CHROMEBIRD

What's Alirez walking around at these days? He looks bigger than I remember

Lmao, "the ref!"

2 minutes Should we be angry or thankful that they're not livesteaming people eating their dinner?

Are they doing the panel discussion before they start the second half of the card?

What kind of shoes was Dunia wearing?

Quick first match - over before folks got into the ballroom!

Right. A federation could get stacked with transfer talent, but if Worlds was held every year for individual titles (with 1 rep per country) that would limit the # of switches. The current rules also only allow athletes to switch nationalities once at the Senior level, and I believe they cannot change allegiances if they've competed for their home country within the last 3 years.

Who would have ever guessed that we might see a Cass vs. Starocci in college?

You haven't fooled us, we know the difference between a new-forum TBar and an '82 Bordeaux, and our boy Hamms is the only one who spells asinine with a double S!

Or maybe after a year in the wrestling room he heads into spring football practice in the best shape of his life (or maybe with a headwrap and limp, who knows), right before pay for play kicks in for Fall '25

I think PK takes the starting spot over Gabe, as you suggested.

Hard to imagine him coming back and competing cold 3 years from now. Maybe coaching. Maybe he'll be a real estate flipper. Maybe a literal flipper where he physically flips a house over, then does a backflip before renovating and selling it.

Looks good, though I will be disappointed if Siebrecht sits.

Fun to imagine Gable shoestring tackling Tua and leg lacing him down the field

He took it higher.

I kind of wouldn't mind seeing Olympic wrestling was held as a dual-style team event, like the World Cup, with Worlds happening every year for individual titles*. That way, countries could have rosters with multiple wrestlers competing at a weight or at multiple weights, and it might restore ten weight classes to the Olympics since it would be faster(?) with fewer medals overall. Dunno if it would help expand the sport globally, though. * or maybe flip it so that worlds are team events every year and the Olympics are individual tournaments, idk

He does have a loud voice

Next week! 6/4 at 9pm ET (matches to start around 9:45). Not sure where or if it will be streamed

Between our WW and MFS, which team do you all think will bring back more medals vs. more gold?

For sure. The Red Bull world breakdancing championships has a pretty big following online so it wouldn't surprise me to see Olympic breakdancing get memed out and go viral since that's where the competitors and fans already live

I'm not sure if the cut is a problem. He's an actual tweener, isn't he?

Gable definitely has the size, speed, and athleticism but we'll have to see if he develops the on-field IQ. It's just wild to see an NFL team take a chance on a guy who put on cleats for the first time just weeks ago. I guess I'm also surprised that his stint in the WWE hasn't seemed to have hurt his marketability.

I believe independent contractors can unionize, though they can't collectively bargain and or benefit from NLRA and other protections, though states could (unlikely) pass legislation to allow it. OTOH, if athletes are treated as contractors instead of employees, it could grant them degrees of latitude that they don't currently have, like the ability to concurrently work (compete) for other clients (athletic departments) or to subcontract a portion of their work. I'm being hyperbolic and this is way out of my wheelhouse, but it does seem like slippery slopes abound.

The new rules are really going to stress test athletic depts' commitment to their Olympic & non-revenue sports, even in the Big Ten. Would Nebraska, Maryland, Michigan State cut wrestling to maintain a roster cap or pay higher salaries in football and basketball? Those sports are a big deal at those schools and they'll have to find the money somehow. They're getting a huge chunk of media money, but they'll have to reinvest it to keep up in the college FB/BB arms race esp with USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington in the mix, none which sponsors wrestling. I can foresee a separation of haves and have-nots even within the Big Ten and SEC. Like NIL, the new pay for play rules will be the wild west if it's just unleashed without a well-defined framework for it to work. I can foresee the formation of players unions ramping up quickly so athletes can negotiate and leverage salaries like the pros do, and maybe some friction with right to work and at-will employment in some states. Conversely, pay for play can trigger ruthless practices from athletic departments. If an athlete doesn't perform up to expectations or violates a rule, could they be "fired" on the spot, mid-semester? Will they be quick to dismiss student athletes who break rules (like the recent gambling case) and generate bad PR for the institution, like corporations do? Lots of details to be worked out, but it feels like a huge can of worms.

Probably similar optics in football where maybe all the bowl games make it feel like there's more parity than there really is.