Webb Officially in Trials 5k

"he does not care one bit what you think."

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That's obvious! He doesn't care about what anyone thinks except what benefits USATF's sex appeal factor along with their connection to Nike!

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"You are all wasting your time."

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Not so! This time it's going to come back to bite him, and bite him hard!

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"the people running the show at the top are merciless when it comes to evaluating your talent."

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Absurd! "Mercy" is exactly what they are showing Webb by allowing him to run in this race even though he has not qualified! However, their "mercy" is selective in that it typifies blatant favoritism!

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"so nobody got screwed here. Webb only got in on the strength of his resume."

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Not so! There are at least 8 more people on that list who ran faster this year! Where is their special opportunity, where is their mercy, why not Fam's resume for example?

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"Chaplin is not an emotional guy, he is a cold hard realist."

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Yea, he's a "realist" alright - real arrogant I'd say! By adding Webb on, he's pandering to the emotional whims and personal life of a nomadic athlete. Webb's peripatetic nature clearly has contributed to his lack of adequate preparation for this event. Any of the other 8 guys who ran faster than him this year could come up with a thousand like excuses as to why they didn't run the "A' standard either.

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"Chaplin does not think like you do"

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Thank God! And I hope I will certainly never think like him either. If he has absolutely no guilt, remorse or compunction whatsoever about abusing his own position of power to further the career of one favored individual over others, than his actions demonstrate the horrific depths of vulgarity and nepotism he will go to achieve his ends.

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"if you have proven your ability to be world class"

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Webb was "world class" back in 2007 and hasn't been there since!

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"your sense of entitlement for people on the bubble."

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Sense of entitlement, What? Who is has been given the entitlement treatment here in this case! By filing his petition Webb assumes he's in a position to fudge the rules and run whatever best suits his present physical condition. Whereas those other 8 guys entitlement was stripped from them through greed and an individuals potential marketing value.

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No stern or no nonsense talk from you is going to turn my heart or head on this manner! It's simply wrong for him to be allowed to run this event! I sincerely hope that this race is disrupted somehow and Webb is disqualified!

If you really tried hard, you might possibly be able to figure out a way to format your post in a manner that would make it harder to follow.

FWIW, I think Webb should not have been let in the 5k. If he makes the team and runs sub 13:20, I will eat crow, but otherwise, this is not fair.

We've all heard stories about how team/ball sports guys are left off teams or put on the bench because of some coach's biases.

Running should not be like that - you run the time, you should be in. Totally blind.

I do understand that for the good of the sport of t/f we need superstars, and AW is a superstar. But he's no Frank Shorter - rather, he is a huge long shot for the 5k team and he does not deserve special treatment.

Oh Christ, would you all shut the ##+#!$ up? USATF should have the freedom to give the benefit of the doubt to an American record holder in good form who might have a shot at a medal. Sorry, the Olympic Trials should not be subsidizing the memories of 13:30 guys with no reasonable chance of making it out of the heats in London.

boogie man wrote:

Oh Christ, would you all shut the ##+#!$ up? USATF should have the freedom to give the benefit of the doubt to an American record holder in good form who might have a shot at a medal. Sorry, the Olympic Trials should not be subsidizing the memories of 13:30 guys with no reasonable chance of making it out of the heats in London.

1. He is not in good form. He has run within 7 seconds of his PR, with a globally non-competitive 3:37. He might be top 10 in the NCAA, but only maybe.

2. Webb's shot at on OG medal is poor to neglible. He is a 3:37 guy - how hard is it to understand that? He is not a 3:30 guy anymore. He isn't. I wish he were. What part of 3:37 suggests beating E Africans in the 5k?

3. As for subsidizing memories...that is a cheap shot - these guys are professionals - they deserve a shot at the dream if they earned it. Rather than be steamrolled by USATF.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

So, if I am reading this right both Alan's petition to get into the trials and the subcommittee decision allowing him in should be posted in some public place in Eugene. Somebody on-site should be able to get a picture and post it online.

Here's the photo you're seeking

It's posted on this website.

http://givingless.blogspot.com/2008/07/douche-for-decades-john-chaplin.html

Who gives a damn, this is about running. (e.g. cross country, track and field)

agip wrote:

3. As for subsidizing memories...that is a cheap shot - these guys are professionals - they deserve a shot at the dream if they earned it. Rather than be steamrolled by USATF.

I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand: no one is being held out of the event as a result of Webb. If Webb did not run, the field would be smaller. No one is missing "a shot at the dream."

