Isn't It Ironic?

Here it is February 12, just passed the month mark of a new year. So let me ask you this... How many of you have already ruined your new year’s resolution? Personally, I never make them because it is way too hard to stick to something that intense. Instead I just make some minor changes. Like this year, I said I would start eating healthier. What I didn't say was I am going to lose 20 pounds in two months. Hmmmm that would never happen!

As most of you know the towns in Southwest KS are extremely far apart therefore I do a lot of thinking on many trips, and most of the time my thoughts turn to random and just downright weird things. So just last week I started wondering how many people in the United States made resolutions to lose weight. Well with over 300 million people in this country and nearly seven billion people in the world I figured it was a number that would take days to count to. So I stopped wondering and started planning for the story I would be doing later in the evening.

Which led me to wrestlers, which in a since revolved right back to my previous thought of how many people are trying to lose weight at this point in time. I laughed because those poor wrestlers are ALWAYS trying to lose weight; until now.

Typically the rule for wrestling is not an ounce over your weight class. Then comes Christmas break. The guys are allowed two pounds plus. So let’s say you’re in the 160lbs weight class ... at your next weigh in you can be 162 and it's still legal to wrestle.

So here's the fun part. If you go to a two day tournament you are allowed a pounds per day plus your two pounds granted for growth. (That's how judges justify giving the extra two pounds. It's for the freshman, they are going to grow.) So let's say you weigh in on Friday at a tournament and weight 162. Saturday morning when you weigh in you get an extra pound because it's day two... so you are legally allowed to weigh 163.

Then the really fun part happens. Lets say you have a Thursday night dual then a two day tournament that very same weekend. Thursday you weigh in at 160… you can weigh 162… Friday you can weigh 163…. Saturday for the last day of the tourney you can weigh 164!!! WOW

Man, a bit confusing when you first hear it. Once I figured it all out I realized the wrestlers are probably trying to gain weight. They want to use those extra two pounds plus some that they get as an advantage and if it's a two day tournament right after a dual, shoot use all four!

Isn't it ironic that while most of the country and maybe even the world is trying to lose weight, the guys in a sport that have to maintain their weight is trying to gain it?