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Tampering

I wonder if the crack wrestling journalists like Cody Goodwin and Chad Leistikow are all over this story.

Probably working on a 3 part story on Moriah Marinelli and her infectious support for the Hawks
CT was waiting for someone to take the bait on this one, so here goes:

Wow, I hope this is something that a simple shot of penicillin can clear up
 
Since you listened firsthand, quickly reported it, and were engaged in the Rokfin chat, I am going to go out on a limb and weight your credibility above @GogglesPaizano.

If Woods initiates conversations with other teams' Coaches or University supporters and they largely remain silent or respond with something vague like, "This isn't the time for such a discussion, but I'm sure everything will work out for you." then honestly I don't see what's to be proved.

Again, it was common knowledge Real Woods would be a "free agent" come spring.

To clear the air, and to validate Willie's integrity which has always been above board, Willie did not mention our imply on his show that "TnT" were talking to Real at nationals. Have a listen to his show, and decide for yourself (it's the TFW: Portal SZN... show)

I think it is also safe to assume the first person to understand Real's future plans was Real, thus it is most likely Real initiated contact.

Granted there were rumors and widespread knowledge Real was graduating this year, let's just go with Real started any conversation at nationals.

What Willie did mention, is that 'people' were orchestrating a deal at nationals, and the implication centered on NIL. Thus if NIL focused, this topic on the surface implies some insulation between 'the Iowa program' and 3rd party people who can offer NIL money.

It's noteworthy, Real entered the portal with a 'do not contact' flag, which also indicates that he probably already knew where he was going, i.e. a deal is either final or close. Willie highlighted this fact as well.

Now here is where inferences can be made, right or wrong.

Whomever, these "people" are, 3rd party or not, at the end of the day noone can speak for or obligate the Iowa Hawkeyes program to a kid other than TnT. So if Real talks to an Iowa booster, a team member, or the trainer... none of those conversations can go very far without 'the big guy' (gratuitous Biden reference) getting involved.

I don't think a booster can have a potential 6 figure NIL conversation with a kid that TnT haven't cleared or indicated interest.

Sure, exact amounts were probably discussed later, but if Real reached out at nationals even showing the slightest interest, one would think word would get to TnT within say .... 5 minutes. If then elements of the deal we're discussed at nationals, it seems implausable (to me) that TnT were not engaged in the discussion to some extent, of for no other reason than to validate interest. There is also the question, how would Real know who to talk to when there? Did people in the audience wear name tags designating themselves as the "Iowa Hawkeye NIL Guy"? Prior or initial contact with the program seems plausible just to bring the right parties together.

So again, Willie is totally in the clear in terms of what he did and didn't say in his show.

Did he say an NIL deal was discussed at nationals? Yes.

Did he reference or imply TnT talked to Real at nationals? No.

Does Real not speaking to TnT at Nationals while a NIL deal was being 'orchestrated' pass the Goggles sniff test? No.

What does all of this mean in the grand scheme of things? Not much, and hardly worth the time I took to write it, but it was important to cover Willie's back
 
Tip for Potential Booster $ Bagmen:

When speaking with target:
  • Do so only where there are expectations for confidentiality and privacy.
  • If by phone, only call from a two party consent state.
  • If by phone, only call the target after positive confirmation they are in a two party consent state.
Use of email and text is right out, as neither provides a reasonable expectation for privacy and both are generally recorded.
Ask to meet under a bridge with a lot of ambient noise to foil nearby boom mics
 
I don't think a booster can have a potential 6 figure NIL conversation with a kid that TnT haven't cleared or indicated interest.
Why do you think this?

Mineo is calling out Fellers as the alleged bagman.

If its just a "potential deal" (nothing signed, just a handshake) what's the risk?

Any booster close to a program would understand its needs and potential targets who would fit its culture, as well as their schools entry requirements.

Anybody seriously following wrestling could know which wrestlers are more likely to be willing to accept a NIL (e.g. soon to be graduates).

Big money successful boosters seem more likely to have the confidence to make a move.
 
To clear the air, and to validate Willie's integrity which has always been above board, Willie did not mention our imply on his show that "TnT" were talking to Real at nationals. Have a listen to his show, and decide for yourself (it's the TFW: Portal SZN... show)

I think it is also safe to assume the first person to understand Real's future plans was Real, thus it is most likely Real initiated contact.

Granted there were rumors and widespread knowledge Real was graduating this year, let's just go with Real started any conversation at nationals.

What Willie did mention, is that 'people' were orchestrating a deal at nationals, and the implication centered on NIL. Thus if NIL focused, this topic on the surface implies some insulation between 'the Iowa program' and 3rd party people who can offer NIL money.

It's noteworthy, Real entered the portal with a 'do not contact' flag, which also indicates that he probably already knew where he was going, i.e. a deal is either final or close. Willie highlighted this fact as well.

Now here is where inferences can be made, right or wrong.

