While the majority of Island County sports fans were spending another leisurely Saturday morning waking up with that second cup of coffee while perusing all the crime and grime in the newspaper and waiting for the kickoff of the first college football game on television, I was having a better time.

I’d received a personal invitation from my friends at the Whidbey Wildcat Wrestling Club to attend the first Region 1 tournament of the season at Oak Harbor High School and I was on the road before College Football Today came on the tube.

Truthfully an invitation was not necessary. I’d planned on rolling out of the sack anyway and hauling myself, camera in hand, up to the school for the Salute to the Veteran Tournament.

What a kick! The gymnasium was packed with competitors and cheering fans. Personnel from NAS Whidbey Island along with NJROTC students kept the event running smoothly and everyone had a good time.

I’ll tell you what, OHHS head wrestling coach Mike Crebbin can rest assured he will have some good wrestlers advancing to high school competition in not too many more years. The Whidbey Wildcats are a real tough bunch of kids who are honing their wrestling skills at the junior level.

In my younger days I did a bit of wrestling, Greco-Roman mostly, and believe it or not, I once was in shape and had a toned body. Since that time, I’ve become sort of a middle-aged super hero type known as “Pear Man” to my lady. Ah, well, time passes and so does the old bod.

One thing I noticed during the tournament, and it wasn’t just the Whidbey Wildcats, there were a lot of kids that were wrestling without wearing protective headgear.

What concerned me most was not that the kids might get slammed face first and bump their foreheads. It was the fact that those little ears were getting twisted in holds and slid across the mat, and it doesn’t take much for ears to to get injured.

Cauliflower ears are a real bummer!

I know a lot of people, both kids and adults, are big fans of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), so take a look at some of the guys who are ring veterans. Take a close look at their ears. Man, some of those guys look like a doctor got wild with a botox injection and missed the lips — hitting the ears instead.

I can remember back in the day when Killer Kowalski accidentally tore off part of Yukon Eric’s cauliflower ear during a wrestling match at the Montreal Forum. The Killer was up on the top turnbuckle ready to do his finishing move ( the atomic knee drop) but he missed. I think they showed the replay of that event on just about all the television stations that carried professional wrestling. Thank goodness it was in black and white.

Cauliflower ears are the result of the fibrous membrane of connective tissue covering the cartilage of the ears getting damaged, a common occurrence in wrestling.

This might be the result of one massive hit to the ear, or because of continual injuries caused by twisting or being slid along the mat.

The trauma either causes a blood clot to form under the skin or tears the ear’s skin away from the cartilage.

Either way, the cartilage does not get enough blood and dies. Without that cartilage, which gives the ear its shape, the ear shrivels and lumps and bumps form.

Ugly? You got that right!

I understand that the economy is tight right now and people don’t have a lot of extra money to spend. However, it costs a dime or two for kids to be able to compete in youth wrestling so why not spend a little bit more to have your child’s head protected?

Christmas is coming up and headgear would make a great present for a young wrestler. I expect Big 5 Sporting Goods here in Oak Harbor could hook you up, no problem at all.

Hey, how can you look cool wearing ear rings if the appendages on the sides of your head look like they should be covered with melted cheddar cheese and parsley flakes, and served for dinner?