[SackUp]

I wrestled in high school and I thought it was absolutely awesome. It was a sport where everything was on you. It didn't matter if you team sucked or if you even had a team - it was you and one other dude trying to see who was the best. It was a great sport b/c for the most part it came down to who worked the hardest and who wanted it the most - physical constraints are not as limiting which makes it a great sport for anyone.

It was by far the most physically challenging and rewarding sport I have been involved in. I played football in high school and in college - which is an awesome sport, but a completely different game than wrestling.

I definitely had a chip on my shoulder, but I had it in football, baseball, and pretty much any sport I played in. I think that has more to do with being competitve than playing a particular sport. If you want to be the best in any sport your really have to think you are the best or can at least attain that status.

Are you competitive at sports? Were you any good? I have no clue about your background, but I would bet that you or anyone else who has been successful at sports has a bit of a chip on their shoulder - it is fairly naturally and almost a direct result of the success.

As far as the outfits we had to wear - sure they were lame, but obviously they are used as a practical matter not as a fashion statement. If anything it was motivation to make sure you were not a lard ass. There was nothing worse than seeing fat pudgy mofos wearing that stuff. But really it is not a big deal to wear the outfit.

As to losing weight. Yes that can be retarded. I saw some people do some stupid stuff - lie under mats with plastics on and we would have to check to make sure they were alive every 5 minutes. I was fortunate and never really had to cut weight and wrestled what I weighed. Fortunetely, there are much stricter guidelines on weightloss in place now and they are cracking down on it. Hopefully this trend will continue.

Then as to not being as popular you are definitely correct. We would have huge pep rallys and all sorts of stuff for football even when we sucked. Whereas for wrestling I would often have to go to tournaments by myself b/c the rest of my team did not qualify and when I would win or place hardly anyone would even know. This may add to why some wrestlers have more of a chip than others b/c they feel they don't get the respect that others get - though I still think this is a tangental point.

Overall, wrestling is one of the best activities you can be involved in while in high school and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Its too bad you never got to experience it first hand as it really is rewarding and a lot of fun.