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| Olympic Boom | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 4 2008, 05:35 AM (986 Views) | |
| gg121and2 | Aug 4 2008, 05:35 AM Post #1 |
Super Fan
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Will the Olympics impact American youth wrestling participation? http://gg121and2.blogspot.com/ |
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| grave digger | Aug 4 2008, 11:14 AM Post #2 |
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Fantastic
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I don't think so...... |
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| cwillaert | Aug 4 2008, 12:12 PM Post #3 |
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Fantastic
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Unfortunately you're probably right. Wrestling has an obstacle that gymanstics doesn't, that being multiple styles. There are too many wrestling fans who don't know or don't like Freestyle and Greco and only follow folkstyle for the Olympics to provide the kind of boost that gymnastics see during this time every 4 years. I wish that weren't true but it is. |
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| grave digger | Aug 4 2008, 04:11 PM Post #4 |
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Fantastic
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Exactly Chris....i just talked to a guy that took second at state a few years ago...and he said he doesn't even watch it on the olympics...because he doesn't understand the scoring system. |
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| nwsub | Aug 4 2008, 06:08 PM Post #5 |
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Fantastic
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Look at the numbers on the Forum's main page. You can see where the interest is. |
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| gg121and2 | Aug 4 2008, 07:28 PM Post #6 |
Super Fan
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But does that mean we stop trying? Jake Deitchler is such a charming, outgoing kid. Don't you think that club enrollments throughout Minnesota would increase if he were encouraged to visit elementary and middle schools around the state and describe his Olympic experiences? I don't know anything about Ali Bernard's personality, but just letting girls around Minnesota know that a women's Olympic wrestler is from New Ulm should have value. Have we become so jaded that we can't be inspired by Olympians? The 1960 Rome Olympics were the first I ever watched and I remember seeing Wilma Rudolph and Rafer Johnson and Cassius Clay. I didn't see Terry McCann wrestle, but when I read about him winning a gold medal and that he had wrestled at the University of Iowa, he immediately became one of my heroes. And then when he did a Wheaties commercial he achieved icon status. Can't that kind of thing still happen - if we work at it a little? |
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| Shane | Aug 4 2008, 07:38 PM Post #7 |
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Fantastic
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Coaches could help also. Some are probably just as unaware of the Olympic style as their kids, so those would have broaden their horizons. Those that are knowledgeable -should try and 'twist' some arms and get group (3-5) of their wrestlers to try it for at least a year until they understand the styles and then make a decision. |
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| nwsub | Aug 4 2008, 11:24 PM Post #8 |
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Fantastic
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We can try but it won't ever get very popular as long as the USA has folkstyle in high school and college. |
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| gg121and2 | Aug 5 2008, 06:09 AM Post #9 |
Super Fan
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I'm evidently not making my point very well. I think we're missing the opportunity by getting caught up in the difference in styles. It's the sport that matters - and the aura of the Olympics. I believe that an elementary or middle school kid that has not yet wrestled will be far more influenced by the "star power" of a message from an Olympian than by the technical nuances of folkstyle vs greco vs freestyle. Then once they join the club - most will want to wrestle the style that every one else is wrestling. The goal is to get them on the mat to try the sport. |
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| cwillaert | Aug 5 2008, 08:43 AM Post #10 |
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Fantastic
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I'm completely with you and in total agreement. In terms of sporting events there is nothing out there that does to me what the Olympics do. I've spent hours already watching the trials in many sports including wrestling, track/field, swimming and gymnastics. There is just something about those that are going to be wearing a USA singlet, jacket, speedo or whatever else and representing the United States of America on such an incredible stage. Recently a 21 year old made the comment to me "It's kind of weird to look up to someone that is younger than you" in regards to Jake Deitchler making the Olympic team. However across the country there has been such a huge emphasis placed on NCAA finishes that people don't really identify with our wrestling Olympians. Cael Sanderson still gets more notoriety from having won his 4 straight NCAA titles than he does for having won an Olympic gold medal. His gold medal seems to almost be an after-thought for most people. My son's name is Cael and just a couple days ago I was talking to someone at the Vikings training camp whose son was also named that and had the same spelling. I mentioned wrestling and that person mentioned Sandersons NCAA titles...any time somebody asks me where I got the name from I say I got it from Cael Sanderson, the Olympic gold medalist. The goal is absolutely to get kids on the mat. But most young kids don't understand the Olympics due to that fact of it only occuring once every 4 years. I have tried to make it a point to explain to my son to the best of my ability what Jake Deitchler is doing because I want him to understand it. With him only being 4 years old (he was born during the Athens games) this is the first time we can talk about it. We have watched many of those Olympic trials on tv together so I think he is grasping it. He knows that Jake is going to wrestle in the Olympics and while he doesn't quite grasp the concept of what 4 years is, he does know that he and daddy plan on being in London in 2012 for those Olympics. Going back to the star power thing for a minute...if you held an autograph session at Carver-Hawkeye arena with this years Olympians on one day and the 2008 NCAA championship Hawks team on another, which one would get a bigger crowd? I know that if you held that same thing in MN with Olympians one day and the Gopher team the next, the Gopher team would out-draw the Olympians. There were posts on here last year after the USA won the Greco world title from people saying that they don't identify with those guys because they're from all across the country and are just names whereas the Gophers were kids they could more easily identify with. Again, you and I are in complete agreement regarding the Olympics and the aura surrounding it. But we're in the minority on this. That doesn't mean we don't keep trying because I will absolutely keep trying. Ok, enough of all that. 3 days until opening ceremonies! My HD TV and HD DVR are all set! Let the goosebumps start and let the hair on the back of my neck stand up...because I'm pretty sure that is what is going to happen when I see Jake Deitchler enter the Birds Nest on Friday. |
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| Sharkey | Aug 5 2008, 03:33 PM Post #11 |
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Fantastic
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I think people are missing the point if they look at this as a freestyle-folkstyle thing. Wrestling as a sport doesn't receive an Olympic boom of youth participation because it's not on TV, not because it's freestyle or greco. Sports that receive a big boom in youth participation every four years are the sports on Primetime TV every night. Gymnastics gets a boom, wrestling does not. Beach Volleyball gets a boom, judo does not. Swimming gets a boom, cycling does not. It's all about TV. |
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| gg121and2 | Aug 5 2008, 06:47 PM Post #12 |
Super Fan
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I guess that's what I was trying to say in the blog. Wrestling doesn't get the natural boom that comes with hours of prime time coverage. But - we as fans, parents, coaches - whatever - can use the Olympics as a tool to interest others in this great sport. Personal example: My oldest daughter and my son-in-law are big MMA fans - primarily because they have a close friend that is a fairly successful fighter. For years I had to bribe my daughter to go to Iowa wrestling meets (and if you've read my blogs you know that I'm a 20+ year season ticket holder). My son-in-law had little if any respect for wrestlers - but loves MMA. I made them watch the Greco trials finals because they were visiting at my house and I was watching. My son-in-law is now a big fan of Jake Deitchler and when he saw the 5 point throw at heavyweight he became an instant Greco fan. These things can happen. As I said in the blog, if we really love wrestling, we don't have the luxury of being passive fans. We have to be missionaries. |
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| Sharkey | Aug 5 2008, 08:13 PM Post #13 |
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Fantastic
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I never read your blog. |
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1:37 PM Jul 11