Whomever, these "people" are, 3rd party or not, at the end of the day noone can speak for or obligate the Iowa Hawkeyes program to a kid other than TnT. So if Real talks to an Iowa booster, a team member, or the trainer... none of those conversations can go very far without 'the big guy' (gratuitous Biden reference) getting involved.

I don't think a booster can have a potential 6 figure NIL conversation with a kid that TnT haven't cleared or indicated interest.

Sure, exact amounts were probably discussed later, but if Real reached out at nationals even showing the slightest interest, one would think word would get to TnT within say .... 5 minutes. If then elements of the deal we're discussed at nationals, it seems implausable (to me) that TnT were not engaged in the discussion to some extent, of for no other reason than to validate interest. There is also the question, how would Real know who to talk to when there? Did people in the audience wear name tags designating themselves as the "Iowa Hawkeye NIL Guy"? Prior or initial contact with the program seems plausible just to bring the right parties together.

So again, Willie is totally in the clear in terms of what he did and didn't say in his show.

Did he say an NIL deal was discussed at nationals? Yes.

Did he reference or imply TnT talked to Real at nationals? No.

Does Real not speaking to TnT at Nationals while a NIL deal was being 'orchestrated' pass the Goggles sniff test? No.

What does all of this mean in the grand scheme of things? Not much, and hardly worth the time I took to write it, but it was important to cover Willie's back
I think what cracked me up most was Hawk fans asking why Willie didn’t talk with Brands first before running with his story. Wtf could Willie possibly learn from Brands in regards to OTHER COACHES admitting to him that they filed complaints?
 
To clear the air, and to validate Willie's integrity which has always been above board, Willie did not mention our imply on his show that "TnT" were talking to Real at nationals. Have a listen to his show, and decide for yourself (it's the TFW: Portal SZN... show)

I think it is also safe to assume the first person to understand Real's future plans was Real, thus it is most likely Real initiated contact.

Granted there were rumors and widespread knowledge Real was graduating this year, let's just go with Real started any conversation at nationals.

What Willie did mention, is that 'people' were orchestrating a deal at nationals, and the implication centered on NIL. Thus if NIL focused, this topic on the surface implies some insulation between 'the Iowa program' and 3rd party people who can offer NIL money.

It's noteworthy, Real entered the portal with a 'do not contact' flag, which also indicates that he probably already knew where he was going, i.e. a deal is either final or close. Willie highlighted this fact as well.

Now here is where inferences can be made, right or wrong.

Whomever, these "people" are, 3rd party or not, at the end of the day noone can speak for or obligate the Iowa Hawkeyes program to a kid other than TnT. So if Real talks to an Iowa booster, a team member, or the trainer... none of those conversations can go very far without 'the big guy' (gratuitous Biden reference) getting involved.

I don't think a booster can have a potential 6 figure NIL conversation with a kid that TnT haven't cleared or indicated interest.

Sure, exact amounts were probably discussed later, but if Real reached out at nationals even showing the slightest interest, one would think word would get to TnT within say .... 5 minutes. If then elements of the deal we're discussed at nationals, it seems implausable (to me) that TnT were not engaged in the discussion to some extent, of for no other reason than to validate interest. There is also the question, how would Real know who to talk to when there? Did people in the audience wear name tags designating themselves as the "Iowa Hawkeye NIL Guy"? Prior or initial contact with the program seems plausible just to bring the right parties together.

So again, Willie is totally in the clear in terms of what he did and didn't say in his show.

Did he say an NIL deal was discussed at nationals? Yes.

Did he reference or imply TnT talked to Real at nationals? No.

Does Real not speaking to TnT at Nationals while a NIL deal was being 'orchestrated' pass the Goggles sniff test? No.

What does all of this mean in the grand scheme of things? Not much, and hardly worth the time I took to write it, but it was important to cover Willie's back
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Cenzo said another wrestler on Stanford has been contacted by another school's booster. I would assume its Shane Griffith. Rumor was Rutgers. Cenzo also indicated PS never ever contacted Real Woods. Wrestlers were contacted at NCAAs by other teams
Since Rutgers has the Suriano model, you know have the conversation first, agree to the scholarship deal second and then ask permission to talk to athlete.
 
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I think School X would have trouble showing "standing" to sue School Y over a lost recruit.

I think enforcement needs to come from the NCAA. I had assumed from the start of NIL that the NCAA would be quite interested in defining where the line is, yet I'm hearing story after story of what appears to me as over circumvention by boosters. Maybe the NCAA will jump in to police before long, still, but there are enough examples already that it should be easy to make an example of someone for everyone else's benefit.
The NCAA is pretty weak when it comes to enforcing something they should like poaching. However, they will flex their arms when a school is running an RTC that creates a training environment to help student athletes excel and be able to compete at World and Olympic levels. Yeah, let's do away with that in the name of protecting student athletes! The NCAA are bunch of dum dums.
 
