I grew up in Iowa. I was in junior high school when Dan was in his Senior year wrestling for Waterloo. He was a legend to all of us before he got to ISU. He inspired me and so many of us not just for wrestling skills but living life going forward. That's the reward wrestling does for you. He's the greatest athlete but even greater human being! Thanks Dan, it was a great time to be growing-up in Iowa and you never disappointed me. You taught me motivation in every aspect of LIFE.
Thank you Joe, you have showed me that I have lost respect for the sport, and myself, and the elite, that deserve our best on their journey to find theirs. Perfect practice makes perfect… I learned this my junior and senior year (when a non pedigree with no family ties or experience or reference to our great sport), was winning matches (INCLUDING CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES – THAT SOME NEQW FRIEND IN MY JUNIOR YEAR ACCEPTED ME INTO THIER ELITE RANKS – DAVE AND MARK SHULTZ -1984) by scores of 23-1 / 24 – 0/ 26 -3 … before the 15 point techs were instituted. But those scores were racked up against the top of their class wrestlers… to try my skills against. Kindness to the new and often scared (as I was when I had to wrestle the top seeds) wrestlers, was to finish them off quickly and with standard moves (single, double, snap down / crossface, sit out switch, stand up…) respect but quickly and perfectly executed moves… 6b second, 9 second, and 14 second pins… In those years, 19 of 20 of the matches I had were about me doing better at form and execution. I always wanted my opponents best… Till one time in my senior year, I was wrestling in the quarter finals – there was no one I knew in my weight class that could give me problems… QUARTER FINALS! I am the top seed! I go out and start wrestling like I am doing drills, no butterflies of butterflies submitting to my commands… Then, my corner, not occupied by my coaches, till the semis or finals, was now (deep into the second period) filled with teammates and three of my coaches, screaming at me… but, like Dan Gable that fateful day, I too could hear the crowd and was chatting with the referee that I knew from overseas FILA tournaments… when my coaches git my attention at the end of the second period, I was down 15-6, and could not remember how it happened – like Dan – ego and a sense of elitism that I only had to prepare for the best in the state… I could coast until they were on the card with me… But championships are NEVER won at the tournaments, they are won the many years before in practice and training harder than anyone else, and then doing a little bit more, getting up and hitting the road at 4:30 or 5:00 AM in icy cold weather, on foot for three – ten miles, before Homeroom. That is where you get super powers that are readily available at the flip of a switch… Thank God, that switch was activated that day, by teammates, friends, coaches, and even peers from other teams… they got my head to realize what my ego was about to cost me… I turned it on, just before the whistle was blown to start the third period. I scored 20 unanswered points in less than 1:20 seconds, before I pinned my opponent from JFK high school, in LA. But, like Dan, I knew so much was off… I had NEVER heard the crowds and even my coaches while engaged and listening to thing like his or her breath, the squeak of their wrestling shoe or their eyes faking a different direction than their hips were fully committed to… so much about the space that assumptions let in opportunities, while ONLY perfectly executed actions should prevail… And somehow, Joe Rogan, got from the great Dan Gable, what now else had in my lifetime… You are executing and delivering and executing and trailblazing this fairly new medium, like Dan Gable, Dave Shultz, Bobby Douglas, John Smith, Kevin Jackson, Kenny Monday, Joey Gonzalez, Barry Davis (the perfector of the whirlybird and eventual coach of Syracuse NY – Orangeman) and many more like Ben Petersen ( of the Petersen Roll), and Rick Sanders, who was reportedly, by a coach of mine on the 72 team, a unconventional wrestler that found ways to win, with practice routines that seemed foolish to guys like Gable and Petersen… late to practice, loosie goosey drills, etc… but still took a silver medal… he redefined possibilities in the sport, much like Joe Rogan has done in the world of podcasting, which I now get, is because of the era we grew up in and the sport that was redefining the toughness of USA wrestling to the world…
