I think Nike Sports Psychologist Has Changed Shannon Rowbury, Why Was She Talking Crap About Jenny?

honestly, nothing really bothered me, she was the only athlete of her class in the field except MAYBE Uceny and her seasons been pretty bad.

However, she did NOT "get tripped" at zurich, jenny won that one fair and square.

Rowbury stated the facts

She was surprised that there was such an aggressive counter move at 600 to go.

Usually that happens at 200 to go

She knew she could ratchet down a hard pace for 600 meters so she didn't let the aggressive move phase her

AND she did exactly that

She didn't think her opponents had a hard 600 meters in them.

AND they didn't

There is nothing mean spirited or back handed about it

Just an honest assessment of her race execution

Some people really dig deep to find a reason to pick on others

Exactly. Same double standard in athletics and in the business world. Most of my company considers our president to be a savvy businessman and a tough, effective negotiator. If a woman acted just like him, people would just think she was a total bitch.

4:34 is really slow for a national championship - especially at sea level. I don't think anything she's done this year threatens Jenny. I'm looking for JBS to destroy the field once again at Des Moines.

Shure as wrote:

You think "Good for them for fighting" was a compliment? OK, it was what one would call a "left handed compliment." Like patting them on the head. "Nice try girls." "Good for them for trying to keep up with me but I knew it was a losing effort because there's no way they could touch me." I have a daughter and she listened to the interview. Girls are much more subtle in their digs than guys are and read more into words. My daughter said it was a crap thing to say.

Left handed??? You mean backhanded....

That said she made some weird comment about Jenny's one indoor race and no competition being allowed. Sounded like a dig at her.

I am going to respond twice, maybe thrice. The first, right now, is before watching the Flotrack interview or reading this thread. The second will be after I watch the video to see how big of an a$$ I am. :)

My guess is there will be nothing negative said about Jenny and that Shannon is just showing some high levels of confidence, as I mentioned on the USATF thread yesterday.

*Dear God, Shannon, don't make us look bad!*

Still haven't read the thread: so I apologize for repeat comments.

The comment about Jenny's indoor race was a little pointed, IMO. Why would you need to say that regarding an AR performance? Who cares who she was racing, she ran faster than any American woman ever.

That being said, everything else seems fairly typical SR. FWIW, she DOES believe she won (or should have won) that dive for the line last year with Jenny. You can hate her for that opinion and she may look foolish betraying it (though I honestly don't think she did, she simply made a subtle remark that could be construed many ways), but she's not wallowing in it. The question was regarding that race so she responded. I'm still in love with her.

She looks like the type of woman that would be a Democrat

Mundus Vult wrote:

I am actually glad you wrote this. I had suspected that there was some latent chauvinistic, gender bias at play here with you and the rest of the detractors on this thread.

I am usually the last guy to play a gender card but if a male athlete said the same thing "I knew I could win from 600 meters out but good for those guys for trying to beat me," it would be viewed in a totally different light. Male athletes call their shots, predict victories, stare down their opponents, talk about the size of their balls, etc and we cheer for them.

Women athletes are somehow how supposed to win, stay beautiful, be nice and then get out of the way and shut up when they are no longer relevant.

I have no doubt your daughter agreed with you.

I am honestly sorry for blowing up this thread. My handle kind of betrays my reasons. :/

Anyway, this is POD. And, if you showed both cases to Shannon, she would agree with this 100%. And be sad for that dude's daughter. However, against the point, so would Lauren Fleshman and Kara Goucher and I hate them. Jenny would agree with the OP, agree with the dude's daughter, and she would still sound like she is talking smack because she too is confident bordering on arrogance. And I don't mind one damn bit.

Does any of this new attitude have to do with that horrid bright pink lipstick she's been wearing?

I agree Mundus Vult. Shannon has strength and confidence. This is racing, not Miss USA Pageant. She knew she was the class of that race, I loved her expression at the tape and the sidelong glance after!

row row rowbury your boat wrote:The comment about Jenny's indoor race was a little pointed, IMO. Why would you need to say that regarding an AR performance? Who cares who she was racing, she ran faster than any American woman ever.

Are you saying that a Nike sponsored athlete is upset that New Balance used undue influence to benefit one of their athletes?

I watched the video and didn't see what you were talking about. All she said was she wanted to race Simpson again after her by-a-hair loss to her in Zurich last year. Also, when she said she was surprised by people fighting for the lead with her with 600 to go, I took it to mean with more than a third of the race to run, people are usually not fighting for the lead.

Mackey has a bigger kick and closed more ground than Rowbury. I don't mind the smack talk , but what stuck out in the interview is Rowbury's jaw looks bigger , and horsey-er .

Shure as wrote:

You don't get it - a class act will be full of confidence but will never trash their competition. You say something like, "I was really happy with my race, I executed as planned, I felt great..." but then throw a compliment to the competition as well. Keep the focus on you and keep it positive. Rowbury is running great but I think Jenny will always have her number.

No, you don't get it. These women all know each other pretty well; and this is indoors, so Shannon very likely knows what kind of shape her friends are in and was just being frank. This being LRC, no athlete can win or lose with the trolls here.

" The only race Jenny did this season, no one else of quality could be in it"

Ouch, so whoever was in Jenny's 2 mile indoor record was of low QUALITY? I can't decide if the trash talking, IDGAF attitude is sexy or a turn off, im confused but I've never wated to f'u'ck her more

It seems like there are some people here defending what Rowbury said that also attacked what Andy Vernon said. Hypocritical.

Great athletes like Shorter, Pre, Federer, Serena, Lindsey Vonn gain a competitive edge by believing that they will win and letting their competition know. Blaming Rowbury for self-confidence invites egalitarian mediocrity. Jenny combines swagger and charm, as did Pre. When Viren won, he smirked and didn't dole out insincere praise. He knew where he stood. Nice guys and gals finish last.

Have no issue with what she said. She's fit, strong, and was a straight shooter with her comments.

But please stop with the crazy tranny pink lipstick. What is up with that?