Cenzo said another wrestler on Stanford has been contacted by another school's booster. I would assume its Shane Griffith. Rumor was Rutgers. Cenzo also indicated PS never ever contacted Real Woods. Wrestlers were contacted at NCAAs by other teams
what i found really interesting is that cenzo said that while psu did not pursue woods, woods thought he had an offer from penn state. maybe a psu booster saw all the smoke about real to psu and tried to tip the scale? maybe there really are rogue boosters? idk.

the other thing that was interesting is cenzo indicating that real got a nice nil deal, but real saying on the bader show that he didn't, but is looking forward to pursuing one since the fan base is so big.
 
what i found really interesting is that cenzo said that while psu did not pursue woods, woods thought he had an offer from penn state. maybe a psu booster saw all the smoke about real to psu and tried to tip the scale? maybe there really are rogue boosters? idk.

the other thing that was interesting is cenzo indicating that real got a nice nil deal, but real saying on the bader show that he didn't, but is looking forward to pursuing one since the fan base is so big.
Maybe Woods learned about his PSU offer by reading Ben Askren's Twitter feed
 
Who were they referring to on Baschamania when they mentioned a team trying to buy a championship. I don’t think they meant Iowa. I keep hearing ISU, Michigan and Rutgers names coming up. Any thoughts?
 
Who were they referring to on Baschamania when they mentioned a team trying to buy a championship. I don’t think they meant Iowa. I keep hearing ISU, Michigan and Rutgers names coming up. Any thoughts?
I don’t know. Was curious if anyone else was praying that Cenzo wouldn’t let something slip that could cause Hawk fans to make a fuss about. Cenzo is a coach now, has to be careful what he says. You know they are out there just waiting for him to say something a coach really shouldn’t say about other programs and athletes. I started sweating when he commented on Gaitan and questioning why the kid all of the sudden changed his commitment to ISU and then a bag being mentioned. I can guarantee Hawkeye fans are just waiting to pounce if he messes up. Some of those bastards would call for his job and be proud of themselves while doing it.
 
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I don’t know. Was curious if anyone else was praying that Cenzo wouldn’t let something slip that could cause Hawk fans to make a fuss about. Cenzo is a coach now, has to be careful what he says. You know they are out there just waiting for him to say something a coach really shouldn’t say about other programs and athletes. I started sweating when he commented on Gaitan and questioning why the kid all of the sudden changed his commitment to ISU and then a bag being mentioned. I can guarantee Hawkeye fans are just waiting to pounce if he messes up. Some of those bastards would call for his job and be proud of themselves while doing it.
I have to admit, I was wondering how far he would go too. And hoping not too far.
 
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I don’t know. Was curious if anyone else was praying that Cenzo wouldn’t let something slip that could cause Hawk fans to make a fuss about. Cenzo is a coach now, has to be careful what he says. You know they are out there just waiting for him to say something a coach really shouldn’t say about other programs and athletes. I started sweating when he commented on Gaitan and questioning why the kid all of the sudden changed his commitment to ISU and then a bag being mentioned. I can guarantee Hawkeye fans are just waiting to pounce if he messes up. Some of those bastards would call for his job and be proud of themselves while doing it.
The thing is, only PSU wrestling fans and HR knuckleheads pay any attention to HR brain explosions. BWI folks for the entertainment value, and the HR folks because they actually believe they are deep thinkers. Vodka's number is on universal speed block in the ncaa compliance offices and nobody else over there can find the number. Cenzo is good.
 
If any of you had the ability to make "this happen".....I would not condone it being posted on tHR.....but I would certainly respect it...

This is hilarious.!

Thinking about it though, I don’t know how Real can endorse anything now even if it is on the up and up. As passionate as some wacko wrestling fans are, I can see them using the ol’ cancel culture approach against any business he comes out and promotes. Lol. Yeah…. Fans will be putting the company logo all over Twitter letting everyone know they endorse cheating and all kinds of other shitty accusations against them. Lmao.
 
During the SMU pay to play in football a couple boosters were head strong enough to make offers on their own lol. That 30 for 30 is awesome.
Wrestling is just finally getting a taste of what the two main sports have been dealing with for decades and now has gone full free agency.
 
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I had no idea there was a debate about how the Real deal was done. Real lived with IZZY and he is like another dad. Izzy hangs out with Fellers and is a regular in Iowa City. Real wanted to get paid. He is going to get paid. Fellers put up the money and landed Real Woods. I think the spirit of the deal was probably worked out between Fellers and Izzy months ago and finalized during the NCAA tournament.
 
I had no idea there was a debate about how the Real deal was done. Real lived with IZZY and he is like another dad. Izzy hangs out with Fellers and is a regular in Iowa City. Real wanted to get paid. He is going to get paid. Fellers put up the money and landed Real Woods. I think the spirit of the deal was probably worked out between Fellers and Izzy months ago and finalized during the NCAA tournament.
That would certainly explain Fellers’ extreme sensitivity on this topic over twitter the last couple of days...
 
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