Voice of the Hawkeyes Board

agree - it was not a great interview - and his analogy was correct (but people will take it the wrong way). but he is pissed way more than i am - and i would say things about other sports that are not even worthy of high school athletics that are in the Olympics.

FREEEEEAKING AWESOME!!

"Now imagine the wrestling community offering a tour of, well, what? An Alburnett (Iowa) High School dual meet? Actually, that might be pretty cool, except as good as the broasted chicken is down at Mahoney's, it might not meet the discerning palate of that IOC official fat off meals in Monaco."

i'm beside myself pissed off mad. I was pissed and throwing crap through windows mad when CSF (Fullerton) and Dan Hicks lost their program (along with other cal schools). Now i'm shaking my head at anyone/anything that thinks this is a great idea! Somebody justify this!

But this really could-could be a death sentence for college wrestling as we know it. and there will be little purpose for international wrestling competitions.

I don't know - i'm pissed is all that i know for now.

i have too much pissed off in me - to even begin to argue against the other "niche" sports without coming off badly.

Gable

A wrestler stands alone on the mat, awaiting his or her opponent. Teammates are on the side of the mat, fans are in the stands, coaches and even cheerleaders cheering the competitor on.

The wrestler on the mat is focused on the performance that is about to happen. He or she needs inner strength — a strength that has been determined by all the preparation done to date. The preparation that was coordinated, instructed, led and influenced by all those people mat side — training partners, coaches, parents, friends, boosters and all of the others that help prepare to make the wrestler ready. He or she stands alone, but they’re not alone. It takes a TEAM to get ready to perform at the highest level.

The executive committee of the International Olympic Committee cast its first vote to drop a world-wide and historic sport — wrestling. In doing so, someone stood alone. No single person, entity or group can do what is needed to move forward. It will take teamwork with many individuals, including people and organizations, working together for maximum gain.

In the United States, we have some examples that show how good teamwork creates results. The addition of 80-plus college wrestling programs to a once dwindling number is just one. High school wrestling has added more than 40,000 individual competitors in recent years. Women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport percentage-wise in the last few years — from 200 individuals to nearly 7,000. These numbers came together because of teamwork.

Freedom across the world is a result of many individuals working together and forming teams that then work together. Many of those who have paid the ultimate price for freedom have come through the wrestling ranks. We need to honor them and win this decision to have wrestling — the world’s oldest sport — remain a part of the most prestigious athletic completion in the world, the Olympics.

Wrestling organizations like FILA must work together with the executives on the IOC to help make important information available. It takes a team — yet we apparently are standing alone, thinking we are strong. We, as a wrestling community, better remember it is more than one individual that makes a winner. I never won anything by myself.

I was always strong because of help that gave me extra strength to win.

If we don’t stop standing alone, I mean really alone, we will be alone with no one to wrestle.

Signed,

Dan Gable

Great article from Forbes (not the one Brad listed) on why wrestling helps everybody's bottom line.

Ya and that is just in the United States, can you imagine the outcry from the insane countries that live on wrestling.

Japan is involved now as well, i mean for as big as wrestling is here, In Russia, Turkey, Iraq and Iran and all the other middle Eastern countries where they have nothing else to do but wrestle it is way more popular and those dudes are nuts, hell I am shocked there hasn't been any suicide bombings yet or threats at least

Exactly and he wears it on his sleeve, I love his passion even though it comes across as incoherent rambling at times, BUT that is when his best quotes come flying out.

Sounds like Russia is very pist of about this & Putin is leading a charge. I say us & Russia start our own Olympics & maybe get rid of 13 lame sports

Japan might host the 2020 Olympics. In 2012 they sent 13, and got 6 medals - 4 gold. I think they are not happy either.

Counter attacks starting to come together.