Crimson Arrows
Well-Known Member
I'll be there....never miss it! Go Hawks!
THA4
A Few Steps Ahead Of You
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JNRBRONC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">From the title, the recent 800 post and the author, I figured there was going to be diaper pics in this thread. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif
Go Hawks! </div></div>
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Love to be at that meet! its the best one in the nation if you ask me!
Go Hawks!
Go Hawks! </div></div>
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Love to be at that meet! its the best one in the nation if you ask me!
Go Hawks!
Daver
PMA Member
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">From the title, the recent 800 post and the author, I figured there was going to be diaper pics in this thread. </div></div>
Me too! I thought this would be a post about how his twin daughters were fighting each other already. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Me too! I thought this would be a post about how his twin daughters were fighting each other already. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
risto2351
Well-Known Member
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JNRBRONC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">From the title, the recent 800 post and the author, I figured there was going to be diaper pics in this thread. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif
Go Hawks! </div></div>
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
As far as the meet have to go with the Clones. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
Go Hawks! </div></div>
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
As far as the meet have to go with the Clones. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
muddy
Well-Known Member
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ibowbigbucks</div><div class="ubbcode-body">muddy,
im with sureshot, hawks may be surprised this yr, cals gottem ready i hope! go CLONES!ALSO, go twister sisters, and CY MEN, beat those hawks in B.B. </div></div>
It should be a GREAT meet. I'm not sure who is more motivating, Sanderson or Brands... the house will be a rocking in I.C. that's for sure!
I'm just psyched we got a free baby sitter for the twins and that my wife and I get to go out for some food and some fun!
I'll be the guy in section JJ with a predator fall gray hat on!
im with sureshot, hawks may be surprised this yr, cals gottem ready i hope! go CLONES!ALSO, go twister sisters, and CY MEN, beat those hawks in B.B. </div></div>
It should be a GREAT meet. I'm not sure who is more motivating, Sanderson or Brands... the house will be a rocking in I.C. that's for sure!
I'm just psyched we got a free baby sitter for the twins and that my wife and I get to go out for some food and some fun!
I'll be the guy in section JJ with a predator fall gray hat on!
Fishbonker
Life Member
Only 4,000 tickets left. Better hurry. They expect it to be a sell out. Me? I'm gonna watch it on TV. The pundits have it as a very close match with the 197 being a pivotal match. The "experts" I was listening to this afternoon are expecting Jake Varner to get bonus points in his match and if he doesn't then Iowa may win. The other problem spots include 133 and heavy wt for Iowa. The starter for Iowa at heavy is injured and 133 is having trouble making wt.
The 'Bonker
The 'Bonker
Limb Chicken
Active Member
Pretty good Q & A with Brands...
December 3, 2008
Coach Brands ready for Iowa State
Tom Kakert
Publisher
Tom Brands loves competition. Any competition, be it playing checkers, a game of monopoly, or on the mat. On Saturday night he leads his Hawkeye team into the biggest meet of the young season as #1 Iowa faces off with in-state rival and #2 ranked Iowa State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, possibly in front of the largest crowd to ever attend a wrestling meet. Brands talks about the upcoming meet, an injury at 197 pounds for his squad, and much more.
Q: #1 vs. #2, is this about as big as it gets early in the season?
Brands: I think it is right where you want it. There are reasons for fuel on the fire and that is probably adding to it.
Q: How big is a meet in early December in the big scheme of things?
Brands: You answer that question every day in the communication with your team and especially in this program, where I come from, and the way that I have approached competition my entire life. Checkers and Monopoly were important when you were playing them. Every match is important and our guys know it, they love it, they rise to the occasion because they have believed that for most of their lives as competitors and it has been reinforced here.
Q: When you wrestled Iowa State, was there more of a dislike towards them than maybe some other teams?
Brands: Rivalries, do they create more dislike? I don't know. From a fan perspective, fans love the rivalry and they have their side of the fence that they are on and they are very passionate. Once that is over, I think they are rooting for both teams until they become head to head again. I think there is a lot of pride in the state of Iowa that wrestling fans in the state of Iowa root for both teams until they meet head to head and then they pick a side. As far as a competitor, in-state rivalries are important. How much emphasis you put on them I don't think has anything to do with them whether they are down the road or a long way away on a plane flight or a bus ride. It doesn't really matter. A rivalry is a rivalry. Iowa State is certainly a rivalry, but there are other rivalries as well. This is a big match coming up and we have ten weights to contest and we have ten guys that we are going to put out on the mat to contest it the way that it needs to be contested.
Q: How much more fun does it make it with a possible capacity crowd looking on to watch it?
Brands: I think that is something that adds to the fireworks that I was talking about earlier. The fireworks are important. It is not something that is a non-factor. I don't believe that. I believe that there is more excitement, more energy, and there is maybe more reason to get fired up. You always need a reason to compete at your best and maybe this adds to it, one way or the other. It certainly is better than competing behind closed doors.
