Three sports --wrestling, track and field, and swimming and diving -epitomize what true competition is.
These are the three pure sports in the world; The three sports that have transcended time and continue to provide the most dramatic competition we have.
During the next two weekends, three Mid-American Conference championships will be settled. They won't be settled by a ref's whistle or flag, or by instant reply, and they won't be settled by some fan leaning into the field, stealing a fly ball from an outfielder.
Instead, it will be the best athlete on that day --the way it should be. And there will be no room for debate.
Think that's boring? What do you remember from the Olympic Games the last couple of times out? Is it Rulon Gardner defeating a man who hadn't lost in 13 years of competition, or is it Tommy Lasorda, leading a bunch of amateurs to gold? They both happened within days of each other.
Is it Klete Keller reaching out to touch the wall 13 one-hundredths of a second before the Aussies' Ian Thorpe, or is it Allen Iverson, mired in futility?
The Olympics were about Michael Phelps against Mark Spitz and his records. Tom Pappas returning home. U.S. sprinters versus a world of doubters. And there was no American football (or European football, for that matter) in the picture.
Before Jackie Robinson there was Jessie Owens. And before there was baseball, running, swimming and wrestling decided who the best athlete was. It had been that way for thousands of years.
There's something about these sports that not only make us want to yell, cry or laugh.
They make us want to do. They make us want to run, they make us want to jump, and they make us want to fight. And it's a shame they don't get more support.
But if you get a chance to check out one of these sports this weekend or if you see one of the athletes on the street next week, remember, these are people who have earned their keep. There are no Darko Milicics in these sports, already with a ring and nothing else to show for a career. These are pure sports, where the best wins.
This is true competition.
-Jepson is a senior journalism major and The Post's assistant sports editor. Send him an e-mail at kyle.jepson@ohiou.edu.
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Kyle Jepson
This is true competition