WOW! This is the first time I heard Dan talk this way (yes, coach Gable to all of us growing up in Joe and my era, because Iowa and the wrestler/now coach, who even after this match, had Russia train multiple wrestlers to match up and beat this unicorn from the US…). But Joe Rogan, who I never even gave a chance to hear his show, till now, got coach Gable, to be Dan, a guy just like me, for the first time ever (44 years and a bunch of those knowing, beating, and competing – coaching and being respected by the best in our sport and UFC) … and for the first time (the "evolved skinny kid – elite wrestler") got his understanding from a guy he thought was another actor trying to jump on the elite wrestler world and interpret it wrong – AGAIN… but, I was the one who failed to use the ultimate secret that wrestling teaches those of us who pay the price and choose to trust the people who see in a winner inside of us, when no one should according to the view I had of myself. I learned that one secret, it served to make me successful in a lot of ways and places I did not have the bloodline or credentials needed, by consensus to succeed in… But, the knowledge that I did keep was one of being able to admit weakness while learning and earning the ability a excitement to stand against ANY man without fear… EXCEPT AND ONLY when you get to that place where you allow fame and notoriety to ignore life's principles… the simplest explanation for the layman, would be what my 7th grade coach told me, when In was about to step on the mat with the prior years state champion; a senior in high school, looked like a body builder and while warming up, like a machine that could never tire. Until then, I just tried to do my best. Somehow, I knew (this guy deserved better than my best … but even that would not be good enough with all these nerves) that Ricky Griffin or Ramapo HS, deserved better (even though I knew nothing of this new sport I was trying and thought – for God knows why, that someday I would (NOT COULD but WOULD) be great at, to spite all evidence to the contrary… So my coach saw my fear and came over, while i was on deck, and said, "You nervous Giz?" I said, "yeah, I don't know why, but I am…" He said (Coach Jerry Barks – US Greco Team – another lucky gift – and he was a heavy weight – strong but giving – and really looked like a tough guy – till you knew his heart – HE WAS TOUGH! He just didn't talk much about himself…), "Giz, all of us get butterflies, especially the best of us, like Ricky over there, on the other side of the mat (I looked at him quizzically) and he nodded, the continued… The only difference is that, he has taught his butterflies to fly in formation. If you do that now, which means fight, not flight, you have a chance. Do It! You won the varsity spot by beating a 9th and 10th grader that wrestled years at varsity. You did that as a 7th grader, you already know the secret, now do it here. This was a dual meet, I needed to not get pinned, but somehow that little lesson which I used ever since and taught to some if teh greatest all-American wrestlers and some of the highest recruited wrestlers in our nations history, to illustrate mental toughness and what can happen to far better prepared and higher caliber wrestlers and all of us, if we don't even invite those butterflies to every match
I grew up in Iowa. I was in junior high school when Dan was in his Senior year wrestling for Waterloo. He was a legend to all of us before he got to ISU. He inspired me and so many of us not just for wrestling skills but living life going forward. That's the reward wrestling does for you. He's the greatest athlete but even greater human being! Thanks Dan, it was a great time to be growing-up in Iowa and you never disappointed me. You taught me motivation in every aspect of LIFE.
I was never prepared for a wrestling match unless I was sweating.
Watching this match made me a Larry Owings fan. He Freaking took it to him!
Thank you Joe, you have showed me that I have lost respect for the sport, and myself, and the elite, that deserve our best on their journey to find theirs. Perfect practice makes perfect… I learned this my junior and senior year (when a non pedigree with no family ties or experience or reference to our great sport), was winning matches (INCLUDING CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES – THAT SOME NEQW FRIEND IN MY JUNIOR YEAR ACCEPTED ME INTO THIER ELITE RANKS – DAVE AND MARK SHULTZ -1984) by scores of 23-1 / 24 – 0/ 26 -3 … before the 15 point techs were instituted. But those scores were racked up against the top of their class wrestlers… to try my skills against. Kindness to the new and often scared (as I was when I had to wrestle the top seeds) wrestlers, was to finish them off quickly and with standard moves (single, double, snap down / crossface, sit out switch, stand up…) respect but quickly and perfectly executed moves… 6b second, 9 second, and 14 second pins… In those years, 19 of 20 of the matches I had were about me doing better at form and execution. I always wanted my opponents best… Till one time in my senior year, I was wrestling in the quarter finals – there was no one I knew in my weight class that could give me problems… QUARTER FINALS! I am the top seed! I go out and start wrestling like I am doing drills, no butterflies of butterflies submitting to my commands… Then, my corner, not occupied by my coaches, till the semis or finals, was now (deep into the second period) filled with teammates and three of my coaches, screaming at me… but, like Dan Gable that fateful day, I too could hear the crowd and was chatting with the referee that I knew from overseas FILA tournaments… when my coaches git my attention at the end of the second period, I was down 15-6, and could not remember how it happened – like Dan – ego and a sense of elitism that I only had to prepare for the best in the state… I could coast until they were on the card with me… But championships are NEVER won at the tournaments, they are won the many years before in practice