Penn State: A Dynasty

How do you spell dynasty?

     Imagine if the Eagles won two Super Bowls in a row, the headlines would be screaming about a dynasty just like they are in Kansas City, after the Chiefs won its second Super Bowl in as many years. They yapped about it with the Warriors after they strung together a couple of NBA championships. And, of course, with the Patriots.

     Thanks to talk sports radio or talking heads on ESPN, the word dynasty has become cheapened.

      Yes, there was a true dynasty in Boston when the Celtics won eight straight NBA titles from 1959 to 1966. Yes, that was a long time ago. This writer was 14 when that dynasty began and 21 by the time it ended.

     Then there were the great UCLA basketball teams which won ten national titles in 12 seasons. Imagine that. There was no transfer portal then, no NIL for players, no freshman eligibility. Just a great coach in John Wooden and great players like Kareem abdul-jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) and Bill Walton.

     There was also the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team which won 47 consecutive games. True that was a long time ago for some—I was eight years old when it started and nearing my Bart Mitzvah when the team finally lost to Notre Dame.

     With March Madness in full blast , Opening Day a week away , the baseball world now wondering what Ohtani knew and when he knew it, and the NFL draft a few weeks ahead, I guess it’s no wonder that one of sports greatest dynasties is going unmentioned in major media.

     Never a word  about it on social media, ESPN, The Athletic or the gambling apps.  But imagine a baseball, football or basketball  team winning 11 national championships in 13 years and barely being mentioned.

     So, leave it to this old timer to shed some light on a real dynasty—Penn State’s wrestling team under coach Cael Sanderson. This past weekend, the Nittany  Lions won another record setting title under his leadership/ Four of its wrestlers won individual national championships, the most by any team, and the team’s overall score was the highest in NCAA wresting history.

     We hear about Andy Reid,  Bill Belichick, Nick Saban,  Coach K  and even Deion Sanders, whose mouth runs faster than his Colorado running backs, but hardly a word about Cael  Sanderson, who not only knows how to spell dynasty but to build one.

     It should come as no surprise that he knows how to mold wrestling winners. He was a WINNER. When he wrestled at Iowa State, he never lost a bout in four years—159-0—the only NCAA wrestler to ever  go four years without a loss. And when he was done with that, he won the Gold Medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens Greece.

     So how do you spell dynasty?

     How about Cael Sanderson.

     Don’t worry, you’ll have to time to remember how to spell it.

     He is only 44 years old.

                   Phil Goldsmith