Memo, they are associated with the University in a very key way whether they like it or not. The run for Nike due to the largess of Phil Knight who cares very much about Oregon.
Can they not just live in Portland and drive down for the key workouts?
HELLO? The man who is responsible for Nike being so into track and field has literally given hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to Eugene/Nike/Hayward Field. Nike execs understand damn well the coaches motives - please Phil and make UO a distance powerhouse. If Nike's runners don't want to run there, I'm surethey'll be happy to tell them, "Find another coach or don't let the door hit you on the way out." Phil would MUCH rather see Oregon thrive than see the the #4 runner on the BTC have a rocking Bumble account.
You're missing the point: yes BTC are "associated" with the university, but the point is that if you are in your mid-to-late twenties and live in a town where there is nothing to do then it's pretty depressing. If you go to the university as a student you can at least retreat into student life but what are Grant Fisher and Elise Cranny going to do? Start hanging around with college kids in their spare time? I can't see many BTC athletes sticking it out for more than a year, it's not worth pissing away some of the best years of your life in a tedious backwater. I also wouldn't be surprised to see performances suffer as the athletes' quality of life declines
What exactly do you think these people do outside of running that won’t be available to them in Eugene? Do you really think they have tons of BFFs outside of BTC anyways? Is there some special hobby in Portland that only exists in towns of at least 500k? Portland isn’t exactly a mega hub of a variety of things to do.
I could see BTC members not wanting to be around a bunch of college kids in a training setting . Plus Portland has that cool turf makeshift track that def saves the legs etc . More to do etc .
You're missing the point: yes BTC are "associated" with the university, but the point is that if you are in your mid-to-late twenties and live in a town where there is nothing to do then it's pretty depressing. If you go to the university as a student you can at least retreat into student life but what are Grant Fisher and Elise Cranny going to do? Start hanging around with college kids in their spare time? I can't see many BTC athletes sticking it out for more than a year, it's not worth pissing away some of the best years of your life in a tedious backwater. I also wouldn't be surprised to see performances suffer as the athletes' quality of life declines
What exactly do you think these people do outside of running that won’t be available to them in Eugene? Do you really think they have tons of BFFs outside of BTC anyways? Is there some special hobby in Portland that only exists in towns of at least 500k? Portland isn’t exactly a mega hub of a variety of things to do.
The way people are talking in this thread you'd think BTC is relocating to Siberia, not 90 minutes south within the same state. Some will leave, most will stay, this isn't some grave injustice. Athletes have to relocate all the time, rarely less than 2 hours away.
"Wouldn't be surprised to see performances suffer as the athletes' quality of life declines", get a grip my god
Didnt Shelby Houlihan of all people say on a podcast that people on BTC werent happy when they found out?
Regardless, doesnt take a genius to guess grown adults weren't excited to be given basically no warning that they had to move to a middle of nowhere small college town regardless of having homes, spouses, kids, and weren't asked for their opinion on the matter. And to no tangible benefit to yourself, just so your coach who is meant to be full time working with you who already makes north of 300k/year and has his own private basketball court, can take on another full time job that will pay him an additional $450,000 a year.
I can't think of a scenario where one of the aathletes given that prospect goes "yay that sounds like a great deal, that's an improvement, besides I don't like being asked my opinion anyway."
Boo F^^king Hoo!!!
Cry me a river. Let me get this straight. You're an elite world class athlete and run for one of the premier track clubs in the world. You have a coaching staff that has put together a world class program for you, you're surrounded by other world class athletes that train with you, you have unlimited access to gear, training facilities all of which are located in town that loves running. Are you kidding me? and your bit^hing about moving 1 1/2 hours away?
Anyone who has posted support for any of these freakin' whiners have never been a world class runner who have had to move across the country or even the world to have access to all of the amenities these athletes have.
What exactly do you think these people do outside of running that won’t be available to them in Eugene? Do you really think they have tons of BFFs outside of BTC anyways? Is there some special hobby in Portland that only exists in towns of at least 500k? Portland isn’t exactly a mega hub of a variety of things to do.
