WINTER TOUR JOURNAL: Tour ends where it began, with no communication from the Arena Hotel

Sometimes, you have a sense of déjà vu. Actually, often in life, things have a way of repeating themselves.

In just a few hours, if everything goes well, I will be on a plane returning to the United States. However, this story will not be read for at least another day after that.

When I arrived, I spent a night with the U.S. team at the Danubius Hotel Arena in downtown Budapest. It is here that I have returned for the final minutes in this city. This is where I ran into the electricity problems that shut me down for a day, and as I sit in the small desk in my hotel room, I am again stopped from communicating.

I have a flight at 6:20 a.m. heading to Frankfort, along with one of the Greco-Roman wrestlers who are returning home, 74 kg Jake Fisher. Since Szombathely is over three hours away from Budapest, a decision was made by the Hungarian Wrestling Federation, along with discussing things with Coach Momir Petkovic and me, that Jake and I come into Budapest for the night before the flight.

The final day at the wrestling tournament went by very fast. Instead of splitting the tournament into two sessions, they ran the final three weight classes straight through. Once the semifinals were held, they went right into the repechage and then the medal matches. The tournament began at 9 a.m, and was finished by 2 p.m. or shortly after. This allowed some of the delegations which were from neighboring nations, as well as some of the volunteers who came from other parts of Hungary, to get back on the road at a reasonable hour.

The U.S. had a short day, with only four athletes entered. Spenser Mango came home with a bronze medal, winning a close bronze-medal match against a Norwegian after dropping a semifinal bout to the eventual champion from Japan. Neither Spenser nor coach Petkovic were pleased with the performance, because both believed Mango was capable of winning the gold, but both were already looking ahead to the next challenge.

I knew that I had to get my stories posted quickly from the arena, or risk the chance that I may not be able to file for many hours. The gameplan was for me to leave immediately from the arena, grab a quick meal with my Hungarian hosts, then get into a van along with Jake and some others for the three-plus hour drive back to Budapest.

It is always good to have colleagues working events with you, because you can help each other when needed. Bill May, a friend who lives in Prague, Czech Republic and helps the Japanese Wrestling Federation website, was there covering the tournament. (Bill has Minnesota roots, but he lives an international life worthy of a longer story). Anyway, since there was no internet for the media in the arena, Bill was able to get help from the tournament staff to find a small room in the upper floor of the offices in the arena that had a live high-speed internet connection. He shared that information with me and it allowed me to finish my work.

When Spenser lost in his semifinal, I quickly ran up to the room upstairs and filed a story. (Bill lent me a computer cable, as I had forgotten to bring one when packing this trip). Once I finished filing, I went down to the arena just in time for Spenser's bronze medal match, watching it, filming it and also shooting some still pictures. After Spenser won, I quickly interviewed Spenser and Coach Petkovic, then ran back to the room to file the updated story. Wrestling fans in the USA were able to know that Mango won his bronze rather quickly.

I got back in time to see two of the three gold-medal finals, getting the names of all the medalists. This would be ready to post when I got back to an internet connection later in Budapest.

Once the wrestling was over, Istvan Beni from the Hungarian Wrestling Federation, drove me and one of the Marketing and Communication Department members, Mr. Jafar Olia of Iran, to the hotel where the referees were staying. We shared a nice lunch. Right on schedule, just like everything else that was organized the entire weekend, an oversized van arrived to pick us up. My bags were already packed in the back. They had already picked up Jake Fisher, as well as three people from the Finnish Wrestling Team. Mr. Olia and I jumped in the van, and we waved goodbye to our efficient friends from the Hungary federation.

I have to admit I slept most of the drive through the farmland back to Budapest. I was up way late last night, having some internet troubles while posting a video of Joe Betterman's impressive quarterfinal win. My plan today was to get prepare one of Spenser's matches for the internet, and post it when we arrived in Budapest. I had placed the videos on my laptop at the arena, along with a few photos I hoped to add to our photo gallery.

We got back to the arena, and as promised, there were rooms for Jake, Mr. Olia and myself. Everything is according to plan. However, when I asked about purchasing a wireless internet card, I was told I could not do that. When I pressed for information, I was told the wireless was broken in the hotel and it would not be fixed until 8 a.m.

We leave at 4:30 a.m., so once again, I can not use my technology. After being in a constant situation where I am always online when I need to back home, this is a little disappointing.

