EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,075 words- 0:00 – 2:36
Wrestling legacy, museums, and being a hometown hero
- NANarrator
(drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.
- JRJoe Rogan
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays) Is that ... You were s- so you were telling me that this mask is ... This is a wrestling ... Does this have anything to do with your museum?
- DGDan Gable
Yes. It's the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, but this is the one out of Stillwater, Oklahoma. And the w- the one we have is a subsidiary one. It's called the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum-
- JRJoe Rogan
Ah.
- DGDan Gable
... in Waterloo, my hometown, but they own it. And see, Oklahoma and Iowa, big rivalries in wrestling over history and this, these museums kind of help bring us together.
- JRJoe Rogan
Huh.
- DGDan Gable
So, uh, it's pretty, pretty interesting. So, um, so the ma- mag is ... These, these actually masks are just the ones out of Stillwater. I don't know if we have the ones in Waterloo or not but ... But, uh ...
- JRJoe Rogan
Lex Friedman told me that you have a hard time even walking around in Iowa, that people swarm you. (laughs)
- DGDan Gable
You know, when they don't swarm me is when I'm gonna have to worry about it, you know.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
Because I'm for the sport of wrestling.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- DGDan Gable
And I love that sport and it's been my life and I can ... I want it to continue to be and it's a little bit difficult sport, so you know, it's something that keeps me, um, appreciative but it also ... I promote it out there and as long as people ... I- I'm okay with it. It might irritate my family a little bit once in a while, but they love the sport too, so they gotta expect some of this stuff.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, eh, coming from a guy that has accomplished what you've accomplished and has become this legendary feature in the sport, it, it, it comes with the territory. There's no way around it. I mean, you're a beloved character-
- DGDan Gable
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... in the sport of wrestling to the point where I told people that you were gonna be on my podcast and their eyebrows raise up like ... People get very excited.
- DGDan Gable
Well, (laughs) you know, I'm glad you said that because every time I tell somebody, their eyebrows do the same when I'm going on this show. And so of course, you know, I- I knew about this show, but I had to do a lot of homework just to see, wow, you know, it's pretty big, so ... You know, I'm excited to be here 'cause I know the effect it can have, not just on me because, you know, but on the sport, you know? And I love the sport and it's ... My hometown of Waterloo was ... That's why I got started in it because it was just dominating wrestling at the time.
- 2:36 – 4:40
Wrestling as international diplomacy: Iran, Russia, and shared respect
- DGDan Gable
And you know what's funny is that just from a world situation, sport brings people together and, you know, it's like who better than a sport with Russia or Iran or North Korea because, you know, it's like ... Or Turkey, you know. They just, especially the first two, you know, they just, um ... We're always in conflict-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- DGDan Gable
... it seems like with them but when it comes to wrestling, we have something in common. And we usually end up losing to both Russia and Iran, but sometimes we beat 'em too and we are well-known for good wrestling and that has helped, I think, the country be better off.
- JRJoe Rogan
I had Jordan Burroughs on and he was describing to me what it's like to wrestle in Iran and how massive the sport is over there and he's a giant star over there. And he's like, "And people are so friendly and so inviting and so accepting and just so happy to see great wrestling." And just wrestling is just an enormous sport over there and i- im- immensely popular.
- DGDan Gable
Well, when I won the Olympics in 1972, their most popular athlete was the guy in my weight class.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- DGDan Gable
The Iranian. And I'd been in the Worlds a year before, but before that, he had two World ti- he had two Olympic titles and every World title in between. And all of a sudden, he became so popular that the government was a little concerned about him, that the people were more appreciative of him than the government.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- DGDan Gable
And so when he went to the Munich Olympics, even though he had lost the year before, because I was there and I won the weight class, we didn't get to wrestle, but he was there and representing Iran in '72 and he won his first match by about 15 points. But he pulled out of the Olympics and he ended up going to the United States.
- JRJoe Rogan
Ah.
- DGDan Gable
Because of his being so popular, they were scared they might do something to him.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well-
- DGDan Gable
At the government level.
- 4:40 – 5:19
Political repression and the risks of being a national sports icon
- JRJoe Rogan
I'm sure you're aware of what happened recently with the wrestler who was killed.
- DGDan Gable
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
The Iranian wrestler-
- DGDan Gable
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
... who was killed because he was in a ... Involved in a peaceful protest and they made an example out of him.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah, and they claimed that he killed somebody but, you know, you can claim whatever you want to-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- DGDan Gable
... to help satisfy the people, but chances are he didn't. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Chances are he didn't.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
It seemed like what they were doing was just making sure that people were scared.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah, exactly.
- JRJoe Rogan
And that if they can kill a man who's so beloved and, you know, a national hero-
- DGDan Gable
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
... they can kill anybody.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah, and the Iranian that came here, uh, lives still here in the United States, yeah.
- 5:19 – 8:19
Why wrestling is uniquely brutal—and what it builds in athletes
- JRJoe Rogan
It's, uh ... Wrestling to me is, uh ... It's one of the most important sports because it's one of the very few sports that doesn't have a real ... I mean, there's obviously WWE wrestling and a lot of guys go from wrestling into MMA, but there's not a real professional venue. I mean, Jordan Burroughs does some legit wrestling, a- actual, you know, amateur style wrestling and gets paid for matches and stuff now and has sponsorships and the like. And I'm very happy that he gets recognized and some other wrestlers get recognized, but it's not like basketball. It's not like any other sport where you have Olympic champions go on boxing and become huge stars at a professional level. With wrestling, it's ...It's one of the few sports where the people that participate in it, they take pride in the fact that they work in silence. They take pride in the fact that they, they grind. They take pride in the fact that they, they are miserable, that their training is unbelievably intense, and that it's so much more intense than most sports. If you had to compare like what a, an elite ba- baseball player does for it, y- you're smiling, right? Versus an elite wrestler. I mean, it's not even comparable.
- DGDan Gable
No, but I appreciate all the sports because I have so many grandkids, and, and a lot of their dads are even baseball players, football players, and, and even coaches at that level. So, uh, you know, it's pretty interesting because like one of the, the baseball coach, uh, for my local, where I live in Iowa City is, um, he's got a son named Gable, actually, and, and he's first team Allstate, but in, in baseball. But when he was back in college, he was dating my daughter and he came to our wrestling practice, and we were just doing a running practice that morning, early morning, and, and, uh, we were doing quar- le- less, little less than quarter mile runs and I'd give them a little time in between, of course. But, uh, he, he just wanted to try out what, what we were doing to see how it compared to what he d- how he trained that way. Now I'm sure they train different ways but he made one really good lap and he stayed right with the group, right in there. I, I think he claims he might have made another one. I don't know if it was the second or the third, but we were gonna do eight. And so I think by the second or the third, he was in a full squat and he couldn't... I mean, his legs just went out on him and he just, he couldn't do it, and he... I tell you, I think it showed appreciation from him right away from that point of view. So that's, that's pretty interesting that, that you bring that up, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't think there's any sport like it-
- DGDan Gable
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... in terms of the amount of effort that's required and also the, the margin of, of fitness and of technique required for victory. Like at the elite level, there's so many great wrestlers, both on the national level and the, the international level, that it really requires this insane level of dedication to rise to the top.
