CHROMEBIRD

So... don't follow the law unless you know someone's watching? Btw, this already happens today. People get tickets in the mail, after the fact, from traffic light cameras (running red lights), aircraft radar (speeding), transponders (toll gates and lanes), and other stuff. Is bluroptimo saying people who get caught should be let off the hook because they didn't know they were being monitored?

YM: "boneheaded." I wanted to see Nelson compete this year but the thing that rubbed me the wrong way was how he Tweeted all that stuff and made it sound like he was the poor helpless victim when we all know that as a family member of the coaches and someone who has been around college wrestling for pretty much all his life, he should have known better. When he said he skipped the compliance meeting, what was he implying? That he should be exempt from the rules? He knew full well that he has the advantage of his connections, being beloved by fans, and relative of a couple of Iowa's all-time greats and thought he could garner everyone's sympathy and rally support to get the decision overturned. Instead he embarrassed himself and the program, which makes me mad.

It's the WWE. Those terms could be limited by an NDA.

I wonder if she went full McDonough in private and tossed her medal in the trash. Is Ozaki the odds-on favorite to rep Japan at 68? That's a bit of a bump up from her usual weight. An Olympic matchup with Elor would be good, assuming they both end up at 68kg.

Hell of a turnaround on the surgery, he was literally on the mat less than four days ago. But I hope he's ok and the rehab goes well. He has under a year to get it together for the big show.

I LOLed Bravo!

I seem to recall him complaining about the cut to 74, though it might have been just been normal Dake-griping. But it sounded like it was a rather loathsome descent.

Temple Hill backburnered the Vision Quest reboot but it sounds like they're still tinkering with the idea, if not developing it at a snail's pace. There was a minor update about it last year, I think, and on the previous TheMat Forums someone shared a storyline one of the writers pitched to the studio in 2019: https://medium.com/@rodblackhurst/remaking-the-1985-film-vision-quest-well-trying-to-898b33d98ded

I am under the impression that Dake's cut to 74kg is not very pleasant for him, despite getting younger by the year. He's caught some some flak for his wrestling style but I think he'd be fine wrestling the same way at 79

Kim Reynolds is currently drilling in Cael's basement

Is Sadulaev actively serving in the Russian military? If so he gets a pass until he can focus on wrestling. But the topic is a reminder that Sadz is actually a bit of a tweener. Would probably have been a 92kg guy if it was an Oly weight.

Thanks for this. My impression is that in many of the other sports sort it out in international competition with a group stage and qualifiers that advance to a bracket. Works for the World Cup, but I no one wants the individual championships to go back to a pod system.

I'm with you on this, repechage sucks. The current ruleset has picked up the pace of matches and thus the tempo of tournaments. Having a standard backside bracket wouldn't drag on like it did back in the day. There's no reason not to have a full consis.

Ozaki's got some legit ears, btw.

That's wild. Has the OT selection process always been that way for Japan? Also didn't one of the Kawai sisters miss the world team similarly on a last second score? Some real hammers left on the sidelines in Japan. Just mind blowing.

What was Nelson's point in posting all of that?

Yeah I can see why he deleted those Tweets

I may need to pull together some supporting analytics and charts to pull him back

Ah yes, thanks for clarifying for us that Spencer was penfelled at Nationals. No one ever thinks about that.

Even if Starocci could make the weight, it's tough to imagine him making the Olympic team at 74kg. He may not even be the 3rd or 4th best 74 guy in the room with Dake, Nolf, Gomez, and possibly Zain. Maybe we'll see him wrestle for Italy if Chamizo is getting ready to hang it up.

I haven't really considered Final X byes but: 57 - Gilman 65 - Yianni 74 - Dake 86 - Taylor 97 - Snyder 125 - Parris

Maybe he's just passing through and will settle at 125 to make room for daddy Sadz

Why don't we see rent-a-wrestler type stuff happening with Japan like the Russian wrestlers in MFS? Japan is so stacked, it's hard to imagine other countries not wanting to poach some of that. Is it just a lack of local support elsewhere for WFS?

Mike Evans was up there for a hot second