Gut wrenches, headlocks and hip tosses are easy holds and throws in Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling. Compared, that is, to the singular element that can pin a man, stretch him on life's mat and, sometimes, defeat him.
'Obsession,' Mike Foy said.
But he was speaking of others. For Foy is not about to be taken down by a sport that consumes some, compelling them to quit jobs, dangerously cut weight and put their lives on hold for a goal, for a victory, for an . . . obsession.
'For me, this isn't about wrestling, it's about who I am, it's about showcasing myself,' Foy, 34, said last week, before arriving in Northern California for the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling Olympic trials. They will conclude today with 10 men moving on to the Olympics, with Foy seeking his third Olympic team.
National champ five times, father three times, he spoke in the basement of his Brooklyn Park home, a laser printer to his left, a fax machine to his right, a painting of a Paris street scene behind him, samples of his new products in front of him.
There were displayed Foy's red, white and blue 'Olympic Spirit Horns,' noise-makers shaped like ram's horns.
They are officially licensed by the U.S. Olympic Committee, selling at Target stores nationally, with 60,000 already shipped.
The Spirit Horns are a product of Toys By Foys, which is a unit of Foy's Eclectic Ideas, Inc., which also distributes Disney and Warner Brothers licensed products and a plethora of refrigerator magnets.
It's a small business. It's led Foy back to wrestling. It's a marriage of Olympic entrepreneurial spirit.
'I'm going to the Olympics,' predicted Foy, a 198-pounder. 'The horn is going to the Olympics. The more exposure I get, the more exposure the horn gets. The more exposure the horn gets, the more exposure I get.'
Not a hard worker?
That he is so fit this year belies the talk among wrestling people that Foy has long wasted his talent by not working hard enough.
He was self-taught in the Greco discipline. While he wrestled two years for the University of Minnesota, he never joined the Greco community that uses the Gophers' wrestling room. Rippling with muscles, he's just good at it, despite a highly unorthodox, almost anti-technical approach.
'Mike has always been successful doing it his way,' said Dan Chandler, Foy's coach. 'Maybe if he did work harder, he would have had more success, but, you watch him and you say, `Technically, he didn't do that correct. But he pinned the guy anyway.' '
Troublemaker
Foy has had run-ins with USA Wrestling officials during his eight years of elite wrestling. He has never backed down.
'That's the rap I get, that I'm a troublemaker,' Foy said with a raucous laugh. 'Most athletes go along with the system and do what they're told.'
His ongoing combativeness stems from what he calls an 'audacious' incident after he made his first Olympic team in 1988. He did it by upsetting Mike Houck, a Minnesotan who was, to that point, the only American ever to win a Greco world championship.
Wrestling with a broken right hand, Foy defeated Houck at the Olympic trials. But, weeks later, his hand still broken, word spread at a pre-Olympic training camp that officials were figuring out ways to bounce Foy from the team. Ostensible reasons? His hand, he was allegedly difficult to reach by phone (he had a job) and, of course, Houck would have a better chance in Seoul.
Foy confronted a team leader.
'I said, `First of all, I don't appreciate rumors,' ' Foy said, reenacting his righteous anger. ' `Second of all, you need to talk directly to my lawyer.' '
The Olympic wrestling official swiftly backed off.
'I didn't have a lawyer,' Foy said last week, laughing toward his basement ceiling. 'I didn't even know any lawyers.'
Back to the mat
Foy finished sixth at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Soon after, he married Tina Richardson, of St. Paul, and they started a family.
Wrestling seemed to be in his past, until Foy developed his Toys By Foys company and started making Spirit Horns. He took stock of himself.
'People all the time are praying to God, asking for things. I've been one of them,' he said. 'But, say I gave you a gift, a diamond ring. And whenever I see you, you're never wearing that ring. Meanwhile, you're still asking me for something else, for a necklace.'
Foy was explaining why he had returned to the sport.
'What are the chances of me giving you another gift if you're not going to utilize the one I already gave you?' Foy asked. 'That's the way I look at God's gift to me. Here I am, asking for help with my businesses, and I'm not even utilizing the first gift God gave me.'
Wrestling.
Oprah his inspiration
Foy dedicated himself last fall to be in tip-top shape for this Olympic year. He decided to run a marathon. He was inspired by that noted fitness icon, Oprah Winfrey.
'I remember watching her show,' he said of the magical moment. 'I couldn't believe she ran a marathon. I don't know if I felt guilty, but I felt ashamed. Ordinary people are running marathons and here I consider myself a world-class athlete and I can't even run five miles.'
Last spring, while training in Colorado Springs, he marked off a 26-mile course. He pulled his 6-4, 198-pound body onto the road.
'I was just about to lock up,' he said. 'I started chanting, `Oprah did this.' I was not going to be outdone by an overweight talk-show host.'
Foy finished, confirming his unorthodoxy and his own brand of obsession.
