nooooooooooooooo! wrote:
no offense, but a guy who isn't making money off running who says, "I've sacrificed so much in my life for running," is kind of like some guy who plays basketball on the Y during his lunch break saying the same thing. you have no clue what it takes to perform at the level alan webb does, just like some weekend warrior at the y has no idea what it takes to get to a michael jordan type level. shut up.
that's absolutely absurd. you understand the beauty of purity and true value of the sport if you think that. maybe this is just another idle interest for you, but there are people who really care, and you don't have to have world class talent to really care.
and for your information - i would doubt that you know this, given your immature little rant - there are very few people who can make money off of running. a girl i know was top 5 at ncaa 1500 a few years ago, i want to say she was 3rd, but at least 5th, and wasn't given a shoe contract. this isn't basketball, not everyone gets paid, your analogies to other sports do not work.
and i doubt you are a very serious runner if you think that you have to have world class talent just to appreciate the "trials of miles" and what real competition is, then you are delusional. i know exactly what it takes to be the best you can be, god just didn't give me the talent that he gave alan webb. that argument just doesn't work.
i don't get this. you are the same people who get off to once a runner - look at the sacrifices cassidy makes. OAR is so popular because it is so true. you cannot go out and drink every night with your friends, you can't stay up till 4 am every night with a girl and have to get up at 7 the next morning to work out before the heat kicks in. this is a given. you can have a normal life or you can try to be the best athlete you can be. that doesn't mean you can't live with your friends, hang out with your friends, go out with your friends. but your life is not carefree and you will suffer the consequences on the track if try to pretend it is.
and for the people who said i need therapy - people say that to cass, too, and you could say that to a lot of real distance runners. listen to an alan culpepper interview sometime. great guy, really great guy, but see if you can get a good idea of his personality. real distance runners are pretty nuts.
finally, i am NOT saying that webb is 'one of the guys' like the OP is saying. i think that his habits have been blown out of proportion. maybe he eats a bit unhealthy, but he's probably been doing that for years, and he's run 3:46 off of it, so i would let it be. furthermore, if webb were 'one of the guys' IT WOULD NOT BE GOOD FOR HIS RUNNING CAREER. IT IS AS PLAIN AND SIMPLE AS THAT. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT I DO OR SAY, IT HAS ONLY TO DO WITH THE TRUTH. It doesn't matter though, because he is way to focused on the sport to be 'one of the guys' (by this i mean drinking/staying out late all the time, not being properly disciplined). He knows what it takes to be a champion, knows that being a clown, as some of you seem to be suggesting, is not the route there. He has different problems, which I think he will eventually figure out.