CD Mock, current wrestling coach at UNC Chapel Hill (my alma matta) had the following to say about wrestling in an online article. It reminded me why I love the sport:
"It is a very difficult sport," states North Carolina wrestling head coach C.D. Mock. "It is not fun. It is not a team sport--nobody wrestles for fun. No one is going to have a pick-up game on Sunday of wrestling. It is a brutal sport. You have two people out there--you are all alone and you have no one to depend on. It is just you; if you don't get it done it does not get done. At the same time you have someone coming against you one-on-one who is trying to ensure you do not get it done. Add to that cutting weight, having to not eat as much as you like and drink as much as you like and pretty much train twice a day, it is tough. We have a code of ethics on the wrestling team and our 12th code is: 'We are different'. To go in that room every day to get beat up and come back the next day takes a rare breed."
We are different...so many people today are uncomfortable with being different. I think wrestlers revel in it a bit (psychology guys go easy on us). We have funny ears, are at times bow legged, some have crooked noses (mine is surely a mess) and we always see life as a bit of a scrap. Yeah, the sport has its meatheads and trouble makers, probably too many, but it also gives discipline, self-control and a work ethic to young guys. It is one of the world's oldest sports and one I pray that PC wimpiness doesn't wipe out all together. The rise of MMA has given many wrestlers a sort of pro-league possibility which may increase interest in the sport.
The bottom line for me is this. Many things have shaped my life - early on it was science and amateur wrestling. I believe God providentially put me in those arenas to make me who I am today. A bit meatheadish, sometimes a trouble maker but hopefully all the better for having gone at it on the mat. Plus, I actually studied a little in college to counter balance some things :)
So to the fraternity of guys out there who have cut the weight, fought the fight, put in time in sweltering hot rooms and been through torturing training sessions...hats off brothers, with all of our flaws, we are different.