slingshot

Coaching?? Really??... Great facilities and coaches are obvious advantage in any athletic activity.. However, anyone who has ever coached will tell you that the greatest gift he can receive is a room-full of Tough Competitors. They set the tone for the room, lead with a great example, provide great competition for other studs, maintain a high level of intensity (or be crushed ), and show the next generation of studs (JV) what being a Champion looks like everyday. There is NO substitute for the intensity and technique that is at a high level in that practice room every day. THIS is the advantage of these schools. The ability to take the quality wrestlers that you already have, then sprinkle in a handful (or two) of transfer studs, and voila,...Tough practice room,..everyday! Several years ago, I remember Baylor's X-country team.. Already tough as heck from the year before, they "picked up" the Individual State Champion from Alabama, and a National Triathlon Jr. Champion for another Country! Great facilities and Coaching? Yes... But the ability to engineer a higher level of practice partners from across the State, Country .. and World? PRICELESS!

Let's play "make-believe" for a minute... There's going to be a fist-fight.. A real brawl! 10 men against 10 men.. Each team can practice in the best facilities with the Coaching staff of your choice... The best of the best! It will take place in a cow field in 6 months.The only catch is that your warriors must be selected from the street on which you live and within a 3 block radius. The team that you will face may also select from their own street,..or from anyone from any county within a 100 mile radius. MMA fighters, U.T. football players, bar-bouncers, Coach T posters...you know,..tough guys! If you can be fair-minded, just for a second, get a mental picture of these two groups squaring off in 6 months.....Your team, comprised of men who happen to live around you vs. a group of hand-selected fighters with proven abilities based on their past acheivements.. all brought together to train with and sharpen one another for battle! I think that this is the frustration that some feel. While this is exaggerated of course, the principle is the same. Okay, what if each team was from their own street, but certain teams were allowed to add only 3 "outside" fighters to their line-up? ... and those fighters were George St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Randy Couture. Think it would help the team's chances for victory? BUT..! Your team is allowed to be "passionate" and work REAL hard! Fair now? Would you show up with your mouthpiece in? Oh, and at the fight the following year, you'll be without 2 of the only decent fighters you had because during the off-season they "decided on their own" to transfer to Team St. Pierre...Ouch!

As a wrestler, I don't know what have embarrassed me more... My mom getting on this public forum to complain about the officials or the fact that there is an accompanying video of me getting flattened, hammerlocked and pinned! uhhhh,..Thanks?

Is there a ranking for best run-on sentence, free of punctuation??...(just saying)

Hey,guess what?....We totally agree. Remember the excitement of the parade of Champions, both at MacClellan gym and at the Roundhouse? Everyone close to the floor, yelling and cheering for their gladiator as he came around? Dang good times and great memories!

Ok, TNWrestling.. Todays word is SARCASM. The poster was making the point that, in his mind, the #1 determining factor in deciding the venue for the State Tournament should be Double Elimination, even at the expense of other factors. While I agree that double elimination is a good idea, so is the idea of offering these young men an environment that is exciting and electric in which to end their season or even their high school careers. Yes, the ag center offers double elimination, .. but No, it does not offer an exciting, intense atmosphere. In a perfect world, obviously the best answer would be a double elimination tournament in a better venue, but of course, we all know that.

So, by your reasoning, a TRIPLE elimination tournament in an open cow field would be even better? Or maybe a QUADRUPLE elimination tournament, but it's held in a swamp!. Or maybe,....... nevermind.

"...and I would have gotten away with my claim, too,..If not for that pesky BB Branton and those "FACTS" of his!"

Quinn Gibson from Bradley? 4X State finalist, losing to senior Kevin Ward (3X) as a Freshman, then reeling off 3 State titles of his own.

Everyone acknowledges that many parents are easily fooled, selfish, and irrational when it comes to their own child and allowing that child to have consequences to their actions. Funny thing is,... No one believes that they are that parent!

