Tim, it just kind of evolved as my life unfolded. I went to Europe to do the hitchhiking thing right out of high school. Had some tickets to the '72 olympics, wrestling. So I got to watch Dan Gable win his gold. As a kid with a blank slate you can imagine how those memories are burned into my mind, Wells, Petersons, Chris Taylor who has passed away, Saunders who was killed right after the olympics in a car crash in europe......man, I could go on.
In those years the Olympics were very different from today. They were a meeting place for the world. Nowadays, starting from about Los Angeles, they are a meeting place for the WEALTHY. Well, I`m not wealthy, but still found a way to get there most times, sleeping in the woods, or in youth hostels. As I got a family, we just made room somehow in our budget to take the kids......
Anyway, in the years after that I made it to most of the olympics and got to watch many of the US wrestlers. You know, if you wanted to get to visit with an NBA star or a NFL star, it would be impossible. But wrestling is a different thing altogether. These guys are on a personal mission, without the fanfare. As Tim Vanni`s mom and I were chatting in the stands in Sydney 2000, we decided the wrestlers were the REAL DREAM TEAM. Tim was our guy for many years, always fueled by that dream.
So, I kind of got to know Gable and many of the other guys, from an outsider's position. The neat thing was, USA wrestling allowed a handfull of individuals to accompany the teams to World Championships, staying with the group in their hotel and riding to the venue on the bus with them. These were some really out of the way destinations, Tehran, Ankara. For someone who loves to travel and loves wrestling, it was wonderfull.
Gable used to vacation in SW Florida, and once the local HS coach asked if I could take him fishing offshore. He was gratefull and sent me an Iowa jacket. So, in Iran, when the rest of the team went back to the hotel before the session was over, we stayed to watch the wrestling and then found our way back. I would not have had the hair to negotiate the Iranian streets but for his company. It was pretty wild, as the "Death to America" slogans were still permanantly painted in Farci inside the wrestling hall.
Sorry to go on so....brings back a lot of memories.