Official 2014 Chicago Marathon Live Race Discussion Thread

Coach Y wrote:

History teacher wrote:

It's called the windy city because of Chicago's politicians blowing hot air, not because it's windy.

Of course, it can be windy in Chicago, but it's not any windier than any other city in general.

Bear in mind that these guys are such simpletons that they probably think that residents of Philadelphia have sex with their brothers, that Boston is composed of beans, and that New York City really does physically resemble a Golden Delicious.

Except there is no real proof that The Windy City refers to Chicago's politicians. It sounds good though.

Rojo, I don't know what you were thinking in posting this or whether you realise how bad it sounds, but it reflects badly on both you and Letsrun (given your role in same, and that you're posting in an official capacity).

P.S. (If you have to post these kind of things, perhaps you could do it under an anonymous pseudonym, to avoid the impression that Letsrun endorses such attitudes.)

+1

Not that ESPN or some other more polished outlet would do better, but local TV is ... local TV.

History teacher wrote:

It's called the windy city because of Chicago's politicians blowing hot air, not because it's windy.

Of course, it can be windy in Chicago, but it's not any windier than any other city in general.

LOL. Are you kidding me?

8/10

runnerdave wrote:

Bekele, perhaps the greatest distance runner ever, and we totally miss the story of him dropping off the pace, his finish, his finish time.

Yeah, no kidding. When I noticed he was no longer with the leaders, I couldn't figure out what had happened without being told. I figured that either he'd dropped off the pace or evil eextratrrestrials had swooped down in a flying saucer and either kidnapped Bekele or zapped him with a laser beam. Thankfully I was able to piece the actual events together later.

Sciatica Road wrote:

History teacher wrote:

It's called the windy city because of Chicago's politicians blowing hot air, not because it's windy.

Of course, it can be windy in Chicago, but it's not any windier than any other city in general.

LOL. Are you kidding me?

8/10

you do realize thats actually why they named it the windy city...

I understand that they need to cater to the masses. But are the masses really curious about the weather every 5 minutes? It almost seems idiotic to think that anyone would be curious about how the weather will be throughout a 2-5 hour event. Here's a hint, it's not going to change much. And even if it was important, a simple on screen graphic displaying the weather and a quick comment by the commentators would have sufficed. Doesn't it seem weird that they have to cut to this one reporter at mile 1 every time weather information comes through?

Also, if they're catering to the 99%, why do they keep showing Paula Radcliff's unrealistic WR splits? Maybe for the early goings of the race, but when you're at mile 20 and there's a near 10 minute disparity between Paula's splits and what the women are actually running, it's like your advertising how "bad" they are doing.

And finally, I don't mind showing the other runners. I encourage it. Have more camera men on bikes and go back to 20th place sometimes, I don't mind at all. But at least 75% of what was shown on TV was literally empty streets. Empty! Not even a so called 99%er was shown. Just reporters speaking nonsense. This is insane coverage of an event for ANY person. Even if I wasn't a running fan I would think "what the hell is going on here?"

Come on! The guy set hImself up for it! Athletics is not a platform for politics, religion, race and sexual orientation.

LOL. Back in the the day, they originally named it the windy city for one reason, and one reason only.

The WIND.

"And now, let's go down to Jill at mile 14 for an update on....(get this)....THE WEATHER."

Thank you NBC for allowing us to watch the race in short segments onhttp://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/Watch-the-2014-Chicago-Marathon-272105781.htmlYour 6 segments on unchanging weather were needed and helpful.all three weatcher analast were energetic and telling us the things we could see.Joan Benoit Samuelson and Dathan Ritzenhein were able to speak for 30 seconds without being interrupted.We were able to see the men's race with great detail.We only saw the women's race in 2 minute clips every 4-5 km.Tony Reavis was well informed and brought history and great information about the runner's stories and training. Gem of the broadcast.Coach Eyestone's analysis on form helps to bring a focus on the mastery and excellence of elite running. He inspires me want to try a local race.

runnerdave wrote:

Just put in my 2 cents about the pukey race coverage. Perfectly consistent in missing every break in the race. What a joke. I wonder if Reavis, Ritz or Eyestone read these remarks. The whole thing is embarrassing. Bekele, perhaps the greatest distance runner ever, and we totally miss the story of him dropping off the pace, his finish, his finish time. Egads. The coverage was an abomination. But every year Chicago has this super-lame coverage. Talking to some nobody in the crowd while missing the best runners in the world battle it out. And we're supposed to feel lucky about seeing anything at all.

