The Modern Day 'Samson'

Every sports channel, every sports blog, every sports page, the 'witch hunt' of Barry Bonds is at least mentioned. Recollecting this past decade and the accusations from the prosecution on how Barry accomplished extraordinary feats in Baseball, it reminded me of the story of Samson. Everyone knows the story of Samson and his godlike strength that lied within his hair. For those who do not know the story, here's a brief description:
Samson was born during the time of when Israelites were being oppressed by the Philistines and Angel came down to tell the parents that their son (later to be called Samson) was the one to free Israel. However, a vow was to be taken which required - no grape products, avoid tombs and corpses and the most famous one, not to cut his hair. As Samson became a man, it was said he killed a lion with his bare hands and defeat an entire army with only a donkey's jaw bone. As the myth of Samson grew, many people especially the Philistines wanted to get rid of Samson because he was giving the oppressed people hope something that they did not want happen. Later on in life, Samson fell in love with a beautiful Philistine woman, Delilah, who was bribed to find out the secret of his superhuman strength. During their time together, Delilah was so persistent in finding out the secret that Samson withstood the first attempts but in a moment of weakness, he gave in and told her. Consequently, she cut it off and Samson no longer had his herculean strength; thus, creating a opportunity for his enemies to capture him.

Although this story has been around for thousands of years, there still are examples of a modern-day Samson throughout professional sports. A few sports that have notoriety for such athletes are the NFL, Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Professional Wrestling (WWE), but the ringleader is the MLB. Major League Baseball has been plagued by some athletes performing at superhuman levels especially after a year of sub-par performance. For example, Brady Anderson under-performed one year but the next year, he was able to hit 50 home runs as a lead-off hitter, which is an extraordinary accomplishment. At one time, MLB had so many Samson's that they called those years are the 'Steroid Era'. Baseball's 'Samson's' include to name a few: Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, aforementioned Brady Anderson, Garry Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Jose Canseco and the most infamous, Barry Bonds. As the case with Samson, many people wanted to know how they could achieve such feats that were unfathomable and wanted to know their secret. Which in this case, the equivalent to Samson's hair was rampant PED use (Performance Enhancing Drugs) specifically Steroids and the Delilah was Jose Canseco.

Once the secret was out, the performance levels of these athletes plummeted given the accomplishments that they achieved during their 'Samson' years. Although none of these athletes were captured by their enemies but all these athletes did fall from grace especially in the eyes of the fans. Till this day, many athletes deny using Steroids and one culprit being Barry Bonds, which has called his trial a 'modern day witch hunt'.' As that saying goes: 'Those who do not learn from History are doomed to repeat it.' Maybe these athletes should have learned something from the story of Samson...

March 26, 2011 = A Sports Fan Ideal Day

Even though I have multiple TVs throughout my house, I only have a pair of eyes in which I can see sports. Today is a day in which I wish I had eyes all over the place especially on a TV because today is a day that a sports fan can only dream of. What makes today so special for a sports fan, a person might ask themselves that? Allow me to explain by citing what is going on in the world of sports.

EuroCup Qualifier Games are throughout ESPN and GolTv.

There are also soccer 'friendly games' between nations such as Chile V. Portugal and the most talked about amongst soccer aficionados is the appearance of Lionel Messi, whom the youth call 'A Beast' for his athletic prowess, in New Jersey. The United States National Team plays the Argentinian National Team at the new Meadowlands Stadium. 

Spring Training Baseball Games are being shown through MLB Network and other channels. Why is Spring Training Games important to watch today? They are not but these are the last Spring Training Games of the pre-season because Opening Day is March 31, 2011.

NCAA 'March Madness' Games are on TV on CBS, TBS and TNT. These are the Regional Finals also known as The Elite 8. These games will decide which team will make it the Final Four, one game away from a National Championship.

HBO is broadcasting world class boxing bouts called HBO 'Boxing After Dark' today around 9:45PM EST with the main event being Yuriorkis Gamboa Vs. Jorge Manuel in a Featherweight Bout; two fighters that only have one speed and that is go, go, go.

