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Iran beats US for wrestling world cup, but you wouldn’t know it from watching NBC

When U.S. President Donald Trump stopped all incoming travelers from seven primarily-Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia was not on the list but Iran was.  Iran retaliated by blocking all Americans from traveling to Iran, including the U.S. wrestling team who were scheduled to compete in the annual wrestling version of the World Cup. When the ban got knocked down stateside, the Iranians relented and at the last minute the U.S. wrestlers got on a plane and arrived in Iran to a warm welcome.

The plot thickened as it all came down to the U.S. vs. Iranian teams in the final.

In a close competition, the Iranians won for the 6th year in a row, an amazing feat for a relatively small nation. You might think a sports drama like that would be of interest to the media. But NBC, who had rights to cover the event, instead opted for a blackout on it.  Presumably, it conflicted with their propaganda talking points.  But even sports fans might be catching on.

I saw the following posted in the comments section of a wrestling website:

“The powers that be in the US mainstream media, of which NBC is a prominent player, are not willing to expose Americans to an athletic event in which Iran and Iranians are portrayed as they actually are: cultured, rational, and especially friendly to the US and Americans. Did you hear the chants of “Jordan, Jordan” when Burroughs wrestled opponents from other countries? All Americans were warmly welcomed by the Iranian wrestlers and fans. Do you think the shapers of thought in the US want Joe Sixpack and the common man to see this and ask themselves the big question: “Boy, everyone says that those Iranians are the apex of evil, and that they hate us in America, but look: they love the American wrestlers and they root for our guys. They also look pretty normal and enthusiastic about wrestling. Maybe they’re not so bad after all…” Wake up, people. You have been IV dripped with false kool aid about these people. They are the ones with boots on the ground in Syria, fighting the head choppers and liver eaters of ISIS. I know that FLO is a wrestling site and not a political site, but when they post on why mainstream media is not willing to show wrestling from Iran, ignoring the mainstream media’s politically driven bias against Iran gives much less than a complete picture.”

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A relatively small nation? From Wikipedia: ‘Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), it is the second-largest country in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world. With 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the world’s 17th-most-populous country.’

Hafez wrote

“fear is the cheapest room in the house, you deserve better conditions”

and

“the Sun never said to the Earth you owe me, love like that lights the whole sky”

Damn, Robert! More than half your article is MY comment from flo. Who could imagine that Frankie P’s laser comments would be picked up from a wrestling website and then put in an article on mondoweiss, a site that I have visited for years, not as regularly any more. There are too many restrictions on content here, content that is germane and necessary in order to understand and analyze the I/P conflict. Anyway, thanks. I’m glad someone likes my comments! Actually, a few people on flo hit that comment with a “like”.

Another comment to offer some interesting points.

First, in international competition in wrestling, Iranian wrestlers will NOT wrestle against opponents from the apartheid state of Israel. They forfeit the match and take a loss. Iranian wrestlers do, however, compete against Jewish wrestlers from other nations. A perfect example of how being anti-Israel is NOT being anti-semitic.

Second, for those with any interest in wrestling, the oldest sport, you should know that Russia does NOT send their A squad to the World Cup, a team competition. If they did, you can be confident that the outcome would be different. Another point that makes the US less competitive in international wrestling is the fact that folkstyle wrestling is what we do in the US, from pee-wee leagues right up through NCAA university competition. Folkstyle is not an international style of wrestling and it’s not easy to make a quick transition from folkstyle to freestyle or Greco-Roman, the two styles of international competition. The number of US wrestlers competing in freestyle at a younger age is growing, which gives more hope that the US can stay in the top tier of nations in the sport.

Finally, your condescending attitude towards “sports fans” is nothing less than ugly and uncalled for, and I’m calling you out on it. I would wager that I am equally if not more knowledgeable on the I/P conflict as yourself. Don’t fall into one if the “Chomsky contradictions”. Old Noam sticks up for the proles out of one side of his mouth, saying that common workers, blue collar deplorables, are entirely able to make decisions about governance and civil issues, but then he attacks sports fans for following their favorite sport and being knowledgeable about player statistics. Can’t they do both, Noam and David?

On flo, I comment under the name “mattsuncle” or “pa in taiwan”, but here I remain,

Frankie P

In the US, the media always diminish the greatness of a nation that it has been told is an enemy, out to get us, and any accomplishments are ignored. It is always the negatives that get highlighted, leaving the people ignorant, misinformed, and disliking it. It is such a shame.
Iran is supposed to be a beautiful country, with a culture and history, any nation can be proud of.
They have a young and educated population, and it is time they were accepted by the rest of the world (okay it does not matter one bit that Israel demonizes it).