That Webb article is a breach of professional decorum.

As some others have mentioned in passing, cursing and angry outbursts occur all the time in other sporting events. Whether or not it is "right" or "professional", an incident like this hardly seems like it would be out of the ordinary on the sideline of a football field. In fact, it doesn't take a professional lip-reader to pick out some of the choice words that follow turnovers and other mistakes in televised sports. Such actions rarely are rated as newsworthy. In fact, one of the biggest recent sideline stories, the Jay Cutler NFC Championship saga, probably would have never happened if Cutler had had thrown his helmet, cursed, etc, since that would have been considered a relatively normal reaction for someone in his situation. Perhaps it is different in track because so many runners are either easygoing and relaxed or relatively quiet regardless of the circumstance.

I found the article itself to be quite informative, but like many, many others on this thread, take issue with it being presented as purely factual. I'm glad to get a chance to hear what happens for professional runners on meet day, but it seems unnecessary to (explicitly or implicitly) bash Webb for behavior that would be considered borderline at worst in most sports. I can believe that LetsRun didn't intend the piece to be as tabloidesque as it was received, but they could definitely use some basic lessons in how to convey an appropriate tone. Likewise, while this is hardly the first time they've mixed straight reporting with opinionated editorializing, it's usually buried paragraphs deep in "the week that was". It was rather tasteless to put it front and center as a headline article. I hope the Brojos keep digging for stories that capture our interest, keeping the interesting and unique content but losing the attitude and learning to divide reporting and editorializing better.

"I ran an 8:56 3k in the 3rd of 4 sections of the 3k at the Yale Invite. I got edged out at the line. For some unknown reason that still baffles me today, I let out an F-bomb at the finish. Coach Bartold came up and told me to watch my mouth, but deep down I think he liked the competitiveness I showed."

- Weldon Johnson

http://www.letsrun.com/2006/collegesuck.php

Big ups to the person that posted the above quote by Weldon Johnson.

Weldon Johnson, an author of the article, did the same exact thing as Webb? Awesome. Seriously. Just awesome. I doubt anybody here now or ever will compare Wejo as a middle schooler because we all understand that these sorts of things happen to the best of us...Alan Webb included.

SomeActualData wrote:

"I ran an 8:56 3k in the 3rd of 4 sections of the 3k at the Yale Invite. I got edged out at the line. For some unknown reason that still baffles me today, I let out an F-bomb at the finish. Coach Bartold came up and told me to watch my mouth, but deep down I think he liked the competitiveness I showed."

- Weldon Johnson

http://www.letsrun.com/2006/collegesuck.php

That's only part of the story. The next day--THE VERY NEXT DAY--he was seen running again. This showed what great psychological struggles he was going through about his race, as if he felt that by working even harder he could get better.

That afternoon, the editor of the Yale newspaper did a much-needed front-page expose on the affair, explaining that it was for Weldon's benefit, to help him mature. (One of the editor's friends had noticed Weldon running that morning because he'd been hiding out in the bushes by Weldon's dorm.) Unlike Webb, Weldon appreciated getting the help he needed.

Alright, alright, now that their is proof of their hypocrisy, much like what happened in the Chicago marathon weather thread, we can rest assured Letsrun will not address this issue any further. Move along folks, nothing to see here. Nothing at all.

I watched the broadcast of the race shown Sunday on ESPN2. Webb did look upset after the race, understandably. As he was walking off the track he passes Lukas Verbicas and they traded a high five, well a low five I guess. I thought that was a pretty cool moment considering LV had attempted to break 4. It shows that Alan, as pissed and disappointed as he was, still showed some sportsmanship in acknowledging LV in that way. It was nothing big but does show that Alan took his frustrations out only on himself and was totally out of control like the article paints him.

Are you comparing a 20 year old collegian with a 28 year old pro that is paid by Nike to be a human billboard?

I miss the similarities.

What Webb did wasn't okay because of the fact that younger and impressionable people were watching him in shock. There are numerous people who saw this first hand and lost a lot of respect for the guy. I think that the issue is that it's just sad/pathetic for Webb to act this way but, I'm sure after the Brojo's have done such a great job hyping it, he'll either do worse or be more level-headed in that type of a situation in the future.

smd wrote:

That's only part of the story. The next day--THE VERY NEXT DAY--he was seen running again. This showed what great psychological struggles he was going through about his race, as if he felt that by working even harder he could get better.

That afternoon, the editor of the Yale newspaper did a much-needed front-page expose on the affair, explaining that it was for Weldon's benefit, to help him mature. (One of the editor's friends had noticed Weldon running that morning because he'd been hiding out in the bushes by Weldon's dorm.)

