"Summer of Webb" 2007- What a Joke!

You clearly weren't around back in 2007. There was just a feeling that he was doing something really special, even if ultimately it didn't turn out that way. I really can't recall there being that level of excitement and expectation for an American distance runner since then. Maybe Hall 2007-2008 comes close.

Unfortunately Webb just overcooked it by a few weeks. Obviously peaking at the right time is a huge part of the game, and all credit to Lagat. But if Worlds that year were held in start of August (like this year) instead of end there's no doubt in my mind Webb wins gold in that race. Kiprop had lead it our perfectly for him, but he just didn't have the strength at the end like earlier in the year. Watch his last 50 meters at USAs, Paris and Heusden.

yeeah... right wrote:

Keep going like this and there win't be much left of it.

That's what they said some 15+ years ago too.

I heard he also read a book from beginning to end and also learned Frolf.

Weekender wrote:

You must be new to this site. They LOVE Webb. Probably their favorite runner of all time followed closely by Chris Solinsky and Ryan Hall. Joanie might crack the top 500.

This isn't even remotely true. The brojos never particularly cared for Webb. They'd often stalk him at meets and try to paint him in a negative light. For example, at one meet in particular he had an off day and was angry with himself. The front page story was that Webb had a meltdown. They blew it totally out of proportion.

Word from up north wrote:

[quote]Weekender wrote:

This isn't even remotely true. The brojos never particularly cared for Webb. They'd often stalk him at meets and try to paint him in a negative light. For example, at one meet in particular he had an off day and was angry with himself. The front page story was that Webb had a meltdown. They blew it totally out of proportion.

Not true at all.

We reported as journalists that webb through a temper tantrum after his indoor opener in 2011. The fact that we don't sugar coat stories is why people come here for their news. I didn't stalk him at the meet. I wasn't even there. The reporters we had at the meet called me and told me it was unreal.

As for my personal opinion of Webb, that really shouldn't matter but I went and watched one of his HS races in VA. I remember being in NYC on vacation during the Pre Classic when he was in HS and making a point of going into a bar to watch that magical 353.

I thought he deserved so much attention that I started freelance covering NCAA meets for the Washington Post when he was at Michigan as I knew they'd want coverage.

Yeah, I really hated webb.

My college roommate wrote a book on Webb. I went and hung out with him after NCAAs that year and was the only guy being nice to him as the Michigan guys were done with Webb.

Bernie L wrote:

I can't believe this. Are we all forgetting that a certain other American called Bernard Lagat won world titles at both 1500m AND 5000m that very same summer? But somehow it's the "summer of Webb"? Really?? He ran some good times but couldn't come through when it counted.

Bro, were you alive in 2007? Do you remember that summer?

Citizen Cheats Out! wrote:

WTFBBQ wrote:

I thought he was American in 2005?

He was American in 2004 BEFORE the Athens Olympics.

I heard E.Kipchoge is getting bored with a Kenya and is applying for US Citizenship. Soon the GOAT will be American!

rojo wrote:

We reported as journalists that webb through a temper tantrum after his indoor opener in 2011. The fact that we don't sugar coat stories is why people come here for their news. .

Sorry Rojo, but people read their news here because it's one of very few places they can. You have a monopoly, and just like Facebook it has nothing to do with quality or features. The difference is, people don't care enough about our sport to really invest in a competitor, even though there is money to be made.

Why are people on this site so negative?

It's pathetic.

I think it has something to do with the fact that running doesn't use a lot of testosterone. When I was training alot - (I've only run one 100 mile week in my life but several in the 70's and 80's, for those of you keeping track) I was just a skinny dude who had potential but wasn't really that balanced in his life.

I wasn't lifting weights.

I didn't have the mentality that I could deal with any situation in life.

I think that explains it.

Running is and always will be great, but there's more to life than it.

I think a lot of these lets run posters are bitter, bottomed out individuals who've never felt successful in life. Otherwise, they wouldn't be posting such negative comments.

The bottom line is that Webb was a big deal 10 years ago.

He's still a pretty big deal as far as I'm concerned!

Idkdk wrote:

Bernie L wrote:

He ran some good times but couldn't come through when it counted.

Every race counts.

Every races counts, but some count more than others. A lot more. Orders of magnitude more. It's those orders of magnitude races that Webb sucked at.

What is wrong with people on this website. Such anger and bitterness all the time. And Webb's not part of the never ending pro- NOP / anti- NOP debate.

I don't think anyone who was a track fan back in 2000 and still is, can forget that 3:53. In my opinion, the biggest reason for the resurrection of American distance running. It made people believe it could happen for an American.

I guess this one comes down to an irreconcilable difference in opinion. In my estimation, Webb was only the best all season because he did a poor job of planning his season.

Meanwhile, Lagat planned perfectly and came up with perhaps the greatest single-meet performance in US distance running history. To me, it solidified his place as one of the top few distance runners ever-he had to beat the likes of prime Ramzi and Kipchoge to make it happen. So in my mind, that summer is his. And for whatever reason, I never had the "but it's WEBBBBB!!!!" soft spot that a lot of people here have. Oh well.

my one takeaway from watching the vids in the article is "damn Webb looks doped as helI". lol.

those accelerations past Lagat were unbelievable.

"The bottom line is that Webb was a big deal 10 years ago.

He's still a pretty big deal as far as I'm concerned!"

I think Rojo summed it up pretty well a few posts ago, but I'll summarize.

Webb was a hero to most younger runners with his HS times. He was a total HS stud not seen since Ryun and Lindgren (he did not quite live up to them, but the times were different then).

People expected big things.

And for the most part, he was not delivering. Sure he was good, but he was not great. At least no the type of great people expected.

Until 2007. For 2-3 months.

Then he faded again.

But for those 2-3 months he was finally doing what many expected of him.

Fair points, yapper.

I just think people easily forget that athletes are people too.

It doesn't matter whether it's Webb or some other athlete.

People talk a lot about expectations, as if that athlete owes them some kind of result, by virtue of their talent.

At the end of the day, you run for yourself and not to impress other people.

I was born in '84 so naturally I was impressed with Webb.

Webb's summer of 2007 was a mini (emphasis on "mini") time frame that was Komen-esque on an American level. Webb's transcendence during this time frame stimulates the mind and makes you wonder what could have been.