Q: How important is it for the sport to have a crowd of 16,000 here?
Brands: I think it is important, but I don't place big importance on it. I don't look at it as a priority to break the record from my point of view even though Rick Klatt and his people have done a pretty good job in a short amount of time to get this thing going. But, that is also a tribute to the guys that are going to be competing at the ten weights that we have, the one against two because without a product, you don't generate the excitement. Winning is promotion. I have said that from day one. Winning is promotion and we have to give fans a reason to come and entertaining wrestling is promotion. Entertaining wrestling and winning go hand in hand and then you have a pretty good product. That is something we are always communicating to your guys, it is about how you go out and entertain. It is not just about getting your hand raised. It is about wrestling with a certain energy level and being able to go hard for the entire match, whatever that length is.
Q: What does it say about the series that most of the largest crowds to watch an NCAA meet have been to Iowa/Iowa State meets?
Brands: I think it shows that wrestling is strong in Iowa. Wrestling is strong in other places too, but when you look at two programs that are 200 miles apart or whatever, I don't know if there is any place in the country like that. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State? Not anymore. There is a lot to get excited about. What does it say about wrestling? It says that wrestling is strong in Iowa and that we have done a good job of getting our team to where people want to come and be a part of a big event like this. They have done a good job with their team, so there is fireworks there just based on the passion of who you believe is going to win this thing.
Q: You guys have been fairly dominant in your duals so far. Do you think this is your first real test of the season?
Brands: As a team, you just look at the schedule and this is something that you do target and you do get ready for. But, at the same time, every time out is a test and every time out barometer and you learn, evaluate, and analyze as a coach. You don't let a day go by without getting better.
Q: What is your assessment of the first two competitions that you have had?
Brands: Progress and we need to shore some things up. You know what, you sound like a broken record saying it, but there is work to do and that is a positive thing because we haven't leveled out or topped out and we never will. This sport is like any other endeavor in life where you can always get better. It just goes with your nature in life of being restless and a sense of urgency and irritable in a positive way that something back here just isn't right. Let's make progress and let's make a statement here. This is a big stage to make a statement and something is bothering you back here, well let's eliminate that bother a little bit. Winning helps to move on. It is important to remember that and that is why every event is important.
Q: What do you know about Iowa State? Do you look at them as a team or just the individual matches?
Brands: We know their coaching staff. We know their program and their tradition. We know our coach wrestled there. We know that Dr. Harold Nichols had a pretty tough program, tradition wise. They are strong there as well in the past. We know their individuals and we believe in what our guys bring the table when it comes to a fight against that entity or machine or whatever you might want to call it. Yeah, we are aware, we are aware of what we are up against. I'll tell you, I can speak for the entire program when we say we wouldn't trade one ingredient, not one ingredient. That doesn't mean that we are content and that we don't believe that we have work to do here. It means that we believe in our guys.
Q: How has Alex looked this year coming off his redshirt year?
Brands: If you look at the results there are close matches there. If you look at his opponents and how they are wrestling him, I think he has done a good job of coming out on top, making progress, and getting himself ready to wrestle when it is time to wrestle. Right now he is the guy at 141. You look at it like any other weight where he is chomping at the bit and never satisfied type of thing, but he is coming along like he should be coming along.
Q: Beatty is not listed. Is there a reason?
Brands: Ah… nobody knows that reason? Injury Central Michigan.
Q: How long is he out?
Brands: I don't know. He could go Friday if it was March. It just depends if you are going to heal him or not and do the right thing by the individual.
Q: Is there any chance for him on Saturday?
Brands: I mean, I believe in God and his Son and if he touches him in a miraculous way, which I don't think God really works that way. I don't think he is necessarily an Iowa Hawkeye, but I know that we are in favor with him. (laugh) I don't think he works that way though. I think he has bigger things in mind. A bad thing happened to Chad and there is redemption there. I believe that and I believe that he is looking out for Chad Beatty. With that kind of guidance, we will make the right decision for the individual.
Q: What part of his anatomy got hurt?
Brands: No one knows about the injury? Huh? I don't talk about injuries. If he wants to talk about injuries, then fine, he can talk about it. I'm not willing to talk about it. Is that alright?
Q: Is there still a battle going on with Slaton and Dennis?
Brands: They are battling and not necessarily head to head. Somebody asked me about a week ago in an interview about an audition and if they were auditioning with Slaton, LeClere, and Dennis, I don't look at it like an audition. Maybe, but that is not it at all. Actually there was an article in the Press Citizen on Saturday that I just read before I came down here, there were some good quotes by Daniel Dennis about what is about. It is about standing on the top of the stage in March, progressing, and doing the things that I need to do every day to get ready to go. That I means Slaton or Dennis, or Tsirtsis or whoever we are talking about, everybody. Is there a head to head battle? No, but are they auditioning? No, but at the same time we are evaluating. We are evaluating as we go down the list on this thing. There is no automatic. There is nothing personal here. This is all about making the best decision based on how we analyze going forward.
