HOW HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING PAYS THE BILLS

No matter how you see the video of President Trump fighting a CNN bobble head, it’s not high school wrestling.

It’s not Olympic wrestling.

Is it yard wrestling?

Not even.

Instead it’s a demonstration of what happens when a man finds himself in a situation and wishes he’d been on a high school wrestling team.

Watch the opening of Trump vs Vince McMahon.

Instead of pushing Mr. McMahon’s right arm and slide in behind to give him a proper wrestling ride over the top with feet in the air, Trump goes with the tradition clothes line followed by hammer blows in his ground and pound game.

Impressive, just not by high school wrestling standards.

Young Barron needs a better wrestling role model.

How would high school wrestling advise him?

Supreme Court Justice Roberts told his kid’s class he hopes they fail, get lonely, all the stuff that will help them understand others. You know, empathy, sympathy, some-pathy.

That’s enough for some kids to stay humble.

In case you don’t get enough shame and failure and loneliness, join a wrestling team.

Train like a wrestler and learn a few moves.

Work on strength, lateral movement, level changes, then enter a novice tournament and lose.

This is your moment, one beautiful jewel of encapsulated time you’ll remember a lifetime.

For some unGodly reason the referee raises the other guys arm and you’re left to stand in the shade of shame?

You. Are. A. LOSER?

Now what? You lost, the other guy’s arm is up there, and you make a decision.

Get Better. Or Give Up.

If you make the Get Better choice it might go like this:

A late starting fifteen year old, I took the mat against my first tournament opponent, another football player/wrestler. We ended up facing each other in both sports over the years and got reacquainted at UofO.

Between two awkward geeks, I won that day. My next match was a forfeit. Two wins in a row.

I’m going to place in my first tournament. Had to be an omen of greatness, like hitting a home run at your first at bat.

Third match in and I’m winning. I’ve got the guy’s head with his arm wrapped up over his throat and giving it the shit. I’m winning my first high school wrestling tournament.

The guy says, “I can’t breath.”

Nothing changes. No whistle. I’m about to cinch down even harder right after I say, “Tough shit.”

Now the whistle, now the arms waving.

The ref rushes to the scorer’s table and back to the center where I’m thinking I just got the best pin fall call of the day.

Here comes the ref and raises the other guy’s arm? Whoa, here I am, over here. My arm starts creeping up.

I get disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. The ref talks to my coach, then to me.

“Leave this tournament.”

Okay, I said shit. But was it the way I said it, and the situation? Didn’t matter.

They vacated my wins, a cradle and a forfeit.

I walked to the stands like any other punk feeling robbed by the ref.

And the ref followed me

“Leave this building. Get out of this gym.”

The man was over stepping his stripes, but at the same time he seemed pretty sure he wanted me out of there.

And no one’s coming to my rescue.

So I left.

Did I wait for him in the parking lot to tell me which car not to get in and which house not to drive to?

No one taunts wrestling refs, especially one about to go full police state.

Somehow I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. By running my mouth.

High school wrestling pays the bills

Remember the bill you didn’t get because you threw hands in a basketball game?

The bill your parents won’t get because your short fuse got your ass kicked?

Long after high school wrestling you’ll feel your will being tested.

You’ll use the experience you gained in competition to know you’ll be the same whether you win every time or not, because you need to be ready for the next match.

More important you’ll know the effort it takes to win, the pain and the glory.

So get it out of your system early, the whiny laments and self pity woe. But how?

The best way is knowing you can give and take with the best on any given day. Like today.

Pick your opponent and go a few rounds.

Knowing you’ll be fine after wins and losses on a wrestling mat helps you compete in real life today, every day.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, and it better be both if you want high school wrestling to pay the bills.

Remember the choice of Get Better or Give Up?

What’s your story?