I have a dream
(12/4/02)
I, along with
many wrestling fans, sometimes stay up late at night trying to
picture what I wish amateur wrestling will someday be.
Sooner or later I fall a sleep and wake up the next morning
to reality and realize the chances of my dream ever occurring, in
my lifetime, are slim to none.
I sit in bed some more picturing it again, then ask myself
“why isn’t wrestling already like it”.
By the time I start thinking of ways to work towards the
dream, I am late for work.
For most wrestling fans, including myself, the application
of Title IX makes no sense. We
are all in favor of equality in sports, but not by taking away the
opportunities of our male athletes that participate in Olympic
sports. I shouldn’t
speak for most wrestling fans, but I assume most wrestling fans
think “if they want to make it equal they shouldn’t drop
men’s sports teams, they should add women’s sports teams”.
This is a whole different subject, but basically in this
dream I picture a day when colleges all over the country will be
adding wrestling teams instead of dropping them.
I also picture every state having a “Division I”
college wrestling team.
It’s a dream that
might not be as impossible as I think it is.
I know for a fact others have this same dream.
I know this as just recently a couple men have put together
a real pro wrestling league.
Though I visualize a real pro wrestling league, I also
visualize a crowd the size of a professional basketball game; a
crowd that would be wearing its local team colors.
This is great and if it works out I may someday see my
dream come true.
I’m an avid fan of the TV show Sportscenter on ESPN.
Well in this dream I wake up in the morning, grab a cup of
coffee, and turn on Sportscenter to see last nights wrestling
results. The feature
dual meet was their “showcase high light”.
That same day’s noon press conference featured the story
of Cael Sanderson being traded for Joe Williams.
That next spring ESPN covered the wrestling draft in its
entirety. Then that
same summer they had a press conference one morning, the Michigan
“Whatevers” signed a multi-year deal with Stephen Abas.
Before the press conference, there was a sports drink
commercial featuring Cael Sanderson.
In this dream of mine it is normal for a wrestler to be in
a commercial.
Now I realize this is a far cry from reality considering
how difficult it is for a local wrestling standout to get a thirty
second piece of the “ten o’clock news”, but remember, its
just a dream. A dream
where I often go to the local mall and walk in the Wrestling
Locker, to by some new piece of apparel of my favorite “real pro
wrestling team”. Then
as I’m leaving the store my son begs me to buy him a pack of
wrestling trading cards.
I can’t wait for the day to come where all my friends and
I, who wrestled together in high school, meet on a Saturday night
at the local sports bar to watch the featured dual meet with
Minnesota and Oklahoma State in the finals of the National Duals.
This day is the same day I picture everyone cheering for
his or her real professional wrestling fantasy wrestlers.
Fantasy football is everywhere and its fun, so why not
fantasy wrestling? Better yet, I can’t wait for the day when we wouldn’t
have to call it real pro wrestling, and everyone would know what
we are talking about when we say “pro wrestling”.
John Elmer
For
Wiwrestling.com
Written for WIwrestling.com by
Freelance Columnist John Elmer
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