MR TWISTER
11-20-2005, 06:03 PM
It’s been a while since I have penned a column. Just like everyone else I too am getting ready for the upcoming season that starts for most teams this Tuesday. While I have been away from the written column I have been busy conducting IMLive interviews with the top wrestlers (and college coaches) in the state.
If you have been listening to these interviews, which can be located on the home page, you are now able to put a face with a name. I used the InterMat Top Ten Illinois Senior list of Brandon Precin, Jimmy Kennedy, John Dergo, Dalton Bullard, Kyle Hutter, Mario Morgan, Brian Martin, Steve Dwyer, Caitlyn Chase, and Nathan Everhart as a basis for whom to interview. So many of the best are known on a one name basis but many fans never have talked to them or heard them speak since very few do television interviews available to all of the state. Others are not known that well at all. That changed with the IMLive interviews. The format was to present the same twenty question to these seniors and to keep the questions non controversial. With no desire to corner or embarrass a great wrestler I thought this would be the best way to go about the interviews. Could I of come up with more controversial questions like maybe asking Precin why Nick Sorigan transferred from Sandburg or asking Kennedy who wins the most when he wrestles John Deneen or Chase about how the males on the team treat her special because she is a girl? Of course I could have. But what purpose would it serve? I refuse to put these athletes in a professional media situation that may cause controversy provoked by my interview. And I don’t think their coaches or schools would like or want that. In fact many would refuse to be interviewed and we would have nothing. If people want these questions asked of a teenage athlete I feel they should call or approach these athletes themselves and ask them directly. I just want to present the wrestlers thoughts and personality to you the wrestling public. Now the coaches are a different story and I have been a lot more direct with the coaches. They can handle it and know when or how to answer a controversial question. The three coaches I have done, Mark Johnson, Dave Grant and Mike Polz did a great job answering the tuff questions.
Teenagers are not comfortable talking to the media (or adults for that matter) in any form, especially in a live situation. Most of these seniors have been interviewed by the local newspapers but those types of interviews are easier for the athlete because there is no type of recorded performance needed, just a writers interpretation of the wrestlers answers. The IMLive situation is different because the wrestler must think out a quality answer. I noticed that one poster on the AA discussion board felt that the questions were not well thought out and that the wrestlers were put in an uncomfortable situation. Nothing could be further from the truth. All questions are presented to the athlete prior to the recording and a lot of time was taken in establishing which questions would provide the most insight to the athletes without putting them in a bad light. All wrestlers are given the opportunity to eliminate a question, change a question or change their answer if they want to. I personally think the wrestlers have been champions in front of the microphone just like they have been on the mat. So grin and bear all dissenters because I have more interviews coming. In the future I have more coaches to interview; a few more of the top senior wrestlers and the top juniors will be next. One poster even suggested that I interview the average or non elite wrestler. We will see where this new format takes us and how much time allows for us to do before state.
I was at a big college meet this weekend, the University of Nebraska-Omaha (D2 National Champs) Kaufman-Brand Open. A lot of the top NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA and NJCAA programs were there. So many people from Illinois, wrestlers and coaches approached me telling me how they liked the interviews, this column, the discussion board and how they are following Illinois wrestling through this web site. I could just see a guy like Charles Lloyd away at Minnesota or Kenny Jordan at Nebraska or Brett Robbins at Northern Iowa just surfing over to illinoismatmen.com to see what is going on back in Illinois. It makes me feel an obligation to keep them informed on what is happening back home.
Another poster emailed me earlier in the week asking me how I manage to stay so positive. I try real hard to stay positive. In my life I have always seen the bright light, the positive, and the good instead of the bad. Although criticism is a part of the wrestling landscape and for whatever reason I have been criticized over the years, I strongly believe that when I am done, when I leave wrestling for good, the positives that I will leave the sport with will out weigh the negatives. Many negative people like to focus on my relationship with my son or my support for his teams, but to me that is so unimportant. I am focused on Illinois wrestling-all of it, College, IHSA, IKWF and IESA. As we speak I am (along with illinoismatmen.com) in the process of trying to bring the IHSA state individuals finals to everyone LIVE. I will definitely be broadcasting the finals LIVE along with Alvin Washington over the ISNet internet web site this Feburary. This will be our third year doing wrestling at the state finals including the team state duals last year but our first year going live. Now we at illinoismatmen.com are trying to allow you see the finals on your home computer. This is new state of the art stuff wrestling fans. Upgrade your slow computers for Christmas so you can enjoy the finals too. This would be a combined simulcast with ISNet and look for J. D. Oliva of 7 Minutes the movie to be heavily involved in the production of this. Nothing is final and everything is in the process of being worked out so don’t go crazy yet but so far all looks good. This is the type of stuff I am about.
I want to increase the presence of wrestling in Illinois any way I can. I was raised to believe that if you are not part of the solution then you must be part of the problem. The problem is that there is not enough exposure of wrestling in Illinois and the United States for my taste. I will continue to be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem, not matter how much I am criticized or what I am criticized for. Go to the home page and join me here at Illinois as the illinoismatmen.com webmaster Mike Bare is offering a spot on the staff for those that want to contribute in a positive way. Then you too can be a part of the solution like Mike Bare who stepped up when this site was about to go down, like J. D. Oliva who is making wrestling movies and producing state finals video, like Alvin Washington whose ISNet company provides those at home something to hear when they can’t make the finals or like myself, someone that just wants to help make wrestling better.
