Wrestlers are the Trappist monks of sport. They endure some of the most rigorous training of any athletes, practicing in a literal sweatbox whose thermostat is set at 85 degrees to siphon off water-weight. While football players bulk up with protein, weightlifting and steroids, wrestlers must maximize their strength while minimizing their weight so as to compete in the most effective weight class. Their devotion to their sport is fanatical, unquestioning, and pure: there is no broad national acclaim for their efforts, no ultimate financial windfall to reward their commitment. Their sport is simple, elemental: two men, a mat, and only minimal protective equipment - who is quicker, stronger, smarter, sounder in a one-to-one physical confrontation? Those who have known its joys and pains never forget them; there is a brotherhood of wrestlers, binding all who have competed with those who will compete in this tightly-knit, sweet-stale-sweat-smelling universe.
Part biography, part chronicle, part portrait of the unique subculture of this fascinating world, 'A Season On The Mat' is the best and most thorough look at one of the least-known yet truly transcendent figures in American sport.
