Toast your Glasses tonight because....
- Thread starter dunkej01
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So are tOSU and Iowa fans
Old Fashioneds with more than a dash of bitters.
So who has the ability to find all the HR comments about how it wouldnt matter and they owned the sport...
I remember when I heard the news. I was in the kitchen of my house and I started jumping up and down screaming "Yes! Yes! Yes! ...". My kids asked why I was so excited and I told them "Penn State is going to start winning national championships in wrestling". My exact words. Happy to say I was right. 
As the Brits would say, I was gobsmacked. Couldn’t believe the news and was instantly excited about the future - and reality has exceeded my expectationsI remember when I heard the news. I was in the kitchen of my house and I started jumping up and down screaming "Yes! Yes! Yes! ...". My kids asked why I was so excited and I told them "Penn State is going to start winning national championships in wrestling". My exact words. Happy to say I was right.
That would be gold. You used to be able to see some great old stuff on Black Heart, Gold Pants but no longer. There were a few people on various sites who grasped the implications of Cael coming here, but not many. Most were incredibly dismissive. It’s as if Cael would stay the coach he was in his 20s and moving to Pa wouldn’t goose his recruiting. That said, he did really well at ISU, but lots of Hawkeye loyalists belittle his tenure there.
I remember when I heard the news. I was in the kitchen of my house and I started jumping up and down screaming "Yes! Yes! Yes! ...". My kids asked why I was so excited and I told them "Penn State is going to start winning national championships in wrestling". My exact words. Happy to say I was right.
I also remember the news. As an Iowa State grad I was disappointed, however as a Pennsylvania native and Penn State fan I was happy that he choose PSU.
the more things change, the more they stay the same.......
If memory serves I think I read something about Dan Gable saying that Cael to Penn State would be a game changer. I like to think it would be like the look Perry had upon Cenzo's Pin of Martinez.
... but I read on the internet that he’s an average coach ...It was a day that took our program from daylight to darkness
The only thing average about Cael is his taste in cars. He is way above the rest of the world in all things wrestling. It has been a great ride for PSU and it is a long way from over. I'm happy I was able to sit front and center and watch him compete. ISU will live on and continue our fight toward mediocrity.
ISU will rise again
I really thought there was a good chance that the current staff would make a big impact. I know it's too short of a time frame, but I don't feel like that anymore. Hope I'm wrong.
Iirc, it took Dresser about 5 years to fix VT. ISU wasn't nearly as broken when he took it over. Still hoping for good things for Dresser and ISU.
Nobody needs to be fooling themselves: On that fateful day, those who know the sport the deepest and the best, realized what was about to happen. For half a century the sport had known deep down that if the right man assumed control in those hills and forests deep in rural central Pennsylvania, that the face of power would be turned on it's head. They knew. Everyone knew. This was why the hire would be met with such fierce emotions from all points outside of Penn State: The sleeping giant....would be awoken, and from that point on, things would never be the same. I am not certain about the names of the men who made this happen(Tim Curley was not one of them--he was given a basket of money, a piece of paper, and a pen, and was told to sign here), but I am thankful that they reached out to Cael, and that Cael reached out to them in return. Since then, this "new" sport of wrestling has been quite a boon to folks in support of ole PSU. LOL.
I really-really like these guys social media game
I was just about to walk out the door when I got a phone call. I saw it was a buddy of mine so I answered. There was no small talk... as soon as I answered my buddy says “Listen... Hang up the phone right now and call for season tickets for wrestling. Penn State just hired Cael F#@&ing Sanderson... why are you still on the phone with me?”
April 17th: Cael Sanderson Day. The day that the sport of wrestling was changed forever.
I’m curious if that was the common sentiment among PSU fans at the time. Unbridled optimism, or were there some naysayers?
Two nights before the announcement a gentleman from Clearfield ask me what I thought of the new hire at Penn State and I ask who's that and he told me Cael Sanderson. I snorted why would he come here, he's coaching his home school. They're hiring Koll or McCoy.
He insisted, nope they are negotiating right now and as soon as they get it done they will announce.
I never believed him until my phone blew up.
A couple days after the announcement I saw him again and with a sheepish grin he just ask so what do you think now. I have been smiling ever since.
We are....
He insisted, nope they are negotiating right now and as soon as they get it done they will announce.
I never believed him until my phone blew up.
A couple days after the announcement I saw him again and with a sheepish grin he just ask so what do you think now. I have been smiling ever since.
We are....
I've told this story before, but it fits the thread...
I remember getting the info before off-season practice, and we loved all wrestling news. I came in blabbering about it, and my training partner (future college roommate) was just being a contrarian dickhead about it because that was how we operated. I just thought that he could wake a sleeping giant, and he was adamant that it wouldn't matter. This was near the year that the Gophs tanked at national duals with like half of their JV in the semis, and I was fully off that wagon. Finally, I bet him that PSU and Cael would win a title within 5 years. We shook on it.
Every championship, I remind him about how I WAS RIGHT and he was wrong. The best things are born out of a desire to be correct.
I remember getting the info before off-season practice, and we loved all wrestling news. I came in blabbering about it, and my training partner (future college roommate) was just being a contrarian dickhead about it because that was how we operated. I just thought that he could wake a sleeping giant, and he was adamant that it wouldn't matter. This was near the year that the Gophs tanked at national duals with like half of their JV in the semis, and I was fully off that wagon. Finally, I bet him that PSU and Cael would win a title within 5 years. We shook on it.
Every championship, I remind him about how I WAS RIGHT and he was wrong. The best things are born out of a desire to be correct.
I wouldn't call it unbridled. There was optimism of course. It was more of a sense that maybe this was the final piece to solving the puzzle. The following week when the Alton's committed to PSU when they had been leaning Iowa was when I knew we were on a different path to the one we had been on.
http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnewssports/2009/04/alton_twins_commit_to_sanderso.html
I bet many folks had similar experiences.
@James P. Whitters III Last vehicle I saw Cael driving was a sweet, white 2014 Nissan Maxima in the BJC parking lot. I asked him if where the blue stripe was...he just smiled.
Everyone I knew was acting like it was Christmas Eve and New Years Day all rolled into one. One of the happiest and most euphoric moments I can recall in PSU sports history and there hadn't even been a game won, lost or played that day that I know of.
For the long-timers I know (a couple
), PS'85 pretty much nailed it.My good fortune of knowing tons of folks...below is what I remember as the consensus "mood". Remember, these were people that already were going to matches, already supporting the program, some going to NCAA's every year, and not just that, but administrators (Athletic Dept), donors, a couple past coaches and others.
Simply stated...optimism, not necessarily unbridled, but hopeful and excited about the hire. It was water-cooler conversation, and had everyone even remotely close to the program thrilled, and talking about it. That included the administration at the time, the donors, and the fans. What NO ONE expected, and I mean NO ONE, was a National Championship in year 2, and 7 in 8 years. This has truly been "beyond-our-wildest-dreams" stuff, and is why Coach's thankful and grateful lines have rubbed off on me and many others.
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