This and that

This and that

Adam Frey

Shortly after the NCAA Championships Cornell University wrestler, Adam Frey, was in a car accident. His injuries were not life threatening, but an MRI revealed three tumors that subsequent testing revealed to be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Danielle Hobeika immediately spread the word and created a website for Adam who is sharing his battle with the world through his blog. Please take a few minutes and visit the site and pass along your words of encouragement.

www.adamfrey.us

His family may also need help with the medical bills. There is a spot on the site where you can contribute.

Wrestlinggear.com golf outing

Friend of the blog, Jeffrey Pape, president of wrestlinggear.com sent the following press release:

WRESTLINGGEAR.COM ANNOUNCES GOLF OUTING TO CELEBRATE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Elmhurst, IL – April 1, 2008 - WrestlingGear.Com is planning a golf outing and fundraiser for July 29, 2008 at White Pines Golf Club in Bensenville, IL. WrestlingGear.Com will be celebrating its 10 year anniversary during 2008. In 10 years, WrestlingGear.Com has grown to one of the largest Internet/Catalog based stores in the country.

Money raised at the golf outing with support two organizations - the first is The Smile Train, an organization that helps kids and their families repair cleft lips. The owner of WrestlingGear.Com's son was born with a cleft lip. The second organization is still being finalized, but will be an Illinois based wrestling organization.

"This is going to be a great event and celebration 10 years in the making. We already have many of the top wrestling organizations in the country and the state behind this event. Not only will it be a great time, but we will raise money for kids with cleft lips and another Illinois based wrestling organization.

For more information or to be added to the golf outing mailing list, call Jeff Pape at 1-800-565-0995.

About WrestlingGear.Com:

WrestlingGear.Com, Ltd is one of the most visited wrestling websites in the country. Started in 1998, it now offers products from adidas, Asics, Brute, Championship Productions, Cliff Keen, Matman, Suples, and other major wrestling companies. Every year, more wrestlers “Get Ready for the Mat!” with WrestlingGear.Com. For more information visit: http://www.wrestlinggear.com

About The Smile Train:

The Smile Train is a non-profit organization that provides services and programs in more than 60 countries — including the United States — has helped provide free surgery for thousands of children as well as free training and education for more than 15,000 surgeons and medical professionals. Additionally, The Smile Train is sponsoring major research projects that are searching for a way to prevent clefts. For more information visit: http://www.smiletrain.org

2008 Dream Team Classic

The 2008 Dream Team Classic, pitting a national high school wrestling All-Star team against the best senior wrestlers in Iowa will be held this Saturday (April 12th) at Iowa City West High School. If you live in eastern Iowa, please get out and support these young men. There are some potentially exciting match-ups. Personally, I am most looking forward to the match between Oklahoma State recruit and Pennsylvania star, Jordan Oliver, and Hawkeye recruit, Matt McDonough.

Jason Bryant W.I.N. Magazine racism editorial

This week marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I was a senior in high school when Dr. King and Robert Kennedy were killed and I remember those two days vividly.

In a year when the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum has chosen to honor the contributions to wrestling by African-Americans it is particularly jarring to have racism rear its ugly head at Nationals. I hope you’ll read Jason’s editorial:

www.win-agazine.com/Archives/v14%20archives/v14i7%20stuff/bryantcolumn.html

Summer schedule

When I started the blog I didn’t know if I would have something to write about every week. As it turns out – I’m turning topics down.

It’s an Olympic year and there will be much writing in the wrestling media and on the internet about the Senior Nationals, the Olympic Trials and finally, Beijing. I will be doing a three-part series on women in wrestling.

Another topic this summer will be copyright law, video posting and the promotional implications for wrestling.

Last week’s blog

The “Banach is in trouble!” blog shattered all of my personal records for readership. I sincerely hope that that translated into donations to IPTV. What it did prove is that there is a large potential audience for historical wrestling video. If you happen to have (non-copyrighted) video footage from the ‘70s or ‘80s I hope you’ll consider posting it on youtube.