I think back to the "old days" when I started at USA Wrestling. I handwrote all the results from my first Olympics in 1988 in Seoul, Korea and FAXed the stories back to USA Wrestling, where they got typed and distributed. For a few years, we carried a portable typewriter on trips as well as a portable FAX machine for sending information to the media and to the office. The world of laptop technology didn't really take off until a few years after my career had started.

I could have decided to wander the local community by myself at 9:00 at night, hoping to find an internet café that is open. Even if I did have success, it probably would not be the right connection to upload a video. I have decided to wait until I am back in the USA to update this journal, as well as post the final update on results. The Mango match may not get up until late Monday or Tuesday. Consider this technical difficulties, something that is very common when you travel overseas.

Since I have been in the hotel, I am afraid to plug into the wall with my computer, because of the electricity problem from Thursday night. My battery meter says I have three hours and 12 minutes left of power before I run out of charge. I am saving that for my long flight home tomorrow.

If everything goes to plan, Jake and I are picked up at 4:30 a.m., we get on our early flight, go through Frankfurt and then Chicago. Jake will head to Green Bay, while I am off the Colorado Springs.

(If something goes wrong, I will edit the end of this story. If not, you have confirmation that I have returned home safely, because I posted this story from O'Hare Airport).

WINTER TOUR JOURNAL: Seeing new places a part of tour travel

One of the most interesting things about international wrestling is the opportunity to see new places and meet new people in different parts of the world. When you are in the gym, it is all about wrestling. But during the times between and after sessions, it is about new experiences.

I woke up Sunday morning and looked outside the hotel and saw an inspiring site. A fog had rolled in and covered the entire plain of Western Hungary, sitting just on top the ground and blanketing everything. The view of the Alps on the Austrian side of the border was obstructed. It was very early in the morning, and there was a quietness and stillness that just grabbed you.

This is part of the lives of our international athletes and coaches, who travel to far away places to chase their Olympic dreams and represent our nation on the mat. Their eyes are opened to a different world, one of many languages and cultures and images.

On this trip, I have been exposed to the Hungarian countryside. Although the wrestling is in Szombathely, many of the social activities have been planned in small towns on the outskirts of the city. In the back and forth of daily activities, I have been driven through many quaint little towns, with names I can't pronounce and spellings I can't come close to.

The drivers tend to speed at a high rate of speed in the farmlands between these little towns, but must slow down once inside the town limits (much like parts of America). It allows you to look out, enjoy the different architecture, watch the common folk walking the streets and doing their daily routines, and see things as they are when we are not here visiting.

Different places have things that they take pride in, often a kind of food or a drink. Everybody knows about Hungarian goulash, and there are many meat dishes that are special to this nation. Around these parts, the drink they take pride in is called Palinkas, which is a fruit flavored brandy.

U.S. coaches James Johnson and Momir Petkovic told me about a place where the international coaches were taken for a social last evening. It was at a beautiful castle, which had been passed on within a family for generations. There was amazing art on the walls. The guests were treated to Hungarian folk music from a group of 12, dressed in traditional garb and using instruments from the region. The food was also very good.

Nobody is on an international tour for vacation, that is for sure. The athletes continue to train, watching their weight and tending to their injuries. Coaches deal with all kinds challenges on every level, including finding workout facilities, transportation and lodging needs. You can sense, even though this is in the early season, that every match is important to the U.S. athletes here. Every U.S. wrestler lost at least one match on Saturday, and nobody was satisfied.

The bulk of this group will journey on to Slovenia for a tournament next week, another place on the map that most Americans could not identify. It is in places like this that World and Olympic medalists are developed. But, in addition, these are the places where the lives of those who chose this crazy journey can be enhanced on a personal level.

WINTER TOUR JOURNAL: Winning the Hungarian Golden Grand Prix remains a challenge for U.S. wrestlers

They tell you Szombethely is 2,000 years old, founded by the Romans and the home of emperors. They tell you that the city was conquered many times, destroyed in battle, yet was always inhabited since it was founded. They even brag that the city was founded one year prior to London, England, site of the next Olympics.

The other thing they take pride in is that the Hungarian Golden Grand Prix is one of only two Greco-Roman Golden Grand Prix events in the world each year. They take brag about the quality of this tournament, and the fact that it is hosted in Hungary.

Winning the Hungarian Grand Prix is difficult for many reasons, most of all because of the level of competition.

"Traditionally, this is a good tournament," said Assistant National Greco-Roman Coach Momir Petkovic. "There are always a lot of good teams here. Like last year, there were 35 teams or so.

