At least the Mongolian coaches went out letting the WORLD know how displeased they were
- Thread starter amalone
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Foley just canceled his plans to stay in their yurt next spring.
Olympic wrestling is a disgrace. Heck I wouldn't have even taken my clothes off for that joke of a product. Quite frankly, take it out of the Olympics if that's the best they can show. Nobody will miss it. Why can't they just let wrestlers wrestle instead the crap they let go on in this competition? Wrestling is pretty simple... In the Olympics it's more of a "judged" sport. And we know what happens when you let people judge performances... Brutal.
The Olympics and wrestling aren't the only place you see that crap. A lot of international sporting events have shenanigans. If it wasn't for the exposure and funding that the Olympics provide I would be all for UWW pulling out of the Olympics. There would be less restrictions so more weights and different tourney formats (wrestlebacks) would be an option.
Quite honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised to see someone break a chair over someone's head, or see someone uncork a forearm shiver or clothesline. Come on, this was embarrassing.
What makes it tough to argue for the Mongolians is that Ganzorig flaunted a rule that is often enough called. It's not called consistently, sure, but when if you're wrestling a guy who in the previous round was gifted a match he didn't deserve, you have to at least be mindful you could be the next screwjob recipient, and proceed accordingly. Do you ever want such a huge match to end like that? Never. But Ganzorig handed the ref the point on a platter.
Then the coaches did their thing, which unfortunately did UWW and IOC a huge favor by directing attention away from the far more egregious and demonstrable corruption that day.
Then the coaches did their thing, which unfortunately did UWW and IOC a huge favor by directing attention away from the far more egregious and demonstrable corruption that day.
Agree, Ganzorig didn't do himself any favors basically rubbing it in the Uzbek's face in the final 5 seconds. If that was an American he was facing I'd be going ballistic. That said, if you watch the replay, Ganzorig was gracious towards the Uzbek after the decision came down while his coaches were berating the officials.
My cable provider (Optimim) has a lot of the Olympic matches available "free on demand". Lost in all the controversy was just how freakin' awesome this bout was. Definitely worth watching again online or via your cable provider if you can.
Of course unlike all of the matches that are titled "Men's Freestyle 86KG Finals" or similar, this one is simply titled "Coaches Protest"
Of course unlike all of the matches that are titled "Men's Freestyle 86KG Finals" or similar, this one is simply titled "Coaches Protest"
Got this from elsewhere.
Youtube hits of Mongolians stripping: 783,000
Youtube hits of Snyder winning gold: 9,800
I don't like what the Mongolians did, but let's face it, sizzle sells in this world. There is a reason beach volleyball is popular. There is a reason Hope Solo's career went stratospheric after she stripped off her top. Showmanship is missing from wrestling. Think Usain Bolt. Sex appeal is missing from wrestling. Think Michael Phelps. Nobody is wrestling that can capture the hearts of the public like those two and many others..
Youtube hits of Mongolians stripping: 783,000
Youtube hits of Snyder winning gold: 9,800
I don't like what the Mongolians did, but let's face it, sizzle sells in this world. There is a reason beach volleyball is popular. There is a reason Hope Solo's career went stratospheric after she stripped off her top. Showmanship is missing from wrestling. Think Usain Bolt. Sex appeal is missing from wrestling. Think Michael Phelps. Nobody is wrestling that can capture the hearts of the public like those two and many others..
So a couple of pudgy guys from Mongolia taking off their shirts and pants is being watched a lot on youtube because of the sex appeal?
Try again. Sizzle has many meanings. Think WWF. Think controversy. Think Kardashians. As they say, all chatter is good chatter.
I'm missing how the half naked Mongolian coaches compare to Bolt and Phelps. There's a difference between eyeballs captured due to charisma and eyeballs captured due to a tire fire--people watch both but the latter has diminishing returns. I also think it was Brandi Chastain who took off her top. Hope Solo's kind of a train wreck and I'm not sure she's good for women's soccer despite the headlines she generates. "Any press" isn't always good press. I get that villains and heroes are necessary components in compelling sports narrative 101, but the Mongolian coaches, hilarious thought it was, served as a reminder that wrestling was nearly jettisoned from the Olympics for the corruption the incident alluded to. It wasn't helpful.
I'll take the minority opinion that Mongolian coaches pitching a fit is meaningless toward whether wrestling stays or goes at the Olympics. Furthermore, given the generally atrocious rules and reffing at the Olympics, I'm not sure it is worth watching or supporting. The sport has serious leadership problems. Very serious. Everything else flows from that.
Does wrestling want "fans" who are interested in freak shows (stripping Mongolians) ? Or interested in solid, action-packed exciting wrestling ?
If you clean up passivity subjectivity & criteria BS from freestyle ( and the stalling from folk style), you'd have a very marketable & interesting sport that could hit more mainstream.
If you clean up passivity subjectivity & criteria BS from freestyle ( and the stalling from folk style), you'd have a very marketable & interesting sport that could hit more mainstream.
In regards to the Mongolians, I would say "Larry, Moe and Curly" rather than "sizzle". People like to watch cheezeball comedy on youtube too.
CP and Willie spend some time discussing the Mongolians on FRL 137. In general they agree with the call, blatant stalling/retreating should be called, no matter how much time is left. Having said that they also were very upset with the reffing in the Olympics overall, incompetence plus some very obvious bribe taking.
I think the huge interest in the Mongolian's was more akin to how people are drawn to gawking at a car accident.
If we're going down the side-show alley for the sport... I want to see a regular-guy champion. We're all so use to putting guys on superhero-esque pedestals (as many of them deserve). What we need a pack-a-day-smoking, case-drinking badass that can still throttle people on the mat.
We need a Sandman.
Brandi Chastain showed the world her bra. The Mongolian coaches showed that they need one.
A Lil humor....a lil...either brands might have been arrested for assault of a ref if they had been gomez s corner.....
So might of I but that's a whole other story.
The Mongolian strip down the russian mob going to the mat a few months ago. Things are nutty out there.
So might of I but that's a whole other story.
The Mongolian strip down the russian mob going to the mat a few months ago. Things are nutty out there.
Maybe Team USA needs more of this?
Keeping it light ... possibly the funniest and most unnoticed part of the Mongolian strip dance was the ref, fecklessly giving them the red card. Yeah, like they care and that would change anything.
Apparently Mongolia's national federation has been banned from competing in all UWW events, indefinitely. http://board.themat.com/index.php?/...from-all-uww-events-on-calendar-indefinitely/ My only response is: Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
Pump your entire country's athletes full of drugs and bribe officials. Da.
Embarrass one of the refs? Nyet.
I actually agree with Thaddeus Romaine (TR) on this one. Ref should have blown the whistle and gave an attention to the Mongolian guy. And yes, while it should be called in all cases, it seldom is...especially in a big match.
For a mere $22, this could be yours:
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http://wrestleology.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/protest-tee
Yea, it's turned into a "judged" sport at the NCAA level as well especially in the b1g shiz-hole in regards to how certain rules, most especially "stalling" are called INCONSISTENTLY by the same official in the same tournament, dual AND EVEN the same freaking match dependent upon what team the specific wrestler wrestle's for!
That "screw-jobs" by biased officials only happens in International Freestyle is laughable bull$hit! (or take a look how many times bull$hit TDs are called, OR legitimate TDs not called, at the end of periods to screw a deserving wrestler out of a win by a biased, @sshole, corrupt official - again, ditto bull$hit called stalling, or non-called stalling, to screw a deserving wrestler out of OT or the match all together...).