Q: Have you made a decision there for Saturday?
Brands: No.
Q: Is this a chance for maybe some of your questionable weights…
Brands: This is a great chance for a guy at 97. This is a great chance. You are wrestling the #1 ranked guy in America and he looks and appears to be pretty solid. This is maybe a good opportunity for guys that aren't maybe proven on the national stage as the guy to beat with a big target on his back. We want more Metcalf's, so to speak, and we are adding to that. We can keep adding to that and this is a good opportunity.
Q: Is there a lot of differences in wrestling styles between Iowa and Iowa State?
Brands: The wrestling fan knows the answer to that question. I know the answer to that question and I don't think I need to talk about it. That is what I meant when I said I wouldn't trade one ingredient, not one individual, not one coach, not one iota of the style that we wrestle, not one iota of the way we communicate, not one iota of how we approach this sport. These guys are about the lifestyle. They are geared toward doing the best that they can every time they step out on the mat and they get themselves ready. The one thing that I like about this team is that when they get ready to go, they are pretty good.
December 3, 2008
Coach Brands ready for Iowa State
Tom Kakert
Publisher
Tom Brands loves competition. Any competition, be it playing checkers, a game of monopoly, or on the mat. On Saturday night he leads his Hawkeye team into the biggest meet of the young season as #1 Iowa faces off with in-state rival and #2 ranked Iowa State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, possibly in front of the largest crowd to ever attend a wrestling meet. Brands talks about the upcoming meet, an injury at 197 pounds for his squad, and much more.
Q: #1 vs. #2, is this about as big as it gets early in the season?
Brands: I think it is right where you want it. There are reasons for fuel on the fire and that is probably adding to it.
Q: How big is a meet in early December in the big scheme of things?
Brands: You answer that question every day in the communication with your team and especially in this program, where I come from, and the way that I have approached competition my entire life. Checkers and Monopoly were important when you were playing them. Every match is important and our guys know it, they love it, they rise to the occasion because they have believed that for most of their lives as competitors and it has been reinforced here.
Q: When you wrestled Iowa State, was there more of a dislike towards them than maybe some other teams?
Brands: Rivalries, do they create more dislike? I don't know. From a fan perspective, fans love the rivalry and they have their side of the fence that they are on and they are very passionate. Once that is over, I think they are rooting for both teams until they become head to head again. I think there is a lot of pride in the state of Iowa that wrestling fans in the state of Iowa root for both teams until they meet head to head and then they pick a side. As far as a competitor, in-state rivalries are important. How much emphasis you put on them I don't think has anything to do with them whether they are down the road or a long way away on a plane flight or a bus ride. It doesn't really matter. A rivalry is a rivalry. Iowa State is certainly a rivalry, but there are other rivalries as well. This is a big match coming up and we have ten weights to contest and we have ten guys that we are going to put out on the mat to contest it the way that it needs to be contested.
Q: How much more fun does it make it with a possible capacity crowd looking on to watch it?
Brands: I think that is something that adds to the fireworks that I was talking about earlier. The fireworks are important. It is not something that is a non-factor. I don't believe that. I believe that there is more excitement, more energy, and there is maybe more reason to get fired up. You always need a reason to compete at your best and maybe this adds to it, one way or the other. It certainly is better than competing behind closed doors.
Q: How important is it for the sport to have a crowd of 16,000 here?
Brands: I think it is important, but I don't place big importance on it. I don't look at it as a priority to break the record from my point of view even though Rick Klatt and his people have done a pretty good job in a short amount of time to get this thing going. But, that is also a tribute to the guys that are going to be competing at the ten weights that we have, the one against two because without a product, you don't generate the excitement. Winning is promotion. I have said that from day one. Winning is promotion and we have to give fans a reason to come and entertaining wrestling is promotion. Entertaining wrestling and winning go hand in hand and then you have a pretty good product. That is something we are always communicating to your guys, it is about how you go out and entertain. It is not just about getting your hand raised. It is about wrestling with a certain energy level and being able to go hard for the entire match, whatever that length is.
Q: What does it say about the series that most of the largest crowds to watch an NCAA meet have been to Iowa/Iowa State meets?
Brands: I think it shows that wrestling is strong in Iowa. Wrestling is strong in other places too, but when you look at two programs that are 200 miles apart or whatever, I don't know if there is any place in the country like that. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State? Not anymore. There is a lot to get excited about. What does it say about wrestling? It says that wrestling is strong in Iowa and that we have done a good job of getting our team to where people want to come and be a part of a big event like this. They have done a good job with their team, so there is fireworks there just based on the passion of who you believe is going to win this thing.