As a Golden Grand Prix, there is prize money awarded to the medalists. The winner gets $1,500, the runner-up $700 and each bronze-medalist gets $300. Nobody is getting rich by winning, but the intensity always picks up when there is cash up for grabs.

If you go through the brackets here, you see past World and Olympic medalists in every weight class. The matches in the quarterfinals and the semifinals are high skill and intensity. However, you can find that in any round here.

"Even in the first round, it's tough," said Petkovic. "There aren't many yo-yos here."

In an instant, a successful wrestler can get beaten. It happened to 2002 World champion Dremiel Byers in his first match in his bout against Revaz Chelidze of Georgia. The third period ended 0-0, and Byers was on top. He turned Chelidze and was awarded a point, seemingly securing the win. However, with just seconds to go, Chelidze got a hurried takedown from his feet to tie it at 1-1, and win the tiebreaker by scoring last.

FILA has been doing Golden Grand Prix events for a few years, and the Hungarian event has been included. In the official event program for the tournament, they list all the champions going back to 2005. No Americans have won the tournament during that span.

Dremiel Byers won a silver in 2008 and a bronze in 2006 at 120 kg. Sam Hazewinkel won a silver at 55 kg in 2008. That is the extent of U.S. medalists during the last four events.

The U.S. had another chance for a gold tonight, with Joe Betterman in the 60 kg finals against an Olympic silver medalist, Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan.

The wait for the finals seemed forever. Betterman started warming up when the bronze medal matches ended, but there was some pomp and circumstances to go through before he took the center mat.

There were speeches by the Mayor of Szombathely, a member of the Hungarian Parliament and then wrestling legend Dr. Csaba Hegadus, a FILA Bureau member and the president of the Hungarian Wrestling Federation. They played some music, then asked all the finalists to go to the corner for a lineup. The wrestlers were brought in to "We are the Champions" by Queen, then shook hands in the center mat.

When the match finally did start, Betterman was sharp and held off Bayramov in the first 90 seconds. However, Betterman could not turn him and lost the first period. In the second, he lost a 1-0 lead as the Olympic silver medalist turned on the pressure, getting to Betterman for three different scoring maneuvers. When time ran out, it was a silver medal for the United States rather than gold.

Betterman was upbeat after the loss because of a strong day, and kept talking about getting better, learning and making progress.

Petkovic saw a chance for a win, something that can go away so quickly.

"We had it. It is like this. Just like that, you can lose it. We had two chances," said Petkovic.

WINTER TOUR JOURNAL: The trip to Szombathely and Buk

Friday, Feb. 27 - SPARK!!!

Just like that, a few minutes after filing my first journal entry, my means of communications were cut off. Referee Michael Jordan and I were setting up computers, using the converters we had brought from the USA for Europe, and we suddenly lost the ability to get electricity with a crackling spark.

What we did learn is that we fried the power strip that Michael brought with him. That may have saved us from injuring our computers. We don't know if it damaged the converters at all. However, I was unable to charge the battery in my computer from the electricity at the hotel, and quickly my battery ran out of energy. Although we had internet access, we were not able to use our laptops.

We went down to the lobby and found the U.S. team, as a few coaches were in the lobby. The team was at practice in another facility when Michael and I arrived. Assistant National Coach Momir Petkovic was chatting with Army coach Shon Lewis and Sunkist Kids coach James "JJ" Johnson, so I joined with them. Michael had arranged a visit with a referee friend from Hungary who was taking him to dinner, so I wished him well and joined into the conversation with the coaches.

Being with Momir Petkovic on an international trip is a hoot. Momir knows everybody in Greco-Roman wrestling. He was an Olympic champion for Yugoslavia before coming to the USA and is well connected worldwide. He also has the language skills to talk to about anybody. When I joined in the discussion, he had a friend from Hungary with him also, and they were speaking in a foreign language (not sure which). Basically, Momir holds court in the lobby, and people come up to speak with him.

Two U.S. wrestlers came by, Olympian Spenser Mango along with Nate Engel, after some sightseeing. Engel has family in Hungary, and a cousin took them all over Budapest to see everything. Nate had some great photos from different buildings, monuments and locations that his cousin took them to.

The Danish coach and the top Danish wrestler, World medalist Mark Madsen, came over as well. Madsen has trained in the USA often, speaks great English, and is very friendly with the American coaches and team. The Danish coach, who I believe is originally from Poland, doesn't speak English as well, so Momir spoke with him in another language to keep the conversation going well. Madsen said he wasn't feeling well recently, perhaps the flu, and he left early. The conversation went on about the new Greco-Roman rules and how they are working after a few weeks, then drifted into a lively discussion about the politics of international wrestling.


