basketball vs wrestling...

[Ace]

Look wrestling to an average fan is hard to understand. Any person can watch a basketball game without knowing any rules and get the idea of the points and start to understand fouls. Wrestling slightly more confusing for a person who again never saw the sport to sit down and watch it. So many more rules, and moves and then team points and etc. I would say maybe try to educate people about the sport and its intricacies.

[themat dad123]

Look wrestling to an average fan is hard to understand. Any person can watch a basketball game without knowing any rules and get the idea of the points and start to understand fouls. Wrestling slightly more confusing for a person who again never saw the sport to sit down and watch it. So many more rules, and moves and then team points and etc. I would say maybe try to educate people about the sport and its intricacies.

great thought!!!

[qcfan]

Wrestling has never been about the fans, the glamour, the names on the school sign... it's not about the flashy uniforms or the cute cheerleaders, wrestling is about pride, guts, determination and self respect... it is something that comes from within. Its about hard as hell work, never giving up, never stopping even though you are sick, or bleeding or injured, its about endless walls and practices and crunches and coaches screaming at you because they know what you have inside you. It's about never, ever stopping until you are on the top of that podium, because it's the best place to be regardless who is there to see it. Kids that want the fan buses, cheerleaders, and big hype at their schools play basketball. Real men wrestle.

[Ace]

Wrestling has never been about the fans, the glamour, the names on the school sign... it's not about the flashy uniforms or the cute cheerleaders, wrestling is about pride, guts, determination and self respect... it is something that comes from within. Its about hard as hell work, never giving up, never stopping even though you are sick, or bleeding or injured, its about endless walls and practices and crunches and coaches screaming at you because they know what you have inside you. It's about never, ever stopping until you are on the top of that podium, because it's the best place to be regardless who is there to see it. Kids that want the fan buses, cheerleaders, and big hype at their schools play basketball. Real men wrestle.

I understand it is not about the fans, glamour, or the names on the school sign......BUT when you have college programs getting dropped YEARLY, you might want to try and change some of those pre-existing notions!

[Warrior70]

Nice Thoughts...

Wrestling has never been about the fans, the glamour, the names on the school sign... it's not about the flashy uniforms or the cute cheerleaders, wrestling is about pride, guts, determination and self respect... it is something that comes from within. Its about hard as hell work, never giving up, never stopping even though you are sick, or bleeding or injured, its about endless walls and practices and crunches and coaches screaming at you because they know what you have inside you. It's about never, ever stopping until you are on the top of that podium, because it's the best place to be regardless who is there to see it. Kids that want the fan buses, cheerleaders, and big hype at their schools play basketball. Real men wrestle.

But this seems to be a shallow view. In my view, high school wrestling comes down to family, respect, and tradition. All three are dominant characteristics in most winning high school programs. When the wrestler forgets these three aspects, then the team is not successful. . . even if the individual is.

[pantherfan778]

I would have to agree with what you stated QC. That is what wrestling is about, however only a small portion. In a perfect world, people would feel they dont have to prove anything to anyone, but in reality...People do, kids do, heck many adults feel they do. Think about this. How many times have you seen state champs put up fingers after titles, celebrate, and do backflips? To me, all of these things are ways to demonstrate you want recognition. Am i disagreeing with any of these? NO! I feel we all deserve recognition for all of the things you posted QC, but truth be told, if you are not one of these elite wrestlers you wont get it. Why not do all you can to get support from your school and classmates and prove that even though you arent the elite star on the team, you are still a key factor on the team? With more fan base at meets, you are giving all of your athletes that time to shine under the "big lights" even if its not at Assembly Hall. On top of that, more fans = more money, which in return provides you more oppurtunities to travel to bigger tournaments, schedule that dual with the returning state champ thats would otherwise be to far/expensive to schedule, and do more as a team in the offseason.

[qcfan]

I understand it is not about the fans, glamour, or the names on the school sign......BUT when you have college programs getting dropped YEARLY, you might want to try and change some of those pre-existing notions!

I agree... I am amazed at the schools that do not have wrestling programs, and we are talking about some BIG schools, too... It is sad that kids who are talented get overlooked by glitzy, fan attracting sports. It is not fair, especially how hard these kids work... It is hard to attract a large fan base when there are so few home games in a season, too.

[Warrior70]

Dropped Programs

I agree... I am amazed at the schools that do not have wrestling programs, and we are talking about some BIG schools, too... It is sad that kids who are talented get overlooked by glitzy, fan attracting sports. It is not fair, especially how hard these kids work... It is hard to attract a large fan base when there are so few home games in a season, too.

Several of you are correct about the numbers of colleges and universities that have dropped wrestling programs. That is mostly due to a political and legal battle, thereby causing the symptom (lack of funds). I am certain that said aspect has been discussed in many threads over many years. I can still remember when the University of Notre Dame was given an endowment by an alumnus to restart the wrestling program. There were no finincial difficulties, since the endowment covered all scholarships and program expenses. They dropped the program a second tie for the same reason that it was first dropped: the political and legal problem (Title IX). we cannot place the blame for dropped programs directly on finances due to basketball and football. Look first at the causitive factor.

[themat dad123]

but also, why doesnt ESPN or any sport stations say what the dual scores were or anything like that either!!!

[Fatty13]

It is not in the interest of schools or ESPN to promote the sport when they can simply drop it and save money. If a sport doesnt support itself at the college level then at some point it will be gone! Unfortunately wrestling is not glamorous but as a former wrestler I can tell you it is not a good idea to rip on other sports.. like someone said earlier support your other school teams and I would be willing to bet they will support you. I remember wrestling in highschool and if the basketball team was out of practice or game they would come into the gym and check out the action. It has to be mutual respect, but you also need to know that wrestling is not a glamorous sport and will never be but thats what wrestling is all about toughness both mentally and physically without being praised for it. To any of the wrestlers on this board: Understand that wrestling will get you ready for the "real" world as well as any other thing you will do. When things get tough in your life you will have wrestling to fall back on and know that you can get through it. Don't worry about the glamour just go out have fun and compete and you will be better for it. Good luck to all the next three weeks!