Josh M doesnt give a S about letsrun! video

I agree with Josh. The people are mostly idiots.

I try and try and try to warn you guys, and you farked asshats come and just lay into me as if I were some pathological virus. Everything I say will come to pass- prepare now. These are your last chances before rapture.

nuge wrote:

i think its great, he told it like it is.

this message board IS toxic, and he charted the right course.

good for him.

the board jumped the shark about 8 months ago, with the continuing henry rono thread.

This from probably the biggest asswipe on the board.

This board has mostly been behind McDougal from what I've seen. He was picked by MANY to win NCAA's since his freshman year. The only "hating" was stating he didn't have a kick the last couple of years and that he didn't take out his races hard enough to force his fitness on people. Both are true and it's unbelievable how fragile so many runners are. The mainstream athletes would laugh at a message board being such an issue with them.

People talk smack about college athletes all the time. Not everyone who talks crap about some runners is a jealous hater. The beauty of sports is rooting for your favorite teams/individuals, and talking smack about those you dislike.

I hate Duke basketball with all my heart. Does this mean I hate them because I'm jealous that I can't play as well as them? Do I hate them because of some personal insecurity I feel? No. I hate them because I'm a UCONN fan.

Top runners need to learn to ignore the press much like any other top athlete.

I'm by no means an elite runner, but my coach is always trying to get me to stay away from running message boards so that I stop reading about how fast my competitors ran the week before and letting that take away from my focus. I'm sure its difficult to read criticism about yourself but maybe Josh also wanted to stay away from the boards so he didn't have to read about how well Rupp or anyone else was running?

I think that people who are saying that he must be fragile or whatever are interpreting his comment wrong. He didn't say anything like "oh, I just fall apart and can't compete after reading letsrun because my ego is shot to hell after reading comments from a random guy." All he said is that he avoids the board because it's negative. This doesn't mean that he can't handle critisism or anything. It just means that, given a choice, he doesn't wish to be exposed to it.

If you go to the same bar fairly regularly, and over time the crowd that hangs out there turns into a bunch of losers who heckle you and others for no reason, you'll probably stop going and find a new place to hang out. This doesn't mean that you can't handle the critisism. It just means that you don't feel the need to hear that negativity. You have a choice with regard to whether or not to go to the bar and you'll probably chose not to go if people there are douchebags. You have a choice about whether or not you want to come to letsrun and you probably won't come if people act like douchebags toward you. It's not a question of being able to handle critisism. It's a question of whether or not you wish to intentionally seek that critisim.

As for the mainstream athletes laughing at him, I don't think so. Many pro athletes in all sports not only passively ignore, but actively avoid sports media when they're in season.

He stays away from the boards because there is NOBODY on here who's opinion is worth listening to. You can't click on a thread on here anymore without reading a lot of crap. And even if you do have the ability to just laugh off the stupid comments, it's still not worth reading them. People who's opinions are worth being shared are usually in your day to day life, coaching you, calling you on the phone, doing a long run with you, going to dinner with you, kissing you good night, etc. (obviously different people in each example :)

That's just my two cents.

assessing the perceived strengths and weaknesses of college runners is hardly inappropriate, and it's far harsher and greater in volume in other sports. when a guy as hard working as j.m. doesn't seem to perform as well at nationals, after dominating regular season and (except for last year) regionals performances, it is reasonable to speculate about why, whether it is the lack of a kick (with that 3:57/13:20 2007 outdoors, he certainly overcame the speed issue), the failure to taper, too much taper, failure to ease up during the season or whatnot. no one ever questioned his dedication or work ethic.

Perfect, you proved his point precisely.