and training harder than anyone else, and then doing a little bit more, getting up and hitting the road at 4:30 or 5:00 AM in icy cold weather, on foot for three – ten miles, before Homeroom. That is where you get super powers that are readily available at the flip of a switch… Thank God, that switch was activated that day, by teammates, friends, coaches, and even peers from other teams… they got my head to realize what my ego was about to cost me… I turned it on, just before the whistle was blown to start the third period. I scored 20 unanswered points in less than 1:20 seconds, before I pinned my opponent from JFK high school, in LA. But, like Dan, I knew so much was off… I had NEVER heard the crowds and even my coaches while engaged and listening to thing like his or her breath, the squeak of their wrestling shoe or their eyes faking a different direction than their hips were fully committed to… so much about the space that assumptions let in opportunities, while ONLY perfectly executed actions should prevail… And somehow, Joe Rogan, got from the great Dan Gable, what now else had in my lifetime… You are executing and delivering and executing and trailblazing this fairly new medium, like Dan Gable, Dave Shultz, Bobby Douglas, John Smith, Kevin Jackson, Kenny Monday, Joey Gonzalez, Barry Davis (the perfector of the whirlybird and eventual coach of Syracuse NY – Orangeman) and many more like Ben Petersen ( of the Petersen Roll), and Rick Sanders, who was reportedly, by a coach of mine on the 72 team, a unconventional wrestler that found ways to win, with practice routines that seemed foolish to guys like Gable and Petersen… late to practice, loosie goosey drills, etc… but still took a silver medal… he redefined possibilities in the sport, much like Joe Rogan has done in the world of podcasting, which I now get, is because of the era we grew up in and the sport that was redefining the toughness of USA wrestling to the world…
WOW! This is the first time I heard Dan talk this way (yes, coach Gable to all of us growing up in Joe and my era, because Iowa and the wrestler/now coach, who even after this match, had Russia train multiple wrestlers to match up and beat this unicorn from the US…).
But Joe Rogan, who I never even gave a chance to hear his show, till now, got coach Gable, to be Dan, a guy just like me, for the first time ever (44 years and a bunch of those knowing, beating, and competing – coaching and being respected by the best in our sport and UFC) … and for the first time (the "evolved skinny kid – elite wrestler") got his understanding from a guy he thought was another actor trying to jump on the elite wrestler world and interpret it wrong – AGAIN… but, I was the one who failed to use the ultimate secret that wrestling teaches those of us who pay the price and choose to trust the people who see in a winner inside of us, when no one should according to the view I had of myself. I learned that one secret, it served to make me successful in a lot of ways and places I did not have the bloodline or credentials needed, by consensus to succeed in… But, the knowledge that I did keep was one of being able to admit weakness while learning and earning the ability a excitement to stand against ANY man without fear… EXCEPT AND ONLY when you get to that place where you allow fame and notoriety to ignore life's principles… the simplest explanation for the layman, would be what my 7th grade coach told me, when In was about to step on the mat with the prior years state champion; a senior in high school, looked like a body builder and while warming up, like a machine that could never tire. Until then, I just tried to do my best. Somehow, I knew (this guy deserved better than my best … but even that would not be good enough with all these nerves) that Ricky Griffin or Ramapo HS, deserved better (even though I knew nothing of this new sport I was trying and thought – for God knows why, that someday I would (NOT COULD but WOULD) be great at, to spite all evidence to the contrary… So my coach saw my fear and came over, while i was on deck, and said, "You nervous Giz?" I said, "yeah, I don't know why, but I am…" He said (Coach Jerry Barks – US Greco Team – another lucky gift – and he was a heavy weight – strong but giving – and really looked like a tough guy – till you knew his heart – HE WAS TOUGH! He just didn't talk much about himself…), "Giz, all of us get butterflies, especially the best of us, like Ricky over there, on the other side of the mat (I looked at him quizzically) and he nodded, the continued… The only difference is that, he has taught his butterflies to fly in formation. If you do that now, which means fight, not flight, you have a chance. Do It! You won the varsity spot by beating a 9th and 10th grader that wrestled years at varsity. You did that as a 7th grader, you already know the secret, now do it here. This was a dual meet, I needed to not get pinned, but somehow that little lesson which I used ever since and taught to some if teh greatest all-American wrestlers and some of the highest recruited wrestlers in our nations history, to illustrate mental toughness and what can happen to far better prepared and higher caliber wrestlers and all of us, if we don't even invite those butterflies to every match