2. The NCAA is not the best system for improving middle-long distance running, despite all the arguments about needing to be a good student or whatever. I remember an interview with Jakob Ingerbritsen or maybe his dad where they were talking about the huge amount of negatives associated with middle and long distance racing in the NCAA. Too many meets prevent the type of sustainable athletic development required of middle and long distance races.
There arent' too many NCAA meets. A top NCAA mid-d runner literally has to do 5 meets a year.
Indoor NCAA conference. Indoor NCAAs.
Outdoor NCAA confercence. Regionals. NCAAs.
Oh if they do xc, add three more. So that's 8. And to be honest, they probably need one qualifier in indoor and outoor. That's 10 meets.
Ingebrigtsen raced in something like 12 different competitions last year.
The fact that there is interest in this thread is evidence enough that there is potential value for Hoka in signing him. The terms of his contract are confidential but I’d bet a shiny nickel it’s low base salary and high on incentives. Best of luck to him and his family.
I know that the chief point of competing is winning. I'm sure hobbyjoggers tell themselves plenty of platitudes to smooth over that pointy truth to understand something deeper or whatever.
The fact that there is interest in this thread is evidence enough that there is potential value for Hoka in signing him. The terms of his contract are confidential but I’d bet a shiny nickel it’s low base salary and high on incentives. Best of luck to him and his family.
Or most likely we thought the Jobros were pulling an early April Fools
I'm curious if Cruz is even getting paid by HOKA. While it's true he has potential, his times and results are nowhere near those of his teammates. Is it possible his dad got some deal where if Cruz hits certain marks, he'd get a full contract but for now gets free stuff and a "job"?
I kind of hate myself for sh!tting on a 20-year-old, but ugh... I would be so pissed if I were an NCAA runner working my ass off for a shot and saw this. To think that fast, likable guys like Reed Brown and Edwin Kurgat are contract-free and this guy isn't is quite frustrating.
Athletes shouldn’t be upset about other athletes getting paid.
Fair enough. Someoen saying me takling about undercooking chicken was bad. I agree. I meant beef.
But my mistake wasn't as bad as anyone quoting El G's coach for reasons I won't say as I don't want to get sued.
That was me. I would have assumed you had a copy of 'Sub 4' laying around and were familiar with the chapter I refer to. Lear is laying out the pros and cons of Webb staying at Michigan vs not. El G and coach really did say that stuff. It seems that the coach did most of the talking but it could be that he spoke better English, is simply more talkative, or perhaps it just appears that way in the author's recount of the meeting.
I know you often say that NCAA stars barely race. I can neither confirm nor contradict this but they all run Conference, Regionals, and Nationals, possibly in XC, indoor and outdoor - all of which are extraneous to the career trajectory of a guy like El G. I was quoting 2 of the biggest experts on 1500 and mile running. Ever. Arguably the top 2, period. I have no dog in this fight (I have no objection to the signing) and was primarily countering the plethora of posts arguing in favor of NCAA participation until no longer possible (such as running out of elegibility). My point to those posters is, "Oh yeah? Not everyone would agree. Listen to what these guys think. They've done what Cruz is trying to do better than anyone ever, including all those who have gone the NCAA route."
The point remains, they did say collegiate running was a bad idea. Everyone who's read the book - I assumed this includes you - knows this. I am merely pointing out that fact. (It is not a fact if Lear was lying, but I highly doubt that and am giving him the benefit of any doubt.)
This was somehow a big mistake? Posting to suggest the kid is on a train wreck trajectory (which I didn't do) was not?
By the way, apparently Team Ingebritsen agrees with El G's coach. According to the poster I originally responded to, anyway. That whole family is more expert in these matters than a bunch of posters who insist that 'being on a team gave me the best years of my life.' Whom do you think young Cruz should listen to?
I don’t think this will pan out well. At best he’ll knock his times down by a few seconds, at worst he’ll become another Ben Bruce type and pacer for the women. Transferring and practically flunking out of two universities twice is not a good look and doesn’t bode well for long term prospects if the whole pro running gig doesn’t work out.
I truly feel bad for Cruz. He has no future in running. He lacks the necessary intellectual skills to find a real job or earn a degree and his parents are providing him a disservice.
I truly feel bad for Cruz. He has no future in running. He lacks the necessary intellectual skills to find a real job or earn a degree and his parents are providing him a disservice.
Good parents help their children succeed. He has a great gene pool. It wouldn't surprise me to see him run 3:35 in the near future. He can earn a nice living for quite a while and then go back to college or do whatever all of the other 3:35 guys do when they turn 30. They can't be any worse off than the average American.
Honestly, I think that running in college makes people much happier (if they're good, at least) than running as a pro. Look back to the best times of your life. I wager that running on a team in college was among those times.
The only positive thing I have to say about running in college is I get to lord it over all these hobbyjoggers.
I truly feel bad for Cruz. He has no future in running. He lacks the necessary intellectual skills to find a real job or earn a degree and his parents are providing him a disservice.
What will he be doing in 5 years? This is sad.
He'll be doing exaclty what he's doing now.
Getting bailed out by daddy.
It's certainly not an encouraging pattern up to now. However, it's common among zoomers to pivot quickly away from things that aren't working out to their satisfaction. It's not something horrible, it's just different. Cruz comes across as resilient in the interview, if nothing else. If you want to see the fears touched on in the above quoted posts play out, go look at what Deion Sanders's kids are putting out on youtube. Four out of his five kids apparently have a really difficult time thriving outside of Deion's presence. They aren't necessarily running into trouble, which is good. They roll in luxury brand apparel and drive new cars and none seem to have a career or earnings that aren't centered on or coming out of daddy. They're shopping apartments in Boulder and shocked at the idea of paying $4000-7000 monthly while at the same time griping about the places not being spacious enough even though they look new inside. The three youngest ones have no obvious income channels outside of Deion, so it's got to be some massive allowance that pays for their stuff. The youngest bailed on her college basketball team mid-season to follow Deion to Boulder, she was never recruited P5 so it's all but clear that she'll play for the Buffs. It does show where her commitment lies, the coach and teammates who gave her a chance at Jackson State don't factor at all. In contrast, the Culpeppers surely don't have Sanders level of wealth so they can't do this for their kids.