The Law and the Wrestling Mat

The International Olympic Committee has decided that wrestling, one of the oldest sports in the modern Olympics, should no longer be a core event.  Wow.  That decision has left most of us who know wrestling absolutely speechless.  Wrestling is the embodiment of the Olympic tradition.  It is a test of man against man, where strategy, as much as strength determines the winner.  Wrestling teaches discipline, the power of hard work, civility and responsibility.  Anyone can wrestle:  it requires no expensive equipment, just a mat and a partner.  I'll be clear here - I'm a wrestling mom.  My son wrestled through high school, and now he's a high school wrestling coach.  I go to all the meets.  It's an interesting perspective being the mother of the coach, as I watch the meets not only to cheer the young people on, but also to see what kind of effect my son has had on them, and how they relate to each other.   Because of the nature of the sport, the coach has a huge influence on them.  I've watched as the young men progress from being unable to plan their next move on the mat without the coaches telling them what to do and how to do it, to confident wrestlers who anticipate the next move of their opponent and plan for it with minimal help of the coach.  They are disciplined and hard working (or they won't last long on my son's team).  These young men learn respect for themselves and for their opponents - you will rarely, if ever, see a wrestler who doesn't shake the hand of his opponent and his opponent's coach after a match.  Those who don't are quickly corrected by their coach and their teammates.  Last weekend was the county tournament, and the wrestlers went out on the mat and gave it their all against their opponents, and around the gym wrestlers from different schools and the same weight class sat together laughing after they finished wrestling.  One of my son's wrestlers from last year had changed school districts, and after he wrestled, my son congratulated him.  Coaches from different school horsed around together.
Funny, now that I'm writing this, it reminds me of the family law community here in the Trenches.  New lawyers have little idea what they're doing, and they need more experienced lawyers to lead them every step of the way.  After we've been practicing for a while, we can handle cases by ourselves, although all of us need a little help and coaching now and again from our peers and mentors.  These same people who help us are our opponents in the courtroom, and we fight like hell in the courtroom against each other.  Then, afterward we shake hands with our opponent and their client.  Maybe later, we share a laugh together.  After watching the wrestlers, I wonder why how we act with each other in the Trenches is so hard for our clients to understand.  After all, it's just good sportsmanship.  What's wrong with acting civilized - here in the Trenches.