Pin for the Win
At the age of ten, Emory Goforth, was the bane of my entire existence. Emory and I were at the Georgia State Wrestling Tournament where I stood anxiously behind the judges table waiting for match number 217 to be called. The familiar stench of rubber and sweat loomed in the air as I prepared for my match. I was on deck and would soon be wrestling against my arch nemesis as I had on seven previous occasions. This would be the final match of the day; I would be the champion, or I would once again finish in second place. During the course of this season Emory not only taught me how to lose, he taught me how to be a stronger person through hard work and perseverance.
The rivalry had begun when I met Emory three months earlier in Calhoun Georgia where the first tournament of the season was held. Emory, a three time state champion, soundly beat me at that tournament and crushed my inflated ego along with my thirty-six match winning streak. On that day, my eyes started to water and tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. Standing on the awards podium accepting that silver medal, I felt nothing but defeat and agony. That losing streak persisted through the next six tournaments as Emory continued to eliminate me from contention of the gold medal week after week.
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After the match, I refused to communicate with my coaches and I failed to shake my opponent’s hand. My actions after that first loss were not something that made my coaches or me proud. Week after week, I struggled to become a better wrestler both on and off the mat. Wrestling is a sport of extreme physical and mental discipline, but no matter how hard I tried, I always ended up with the short end of the stick against Emory. Tournaments were no longer enjoyable because instead of focusing on winning, I was focusing on not
In basketball, the National Championship game is the dream of every kid that plays basketball in college. NC State’s basketball team wasn’t well known in 1983. Jim Valvano was the coach and he knew he had a great group of kids. When they won the ACC tournament against the great Ralph Sampson and Virginia, people thought that the win was just luck and they probably wouldn’t make last when they got into the tournament. Throughout the tournament, NC State kept surviving and advancing. In Johnathan Hock’s documentary “Survive and Advance”, Hock uses stock footage of the games that were played during the tournament, different points of view from the players, and the sequence of the documentary to prove that NC State’s basketball team were the underdogs during the whole tournament; however they were able to win despite their adversity
This tournament, apart from entertaining students and other fans, highlights what stuff different colleges are made of. This comes at a critical time when high school seniors are considering what colleges to attend once they graduate. Thus, it is not surprising that this package of sporting events brings glad tidings to the people as it helps usher-in the beautiful spring season. However, a critical evaluation of the different teams and schools reveal the series of events -both good and not so good- that occur as they prepare for this all-important tournament.
Then, high school came along and I received a rude awakening that I was no longer top dog on the wrestling team. I lost more matches that first year of highschool wrestling then I had my whole junior high career combined. I was devastated that year I thought that I would never want to wrestle again. However, when wrestling rolled around that next year I was the first in line to show
There is one sport’s rivalry that is known as the greatest of them all. It isn’t the Tobacco Road Rivalry, it isn’t the Iron Bowl, and it isn’t even the Red Sox against the Yankees. According to ESPN at the turn of the century, the greatest sports rivalry is Ohio State versus Michigan in college football. While many Wolverine fans claim that the Michigan football program is the superior one, there are a variety of reasons that show otherwise. Statistically, in the modern era of college football, Ohio State has been the better program. This can be supported through simple head-to-head records and championships, as well as complex systems that rank football programs. The main counterclaim by many Michigan fans in this debate will revolve around two things: the number of national titles they claim, and the overall series record of 58-45-6 in favor of Michigan. These claims might seem to be valid, but upon further review the claims have little validity in today’s modernized version of college football. In addition, the Michigan program is rampant with elitism that was destructive for other programs and has harmed their current program that is not present in Ohio State’s program.
Of the 258,000 athletes that wrestle in high school, only 7,408 are able to continue their career as a wrestler in college (NCAA 1). 2.7% of wrestlers are faced with multiple adversities from weight gain, to the long seven minutes of nonstop action on the mat. Although the seven minutes go by quick when spectating, when you’re on the mat it seems never ending. A lot of work goes behind one's success on the mat. To be successful in college wrestling one must cut weight efficiently, lift weights, and warm up effectively before every match.
When we first arrived I’d thought we’d taken a wrong turn and went to a traveling gypsy convention by mistake. The whole field outside the school was filled with tents of various sizes and colors. 200 wrestlers, about thirty of which were girls, filtered about the area. As my soon-to-be teammates and I headed to the first practice, anxiety gnawed at my stomach like a dog with a bone (FL). I wanted to impress everybody, and prove that I could make it in this sport. Before we started, the coach patted me on the shoulder. “I’ve got your back all right.” he told me. I smiled and nodded. At least one person was looking out for me.
