Barringer: "The race isn't going to matter in the long run."

great white hype wrote:

This was a major championship

This was a major US championship....and completely invisible to the rest of the country, and the world.

She's had a very good year, and had a bad race.

This is how people who have problems with themselves try to make themselves feel better, by knocking someone who's down. Problem is, it won't work and she'll go right back to being a winner and they'll keep being what they are. It's wasted effort and only exposes them for being what they are.

NCAA is a minor championship. Worlds are a major championship.

On the list of the most important things in life, sports aren't in the top 1000. They can feel important short-term, but not on the whole.

Ms. Contradiction wrote:

That's not the point; pre-race she clearly stated how important this race was for her to win. She even went as far as to say throughout her years in College when did she ever speak about winning a 1500M or steeplechase championship, she didn't, but just her dream of winning an NCAA Div I XC title

Now it doesn't matter because she didn't win! How contradictory is that! Bit of a hypocrit if you ask me

Dude, before the race is when she was under all that stress, and she talks about it in the interview. She was tensed up about everything, and now that she didn't do well, she has acknowledged that her overall career has just as much potential without this. Before the race, it was important to win for her team and to become a national champion at last, but after the race, she knows that the future is still just as bright.

Nice question from the above poster.

She never said she was the only one under pressure that day. That just was her individual response to it. Her explanation is not meant to serve as the protocol for anyone else under stress. Furthermore, a team is a team regardless of the outcome. Maybe her teammates can't achieve the same team finish that was possible again, but sometimes teammates have bad days. If you can't accept that, then stick to individual sports.

It'd also be nice if people considered what it would be like your worst day was captured on live TV... and then you had a bunch of people dissecting it online. The bottom line is everyone has a different way of reacting to stress. If you've never had some experience similar to hers, then I'd hold back on trying to say she is hamming it up. Instead of bashing, try just appreciating that we are all human and everyone perceives their circumstances differently thereby leading each individual to a unique (for better or for worse) life.

The interview was retarded and I felt as if it was pointless. She just confirmed what most of the running community already figured out. She put on a drama act by letting the pressure get to her. She snapped and took the easy way out. "I felt confident at the 3k mark..." what a bunch of bull. Well why of why then Jenny did you crack as you saw that your "fast pace" did not break Susan as she passed you? Huh? The interview was terrible, Jenny gets an F for the horrible filler words throughout; seemed very self-absorbed with some of her comments, and wtf was with the phone ringing in the background?

Ok, I'll admit it. Using the cliche was lame. The point is that she has talent that you and I will never have and her effort failed to match it. Your argument that the people who don't understand what it takes to compete at that level are "stupid" is ridiculous. Many people can train to a point where they can put in the same effort and the same volume of work as she has but they won't come close to her performance. She is a major talent and there are performance expectations that go along with that talent. It's a question of effort, will, and mental toughness and obviously her effort, will, and mental toughness was not the equal of her ability yesterday. There wasn't a physical issue, she admitted it wasn't the pace or anything, and her race strategy was solid. She folded mentally and all that talent was wasted.

This is a major problem with our elite runners and elitist individuals on this message board (99% of whom are anonymous.... so your name is......"?"). They have major talent and they are told they have talent. They are coddled because of their talent. We defend them and when they fail to fulfill their talent and we kiss their boo boos and tell them it'll be okay. Then they go out and get their rear ends kicked internationally by runners who know that if they pulled a stunt like Barringer did yesterday, they would be considered a disgrace. It's not acceptable for them to make excuses or give a poor effort. They always apologize for letting others and their country down (Did Barringer do that? Not really.). They admit the shortcomings. They don't defend their failure. These expectations from their country (and in Barringer's case, her teammates) are something they have to deal with as an elite runner. It's part of the package. If you want the praise and the glory when you're successful, you have to take the criticism and the high expectations when you fail.

The move she pulled was immature, selfish, and juvenile. I see it happen (a collapse followed by a vain, dramatic, attention seeking kick) all the time.... in MIDDLE SCHOOL races!

That being said, I hope she bounces back and her best days are ahead of her. She's an amazing athlete and I hope she learns from her race yesterday.

Oh shut up MSCoach.

So you enjoyed seeing her fail, good for you.

"That being said, I hope she bounces back and her best days are ahead of her."

No you don't, you hope that she does something like that again so you can share your happiness with us again.

Do you have anything constructive to offer?

I don't enjoy seeing failure. And I'm not sure where my "happiness" was evident but I can assure you I don't post on subjects like this because I'm happy about the situation.

She said she was light-headed at the start of the race.

She obviously had something physically wrong at the start whether it was the pressure/stress or low blood sugar or whatever.

I've had fainting light-headed episodes where I blacked out for a few seconds then couple minutes later I was fine. These things happen. I don't see it as a dramatic juvenile episode. These things happen.

MSCoach wrote:

Do you have anything constructive to offer?

