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In the past it seemed like international freestylers thought that US freestylers lacked technical ability and relied on conditioning. But given that we’ve had renewed success in recent years, has that perception changed? Someone like DT certainly couldn’t be described as lacking in technique.

Is Greco the only Olympic sport that has no women’s competition?

The WNBA would have to have the worst negotiators of all time to make significant concessions on behalf of an organization that’s lost money for 30 years straight, and continues to lose money. (Of course the owners would never give the negotiators that leeway to begin with.)

The all star meet normally finds the top two highest ranked athletes at each weight class who are willing to compete. An mma-style card just puts together the most compelling fights available, regardless of ranking (although rankings certainly play a huge factor in what’s compelling). So you might see two old timers — way past their primes — fight just before a title fight.

The WNBA players don’t have any leverage. The WNBA negotiators will ask where is the money for a pay raise going to come from. The players union will then have to say something like “take on more losses in this 30-year money losing venture” or “force the NBA to subsidize us even more.” Neither option is going to happen. The bottom line is that athletes are entertainers, and if WNBA players want significantly more money in salary, they will have to attract more eyeballs.

If the WNBA is purely an investment, it seems like a questionable investment if it has lost money every year for nearly 30 years straight. (Personally I love that the WNBA exists and I hope that it does well moving forward.) Regardless, the issue is what WNBA players have leverage to ask for at the bargaining table, and there isn’t much leverage when the league has never made a profit.

As far as I know, the WNBA has lost money every year it has existed. It exists because the NBA subsidizes it. Until the WNBA actually makes money, the players’ union is going to have a hard time making any demands.

Could be a subscriber + PPV event on a streaming service and the pay could partially be dependent on PPV numbers. That would give athletes an incentive to promote their matches.

Even a post-NCAAs freestyle "card" would be fun. The change in styles would allow all the college athletes involved to save face (in the event they lose shortly after winning an NCAA title). The NWCA doesn't even have to put it on. It could be put on by Flo or even the UFC (given that the UFC recently broadcasted NCAA wrestling). The bottom line is that the NWCA all-star meets is stale and reflects a world that no longer exists. An MMA-style "card" with matchups people actually want to see would make so much more sense.

Obviously the wrestling season format with lots of dual meets makes little sense. Lots of time and effort and resources are spent on single matches, and starters often duck or are injured anyway. At a minimum super duals would be more efficient uses of time. But that’s not going to change so what’s left? The all-star meet. I think there’s a lot of untapped potential there. It could be marketed as an MMA-style “card.” And instead of every weight class being represented, simply the most compelling matchups possible are put together. And since it’s an exhibition, you could even invite post-college competitors too. The athletes could then hype the matches up and hopefully help themselves in the NIL department. Whether you admit it or not, you’d enjoy another Downey-Starocci match. You 1000% know you would, and you’d follow the buildup even if you missed the match.

Some of these college athletes have amazing NIL deals. Last year, based on known deals (according one media outlet), some interesting figures (but not all the top figures) are as follows: Bronny James -- $4.9 million Shedeur Sanders -- $4.7 million Livvy Dunne -- $3.6 million Caitlin Clark -- $3.1 million Angel Reese -- $1.8 million Not sure how reliable these numbers are, but it gives you a picture of how much money is at play for some athletes. I can only assume that these athletes spend time marketing themselves.

There have been a number of international wrestlers who took the trouble to learn folkstyle and compete here. You could ask them.

2 is absolutely true. Plenty of international freestylers speak English.

I think we’ll win anywhere from 0 to 2 golds. I might reevaluate if Spencer qualifies his weight. But right now I see it as 0 to 2.

We should go to freestyle for a few reasons: 1) It’s a better product. 2) There would be a larger pool of wrestlers to recruit from, meaning higher quality matches. 3) It would provide better preparation for worlds and Olympics. But I know it’ll never happen because too many people prefer watching guys do nothing at the edge, and then crawl out of bounds at the faintest hint of actual wrestling.

Spencer Lee. From PA. 25 years old. 3x NCAA champ, 2x Hodge winner. His mom is French. Hope he qualifies the weight because he belongs in Paris. Zain Retherford. From PA. 28 years old. World gold and silver. 3x NCAA champ. 2x Hodge winner. Also hope he qualifies the weight. I think he can do it. The US has struggled at 65kg for some reason. Kyle Dake. From NY. 33 years old. 4x world champ. World silver. Olympic bronze. 4x NCAA champ. Hodge winner. Will be competing at his second Olympics. Aaron Brooks. From MD. 23 years old. 4x NCAA champ. Hodge winner. Kyle Snyder. From MD. 28 years old. 4x world-level champ. 9x world-level medalist. Will be competing at his third Olympics. Mason Parris. From IN. 24 years old. World bronze medalist. 1x NCAA champ. Hodge winner. Personally I think it's only right for him to compete in Paris.

Every high-level business brings in outside consultants to get a fresh perspective on their operations. NLWC obviously has plenty of resources, but it wouldn’t hurt to get the benefit of JB’s expertise. He’s not going up to 86kg so he shouldn’t fee any sort of way about it. But whatever.

It’s clear that wrestling fans don’t understand trash talk. Yesterday (in the NBA playoffs) Ant Edwards hit an impressive three over Kevin Durant and then asked him “What the **** did I tell you, old *** *****?!” Durant just laughed it off. After the game Ant said Durant was his favorite player ever.

Yes DT would be the best resource for sure. But if a seven time gold medalist lives three hours from you, you’d be smart to reach out.

How do you feel about Greco?

He knows how to watch video and break down what he’s seen.

Penn State versus JB is hilarious. He lives three hours away from State College. You guys should be trying to convince him to move, or at least to work out in State College sometimes, or help prep guys for specific matches. I’m sure there’s mutual respect.

Tough to say how he’ll finish career. I think he should expect multiple world-level golds for himself. I also think he’s fully capable of winning gold in Paris in a few months — and if he does it would be a rare accomplishment for a college wrestler. Not sure if JB’s willing to work with Brooks, but if he is they should work together. I’m sure JB could help him game plan for Yazdani.

Yes it was a horrible format. Extremely boring and drawn out. Americans do not like Greco and forcing it on us won’t change that. I also don’t care about consos in any style.

Really a tasteless thing to post about a great champion.