- 8:19 – 12:58
Confidence, leverage, and the mind: how champions are made
- DGDan Gable
Well, you mentioned Jordan Burroughs, and I... You know, Jordan Burroughs was a good wrestler in high school and he was a good wrestler in college. Uh, he became a great wrestler at the end of college but I shouldn't even say great because, uh, you know, I, you have another level and that's that world in, in Olympic level. And I don't think he really realized his talent and abilities, and a lot of it's just because it is a tough sport, and that every practice is a, a somewhat of a grind and, and everything that, uh, you do, but, but if you stick with it long enough, the mind can develop as well. And when the m- when Jordan Burroughs' mind developed to where he felt he was a great wrestler instead of just he's a good wrestler but this other guy is good and it's gonna be a tough match. But he stayed in it long enough, worked at it hard enough for he was able to develop beyond the tools that you need for being on the mat just technically or strategially, strategically. And, uh, so once he got that mind, that made the big difference. And that's what carries him through right now. And again, it's like right now, he's in a big battle to make the, to make the Olympic team, which is co- co- gonna, gonna happen here shortly. And, uh, because we eliminated some of the weight classes. See, people don't understand in our sport, because they say, "Well, they don't do it in baseball, they don't do it in football, people weigh 100 pounds, people who weigh 200 pounds are on the same team and you're competing against them." But in a wrestling match, a few pounds makes a difference when you're at that high level of excellence. It's because of, like, physics, you know. If you understand physics pretty well and, uh, positioning, and then you can probably be a better wrestler just because of the amount of weight and skill that you have within your own positions. And so, uh, for me, it was like I could wrestle anybody. I wrestled 150 pounds at the Worlds and Olympic Games and I could wrestle, uh, the heavyweight who weighed 450 and, and they go, "Why could you wrestle him?" I said, "Because I knew the leverage and I knew the s- the s- the skills and, and the strategy." And, uh, because of that, uh, that gave me the opportunity to feel heavier than him and I think that's what a lot of people said. Uh, they say like, "You don't look that heavy but when I wrestled you, you felt like so heavy." I said, "Well, it's 'cause I knew my positions." So, you know, that, that's where like Jordan Burroughs is now. He's so much better but not just in his m- uh, skills from on the mat. It's a lot in his brain so that he knows he's good. He's had a lot of practices where he's done well. I don't think I lost a practice from my junior year in college. So I had my junior year, my senior year, then I had two and a half more years. So, so that's four and a half years where I went to practice and never lost a wrestling practice. And by that, I mean I pretty much dominated and I usually wrestled the bigger guys in the room even though I was still a lightweight just because I could. And, uh, because of that, it gave me a lot of confidence and s- and so people, you know, always ask you, "How you think you're gonna do?" Well, you know, I think I'm gonna win, you know? And I, I, I think, uh, I'm, I, I don't really think, I pretty much know I'm gonna win. So, you know, it's one of these things that when you have that much success, it works. And that's where I feel Jordan Burroughs has developed too. But I, like I said, he's got only six weight classes as compared to eight or nine or ten what we normally used to have, and he's got a world champion coming down named Dake that will challenge him at that, uh, at that, his weight. So they're both cr- highly credentialed and so that's gonna be a big match coming up here probably pretty soon.
- JRJoe Rogan
W- mental toughness is one of the most important aspects of wrestling. Obviously, technique and fitness are huge, but mental toughness is what defines wrestlers in my opinion because when you see wrestlers, successful wrestlers in mi- in, you know-... the UFC in particular. It, there's no one like them when th- when they come over to MMA. You, you recognize, like, there's, th- there's something special about them as athletes. And I think that it, it comes from the fact that wrestling is so difficult. The, the practices are so hard. But in the world of mental toughness, where mental toughness is one of the cornerstones, you're known as the guy that stands out. Like, you stand out amongst, like, like David Goggins likes to say, "You're uncommon amongst uncommon men." Like, what, what is that? Like, what, what, what made you stand out from these other wrestlers?
- 12:58 – 18:50
Early life at the YMCA: learning discipline, competition, and social skills
- DGDan Gable
Well, I'm gonna jump forth to my high school coach, even though I got a lot before that. But I want y- I just remember what he said in the room, and he was, like, the best high school coach in the state at the time. He said, "Guys, win with humility. Lose with dignity. But damn it, don't lose!"
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
And he, he, he put those last two lines together real quick, so you kind of had to listen to him. But, you know, it's pretty neat because you win with humility, you lose with dignity, but damn it, don't lose. And so, you know, it's, it, it... That was my first major coach that really taught me a lot of those type of principles. But before that, I was, I was a kid that was at the YMCA when I was five, six years old. Uh, uh, and, and basically the reason why I was there, because, you know, you want to learn how to swim because if you're a outdoors guy and you want to be around water and you wanna, you wanna make sure you know how your kids swim, so my mom and dad got me at the YMCA. But what they got me into the YMCA really for was they needed help. I mean, they just... My dad was a full time worker, and my mom, she stayed at home a lot but she also helped my dad at, he had a office at home. But I was a little hellion and, uh, they needed me to learn how to swim, but they also needed me to learn how to be a little bit sociable, they needed me to learn how to, to, uh, uh, get along with kids. Uh, my first job was at the YMCA. I actually competed, my first sport, uh, competitively was, uh, besides practicing, was swimming, and I won a YMCA state championship when I was 12 years old, believe it or not, in the backstroke. Which-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
... you know, in wrestling, you know, I know in fighting you can go to your back and there's lots of tools that you can do there th- but I hate going to my back. You know? And I think if I was a fighter, I don't, I w- think, I hate gravity coming down on me. So, I don't mind putting it down. But, you know, and there's skills there you have to learn. But I, um, I, uh, really, um, I really liked, uh, uh, the YMCA because it gave me a chance to learn something away from home. I was home with my mom, I was home with my dad, home with my sister who was four years older than me. But, you know, it's, it's just something... I call it going for help. And I think my mom and dad realized at that time that they needed some help with this kid, and I think that's a really good thing to think about as, as people in the world when you have kids growing up. And if you're not giving them what you need to give them, why not go for help? And there's organizations out there. Now, you gotta be careful, you know, who you're putting them into or even if you give them to a babysitter or whatever like that. But, you know, if you, if you're, if you're pretty confident that you have a good place to get some help, you get some help. And I, and I, uh, same way with me as a coach. Same way with me as a husband. I mean, I got my wife, I got my family, I got m- I had my assistant coaches, and I, I got my fans. I mean, uh, god, I always had 'em looking out for me. I built that kinda trust with them, or more than even trust, just they wanna help. And that was a way. Now, you can't go overboard. You still gotta make sure that the help you're getting is the right help. But the YMCA was perfect for me because, uh, I mean, I can remember the first day, uh, uh, uh, they took us to a wrestling room. We had a little wrestling room at the YMCA. And I was already wrestling before that because my dad was a w- a wrestler. Not a great wrestler but his, his friends were. So when they c- when they came to the wrestling, learning this sport, my first wrestling room was at the YMCA there even though I had been in a wrestling room because these older guys had drug me around to the wrestling rooms but, in Waterloo. But I can remember wrestling a kid and I, I, I handled him pretty good because I had already been wrestling on my carpet at home, wrestling outside in the grass, and, and these people had had a, had a little experience with me. So, but the kid, you know, kind of got mad. And so I was waiting for my mom and dad to, uh, uh, pick me up after the, um, the wi- af- after the Y's... couple hours where y- you spend there. And this kid came out and he goes, "You know, you can... You know, maybe you beat me in wrestling up there." But he goes, uh, "How about a street fight?" And I said, "Whoa." (laughs) You know, I th- I was probably eight, nine, eight years old at the time. And, you know, uh, it, it was downtown Waterloo, Iowa, tough town. I was on one side of the river and he was on the other side of the river, uh, growing up and, and so he probably had been in more st- fights than me. But I didn't, wasn't gonna really... I wasn't gonna fight him. I was waiting for my dad pick me up, and all of a sudden he, he punches me. And so, you know, what do you do? You gotta fight. (laughs) I mean, either that or run. You know, and I, I fought and I did all right. I mean, just like in the wrestling room, I did all right. And so I was... I had, I had some of that in me too. But when I g- I had the guy on the down and I, uh, kind of let him up, we both looked over...... my dad was there standing watching me, and that guy's dad was standing there, and my mom, my dad and his were talking to each other. And so, you know, that's part of a x- experience that you kind of grow up in. And s- I don't know if they even knew each other, but they were kinda supervising, yet we didn't know they were there.
