Dan Gable The Legend: Analysis
One documentary created and aired by ESPN Classic: Sports Century, on April 27th of 2001, tells the heartfelt story of who is considered the greatest U.S. wrestler of all time and father of the sport, Dan Gable. This documentary can be found on Youtube titled, Dan Gable Full Documentary, which was uploaded to Youtube on March 20th of 2013. The purpose of this documentary is to tell the story of one man who, through extreme adversity, became the most dominate, influential, and inspirational wrestler/coach the sport has ever seen.
The Story
The video begins by describing the rough living and society conditions during Gable’s childhood in Iowa at the time. Then it goes on tell how this boy, Dan Gable, considered small in stature with no signs of greatness found his outlet in the sport of wrestling. Considered an underdog, Gable won his first state championship as a sophomore at the 95-pound weight class. During the summer before his junior year, Gable’s family experienced a horrendous tragedy. While out of town with his father and mother, the Gable family received word that their daughter was hurt. When returning home, they discovered they’re 19-year-old daughter was raped and stabbed to death. This event fueled Gable to become the legend I know him as today.
The video continues by following his career through high school and college, highlighting key aspects in his training and mental capacity. Winning 2 more state championships with an undefeated record Gable commits to Iowa state where he also wins his first 2 national championships with undefeated records. Going into the national finals his senior year with a career record of 181–0, Gable choked and lost his final college match. This loss motivated Gable to train even harder. He then became the most dominate international wrestler of the time, winning multiple world championships and an Olympic gold. After that, Gable began coaching at his rival college University of Iowa, where he coached the team to 15 national championships in 21 years. Throughout the documentary, many people explain how Gable’s career as a wrestler and coach inspired people and took wrestling to an all new level.
To Truly Understand
This video documentation of Dan Gable’s success and motivation has truly deepened my understanding of his legacy as the greatest U.S. wrestler of all time and father of the sport.
To Do The Impossible
This documentary deepened my understanding of Gable’s legacy by highlighting in detail the magnitude of his success. Being a state champion myself I know what it takes, but it blew me away to learn that Gable won 3 state championships in high school with an undefeated record of 64–0 and 25 pins. Going undefeated in wrestling is extremely hard because anything can happen in a wrestling match, which makes his high school career even more impressive. However, college is where he excelled. Although, he could only compete in “OPEN” tournaments his freshman year due to NCAA rules he still went 17–0, winning the midlands tournament and being named outstanding wrestler for the first of 5 times. Being a college wrestler myself, I can personally say that the midlands tournament is one of the top 3 hardest in the country. I can’t even comprehend the fact that Gable won this tournament 5 times and was named outstanding wrestler all 5 times. As a sophomore, he went 37–0 and won the NCAA 130-pound title. As a junior, he was 30–0 and began a string of 25 straight pins, an NCAA record. At 137 pounds, he was also named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA Tournament in leading Iowa State to the first of back-to-back championships. Gable earned the Gorrarian Award as a junior and senior for the most pins in the least time in the NCAA Tournament. In 1969, he pinned five opponents in a total of 20 minutes, 59 seconds. The next year, he pinned five opponents in 22:08. In the last match of his college career, NCAA finals, Gable received his first lost in 7 years ending his 181-win streak. A few months later he redeemed the lost at the U.S. world trials. Gables dominance is apparent in his record 181–1, but understanding the number of pins he earned is the real amazing thing. Not only could no one beat him, but hardly anyone could last a full match with him. There was no one on his level and Gable only got better over time, to truly understand his dominance, we can look at the Gorrarian award winner history. First off, in the last 6 years or so, the Gorrarian award winners only received 2 to 3 pins in the NCAA national tournament compared to Gables 5. Also, dating from 1949 to current, there has only been 4 other times when the Gorrarian award winner received 5 pins, and no one has ever received 6. This truly deepened my understanding of Gable’s legacy and dominance.
His international career was just as successful, winning an Olympic gold where he did not give up a single point throughout the tournament and multiple world championships with record pins. The documentary states that during this era Russia’s dominance in wrestling was undisputed but Russia’s head coach was quoted saying, “we are dumbfounded by our inability to put a wrestler on the mat who can beat Dan Gable”. For the Russian head coach to say this, I was blown away. Gable really is the best of all time. And this lead us to his coaching career. Where, coaching for his rival school, University of Iowa, Gable coached the team to 15 national championships in 21 years, with 9 consecutive, the NCAA record. I never realized just how successful Gable really was until I watched this documentary which helped me understand the magnitude of his dominance and achievements. I couldn’t believe how many records this one man could set. It doesn’t even seem possible to me, which made me rethink and understand that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. This video documenting Gable’s success has truly deepened my understanding of his legacy.
Champions Train Everyday
Another way this documentary deepened my understanding of Gable’s legacy was by exposing his raw motivations and showing how he acted on them every day. This video first gives life to Gable’s childhood, describing a drunk and mildly abusive father, among other harsh realities of living in Iowa in the 60’s. This rough home-life is Gable’s initial motivation, which fuel him on the mat and in his training, thus leading him to his sophomore state championship. Then the video goes on to tell about the horrific event that changed everything. Gable’s older sister, Diane, was sexual abused and stabbed to death in the family home while Gable and his family were on vacation. The killer was one of Gable’s classmates who was expelled from classes a few years prior. This spark a fire in Gable that could only be controlled through wrestling. Putting myself in Gable’s shoes, having 4 brothers and 4 sisters, I still couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. However, understanding how he acted on this motivation is the real astonishing part. I made many sacrifices to dedicate myself to my goals in wrestling, but none compare to the things Gable did in his dedication to wrestling through his motivation.
First off, Gable asked his high school coach for the key to the wrestling room so he could get in extra workouts. Another example is that he would run to every class every day, with ankle weights, and sit in class doing isometrics. One teammate stated that twice he was at the movies with Dan when he stood up to say he couldn’t do this and that he had to go workout. In addition, another teammate recalled a time when they were all gathered at Gable’s house watching the local basketball team in the national finals on television. The teammate, looking for Dan, finds him doing push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups in the other room. The teammate begs, “What in the hell are you doing Danny?” Gable replies with, “I gotta get ready for next year.” This documentary describes the way Gable acted on his motivations in everyday life and has truly deepened my understanding of his legacy.
I never met such a person so dedicated and willing to sacrifice so much. This is beyond my comprehension because I know what this sport requires of someone and to be able to put in even more work and sacrifice is just mind blowing. Understanding what kind of person Gable was and how he acted in his motivation is the key to understanding how he became the legend I know him as today. This documentary did a wonderful job in portraying Gable’s motivation and dedication which greatly broadened my understanding of his legacy.
Source
XtremeKombatives97. “Dan Gable Full Documentary.” YouTube. YouTube, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.