Q: You guys have been fairly dominant in your duals so far. Do you think this is your first real test of the season?
Brands: As a team, you just look at the schedule and this is something that you do target and you do get ready for. But, at the same time, every time out is a test and every time out barometer and you learn, evaluate, and analyze as a coach. You don't let a day go by without getting better.
Q: What is your assessment of the first two competitions that you have had?
Brands: Progress and we need to shore some things up. You know what, you sound like a broken record saying it, but there is work to do and that is a positive thing because we haven't leveled out or topped out and we never will. This sport is like any other endeavor in life where you can always get better. It just goes with your nature in life of being restless and a sense of urgency and irritable in a positive way that something back here just isn't right. Let's make progress and let's make a statement here. This is a big stage to make a statement and something is bothering you back here, well let's eliminate that bother a little bit. Winning helps to move on. It is important to remember that and that is why every event is important.
Q: What do you know about Iowa State? Do you look at them as a team or just the individual matches?
Brands: We know their coaching staff. We know their program and their tradition. We know our coach wrestled there. We know that Dr. Harold Nichols had a pretty tough program, tradition wise. They are strong there as well in the past. We know their individuals and we believe in what our guys bring the table when it comes to a fight against that entity or machine or whatever you might want to call it. Yeah, we are aware, we are aware of what we are up against. I'll tell you, I can speak for the entire program when we say we wouldn't trade one ingredient, not one ingredient. That doesn't mean that we are content and that we don't believe that we have work to do here. It means that we believe in our guys.
Q: How has Alex looked this year coming off his redshirt year?
Brands: If you look at the results there are close matches there. If you look at his opponents and how they are wrestling him, I think he has done a good job of coming out on top, making progress, and getting himself ready to wrestle when it is time to wrestle. Right now he is the guy at 141. You look at it like any other weight where he is chomping at the bit and never satisfied type of thing, but he is coming along like he should be coming along.
Q: Beatty is not listed. Is there a reason?
Brands: Ah… nobody knows that reason? Injury Central Michigan.
Q: How long is he out?
Brands: I don't know. He could go Friday if it was March. It just depends if you are going to heal him or not and do the right thing by the individual.
Q: Is there any chance for him on Saturday?
Brands: I mean, I believe in God and his Son and if he touches him in a miraculous way, which I don't think God really works that way. I don't think he is necessarily an Iowa Hawkeye, but I know that we are in favor with him. (laugh) I don't think he works that way though. I think he has bigger things in mind. A bad thing happened to Chad and there is redemption there. I believe that and I believe that he is looking out for Chad Beatty. With that kind of guidance, we will make the right decision for the individual.
Q: What part of his anatomy got hurt?
Brands: No one knows about the injury? Huh? I don't talk about injuries. If he wants to talk about injuries, then fine, he can talk about it. I'm not willing to talk about it. Is that alright?
Q: Is there still a battle going on with Slaton and Dennis?
Brands: They are battling and not necessarily head to head. Somebody asked me about a week ago in an interview about an audition and if they were auditioning with Slaton, LeClere, and Dennis, I don't look at it like an audition. Maybe, but that is not it at all. Actually there was an article in the Press Citizen on Saturday that I just read before I came down here, there were some good quotes by Daniel Dennis about what is about. It is about standing on the top of the stage in March, progressing, and doing the things that I need to do every day to get ready to go. That I means Slaton or Dennis, or Tsirtsis or whoever we are talking about, everybody. Is there a head to head battle? No, but are they auditioning? No, but at the same time we are evaluating. We are evaluating as we go down the list on this thing. There is no automatic. There is nothing personal here. This is all about making the best decision based on how we analyze going forward.
Q: Have you made a decision there for Saturday?
Brands: No.
Q: Is this a chance for maybe some of your questionable weights…
Brands: This is a great chance for a guy at 97. This is a great chance. You are wrestling the #1 ranked guy in America and he looks and appears to be pretty solid. This is maybe a good opportunity for guys that aren't maybe proven on the national stage as the guy to beat with a big target on his back. We want more Metcalf's, so to speak, and we are adding to that. We can keep adding to that and this is a good opportunity.
Q: Is there a lot of differences in wrestling styles between Iowa and Iowa State?
Brands: The wrestling fan knows the answer to that question. I know the answer to that question and I don't think I need to talk about it. That is what I meant when I said I wouldn't trade one ingredient, not one individual, not one coach, not one iota of the style that we wrestle, not one iota of the way we communicate, not one iota of how we approach this sport. These guys are about the lifestyle. They are geared toward doing the best that they can every time they step out on the mat and they get themselves ready. The one thing that I like about this team is that when they get ready to go, they are pretty good.
