Why Rupp is so hated

The people who hated Oregon in general and Salazar in particular automatically hated Rupp since highschool.

Drew Rosenhaus wrote:

. . . when you get right down to it Rupp seems like an annoying person. . . . So, what does Rupp have to do to change [his] image and gain some support in the running community?

Well, opinions are like @ssholes--everybody's got one--and Rupp may seem like an annoying person to you.

He's not to me. The guy fights hard every race (I've haven't seen them all, but I've never seen him "dog" one), he's made a complete commitment to his running, he fulfilled his commitment to his university (with tremendous competitive success), and he seems to be doing everything he can to maximize his talent (which is enormous but not, perhaps, the most of any American).

As Solinsky was the first to acknowledge, Rupp is why there's a new American record in the 10,000 (along with a CR and a host of PRs).

What does Rupp have to do to change his image? Nothing. What do other people have to do, to change their perception of him? Well, that's their affair. Envy is a tough habit to break.

I'm a member of the "running community." Galen Rupp has my support.

He needs to grow a penis and two testicles.

Rupp is a good guy. I don't think he's ever done anything wrong on his own, but when you run 13:37 as a high schooler and are handled by someone who has big/Nike connects, this is bound to happen. So if you HAVE to hate, don't hate Rupp, hate the people managing him.

That said, Rupp has to be incredibly upset and probably embarrassed right now for what happened. And that is good.

If Solinsky hadn't run, Rupp would be the AR holder right now, He did exactly what he set out to do -- run under 27:13. But Solinsky did run and demolished the AR and Rupp in the process. To add insult to injury, he one upped Rupp's goal by breaking 27 minutes.

Rupp (and Salazar) are probably more motivated than ever to get revenge. Not on Solinsky but on Rupp's failure. They had Ritz as gauging stick, brought in Nike crew and planned a post AR event. So you gotta' believe that not only did Rupp/Salazar/Nike know that the AR was within range, but that he was so much better than it, that they considered it a sure thing.

With no Championship, expect Rupp to go after both the 5k and 10k ARs this summer. I don't know if he'll get them but if he does, it'd be crazy.

He's overpaid. Overhyped (even if some of it is deserved). He's a rich white boy with a nosestrip and a high sqeeky voice. Nobody can relate to him. In high school he had his own gravity tent/treadmill. Pretty lame. If it was in college/post college fine. but high school? really?

I respect him though. He's fast and he use to be my 2nd or 3rd favorite running of the year. Chris won my heart today.

i don't think many people "hate" him. People like to poke fun on this message board where nobody knows your name. I think he deserves some of the ribbing (see the famous pic of him, hand-on-hip). but i...along with almost everyone else here I'm sure...would be happy to see him do well.

PaytonJordan wrote:

He's overpaid. Overhyped (even if some of it is deserved). He's a rich white boy with a nosestrip and a high sqeeky voice. Nobody can relate to him.

Most of the distance runners I've met fit those traits.

Whenever I think of Galen Rupp, I always think of Jean Girard in Talladega Nights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Hp2yCr7_I

Trying to leave the track without even acknowledging Solinsky last night is another strike against Rupp in my book.

I don't think that 2 out of 3 runners hate Rupp. Outside of letsrun, I never really hear any negative comments about the guy.

rsbones wrote:

Trying to leave the track without even acknowledging Solinsky last night is another strike against Rupp in my book.

He was probably really upset, but um, he did acknowledge him.

I agree that it's the corporate handlers that should be outed. Predicting records in distance running is silly, there are too many variables. Let the kid just race, records will come when they do. Solinsky said what most distance fans love to hear in the post-race interview when he said he wasn't thinking about the time, he just wanted to win the race. THAT is what T&F is about; records are the icing on the cake.

Rupp is "hated" for the same reason as Lebron. People are either jealous, or they hide behind anonimity to troll on message boards.

De Tu Sueno wrote:

Rupp (and Salazar) are probably more motivated than ever to get revenge. Not on Solinsky but on Rupp's failure. They had Ritz as gauging stick, brought in Nike crew and planned a post AR event. So you gotta' believe that not only did Rupp/Salazar/Nike know that the AR was within range, but that he was so much better than it, that they considered it a sure thing.

With no Championship, expect Rupp to go after both the 5k and 10k ARs this summer.

Bingo. Neither record is safe. Welcome to the golden age of American track and field.

PaytonJordan wrote:

He's overpaid. Overhyped (even if some of it is deserved). He's a rich white boy with a nosestrip and a high sqeeky voice. Nobody can relate to him. In high school he had his own gravity tent/treadmill. Pretty lame. If it was in college/post college fine. but high school? really?

Back when I was in high school and followed HS track, this was the exact reason why I disliked him, an opinion many others had also(old school Dyestat). The fact he had Phil Knight wearing a "Stop Rupp" shirt at a special meet setup for Galen to break sub-4 in HS annoyed me some also. It seemed since he was a trained by Al Sal, the kid was already in Nike's pocket. Jealous, a little.

I want him to do well, along with any other US runner, but I don't need to like every US runner.

Mr Mountain wrote:

Rupp is "hated" for the same reason as Lebron. People are either jealous, or they hide behind anonimity to troll on message boards.

This really is no explanation at all.

If this were the answer then Ritz, Teg, Solinsky, Hall... would all be "hated" to a similar or even greater degree since they are all as accomplished or more accomplished than Rupp. It is readily observable that the vitriol spewed toward Rupp is vastly greater than for these others.

Hence your purported "reason" is not one at all.

PaytonJordan wrote:

He's overpaid. Overhyped (even if some of it is deserved). He's a rich white boy with a nosestrip and a high sqeeky voice. Nobody can relate to him. In high school he had his own gravity tent/treadmill. Pretty lame. If it was in college/post college fine. but high school? really?.

He's not overpaid, not overhyped, not a rich white boy, he's only had a contract for a short while. He could have been a rich white boy if he signed a contract 5 years ago like he could have done, but choose to help Oregon.

In HS he did NOT have his own gravity tent/treadmill. He paid to use the NOP's ones.

Drew Rosenhaus wrote:

So, what does Rupp have to do to change is image and gain some support in the running community?

run with emotion, not like a machine trained by nike. and by emotion, i don't mean trying to sneak off without congratulating Solinsky.

The Judge wrote:

Mr Mountain wrote:

Rupp is "hated" for the same reason as Lebron. People are either jealous, or they hide behind anonimity to troll on message boards.

This really is no explanation at all.

If this were the answer then Ritz, Teg, Solinsky, Hall... would all be "hated" to a similar or even greater degree since they are all as accomplished or more accomplished than Rupp. It is readily observable that the vitriol spewed toward Rupp is vastly greater than for these others.

Hence your purported "reason" is not one at all.

Only Ritz more success (or even close) than Rupp level in high school, but then struggled in college and besides for flashes of greatness (XC title, 10k CR), underperformed for years.

Hall, Teg, Solinsky were top tier, but not all time high school legends.

Only Solinsky had close to Rupp's college success, but only made one WC/Olympic team out of the last four, while Rupp made all four.

Only Rupp has been so consistenly great.