I'm not sure that Grillz is a Bradley fan. I can make a ridiculous statement, then end my post with "Go Blue Raiders!", but it doesn't make me a Cleveland fan. It would only serve to falsely make the Cleveland program look bad. If Grillz IS, in fact from Bradley, let me assure you that Coach Smith and company would not condone him running down a young wrestler who is trying to improve himself. Either way, it's poor form.

Speaking of creating conflict where none exists because it winds your clock,.... What does Logsdon "retiring again" imply? Why the quotation marks?

Probably is a nice kid and undeniably a very good wrestler. Just funny how we conveniently want to just "forget the past" when it suits us, yet will use it in the drop of a hat if it can help an argument of our own. Did you hate History class in High School? After all, that's all in the past.

Opinions on this usually vary according to which side of the call you are on at that particular time. Locked hands. It's almost as if some of the assistant referees just want to "get in the game" when wrestling is on the mat. Watch their eyes. They lock on to the waist of the bottom wrestler and seem to almost tremble with anticipation of getting to make the call. Anything, a milli-second finger brush, an eye-blink finger overlap in a scramble is called with the enthusiasm of someone just wanting to "get in the game" and make a call. It's one that they can make without being asked by the head ref. Before you attack, and preach on about the purity of the sport and following rules, that is not what we're talking about here. If a wrestler touches his hands and receives any benefit whatsoever, hit him! We're talking about an accidental hand brush in a full scramble where no advantage is gained. It literally happens in the blink of an eye, and should not cost a kid a match or State place. I liken it to the a referee who is so concerned with calling the "higher profile" no-control pin that he fails to look at the defensive wrestlers back and the fact that he's giving up back points, and misses the count. It's just a little too much enthusiasm to "get in the game" and make the big call.

Your frustrations are justified, but some of you Tennessee wrestling newcomers don't realize just how far we've come. Years ago, when the State Tournament travelled around, then landed in Big Mac at UTC, there was no process of seperation and it was terrible and unjust. While this system isn't perfect, it's much better and actually might be the only realistic answer. Do you want a seeding meeting for the State Tournament? Can you imagine the bickering and fighting? What about triangles where A beats B and B beats C, but C beats A? The problems would be endless. What I'd like to do is thank the TSSAA for finally passing a double-elimination tournament. You want a truer representation of the best 6 at each weight? This will go a long way.

In Hoc, you are the epitome of a instigator and a coward. You don't truly want answers. You want to anonymously stir the pot, then hide behind the safety of your computer. Well before the State Duals, another poster gave you the perfect solution to your problem. Be a man and go ask Coach Logsden whatever question is just eatin' you up. After all, you'll be within spittin' distance of these guys for 2 days. Instead, you chose to keep your distance, or anonymously walk by them without introducing your brave self to them. Or maybe you couldn't find that big black and gold crowd across the way with those Bear westlers and those Bear coaches? Then, you have the"guts" to creep back home and start your mud-slinging all over again?? Does it ever occur to you that any divide between the two sides is only widened and reinforced by conduct like yours? Do you really think that you're encouraging any kind of reconciliation? Of course you don't. You're just another in a long list of internet big-mouths.

...and do you know WHY no one in DI complained until now? Because frankly, whatever went on in the DII tournament had no impact whatsoever on the DI tournament in Clarksville. You could have brought in circus monkeys or added a juggling contest and no one in Clarksville would have cared, because it wasn't our State tournament. However, this is the SAME tounament. OUR State tournament, too. That entitles the "other" side to an opinion, doesn't it? "Grow the sport", "interest in the sport", "a true supporter" of the sport. You guys are so predictable. I know what you'll respond before you ever touch the keyboard. Does the halo over your head or the wings on your back ever get heavy? Listen carefully, No one is against growing the sport, JV tournaments, invitationals, bake sales to raise funds, kids clubs, mat maids, summer wrestling, booster clubs, flowrestling, or whatever else you can list. The question is concerning the uncertainty of a new venue and it's capacity to handle the load, and the appropriateness of having an invitational at the State tournament.