UFC is also broadcasting world class mixed martial art fights called "Fight Night' on Spike TV at 10PM EST. Even though it is on free TV, this card can, in some people's opinion, be put on pay-per-view and still sell. This card has some amazing fights such as Dan Hardy V. Anthony Johnson, Amir Sadollah V. DeMarques Johnson and the main event being Phil 'Mr. Wonderful' Davis V. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

If this is not what a sports fan ideal day looks like than I do not know what is but the one thing I do know is that I am a huge sports fan and March 26, 2011 is my ideal day.

United States Will Play Host to a Legend in the Making

Lionel Messi

No one would ever think that a twenty-three year old athlete is a legend in the making especially in professional sports. The reason behind this is for the mere fact that the athlete is TWENTY-THREE years old!!! People at the age of twenty-three year usually are associated with rookies, a great professional prospect or what the recruits call, pro-ready - an athlete performing at a professional level and plays in a system similar, if not, the same as professional clubs. However, in the sport of Soccer or what the rest of the world calls Football, twenty-three year old players, typically have a few years playing at the highest level -  European Leagues, specifically in England and Spain - or in this case almost a decade.

If you still are not familiar with the twenty-three year old soccer athlete, his name is Lionel Messi. He is from Rosario, Argentina and has been playing the beautiful game (soccer) since he was in diapers. He plays for a club team in Catalunya, Spain called Barcelona Futbol Club. He has been playing for Barcelona since the tender age of seventeen-years old. Although he was trained within their system but for a young man to play for an esteemed club at the highest level at such an age is extremely rare. At his debut game for Barcelona, he scored a goal which shows his tremendous skills and poise for a young athlete. He has achieved so much in his short but remarkable six year career that athletes that are much older still strive to accomplish. One of his greatest accomplish to date is that he has been a two time recipient of The FIFA World Player of the Year Award, a feat that only Brazil's Ronaldo and Ronaldihno have accomplished in FIFA's extistence.

On March 26, 2011, The United States National Team will play against Argentina's National Team with Lionel Messi, most likely serving as team captain, at the new Meadowlands in New Jersey, USA. How are the Americans going to stop this 'legend in the making' from taking over the game is  to be seen but one thing that is for certain, the soccer community will definitely be in full force to see one of the greatest living players that is active on a roster....And did I say he is only TWENTY-THREE years old!!!!!

Whats The Next Level For An Accomplished NCAA Wrestler; The UFC?

I read this article and I asked myself: Whats the next level that a NCAA Wrestler can compete while earning a living?

 Check Out These NCAA Wrestlers Who Would Excel Fighting In The UFC

I know College Football has the NFL, UFL, CFL and even Arena Football. College Basketball has the notable NBA and the many leagues around the globe. College Baseball has the MLB and their farm leagues (minor leagues) and many leagues worldwide. College Soccer has the MLS and the prestigious Spanish, English, Italian, German, Dutch, Brazilian and many others. As for College Wrestling, they have hmmmm, well let me think about this one. (After pondering and scratching my head about this scenario for a matter of precious seconds) I can only think of one, especially as of late, which is Mixed Martial Arts and their respective organizations. For example, UFC, Bellator, Strikefore, WEC (now defunct), King of the Cage and so forth. The only difference between these organizations and the organizations of aforementioned sports is that MMA is  'merely a baby' in comparison.

Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Soccer has been around for almost a hundred years whereas Wrestling has been around for thousands and thousands of years since the days of Ancient Greeks and Romans. So why is it Wrestling isn't as popular as these other sports? Can it be wrestling suffered a similar fate as Horse Racing (Sport of Kings) during the rise of sports on television? See what happen to Horse Racing was that it was not shown on television to the masses and because of that the generation that was growing up, was not exposed to the sport. Consequently, that generation became adults and passed down the sports they grew up playing and watching - Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Soccer - to their kids and cycle just kept repeating till these sports became the most popular.

Now in present day; UFC is on the rise and being televised which means, the generation that is growing up are being exposed to MMA just like the many generations before them were to Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Soccer. Sooner or later, if not right now, kids will want to have a successful wrestling career in college with the aspirations of becoming the next UFC Champion.