I don't enjoy seeing failure. And I'm not sure where my "happiness" was evident but I can assure you I don't post on subjects like this because I'm happy about the situation.

Yep. Of course. Keep telling yourself that.

I feel it's constructive to let the peanut gallery know that they're pathetic and should think about sorting their own sad lives out before spouting self-righteous rubbish about other people, especially those that they're clearly jealous of.

it means that a guy like malmo would sh1t the bed as well, after working for an entire season/career - then would tell you that it didn't matter, that's what it means.

malmo wrote:

great white hype wrote:

Um, OK. What race really does, then? What does this even mean?

It's not very hard to figure out.

The reality of da situashun wrote:

it means that a guy like malmo would sh1t the bed as well, after working for an entire season/career - then would tell you that it didn't matter, that's what it means.

malmo sucks.

Jealous? I REALLY appreciate those that don't read entire posts. Keep picking out the things you disagree with, take them out of context, and then accuse others of being self righteous. I clearly admitted to not being anywhere near her talent level and I'm completely comfortable with that fact.

Why don't we stay on the real topic? Instead of attacking other posters for contributing to the discussion, how about discussing what they've written, specifically what I've said that's so patently incorrect that you felt I must be "sad" and "self righteous"?

And by the way, assuming that the "peanut gallery" needs to be made aware of what you feel is self righteous and pathetic is, in it's own right, self righteous. So give the rest of us a break and accept the fact that there are others out there with intelligence as well.

Quite honestly, you and I are arguing like nine year olds. Let's get back on the topic.

"She's an amazing athlete and I hope she learns from her race yesterday."

Oh very big of you. You spend you entire post slamming her, then say "she's an amazing athlete" and "I hope she learns from this".

Here's the thing: you have no idea what happened. You have no idea if Barrigner has be "coddled" and had her "boo boos" kissed. You have no idea what her life is like. You have no idea how she was feeling in the race. You have no idea, period.

Yet you come here posting as if you do.

That is the sad thing about so many of you. Far, far too many posters come posting pure speculation, gossip, and opinion.

Here's my opinion: unless you know something for a fact, then you should shut the hell up about other people. Even if you know something about someone else as a fact, you should probably shut the hell up.

Jenny B had an unfortunate race yesterday. No one here knows squat about why. From her interview, it sounds like Jenny B does not quite understand it either.

End of story. Life your own life, and let Jenny B live hers. If you don't have a life, then go get one.

I think it's a bit of a cop out to pretend that failures don't matter and that only successes do. This applies to everyone. If she won I doubt we would hear about the race not mattering in the long run. It's like when someone

loses out of a job or a girlfriend and says, "well, I didn't want it anyway".

That's your perspective. That's not everyone's.

To me, sport does not matter in the long run. I'm almost 50 years old. I had my successes and failures back when I ran in the late 70's to mid 80's.

I can say that for me they don't matter. I'm still fond of running. I follow it. I'm happy that I ran, but I don't spend must time thinking about my past failures (or successes). I spend more time thinking about my former teammates, than anything else.

What matters for me is here and now right in front of me, and what is in the future. That past only serves as a reminder for where you have been.

That's my perspective. I'm fine if you have a different one for yourself.

Still that has nothing do do with what I originally posted. MSCoach NO IDEA about Jenny B or what happened to her. To me it shows a complete lack of class to talk about people when you do not have the facts (and often when you do have the facts).

To me - I think she's really genuine and means what she says. She's always been a class act.

but...

it somehow rubs me the wrong way that she and Flotrack need to do a 25 minute video interview. I understand she wants people to understand, but it just seemed like they went on and on and on about the simple (self-induced) reasons: too much stress from running life + too much pressure from personal life + too much self-pressure = panic attack = can't run

These are all variables that she could control - so why the long overdone explaination? It's her fault she failed. How are her stresses different than the other 100's of runners???? Somebody expected to help their team out by taking ~30th place is in the same position. She's the only one that wants to cap off a senior season? She's the only one that has relationship drama/news/activity in her life? If anything she has WAY LESS pressure - NCAA's is a tiny part of her running career, it's crap comparred to the olympics or USA champs which she knows how to do well in. Most of the athletes out there have done all their training ONLY for the NCAAs - all of their eggs are in their NCAA basket.

The true reasons for failure in distance running are rarely related to race execution or the variables of that day. It could be over training, under training, personal life, mental stability. How is flopping under personal life stress and/or unhealthy self-pressure that different from flopping from under/over training?

The tone of the interview was fine - she admitted she's not a machine - she's always got a great attitude, not a prick. But when you go on and on and on about these other "personal issues" they come accross as excuses (even if you don't blately say they are excuses). If it is something really different than the same 'ol crap everybody deals with - like a medical condition, then just say it and interview for ~45 seconds.

toro wrote:

Her accomplishments to date already out weigh a victory in this race and she assumes her accomplishments in the future will be even greater.

That's why this one race doesn't matter in the long run.

Exactly.