April 17, 2000
April 17 2000

The practice room was very hot last week. Throughout the week you would hear the groans and grunts of determined wrestlers pushing each other into the walls, doing everything they can to get an edge. There were bloody noses, cut lips, blood on the water fountain, and even a few stitches. The tempo has even spread to the sauna room. One of my teammates, crazy Jeremy "Zen" Podlog plays a card/exercise game to pass the time. He turns over a card and depending on the number, does push ups, crunches or leg raises. Even some of the others including, Steve and Jeremy's brother, Les have joined in the madness.

When you see all these things happening, you don't need to be reminded that the Senior National Championships is less than three weeks away. It's a great time to work on one's own terms and to be as intense as possible. That is exactly what my focus has been for the last week. Training is going very well. The scrimmage sessions are intense and the overtime goals are exciting. Nick Ugoalah and I have been brawling all week. I like it here.

The attendance was a little low on Saturday. Some of the guys were at the Oregon Open. Among them is Al Mah, one of the hardest working members of the club. I take off my hat to the guy. If anyone else can take the heat like he does, he's get my respect. Coach McKay has been giving us the speeches, repeating himself as usual. Mike, I hear has been sweating up a storm on the stair climbers upstairs and the morning weight sessions have been fabulous. My weight training partner is Rob. He's been pushing me hard. I will not let him have me by the tail.

Next week looks good, it will be the last real intense week before the Nationals. Everyone will be back in the room. And if it's anything like last week, you can definitely expect to see a few bleeding noses, cut lips, stitches and maybe, just maybe a few concussions. Ask Danny Einhorn, that is, if he remembers. I like it here.

Keep sweating!

Daniel (Dynamite) Igali