Spencer Lee ducked Suriano
- Thread starter PSUWrestlingFanSince2011
- Start date
It’s possible that Lee may have had a somewhat legitimate reason to bail out. After wrestling up to the quarterfinals, he may have made an honest assessment about his ability to continue and decided he wasn’t up to it. Yes, withdrawing looks bad, but if I was in a position where I thought I could incur some serious damage by continuing, I would do what I thought was best and tell anyone who didn’t like my decision to go pound sand. Yeah, I’m giving Lee the benefit of doubt here, but this is a plausible scenario.
If he could have been injured in the semis than he could have been injured in the quarters, or the first round for that matter. Just my opinion.
Well, he always had the opportunity to say that/share the truth. Instead, we got a seriously discombobulated message. Was he physically or emotionally shot? What was his team thinking?
I prefer the Alec Bohm approach. “Yea, I screwed up…..this is on me …my bad.”
Bury it and move on.
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I think Lee withdrawing obviously would’ve drawn some criticism. The real fire storm was that terrible interview his dad gave trying to justify it without actually providing any concrete information. There’s also the part about your dad having to speak for a 24 year old man that doesn’t come across well.
The Spencer Lee drama reminds me of a politician who gets himself in trouble by saying something stupid to the media, and then blames the media for the whole thing.
If you’re going to give an interview without providing any details, don’t give an interview. Release a one sentence statement saying you can’t wrestle anymore this weekend, signed Spencer Lee. Not, signed Spencer Lee’s dad.
Spencer Lee, his dad, his coaches, and the Hawkeye wrestling club really need to reassess their PR strategy.
The Spencer Lee drama reminds me of a politician who gets himself in trouble by saying something stupid to the media, and then blames the media for the whole thing.
If you’re going to give an interview without providing any details, don’t give an interview. Release a one sentence statement saying you can’t wrestle anymore this weekend, signed Spencer Lee. Not, signed Spencer Lee’s dad.
Spencer Lee, his dad, his coaches, and the Hawkeye wrestling club really need to reassess their PR strategy.
Bob Suriano and Larry Lee should be locked in a room together, with the default "match" video on a loop.
I thought ducking meant avoiding a match up to improve your chances at success when it counts. When Spencer forfeited that match, he gave up on his 2023 aspirations entirely. Pretty hard to call that a duck.
also, can we stop making threads about this guy already?
also, can we stop making threads about this guy already?
Bob v Lar, what a matchup 🙄
When I was college age, my Dad would have said I was old enough to fight my own battles and speak on my own behalf. Guess that’s not the case with these two.
Spencer who? Really, until the guy can actually wrestle a full tournament, he is just a guy who never reached his full potential who still likes being the center of attention. Its looking like, he never will reach his full potential.
Obviously, 3 national championships is nothing to snear about and he should be proud of them.
Obviously, 3 national championships is nothing to snear about and he should be proud of them.
I get the feeling that Spencer does not like being the center of attention. I’m not sure his inner circle is on the same page though.
I think Lee was not 100% and he was afraid to lose to Suriano while not at 100%.
Spence when he learns that he has to wrestle Suriano:
Followed by:
Followed by:
In a way, it's a blessing 2020 tourney got cancelled because Spencer probably wins 4 if it goes, and we never get to see any of the above classics.Spence when he learns that he has to wrestle Suriano:
Followed by:
I think there is a lot of truth in that, unfortunately he is the only thing the Brands boys can sell.
COVID is a paid Iowa hater!
I don’t care about Spencer. I think he quit on his Iowa teammates and showed again he clearly doesn’t know how to handle PR. He threw Yianni under the bus in an interview basically saying he stalls (great future teammate there).
All this said, the people that comment saying “stop posting about Spencer” can just not read it. And you can also stop posting to not post about Spencer. Go pontificate elsewhere. That is all !!! Good day.
All this said, the people that comment saying “stop posting about Spencer” can just not read it. And you can also stop posting to not post about Spencer. Go pontificate elsewhere. That is all !!! Good day.
Posting about Spencer: fair game, he and his family generated a lot of news and drama the last few months.
Posting about Spencer on every (slight exaggeration) thread:
Posting about Spencer: fair game
Posting about how we should stop posting about Spencer: kind of annoying
Posting about how it’s annoying to post about not posting about Spencer: totally not annoying
Posting about how we should stop posting about Spencer: kind of annoying
Posting about how it’s annoying to post about not posting about Spencer: totally not annoying
CStrokes avatar: nauseating
Pa Hurdlers avatar: totally nauseating
Stand With Prides avatar: totally AWESOME
That would be way funnier if the horse was getting hit in the kneesPosting about Spencer: fair game, he and his family generated a lot of news and drama the last few months.
Posting about Spencer on every (slight exaggeration) thread:
Spencer circa February 2017 - a once in 20-50 year prodigy who could become not only the greatest highschool wrestler of all time but the greatest collegiate, and team USA wrestler of all time. His greatness and future are limitless.
Spencer circa 2022 - injury plagued, but still on track to achieve the highest status in NCAA wrestling, that of a 4x champ.
Spencer circa 2023 - GREAT but not GOAT.
