A Sea Of Red

I am a newer silent (to this point) member to this board - just wanted to toss this out there for sake of supporting the validity of keeping a wrestling program going. I agree with Steve Dewalt on the "Dedication" thread - "....wrestling is a lifestyle". Wrestling takes a young man (and even young women nowadays) to a level of athletism that very few athletes will ever go because their specific sport environment does not require it.

With the news today of Usama Bin Laden being killed by Navy Seals I find it compelling to share some information on one place the Navy actually focuses its Seals recruiting efforts according to an article on NPR dated April 9, 2007. Here is the link to read the entire article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=9481756

Commander Duncan Smith heads up Naval Special Warfare's recruiting directorate, also known as the Motivators Shop. He's blond, with movie star looks. He first joined the SEALs in the 1980s, left in the '90s, dabbled in television and got a graduate degree in marketing. But he rejoined the SEALs after Sept. 11. Nowadays, he travels the country, spreading the word about the SEALs — at triathlons, athletic camps, the ESPN X-Games.

"We find that wrestlers do well," he says. "Water polo players, nontraditional athletes do well — snowboarders, big wall climbers, ice climbers... You can recognize immediately they have personal discipline and drive to succeed at any kind of physical or mental challenge."

What's my main objective here? Simply to say that there are those who actually do care about wrestling - the Navy Seals seem to be interested in wrestlers, right along with other "non-traditional" sport athletes. Out of the 40 Seals involved in the operation to kill Bin Laden, I would bet a few of them were wrestlers, and I bet a few others were from "non-traditional" sports as well. I would love to know those stats -

When it comes down to it, I think the best thing I did for my son was to have him become a wrestler. By the way, he is a football player too.

good post, thanks- and welcome aboard.

Okay, so people care about wrestling. How does that change anything? What does that prove? No one has argued that there weren't people who don't care about wrestling. How does that change our situation at all?

Okay? So what? I'm a spanish speaker who works at a gym. Should we celebrate spanish speakers?

Don't get me wrong, I love the Navy Seals. They're so good at what they do.

"Water polo players, nontraditional athletes do well — snowboarders, big wall climbers, ice climbers"

So should we add these sports as well? Unless it truly IS a conspiracy and there is more to the building of the SNOWFLEX then we first thought!!!! And don't we have a climbing wall and an ice rink?!?!? Where are Alex Jones and Art Bell when we need them!!

The military does a fairly good job I think of teaching combat skills to their soldiers and sailors. Wrestling is just a small portion of the training and not a big one. It is not exactly suited to hand to hand combat to the death scenarios. Then of course you would have to define exactly WHAT type of wrestling you are talking about and what you are lumping it in with. Bottom line, it is not the be all end all that will save western civilization from impending doom and destruction.

Another article, the quote below is by a Navy SEAL/former wrestler -

"Wrestling is a great translation into special operations," said Lt. Mark Conley, a Navy SEAL and former Naval Academy wrestler who volunteered for the event. "Only the elite wrestlers in the country are at this event right now. They all have dedication, physical prowess and mental preparation; those are all traits shared by those in special operations."

According to Capt. Adam Curtis, the director of the Naval Special Warfare Recruiting Directorate, historically former wrestlers have done very well with careers as SEALs and SWCCs.

"What you see on the wrestling mats here are young men who are committed to a mission; they are tenacious, they persevere, and if you knock them down, they get back up," said Curtis. "All of those things translate well into the SEAL teams."

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=52256


There is no point to prove - no axe to grind - no hill to conquer. Simply interesting information to those of us passionate about wrestling, that's all. Not looking to cause controversy, just giving credit where credit is due. Wrestlers contend on the greatest of fronts, that is admirable and noteworthy.

Bottom line, it is not the be all end all that will save western civilization from impending doom and destruction.

I agree with you 100% on this point. Life and civilization will go on whether or not wrestling exists.

kinda backs up what was originally said by ktmrider...Seal and special forces guys are just kickbutt and take no prisoner kind of guys...on another note if you ever get to tour the FBI facilities in Quantico do it. On the tour they place a high emphasis on their hand to hand training skills and their training in wrestling (the shooting range was just awesome to do too!). Our guide told me that almost everyone with a wrestling background does really well in all aspects of the physical/mental demands of the training period.

Young men with a background in water polo, triathlons, lacrosse, rugby, swimming, wrestling and boxing tend to be successful in the SEALs, according to an article last year in the North County Times, a San Diego area newspaper.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42884153/ns ... ?GT1=43001

ktmrider wrote:There is no point to prove - no axe to grind - no hill to conquer. Simply interesting information to those of us passionate about wrestling, that's all. Not looking to cause controversy, just giving credit where credit is due. Wrestlers contend on the greatest of fronts, that is admirable and noteworthy.

I agree on all points

oh and wrestling will always exsist...it is the oldest sport and every little boy has wrestled in some form or another with his friends...I think it maybe going through a transformation of some sort with the new explosion of MMA...

I'm with you on this. I suspect that submission grappling (and perhaps someday mma) will replace wrestling at the HS and college levels. to see an ncaa champion in submission grappling or mma would be an amazing thing.