OK, might as well put my head in the lion's mouth here...lol

First, not actually being there, I honestly don't know if I'd have called it a slam or not. What I will say that there were three things in about a five-second sequence on the tape that might have LED me to call it. One was back mule-kick Ryne did to pull the kid up; when you do a high-amp move, people, including the official, notice it. Two was the fact that at about 1:02 on the tape, as Ryne applied the turk, all four feet left the mat (Ryne's and his opponents)and finally, it appeared as if there might have been "downward force" to the mat. With those three factors, I can see why it was called. I'm not saying it was right, I'm saying I can see why it was called. While I can't think of the official's name, he looked familiar, and as I recall, he is good.

Second, why is this an issue? The other kid hopped right up and went right back to his position, and about 20 seconds later he got pinned with a nifty cradle -- personally I prefer extended arms, but that's just me. He didn't puss-out, claim a false injury and take the cheap win.

I like the whole "pussification" thing. Sarah Palin makes up words alot and I think she's very funny. The thing is that wrestling is not a sport of brutality; it is a sport of balance, position, technique and heart. My father was an official in Iowa for 36 years. He did 20 State meets, six Division II NCAA tournaments, the Big Tens, and dozens of Iowa and Northern Iowa meets over the years and is in the IHSAA Hall of Fame. He always preached one thing to me: if you're going to be wrong, be wrong on the side of safety. That's what it should be about.

Anyway, I await the responses and GO CHIEFS!!!!