Monday, December 22, 2014
No Holds Barred: Kerry McCoy on Maryland Wrestling
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the head wrestling coach at the University of Maryland, Kerry McCoy.
Now in his seventh season as head coach, this season he has not only faced the challenge of the graduation of 2014 NCAA Div. I runner-up Jimmy Sheptock, who was one of the most successful wrestlers in Maryland history, but also the move from the ACC to the Big Ten, arguably the strongest wrestling conference in the U.S.
We spoke with Coach McCoy Saturday in New York.
Speaking about the team's first season in the Big Ten, he said, "It's been pretty good. The level of competition that we face on a regular basis is definitely higher."
While they have had a tough schedule in years past, facing teams from many conferences, "Now we get more of the higher level of competition on a regular basis."
He noted, "It really prepares us for the end of the season. So once we hit the conference tournament, once we the NCAA tournament, we've faced 10, 15, 20 ranked guys, and our guys are just ready to go out there and get it done. So it's been a challenge, but we really look at it as an opportunity for us to get better and build for the end of the year."
We also discussed why he considers every year a rebuilding year, which wrestlers on his team have the greatest chance of becoming All-Americans and national champions this season, the values of wrestling even when one loses a match, why his program is in good shape even with the issues facing college athletics in light of the O'Bannon decision, the advantages of having their matches shown on the Big Ten Network, coaching Maryland against Penn State where he had wrestled, the itch to compete again, and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.
Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.
Payleg.com, which gives you the tools to develop a full-time income by building a home-based business. Teaching success in the home-based business industry since 1988, Payleg.com is available in 190 countries. For more information, go to Payleg.com.
Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to TakedownRadio.com.
Labels: Big Ten, coach, college, Eddie Goldman, Kerry McCoy, Maryland, NCAA, No Holds Barred, wrestling
Sunday, November 10, 2013
No Holds Barred: Hudson Taylor of Athlete Ally
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Hudson Taylor, the founder and executive director of Athlete Ally.
Athlete Ally is a nonprofit organization focused on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports by educating allies in the athletic community and empowering them to take a stand.
A three-time All-American wrestler at the University of Maryland, Hudson Taylor is now a volunteer assistant coach for the Columbia University wrestling team.
On Wednesday, November 13, he will be one of the recipients of an Emery Award, presented by the Hetrick-Martin Institute, a professional provider of social support and programming for at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) youth.
We spoke with Hudson Taylor by phone Wednesday.
"I founded Athlete Ally about three years ago, shortly after graduating from the University of Maryland," he said. While still wrestling at Maryland in his senior year, "I decided to start speaking out about homophobia in sports and my opinions about it. So I actually started the season wearing a Human Rights Campaign sticker on my headgear. One, because I thought it looked cool," he said with a laugh. "Two, because I thought it would really start a conversation that I didn't see occurring in the sports world."
And wrestling, he believes, is a great venue in which to speak up for all forms of equality.
"I think that wrestling is a unique sport in its diversity. It's one of the only sports where you can really be any size, any body type, and really be successful at an elite level," he said. "It's pure in a lot of ways, because you don't need to rely on anyone but yourself and what you bring to the mat."
He also is outspoken on the various forms of abuse which have been aimed at transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox. "It's a real shame what Fallon Fox has had to put up with," he said.
We also discussed how Athlete Ally aids the battle against homophobia and transphobia in sports, what non-LGBT people can do to aid this fight, the support Athlete Ally has gotten from organizations including the NCAA and USA Wrestling, the situation facing closeted athletes, the fight against anti-LGBT laws in countries like Russia, the outlook for Columbia wrestling this season, and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
LenneHardt.com, the web site of the world's greatest ring announcer, Lenne Hardt. Need a unique and cool combat sports-related gift? At LenneHardt.com, you can order personalized messages, wedding calls, ringtones, phone answering messages, and more, all recorded by Lenne herself, in the style of your choice. For more information, go to LenneHardt.com.
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
GrappleGnostic, sponsored by Defense Soap. Where the will to win meets the power of knowledge. Features, interviews, analysis, health tips, and information on wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and all the grappling arts, written by some of the best writers and experts in the world. Check out their web site, a http://defensesoap.com/grapplegnostic.
Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at http://defensesoap.com.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Athlete Ally, Columbia, Eddie Goldman, Emery Award, Fallon Fox, Hetrick-Martin Institute, homophobia, Hudson Taylor, LGBT, Maryland, MMA, NCAA, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, sports, transphobia, wrestling
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
No Holds Barred: John Rallo on Shogun Fights VIII
Founded in 2009, a year after MMA was legalized in Maryland, Shogun Fights mainly features local up-and-coming fighters.
Their next card is Shogun Fights VIII, which takes place Saturday, April 13, at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. Among the main fights on this card are a lightweight fight between Dan Root and Noe Quintanilla, and the first-ever women's MMA fight in Shogun, between Rosanna Garcia and Gabby Holloway.
We spoke with John Rallo by phone Monday about Shogun Fights, its history, this card, and the sporting scene in Baltimore.
Speaking about the growth of MMA and the impressive crowds who attend Shogun Fights, he said, "Anytime that we can pull regional fighters from the area and draw the crowds that we're drawing, I think it's pretty amazing. I've been around for a long time, and we're pulling better crowds than Bellator. I wish I had Viacom money behind us and maybe we could grow ourselves as well."
We also discussed why Shogun Fights currently runs just two special shows per year, their place in sports-crazed Baltimore, wrestling and MMA, and more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Baltimore, Eddie Goldman, John Rallo, Maryland, No Holds Barred, Shogun Fights MMA
Monday, December 10, 2012
No Holds Barred: Kerry McCoy on the Grapple at the Garden
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with the head wrestling coach at the University of Maryland, Kerry McCoy.
Now in his fifth season as head coach there, Kerry McCoy will be leading his Maryland team into an historic event featuring 14 of the top college wrestling teams in America competing on Sunday, December 16, in Madison Square Garden: the Grapple at the Garden.
Although Madison Square Garden, known as the World's Most Famous Arena, has existed in New York for 133 years and in four different locations, it has never hosted a college wrestling event. Now, in the same building which was the site of the first Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight, countless concerts and special events, and years of basketball and hockey as well as other sporting events, college wrestling will make its debut with a bang on December 16.
Competing at the Grapple at the Garden will be 14 NCAA Division I wrestling teams: Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Chattanooga, Cornell, Drexel, Hofstra, George Mason, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, and Rutgers. The event will also feature the PSAL Holiday Tournament, featuring some of the top high school wrestlers from New York City. Eight mats will be set up for simultaneous wrestling, with each college team wrestling in two dual meets. The first set of matches is scheduled to start at 10:30 AM, with the second set of matches at 12:30 PM.
The talent on the mat will include many of the best college wrestlers and teams in the U.S. Eight of the teams are currently ranked in the Top 25 in the NWCA Coaches Poll, more than 65 nationally ranked wrestlers are expected to compete in this event, and four past NCAA champions are also scheduled to wrestle.
While the Grapple at the Garden marks the debut for college wrestling at Madison Square Garden, there have been two major freestyle wrestling events there in recent years. The 1998 Goodwill Games wrestling was held in the smaller arena at the Garden, while the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships was held in the main arena, drawing over 12,500 fans for the finals. And Kerry McCoy wrestled in both of those events, finishing second at heavyweight in the 1998 Goodwill Games and winning a world silver medal at the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships. A Pan American and World Cup champion, and a two-time NCAA Div. I champion at Penn State, he also wrestled in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
We spoke with Kerry McCoy by phone Friday afternoon to preview the Grapple at the Garden and get his unique perspective on it.
Asked about competing in Madison Square Garden, he said in this interview, "It's unbelievable. You're in the world's most famous arena, where so many great athletes have been able to compete and participate, guys like Muhammad Ali, and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in basketball, all these different great athletes that were able to compete in this arena, among other famous people, entertainers, sports figures. Anything that's ever been exciting, everything important has had a chance to be in the Garden." And he added, "It's just exciting to be able to have that experience. I was fortunate enough to compete there when I was competing, and experience it as an athlete. Now to go back as a coach is something that is exciting as well."
We also discussed the prospects for the Maryland wrestling team, currently ranked number 17 in the U.S., who their top wrestlers are, the future of college wrestling in the U.S., and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City February 16 and 17, 2013, for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, grappling, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, February 16, and Sunday, February 17, 2013, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: college, Eddie Goldman, Grapple at Garden, Kerry McCoy, Madison Square Garden, Maryland, MSG, NCAA, No Holds Barred, PSAL, wrestling