At the dining hall, I ran into more athletes. JJ and I went up to eat, and the food is served buffet style, similar to the kind of spread you'd see on a cruise. We ran into Olympian Dremiel Byers, plus Aaron Sieracki and Joe Betterman. The athletes often grab a little food during the days prior to weighins, to keep themselves strong and to fuel up for their workouts. Betterman talked with me about how he is getting a ton of international matches this year. He is doing tournaments for four straight weeks, including Slovenia next week, a true test of endurance for him.

I ran out of gas at around 10 p.m. and went right to bed, hoping to sleep through the night and get onto European time. There was a stretch in the middle of the night when I didn't sleep at all, but when the 6:30 a.m. wakeup call came around I was ready to go. It was a dreary-looking rainy day when I peeked out the window. I also looked again at the arena next to the hotel, which is where the 2005 World Championships were held. I didn't recognize it originally because we went into it from a different angle back then.

At 8:00 a.m., athletes and coaches from the USA, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Denmark met in the lobby for a bus ride to Szombathely. It is called Som-bu-tay phonetically. The bus was absolutely full and there was barely enough room for all the luggage. I ended up sitting next to a window, with an Azerbaijan wrestler next to me. We pulled out and saw the early morning work-day hustle-bustle of Budapest, with cars and cabs and trolley cars, very similar to major cities all over the world. Within a half-hour, the bus was on a highway and started the drive through the rural countryside.

The driver drove pretty slowly, and the ride took about three-and-a-half hours to complete. It was mostly very quiet, as almost all the wrestlers were either sleeping or listening to music on their ipods. The bus was very hot, and the sun was streaming in the windows, making it even more uncomfortable. We passed a bunch of grain elevators, which look like ones I've seen in the United States.

Shon Lewis made a comment about the slow pace of the drive, saying it was like "Driving Miss Daisy." They convinced the bus driver to pull over after almost three hours, and half the people on the bus got off to go to the restroom or buy some food at a convenience store called "Mini Coop." We kept going through very small towns on the road which was eventually taking us to Szombathely.

The bus pulled into the city, finally, and ended up stopping at the Sports Arena. The teams were a bit confused, because they expected to end up at a hotel. The group apparently had to register there, and then would be taken to where they were staying. Some of the athletes were anxious, because four of the weight classes weigh in later this evening. This is going to be a large and competitive tournament, because it is a Golden Grand Prix, one of the higher-ranked events on the schedule.

When I got off the bus, I was greeted by the vice-president of the Hungarian federation. He told me that the FILA Committee people were staying in a different hotel, and he had a driver there to take me. I said goodbye to Momir and the team and got into a station wagon with a young man. His English was good enough to tell me that he was a student at Western Hungary University, and that I was going to a Radisson in the small town of Buk. He also mentioned that there would be transportation set up to take me to the event and the meeting during the weekend. We went through a few small rural towns before getting to Buk. When we got to the hotel, I was given a room key and told that there would be a schedule for me later in the day.

When I got into the hotel, I immediately put a converter on my power cord to see if it would light up. YES!! And when it was plugged into the computer, the battery indicator (which was down to 3 percent power), started charging!!! When the wireless didn't work, I called the front desk and they set me up with an internet live-wire, and I was back in business. It was very tough to be disconnected for almost a day, but I am now ready to go (I hope) for the rest of the trip here.

Wednesday, Feb. 25 and Thursday, Feb. 26- International wrestlers receive their glory at the World Championships and Olympic Games. However, it is competition at other international events held during the year where wrestlers pay their dues and learn their craft. USA Wrestling sends teams in all three styles on international tours each year, criss-crossing the world to provide our top athletes, as well as those who are in the developmental programs, a chance to test themselves against top foreign opponents.

After my nearly 21 years with USA Wrestling, I will be attending my first international winter tour at the Hungarian Grand Prix of Greco-Roman wrestling in Szombethely, Hungary. We do not send media staff to winter tours, getting the results and information from the coaches who take our teams overseas. If there is any international travel, it is usually for a World Championships or Olympic Games, or an occasional big event like the Pan American Games.

However, I was recently named to a position with the FILA Marketing, Press, Television and Internet Department, and the first meeting of this group for this commission is being held alongside the Hungarian Grand Prix. Since I will be traveling all the way to Europe for this, I will also attend the competition, to report on the U.S. wrestlers at the tournament. I have loaded a camera, a video camera and my laptop, to see how much I can capture from the experience to send back home.

