Liar Liar wrote:
Just read an article about Tyson fabricating information and quotes to fit his slanted agenda. Very doubtful that he ran 4:25 for the mile on a track. As a scientist, he should know that the burden of proof is on him to provide evidence of his time if he's going to brag about his athletic ability back in the day.
What does any of that have to do with him being a scientist? Your post makes no sense.
to play devil's advocate wrote:
To play devil's advocate, I started running indoor track in order get in shape for baseball.
I got down to 2:06 indoors for 800 while still considering myself a baseball player. At that point I decided to switch to track and that outdoor season ran 2:03 and 4:30.
If I'd stuck with baseball essentially I'd have been a 2:06/4:45-ish guy who runs to get in shape for baseball. This was as a sophomore. I could see someone being a 4:25 miler as a senior while still considering track their second sport.
It's plausible, just not very likely, especially when you consider that his name is absent from any of the PSAL races you'd have expected him to run/place in back in the mid 1970s. Doubtful he ran 4:25 in an actual race, and in my opinion, only a little more likely that he ran that time at all for a full mile under any circumstances.
I don't know whether he did it, but I do know that plenty of wrestlers are in shape to run well under 5:00 for the mile, because the training is intense and often endurance/speed specific. In Hell Week, during XMas break, my wrestling team would practice about six hours a day, beginning with multiple all-out sprints up an incredibly steep hill--about 150m maybe, which would have many of the wrestlers puking, and then we would have to run up half of the hill carrying another wrestler on our shoulders. Following that, we would move over to the steps on campus and run a series of maybe 600m loops up a series of steps and around campus. Then we would do weight-lifting or actually start wrestling practice, which would be hours of practicing moves and wrestling each other, with something like 700 pushups and 1200 situps interspersed throughout the day. The temperature would be high in the wrestling room and the exercise physically wears you out. There were several guys who'd usually beat me at the hill sprints and the steps, though I'd catch them on the loop around campus, but I'd be willing to bet that one guy could have run a solid mile. At the time, I was only about a five minute miler. But the practices were far harder than any track or xc practices.
Quick internet search didn't find much on his mile time, but he did do an interview where he talks about his dad being the 5th fastest 600 yard runner in the world in 1946. If his dad had that kind of ability then I don't doubt that he could run a 4:25 mile.
Heres the link to the interview
http://tengerresearch.com/learn/interviews/neildtyson_text.htm
It reminds me of my father, in fact I carry this example with me to this day. My father is 5’10”, lean and muscular, as opposed to bulky and muscular, a cross between a rock climber and a gymnast. He was in junior high school. He’s there on the line as you line up for gym class and the gym instructor is describing what kind of body types are suitable for different activities in the track and field. That’s kind of what makes track and field interesting because you can have different kinds of talent sets that reveal themselves in different events. So he said publicly in front of all the other students, “Take Cyril Tyson’s body for example, that would not make a good running body. He’s not built for running.” And my father said, “Nobody’s going to tell me what I can’t do.” So he took up running just because the guy said this. In 1946 (my father) had the 5th fastest time in the world for the 600-yard run. 5th fastest time in the world! So if you want to talk about resolve, he did that just out of spite!
"I'm sure he gets pounded with emails daily"....."Maybe if we all send him one with the same Subject he'll read them?"
You sir are a jerk
dril wrote:
Not interested in watching shows that present "evidence" to support nonsensical theories.
I agree. Jesus has all the answers. My daddy wasn't no monkey.
My advice to anyone seriously contemplating a career in scientific research is learn how to do marketing. When one is competing against others for research grants, one'd better have the skills to sell oneself and the research team.
Every chief investigator is essentially an administrator of a research team. If one is prominent enough to be on the shortlist of Nobel Prize candidates, one'd better hire an PR consulting firm because there are thousands of little guys looking for the slightest opportunity to take down a big shot, in hope of gaining fame.
Tyson, as director of Hayden, is no different.