The way people are talking in this thread you'd think BTC is relocating to Siberia, not 90 minutes south within the same state. Some will leave, most will stay, this isn't some grave injustice. Athletes have to relocate all the time, rarely less than 2 hours away.
"Wouldn't be surprised to see performances suffer as the athletes' quality of life declines", get a grip my god
Also forgot to mention BTC spends half the year at Altitude anyway. If you wanted to spend 12 months a year in Portland, this was never the group for you anyway
I think a 90 min move have more of impact than you may think . Team was doing very well in Portland had nice accommodations etc . They do travel a lot to train . Portland seemed a great fit
Living in a college town when you’re not associated with the university is depressing.
Memo, they are associated with the University in a very key way whether they like it or not. The run for Nike due to the largess of Phil Knight who cares very much about Oregon.
Can they not just live in Portland and drive down for the key workouts?
Illogical move wrote: Many athletes have been leaving BTC. If more athletes leave when does Nike or Nike Sports Marketing question the two coaches motives?
HELLO? The man who is responsible for Nike being so into track and field has literally given hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to Eugene/Nike/Hayward Field. Nike execs understand damn well the coaches motives - please Phil and make UO a distance powerhouse. If Nike's runners don't want to run there, I'm surethey'll be happy to tell them, "Find another coach or don't let the door hit you on the way out." Phil would MUCH rather see Oregon thrive than see the the #4 runner on the BTC have a rocking Bumble account.
Cry me a river. Let me get this straight. You're an elite world class athlete and run for one of the premier track clubs in the world. You have a coaching staff that has put together a world class program for you, you're surrounded by other world class athletes that train with you, you have unlimited access to gear, training facilities all of which are located in town that loves running. Are you kidding me? and your bit^hing about moving 1 1/2 hours away?
Anyone who has posted support for any of these freakin' whiners have never been a world class runner who have had to move across the country or even the world to have access to all of the amenities these athletes have.
Suck it up and Shut up, it's your job!
Did you read the post? By far the most important bit is that a) the athletes signed up to work with a full time coach who is now working two full time jobs. If you hired an employee full time and he started working another very demanding full time position without telling you, would you not be at least a little bit concerned as an employer? And b) that the athletes weren't consulted and were given very little warning. It shows a top down approach where athlete opinion isn't considered important. That Eugene is an underwhelming destination is secondary.
Notice that one of the athletes who has since left was an athlete who had already left his home country. Or maybe Scott is just a soft whiner and not tough like you are.
For context, I've lived in 4 countries, plus four different states within the US for work. All my moves involved open, professional communication between my employers and myself with long timelines and financial consideration. If my boss said I had to move to another city, with 3month notice, with no change in my financial renumeration/bonus/relocation fee, all so my boss could work another full time job and pocket 450k? I'd laugh in his face and start job hunting immediately. It would be so titanically unprofessional.
I think a 90 min move have more of impact than you may think . Team was doing very well in Portland had nice accommodations etc . They do travel a lot to train . Portland seemed a great fit
What were their facilities like in Portland? Isn't the new Hayward and associated facilities pretty, uh, nice? Isn't this a program that regularly ran world-class performances on a prep-school's track?
Also, to everyone making the comparisons about "imagine your employer making you move on short notice!", this ain't a long-term desk job, it's (allegedly) pro-sports, where people are literally traded to teams across the country overnight, which is a much, much more apt comparison.
So the gist of this is that Phil K runs the sport in the US (as Nike bankrolls USATF) and when he dies, so does the sport in the US? Coe has also sold his soul to the Nike corporation (which is why WA is so f*cked up, as bad as FIFA).
That Jerry S. has two hats - what are HIS priorities - is NOT a good thing for his elite athletes. If I were Moh Ahmed I would run as far away as I could, maybe try and train with Jakob (or anyone else) instead. Seems that the training is more about Fisher now anyway. Personally I think ALL the BTC people are doping, but Shelby is the sacrificial lamb. I certainly don't trust USADA to catch ANY Americans (unless they are black, and even then...).