So with MMA companies on the rise such as The UFC, whats next for an accomplished NCAA Wrestler? With the exception of Stephen Neal, a 2x NCAA Champion for Cal State Bakersfield that played ten years for the 3x Super Bowl Champions- New England Patriots - MMA seems to be the logical choice.

UFC 128 - Shogun V. Jones

UFC 128

WOW!! To a fan who just watched UFC 128 to see what the hype was all about probably was confused who was champion. I am a big fan of The UFC and I too was unable to grasp that Maurico 'Shogun" Rua was the champion and John 'Bones' Jones was the #1 contender because of how Jones completely dominated the champion.

Jones came in the championship fight as a 2 to 1 favorite and after his performance, those odds were more than justified. Shogun Rua is an incredible fighter, a legend in the young sport and many who have been a fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) can attest to his skills and thought those odds would backfire. I was one of them but after seeing the fight, the odds makers were, in a way, respectful to Rua. I could not believe that Jones has only been fighting for only three years, yes only three years whereas Rua has been fighting the best in his weight division for almost a decade.

I can not say anything else other than the fact that Shogun looked like a rookie by a rookie in the sport that is what John Jones is considered. However, Shogun showed that he was rightfully the champion by the effort he displayed by not retreating and giving up on himself, his team and his fans. He showed the heart of a champion even if the outcome of the fight did not make him retain his champion title. Congratulations to John 'Bones' Jones and much respect to Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, whom I still consider a great fighter or how it said in his native Brazilian Portuguese: Mauricio Rua e um gran lutador com coracao de um campeao.

3rd and Final Day of 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships

What does Penn State and the San Francisco Giants have in common? They are both sports, yes! They both a storied sports team, yes! They both reach the apex in their respective level and sport in the past years, yes! Penn State won the team title, their first title since 1953. Why did I compare a collegiate sports team to a professional sports team, you might ponder? Well, other than the fact that they achieved greatness, they both had not been at the pinnacle since the 1950s. The Giants had not won a World Series since moving out west in 1957 but won the 2010 World Series. That is how they are linked. Congratulations to Penn State for the team title. As for the individual matches, here's how I saw it:

-@125 Anthony Robles defeats defending National Champion Iowa's Matt McDonough convincingly to capture his 1st National Champion and end his storied career on top. Talk about a feel good story.

-@133 Jordan Oliver also dominated his Boise St. counterpart to become a sophomore National Champion.

-@141 Kellen Russel endured what looked like a painful injury against Boris Novachkov from my alum Cal Poly, to take him down in the last 25 seconds to secure his 1st National Title.

-@149 Kyle Dake simply just dominated Penn State's Frank Molinaro. No other way to put it. Kyle racked up an astonishing 6+ riding time, yes, 6+ riding time. He now is a 2x National Champion and he is only a sophomore.

-@157 Bubba Jenkins pins Freshman Sensation David Taylor in the 1st round to claim his 1st National title. Talk about sticking it to your old team.

-@165 Jordan Borroughs is simply a man amongst boys. Like Kyle Dake was able to accomplish, Jordan did but on his feet. He is simply a takedown machine. He ended his career being Nebraska's only 2x NCAA National Champion. Enjoy to watch.

-@174 Jon Reader dominated Stanford's Amuchastegui to win title.

-@184 Quentin Wright, a #9 seed, defeated Robert Hamlin, #2 seed to give Penn State a lone champion. Not only did he outperform his seed but he wrestled like a man who just wanted it more than anyone else.

-@197 Kilgore was getting beat by Oklahome State's Foster but as every wrestler knows it is not how you start but how you finish. In other terms, the wrestler with the least amount of mistakes win the bout and Foster just happened to make a HUGE mistake and Kilgore capitalized on it and pinned him. Kent State's 1st National Champion.

-@Heavyweight Lehigh Rey defeated Ryan Flores from American 3-1. With a Steve Mocco as your coach, I am sure Rey was well prepared for the National Tournament.

Top 3 Teams: Penn State, Cornell, Iowa

As a avid fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships. There were a lot of amazing matches with great student-athletes competing for nothing else than the love and desire for the sport. Can't wait till next year. Hopefully, I will be writing to you guys from St. Louis, MO...