- NANarrator
Right.
- DGDan Gable
And that was kind of one of my first experiences, uh, with, uh, understanding a little bit about, um, competition outside the organized sports, you know?
- NANarrator
Yeah, raw competition.
- DGDan Gable
Right. Yeah.
- NANarrator
Yeah. Primal.
- DGDan Gable
Yep. (laughs) Yeah.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- 18:50 – 24:02
Family turmoil, policing in the “good old days,” and today’s cultural pressure
- DGDan Gable
So, you know, a- and actually, uh, speaking of the story there, it was a really good one, uh, this is about my mom and dad, my mom and dad were great people, but they liked to drink a lot of beer and smoke a lot of cigarettes and that's why b- they probably didn't live so long and they probably had a lot of, uh, had- had some trouble at home. And by that I mean the cops visited home quite often just to break up fights or my mom would probably call the cops on my dad, and, uh ... So, the first time I ever really took notice was when they came the first time and they took my dad away. And, you know, he had been rough with my mom so I probably understood, but I saw him kind of, um, throw a handcuff on him, they just, I think they just threw one on and kind of took him out the door. I didn't really see from there. So, uh, he came home that night later on. He got ou- he- he was did- he just, you know, I don't know, they- they brought him back later. But so the next day I went to school and the cop that had ki- the policeman that had come and picked him up was actually a neighbor down the street, just lived about a block in from us, and I was really mad, you know, at the police taking my dad away, even though probably it was a good thing (laughs) . B- but I didn't really understand what was going on at that time, and this, and this is different today, probably wouldn't go on, but the- the- the neighbor policeman about a- a block away had a son in my class at school. So after school that day, I- we were both walking home and I was really mad and I pulled out of my pocket a wire and I took this kid down on the ground and I wired his wrists together, and not real hard but like, like they were handcuffs, and I grabbed the wire and I said, "This is what your dad did to my dad last night and I'm gonna do it to you and I'm gonna take you and I'm gonna take you home this way." And (laughs) I took him home 'cause they lived about a block away and I untook the things off and let him go in. But (laughs) he was about probably fourth grade, but h- e- the- my dad found out about that and wow, what did I get in trouble. I mean, he hit- he used to hit me on top of the head with a ring, probably why I don't have much hair but, but, um, and, um, and he looked at me and he, he said, "You know what? I was intoxicated last night. It was good they took me out of here. But you know what they did to me when I d- got me down to the police department?" He said, "I played pool with him. They had a little billiards room down there and they played pool with me until I sobered up and then they brought me back." And, uh, "And you did that to his son?" I said, "Dad, I- I- I (laughs) I was just protecting you," I thought, you know? But, and everybody understood. But it's kind of funny how things are and I don't, I don't think ... And that's the old days, good old days, uh, compared to, I don't ... Now they'd probably, uh, do a lot more, you know, they'd lock you up probably but, uh, they don't give you too many breaks but, uh, uh, it's kind of funny how that's the kind of house, you know ... The difference between 40 years ago, 50 years ago, 60 years ago, I'm, uh, I forget.
- NANarrator
What do you think is better though? Like, the good, are the good old days the good old days or is it better today?
- DGDan Gable
I think, uh, I think I like the good old days.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
I mean, I got picked up one other time and it was my, um, former, um, I was back, a- home in- from college and, and he, um, he was my gym teacher in eighth grade and, uh, Mr.- Mr. Blue, and he, uh, he ended up being a policeman so when I came home from college, so that was about in seventh grade, so we're talking six, seven and eight years later when I was home for the weekend and, and I was driving and he picked me up and I probably had a beer in the car or something and, you know, he- he actually, um, let me go. But he picked me up again the same night (laughs) . So he took me down a second time and he put me in his office in the police station and we talked for quite a while, but he let me go too. But, you know, uh, you just can't get away with it. I mean, there's just more rules, regulations and if people find out it's like, whoa, whoa. You know, I- I think the good old days probably gave you a chance to actually realize things better than you can today. You can actually get a second chance maybe and, you know, that type of thing. So, um, today is not the best day to ask me about the good old days just because today is, I would say, definitely the good old days because these days are, we're divided, you know?
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- 24:02 – 32:25
Gender-neutral language, mask policing, and the rise of public scolding
- DGDan Gable
That's the way it is. And so it's not as much fun and you're almost scared to talk, you know, what did I, um ... Now I'm gonna put on my ... I was- I came here on an airplane and I, out of the airplane, uh, magazine, I picked up something because I thought it was interesting and it'll probably help me 'cause I don't want to get in trouble, you know? I- I don't wanna get in trouble. And it said, uh, "Curious about using..."... this article. And it was- it was in the, uh, said, "Curious about using gender-neutral language in your everyday life?"
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
And so I- I started-
- JRJoe Rogan
Are you curious about using gender-neutral language in your everyday life?
- DGDan Gable
I ... Well, I just caught a- you know, some guy just texted me the other day after a speech and gave me really a lot of hell.
- JRJoe Rogan
A guy you knew? He texted you?
- DGDan Gable
Yeah. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
A friend of yours?
