I got my copy of the new movie “Reversal” last night and watched it right away. I strongly recommend this movie to all coaches and wrestlers and everyone else for that matter, but especially for coaches who coach their own sons and sons who wrestle for their dads. The movie really touched me and made me think about coaching in general and about coaching my son in particular. This movie certainly did not color coat wrestling or even what family life is all about. As the producer of the movie even pointed out in the trailer the film even portrayed some of wrestling’s “dark secrets.” I do believe the movie captured much of the essence of wrestling and even more importantly much of the struggle involved in a father’s love for their son. At least for me there often becomes a blurring of what I actually want for my son, and even for my other wrestlers, and what I want for myself. I have to constantly examine my motives and my motives are not always real clear. Do I want this for my wrestlers in general and my son in particular because I really believe it is best for them or am I fulfilling some personal goal to build my own sense of worthiness.

Another thing I appreciated about the film “Reversal” is how realistic the wrestling was. You could tell the the actors portraying the wrestlers were real wrestlers, the action was far more realistic than the wrestling in a film like “Vision Quest.”

If you want to watch a film that captures many of the realistic struggles of both wrestling and family life then order “Reversal.” If you want to watch a film that color coats these areas then you probably won’t enjoy the film.

So much for my Siskel and Ebert imitation.

Where can we get a copy of this movie?

In the sport of wrestling the time commitments are huge. During the season there are early morning conditioning sessions, late night practices and weekends that are shot! Families pay a tremendous price. Most of the coaches I know try and balance out the entire scenario, but the reality is that something has to give. Is it your work in the classroom where several kids are touched daily, is it your wrestling team that you are trying to win with, or is it your family that will always love you even when you neglect them? Unfortunately it is the family that suffers!
At what cost do families pay for having fathers as coaches?
Think about that question this season as you prepare to chase the state championship! Do you have a good balance? Can you say that all of your work in all three areas is exemplary? (School, team, family) My challenge to all of you is to have that magical year in all aspects of your life! Leave practice 30 minutes early, surprise your family and remember to take time for yourself so that you are able to give at all times throughout the year toeveryone!
Have a great season!

Jim Dandy,

This is sage advice. I must admit to being one who has tremendous difficulty in maitaining the balance that you talk about. It is not just in my actions but actually much more in my thought life; what I am thinking about. The thought life is a real difficult area to maintain balance. I would also add that the most important responsibilty that we have is our relationship to God, when this is not our top priority then everything else gets out of wack; family, teaching and coaching. Yes I am biased by my world view, as we all are. Thanks again Jim Dandy.

Marty McCurdy

I think you have a great idea giving all these areas a fair amount of your time, but what happened to the time given to God?

woff

In my humble opinion, he is with me at all times. I do not have to set aside time for he is in all of my travels. I am able to communicate and seek advice at any time. I may be different in most in that going to Church on Sunday is not religion to me. That is a social event that brings people together to celebrate their beliefs, but if you are truly religeous in my opinion, you do not have to attend these social events all the time to be religeous and get teh word of god! He communicates in many ways through many avenues!

You are right in the sense that God communicates in many many ways that we sometimes forget to look for. I especially forget that God is working in my life. Mostly I seek God out when things are not going well for me. In my opinion, that is typical of most people.

But to say a person doesn't need to go to church on a regular basis is wrong and the typical cop out saying is, "you don't need to go to church to believe in God." All that is saying is that you don't have the time or are not making the time to celebrate your faith. People need to go to church on a regular basis, not only to celebrate their religion, but to also remember the Lord even when times are good.

I agree with Woff. God needs to play a part in our lives. And Woff knows this and is an excellent role model for his son Levi. While in Orlando this summer, there was a time when we could have went out, but he chose not to because at some point Levi would know and Woff wanted to make sure that he was a positive role model for his son...I applaud Woff, I don't know if I could have done the same thing.

I also applaud Marty, his son is an outstanding person. We did not have to worry at all about what he was doing or where he was while in Orlando. I am sure that Marty is more proud of Keenan being a good person than a stud wrestler.

Don't take offense, just my opinion. And obviously, I need to take a dose of my own medicine.

But everyone has the right to choose their own path in how they celebrate god. For some like me, Church is not the answer. It works for you, great! I for one can not sit in a house of worship where every day they ask for money to support causes that are not in my families best interest! Without getting into a religeous debate, all you have to do is look at the way in which the catholic church has chosen to deal with their issues. To me, they are not god like in what they represent!
So again, for me and mine, I choose not to attend the social hall that you call church!

Back to the original topic, the URL is http://www.reversalthemovie.com/

an all encompassing world view. Paul said "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain." We can't compartmentalize our lives (though I must admit I often do). We can't be one person at wrestling practice, another person at a wrestling meet and another person in the class room and another person when we are at Church. Christ demands our entire life. There is no brand of light Christianity. Christ is to be our all consuming passion. If I am to have a proper perspective on wrestling as a christian then wrestling has to be a part of my passion for Christ. It can't be a separate passion it must be part of my passion for Christ. Is this true of me? I must sadly admit no. I am often consumed by winning and by my own prestige. I often lose sight of the eternal perspective what will matter 100 years from now or 1 million years from now. Will winning a state championship matter in a million years I doubt it. Do I live consitently with this view? No I have already admitted that, but does that make my view wrong? No my weaknesses and failures have nothing to do with the truth or falsehood of my ideas. They must be tested against the holy scripture and if they stand that test then they are true regardless of my weakness.