Spencer circa 2024 and on - a very lengthy list of woulda, coulda, shouldas.
The end of his competitive career as well as a Phoenix rising from the ashes scenario to win Olympic and world gold, both seem equally plausible futures.
Far too many fans are still living breathing and thinking as if it were 2017. That ship has sailed.
Like no other highschool recruit, Spencer seen as a future NCAA 4xer was assumed by most, as a sure thing. Cael's record was in jeopardy with the persona of Spencer Lee.
His first two years were his greatest IMO, but looking back, were they really that great relative to such incredible expectations? Not really.
Interestingly enough the peak or inflection point for expectations vs reality, occurred the day he announced for Iowa. Hmmm.
Spencer circa 2022 - injury plagued, but still on track to achieve the highest status in NCAA wrestling, that of a 4x champ.
Spencer circa 2023 - GREAT but not GOAT.
Spencer circa 2024 and on - a very lengthy list of woulda, coulda, shouldas.
The end of his competitive career as well as a Phoenix rising from the ashes scenario to win Olympic and world gold, both seem equally plausible futures.
Far too many fans are still living breathing and thinking as if it were 2017. That ship has sailed.
Like no other highschool recruit, Spencer seen as a future NCAA 4xer was assumed by most, as a sure thing. Cael's record was in jeopardy with the persona of Spencer Lee.
His first two years were his greatest IMO, but looking back, were they really that great relative to such incredible expectations? Not really.
Interestingly enough the peak or inflection point for expectations vs reality, occurred the day he announced for Iowa. Hmmm.
I've said this a couple times, but it's hard to fathom how deeply Covid f'ed up Spencer's career. If 2020 is a go and he wins (which he was a heavy favorite), then the 2021 year is his senior year. He finishes the no-ACL win for his 4th, declares "excuses are for wusses", and leaves his shoes on the mat. It would have been one of the most triumphant exits in all of sports history. But instead, 2021 was just 3, not 4. he then tried to come back in 2022 without fixing the knees, couldn't go, got the operation 10 months too late, rushed back in 2023 but was never healthy and couldn't condition properly, and instead, his career ends counting lights.
We all lost.
Your 165 and 174 finals would *most likely* have been Joseph-Marinelli and Hall-Kemerer.
Going by seeds, Iowa had a bit more depth, but assuming as I do that freshman 3 seed Aaron Brooks finds a way to win because AB is amazing, PSU likely has 4 finalists (Nick Lee, Brooks, Hall, Joseph). The NCAA probably chooses to end the finals at 165, which quite probably would have determined a close team race that year.
I think it had the potential to be the most exciting tournament ever (other than the year Bo pinned Martin).
based on his knees (injuries) hindsight is not applicable in saying 'what if' or 'would have been'
In the last ten years or so at least 5 PSU wrestlers had better collegiate careers .
In fact he hates it. In all honesty Spencer is dammed either way. If he wrestles injured and doesn’t win he gets shit on. If he withdraws he gets shit on. Whatever Spencer does, unless it’s dominate and win, he gets shit on. Maybe that’s why his family is saying something? They are trying to take some of the pressure off of him and absorb some of the heat.
I am convinced the only reason he entered the us open this year (imo he shouldn’t have) is because he regrets not giving it a go for the Olympics after his third national title. Him withdrawing and not enduring competitions for 9 plus months offers him a chance to become healthier than he’s been since his freshman year ncaa run. I have no idea if he can stay healthy, but my god, give this kid a break and let him have a realistic chance at competing for next years Olympics.
I agree with most of what you say until the end. A 24 year old professional athlete signed to a 5-yr performance contract and earning money on endorsements isn’t a kid. And while I think much of the negative attention has been overkill, I also watch sports programs everyday where similar aged professional athletes see everything they do professionally and personally dissected to millions of viewers. Doesn’t make it right, but also doesn’t make Spencer different.
If he wants to deflect attention from himself and not get shit on, entering a tournament when he's not fit enough to complete, withdrawing right before the most anticipated match of the whole event, and then having your father do a bizarre 25 minute attention-seeking interview to explain why is not the way to do it. I thought he never should have entered at all, and in retrospect, that was the right call. I really hope he gets healthy and back to 100%. He's wrestling for USA now, not Iowa. I want our Olympians at their best.
I am confident of one thing. When and if Spencer wrestles again and how well he does is entirely up to him. People's opinions and board commentary should have zero affect. If Spencer remains concerned with outside opinions that is on him, and a competitive weakness.
Do you think "Stallrocci" and Brooks are affected one iota with the mostly negative comments on GIA, what Mineo posts, or what some reporter prints ? Of course not, they just keep winning.
Everything said here I agree with 100 percent. You can’t have it both ways. I was Spencer’s biggest fan until nationals this year. You can’t quit on your teammates ever. Coming from a military background it really bothers me that he quit on his teammates at nationals. So he can and will get all the criticism he brought on himself. It comes with the territory. And his antics certainly didn’t help them in the portal this year. Actions have consequences.
I think if he doesn't wrestle because of injuries he doesn't catch any grief but probably sympathy from those who know how good he is and could be.
