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The Ferrari Family Circus

Brands is NOT stupid. He knows the only way out of the situation is for the AD to be the bad guy. It's his only chance at possibly keeping the only jewel in the Ferrari family at Iowa. A slim chance but still a chance. There is no way Brands wants AJ on the team at this point if he even wanted him in the first place. Let's give him just a bit of credit here as hard as it is to do.
Hawk fan here.

Brands is desperate and shortsighted, making him very stupid at current.

Brands chased Ferrari. Is still chasing Ferrari. And just to be clear, the Brands LOVE AJ. He works hard and is athletic. They’re just willing to overlook, well, everything else.

So no, no need to give them any credit.
 
Hawk fan here.

Brands is desperate and shortsighted, making him very stupid at current.

Brands chased Ferrari. Is still chasing Ferrari. And just to be clear, the Brands LOVE AJ. He works hard and is athletic. They’re just willing to overlook, well, everything else.

So no, no need to give them any credit.
You need to camp out here more. You're too good for GIA. Lol
 
Hawk fan here.

Brands is desperate and shortsighted, making him very stupid at current.

Brands chased Ferrari. Is still chasing Ferrari. And just to be clear, the Brands LOVE AJ. He works hard and is athletic. They’re just willing to overlook, well, everything else.

So no, no need to give them any credit.
giphy.gif
 
Hawk fan here.

Brands is desperate and shortsighted, making him very stupid at current.

Brands chased Ferrari. Is still chasing Ferrari. And just to be clear, the Brands LOVE AJ. He works hard and is athletic. They’re just willing to overlook, well, everything else.

So no, no need to give them any credit.
Please keep us posted on the outcome of your GIA excommunication hearing. And may the good Lord protect you from any death threats.
 
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This Ferrari situation does seem like Brands shot himself in the foot. (Insert joke about Iowa wrestlers shooting one another). The last year or so it felt like Iowa was making progress in recruiting. They landed some of the best pound for pound wrestlers in Chittum, Jesaruga (spelling?), Kueter, Arnold. Iowa did really well in the portal.

I’m not sure if it was enough to catch Penn State, but it was definitely on the level with Ohio State. All this Ferrari situation has done is cause several recruits to second think Iowa, and Chittum to transfer. All to chase a family with a track record of leaving programs way worse than when they got there. Extremely stupid.

As a Penn State fan, I’d like to thank Brands and hope he stays there for another 15 years.
 
Hawk fan here.

Brands is desperate and shortsighted, making him very stupid at current.

Brands chased Ferrari. Is still chasing Ferrari. And just to be clear, the Brands LOVE AJ. He works hard and is athletic. They’re just willing to overlook, well, everything else.

So no, no need to give them any credit.
Sounds like your AD saved him from himself ... however, sounds like the door is open for an ORS then wrestle next year?
 
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Also - finally watched AJ's interview on Clash of Combat. Supposedly there were a lot of edits (guessing of very bad unfiltered stuff) so this is the 15 minutes AJ deemed totally acceptable to be released.

In it:
1. He claimed Iowa fans called him racial slurs as well as "rapist" and pedophile all weekend
2. He also said REAL Iowa fans are good with him so the ones there don't represent them (yes, the ones who took time during the Holidays to go to Soldier Salute don't represent Iowa fans)
3. Glazier threw the first punch and called him a POS and he was defending himself (he IS aware the incident was filmed right?)
4. He doesn't spank opponents which is TRULY disrespectful (wonder who he is talking about here)

On top of all of this, you can laugh at him calling Pyles "Christina" but I can't imagine calling someone the feminine version of their name as a derogatory term is going to win over a female AD and president

This is what AJ thought was okay to be released

I REPEAT THIS IS WHAT AJ THOUGHT WAS OKAY TO BE RELEASED
 
Also - finally watched AJ's interview on Clash of Combat. Supposedly there were a lot of edits (guessing of very bad unfiltered stuff) so this is the 15 minutes AJ deemed totally acceptable to be released.

