Gripsnhips

Trust me....Russian wrestlers aren't big pimpin. Financials are not the reason for their success.

I would like to see more out of Cael and Abas though.

__________________
I wish I could kick Matt Dragon in the balls. In his Dragonballz.

Big

Well, Russian wrestlers buy houses for their families while wrestling and go on shows if they want to. Its a lucrative business to wrestle in Russia and the more medals they have, the bettter their future opportunities look. Not so in America. For Olympic champions in Russia doors are open everywhere, in the government or business.

FRED

Big, you forget where you are. It's football, football, football, then basketball, then baseball. And finally, take your pick, X-games stuff, or video games. Americans aren't as hungry as the rest of the world. Boxing. womens tennis, etc.

cgbspender

In the immortal words of Ty Webb

This isn't Russia. Is this Russia? This isn't Russia.

Big

My point exactly!

matclone

And college wrestling is not a means to the Olympic end. You may want it to be, it may be that way in other parts of the world, but it's not that way here. And yes, it may be one of the reasons why we've had a downturn on the international stage, but it's not the only reason.

I agree with bluestater. Although we'd all love the U.S. to win big at the int'l level, I don't think bringing home the gold medal should be the sole focus of USA wrestling. That kind of thinking has prevaled in weightlifting over the years and it's been kind of a bust (few medals) in my view. Like or not, wrestling thrives in the U.S. because of folkstyle. And that's okay by me. It means a lot more people (wrestlers and fans) participate in the sport. Take away folkstyle, and you risk losing your base.