep. Scalise? Enquiring minds wanna know.

I see that discussions such as this are taking place elsewhere, too. I reluctantly share the following thread, merely so that folks can see for themselves what's being said outside of the wrestling community (and quite possibly by saboteurs who miss having a speaker who cow-tows to the uniparty that's increasingly bankrupted the USA while enriching beltway bandit$):

And get injured. I've read that wrestling's the most injury-plagued sport in college. I wouldn't be surprised if that's applicable for high school too. I played football in h.s., and for me there were more injuries during wrestling season (especially the shoulders).

Isn't that list missing nearly a dozen teams? Or are some rather inactive this season? Hopefully the former.

Ice hockey's not popular in Idaho? It sure has been in Minnesota. OK, they're not exactly neighbors. But Canada is. That's a hockey haven, like parts of Russia (from what I gather).

That's a shame, on various levels. Thanks for sharing those insights (as always).

I wanted to go where I would have an empty slate, so's not to feel the mutual awkwardness of encountering someone when I wanted to encounter folks I didn't yet know (and probably vice versa, as was their right). Many say that college is supposed to be about branching out and expanding one's horizons. Nowadays, though, I'm happy to remain in contact with all of my post-high school exes who feel the same. I'd prefer not to see 'em with significant others though (and vice versa).

I've showed up but not been picked. I can't imagine why. But seriously though... huh?

Why so expensive? I recall the U. of Oregon's demand for something like $60 million a few years back. I call that a "pound sand" number. I understand that they want an endowment so that funding won't be a problem. But I also understand that lean operations can be cost-effective. NCWA club programs prove it time & time again.

Around a decade ago I read that Holm decided to sleep in a bed at some party. Either before or after his landing on the mattress, someone else (a gal) crawled in with him. I don't clearly recall if the article I'd read said they got together and then the boyfriend showed up, or what. Or maybe it said he says he innocently slept then awakened and departed only to get accused of stuff later. He maintains his innocence though, judging from more recent articles that I've read. That's disturbing for me. Plenty of innocent people have been executed, and plenty more (including female teachers, babysitters and neighborhood-embracing moms) have been falsely accused of being inappropriately affectionate (to use a euphemism). Our legal system purportedly embraces the ideal of letting 10 guilty people go free so that no innocent people will go to prison. But sometimes innocents get convicted, as you know. It's disturbing. Juries should have members who are willing to seek and view reasonable doubt where it exists.

Not all scholarships are created equal. Perhaps the scholarship didn't make up for the nevertheless higher tuition at the school you turned down. Or maybe the other school (at which you paid your own way) had other pluses, such as a high school girlfriend (or a few). I avoided one university in part because it had around half a dozen ex girlfriends or ex gal friends with benefits. Can you imagine walking into a party where all of them happen to be simultaneously? Yikes.

The thread's about the Ferraris. Otherwise, other wrestlers are included in the well wishes.