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There usually is no in-between when it comes to the Olympics. Fans are either hooked on the Games for two weeks, or they probably don't care to watch much of it at all. I was part of the people that really didn't care to watch any of it.
Until this past weekend.
In my 12 years of covering sports, the Olympic Trials was probably the most unique event I've ever covered. In a world where collegiate athletics aren't much different than any professional sport, the very best current and former college wrestlers gather for the purest form of amateur athletics.
And it happened right in our backyard at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Here's an idea of how much wrestling has grown. The Olympic Trials were held in Pittsburgh in 1992 at the A.J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University. It's a pretty nice venue, but it only holds about 3,500 people.
The BJC holds over 15,000 people, and it was packed to the rafters for Saturday evening's final session. Most people were there to watch two Penn State legends in David Taylor and Aaron Brooks face off against each other in the 86 kg final, and it was a treat.
Brooks is as tough as they come on the mat, and he genuinely seems to be a really nice guy off the mat. It will be fun to watch him in Paris. But as exciting as it is for Brooks, it's also tough to see the defending Olympic gold medalist in Taylor not make it this year. Taylor is 33 years old, and it might have been his last chance to compete in the Olympics.
Perhaps nothing was more sobering than watching Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member Kyle Dake speak to the media after winning the 74 kg title on Saturday. Dake was dealing with the loss of his father, who passed away just nine days prior to qualifying for the Paris Games this summer. Obviously dealing with the loss of a parent is so hard, but to see Dake's emotion come out when he called the mission of being an Olympian 'our journey,' meaning him and his dad, showed just how much the Olympics means to these athletes.
That is perspective at its finest.
You may feel that the freestyle and Greco-Roman versions of the sport just aren't as exciting as the traditional folkstyle that is used in high school and college. That's understandable, but it's still pretty close to the same concepts.
Fans that stayed until the very end late Saturday night got to see the introductions for the men's freestyle, women's freestyle, and men's Greco-Roman teams that will be going to Paris. The iconic Olympics music played as they were introduced. That has to be a surreal moment for those athletes. There's probably nothing more satisfying in amateur athletics than having the honor of representing the United States of America in the Olympics.
There are some sports that I won't watch in the Olympics. Cycling is pretty hard to watch for a long period of time, and I'm not even quite sure what breaking is.
But as for the sports that I enjoy, which especially includes wrestling, the passion the athletes have for their respective sports deserves my attention.
Andy Stine can be reached at astine@altoonamirror.com.