We like to do this as fans. We compare legends and debate the who is the GOAT over forums, comment threads, and in the company of friends. There are many wrestling fans that would argue Cael is the Greatest of All Time, but there are a lot of GOAT's in American wrestling. Where Sanderson stacks against other legends is debatable.
If judging by accomplishments than look no further than his NCAA career. In that sense, he is on a short list of 4x NCAA Champions, but the only one to have done it undefeated. American GOAT?
Dan Gable is a fucking legend, and as a coach, he set the gold standard for success in NCAA wrestling. Is he the GOAT?
Bruce Baumgartner and John Smith are fucking living legends too. Their dominance on the international scene ensured that American wrestling will forever be respected on a World and Olympic level. GOATs?
One can compare Cael's success with any of the aforementioned legends, but Cael is a legend in his own right. His legend tells a unique story, a story that encompasses all the best aspects of this sport- he is the paragon of American wrestling.
So, I offer a different metric. I make the argument that Coach Sanderson stands as the best incarnation of what wrestling has to offer. He is the shining example of the character it can build. A character forged through hardships. Character developed over years of hard work, dedication, fortitude, and honesty.
Coach Brands once wrapped up the essence of the sport when he said, "It's not what you deserve, it's what you earn." This is wrestling. It is brutal, cruel, humbling, honest, and empowering.
Your success and triumph come at the cost of another person's dreams. Brutal. A whole lifetime's work can end in a matter of 6 minutes. Cruel. But if you can see beyond yourself, through humility, and be honest- the sport is as empowering as anything. These are the values all our coaches told us to strive for- the virtues the sport hopefully instills. And I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say Cael Sanderson lives up to these better than anyone.
There was a story I once heard through the grapevine in high school wrestling. It was around 2003 and I was hitting the open mats in Southern California. To high school wrestlers across the nation, Cael was God. Omnipotent. The story essentially said that he had a tough match once, and he came back the next time and her beat the shit out of the dude. Cool.
The part that always stood out to me wasn't that he nearly lost once and came back better, it was his initial reaction to having a close match. Legend has it, that he immediately went over to his coach and said, "I never want to have a close match again in my life," (or some shit like that) and then he trained his ass off.
That may or may not have happened, but the impression left on me was obvious. He set an expectation for himself, and was humble enough to recognize he was still not there. He understood that his destiny was in his own hands, and worked hard to earn it. Eventually, Sanderson earned that shit; he earned his NCAA legacy, his Olympic Gold medal, and his status as the greatest wrestling Coach in Penn State history.
I remember watching Real Pro Wrestling and seeing him in a commercial for a wrestling dummy. He did a fuck-load of shots on it, looked exhausted, and did some more. The message being that he works harder than the other guy, but hard work is not unique to Cael Sanderson. American wrestlers work hard. All of the aforementioned GOATs worked hard. Fortitude is not an exception in wrestling; fortitude is the standard.
But that is what makes Coach Cael so unique, it is how much of a cliché he is. It may sound disparaging, but it's not. Coach Cael is a cliché, because he lives up to every ideal of wrestling.
I'm not saying anything new. He told you so here. He tells you exactly why wrestling is more than a sport. He explains that it is an experience that prepares one for life. It lets you know things are going to be unfair. It lets you know you can only control yourself, and that thinking outside the box is a better road to success than complaining. Most importantly, it lets you know that hard work pays off. Cliché.
At its best, America is a place where innovation, fortitude, competitiveness, and altruism flourish. His ankle-pick game was innovative. His wars with Lee Fullhart showed his Fortitude. His Olympic gold exemplified his dominance. The success of his athletes is a testament to his altruism. I guess what I'm saying is that Coach Sanderson is American as Fuck and that's why he's a cliché.
I find Sanderson's best representation of himself (and thus the sport and the country) here. It was after finishing 5th in the world in 2011. There was controversy about fairness, but you never heard him say it. Some calls were questionable, but not to him. He focused on what could be done better. He understood that calls are tough and that sometimes Freestyle scoring can get chaotic. You can see the disappointment, but not the petty anger of "what could have been?" You see acceptance. He is not shaken by his failure. It clearly hurts, but he accepts it.
But then a kid from Fresno by the name of Jake Varner is brought up. Jake is one of his athletes, and at the time, a future gold medalist. That day, he took 3rd at that same tournament. Suddenly you see a new side to Coach Sanderson. Vulnerability. He can't help it. He's so proud. He is proud that he was a part of his wrestler's story. He was proud of being part of a greater narrative. That's America at its best- a greater narrative than one's self. Wrestling is bigger than any individual glory, even though individual glory drives the spirit of this sport.
There can only be one winner; every time the whistle blows- one person eventually loses. Your job is to make sure it's the other guy with his head down by the end of it. But at the end, we are expected to shake the opponent’s hand regardless. The unwritten rule being that you accept the truth and you don't complain. You just work harder. You go back to your teammates, and you help each other improve for the next one. Hopefully, you win, and your small individual glory is added to the greater glory of your school or your nation. Carry yourself well, or potentially stain the legacy of your team.
Everyone lives up to this spirit as best they can. We all fall short in one way or another, but we tend to aim at its truth. We shake hands to start; we shake hands to end. We work to accomplish our own goals, and in the process help those around us. In this way, Coach Cael represents the best of the American spirit in the sport of wrestling.
There are a lot of ways we can argue who was the best. The metric is always arbitrary, and the conclusions are always delusional. But one thing is for sure- Cael Sanderson was the best the United States had to offer at 84Kg in 2011. He placed 5th in the world that year, and we should all stand taller for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment