"Blankenship did not come through the mixed zone after the race, hopping a fence to avoid the media."
Can all of the guys praising him for a front-runner please defend pipe in with their thoughts? I know he had to be devastated but be a professional. It's your job. Did LeBron not do post-game interviews after he lost?
Yeah, I don't think you're a runner, buddy.
He also said "no comment" when LetsRun asked about him not getting in the Bowerman Mile at Pre. Seems like he doesn't enjoy interviews.
ya..... wrote:
We\'re not talking about your turkey trot 5ks where you can have a bad race and go home and beat your wife. This is a pro runner in the biggest US event where he is representing himself, his sponsors, and his team. You don\'t just skip the interviews.
If you've never been upset enough to disregard pretty much everything around you after a bad [or extremely close] race you've never really trained. This guy has put countless hours day in day out for years and to be this close and not get it has to be an unbelievable feeling. This was one of the biggest moments of his life and the following 10 minutes were probably dominated by emotion.
he said something about not bothering to compete any more if he didn't make the team. give him a break. that is a huge blow to lose out by that margin.
He's actually put in 2-4 hours per day in, 6-7 days per week consistently over a few years. It's definitely a quantifiable number, not countless like you suggest.
DaBois wrote:
ya..... wrote:We're not talking about your turkey trot 5ks where you can have a bad race and go home and beat your wife. This is a pro runner in the biggest US event where he is representing himself, his sponsors, and his team. You don't just skip the interviews.
If you've never been upset enough to disregard pretty much everything around you after a bad [or extremely close] race you've never really trained. This guy has put countless hours day in day out for years and to be this close and not get it has to be an unbelievable feeling. This was one of the biggest moments of his life and the following 10 minutes were probably dominated by emotion.
jjjjj wrote:
he said something about not bothering to compete any more if he didn't make the team. give him a break. that is a huge blow to lose out by that margin.
Then he should have run a race, not some weird, scared, theatrical last 100. That was a major meltdown. Lost by .03 because he kept looking instead of just trying to get to the line.
DaBois wrote:
ya..... wrote:We're not talking about your turkey trot 5ks where you can have a bad race and go home and beat your wife. This is a pro runner in the biggest US event where he is representing himself, his sponsors, and his team. You don't just skip the interviews.
If you've never been upset enough to disregard pretty much everything around you after a bad [or extremely close] race you've never really trained. This guy has put countless hours day in day out for years and to be this close and not get it has to be an unbelievable feeling. This was one of the biggest moments of his life and the following 10 minutes were probably dominated by emotion.
I've never had a bad race. Wonder what that feels like.
Rupp would be crucified on here for doing this. Pre or post doping allegations.
I can assure you that Blakenship does not give a flying fack about what Letsrun posters or anyone else thinks of his actions.
Meathook wrote:
I can assure you that Blakenship does not give a flying fack about what Letsrun posters or anyone else thinks of his actions.
Doubtful.
These types of actions have consequences over time. He needs to act like a pro and a real man.
So we can't write our opinions anymore just because someone may not care?
Is he one of the hosts for Most Extreme Elimination Challenge?
What could he possibly say in an interview that you'd be all that interested in hearing anyway?
He ran a good race, came close but didn't make the team, he's pretty upset, he's got a few races in Europe this and he's going to hope for a better finish at the Olympic Trials.
Oh and he takes Vitamin C and Iron and believes in a clean sport.
There's your interview.
DaBois wrote:
ya..... wrote:We're not talking about your turkey trot 5ks where you can have a bad race and go home and beat your wife. This is a pro runner in the biggest US event where he is representing himself, his sponsors, and his team. You don't just skip the interviews.
If you've never been upset enough to disregard pretty much everything around you after a bad [or extremely close] race you've never really trained. This guy has put countless hours day in day out for years and to be this close and not get it has to be an unbelievable feeling. This was one of the biggest moments of his life and the following 10 minutes were probably dominated by emotion.
I am not sure I agree with every word of this.
I saw what was happening when he was trying to leave and avoid mixed zone, though it didn't click in my head till two beats later what he was trying to do (it was wiltingly hot AND more humid Sat than Friday.
Here's the deal, very soon after they finish they are bum rushed to get off the track and through a path way that has security, rope off the path while they exit, then the security, let's spectators etc., walk through in each direction again. I was about to step forward and tell the security "hey let him go he's an elite runners" (these kind of stupid thoughts go through one's mind in that kind of heat, and the obvious discomfort the guy was in, he looked and acted trapped and you felt for him, if you were that close, and I hated the security for not knowing better to make an exception at that time.... I stopped myself from saying something because I got the evil eye from security as I instinctively empathized with the guys body language that he wanted to escape and gain privacy. Understandable, and they system needs to be looked into. There are going to be rare occasions when an elite is just not going to want to be forced to talk... Someone needs to be around who can make a judgment call in the moment: "this person is clearly not in a place to be forced to answer questions...etc." That's going to happen and they could put a sports psychologist in the area who can see the races and read the body and facial expressions, and see what happened, and escort the athlete to a psychologically private and safe area until they are ready to talk, or permit the athlete to warm down on promise of coming back to the media later.
You couldn't be human and not feel for him, and not want them to let him have his desire for privacy at that time, for some duration until he was ready to speak -- and give all the athletes a free pass to skip the press once a year...
He had a real human need, and unlike body injury, his emotional stress at the moment was not noticed, respected or honored.
We've all jumped a fence to get on a track, or a trail, or a park on occasion to run.
Sometimes you gotta jump a fence.
I respect the man immensely for knowing his needs in the moment and honoring his needs.
Screw the system.
Good luck Ben, get after it this summer, set some PB's!
Erg, still sweltering here, sorry for poor writing etc.
Hang in there, Ben!
reader of the forums wrote:
He also said "no comment" when LetsRun asked about him not getting in the Bowerman Mile at Pre. Seems like he doesn't enjoy interviews.
I viewed that "no comment" as a way of not criticizing the meet which is so close to Nike his sponsor.
Hopping the fence was pretty funny. I even took a picture of it. Only guy to hop the fence all week.
I definitely felt for him because he has run so damn well this year and came oh so close to going to Worlds but he should have spoken to the media or at least walked by and said he didn't want to talk about it. It's part of his job expectations.
Ben's new nickname is Cat.
1500 watcher wrote:
"Blankenship did not come through the mixed zone after the race, hopping a fence to avoid the media."
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/06/matthew-centrowitz-amazes-robby-andrews-kicks-his-way-onto-us-1500m-team-as-leo-does-what-he-always-does/Can all of the guys praising him for a front-runner please defend pipe in with their thoughts? I know he had to be devastated but be a professional. It's your job. Did LeBron not do post-game interviews after he lost?
LeBron is the GOAT
so as a journalist do you just decide it's part of his job expectations? or do you know it says that somewhere in his contract?