Something I am sure that some of the members of the team are not happy about is now they are much more out in the open. Back in Portland they could isolate themselves on the Nike campus during training away from prying eyes. Not that people would be trying to "steal workouts" but just seems the group likes to keep everything hush hush. Now using college facilities (yes I am sure they are not working out when the team is) but still many more eyes could be on them at any time.
The way people are talking in this thread you'd think BTC is relocating to Siberia, not 90 minutes south within the same state. Some will leave, most will stay, this isn't some grave injustice. Athletes have to relocate all the time, rarely less than 2 hours away.
"Wouldn't be surprised to see performances suffer as the athletes' quality of life declines", get a grip my god
Also forgot to mention BTC spends half the year at Altitude anyway. If you wanted to spend 12 months a year in Portland, this was never the group for you anyway
Completely different though. I'm assuming those altitude camps are PAID for by Nike. I can't imagine the BTC athletes cover their own housing. That's different from assuming Portland was your base location so you bought a home there, now you have to make arrangements in another base location just 2 hrs away just to be back out to altitude 5 months of the year. I don't think any of the athletes wanted to actually stay in Portland for 12 months, they obviously want altitude stints for the performance advantage, and they have several altitude training spots, but I don't think they expected their base location to change.
Didnt Shelby Houlihan of all people say on a podcast that people on BTC werent happy when they found out?
Regardless, doesnt take a genius to guess grown adults weren't excited to be given basically no warning that they had to move to a middle of nowhere small college town regardless of having homes, spouses, kids, and weren't asked for their opinion on the matter. And to no tangible benefit to yourself, just so your coach who is meant to be full time working with you who already makes north of 300k/year and has his own private basketball court, can take on another full time job that will pay him an additional $450,000 a year.
I can't think of a scenario where one of the aathletes given that prospect goes "yay that sounds like a great deal, that's an improvement, besides I don't like being asked my opinion anyway."
They are employees of nykie … NKE call the shots when and where you will work. Do you tell your employer what to do and how much you love or hate their decisions..?!
Memo, they are associated with the University in a very key way whether they like it or not. The run for Nike due to the largess of Phil Knight who cares very much about Oregon.
Can they not just live in Portland and drive down for the key workouts?
HELLO? The man who is responsible for Nike being so into track and field has literally given hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to Eugene/Nike/Hayward Field. Nike execs understand damn well the coaches motives - please Phil and make UO a distance powerhouse. If Nike's runners don't want to run there, I'm surethey'll be happy to tell them, "Find another coach or don't let the door hit you on the way out." Phil would MUCH rather see Oregon thrive than see the the #4 runner on the BTC have a rocking Bumble account.
You're missing the point: yes BTC are "associated" with the university, but the point is that if you are in your mid-to-late twenties and live in a town where there is nothing to do then it's pretty depressing. If you go to the university as a student you can at least retreat into student life but what are Grant Fisher and Elise Cranny going to do? Start hanging around with college kids in their spare time? I can't see many BTC athletes sticking it out for more than a year, it's not worth pissing away some of the best years of your life in a tedious backwater. I also wouldn't be surprised to see performances suffer as the athletes' quality of life declines
This is why we'll never be the #1 distance running country in the world. Do you think Kipchoge needs "things to do"? All he needs is a place to sleep and some ugali and he's good to go.
What were their facilities like in Portland? Isn't the new Hayward and associated facilities pretty, uh, nice? Isn't this a program that regularly ran world-class performances on a prep-school's track?
Also, to everyone making the comparisons about "imagine your employer making you move on short notice!", this ain't a long-term desk job, it's (allegedly) pro-sports, where people are literally traded to teams across the country overnight, which is a much, much more apt comparison.
Careful playing the pro sport comparison - imagine if Pete Caroll told the Seahawks "hey guys, just so you know I'm gonna be coaching the UofO football team. Yeah, not just consulting or anything, full on head coach." It wouldn't happen.
Besides, pro sports where players can be traded overnight have players unions and collective bargaining agreements establishing what is acceptable, and includes help for relocation costs. Despite the tag of pro sports, the BTC situation is much more analogous with external contractor agreements between individuals and a business.