But somehow he was different - true athletes always are For though he cursed, and bled, and sweat, he prided in the scar. They told him to win like a man, no matter what the cost; So many times he ventured forth; so many times he lost. And when they turned around, and said "Its OK son; you tried," He clenched his headgear in his fist, and like a man, he cried. But from his tears came anger; then, when it ceased to spin, the wrestler rose again, determined that the next time, he would win.
The second year of high school I was given my shot to go to state and accomplish my dream. My season was going pretty good, and I had a very good chance of making it to state. In the match that would have sent me to state, I choked and lost. I was so heart broken that after the tournament I cried 'til I couldn't cry any more. After I was done crying, I became so angry I didn't speak to my parents or any that tried to talk to me for days. To make matters even worse, our team placed first in the 3A state wrestling championship. The team that I could have been on was state champions and I could have been there.
This scholarly journal written by Eric Sobocinski is a very informal piece explaining the meaning of intercollegiate sports in America as well as the current state of intercollegiate athletes. He goes on to write about the history of sports such as the Greeks ideals and how they can help to transform intercollegiate athletics. He concludes by giving his recommendations for reform.
A year later, I was again chosen for the team. This time, I worked my way from being a back-up catcher to the starting 3rd baseman in two weeks. But after going 0-2 in my first two at-bats, my coach took me out of the starting line-up. Again, I pinch-hit, and was very successful at it. I even hit what turned out to be a game-winning homerun. We later reached the championship game again, but we lost it for the second time. This time I was more frustrated than I could ever remember being. I was slamming my hand into walls and almost crying. I was really acting very childish.
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, echoes through my head as I walk to the middle of the mat. "At 160lbs Aidan Conner of La Junta vs. Rodney Jones of Hotchkiss." All I can think of is every bead of sweat, every drip of blood, every mile, every push up, every tear. Why? All of this: just to be victorious. All in preparation for one match, six minutes. For some these six minutes may only be a glimpse, and then again for some it may be the biggest six minutes of their life. Many get the chance to experience it more than once. Some may work harder and want it more than others, but they may never get the chance. All they get is a moral victory. Every kid, every man comes into the tournament with a goal. For some is to win, for some is to place, others are just happy to qualify. These six minutes come on a cold frigid night in February at a place called the Pepsi Center. Once a year this gathering takes place when the small and the large, the best of the best, come to compete in front thousands of people. I am at the Colorado State Wrestling Championships.
Professional wrestling was one of my favorite passions growing up. Naturally, I loved some of those wrestlers and some of them were heroes to me. One of my favorites was Chris Benoit. Since this class is a criminology class, I figured, why not write a similar story about the tragedy of a fictional wrestler. I thought; why not try to show how a famous person is easily susceptible to any calamity or malady or tragedy. Can anyone tell me, that he/she has the assurance of what’s going to happen the next day or the next hour or the next minute? NO! Were all human beings and human life is fragile. The main character in my story, Tim Bower, was both a victim to himself and his circumstances; he was also the offender as well. I did my bes...
As the season progressed, competition started getting fiercer. I was up against girls running at a 5A level, yet, I was able to hold my own. Finally there came a tiny light at the end of the tunnel; it seemed as though I was getting closer and closer to accomplishing my goal. Along with my undefeated title came a huge target painted on my back. I religiously checked "Rocky Preps" every day to see if the competition was gaining on me. It seemed that every time I had improved, there was someone right behind me, running their personal best too. I trained during the weeks before regionals like I had never trained before. Each day my stomach became more twisted with knots that looped around every part of my stomach. I don't think I had ever been that nervous in my whole life.
This caused me to play pissed off and to the best of my abilities for a time. But it cause me to lose the love for the game and to begin playing at a subpar standard. I had to due something to start playing better or I was going to lose my spot in the starting line up. So I started to coach a little league team that one of our family friends son played on. I coached them how I was coached by drilling the fundamentals into them until it was muscle memory. And pushing them during workouts and conditioning all behind the motto of if “You want to be the best you have to train like the best.” Coaching those kids taught me how to love and play the game again. I noticed my game started to improve and I was playing back at the varsity level and enjoying the game again for the first time in a long