Yes, the sports world stands still for World Cup soccer.
Most of the world.
America joins in as long as the U.S. team keeps winning.
Everybody loves a winner, even radio host Jay Mohr on Portland, Oregon’s 620 AM.
On a recent show he asked why the World Cup means so much to the rest of the world, but not so much in America.
Emmy Award winning Charles Barkley said it was economics. You can’t make a load of money playing soccer in America, so athletes choose other sports.
MLS is a step in the right direction, but you have to travel overseas to make the sort of dough big time professional stars make in other sports.
That’s when Jay showed his true colors. Again.
“Is it about money? Was I thinking about money while I was pinning some guy on a Saturday morning in the New Jersey boondocks? I wrestled eight years. It wasn’t for the money.”
Is Jay the only national sports host who ever wrestled? If not, he’s the only one who wrung it out over and over. It got better with each segment.
The issue of sports and money put Jay into overdrive. He snapped the strap on his headgear and took a shot.
“What was I doing in the boondocks of New Jersey pinning some guy on a Saturday morning?” he asked.
“That’s where I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. No one there thought there’s a future wrestling. We liked it for what it was, not to make money.
“Now look at UFC. The mixed martial arts ranks are full of wrestlers. We didn’t have that when my friends and I sat around spitting in cups to cut weight.
“We didn’t wrestle because it was popular, because we could make money later, but because we liked it.”
If that’s not the best plug for wrestling on a national sports radio show, then I need to hear better.
Not. Holding. My. Breath.
In the middle of a piece on the World Cup and soccer in America, Jay took a shot, got the takedown, and turned his man for points. The best part? He didn’t let up. He followed the Dan Gable rule: Attack, attack, attack.
Jay Mohr is wrestling proud. His are the sort of words that restore wrestling programs cut by short sighted administrators.
His words echo in Oregon with a clear message.
Groups including Save College Wrestling in Oregon, Save Oregon Wrestling, and the Clackamas Community College wrestling team can take heart knowing the sport has a life-long supporter on the Jay Mohr Sports media platform.
How many of Jay’s listeners are wrestlers or former wrestlers? If you’re reading this, make it one more for Mohr.
Call in #: 877-99-ON-FOX (877-996-6369)
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