OVERVIEW  I was first introduced to amateur wrestling in 1956 when studying to become a football coach at the University of Oregon, School of Health and Physical Education. Oregon had an outstanding wrestling team led by Olympian Lee Allen (1956 & 1960) and PCC champion George Krupicka.    I was immediately attracted to the sport but I was puzzled by the lack of student and public interest (dual meet attendance about 100 to 200), and the snub the sport got from the local and state newspapers, the Eugene Register Guard and the Oregonian. I was astonished to learn spectator appeal of wrestling had not caught on yet with the US public or at most high school and college level, except in a few areas where traditions had been developed. I supposed it was because wrestling was new and it would take time for fans to learn the scoring system and difference between the amateurs and pros. It seemed most programs were tolerated rather than promoted.    Now almost 50 years later little has changed. Media coverage is appalling and attendance is still embarrassingly low at most dual meets and tournaments. The 2001 USA National Freestyle and Greco-Roman Tournament at the beautiful MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas drew poorly. Those in attendance were mostly parents and fans with some connection to a wrestler.      The United States has over three million ex-wrestlers* . Where are they? Where was live network television? Surely a good portion of ex-wrestlers and their families care enough about our national wrestling heroes to tune in, or do they?  Do they even know who our national heroes are?  Is amateur wrestling only exciting to active participants and coaches? Why has our devoted wrestling community failed to capture the interest of the American public? NBC coverage of wrestling at the Athens Olympics showed media bias and ignorance of the size of the USA wrestling community. No doubt we would have had more coverage if our wrestlers had done better.     I have been involved in wrestling as a coach since 1957. During this time I have made the following observations and I submit this paper to contribute to the issue of promoting amateur wrestling.    MEDIA SNUB  The media offers the explanation; they print or broadcast what the people want. They claim public interest in real wrestling is low; therefore they usually do not do live event coverage with staff or cameras. Employing reporters and camera crews is costly and their time has to be allocated according to their perception of the public interest.     The problem: how does the public become interested without information? In the few areas of the USA where TV and press cover college wrestling fans are abundant.  When people have access to current information, interest and loyalties develop which creates a demand for more coverage. With 10's of millions of ex-wrestlers and their families in our population, it seems interest would flourish if there were something to read or watch.    This was the case when I was a student at the University of Oregon in the 50's; the Oregon track and field team was among the best in the country. Coach Bill Bowerman did such an outstanding job his program could not be ignored. The Eugene Register Guard covered Oregon track thoroughly and it helped build the program into one of the best in the USA. Coverage was so thorough, data published in the local newspaper prior to dual meets on each participant looked like a horse racing form. Interest was peaked and dual meets would draw 12,000 fanatical fans. Bowerman developed 18 runners that ran the mile under 4 minutes a total of 64 times. The legacy has lasted into the 21st Century as the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, a stadium dedicated exclusively to track and field, is a preferred site for Regional and National track and field events before packed houses. Which came first, the coverage and then the interest or vice-versa?    Wrestling, as demonstrated in Iowa, Oklahoma and other places, can attract multitudes of fans. Observe the instant sensation Rulon Gardner became when he made it to the Olympic Greco-Roman finals to wrestle Aleksander Kareline, the biggest, meanest Russian ever. Gardner's victory was the most publicized Olympic wrestling event in USA wrestling history and it continued through the 2004 Olympics. Millions of proud Americans watched him show the world our youth is as good as the best.    Jeff Stuebing was an Oregon high school wrestler in the 70's at McMinnville High School. In his senior year he pinned all but 2 of his opponents in the 168 lb. class.  In home dual meets about 100 fans would be in attendance in the early matches. When Jeff started warming-up, the fans increased to 700-800 to see if Jeff could continue his pin streak. Immediately after Jeff's pin, attendance would fall off.     These examples prove how exciting wrestling can be when the public knows what's happening. The largest U.S. wrestling attraction is the televised Olympics.    Olympic Appeal  Billions of viewers from most of the countries in the world see their Olympic team is the ultimate level of athletic achievement. Only Soccer's World Cup draws comparable television audiences. The media argument, 'they cover the stories of public interest' doesn't pass the test of reasonableness when throngs of fans flock the Olympic venues and TV sets to see all Olympic events. 50,000 excited fans showed up to watch archery in the 1984 Los Angeles games and at the Salt Lake City winter games, 20,000 assembled in sub-zero weather to watch ski jumping. Where is the media in off Olympic years? People do have interest. Information is needed to cultivate a fan following.     The Olympic games is a celebration of the human race.    We human beings are the dominant force on planet earth. We have risen from pre-man primates to unbelievable intellectual power. Our species has unprecedented nobility by being able to create great societies of benevolence. We are a heroic being and it is proper for us to demonstrate it. Once every two years we stop for two weeks to celebrate our greatness by bringing our best athletic performers into the arena of sport for all to see. Audiences from every corner of the world are awed by the greatness of humanities heroes. The peoples of planet earth are left with the feeling all is right in the world and as a fellow human it is proper for us to love and respect others and ourselves. This is what makes the Olympic games the greatest of all media events.    Instant Legends  Gold medal winners are instant legends in most countries. All America was thrilled when Rulon Gardner made it our day in the sun.  Rulon was the talk of the world, and in Greco-Roman style yet. For me his victory came after I had been devoted to our great sport for over 40 years. I saw an American wrestler become a world hero as tears streamed down my cheeks. A great role model was born for all young American wrestlers to admire.    In the USA however, wrestling coverage is aggravatingly low. Sydney and Athens saw an increase in TV coverage as NBC used both network and cable outlets. Even with this addition most USA wrestling was only highlight coverage  or at 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM and there was little or no coverage of wrestlers from outside the USA. With highlights only, we didn't get to see the exciting live action of a match developing or the suspense of watching our American heroes wrestle through the pools and into the brackets and then the gut wrenching experience of watching them make it to the finals and the suspense waiting to see if our wrestlers could claim gold as many other USA athletes were doing. Compare coverage of qualifying wrestling matches with swimming and track and field preliminaries. More promotion of wrestling would increase viewers and airtime could be increased. In many parts of the world, wrestling is a national sport. In contrast however, how many USA high school wrestlers can name any of our wrestlers that won gold medals in Atlanta, Sydney or Athens Olympic games?    Why should the media and the American public be interested in Olympic and International wrestling