2nd Day of The NCAA Wrestling Championships

If I were to say that a top seeded wrestler, who has beaten everyone in his weight class lost by injury default but before that, he was losing by more than six points, who would you say is this wrestler?

If you answered, Cam Simaz, than you're wrong but he did lose. If you answered Kyle Dake, than you're wrong again and he won and will be going to the finals. If you answered Ed Ruth, than you're right. Ed Ruth lost to Stanford's Nick Amuchestegui in the quarter-finals. Not to take anything away from Nick because he did what he had to do to win and is now in the finals defeating Mack Lewnes of Cornell, but Ed Ruth did not wrestle near his ability. However, that is the nature of the beast that is the grind and huge spectacle of the NCAA Wrestling Championships where there are approximately 20, 000+ fans. For some, it a stage where they shine - Quentin Wright who is in the finals and for some it is not, case in point, Ed Ruth. He is only a freshman and will have three more attempts for that coveted NCAA Championship that every wrestler strives to achieve.

Thoughts on the second day......

-Anthony Robles is in the finals @125 and wrestled his match in the semi's over a strong wrestler from Utah State. He will meet McDonough from Iowa and hopefully Robles will come out the victor.

-@141 A fellow Cal Poly Mustang, Boris Novachkov defeated a strong willed Mike Thorn from Minnesota in the semi's 9-3 and will be in the finals over Kellen Moore from Michigan. Being an alum at Cal Poly, I am rooting for Boris to defeat the undefeated wrestler in Moore.

-@157 David Taylor = Amazing. He will wrestle Bubba Jenkins from Arizona State and former Nittany Lion, in which I believe will be an extra ordinary bout with Taylor winning.

-@165 Jordan Borroughs = A man amongst boys. His power doubles are exactly what he does. He powers right through you for double the amount of points given on an escape. Jordan defeating Tyler Caldwell from Oklahoma, who won in triple OT over returning Andre Howe from Wisconsin.

-@184 Quentin Wright is peaking at THEE right time. He pinned his opponent in the semi's and has been wrestling 'out of his mind'. Wright over Hamlin.

-@197 Kilgore defeated the #1 seed that was Cam Simaz and as a result, I have him beating the Oklahoma State wrestler.

-@Heavyweight Ryan Flores looks smaller than his opponents but also looks superior than his opponents and I believe that he will overcome the hurdle that is Rey from Lehigh in the finals.

As for the team race, I still believe that Penn State will get their 1st team title since the days of bread and water, especially after the Quentin Wright pin in the semi's.

1st Day of 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships

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Let me ask you this? What would you do if you were the favorite to win it all but had to injury default out of the tournament because of an existing injury which made you injury red-shirt a year to heal gets aggravated? Before you answer, I forgot to mention it was your last NCAA tournament EVER!!! Now you can answer. This scenario came to an ugly reality for the 2009 NCAA Champion, Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State. He was injured during his second match of the 1st day. It is painful to hear but I can only imagine how painful it is to feel such a thing. The physical pain can go away but the mental pain of another potential championship taken away from you because of a previous injury is a pain that will not go away in a day, week, months or even year or it might not even go away forever.

Other than the tragic ending to an amazing collegiate career to a wrestler who did the unbeatable in 2009 when he beat Brent Metcalf, a wrestler who was said to be unbeatable in the big stage, was defeated, here are my recap of the first day.

-David Taylor @ 157 is an amazing wrestler, whom I wish will win the tournament because his style is relentless and technical and extremely fun to watch.

-Jordan Borrough @ 165 is just simply a beast on the mat. His only speed is GO! GO! GO! GO!

-Ed Ruth @ 174 always looks disinterested in wrestling. He looks like he doesn't want to wrestle yet always wins convincingly while making his opponent look elementary. I suppose he is saving his energy for when it counts.

-Quentin Wright @ 184 He looks like he is a man on a mission in the NCAA stage. He knows when to turn it on and be on tip top shape to become a champion.

-Ryan Flores @ 285 He looks like a lighter weight. Correct me if I am wrong but he 'majored (an 8pt advantage)' So far he looks like the bigger wrestler among some big big boys.

-Looks like the teams at the top are the usual in recent memory: Penn State, Iowa, Cornell, Boise State

I can not wait to see day 2 (Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals) and day 3 (Finals and medal round).