I'll explain one more time wrote:

I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand: no one is being held out of the event as a result of Webb. If Webb did not run, the field would be smaller. No one is missing "a shot at the dream."

Oh well, they should just add me too then.

Since it won't cause anyone else to miss having a chance.

Let's not get carried away - 13:30 guys are no more professionals than you and I are. They have no chance to medal.

USATF and the USOC are measured by how many medals we bring home, and not by how many people we send who end up taking seats in the stands in lieu of paying customers for the duration of the Games. When they are expected to lose 30 seconds in the last 3 laps of a 5k heat to the winner, they might have well stayed home and spare the TV commentators the agony of explaining it to viewers why Americans sent a guy who doesn't even make it into the camera shot. Taking a chance on a guy who has run 3:46 and who has represented the US on a world stage well in the past is more than reasonable.

Alfredo Putspot wrote:

Oh well, they should just add me too then.

Since it won't cause anyone else to miss having a chance.

If you have the B standard, you are free to petition.

If he makes the final I'd be livid as the next guy out. I ran around chasing the A standard earlier in the season... Alan decided to just bend the rules and peak for the meet. Real cool. Real cool.

agip wrote:

2. Webb's shot at on OG medal is poor to neglible. He is a 3:37 guy - how hard is it to understand that? He is not a 3:30 guy anymore. He isn't. I wish he were. What part of 3:37 suggests beating E Africans in the 5k?

1. That's a 1500 time, the event is 5000.

2. Give him another 6 weeks and have him run a good race and it's very forseeable that he could become a "3:33 guy." Hell, Nick Willis was only a "3:32" guy and he won a medal IN THE 1500 ITSELF. On the other hand, the 13:35 provo guys are not gonna all of a sudden become 13:00 guys this summer. They aren't. I wish they were.

den bosch wrote:

agip wrote:

2. Webb's shot at on OG medal is poor to neglible. He is a 3:37 guy - how hard is it to understand that? He is not a 3:30 guy anymore. He isn't. I wish he were. What part of 3:37 suggests beating E Africans in the 5k?

1. That's a 1500 time, the event is 5000.

2. Give him another 6 weeks and have him run a good race and it's very forseeable that he could become a "3:33 guy." Hell, Nick Willis was only a "3:32" guy and he won a medal IN THE 1500 ITSELF. On the other hand, the 13:35 provo guys are not gonna all of a sudden become 13:00 guys this summer. They aren't. I wish they were.

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Eh. No one has raced more than Webb in outdoor 2012 and the best he could do was what - 1:51 and 3:37? he was out there racing, in good conditions against the best. 3:37 is what he has this year.

next year, he'll probably get down to 3:33 or so - but it's not like he has been in a cabin training...he has been racing over and over again and never came up with the goods.

as an aside, what he needs are consecutive seasons injury free- I suspect in 2014 he will be pretty fast if he stays healthy. But that is an off year - no OG, no WC...just more of the Webb sadness.

den bosch wrote:

agip wrote:

2. Webb's shot at on OG medal is poor to neglible. He is a 3:37 guy - how hard is it to understand that? He is not a 3:30 guy anymore. He isn't. I wish he were. What part of 3:37 suggests beating E Africans in the 5k?

1. That's a 1500 time, the event is 5000.

2. Give him another 6 weeks and have him run a good race and it's very forseeable that he could become a "3:33 guy." Hell, Nick Willis was only a "3:32" guy and he won a medal IN THE 1500 ITSELF. On the other hand, the 13:35 provo guys are not gonna all of a sudden become 13:00 guys this summer. They aren't. I wish they were.

1. Right, his 5000 time is 13:49

2. Right, give him another 6 weeks and have him run a good race and its very forseeable that he might become a 13:35 provo guy.

If he gets a spot on the team and I was the 4th place guy I would file a lawsuit.

boogie man wrote:

USATF should have the freedom to give the benefit of the doubt to an American record holder in good form who might have a shot at a medal.

If he was in good form he would have enough confidence to make the team in his main event, or run the standard in the 5k.

Earlier this year Farah ran 3:34 followed by 13:12. That's the kind of fitness he will need to contend for a medal. Sorry, he does not have a shot.

I think that the people who run in the race should be the 24 guys who run the fastest times in the event during the time period that USATF allows. Just like the rules say. This is why runners hate the USATF cause the make up this stuff a week before the trials.

The idea of adding a spot for Webb is stupid cause if they add a spot for him why not allow people who ran faster than him get in.

I think this is a huge blunder by USATF and i hope they won't do this again, because it's a slippery slope.