Foul Territory

Only in that both have such wide arrays of sizes and bodytypes. Wrestling, though, is a rare sport in that a person can have great success without winning the genetic lottery. Heck, I won almost 300 matches between high school and college, and I'm no one's idea of a genetic freak. I was just a guy with above average athleticism and great technique. My teammate Tanner, on the other hand, didn't quite have the experience or the technique, but he probably only wrestled one or two guys in his whole college career that were stronger than him. We both got to wrestle, and we both got to win, even though no one would ever confuse our styles. He would overpower and outwork a lot of guys, while I had the dizzying array of moves. Ok, dizzying might be pushing it, but you get my drift. It's a great sport that is less dependent on your genes than your ability to adapt a style to your body and technical ability. I just wish I could see more of it on television. The only current wrestling scheduled for prime time is the Greco-Roman heavyweight match, in anticipation of a repeat performance by Rulon Gardner. Unfortunately, there is likely no more boring match to watch than Greco-Roman heavyweights. If it weren't for all the positive press in Sydney, I would have said Gardner's match against the Russian was bad for the sport in the sense that almost nothing happened the whole time, and even I didn't quite understand how Rulon scored the match-winning point, though I was one of the 14 people in the country watching who understood the commentators' (admittedly murky) explanation. It was not the kind of match that builds support for the sport. It's tough for the Americans, too, because the international wrestling community is out to get the American wrestlers for some reason. Nearly every major rule change of the past 20 years has at its heart a way to make life difficult for American wrestlers, and I'm not saying anything controversial by stating it. If you combine that with the general superiority of the Russians in the sport, it's a tall order to win a gold medal for an American wrestler, and the 5 minutes of it they may show in prime time is well worth the watch.