2010 - 2011 Division 1 NCAA Wrestling Finals Week

To most college students, the third week of March means 'Finals Week' (for those in the quarter system but in the semester system its Mid-Term) but for the winter D-1 collegiate athlete, in particular, a wrestler, the third week means NCAA Division 1 Finals Tournament. However, the first two weeks of March is the grind into making it into the 'the tournament'. Its pretty similar, if not the same concept, as March Madness but for the sport of Wrestling. This year the event is being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 17, 18, and 19. This is the culmination of the 2010-2011 wrestling season and the thought of not winning their respective weight class more or less placing (the accomplishment of being the top 8 in the nation in their weight class) is an utter failure. Consequently, this is what a D-1 NCAA wrestler has looked forward too since the beginning of the season. Being a Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo graduate, I am cheering for the three wrestlers that are representing Cal Poly to win it or accomplish a place. I wish all the wrestlers luck because it is already an achievement to be able to participate in such an event, just like it is an achievement to participate in Basketballs coveted 'March Madness.'

2010-2011 Winter Sports Awards Dinner

Every year and every season, there is an awards dinner that the athletes attends to recap the season, in this case, winter sport of wrestling. This year has a personal feel because of the five seniors that are graduating, I have coached since their freshman year. Not only are they my students but they feel as all five of them are my little brothers.

The dinner was the usual dinner that has been giving in the past - pasta and meatballs and an it's-it ice cream. Once the dinner was consumed, the wrestlers and the parents congregated in the auditorium where wrestling awards and speech's were given. Awards were given to the most improved, most promising, and most valuable on all three levels - Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity. At the end of awards and speech's, a parent created a video reminiscing the awesome season that was shown on a projector. Unbeknown to the coaches, the parents constructed a money tree for all the coaches that was given at the end of the video that signified their appreciation of the coaches time that was invested throughout the season.

In summary, the awards dinner was such a gratifying yet sad because of the five seniors that I was privileged to coach are now moving on with their life to pursue their dreams and aspirations. I wish them all the luck in the world and remember that we all start from somewhere. Good Luck guys!!

The End of the 2010-2011 Wrestling Season

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The beginning of the end started on Thursday March 3rd on the way to Bakersfield, CA for the state meet (tournament) of the season. Although this tournament wasn't for the whole team rather the only two wrestlers that achieved a top three finish at the Central Coast Section Finals two weeks prior, the head coach decided to bring six other wrestlers to support the participating athletes. After the four plus hour van ride to the state meet, the team finally arrived at the Hotel at around 10PM PST.

On the first day of competition at the Rabobank Arena, the event hosted all the qualified wrestlers throughout the whole state of California on 10 mats. At a regular tournament, the most mats that an event has is around 6 or 7 in two gyms. With that being said, first time wrestlers are amazed how big the venue is and tend to perform solely on nerves, thus creating a tense and uncomfortable environment for them. Consequently, they do not perform at the level that got them to such an event.

One of the two wrestlers suffered from first time jitters and lost his first match to a wrestler that was not on his level but got the better of him that match. However, the next three matches he performed at a level that the people that have seen him are use to him wrestling and came out victorious. To make it to second day of competition, he wrestled against a tough kid that score on him and did not want to get scored on for four plus minutes, which lead our wrestler to lose and be eliminated from the event. He ended his sophomore career, top sixteen in the state at 130lbs.  The second wrestler did not have first time jitters and won convincingly against his opponent 10-3. However, he lost to a wrestler a kid ranked second in the state and ranked nationally in his next match. On to his third match, he wrestled a kid equally to his skills but the other kid committed less mistakes than our kid which gave him the victory.

The end of the state meet was Friday March 4th after both kids were eliminated, however our team stayed the weekend to see the best California High School wrestlers. The team saw history in the making as a kid has not lost a match nor has given up an offensive takedown in two years, in California and throughout the nation. In addition, a kid is vying to become the second high school wrestler to be a 4x state champion next year after he won his third this past weekend. Once the finals were over, we decided to return back to Northern California and congratulate the kids on a great season, wish them luck on their future endeavors and hope to see them next year!!!