- DGDan Gable
Well, I haven't seen him for about 30 years, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
What'd he give you hell about?
- DGDan Gable
He said I used the word she and he and all this kind of stuff. And I said-
- JRJoe Rogan
You can't use she and he?
- DGDan Gable
I don't know. But, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
You can.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Tell that guy to fuck off.
- DGDan Gable
(laughs) You know what? Unbelievable what you said.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- DGDan Gable
Because listen, one of my former wrestlers who's a school teacher right at the campus at the University of Iowa, and he's pretty strong in his beliefs because he bel- ... He grew up in a family that didn't have a dad and he ... you know, the government took pretty good care of him also. And he was ... he, um ... he just sent me a note. I told him that story and he ... 'cause ... and he told me that, um, "Well, here's how you can talk." And he told me how I can talk. But then when he got done, he says, "And then go tell that guy to fuck off."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
So that's exactly-
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, here's the thing, Dan.
- DGDan Gable
This is great. This is great.
- JRJoe Rogan
Here's the thing. I think the reason why that guy gave you hell for something as simple as saying he and she, that- that highlights what's wrong here. What people are doing with not just gender-neutral language, but with the whole woke movement, politically correct movement, is they have an opportunity to yell at people and tell people what to do. It gives assholes and low-status individuals power over other people by enforcing this ideology, and it doesn't make any sense. Like you could say she and he, it doesn't make you a bad person. And if- By the way, if you change genders and you say she and he and you s- it switches back and forth, that's fine too. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is the intent behind what you said was entirely innocent, and the reason why that gay- guy gave you shit about it is 'cause he's got an opportunity to force you to comply with what he thinks are new rules. So he thinks he can force them on you, and he has a position to have the moral high ground, and he has a position to make you feel bad or to make you listen to him. That guy can eat shit-
- DGDan Gable
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... 'cause people like him are the real problem with this fucking country.
- DGDan Gable
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
It's not that people aren't kind. It's not that people aren't friendly. Most people are kind and most people are friendly. The problem is whenever this new thing, a new movement comes along, and this one is particularly divisive because there's so many dipshits that have adopted it and people that are low-status, unsuccessful, non-disciplined individuals and they wanna force it on other people, and that it- it becomes a big part of their life, is enforcing this kinda language and this kind of, uh, ideology on other people. That's what's going on today.
- DGDan Gable
Well, I like you saying it 'cause you can say it a lot better than me, but I feel it. You know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. We all feel it.
- 32:25 – 42:55
The murder of Dan’s sister: trauma, guilt, and the lifelong role of communication
- DGDan Gable
You know, here's another thing, uh, 'cause I, it's quite along the same line. B- 'cause, and I hope I don't get emotional on this one, but, so, you know, when I was, uh, 15 I'd won a state championship and, uh, uh, my first state championship in wrestling, first year in high school, sophomore, 'cause that, high school started then. And I, uh, anyway, long story short, this neighbor kid end up murdering my sister. And, uh, he had walked to school with me a couple of weeks before that and, uh, said something to me, who I sh- if I would have communicated, uh, it might have saved her life. Y- you know, just because she probably would've never let the guy into the, her house. I was like-
- JRJoe Rogan
What did he say?
- DGDan Gable
He just said, like, "Boy, you got a hot sister." You know? And, and he was kind of my age, one year older than me, but my sister was four years older than me, so he was probably 16 and she was 19, and, and she had a boyfriend, and she wasn't living at home yet, and, and, uh, so, so the funny thing is, is I didn't, I actually was gonna come home and say something to her, but when I got home I got distracted and I said, "Oh, it's just boy talk, you know. It's just boy talk." And it was mostly about he, he just thought my, my sister was really hot and that he would like to do something with her, you know? But he never really said it outright, I mean, and I didn't, I just figured something, you know, the boy- boys would like to do, you know? But, anyway, so th- you know, that, two weeks later, we're on a fishing trip with my mom and dad, and my sister's supposed to join us, and she doesn't show up 'cause she worked for my dad after, uh, she went to college for a year and then she worked for my dad, uh, after that as a secretary in the real estate business. So, uh, she didn't show up, so we called the neighbor, and back in those days you didn't have cell phones, so we had a, we had a phone, uh, that was outside a cabin that we rented and I, and I'll, and I'll t- you know, I can date you because the date, uh, the cabin we rented for four bucks a night. So, you know, it's just unheard of, and that was, you know, it would've, you know, been, uh, 1964. So, so we were at a payphone about a half a block from, from the cabin that we were renting, and w- we roll the window down and you put the dime or nickel in the phone and you call, my dad called the, uh... I was in the front, back seat and my mom and dad were in the front and my dad was driving, and he called the neighbor and, and they asked if, um, if my d- sister's car was still in the driveway and he said yes. So, and she was supposed to be with us 90 miles away that morning, and she didn't show up. So, so my dad and my mom get really nervous and I tell, they tell him to go get, break into that house if he can, you know if there's nobo- you know, he can't get in, break into it, or if she doesn't answer the door, then, you know, get into that house and call us back. So, it's, it, you can see the tension in the front seat of the car, you know, I can see my mom and dad worrying. The phone rings finally after about 15 minutes later, and all of a sudden, pff, the, uh, my dad drops the phone, and, and, um, my, my mom is going, she was kind of going, starting to go hysterical and didn't know what was wrong. And, and he looked over, and I'll never forget this, you know, being a 15 year old kid, and I looked u- my dad said to her, "Diane's not alive." And oh my God, you know, it's just, my mom opened the door of the car, she took off running back to the, the block to the cabin. I got out and ran after them, and when I, when I followed her into the cabin, by that time she was already on the floor, and she had grabbed her hair and she was pu- pulling her head, hitting the wooden floor. And she looked up and she had blood all over her, uh, forehead, and, um, uh...So, my dad then followed in and we packed up real quick, about, what, 10 minutes. We left half the stuff there and we took off for my hometown about 90 miles away but within 15 min- within a half hour of that phone call, I was in the backseat and there was a lot of trauma going on in that front seat and I said to my dad, "Dad, I may know something about this. I don't know for sure, but I may." And, he, you know, he overreacted. He slammed the car, the brakes on the car, got out of the car, came around, opened the door, pulled me out, slammed me against the door. "What do you mean you may know something about it?" And then I told him the story about the two weeks before, about me walking to school with a neighbor kid and that, what he had said, and he just hugged me and threw me back in the car. And we stopped at the next town which is about 15 miles later, and went into the police station and we told the police what had happened as far as, uh, sister, daughter getting murdered the night before and we were on our way there but, but this, my kid told me a story that I think if you could help me as soon as possible. So they called ahead to the Waterloo Police Department, the Waterloo police located, he was at work sacking groceries the next day in a grocery store and so they, and he'd actually admitted right there that he did it, you know, after they, they, they got him. But, the thing is, what's am- what's amazing is, this guy... Then he escaped from prison after about 20... He was only 16, he went to, got life in penitentiary, you know, and, uh, and, uh, he escaped and that pretty much doomed him to ever getting out, and, uh, then, 'cause he was out for a month before they, they caught him and he actually, in the trial, he was so mad about getting sentenced to life in prison that he pointed to the Gable family and on the way out and he said was gonna kill us all. And, uh, so anyway, this guy goes to prison and, uh, he lives and he dies in prison after he broke out. He never really got a chance to ever let them out. But here's the thing. So it's just about, oh, I don't know, say it's seven, eight years ago when he passed away. But we're, we got another cabin now. It's about 30 miles north of the cabin that was, we were in that time, and that was a rental cabin, that's torn down now, and we go right by that place. So, we're going right by that place. Actually, I'd been at, we, me and my wife had been at our cabin that my mom and dad owned and they, that I inherited when they passed on. But we were at that Kanse- uh, cabin, and we were coming home and we were going right by the spot where that payphone was and where we had learned about her death and there's a cell phone call. It's the warden of the prison he's in. I think it was, um, Indiana. He was in Indiana prison and the warden told me that, "The guy that murdered your sister just died." The exact same spot where I learned of the murder, I was driving by and it's 130, it's about 115 miles from, well, it's actually a lot further than that. So it's, like, spooky. It's, like, real spooky. And then what's, what's really amazing is what he said to me, the warden. He said before he died, he was seeing a counselor and the counselor told me this, that he said, "You know, I really sh-" Uh, he repented. He said, "I really shouldn't have. I feel bad about killing Diane Gable." I mean, this is years later, uh, uh, but that he had told and he had been rehabbed somewhat, and he goes, and the reason why, he said, "I knew I was going to kill somebody." But he said, "Because she was such a nice girl." You know? Oh my God.