I must admit that wrestling posses many problems for the Christian, though I believe no sport is better for a Christian to be invovled in. The truth is Christianity is not for the strong it is for the weak. Christ comes to save the lost and the desperate not the powerful and the strong. We cannot come to Christ in our strength we must come to him in our weakness and our brokeness. In wrestling we strive not to be broken but the bible says God cannot work with us until we are broken. The bible says "God is opposed to the Proud but gives grace to the humble." Until we admit that we are sinners who cannot save ourselves, but must throw ourselves in faith on the mercy of God and his finished work in paying for sins with Christ on the cross, we cannot come to God. Christianity is for the sick and the weak not for the strong and the healty. Only the truly sick need the Great Physician. Well one of the reasons that I think wrestling is such a great sport is that it does break me over and over again and I am left to throw myself on the arms of my savior.

Believe me we will push the East wrestlers in hopes of raising their breaking point to a high point. This may seem like a contradiction to what I just said but I don't think it is. As we help wrestlers who are broken to put themselves back together and to build themselves to a higher breaking point then I believe we are showing them the love of Christ. It is my prayer that they will all come to realize that true brokeness can only really be repaired by Jesus Christ through faith in his finished work on the cross.

As I starte Christianity is not going to church but if you see christianity as this all emcompassing life style you will not want to forsake the fellowship of other believers.

He if some of you think I am violating the separation of Church and state or just not doing my job I am typing this at my home on at about 12;15 a.m.

Hey once again I got carried away but the only thing I like to talk or type about more than wrestling is theology.

Does this relate to wrestling oh you bet it does, wrestling is also somewhat of a lifestyle more than it is a sport. One must attempt to figure out how they intergrate wrestling into all areas of their life and there is no area more important to figure out how you are going to intergrate wrestling than in the area of faith.

God is King not man!!!

Check out the movie with Bruce Burnett (former Olympic coach) called "In Search for Glory", it gives a great example of how to be a very aggressive winning wrestler and a christian at the same time. You might be supprised how many of our great wrestlers are Christians.

An excellent attitude about the inclusion and infusion of Christianity and Wrestling into out entire lives. One cannot choose when the time is right to be a Christian, although we all, as sinners, fail to act appropriately each day. Also, one who truly loves the sport of wrestling cannot escape from how it is integrated into your entire life. I hope that my sons both take with them the lessons learned from winning and losing on the mat. No one else to blame when things don't go well - as we do not tolerate blaming an official under any circumstances.

Yes, throughout my life I think I am a better person because of wrestling and what it taught me.
Even if you try your hardest, and work harder than everyone else, you might not make it to the top step. But the true glory is in the struggle to get there!

This may be true, but where many religions fail is in the idea that you can repent your sins and be saved. I for one do not by into this practice. Do not get me wrong, I am sorry (repenting) when I know that I have errored in my ways. I work to correct them, but this is next to impossible. We still all have greed, the will to win, and conquer our opponents. Now the bible is a great novel, but it is not truly the word of god. It is an interpretation of what many men have thought he said or represented. The fact that we quote it and hold it up as a source to live by is a sin in and of itself. If you believe the bible is a factual document, then you have to question all of the inconsitencies and false judgements that it holds within its covers!
This is not to say that there is no god, but lets give him, her, ot it more credit than that. With no true proof that there is a god, religion can be seen by many as the greatest con of all time. Where else can you get millions of people to follow an unproven thought and spend millions doing so! I wish that I would have thought of it!

I don't mean to be disrespectful with these words . . . there's always a time and a place for religion and for many of us, that's all of the time.

I realize I don't to read all of the posts or respond to them, but honestly guys, when I pop on this forum I want to talk about wrestling.

I went to a Christian school for 10 years and had numerous philosophy classes in college. Trust me when I say that very little about this debate will be solved on this web site.

By the way, the best athletes in the world — especially wrestlers — can benefit from the teachings of Buddha. Salvation lies within . . . meditation and focus will prevail over pain. I'd hate to tangle with a Bhudist wrestler.

Okay, now I'm just rambling.

Thanks Jason

The movie is called "UNFADING GLORY"

Marty,thanks for the heads up on the movie,the coach/dad dynamic can be both very tough and very rewarding,if I have to choose every day to try to be fair and especially supportive to my sons no matter what,then that's not too much to ask for the privelege of being such a part of their lives.More than once I've had to apologize for being or saying something I wasn't in retrospect too proud of.If we are Christians,our faith must be part of our everyday (wrestling) lives.It's part of our "great commission" as saints.

Jo Jo,you can repent only to sin again,but God also is a change agent to those who seek his wisdom. 1John1:9 If we confess our sins,He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
No the bible is not a novel 2tim3:16 All sripture is inspired by God....
2peter1:21...for no prophesy was ever made by an act of human will,but of men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke by God.

Jason,I'll agree that this thread surprised me,but also moved me when I realized that many wrestling folks are also God folks.One thread to discuss faith wont ruin this great resourse.
I also did the parochial Catholic school thing,and though it gave me a fear of the God of the bible it did not answer many questions we all face.I also had two of the best parents anyone could ask for yet I was a sinner who did many of the worldly things of the "70's".It wasn't till in my thirties when a man (Ryan Kaufman's brother Bob) told me how I could ask Christ into my life as Savior.When I did,I developed an insatiable love for God and a genuine desire to strive to change.Guess what,20 years later I'm still working on it! I go to church not under compullsion but because of a desire to worship with fellow believers.Only God's grace will save us,not our human effoets....Lets Wrestle!!!