Do you actually work for them?

If you are serious, -35/10.

We don't want to watch NBC cover marathons anymore. No Oly Trials. No Boston. No New York. Nada.

Did everyone hear that hilarious part where the commentator and Joanie kept speaking at the same time and then pausing to allow the other to speak? If happened like 4 times in a row, I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Bleu wrote:

Come on! The guy set hImself up for it! Athletics is not a platform for politics, religion, race and sexual orientation.

I'm guessing your not gay, therefore not in the minority. The reason homosexuality has become somewhat normalized, is because those in the minority had the courage to stand up for what they were. You can belittle that courage, as regressives such as the blojos and yourself will always do, but not to long ago standing up your sexuality had He has a lot of terrible stories like these, but I mean, these people grew up believing all there is to life is what they're told. My dad had no conception of how night-and-day works, or why seasons change, up until my brothers and I explained it to him when we were growing up. He's really a very intelligent and sensible man, but he grew up in a small village that he says didn't even have a school until he was in his early 20s. He's so enthralled by all of the science videos that are geared towards children, and he always calls me up to explain how something or another works, and even though I'm well aware of most of the things, I just let him explain them to me haha. He's been watching a lot of videos about dinosaurs and archaelogy lately; that, and John Wayne, as always. A happy story is that he went to "the city" when he was thirteen or so, and some stranger bought him ice cream. It was the first time he'd ever had ice cream, but it must have left quite an impact on him, because he's still really obsessed with ice cream and always buys people ice cream as an act of endearment. He really turned out to be a pretty cool, normal fellow!harsh consequences. the change in attitude for people like yourself isn't from the heart, rather it is a fear of being made a minority yourself. So you the blojos, the conservative Christians will all accept homosexuality in the next few years, and try to pretend you were always on there side

i award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.

Coach Y wrote:

History teacher wrote:

It's called the windy city because of Chicago's politicians blowing hot air, not because it's windy.

Of course, it can be windy in Chicago, but it's not any windier than any other city in general.

Bear in mind that these guys are such simpletons that they probably think that residents of Philadelphia have sex with their brothers, that Boston is composed of beans, and that New York City really does physically resemble a Golden Delicious.

Hi. Just want to say thanks for this great message board discussion, as always. I do have one small bone to pick. I'm from Philadelphia and I want to speak for myself and several of my friends: we do indeed make love to our brothers here in the city of Brotherly Love.

Just tuning in to the post-race coverage. Can anyone tell me anything about the weather? How are things looking back at the 1-mile marker?

rojo wrote:

Dewey_Runner wrote:

Yikes, Matt Llano 2:17:43, so much for that American debut record.

A new world record for a gay athlete. ;)

-Rojo

PS. We have so many other categories it's only a matter of time before that's one as well.

Come on Rojo. Join the rest of us in the 21st century. It's pretty much you and the rednecks who still hold opinions like this.

HardLoper wrote:

The Berin Marathon was on national TV there, this is just a local Chicago station

When I served in the Army it was in Germany. During the summer you would get to watch track and field coverage all the time on regular tv. There is a reason the diamond league is in Europe. They like T&F over there. The general public does. Same thing in Japan.

Are you referring to his 'policy' of firing employees that go under 2:30? Because I thought that was funny. God forbid that under his 'official' capacity that Rojo makes a joke. He was obviously not serious. Now if you're referring to his comment on Matt Llanno, that didn't quite hit the mark. That was slightly in poor taste; I was rooting for Matt and was hoping he'd be closer to 2:10. He must have really blew up.

Sair wrote:

Rojo, I don't know what you were thinking in posting this or whether you realise how bad it sounds, but it reflects badly on both you and Letsrun (given your role in same, and that you're posting in an official capacity).

P.S. (If you have to post these kind of things, perhaps you could do it under an anonymous pseudonym, to avoid the impression that Letsrun endorses such attitudes.)

I really like Tony Reavis as a commentator. He knows of what he speaks and has a great blog for those interested. Tony - are you reading this? If so, I hope you are able to go back and watch the entire race coverage because it was REALLY BAD. Tony's been writing recently about the difference between marathons run as competition vs. the scripted world-record time trials. But in the end, this race coverage was void of both. They succeeded in missing everything - except the finishes, which we might as well see on some video posted later. I got up at 5:30 on the West Coast and now wish I had slept in. Tony - can you do something about any of this? Sure, the mass media couldn't care less about us serious fans, but do they actually have to cause us pain and torture????