- NANarrator
He said he knew he was going to kill somebody?
- DGDan Gable
He said he knew he was going to kill somebody.
- NANarrator
Just, it was just who he was?
- DGDan Gable
Yep. Th- and that, and they told me that and, and, you know, I cried for an hour and it got a lot out of me. But, you know, as bad as my dad felt, my mom felt, and, you know, I felt probably, it kind, it kind of got rid of a lot of hatred when they, when he told me that, that he admitted that she was such a nice girl that he shouldn't have done it. And it was, you know, probably not too florid, he probably did it on his death bed or something but he probably had all this guilt. But, but, you know, it helped me too. It, it helped me 'cause even though I, I cried for an hour and I, I think it, the stuff you build up inside you sometimes, you just, you don't know what it's going to take to get it, get it out of you. And I think that really helped, um, me with my situation because you, you always feel a little guilty because of maybe you could have saved her life. But, but more than that, it's been something that I based my whole life on too. Uh, just communication. I mean, this is your business, communication.
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- DGDan Gable
I mean, there's... And sometimes my wife tells me I'm telling her too much. (laughs) You know, "You don't need to tell me." You know, "We don't need to talk about this." I say, "Yeah, I do. I do." You know, I need to talk about... It's not just that, it's just anything that there's crops up. I need to go home and I need to have a conversation with somebody that I re- that I, I like and love and, um, to be able to see whether I'm doing the right thing or I'm not doing the right thing or I'm getting feelings. It's like right now talking to you.... I love the conversation, and I love what you're saying. Even though I may not feel exactly the same way you do, I love it that you're saying it because you're saying it the way I want to say it. And I probably do behind my back, and I probably don't say it in public, but I'm probably trying to help some people too, and heal some people or, or even, even maybe get them to change, or-
- 42:55 – 48:29
Coaching troubled athletes: discipline, addiction, and saving careers
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- DGDan Gable
... not feel like... 'Cause I've been through so many, uh, kids and I just seen what some of the things that, uh, you've done with these kids and how you've made big differences. Just like Rico Ciaparelli, which you're talking about. Just like getting Brad Penrith who had a, who had a twin and he was not going to, uh, make it in life very far but, by changing him, uh, b- like for example, Brad was, he needed to stop drinking, (laughs) you know, for good. He c- you know, he couldn't drink. I mean, like right now I can drink a beer, I'm not gonna go crazy, but if he drank a beer or two, he'd go crazy or get in trouble every time. Every time he had a m- a, um, got in trouble, it was, was alcohol related and I, and I didn't even know it. What's funny about this kid, Brad Penrith, he, he won a national championship for me as a sophomore, and he got in trouble within a week or two after he got in, uh, won the national championship, and it was the first time he ever made the paper. They picked him up for intoxication. Well, you know what? Once they'd looked him up, he'd already been arrested quite a few times th- the year before and they had never even put his name in the paper. But once he became a famous guy, he made the headlines.
- NANarrator
Mm.
- DGDan Gable
And so I didn't even know. If I'd have known he'd been getting in trouble, I'd probably be working on him before but, it's one of these things that, that, um, it's like... it's who you are. It's who you are sometimes and, uh, but he did, he did well. He, he ended up being a three-time All-American. He got in the national finals three times and, uh, he won, he got beat both times the other ones but, but, you know, it was controversial. There was calls could have went his way and he went to become a world silver medalist in the, in the world championships and, and, uh, but you know what he had to do? He had to... he's one of these guys that he can't s- drink so he gave it up and he hasn't had a drink till, and he hasn't had a drink ever since and he's in his 50s now and he's doing really well. Good wife, good kids, you know, here I am, I have a beer and we're probably gonna drink a beer here sometime but, but, um, you know, but some people can't drink.
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- DGDan Gable
That's just the way it is.
- NANarrator
It is just the way it is. Yeah. And th- so this guy just figured it out?
- DGDan Gable
Well, let me tell you. Going into his senior year he got in trouble and my AD called me in, his name is Bump Elliot, he just passed away a couple years ago, he's a great, great AD and he said, "Gable, you're winning all these titles. You don't e- you don't, you don't need this kid on your team. He's been in trouble too many times and I, I want you to kick him off." Not, I don't know if he said "kick," "I want you to take him off the roster." And right there I just, I, I just froze 'cause I knew this was his only thing and if i- if this is his only thing that's holding him together, we gotta figure something out. And I told my athletic director about his history; where he'd come from, he's got a twin brother, his twin brother's not getting into any wrestling and he's all kinds of, you know, this and that, and I, you know, I, and I said a few things and I said, "The one thing in his life that is good is wrestling." I said, "Do we want to take that out of him?" And after actually talking to a guy that would listen, he looks at me and he goes, "You know, I'll buy that, but let me tell you, this is what we gotta do. In-house treatment for 30 days in a hospital and if you can't do that, and he can't successfully come out, then he's off."
- NANarrator
Hmm.
- DGDan Gable
And he went in, 30 days, and he came out and never drank since and that was 1988, 1987 or '88 and here it is 2021, he's got a nice wife, nice kids and, uh, he's doing well in his life and, um, some good decisions by coach and an athletic director.
- NANarrator
That's awesome.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah.
- NANarrator
I love hearing stories like that.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah.
- NANarrator
'Cause some people really can't drink.
