I respectfully disagree with Symmonds' "big announcement"

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

No one outside a tight group knows who Symmonds is much less what he said...that's worse for the sport.

Barry Sanders was very humble because he was unable to put a coherent sentence together...so he said nothing.

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

I have to agree with you. He slammed Nike pretty good today in his interviews. I found that ironic, when at the same time, he also mentioned that he has two homes and four businesses in Eugene. Obviously, they weren't paying him peanuts the last seven years. It seems like he could have showed them a little more respect and appreciation when he announced his move to Brooks. Some things are better left unsaid.

I feel like Nick Symmonds is taking advantage of his platform and fame to raise awareness for causes he finds important to him. Sure he's going to make enemies but he's using his fame in a positive way. I'm not sure how I feel about him doing all these photoshoots or stunts for money, but whatever. It's his life.

Maybe we should give him a douchey nickname like

Nikky Trackandfield

Humble = boring.

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

Are you referring to his video announcement on the Brooks site? If so, I don't see how you can honestly say he came across as arrogant. It was a short simple video. Maybe there is another video that I haven't seen.

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

I've tended to find Symmonds as a bit to much of a big mouth. He gave a number of interviews prior to London 2012 all about what a great whore he would be for sponsorship so companies should sponsor him. Better than Kenyans because he's american etc. It comes over as a bit of a weird combination of needy and arrogant. It might be just the way his personality rubs off on me.

eldanielfire wrote:

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

I've tended to find Symmonds as a bit to much of a big mouth. He gave a number of interviews prior to London 2012 all about what a great whore he would be for sponsorship so companies should sponsor him. Better than Kenyans because he's american etc. It comes over as a bit of a weird combination of needy and arrogant. It might be just the way his personality rubs off on me.

I bet you would love it if he rubbed his 'personality' on you.

I've tended to find Symmonds as a bit to much of a big mouth. He gave a number of interviews prior to London 2012 all about what a great whore he would be for sponsorship so companies should sponsor him. Better than Kenyans because he's american etc. It comes over as a bit of a weird combination of needy and arrogant. It might be just the way his personality rubs off on me.

Agreed. Nick said several things today that struck me as hypocritical.

He talked about not wanting to be a "billboard", but yet.... who was the guy who tried to sell space on his body to place a sponsorship tatoo???

I like his story (the rise from a D3 school to an elite level), and I wish him the best, but I can't imagine Nike is losing too much sleep over not re-signing him.

Happy Guy wrote:

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

I have to agree with you. He slammed Nike pretty good today in his interviews. I found that ironic, when at the same time, he also mentioned that he has two homes and four businesses in Eugene. Obviously, they weren't paying him peanuts the last seven years. It seems like he could have showed them a little more respect and appreciation when he announced his move to Brooks. Some things are better left unsaid.

Happy Guy has a right to disagree with Symmonds. However, there is nothing "ironic" in the criticism of Nike voiced by Symmonds. He made a lot of money from his association with Nike. So what? Nick does not like the control and muzzling Nike exercises over its contract athletes. After a while he felt it was degrading. He is not a seventeen-year-old child and is not going to be won over with money and baubles Nike showers on its minions -- not if he has to sacrifice his freedom of speech.

Nike wants Organization Men. That's the way Nike runs its shop.

my 2 cents wrote:

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

No one outside a tight group knows who Symmonds is much less what he said...that's worse for the sport.

Barry Sanders was very humble because he was unable to put a coherent sentence together...so he said nothing.

You've clearly never met Barry, who is quite clever and one of the nicest pro athletes I've ever met.

stick with eharmony wrote:

He came across as very arrogant and narcisstic which is bad for the sport. Why do athletes have to do this. Why can't they just be humble. Barry Sanders was a very humble athlete, symonnds should be more like him.

my 2 cents.

What did he say? Do you have a link? He's all gracious on the front page stories.

Answered the question myself. Stick the consensus around here is that probably you are the one that is...well

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/nick-symmonds-leaves-oregon-track-club-signs-with-brooks

1) I personally wish we didn't have NDAs... B.S. If you really cared then you would have made sure that your contract didn't have to have one. Just admit you are more concerned with making money than the words that come out of your mouth.

2) I want to have this awesome symbiotic relationship where I give them more brand awareness and they help me grow my brand. Me, me, and me. Oh, did I mention that this would be good for me?

3) My personality has never been about what’s cool and hip. I mean look at my hair, you think this faux hawk I have is hip? This is just what it looks like when I wake up in the morning. And this tan I have is from all of the sun Eugene gets during the winter months.

4) Way to show support for your new coach, he maybe can help you gain 5%.

5) My training is so hard that I have to travel to places that nobody would want to go to. Those places just happen to be in Mexico and Flagstaff.

6) I very, very easily could have found myself in the same position that Leo finds himself in right now. And like the hundreds of other post collegiate athletes out there who don't have even a tenth of the privileges that I do. But I can tell you what, I was sooo smart to have been conceited enough to build my own brand. You know, the Nick Symmonds brand.

7) I'm private, I own a cabin, I have my own publicist, and I pretend to be private, because that is part of the Nick Symmonds brand.

8) These shoes will do for this marketing pitch, but I am so wonderful and the people who work in designing these spikes and other footwear might as well be fired because I know exactly what they need to make. Because if you want to be a great as Nick Symmonds, then you need to wear the same size and model of shoe as me, no matter how much it may hurt your feet.

9) LetsRun took a lesson out of the Nick Symmonds branding book and patted themselves on the back. What step do you do that on? 1,2, and 3?

10) Tiring? How about: Nick and his family went to Vegas, left a company that paid him well for many years, joined another brand that will also pay him well, and is going to Mexico for training.

I just do not get it. Am I ignorant for not drinking the "Nick Symmonds" kool-aid? The guy is so full of bs but people still think that he is some kind of wonderful person. Not saying Nick isn't a nice person but at the end of the day he will say what needs to be said so that he can build his brand (I should say bank account).

Wow you really spend a lot of time thinking about Symmonds, don't you?

Not as much as your mom does thinking about me.

Are you LeBron James?

Not so humble wrote:

Not as much as your mom does thinking about me.

I know that a fair amount of the posts here are simply trolls looking to agitate but I am still amazed at some of the shite that is posted here.

Do you even know the sport you are talking about? Al of our sport's elite athletes are supposed to be grateful for having zero security while they are criticized for missing a world number one ranking by tenths of seconds. They are supposed to bow down to corporations and be so thankful for being exploited?

Things have changed from the old AAU days but the attitudes of those that control the purse strings haven't changed much at all. One thing does seem to have changed, however. The fan base has gone downhill. Maybe the fan base just reflects the current culture but I am just amazed at how moronic, knowledgeable people can be and be so oblivious to it.

Not sure who you are referring to with your comments but I agree with what you have to say. My issue is when it comes to people like Nick who you say is being exploited by corporations. That may be true, but I also see Nick as someone who tries to exploit his fan base by feeding all of us a bunch of crap. Don't tell us how wonderful you are and present this wonderful image of yourself. Let the fans see you for who you really are and let them decide for themselves. That is the biggest annoyance I have of Nick.