If you have been listening to these interviews, which can be located on the home page, you are now able to put a face with a name. I used the InterMat Top Ten Illinois Senior list of Brandon Precin, Jimmy Kennedy, John Dergo, Dalton Bullard, Kyle Hutter, Mario Morgan, Brian Martin, Steve Dwyer, Caitlyn Chase, and Nathan Everhart as a basis for whom to interview. So many of the best are known on a one name basis but many fans never have talked to them or heard them speak since very few do television interviews available to all of the state. Others are not known that well at all. That changed with the IMLive interviews. The format was to present the same twenty question to these seniors and to keep the questions non controversial. With no desire to corner or embarrass a great wrestler I thought this would be the best way to go about the interviews. Could I of come up with more controversial questions like maybe asking Precin why Nick Sorigan transferred from Sandburg or asking Kennedy who wins the most when he wrestles John Deneen or Chase about how the males on the team treat her special because she is a girl? Of course I could have. But what purpose would it serve? I refuse to put these athletes in a professional media situation that may cause controversy provoked by my interview. And I don’t think their coaches or schools would like or want that. In fact many would refuse to be interviewed and we would have nothing. If people want these questions asked of a teenage athlete I feel they should call or approach these athletes themselves and ask them directly. I just want to present the wrestlers thoughts and personality to you the wrestling public. Now the coaches are a different story and I have been a lot more direct with the coaches. They can handle it and know when or how to answer a controversial question. The three coaches I have done, Mark Johnson, Dave Grant and Mike Polz did a great job answering the tuff questions.
Teenagers are not comfortable talking to the media (or adults for that matter) in any form, especially in a live situation. Most of these seniors have been interviewed by the local newspapers but those types of interviews are easier for the athlete because there is no type of recorded performance needed, just a writers interpretation of the wrestlers answers. The IMLive situation is different because the wrestler must think out a quality answer. I noticed that one poster on the AA discussion board felt that the questions were not well thought out and that the wrestlers were put in an uncomfortable situation. Nothing could be further from the truth. All questions are presented to the athlete prior to the recording and a lot of time was taken in establishing which questions would provide the most insight to the athletes without putting them in a bad light. All wrestlers are given the opportunity to eliminate a question, change a question or change their answer if they want to. I personally think the wrestlers have been champions in front of the microphone just like they have been on the mat. So grin and bear all dissenters because I have more interviews coming. In the future I have more coaches to interview; a few more of the top senior wrestlers and the top juniors will be next. One poster even suggested that I interview the average or non elite wrestler. We will see where this new format takes us and how much time allows for us to do before state.
I was at a big college meet this weekend, the University of Nebraska-Omaha (D2 National Champs) Kaufman-Brand Open. A lot of the top NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA and NJCAA programs were there. So many people from Illinois, wrestlers and coaches approached me telling me how they liked the interviews, this column, the discussion board and how they are following Illinois wrestling through this web site. I could just see a guy like Charles Lloyd away at Minnesota or Kenny Jordan at Nebraska or Brett Robbins at Northern Iowa just surfing over to illinoismatmen.com to see what is going on back in Illinois. It makes me feel an obligation to keep them informed on what is happening back home.
Another poster emailed me earlier in the week asking me how I manage to stay so positive. I try real hard to stay positive. In my life I have always seen the bright light, the positive, and the good instead of the bad. Although criticism is a part of the wrestling landscape and for whatever reason I have been criticized over the years, I strongly believe that when I am done, when I leave wrestling for good, the positives that I will leave the sport with will out weigh the negatives. Many negative people like to focus on my relationship with my son or my support for his teams, but to me that is so unimportant. I am focused on Illinois wrestling-all of it, College, IHSA, IKWF and IESA. As we speak I am (along with illinoismatmen.com) in the process of trying to bring the IHSA state individuals finals to everyone LIVE. I will definitely be broadcasting the finals LIVE along with Alvin Washington over the ISNet internet web site this Feburary. This will be our third year doing wrestling at the state finals including the team state duals last year but our first year going live. Now we at illinoismatmen.com are trying to allow you see the finals on your home computer. This is new state of the art stuff wrestling fans. Upgrade your slow computers for Christmas so you can enjoy the finals too. This would be a combined simulcast with ISNet and look for J. D. Oliva of 7 Minutes the movie to be heavily involved in the production of this. Nothing is final and everything is in the process of being worked out so don’t go crazy yet but so far all looks good. This is the type of stuff I am about.
I want to increase the presence of wrestling in Illinois any way I can. I was raised to believe that if you are not part of the solution then you must be part of the problem. The problem is that there is not enough exposure of wrestling in Illinois and the United States for my taste. I will continue to be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem, not matter how much I am criticized or what I am criticized for. Go to the home page and join me here at Illinois as the illinoismatmen.com webmaster Mike Bare is offering a spot on the staff for those that want to contribute in a positive way. Then you too can be a part of the solution like Mike Bare who stepped up when this site was about to go down, like J. D. Oliva who is making wrestling movies and producing state finals video, like Alvin Washington whose ISNet company provides those at home something to hear when they can’t make the finals or like myself, someone that just wants to help make wrestling better.