- DGDan Gable
And Brad was right with Rico, you know-
- NANarrator
Mm-hmm.
- DGDan Gable
... and Roy Salzrider, that's another name that's crazy and, uh, these guys were, were hellions but they could kick butt on the wrestling mat but they liked to went down, liked to go downtown and that's when those days, that was the hard days on me because I had to go downtown and kick them out of the bars. Well, they actually warned the bar people that owned the bars that I would be coming in at 12, so they would be hiding out the back, so let us know and we'll run out the back door.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
You know? So, so, you know, those days they should have probably had, but I shouldn't have let it go that far but when you're winning seven, eight, nine straight national titles, you know, sometimes you give a kid a break too and, uh, so- and it comes back to haunt you. So, uh, you know, so, um, it became a kind of ritual for me to go leave home about 11:30 every night to go downtown to Iowa City to walk into bars to see where some of the guys were and try to, uh, get them home and, you know, that was probably not the right way to go about things. I should have had them to where I didn't have to do that but, you know, you just, you have... You're winning the Big 10s every year, you're winning the National every year, sometimes you just, you lose control and, uh, it's kind of like how I lost my last match in college and that's another whole story but...
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- DGDan Gable
You, you, you win a l- you win a lot and sometimes you think you can cut corners.
- 48:29 – 1:04:42
The only loss: how Owings beat him—and why it propelled him to greatness
- NANarrator
Well, you had gone undefeated your entire college career until your last match.
- DGDan Gable
Entire high school career and entire... so seven years and that was in Scholastic wrestling, not freestyle wrestling because I, I didn't start wrestling freestyle until...... I, in college, but that's the international style. But, and I did lose there, but, but for scholastic wrestling, high school I was undefeated and then I was undefeated in, in college until my last match. But, you know, my coaches, and here I'm gonna be- I was gonna become a coach. I didn't really know it for sure, but I didn't know anything else, (laughs) you know, 'cause I was always a team captain, team leader and all these kind of things. So I'm going into the national championship and it's like, "Wow. I'm, I'm the show." I mean, I couldn't look at a newspaper 'cause I was on the front page of the Chicago Tribune and, you know, sports pages. It was in, uh, Ev- Ev- Evanston, Illinois. And, and every place I'd go p- people, you know, would s- come up to me and all this kind of stuff. And so I, I, um, you know, from a coaching point of view, if, if my coaches had to do it over again, and they actually apologized to me years later, but it was like, nobody know- thought I was gonna lose, except for one guy. One guy actually said I can beat him. But he didn't tell me. He forgot to tell me.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
So I didn't take him for granted. I took him for granted. And so I always went through routines warming up, getting ready mentally. We weighed in five hours before a match, from then on you ate and drank a little bit, and then focus, focus. Rest, focus, focus. I was doing interviews with Wide World of Sport right during the national finals and I wasn't a talker. Like I, I could talk pretty good now 'cause I learned to talk. But at that time, off the mat, I couldn't talk to anybody. And so when they put a mic in front of me and they wanted to know about, "Hey, can you... Just say this. Say, 'Hey, I'm Dan Gable. Come watch me next week on Wide World of Sport as I finish my career 182 and O.'" And I hadn't wrestled a match yet. And so I- I was supposed to say that, but do you think I could say that? Hell no, I couldn't say that. I kept stuttering and not saying it and they kept redoing it, so finally after about 15 takes, they wrote it out on big cards.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
And so I took about seven takes with that one. I think I got it done in about 22 takes, but then I, when I got it done, it wasn't good either. They just finally said, "Oh, that's good enough. Get out of here." So I turned, I'm on deck.
- NANarrator
Ugh.
- DGDan Gable
(laughs) I'm on deck. So they already went through the 118, 126, 134, and I was 142 at that time. So 134 is just, uh, wrestling and I always warmed up for, you know, a good 45 minutes to an hour. So I hit a quick warm up and went out in that match and there, I f- and I didn't realize there was gonna somebody that actually thought they could beat me. (laughs) And even though before I always, we did the routine, I went through it, but I'll tell you what, you skip once, you're vulnerable. For only time in my life that within a minute into the match, I could hear the crowd. A minute into the match, I could feel how I felt and I was feeling tired and weak. I mean, I never knew how you felt in a wrestling match until the match was over and once it was over, yeah, sometimes I felt good, but sometimes I felt weak and tired, but I didn't show it because I didn't think about it, I didn't know it. But the one time you didn't prepare and the guy thinking that he could go with you, and he could, you know, you f- you, you take on everything. So you take on way more than just your opponent and so I talked myself into wrestling after minute one. I kept saying, "I gotta, I gotta keep going. I gotta keep working hard." And so I got a early lead, just quick first take down, but I kept feeling my, how tired I was and I kept hearing the crowd.
- NANarrator
Why do you think you were so tired?
- DGDan Gable
'Cause I didn't warm up. I was doing talking. I was not focusing on my match.
- NANarrator
And had-
- DGDan Gable
Concentration.
- NANarrator
... j- j- just no warm up had that much of an effect on your conditioning?
- DGDan Gable
I used to be a p- a pretty... Well, even today as you get older, you notice how if you don't warm up and you hit something really hard, you get, you get exhausted. Now it's probably kind of like that, uh... Usually what I did for warm-ups is probably with- within a half hour of my match, I would get match heartbeat rate up and go for three or four minutes that way. So now you don't get real tired, but then after that you'd probably have a little drink and get ready to go.
- NANarrator
What would you, what would you do for a warm up? You had a very specific routine?
- DGDan Gable
Pretty much. Pretty much, um, you know, stretching and jogging and then actually wrestling. Actually wrestling pretty hard and, uh, to, to where you were to actually sweating good and, and then, uh, I actually got to the point where if I had a lot of time before my match, I would actually go take another shower. But usually when you're the w- the fourth guy out or something, you just kind of stayed loose but you didn't really... And then right before your match again, you might get your heart rate up again to, uh... 'Cause your heart rate didn't really go down below 100 probably and you need it in a, in a wrestling match it's probably going up to 170, 180, you know, stuff like that. And, but you wanted to have your heart rate up to your ma- that match pace heart rate for not seven or eight minutes 'cause that, you know, you're gonna be, not gonna recover quick enough. You'd still be tired. You don't want to be tired. So you'd get it up there and spike it up and down for two or three minutes and hitting some really good execution of wrestling holds. We do hand fighting, a lot of hand fighting.And that hand fighting can really, uh, can get that heart rate up and pushing and shoving and hitting some, uh, live techniques, where the guy was letting you do it, but you're doing it at live pace. And you do some sprints, and do some tumbling, gymnastics tumbling.
- JRJoe Rogan
But in this match, no warm-up at all?