In the 1992 front page article of the Yale Daily News excoriating Johnson's embarrassing behavior, the editor of the Yale Daily News said he had a video camera at the scene, but didn't turn it on to record Wejo's tantrum because, "our goal is not to embarrass anyone."

And my question is, did he learn from his behavior back then when his coach told him to watch his mouth? Did he continue to throw "tantrums" after each race that didn't go well?

I read the article and I have to admit, I really didn't see anything wrong. Sure maybe it wasn't written the 'best' but so what? I think what made me believe this could have actually happened was seeing the video. Webb clearly was upset about his performance which is normal for any athlete who is hard on himself.

I think the people who said the LetsRun team viewed/reported too much into Webb's action is no different then the posters who are criticizing/depicting the article.

I think I've seen more 'negative' responses from posters on this site who like to beat down an athlete if they are not winning or did not deliver that day versus one article that the LetsRun team could not articulate as well as a professional journalist.

Malmo,

Despite calling me an obscene name a few weeks ago, I'll still say this was the best post I can recall reading on here in a while. Well done.

Conto, what obscene name did I call you and where?

Did you call him Michael Bolton?

Funny how we revere someone like Prefontaine for showing emotion and character and Webb is chastised for showing he gives a damn. Pre would have done (and maybe did) the exact same thing to Bowerman or Dellinger after a poor result but reporters either weren't around or chose not to report it.

In any case if it did happen it would have been a paragraph or two in Tom Jordan's book and we would have said it was another example of Pre's passion. Golden League wins and American Records were a result of Alan's passion and emotion.

Being professional doesn't mean you can't show emotion and when Webb spoke on camera he gave more time than anyone could expect. Despite being visibly disappointed he was composed and insightful and answered all questions in depth not being short or agitated.

Its good to see the number of responses here show that almost all support Webb and his passion. Good for Alan for taking the chance and laying it on the line despite not being as prepared as he'd like.

A little late to the part here, but really, where was the compassion from the blowjoes, as former runners, to understand the years and thousands of miles and recent years of injury and frustration Webb has been working through??

Now, it's all about what douche-nozzles we can be on the web...

I'll add to the votes of discontent, wearing my two different hats.

As a coach, I'm annoyed and almost embarrassed that Tom/Emory/whoever was stalking around, delineating every single little detail of what happened to an athlete, professional or not. It's a little creepy.

As a teacher, I am appalled at just how bad the article is. I know the Brojos are Ivy-league educated (Ok, business school, but still) but the writing and quality of thought is just so embarrassingly poor. Phrases like "putting a middle schooler to shame" are cringeworthy. I'd be embarrassed if one of my sophomores in high school wrote such a childish piece -- but a so-called professional running news site? How can you, as editors of this site, bear to have such poor quality writing on your web site? As educated as you are, doing this for as long as you have, you honestly let this thing go up as written? How?

And the real coup de grace is to then defend it as journalism. You can't write such amateurish crap, that looks like a 9th grader's attempt at editorializing in the school newspaper (No, honestly, it really does), and then defend it on journalistic grounds. Well, I guess you can; you did.

And Tom's defense about trying to "help" Alan Webb is nauseating. It's like the husband who derides and shames his wife or children publicly, and when called on his bullshit, claims he was "trying to help them see their error." As if. Pathetic.

Doesn't the fact that this subject was completely ignored in the "Week that was" article, other then a blip on the recommended reads make their defense of, "it was the most important news story from the meet", full of crap?

seems to me the brojos/mort/whoever have tucked their tail between their legs. since they clearly have reneged on their defensive stance.

Did they at least apologies to Webb, the other competitors and all of their readers for the article?

Stop wasting your time on his tantrum. Yes, he needs to control his emotions better. But this bullsh!t isnt going to teach him a lesson. Let Al Sal or Ray Flynn be his mentor. You guys keep bringing us the stuff to help get USA Distance back to the top level (like Russell Brown kicking butt) or just let Flotrack continue to take the thunder from you.

Hopefully AW can use criticism from the press to stoke his fire, a la Seb Coe in 1984.

wejo wrote:

I guess only in the hard core running world are Michael Phelps and Alan Webb considered to be equals.

Except that Michael Phelps could fill a filing cabinet with his Olympic gold medals, and Alan Webb... well, he probably still has that medal from Penn Relays or his indoor HS mile.

Look, Alan Webb can walk faster than I can run, but he's incapable of competing at the world level. He can run fast (time trial), but so can lots of people.

The difference is the guy (e.g. Lagat) who comes to an international race fearing no one (although respecting all). You can practically see Webb quivering and quaking in fear.

He's done. His head is his weak spot. He's imploded beyond repair, there will never be a full recovery.