Dennis Kimetto - what are we Westerners still missing about Kenyan Marathoners?

express yourself wrote:

Math Major wrote:

Sorry, that's a complete non sequitur. Soccer, like any other skill, IS going to be limited by talent once you've done everything you can in preparation.

Either troll or stupid. Or just ignorant..I think troll though.

Being a north-european I grew up playing soccer, so I know what I'm talking about here. Soccer involves MANY MANY diffrent skills, and you can lack several of them and still play at the highest level.

But, that is kinda besides the point anyways. Maybe you should re-read what I wrote.

No, YOU are completely moronic. It doesn't matter if it's one skill or many skills, your ceiling in any given event is still connected to your innate talent. You could divide running into many separate "skills" too - muscle strength, muscle endurance, ability to clear lactate, ability to process oxygen, size... Saying "soccer involves many different skills" and "soccer ability is not connected to genetics" is a COMPLETE, 100% NON SEQUITUR.

Le Foot wrote:

Genee wrote:

Bill Rodgers gave up his cushy teaching job to pound himself into the ground before running even paid well.

I think Brendan Foster did too.

It's not because of poverty. Kenyans won the genetic lottery and racing is just about cashing in their ticket.

Serious question, do you even know what the term "straw man" means? I don't think you do. Bill Rodgers didn't give up his job, by the way.

Serious answer: No. No he does not.

Le Foot wrote:

Genee wrote:

Bill Rodgers gave up his cushy teaching job to pound himself into the ground before running even paid well.

I think Brendan Foster did too.

It's not because of poverty. Kenyans won the genetic lottery and racing is just about cashing in their ticket.

Serious question, do you even know what the term "straw man" means? I don't think you do. Bill Rodgers didn't give up his job, by the way.

I do. A good example is saying that xx Kenyan is better than an American because he is poor and desperate.

So Bill still teaches Special Ed?

genetics blah blah blah wrote:

No they didn't win the genetics lottery. Their training is far superior.

Why do so many of you deny this?

So copy them and see what happens.

Canova will help you out if you ask him for specifics.

Genee wrote:

Le Foot wrote:

Serious question, do you even know what the term "straw man" means? I don't think you do. Bill Rodgers didn't give up his job, by the way.

I do. A good example is saying that xx Kenyan is better than an American because he is poor and desperate.

Wrong, that's not what a straw man is. Care to try again?

Manchester wrote:

Le Foot wrote:

Serious question, do you even know what the term "straw man" means? I don't think you do. Bill Rodgers didn't give up his job, by the way.

Serious answer: No. No he does not.

I concur......

Can't be bothered to read through the whole thread. Has anyone provided solid scientific evidence that Kenyans are genetically gifted yet?

No.

No they have not.

R2D3 wrote:

Can't be bothered to read through the whole thread. Has anyone provided solid scientific evidence that Kenyans are genetically gifted yet?

Has anyone provided solid scientific evidence that Kenyans live in an environment (physical and economic) that is superior for producing distance runners than anywhere else and that that is the key to their success?

Le Foot wrote:

Genee wrote:

I do. A good example is saying that xx Kenyan is better than an American because he is poor and desperate.

Wrong, that's not what a straw man is. Care to try again?

Sure it is.

Genee wrote:

Sure it is.

It most definitely is not. But the real question is, if you supposedly know what a straw man is, why do you use them in virtually every post?

Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:

Has anyone provided solid scientific evidence that Kenyans live in an environment (physical and economic) that is superior for producing distance runners than anywhere else and that that is the key to their success?

They're genetics haven't significantly changed in the last 50 years, but everything else has. So yes the non-genetic factors are the key to their success and the difference between an occasional Olympic finalist and world dominance.

Le Foot wrote:

Genee wrote:

Sure it is.

It most definitely is not. But the real question is, if you supposedly know what a straw man is, why do you use them in virtually every post?

Do you know what context is?

You have to refute this supposed straw man. Instead you just call "straw man" and think that wins a discussion.

I do love it when people have pet words though.

Genee wrote:

Le Foot wrote:

It most definitely is not. But the real question is, if you supposedly know what a straw man is, why do you use them in virtually every post?

Do you know what context is?

You have to refute this supposed straw man. Instead you just call "straw man" and think that wins a discussion.

No you don't. A straw man is a logical fallacy. If someone points out that you used a straw man, you can either 1) re-form your argument without any logical fallacies, or 2) dispute that it is in fact a straw man. Every damn time someone calls you on a straw man in this thread, you do neither of these... instead you change your handle and make up new straw men. So yes, you've lost the debate, probably a dozen times in this thread.

Le Foot wrote:

Genee wrote:

Sure it is.

It most definitely is not. But the real question is, if you supposedly know what a straw man is, why do you use them in virtually every post?

Don't even bother asking him. The real question is if he had anything intelligent to say why does he keep changing his username on here.

Those would be counter examples, not straw men.

Manchester wrote:

Le Foot wrote:

It most definitely is not. But the real question is, if you supposedly know what a straw man is, why do you use them in virtually every post?

Don't even bother asking him. The real question is if he had anything intelligent to say why does he keep changing his username on here.

Don't you think it's funny that he used an argument about what a straw man is AS a straw man?

I do.

Genee wrote:

Bill Rodgers gave up his cushy teaching job to pound himself into the ground before running even paid well.

Think how many more Bill Rodgers' would have been willing to pound themselves into the ground if running fast marathons was a means of becoming ridiculously rich in the US or Europe. Think of how that would effect the depth of distance running in the US or Europe and how marathon times would improve for runners from these regions.