- DGDan Gable
When I got done with the 22nd take of the- of the- of the- of the, uh, uh, and I was the ne- I had that match to warm up. So, I- I- I probably had 10 minutes instead of, uh, my normal 45 minutes or so. But I thought I was still ready. And, but it was something out of my control, actually, and it took o- took me over. But I did talk my way into a... 'Cause I got ahead, but then I got real far behind. I mean, I was behind by six points, and then I got ahead by, uh, two or three points. And that was right towards the end of the match. And then there was a flurry, could have went either way, but the referee went his way, and that's the way it is. I mean, it's just- it's just, that's calls.
- JRJoe Rogan
Does that haunt you to this day?
- DGDan Gable
Oh, of course, it haunts me. But guess what? I needed that loss. I really did. That loss took me to unbelievable heights that I would have never had without that loss. What's unbelievable is if you ask the guy that beat me, Larry Owings, he said, "If I had to do it over again, I might have lost that match on purpose. Or not even on purpose, just because I didn't know how to handle it. I wanted to be an Olympic champion. I wanted to be a world champion, but when I won that match, there was so much hype, I didn't know how to handle it." He said, "Even broke up my- my marriage." (laughs) He was married I guess. That's what he claimed, he claims. And well, he probably came home and just didn't know how to... you know, you're not supposed to be... It's kind of like when me, when going downtown that night, you know, I probably shouldn't have been, but my wife is behind this and everything, but I probably shouldn't have stayed. But sometimes, I didn't tell you this, sometimes I- I stayed at the bar for a little while and then came home. But, you know, probably shouldn't have stayed at the bar. And there's so- lot of times when I was on my way home that after, uh, coming home at 6:30 or 7:00 at night, then I had kids at home and a wife and they had dinner and they probably got tired of waiting for me, that they did get tired of waiting for me. They would go have dinner and then time I'd get home, I probably had to walk in the bedroom, kiss the kids goodnight, because they were already in bed. And that was a tough time in my life too, because the next year we end up losing the 10th championship, going for the all-time record again. Going for the all-time record once, you'd think a guy learned because then you got 10 years later, you kind of forget and you do the same damn thing. But you do it not as an athlete, you do it as a coach. And about- about, um, I think about ending my marriage because my wife I think she had- was pretty upset with me. And then I got upset with my wife about things. And so it- we struggled pretty hard and, uh, you'd- you'd think you'd learn, but sometimes, uh, you forget. And, uh-
- JRJoe Rogan
And that loss was-
- DGDan Gable
Well, I don't- I- I don't forget. I, yeah, I'd love to have won that match. I would have loved to won that match, but not how I won it e- because I could have got the call at the end too and maybe still won the match, could have went overtime.
- JRJoe Rogan
But you think the loss was very important.
- DGDan Gable
I think it was-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's what almost everybody always says about moments that are real low moments in their life when they thought everything was untouchable and they thought that they were just...
- DGDan Gable
Well, look at my sister, low moment in my life of- of all time. And pretty much dedicated my life to that moment, uh, as far as, uh, how I was gonna make her proud. You know, that type of stuff. And- and, uh, you know, it- it's- it's pretty- it's pretty amazing that, uh, that those low light, those low points can bring you out and, uh, get you back on track, even though, you know, it's hard to- it's hard to say that there was good in it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- DGDan Gable
But, you know, one thing I rea- another thing that I really was scared of my life, that when my mom and dad wouldn't make it together. And I, and started at a pretty young age, and it went all through high school. Because even after my sister was murdered as a 10th grader, it didn't let up in my household. A lot of late-night drinking and yelling. And- and- and before that- before that 10th grade, it was just mad at each other about something. But then after that, it was a lot of it was about that murder, and they blame each other and stuff like that. And, uh, we did move back into the same house, because they never found- they never found the, uh, murder weapon, was a knife. It could have been one of our knives. And, uh, and there was a lot of bl- blood all over our house and- and, uh, they didn't want to move back in. But I convinced them that- that we should move back in. It was... And, uh, one of the ways I convinced them was, about a month after the murder, when we did move back in, so it was probably second month, they were up arguing and I was in bed and I- I heard my mom say something that I thought was really stupid. She said, "I wish I would have raised her a whore, because she didn't give in. She would- she could have gave in. She would still be alive." When I heard that, I got up and I came out.And our home really hadn't become a home again. It had been a house. We, we moved back in it, but it hadn't gone. That, her bedroom was, like, just there. It was just there, and it was always ... The door was always closed. And so, I looked at him, and I said, "You know what? I'm tired of this fighting." And I just heard the conversation that was going on. "I am moving out of my bedroom. I'm moving out right now. I'm going into her room, and her room's gonna become my room, and I'm staying there, starting right now." So I went in, opened the door, went in, closed the door, and went to bed. Got underneath her covers, went to bed. That room probably hadn't been ... Nobody had been in that room for 30 days, probably 45 days. And about 10 minutes later, I seen- I s- I heard the door, uh ... They thought I was sleeping. They looked inside and saw me s- sleeping in there, but I wasn't sleeping. I don't think I slept that night at all. But that is the turnaround for the Gable family in that house. We stayed in that house. And I never thought they would stay married, and so that was one of the reasons why, besides my sister, I just give them something to really focus on and con... So, when you went away, you know, they could go to all these events and ... Hell, my dad, when I won the world championship, in w- ... He didn't ... It's the only time he didn't go to my event that was a major event, my mom and dad, because it, it was in Communist bulk- Sofia, Bulgaria. And when I won the world championship, he was down at the Waterloo Courier paper with the editor down there, and it was, it was odd hour, and he was waiting for the teletype or the machine to come over s- and say how I, see how I did in that event. It wasn't that easy to find out. So, all of a sudden, it comes over, it's type, and it was a headline across the, um, the paper. It said, "Dan Gable Wins World Championship." My old man ripped that, um, the paper right off that teletype machine, and he, and he ran outside and it was early morning and there were people coming to work and he was running down the street swinging his ... that little newspaper, yelling, "Hey, my kid's a world champion! My kid's a world champion." And, uh, you know, that, that kind of stuff is, is just ... You can't, you can't make that kind of stuff up. And it's just, it's just, uh, it's just amazing, uh, that, um ... But anyway, so what happened is I found out once I went to college that my mom and dad really liked each other. I never knew that.
- NANarrator
(laughs) .
