Hey OTC, Sit + Kick = Cheap, Boring

It raises the overall level of competition, which would require thinking about more than just one's own myopic, immediate personal best interests. Maybe you can't fathom why anyone would think that way.

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=17796

narcissistic much? wrote:

It raises the overall level of competition, which would require thinking about more than just one's own myopic, immediate personal best interests. Maybe you can't fathom why anyone would think that way.

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=17796

A runner in a race is ALWAYS going to be thinking about his/her own interests, as you put it in so many words, as if you were strengthening your point by drawing out your sentences.

Rupp would not have raised the level of anything had he led. Instead of being in the pack at 4:50 pace, he would be in the lead at 4:50 pace. Big whoop.

You know, the Championships will always be just that, with no rabbits, and nothing on the line but titles and placing. Given those two facts, all concerned will always play the hands they're dealt as shrewdly as they can in hopes of maximizing their chances and minimizing the chances of others. No one in recent memory has been there with the adgenda of doing a service for the others in the race except Fam a tear ago when he pushed the 5000m pace knowing quite well that minimized his chances of winning.

Now whether this makes for good television is another matter, and I don't think it is on the athlete to worry about putting on a viewer-friendly performance.

Whether ESPN or other broadcasters' lack interest in T&F

is a result of the tactical nature of championship distance races is debatable. Grown people by the millions sit mesmerized nightly watching other people PLAY POKER

on TV. So,a word to the "makes for bad TV" crowd out there: the bar has not been set all that high.

Agreed. Anyone who claims to know with any confidence what makes for 'good tv' should get an application out for a job to some station and service out their clairvoyance for a hefty sum.

This is not a championship season---no Olympics or WCs--so the importance of this meet is highly reduced compared to other years. Most of the athletes determined that it's best to try and collect a win with the least amount of disruption in training, and concentrate on running fast later in the season.

Exactly. A pacemaker is in a sacrificial position, and in non-championship races where fast times are desired, the person assuming that role goes home with a little something to show for it. With no Olympic or WC team to make, there is only one prize out there: the win, and any competitor is going to pursue the strategy he/she deems most likely to produce that result. In a race among equals or near equals, that result seldom the product of setting the pace early on.

You may have noticed during the coverage of the 1500m, the commentators mentioned that Centro's dad was himself a 3-time national champion at 5000m. Not a word about the less-than stellar times he ran while winning them with a blistering kick off pedestrian pace. He is a three-time national champion, period.

Also, with no national team to make, many potential champions gave the whole thing a pass, because there is no desirable ticket that needed to be punched there.