By JOE WALLJASPER Tribune sports editor
Last week, Ben Askren was the center of attention at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. He capped an undefeated season with his second straight 174-pound national title, helped Missouri to a third-place team finish and often held court about how wrestling ought to be. Now that his college career is over, Askren has set his sights on making the U.S. Olympic freestyle team at 163 pounds and competing in the 2008 Games in Beijing. Tribune sports editor Joe Walljasper caught up with the funkiest wrestler in the nation last week to learn about the world according to Ben.
Q: If you were in charge of creating a legitimate pro wrestling league, what would it look like?
A: Tough question. I think it would be a very difficult thing to do. I would definitely put teams in places that have large wrestling bases ” such as Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota ” with their own alumni. Have the simplest rules possible. You don’t want to confuse the fans. Then you start off grass roots. I wouldn’t start big right away.
Q: Why do you think that boxing is lucrative and Ultimate Fighting is becoming popular but real professional wrestling hasn’t taken off?
A: Boxing is going downhill. UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is on the upswing. Real professional wrestling was very lucrative back in the early 1900s, actually. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and I really think it has to do with people’s attention spans.
Every sport that’s popular in America obviously aren’t the ones that are popular in other countries. We have short attention spans here. If you look at the sports that are popular, they only have a 10-second go and then you can take a break from watching. Football, they do a play, and then you have 30 seconds between each play. Basketball, when they’re on the other end of the court, they can’t score, so you can break from that. Baseball, it’s every pitch. Those are the three really popular sports in America. Stuff like soccer, which is the most popular in the whole world, isn’t that popular in America because not that many people can stand to watch it.
Q: You think Americans have shorter attention spans than everybody else?
A: Most definitely.
Q: Is it going to be an uphill battle to make wrestling more popular than it is?
A: I don’t know if it even concerns me if it gets more popular. It is what it is. I’ll love it whether it’s popular or not to everyone else.
Q: I understand you got to know (San Francisco Giants pitcher) Barry Zito a little bit and that he’s a fan of yours. What did you talk about when you met him?
A: We didn’t talk about anything in particular ” a few mental aspects of the sport and just hung around and BS’ed.
Q: What was his interest in wrestling?
A: The sports psychologist he’s working with is, was or has worked with wrestlers. He thinks wrestlers have great mind-sets toward things, so he brought him to a tournament to talk to a bunch of good wrestlers about their mind-sets toward competing.
Q: You’re obviously a great wrestler, but you’re also very good at disc golf. How did you get into that?
A: I played a few times in Wisconsin with a few friends. I didn’t really play at all my first year here. My second year, a bunch of guys from the team played, and I started playing and really, really liked it. I kept playing, kept playing, kept playing. Now I play every day I can.
Q: Any other talents?
A: No, not really. Wrestling. Disc golf. I do all right in school.
Q: You’ve got the T-shirt with your picture that says “Funky, “and I understand you’ve got a new one. Can you describe it?
A: It says, “Askren Labs, “and it has me in a science coat. I’m holding a beaker that says, “Funk. “On it, it says, “Doing to wrestling what BALCO did to baseball: making it interesting.”
Q: How are the T-shirt sales going?
A: We sold quite a few in Detroit, but then my salesman got kicked out of the building. It would have went better had that not happened. He actually got kicked all the way out of the parking lot.
Q: How do you plan to sell them?
A: I’ve been ridiculously busy, but I’m going to sell them on the Internet. I’m going to get hooked up with a few wrestling Web sites and a wrestling catalog or two.
Q: You’re more willing to speak your mind than a lot of athletes. Why?
A: That’s just how I live. I think people hide stuff too much. I’m pretty upfront. I think you should speak your mind and tell the truth.
Q: Do you enjoy aggravating opposing fans?
A: Yeah, they don’t bother me at all because I’ve been taunted and teased my whole life. So it’s not hard for me, and usually I can think of a comeback way faster than they can. So I usually end up getting the best of them.
Q: Sometimes you are pretty critical of your opponents when you feel like they’re stalling against you. Do you ever regret the things you say about them?
A: I don’t regret them, because I don’t like looking back. I don’t like regrets in general in life. You can’t spend any time looking back. I will say, though, that from the time the match is over, for maybe a half an hour or even less, I’m still really focused in competition mode. When I’m in that mode, that’s not my regular personality. My regular personality is completely different. It’s like I don’t even know that guy, and he’s kind of an ass—-. But 20 minutes after that, I’m relaxed and laid-back again.
Q: After this year’s final, you said you were disgusted with yourself. Couldn’t you take any happiness from winning a national title?
A: Once I got out of competition mode, I relaxed and had fun the rest of the night.
Q: Is it hard for Ben to stay mad at Ben?
A: No, I can’t stay mad. It’s hard for me to stay mad at anybody.
Q: Last year you got your hair cut (into a mullet style) after nationals. Do you plan to keep it this year?
A: I haven’t decided yet. It’s getting kind of nasty. I’ll have to cut it soon.
Q: Does it take a lot of maintenance? What’s the daily routine?
A: No, I just have to brush it or else I would get dreadlocks.
Q: What are your tastes in TV, music and books?
A: I don’t watch TV, really. I think it’s stupid and a waste of time. Really, I think it might be the worst invention ever. Music, I like rap and hip-hop and oldies. I know those don’t go together, but they’re really my favorites ” ’60s and ’70s music and the hip-hop of today. Books, I really like autobiographies about athletes, or, I mean, biographies of athletes.
Q: You’ve mentioned wanting to make the 2008 Olympics. Are you good enough now to do it?
A: No, but I think I will be shortly. I think I’ll be able to get there.
Q: How much does making the Olympics or winning a gold medal in ’08 drive you?
A: I’m training for the U.S. Open right now. After that, I’m going to take some time off. My body needs it right now. I’m burnt out, but I can’t afford to take a couple weeks off right now because I have to wrestle in the Open. But post-U.S. Open, I’ll take a couple of weeks off, re-evaluate my goals. That is something I think about a lot.
Q: You’re studying sports psychology. What’s the appeal of that to you?
A: It’s what I think about every day. It’s something I live, and I just now realized it’s something I can study. I’m going to enjoy myself with that.
Q: Rick McGuire is one of the foremost authorities in that field. Have you talked much with him?
A: I did an independent study with him last semester and this semester. I’m in his Applied Sports Psych graduate class this semester, also. He makes me think about life and the way I think about sports right now. His thoughts and my thoughts are on two opposite sides. Now, he’s making me really, really think over things again. So he’s great.
Q: Is the difference that your attitude on competition is more cutthroat than his?
A: I’m really cutthroat. He’s more laid-back and says that sports should be played with honor and by the rules. I would have used to say, “Win at all costs. “Now, I’m like, “Hmm, questionable.”
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