In it:
1. He claimed Iowa fans called him racial slurs as well as "rapist" and pedophile all weekend
2. He also said REAL Iowa fans are good with him so the ones there don't represent them (yes, the ones who took time during the Holidays to go to Soldier Salute don't represent Iowa fans)
3. Glazier threw the first punch and called him a POS and he was defending himself (he IS aware the incident was filmed right?)
4. He doesn't spank opponents which is TRULY disrespectful (wonder who he is talking about here)

On top of all of this, you can laugh at him calling Pyles "Christina" but I can't imagine calling someone the feminine version of their name as a derogatory term is going to win over a female AD and president

This is what AJ thought was okay to be released

I REPEAT THIS IS WHAT AJ THOUGHT WAS OKAY TO BE RELEASED
And that 1-3 got him so angry that he had to do a split and flip off the Iowa parents section while they booed him. Oh, and he insisted over and over that he is actually humble, hard-working, respectful, and loves Jesus, as if insisting it over and over will make anyone believe it. LOL.
 
Hawk fan here.

Brands is desperate and shortsighted, making him very stupid at current.

Brands chased Ferrari. Is still chasing Ferrari. And just to be clear, the Brands LOVE AJ. He works hard and is athletic. They’re just willing to overlook, well, everything else.

So no, no need to give them any credit.
Has there been any talk about academic progress? If AJ enrolls next fall he’d have two years of eligibility remaining, but doesn’t this assume he’s been attending college-level classes somewhere and making progress towards a degree?

If I was Brands, I’d cut bait and load up on the portal again for next season. PSU isn’t going to have room to bring in a bunch of new transfers, so that’s one less hurdle to clear.
 
Has there been any talk about academic progress? If AJ enrolls next fall he’d have two years of eligibility remaining, but doesn’t this assume he’s been attending college-level classes somewhere and making progress towards a degree?

If I was Brands, I’d cut bait and load up on the portal again for next season. PSU isn’t going to have room to bring in a bunch of new transfers, so that’s one less hurdle to clear.
If he takes an ORS, then he'd have 3 years left. I don't think you are enrolled in classes if you use an ORS (since you're supposed to be, you know, training for the Olympics or something).
 
Has there been any talk about academic progress? If AJ enrolls next fall he’d have two years of eligibility remaining, but doesn’t this assume he’s been attending college-level classes somewhere and making progress towards a degree?

If I was Brands, I’d cut bait and load up on the portal again for next season. PSU isn’t going to have room to bring in a bunch of new transfers, so that’s one less hurdle to clear.
AJ would need to enroll at Iowa, take classes without being a part of the team to progress to a degree while staying out of trouble for 10 months until next wrestling season. I don't need to write a summary about why that is literally impossible.

As many said, this is an olive branch to show the youngest Ferrari they tried with AJ.
 
Also - finally watched AJ's interview on Clash of Combat. Supposedly there were a lot of edits (guessing of very bad unfiltered stuff) so this is the 15 minutes AJ deemed totally acceptable to be released.

In it:
1. He claimed Iowa fans called him racial slurs as well as "rapist" and pedophile all weekend
2. He also said REAL Iowa fans are good with him so the ones there don't represent them (yes, the ones who took time during the Holidays to go to Soldier Salute don't represent Iowa fans)
3. Glazier threw the first punch and called him a POS and he was defending himself (he IS aware the incident was filmed right?)
4. He doesn't spank opponents which is TRULY disrespectful (wonder who he is talking about here)

On top of all of this, you can laugh at him calling Pyles "Christina" but I can't imagine calling someone the feminine version of their name as a derogatory term is going to win over a female AD and president

This is what AJ thought was okay to be released

I REPEAT THIS IS WHAT AJ THOUGHT WAS OKAY TO BE RELEASED
AJ calling Pyles, Christina, reminded me of when Jim Rome called Jim Everett, Chris Everett, lol.

royalsjun-jim-everett.gif
 
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The criteria for an Olympic Redshirt will 100% be changed by 2028. The fact AJ can save a year of eligibility in 2024 (when he can't wrestle due to his own actions) off of a U17 World Bronze in 2018 is extremely flawed. Going forward, I imagine there will be a requirement to show you are trying to qualify for OTT at least (entering Bill Farrell, Senior Nationals, Last Chance or else you lose the year) I'm aware Facundo qualified off a Cadet World also but he isn't redshirting because of anything wrong he did and he DID enter Senior Nationals and qualify for Olympic Trials.
 
Olympic redshirting rules do need changed. In the old days you could make the case that you cannot take classes while you were training 1000 miles away. But so many students take the classes online now.It really shouldn’t matter if you’re training out in Colorado and still taking a few classes online.
 
