“The hardest thing that I’ve ever chosen to do in my life was walking in space,” Glover told Cal Poly president Jeffrey Armstrong, per The Athletic. “The second-hardest thing that I ever chose to do in my life was wrestling practice with Lennis Cowell,” @CalPolyWrestle longtime wrestling coach.
Pretty cool note I got from a tech CEO/founder who watched NCAAs about hiring wrestlers:
“I'll say this: without question my favorite hiring profile is a D3 All-American wrestler. You competed in the darkness. No lights, no crowd, sometimes literally no one watching. You showed up anyway and you figured it out. Give me 10 of those guys and they're worth 50 fancy Ivy League degrees. Every time. The mat doesn't lie.”
Thoughts?
I officially have my bracket for this year’s tournament!
Don’t expect a lot of upsets this year… and I have IOWA STATE winning it all!
Good luck to everyone this year!!
In light of Cal Baptist forcing their wrestlers to wear the singlet of their cancelled program or risk forfeiting:
Shane Griffith, the pride of Bergen Catholic, wearing his Stanford singlet turned inside out in the NCAA finals, winning a title and saving their wrestling program.
To the athlete struggling to find their passion:
I want you to know you will find your passion, but it may not be today. The monotony of the everyday grind, the tedious drills and practices, and the days where you aren’t really sure If you want to be there- here is something no one talks about: they are normal. Sometimes there’s only a spark now and then before you feel a fire. You will fall in and out of love with your sport as it smothers you with success and topples you with heartache until you and it’s place in your life find a mutual respect with one another .
You will find your passion again.
It didn’t disappear, it didn’t leave, no, it just needs a little encouragement to find it’s way to the surface. It needs to be reminded, this passion of yours, that it’s not the sport that defines it, but the consistency, discipline, and effort that this sport demands of you. No, it’s not your passion that dies, it’s your faith in your ability that does.
You either have faith or you don’t.
You either believe or you don’t. If you have faith in the unseen, then why is it so hard to have faith in what you can see and what others see in you. As a close friend said, “ You may wonder why you would be given a talent or be called to something You’re not passionate about or have lost passion for, “. I am here to tell you that not every calling or every talent we are given is passion led. I would actually argue that most aren’t. Success does not equal passion. You can have one without the other. If your passion were success based then you know the feeling of joyless victory and indifferent defeat. Success may help spark or grow your passion, but it won’t sustain it.
You’re overthinking it.
Have you ever wanted to know what happens at the end of the book so you can decide if it’s really worth starting the next chapter? You’re basing if you will begin off of where you may end. Knowing what I do now after my athletic career is over, there will rarely be someone that walks away from their sport and says I got everything I wanted to out of that. Yet millions of athletes get up and go to the next workout, the next practice, and the next competition with the faith in the simple fact that the only way they give themselves a chance to maybe feel that contentment one day down the road is showing up.
The time you spend- it is not wasted.
But what if I lose? What if I’m not the best? What if I spend all the time working towards this goal that I never achieved. You know what I say to that: you have made yourself the best guide to help someone else on their own path to that same goal. Passion, true passion, “is a strong barely controllable emotion” ( per Webster), it’s not something you keep to yourself. It spills out of you. Your calling and purpose in this world most likely will come from the passion you have regardless of the outcome of the goal you worked towards.
Start Small.
Find the little things that bring you that deep sense of joy within your sport. Use all your senses. Maybe it’s the ride to the field, maybe it is the laughter or silence in the recovery room after, and maybe it is as simple as the feeling you get when you realized you made it through a tough practice or conditioning. Where are the moments you feel most proud of yourself? Replicate that and journal it to read over and over on the days you feel like you may have forgotten it.
Passion: It is an emotion and just like other emotions we can sometimes learn to harness it and forget to let it loose again. Fear is that harness. If you want to dive into where your passion has gone- the first place I would look is where fear showed up.
And then:
- Most Wins in ISU history
- Most Big 12 Wins in ISU history
- Winningest Season in ISU history
- 3X Big 12 Coach of the Year
- Most Top 25 Wins in ISU history
- Most Top 10 Wins in ISU history
- Most All-Americans in ISU history
- 15 NFL Draft Picks
Everyone should value and understand how a near-death experience can soften someone’s heart and aligns priorities. I love seeing a tough dude like Ben be open and vulnerable- he is even more of a hero in my eyes- more men need to openly express love for their family. Ben will change more lives through his videos and perseverance, God wasn’t done with him! 💪🏼
Well I was supposed to be wrestling in @RAFWrestlingUSA 1 😢😢. But since I can’t I’m gonna do my best to support from the sidelines! America needs a pro wrestling league and this is the best opportunity we have had in a long time. RAF1 this weekend on @foxnation