This is my second trip to Hungary, after attending the 2005 World Championships in Budapest. The city where the tournament is held is a good distance away from Budapest. I remember enjoying my first visit to this country, including some great goulash meals and a beautiful riverboat tour through the ancient part of the city.

This journey began in Colorado Springs, with a quick hop up to Denver on a United flight. I go the rest of the way on Lufthansa, from Denver to Frankfort, Germany, then switching to a flight to Budapest.

It is usually most fun when you travel with the U.S. team for an international trip, where you can spend some time informally with the athletes, coaches and delegation members on the long trip over. It is a chance to build some relationships, and also find out some neat things about the people in our program.

Occasionally, that doesn't work out and you have to fly alone. I have had to do it a few times, and there is a bit of apprehension when that happens. You worry a little bit about getting stuck somewhere. This trip has a little bit of that, as I am flying solo on the flight to Frankfort. I am supposed to take the last leg of the trip to Hungary with Michael Jordan, the referee on this tour. Besides being an excellent official, Michael is a friend, so I am looking forward to having some company.

International flights are interesting because of the culture. There are numerous radio stations in different languages and styles. Lufthansa brags that the movies are translated into as many as eight languages. There is a clear European slant on everything, including much of the English video being translated by someone from Britain. The food and beverages are from other countries. You can tell you are going somewhere different.

The flight is about nine hours to Frankfort, flying up over Canada and arching over to Europe. I have a ton of work I can do for the office, which I have already started chipping away at. However, I know that it makes some sense to get some sleep on this first flight, because when I arrive in Hungary it will be about mid-day, and I will have to get through the rest of the day when my body would prefer to be sleeping.

There are two movies on the flight, and I may try to watch one of them. Both could be considered "chick-flicks" according to the preview, so we will see how they go.

I got a little lucky on the Frankfort flight, getting an aisle seat. Then, an additional bonus came when the woman next to me asked for a seat elsewhere, because she needed additional room for a leg she had broken and was still healing. After she was moved, I basically had two seats, letting me spread out my stuff, and put my food and drink on the tray to my side.

I did manage to watch one of the movies, something Barcelona, a Woody Allen flick where a pair of American women had a crazy summer in Spain. After a few hours of difficult sleep, I arrived in Frankfurt a few minutes early, around 10:45 a.m. Thursday morning. Although the layover was over an hour, it took a very long time to get all the way across the airport by foot, through a passport check, and then through security one more time. They took extra time looking through my carry-ons because of the computer and the cameras.

Michael was there at the gate when I arrived, and they quickly loaded the plane for Budapest. I slept most of that flight, waking up when they started to descend. Outside, the countryside was covered with a light layer of snow.

When we got off the plane, Michael and I both converted into some local money, the forint, which had a conversion of over 200 per dollar. While we were getting our bags, two large older men who were looking for us found Michael. One was wearing a baseball hat with the FILA logo. One of the men talked a little English and said he was a referee. The other apparently had no English. There was a parked van waiting for us outside.

We couldn't leave right away, because while the men were collecting us from the lobby, the police gave them a ticket. We drove around the airport a few times, as the men tried to find somebody from the police department to talk to. Finally, after awhile, they got out and talked to the cops, and the ticket was torn up. The man who spoke English said that it was because they were with wrestling.

A drive through an industrial part of the city brought us to a hotel, called the Danubius Hotel Arena, which is where the U.S. team is staying. It is right next to a sports arena. When we got into the lobby, the desk clerk said he did not have our names in the system. After a chat with our drivers, they had us fill out a form and gave us a room with two double beds. All along, there were no American wrestlers in sight.

When we got to the room, as in many international hotels, we had to put our room key in a slot in the wall to turn on the electricity. The lights came on but quickly blinked off, and the electric current was dead. I went down to the lobby and the clerk said he would call for assistance. A few minutes later, three people showed up at the door. One was a woman, who was a manager that spoke English. The other two were friendly men who had janitor uniforms on. One of the men opened up a panel above our door, fiddled around a little bit, and the electricity was quickly restored.

We took showers to clean off the grime from the trip, and went to the lobby to purchase access to the wireless internet in the hotel. Still no sight of the U.S. team. We got the wireless to work, and I have been able to complete my journal for the day.

Supposedly in the morning, there will be a bus to take all the Americans to Szombethely. Tonight, we will try to find the U.S. team, get something to eat, and get a full night's sleep.