A unique insight into the mind of a sports person

Hanley

This is an unbelievable read - a blog made out of a collegiate wrestler in the late 80's training journal, who was coached by one of the best wrestlers ever. He quite literally wrestles with his thoughts and emotions all the way thru. Anyone looking for an insight into the mind of a sports person should read this - http://wrestlingforgable.blogs​pot.com/

SanoVitae

Todd Tarpley wrote:

His hips are made of f-ing concrete. I think 90% of his body weight is in his ass.

Great find Hanley - thanks for sharing.

I really wish amateur wrestling was as popular in Ireland as it is in America.

It's an amazing way to get kids into fitness from a young age, without them actually seeing it as exercise.

Satanta

Dam you. Just read through a couple and am now compelled to keep reading.

Hanley

"Here is what I do every day: get up at 6:30. Put on my jeans, gray sweatshirt, and coat and hat. Walk 2 blocks to the arena. Go to wrestling practice. Shower. Put on my jeans, gray sweatshirt, coat and hat. Go home and go to bed. Wake up at noon or 1pm. Put on my jeans, gray sweatshirt, coat and hat. Walk over to the arena. Mop the mats. Go to wrestling practice. Shower. Put on my jeans, gray sweatshirt, coat and hat. Go to work at Jimi-Changas or go to class, then go home and go to bed.

It's funny. Your hairstyle becomes unimportant. Your wardrobe becomes unimportant. Doing your laundry becomes unimportant. I've never been able to focus like this, because I've never been forced to. I like the feeling of getting better, getting stronger. But I hate being so sore, so tired, so frustrated. It's an interesting feeling."

Satanta

I like this.

10/6/89
I'm feeling a bit disullusioned. About wrestling, about life.

I've tried to live my life by ideals--that things mean something, that you do certain things not because they are practical and easy, but because they are not.

But then, I don't know, you start to wonder if idealism really matters. Maybe life is just a bunch of strangers on a little blue rock out there at the edge of the galaxy, just swirling along for the ride, and it doesn't matter what we do or what we aspire to. Nothing matters.

And if that's the case, well, that's not the end of the world or anything. You're not gonna go swallow a bottle of sleeping pills and drive your car off a cliff. (Which would be kind of redundant anyway, since you just swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills.)

Maybe that's an argument for being more idealistic, not less. If everything is meaningless, it's up to me to decide what is meaningful.

Hanley

This is getting addictive... It's like I've stolen his diary and am reading it in secret on him...

"7/22/89
We're studying Nietzsche in my class. He's the John McEnroe of philosophers: arrogant, bratty, and always walking that thin line between a rebel and an a--hole.

I want to like him, because I agree with him that passionate individualism ought to triumph over common-herd mentality and dull morality. And yet, for all his talk about being a diety and an ubermensch, he was just a nerdy intellectual who probably never got laid and, if he were alive today, would be too busy playing Dungeons and Dragons to ever write grandiose philosophical treatises.

Just once, I would like to wrestle Nietzsche in practice instead of Penrith."

Hanley

It's funny how he was blogging before blogs existed....

howtomake

Maybe that's an argument for being more idealistic, not less. If everything is meaningless, it's up to me to decide what is meaningful.

Agree Satanta, that's a nice one. He's certainly an existentialist. Nice find Hanley.

Hanley

If y'all are interested by the blog, check out this series of 7 videos. It follows the Iowa wrestling team (which is where the blog is set) over a season...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QdcHrPotm4

Hanley

Bump.

This thread is magic.