Willis calls out Rupp

Not really cool wrote:

He sure did. Admit it.

zebra stripes wrote:

He didn't ripp Rupp. GTFO.

No. You are being dramatic. Willis thought he was going to have someone to push him and was disappointed that he didn't. In no way did he ripp on Rupp. You're embarrassing yourself.

Right. The thread is titled Willis calls out Rupp. Willis says he is disappointed in Rupp on Twitter. Sounds like Willis made a bad call.

zebra stripes wrote:

Not really cool wrote:

He sure did. Admit it.

No. You are being dramatic. Willis thought he was going to have someone to push him and was disappointed that he didn't. In no way did he ripp on Rupp. You're embarrassing yourself.

Look, by most accounts NW is a great guy and obviously he is also a great runner.

Similarly, we know Rupp is a great runner, and while maybe not as charming as NW, sounds like he is a nice enough chap.

That is not the issue at hand. The bottom line is that NW made a very unclassy move in calling out Rupp on twitter. Totally out of character and totally unnecessary.

warren all you can eat buffet wrote: The bottom line is...

Warren, you are a diehard Rupp fanboy. Not everyone is. Accept that simple fact. Try as you might, you cannot erase this DNF, or any DNF, from Rupp's race record.

I think it is clear to the sensible of LR that each is a great runner and each faulted here. Rupp disrespected the field and meet by dropping out of the race only to later complete a workout and NW publicly called out Rupp when he likely would've been better off keeping quiet.

The thing is, each did what he did because each is ultra competitive. You see this in these two especially, even though their personalities are so different. Rupp wants to become as good as possible and so dropping out seemed best to him, and NW wants to have excellent and honest competition and was upset that he did not.

As an aside I have personally met Willis and he is a great guy. Though he is incredibly kind you can sense an innate competitiveness, similar to that of Bekele which is very apparent in his interviews. Also NW has passed out after races on a couple of occasions; he is the ultimate competitor.

going gets tough... wrote:

Like when it got tough in the Olympics or World Champs, Rupp just quit...

Yeah, during Olympics he was suffering from hypothyroid, asthma, and allergies.

Illegitimate wrote:

Rupp disrespected the field and meet by dropping out of the race only to later complete a workout

Rupp only disrespected himself by dropping out. Doubt he was too proud, and obviously he disappointed some fans of the sport.

I don't need Willis to go out of his way to call this to my attention. NW's tweet reeks of insecurity and jealously. The fact that Rupp hasn't responded really does show that he is above the haters and not phased by them.

warren all you can eat buffet = A Duck, Rupp's uber-troll alter ego.

I don't know about you but every time I've felt a sharp pain while running that's been bad enough to stop inac the middle of a race has caused at least some sort of a hitch in my stride and wouldn't let me jog right off the track like it wasn't anything. I didn't see anything like that from my vantage point 10 ft in front of my tv. It also wouldn't be classified as nothing to worry about before I got it checked out.

Maybe someone that was there or someone with experience with a similar injury could quantify the amount of pain that the accused syndrome would cause but it looked to me like Rupp and AlSal got what they went there for and jogged off the track to finish up their day.

Rupp just quit because Willis was there?

Rupp quit because he didn't think he could win: his kick did not kick in.

Fari enough. I dont think Rupp could have won. Willis gapped him and finished very well. But I really don't think Rupp cares that much about losing a mile to a bunch of milers. His stated reason for running the race was to work on tactics. He has lost many miles over the years. Milers might care more because it is their distance and Rupp got hype coming in. But Rupp got that hype by running fast in the weeks prior. They did not do that. Rupp genrated something to talk about beofre the race. If Rupp ran a fast mile across town they might have been disappointed he did not race them. I think Rupp probably could have finished but I believe he probably felt a sudden pain and was afraid to kick and maybe lose his season. He probably should have decided to just go off the back and run it in at 60s but he made a quick decision. My immediate reaction was to question the decision and even if he just did not want to lose. But it is what it is and it sounds like Rupp may just be pretty careful. Willis should be proud of a good tactical mile win. If he is upset that others got more hype - well, he could have posted impressive times to get some hype for himself. If the other poster is right and Willis brought up a past race where he was 11th and Rupp dnf'd it seems pretty petty.

Not reAlly cool wrote:

Yes, it's great to win the race and kudos to him. But, if he wants attention for him or the sport, he could do something positive that garners more attention. Instead, he ripped Rupp. His choice. I am sure he and Rupp are generally nice guys. Willis made a bad choice here. I wish Rupp did not drop out but who cares if he ran later.

I like Nick Willis and certainly, he has the right to voice his opinion, even if I don't agree with it. And at the end of the day, it's one tweet (by the way, I have not taken the time to investigate Nick Willis' twitter and check out his entire tweet stream to get a sense of his social sensibility and the merits or ugliness of it), and there are plenty of other runners and professional athletes and celebrities tweeting vacuous, greedy or outright bad and unjust things.

That being said, when the news came out that it was cuboid bone syndrome/subluxation or something of the like, I took Salazar and company at their word and my theretofore questioning of their sincerity was remedied. Maybe Nick Willis would have done better to be more informed, as it seemed Rupp had a legitimate reason for pulling out of the race.

Illegitimate wrote:

The thing is, each did what he did because each is ultra competitive. You see this in these two especially, even though their personalities are so different.

I think you nailed it. The problem is that most of us can not relate to Galen and this is another example. Galen handled this situation in a fashion that most of us would be embarrassed by. Whether his decision was right or wrong is irrelevant. Most of us would be embarrassed with a DNF followed by a workout. Most of us can not relate to Galen Rupp. This means that when Galen does something special an AR or an Olympic Medal we do not give him the credit he deserves because he acts different than the way we would. He is a great runner and the worst ambassador for American Distance Running.

There was nothing classless about NW's tweet. If you think otherwise you are a Rupp fanboy with your panties in a bunch.

"Disappointed. The two times I've raced Rupp... two DNFs. Both times he still did a w/o after. #milrosegames?"

Daggy continues to just bless this thread with actual experience and reason.

marshfield high wrote:

daggy wrote:

Harland. I'm waiting to see if any other athletes who are as average as me have had the pleasure of becoming aquainted with, or being positively infulenced at a personal level by, Galen Rupp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fws3wgj7les&list=PL1665BD1468C52BA3

Enjoy

There's a reason they call it an "exception to the rule."

Seriously, let's start the list of people's positive DIRECT personal experiences with Willis vs Rupp. Even on an American board, the Willis thread could go for pages. The Rupp thread will end with "He got an Olympic silver, so STFU, brah."

Let's review Rupp's DNS/DNF record:

2010 Stockholm DL 5,000 - DNF

2011 Eugene DL 10,000 - DNS (warmed up, checked in!)

2011 Monaco DL 5,000 - DNF

2012 Lausanne DL 1500 - DNF

2013 Occidental 5,000 - DNF

2014 NB Indoor Games mile - DNF

(There are probably more. Add to the list and repost if you know others.)

It is only reasonable to conclude two things:

1. Rupp DNFs fairly frequently. (Do you think Willis, Lagat, Farah or any African runner has a DNF list like this?)

2. Rupp DNFs more frequently against legitimate competition than he does in time trials set up for him against college guys (the definition of Rupp-certified).