I'm going to make one last post on this thread and let it go. It has become ridiculous.
First of all, I want to congratulate Megan Black on breaking the glass ceiling and reaching the podium. While I won't be in Des Moines tonight I will be joining in the ovation I'm sure the crowd will give her. Anyone who is willing to step into the circle deserves the same respect as anyone else, and those who reach to podium deserve our highest respect of all. I hope Megan's injury today is not too serious and she'll be ready to resume training soon. She has wrestled with honor this weekend and should be proud.
As for Chips, you know, I almost feel sorry for him. Whether it was a father, a brother, a friend, or a (I hope really hope this isn't case) coach, somewhere along the line, Chips was taught that to be a wrestler was to be a thug. A mindless, bigoted, thug. Hatred for women, gays, all things that were not "manly" and "macho." He wants his life to be defined by his career wins, and egotistically (and really, pathetically) waves his "10 years of wrestling" and "150 wins" at us as if he wants us to be impressed. I mean, it's nice and all, but if that's what your life is based on, that's really pretty sad.
Unlike most sports, wrestling is supposed to teach life lessons. It teaches confidence, self-reliance, courage, honor, and most of all, respect. Respect not only for self, but for family and coaches and teammates and opponents; for anyone who steps into that circle. But this week, through his comments, Chips has shown has learned nothing from wrestling. His career in the sport has been a waste.
Without learning these lessons, Chips, literally, has nothing. Oh, he might have trophies and medals and wall charts. And he has his 150 wins. Frankly I know a lot of guys just like him. They spent all this time in the sport, and never got it. They are the hangers-on, the ones trying to relive yesterday, the ones who are trying to still be relevant for what they were in a world that no longer cares. And all of the wins in the world can't change that.
Chips is without confidence, self-reliance, courage, honor and respect. He doesn't respect the sport, he doesn't respect the people in it and I doubt he respects himself. He might think he has these things, but he doesn't. He has 150 wins, and that's all he has.
In all honesty, his comments were inflammatory, cartoonish, and almost a lampoonish example of sexist and bigoted behavior. But today he crossed the line. When he took delight in Megan Black's injury in her seventh place match -- when he took delight in the injury of a fellow wrestler -- he showed he had no honor and no respect. And he did so, mainly, because he obviously hates women. He may have wrestled, but he is not a wrestler. He is an embarrassment, to his family, his coaches, to anyone who knows him and to the sport of wrestling.
I'm sure Chips will be back soon to bash me with a homophobic slur of some kind or another. Whatever. It is of no concern to me. He wrestled, but he was not a wrestler.
Good-bye, Mr. Chips.