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The criteria for an Olympic Redshirt will 100% be changed by 2028. The fact AJ can save a year of eligibility in 2024 (when he can't wrestle due to his own actions) off of a U17 World Bronze in 2018 is extremely flawed. Going forward, I imagine there will be a requirement to show you are trying to qualify for OTT at least (entering Bill Farrell, Senior Nationals, Last Chance or else you lose the year) I'm aware Facundo qualified off a Cadet World also but he isn't redshirting because of anything wrong he did and he DID enter Senior Nationals and qualify for Olympic Trials.
Yeah, guys taking ORS's for some reason other than to train for the Olympic trials makes me more than a little uneasy, especially if it because your behavior caused the AD to bar you from the team and you have no freestyle ambitions at all. I get that Facundo just needed another RS year and would not be pursuing freestyle if he had a starting spot and that his Olympic vision quest is a little Quixotic, but at least he's doing it (and qualified for the trials as well).

The rule should be at least make the trials or else lose the year. Facundo is about the limit of what should be considered a legitimate ORS. If you can't even make the trials, you're Olympic quest wasn't really credible.
 
I'm guessing he isn't allowed to comment? Anthony should be allowed to join the team though obviously he might not if AJ isn't.
It is a package deal, no AJ, no Anthony. Considering Anthony would probably not start, no loss.

If AJ wants to wrestle in college, he might try a NAIA school in some very rural area.

Why Brands is trying to work with AJ to get him on the team is lunacy. John Smith, great coach, great wrestler, who has given plenty of guys second chances, wash his hands of the Ferraries and he could use the points. Always interesting how another coach thinks he can fix someone. Quite obvious that at this point AJ is not fixable. Death or jail awaits him.
 
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AJ would need to enroll at Iowa, take classes without being a part of the team to progress to a degree while staying out of trouble for 10 months until next wrestling season. I don't need to write a summary about why that is literally impossible.

As many said, this is an olive branch to show the youngest Ferrari they tried with AJ.
I could be wrong but as I understand it, to be eligible he will have needed to maintain a level of academic progress going back when his clock first started ticking at Okie State. Given it’s NCAA we’re talking about, the bar is probably set pretty low. That said, it would be hilarious if he lost another year because he couldn’t pry himself away from weight room mirrors long enough to pass a few remedial online courses.
 
It is a package deal, no AJ, no Anthony. Considering Anthony would probably not start, no loss.

If AJ wants to wrestle in college, he might try a NAIA school in some very rural area.

Why Brands is trying to work with AJ to get him on the team is lunacy. John Smith, great coach, great wrestler, who has given plenty of guys second chances, wash his hands of the Ferraries and he could use the points. Always interesting how another coach thinks he can fix someone. Quite obvious that at this point AJ is not fixable. Death or jail awaits him.
It's very obvious why. Does anyone think he would bend over backwards and stick his neck on the line for AJ if he was a R16 level talent? People act like there is some noble intention of rehabbing behind adding AJ are more delusional than AJ himself. And you know what? That's okay, that's how the world works, you bring something to the table results wise and you get more chances. But Iowa fans acting like this is anything but some desperate attempt to close a gap on PSU are something else.
 
Why Brands is trying to work with AJ to get him on the team is lunacy. John Smith, great coach, great wrestler, who has given plenty of guys second chances, wash his hands of the Ferraries and he could use the points. Always interesting how another coach thinks he can fix someone.
I agree with the underlying Brands/lunacy premise, but the John Smith example doesn't really support it. Smith faced a VERY different situation -- an active member of his team arrested on sexual battery charges perpetrated against another university student. No coach or AD in the nation could have chosen NOT to kick him off the team, including Brands.

Fast forward to now with all criminal charges dismissed. If the schools were reversed and Ferrari had been sent packing from Iowa and was trying to get on at Okie State would Smith take a chance on him? Maybe.

Perhaps all the other Ferrari drama would be enough to dissuade Smith regardless. But coaches do like a good redemption story, especially if it boosts a flagging program and improves odds of bringing home some hardware from Nationals.
 
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I agree with the underlying Brands/lunacy premise, but the John Smith example doesn't really support it. Smith faced a VERY different situation -- an active member of his team arrested on sexual battery charges perpetrated against another university student. No coach or AD in the nation could have chosen NOT to kick him off the team, including Brands.

Fast forward to now with all criminal charges dismissed. If the schools were reversed and Ferrari had been sent packing from Iowa and was trying to get on at Okie State would Smith take a chance on him? Maybe.

Perhaps all the other Ferrari drama would be enough to dissuade Smith regardless. But coaches do like a good redemption story, especially if it boosts a flagging program and improves odds of bringing home some hardware from Nationals.
Maybe. Then again, Smith didn't try to import Downey.
 
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