No, it's not a new tournament. Neither is the McCallie Invitational, the Brentwood Invitational, etc. Those tournaments are great events, too. However, they don't share the spotlight of the TSSAA Tennessee STATE Duals Wrestling Championships on the first weekend in Feb! You want to know who this idea IS brand new to? To the 24 Division I teams who have earned their way to this prestigious event. I'm pretty sure it's new to them.

Let's look at this from another angle. Just try to imagine the TSSAA having an "invitational" Basketball tournament of ANY type at MTSU the weekend of the State Basketball Tournament. Or how about Football? Let's invite a few extra teams to play that weekend too, just for giggles. Same weekend, same venue, same time. No wait, that would take away from the prestige of the STATE tournament! But then again, it's JUST wrestling, right? Unbelievable!

So, let me get this straight. The following are true: -1) The Duals are now at a new location with some variations in format. Isn't there a possibility that there are some kinks to be worked out? -2) The regions have been realigned and seeding criteria is now in place. Again, more room for errors and kinks to be worked out? -3) Three tournaments already under one new roof, now we've added a fourth. Seems like the TSSAA has big hopes for this new venue and environment. As I've heard it, seating is a major concern. Guess we'll just take a chance? Doesn't it seem like the DII Invitational will be a bigger inconvenience than anything else? Do all of the teams in the DII Invitational even have a full, 14-man lineup? It also seems as if this may dilute the accomplishment of a DII team quailifing for the DII Championship Duals. Wouldn't this breed a "we'll if we don't qualify for the Championship Duals, we're still going to Franklin anyways" mindset? I would think that the TSSAA would want to "test run" the Duals this year with all the changes before adding another tournament, regardless of DI or DII. Three more things: -1) If you're gonna have a DII Invitational Duals, have a DI Invitational Duals. -2) Will the winners of the DII Invitational Duals be declared State Champions? -3) I'm assuming that the TSSAA is sponsoring/putting on the DII Invitational Duals, correct? Just my two cents.

How do you mention Bradley and not include Quinn Gibson? Dominant! 4X State Finalist, losing only to Kevin Ward as a Freshman. 3X State Champion and 2X OW!

They will do fine. Much of the coaching last year on the mat was done by Bryant Blackmon, who was 171 lb. Tennessee State Champion in 2004 at Bradley Central. He is the guy that has taken over the program as the Head Coach and brings a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm with him. Good luck to Coach Blackmon and the Greenback Nation!

Tex, these are a few of your quotes that caught my eye early: "If so, then having the honor to wrestle the other champion would fit into that type of self fulfillment that a wrestler has." "the desire to measure yourself against the best out there." Perhaps (probably), I read too much into your statements. The implication that I got was that if these State Champions don't feel this way, then they may not be real champions with real champions hearts. Maybe they don't want to measure themselves any further. They've won their State Title. Would that be ok? In 2001, Al Morris Jr. won the State Title that he had been chasing since he was old enough to walk. Do you personally feel that because he didn't turn around the next weekend and wrestle 4X State Champion (and future 2-time NCAA All -American) Phillip Simpson from D2 that he isn't a true Champion? I don't believe that you feel that way at all. I try to apply that line of thinking to all TN State Champions, whether DI, DII or the son of my good friend. They have achieved greatly, and I'm proud for them. If they choose to compete further and "measure thmeselves against the best out there", then I'd love to see it at Open/National tournaments. If they choose to hang their headgear up and go out in a blaze a glory, that's great too. They have earned that right. As for my comment toward you, I apologize. I was trying to make a point and stepped across the line. Sometimes in the desire to win a debate, my enthusiasm gets ahead of my brain. I'm putting this one to bed.