Absolutely true- this board can be toxic even in the tnfmedia days the lack of a log in drove that thing under- this is the technological equivalent of crank calling ("hello....", " you suck and your mother's a Trollope"……, . This is like you’re walkin down the street and someone yells “dickbrain” and runs away into the darkness. Wouldn't that be pathetic? I honestly don’t know how some of you live like this. The worst part is these tool sheds on here are targeting our best often times.- Ritz, Webb etc. Honestly- some of you are total losers. I’ve seen it bleed into the high school pages- people making predictions and arguing which 15 year old is going to beat who. It’s pathetic. I applaud letsrun for informing the public about distance running/ track. But the message board is ridiculous.

xcxcxcxxx wrote:

If I were an elite runner in any of the NCAA divisions I would definitely stay away from this board. Reading all this criticism could easily f*** with my head.

This board is good for people who aren't good enough to have their own coaches, and need people to bounce ideas off of.

Is that really all letsrun is good for? Some of the worlds top runners and coaches use the site in a myriad of positive ways. I bet the Shay family thinks the boards aren't just for shitty runners trying to get free help.

And as for people not being good enough to have coaches; there are clubs and running stores all over the country that offer free/cheap coaching. Anybody with dedication and the desire to improve deserves a coach. This sport at it's base level is not about your time compared to others. It's about personal growth and improvement.

As with all things in life there's good and bad elements to the boards here; its not one way or another. Now check my grammer/spelling and write back something negative.

well, I think wrote:

He stays away from the boards because there is NOBODY on here who's opinion is worth listening to. You can't click on a thread on here anymore without reading a lot of crap. And even if you do have the ability to just laugh off the stupid comments, it's still not worth reading them. People who's opinions are worth being shared are usually in your day to day life, coaching you, calling you on the phone, doing a long run with you, going to dinner with you, kissing you good night, etc. (obviously different people in each example :)

That's just my two cents.

So Jack Daniels, Joe Rubio, Renato Canova and all the other great minds in distance running aren't worth listening too? Who do you listen to then?

I guess I'll come off as a letsrun junky here, but you guys don't leave much wiggle room do ya? I'm simply saying that there is tons of good stuff AND tons of bad stuff on here. But to say it's one way or another seems uninformed and unintelligent. When you stop reading and searching for information is when you stop growing.

Unfortunately there are more than a "A few bad apples can spoil a bushel of apples". Letsrun is becoming infiltrated by underachievers whose claim to fame is bashing people who are out there putting it all on the line. Athletes at all levels experience ups and downs, but when a top HS/NCAA or elite has a bad race or two Letsrun is all over them. Also, the homophobic and racist comments are shocking, embarrassing and is causing Letsrun to lose respect among upper echelon athletes and coaches.

I still enjoy reading the messageboard and posting from time to time, but I know several coaches who encourage their athletes not to read Letsrun and forbid them from posting.

:)

Boother wrote:

So Jack Daniels, Joe Rubio, Renato Canova and all the other great minds in distance running aren't worth listening too? Who do you listen to then?

I guess I'll come off as a letsrun junky here, but you guys don't leave much wiggle room do ya? I'm simply saying that there is tons of good stuff AND tons of bad stuff on here. But to say it's one way or another seems uninformed and unintelligent. When you stop reading and searching for information is when you stop growing.

Boother, you're absolutely right. I agree with your post 100%. I guess I just get so fed up with the "tons of bad stuff on here" that it leads me to forget about and stop searching for the good. I mean I can read 10 good posts in a row, but when I get to that one idiot who's just, well, being an idiot, it gets to me so that I have the opinion that there's nothing worth reading on here.

Guess I should have more discipline to ignore the bad, but I obviously don't :) Good thing I'm not as fast as Josh McD, not sure if I'd have the strength to stay away from the boards (I get bored a lot at work).

That looks like a good enough reason for YOU to come on the message boards, but what does that have to do with Josh M coming on here? I thought this thread was about him not coming on here anymore. If he wants advice from Jack Daniels or Renato Canova he can ask them himself, he doesn't need to come on here to check out what generic stuff they post on letsrun. The same thing goes for any other elite runner. Bottom line is that these guys already have access to all the top coaches and don't need to come on here for training ideas.

Wait, isn't he interested in the 18:00 5ker perspective?

BANNAGEMENT is the key to expedious message board administration! The way I administer my board should be the prototype for letsrun and all the others. Yo, I'm out.