CUT THE SHIT LR: "Gerry Lindgren’s record had stood since 1964 and is finally gone."

Also, objectively, it's POOR JOURNALISM yet again.

Words are powerful and if you are going to pretend to be journalists, why not be real ones?

You refer to the time that you prefer as a "record" and refer to the actual record as a "mark" -- and add it to the sentence as an aside.

In fact, because Hunter ran faster than the absolute record, there was no real need to mention Lindgren at all other than to discredit Ed C.

"Andrew Hunter broke the U.S. HS Boys' 3000m record today. Hunter's time of 7:59.33 broke Ed Cheserek's existing record (8:05.46) by over 5 seconds. After Cheserek, Hunter became just the third high school student to better Gerry Lindgren's legendary performance of 8:06.3i in 1964."

^^ this is how you report facts, don't confuse the reader, AND give kudos to Lindgren ...

Agreed. I was thrown by the "Lithuanian" Lukas Verzbicas reference as well. I understand Verzbicas was Lithuanian born but he certainly was an American high schooler. This place just loves to stir up racial controversy.

I continue to maintain that what LetsRun does is not journalism. I guess what they do can be classified as a form of media but it is not journalism.

been around 'ya know wrote:

This place just loves to stir up racial controversy.

edit: racial and ethnic controversy

been around 'ya know wrote:

been around 'ya know wrote:

This place just loves to stir up racial controversy.

edit: racial and ethnic controversy

The fact that they referred to Lukas as Lithuanian shows that it has nothing to do with race.

You are trying to stir up controversy.

been around 'ya know wrote:

Agreed. I was thrown by the "Lithuanian" Lukas Verzbicas reference as well. I understand Verzbicas was Lithuanian born but he certainly was an American high schooler. This place just loves to stir up racial controversy.

I continue to maintain that what LetsRun does is not journalism. I guess what they do can be classified as a form of media but it is not journalism.

Unless I'm mistaken, legally speaking, Verzbicas is not yet a US citizen. That doesn't matter for HS record purposes at all, but technically, referring to him as "Lithuanian" is correct, since he is still a citizen of Lithuania.

That being said, he has been here since he was 10 - 11 (as young as Meb was when he came to the US) so I really don't know why anybody has a problem with him being recognized as a HS record holder.

reader of the forums 2.0 wrote:

been around 'ya know wrote:

edit: racial and ethnic controversy

The fact that they referred to Lukas as Lithuanian shows that it has nothing to do with race.

You are trying to stir up controversy.

Maybe you think race is a skin color, but for many caucasian Americans,

ancestral origin is also important. There are many white people who still take much pride in where there family lineage hails from and still have bitter feelings for people from neighboring European countries.

The world isn't just a black and white world. It's also an east vs west or a north vs. south world when it relates to European lineage.

The world is set apart by tribes even if the differing tribes have the same pigmentation.

been around \'ya know wrote:

I continue to maintain that what LetsRun does is not journalism. I guess what they do can be classified as a form of media but it is not journalism.

From Merriam Webster: \"Journalism: the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media.\" Seems like a good description of LRC.

agreed, it's distracting and inaccurate. Your job is to report runnings news, not re-write it to your liking. If there was a large and recognized public push to make a distinction between American-born records and American High School records then that would be one thing, but you are simply trying to invent something that doesn't exist.

It would be like saying that a movie won the "Rob and Weldon Johnson" award for screenwriting, and oh by the way, also won that thing called the Oscar. No one would give a crap about who won the "Weldy" for best picture, no matter how hard you tried to sell it in a write up.

So stop trying to act like your readers give a crap about "american born/american citizen" high school records compared to actual High school records. Any mention of american born/american citizen high school records should be a small footnote or aside, but you treat it as the headline.

If an American citizen was living and attending high school overseas, while at the same time was being trained in a professional club environment and happened to run/swim/etc faster than one of our High School records, I wouldn't really feel like this was the "American High School" record. Junior record, sure, but calling it the "American High School" record would seem a bit false.

What's the difference between "Junior" and "High School" record? Well one is determined by age and nationality, the other by being the member of a system, the American High School system. As long as you meet the requirements to participate in that system, then you should be considered the record holder of that system.

If you want to emphasize the fact that you are extra happy that a 'true' American broke the record then please confine your labels to 'American Junior record' etc.

When reporting on 'American High School' records, please use the long-standing and widely held definitions of this term.

What's the point in trying to make this distinction? It seems clumsy and damaging for a news site to try to control and rewrite the terminology like this. Besides the xenophobic undertones that such re-writing implies , don't we want our athletes to compete with the best in the world one day? then why send the message to them that it's good enough just to be the best 'officially recognized' American. If we want our best to compete with the best, then why try to shield them from the best and remove some very important goals for them to chase? One of the biggest reasons cited for the resurgence of US distance running in recent years is the internet. High school kids were no longer content to be the best in their small pond, they were able to see the even better marks posted by kids all across the country. This motivated them to trainer harder and become better.

Why should we take away this incentive from our most elite young runners? telling them that they no longer need to chase the records of the very best in High School history, just the ones that had the proper paperwork? Promoting this attitude not only seems xenophobic, but also detrimental to the very people you're trying to protect.

Great post, but you're just begging for the thread get deleted, aren't you?

Totally agree. same thing as people posting a billion Henry Rono posts when he was lumping up On U.S. College frosh to seniors who were 18-22 not 25 like he was.

Look, as a guy who has a complete historical view, and saw Cheserek run in HS, I never thought he was old and if so, maybe by a year? He crushes any standard, and dominates NCAA comp, more so that any runner ever.

Now we have a kid who ran 7:59.. indoors after a week of 33 inches of snow to be disposed of..he is faster than Rupp who I saw get beat by McDougal in person at the Armory 8:50 to 8:54 yards. And Hunter would have crushed both.

Why not embrace that? I am fairly certain he runs faster than Alan Webb and I saw that IN person and thought OMG. I could never fathom that.

Hunter in a month might run 7:54 and 3:59 flat? Maybe then he will get his due?

Nah, I trust that they would want to encourage this discussion since they are the ones fighting an uphill battle trying to change the usage of commonly held terms. A long thread can only help their chances of gaining supporters.

Critical Thinking wrote:

been around 'ya know wrote:

I continue to maintain that what LetsRun does is not journalism. I guess what they do can be classified as a form of media but it is not journalism.

From Merriam Webster: "Journalism: the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media." Seems like a good description of LRC.

Apologies to MW but that is an incomplete and over-simplified definition of journalism. Journalists must also follow a professional code of ethics or "cannons of journalism."

The OP (not-so record) made a stronger point than I did. How words are used and in the order they are presented makes a difference.

The brojos have likened this board to entertainment and sports talk radio. The problem with sports talk radio and LRC is that it often creates controversy where none existed in order to create ratings or "clicks" and then people repeat what they hear or read as fact. The brojos need to be called out once in awhile for some of the misleading, low class, and ignorant rhetoric is used in order to drive consumers to their advertisers.

As a reader it just depends on where you draw your ethical line. I specifically do not like the racial and ethnic controversy that is promoted and encouraged, either purposely or indifferently, on this site.

The OP was calling out the brojos. This was not a slight of Andrew Hunter's fantastic accomplishment in any way for the readers who may have read it that way. The way LRC writes and publishes often takes away the focus and diminishes an athlete's performance by misleading readers and creating controversy.

been around 'ya know wrote:

Critical Thinking wrote:

From Merriam Webster: "Journalism: the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media." Seems like a good description of LRC.

Apologies to MW but that is an incomplete and over-simplified definition of journalism. Journalists must also follow a professional code of ethics or "cannons of journalism."

.

Who is in charge of this "professional code or ethics" or "cannons of journalism"? I'm not aware of any body that polices this. One doesn't need a license to practice journalism the way one needs a license to practice medicine or law.

Critical Thinking wrote:

Who is in charge of this "professional code or ethics" or "cannons of journalism"? I'm not aware of any body that polices this. One doesn't need a license to practice journalism the way one needs a license to practice medicine or law.

No, you are right there isn't any authoritative body that polices the practice of journalism but if you are trained in journalism you know that such professional ethics exist. The only real authoritative body is the judicial system as a journalist can cross the line into libel and defamation of character if they do not follow the ethics adhered to by professional journalists.

I think journalists by nature would rather let free speech reign than to organize any professional body that might infringe it, but that doesn't mean they don't adhere to the cannons of journalism themselves. They trust that most "critical thinkers" can decide for themselves as to what is truthful, what is fiction, and what is simply misleading.

Quite simply, I'm sure you don't confuse or give the same weight to a report from the National Enquirer (or an LRC message board rumor) as you do to a report by the New York Times or Washington Post. There is a difference between professional news reporting and entertainment.

Are you an idiot? Lindgrermost definitely did have a record. He had the American HS record.

When Galen Rupp ran 26:44, he was celegbrated as the American record holder. Papers won't pointing out that that Rupp failed to break the fastest time run in America (26:25 by Bekele).

The same applies here. Hunter is the American HS record holder, period. Cheserek isn't an American. It's no different than the difference between a collegiate record and American collegiate record.

been around 'ya know wrote:

Agreed. I was thrown by the "Lithuanian" Lukas Verzbicas reference as well. I understand Verzbicas was Lithuanian born but he certainly was an American high schooler. This place just loves to stir up racial controversy.

I continue to maintain that what LetsRun does is not journalism. I guess what they do can be classified as a form of media but it is not journalism.

How is racial when we point out where both a white (verzbicas) and black (cheserek) guy are from?

The sport of track and field is mostly know for being an OLYMPIC SPORT. The Olympics are focused on nationalities. You run first and foremost for your country. You guys are mad that we are pointing out that he broke Lindgren's mark.

I guess when we covder the Olympics, you don't want us to mention countries at all. Are you crazy??

What governing body ratifies that "record"?

Seyta wrote:

[quote]been around 'ya know wrote:

That being said, he has been here since he was 10 - 11 (as young as Meb was when he came to the US) so I really don't know why anybody has a problem with him being recognized as a HS record holder.

It amazes me how dumb this logic is. So Mo Farah has been living here since 2011. 5 years is a long time. So if he wins the Olympics, you want us to celebrate it as an "American professional gold medal?"

It's an Olympic sport. Olympic sports are focused on nationalities.