- DGDan Gable
Because now, they only had each other. And I wasn't there. But they could follow me, and they followed me for every ... And I, and, and they, they, um, they wrote me every day. So I could go to the m- ... I'd get mail every day. I'd go to the mailbox and I'd have a letter from my mom every day. Seven days a week when I was gone. Only 90 miles. And in those letters, she ... We, we used to drink a lot of Hi-C, and if ... when you take the labels off, you could send seven or eight of them in and they'd give you money back. So my mom would send me in, in little ... She'd have a little letter and she'd say, "Here's your ... Here's some money from the Hi-C" and "How y-" uh, "How you doing?" or something like that. And there'd always be a quarter, a nickel, a dime. You know, that type stuff in there. So, it's, it's pretty amazing. Uh, and she did that ... I'm, I'm, I'm ... Three or four times a week, I would get change in the mail. But, you know, not a whole lot. I was getting a full-ride scholarship. You ... That days, you got 25 bucks a month for, uh, whatever w- you wanted to spend it on from, from the school, and then my dad gave me an extra 20 a month, and that was all he was c- costing him, 20 bucks. Well, he did more than that 'cause he bought me a car, nice little car, and, uh, to send me off to college, and, uh, you know, that type of stuff. But, you know, it's pretty amazing that, you know, what ... when you find out stuff, that they really like you, but yet they still need some common person to follow. And I was that guy. You know, when I,
- 1:04:42 – 2:01:00
Work ethic mythology: cement jobs, relentless training, and long-term damage
- DGDan Gable
when I was in, um ... when I was in high school, I, um, I was a state champ as a sophomore, which is the first year of high school. Then I won state champion as a junior, but I was wrestling ... My weight was 95 as a sophomore and 103 as a junior. In college, the first weights were 118, and my dad thought I should get, be getting bigger, plus, I wasn't really ... I was pretty skinny. And so, my dad says, "You know, I want to get you a job this summer going into your senior year, because I ... The job you're gonna get, you're gonna want it, because you, you know, you like working out hard and stuff like that. But this job's gonna be a workout all day long. It's gonna be with a cement crew." He says, "You're gonna be hauling bags, 94-pound bags of Portland bang- of cement. You're gonna be digging and shoveling cement. You're gonna be dig- digging sh- and, and holes. You're gonna be h- you know, doing this, all this hard work, carrying, uh, uh, buckets of, of, of mud," and by then they called it cement. "And so on and so forth. You're gonna swing in a sledgehammer, uh, 'cause you're gonna be dealing with a lot of basements," 'cause my dad was dealing in the house business, and, uh ... And so, he got me a job. When I was 16 years old, it was, uh ... I was still 16 yet in the summer of my junior year. So, he got me a job. Little did I know ... Again, it's the old days. This is what's good about the old days. That you had to be 18 to get the job. It was one of those, you know, um, where you had to be 18. And I was 16, but he ... It was a house ... My dad was a house builder and he'd always hire this guy to build the basements. And the guy, he told the guy he wanted me to get a job and the guys says, "Well, I can't really put him on the books." So he says, "I'll keep him off the books. We'll hire him anyway." But he says, "You know, we'll just pay him under the ... cash under the table." But my dad says, "You don't even have to pay him. I'll pay you." So, after about three days of work, 'cause I, I ... My dad had scared the daylights out of me telling me how hard I'd have to work. I didn't realize there was people that were just-... they were putting their hours in, some of them. And I was working arms and legs around these guys, carrying, running. And, and the people kind of looked at me funny for a while, but then they realized I was on a mission. And finally my, uh, the, the owner of the cement company, Martinson Construction, Jerry Martinson was his name, called my dad after three days and said, "Mr. Gable, you're not gonna pay your son. We're gonna pay your son. We'll just do it under the table, as well." (laughs) "We're, we're gonna pay him. We're not gonna let you pay him. You're not gonna have to pay him. He's working everybody under the table. He's getting along with everybody. In fact, at, at lunches, when I, before we eat lunch, he always wants to wrestle everybody on the crew. And the first day, these guys-"
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
"... they're old-timers, but they're big guys and he's weighing, uh, you know, he's, uh, he's w- wrestled 103, so he'd probably be up to 125 right now. And he's 125 pounds, and these 250-pound guys are wanting to ... they, they can't beat him." He said, "He's kicking the shit out of, uh, every one of them. And they love him, and they're having a great time with him. In fact, every, all the hard work, they're giving him all the hard work. In fact, when he moves those 94-pound bags of cement off the truck to where they're supposed to go, that's not enough for him. So they tell him to move them, move those bags again to the other side of the house. So it's just crazy, and they're all loving it. And they ... And, uh, so, you know, we're gonna pay your son. We're gonna pay your son." So, you know, my dad was looking out for me. They looked out for my dad. That's the good old days. The police were looking out for my dad. You know, it's, uh, you just ... some- I don't know if we're looking out for many people today. Uh, and if we are, it's probably of the like. And you know what? We all need to be of the like.
- NANarrator
So you used that job as a workout.
- DGDan Gable
O- eight hours a day.
- NANarrator
Did you gain, gain any weight from that?
- DGDan Gable
I couldn't, but I gained strength.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
'Cause I, you know ... Y- you know what? I wasn't carrying 94-pound bags. I put three of them on there. So you take 94 times three, and that's what I was carrying as a 125-pound kid.
- NANarrator
Jesus.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah. So I was unloading them, because they'd load them up on me, on my arms, then I'd carry them over to where they're supposed to be. Couldn't pick them up all at one time, but ... So, you know, I was crazy. L- I was crazy. I was definitely crazy. And I used to run to work sometimes, and it was a couple miles away, then run home. But guess what? I always had a fi- So we'd get home about 5:30. My high school had an open practice for wrestling from 5:30 to 6:30 every night after that work. So I'd go to work all day l- weight lifting all day, then I'd go to wrestling practice for an hour. It was independent wrestling practice, just open mat, and there's be ... Somebody would always show up. I would always show up, and somebody would always show up that I could wrestle. So I was getting all that work, eight hours of weight lifting in, str- in a hard type, because I would go crazy.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
I'd run back, get the bags, run between things, and then I'd go to wrestling practice for an hour. So then I'd go home and eat. I'd go to bed. So I was sleeping by 8:00, 8:30 every night, 'cause you had to get up at 6:00 in the morning to go to work. But I'll tell you, made you tough, made you tough. And, uh, there's a lot of things that you, you, you did back in those days that you c- now know that maybe you can't d- you shouldn't. There's easier ways to ... Not easier way, smarter ways to do things that you probably wouldn't take ... give you some more longevity. Because, you know, I've worn out my hips. I mean, I've got six hips, you know. I've got my own two and I've got four others. And who, who-
- NANarrator
Now, you've, you've had how many hip replacements? Let's have some of your beer.
- DGDan Gable
Uh-
- NANarrator
You've got some, uh, Gable Beer.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah. Hey, you know what? That's some of the rewards you get, people name, um-
- NANarrator
Cheers.
- DGDan Gable
Yeah. People name, um, beer after you.
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- DGDan Gable
I got a, I got a nutrition drink. This Gable Beer comes out. S- it's a brewer- brewery one half a block from the Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.
- NANarrator
What's the name of the brewery?
- DGDan Gable
Single Speed, Single Speed Brewery. Guess who, guess who owns it though? Dave Morgan. Guess who Dave Morgan is? State champion wrestler out of New Hampton-
- NANarrator
Well, there you go.
- DGDan Gable
... uh, about 30 miles north of, uh, of Water-
- NANarrator
That's a good beer.
- DGDan Gable
It better be.
- NANarrator
(laughs)
- DGDan Gable
I sampled it.
- NANarrator
It's good.
Episode duration: 2:53:14
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Transcript of episode LzMAEhRuVjY
