Jesse was indeed a friend wrote:
it is obvious to the intelligent.
How would you know?
Anyway, what do you want an athlete or coach to say? An NFL coach would get blasted if he walked into a preseason press conference and said "we're looking to finish right in the middle of our division this year. After assessing the team throughout training camp, I think that this is a realistic goal." You pretty much assume that every football team starts out the season with the goal of winning the Superbowl even though some teams don't really have a realistic shot. Similarly, a track athlete should show some optimism. It's better to put yourself out there and go after lofty goals. Sure, you can just be conservative about your goals and then you pretty much guarantee success, but if that's you're way of thinking, you probably wouldn't make it to the elite level to begin with.