ALAN WEBB PRESS

YES. this is so true. i'm sick and tired of the poor guy getting torn apart and scrutinized. let him be and let him figure his own running career out.

His running career is over. What's there to figure out?

So, on a running forum, we are not supposed to talk about one of the pro runners in the sport and assess his performances as fans of the sport?

Please let me know which other runners should be off limits on this running website while you are at it.

When you've set the AR for the mile and run as fast as Webb has, you will always be in the spotlight whether you like it or not. I wouldn't want to be under that kind of scrutiny. But like it or not, the spotlight comes with success. And whether you live up to your potential, whether in the Olympics or to set records, is a terrible burden to bear.

That said, no need for all the immature slander of pro athletes that this anonymous forum tends to produce. The elite athletes are human beings after all.

^^^This. I agree that people can take it too far, and guys like Webb don't deserve to be slandered just because they've struggled on the track recently, but if you're a professional athlete/celebrity then you should be fully aware that you will always be in the spotlight and deal with a certain amount of scrutiny. Comes with the territory if you wanna be a pro. At least he isn't being completely ignored. Being relevant and scrutinized is better than being put out to pasture and forgotten.

Besides, analyzing pro performances and their careers is part of the fun of being a fun. Personally, I don't think it's a lot of fun for everyone to constantly just puke rainbows all over every single runner no matter how they run. That's boring. It's the same in any sport. Arguing about why your favorite team is better than someone else's favorite team is part of fun of watching sports. Deep down, I know that the Patriots/Packers game doesn't actually affect my life in any real way, and I don't even know any of the players. But pretending like it matters it's what makes sport fun, and if it matters to me then I'm going to have a favorite. And I'm gonna talk smack about other teams.

Fact is, Webb has been laying eggs out there for about 5 years now, and yet people still think he's on the verge of a comeback. He's not. He had his day, and now I prefer to pay attention to the guys who are still capable of mixing it up on the world stage (Rupp, Centro, Lomong, Manzano, etc).

moman12345673 wrote:

I am a pretty big track & field and distance running fan and coach. But I am so tired of everyone putting Alan Webb under a microscope and every time he runs a decent race people start talking about if he is back or not. Then when he runs a time that 99.9% of the earth's population can't run we ask is he done? Who cares? Let him be and let him run/race with no pressure or having to be critiqued every time he steps on the track. If Rupp were to have 2 bad races in a row would we think he was done? Hard to be Alan Webb with some much pressure and people being disappointed in him all the time.

That is sooooooo April 2013 (before Drake).

Mary Cain is the new Alan Webb.

Realistically, and not being a Webb fan boy, Alan can run very fast with his talent and his age. His greatest hurdle is confidence.