Oh no! I've become scrambled!
Oh no! I've become scrambled!
Whoops--that link was a parady. Sorry. Please forgive me. I guess Landover Baptist Church has a sense of humor sometimes when I don't expect it. The following link is not a parady--but it is sort of sad if you think of it too much.
I think Ah is right, something must change at the junior level.
DIII Coach wrote:
You know when I first started reading Ah's posts I really wanted to punch him in the face, but now that he (and my bet is that it's Malmo) has come "into focus",
DIII coach, never place a bet unless there is a resonable chance at a favorable outcome.
wow...opinionated people getting pissed about running...no damn wonder the rest of the world hates americans...the only shit we can find to argue about is tidbits that are slightly related to running.
Ah is right wrote:
I think Ah is right, something must change at the junior level.
I'm glad someone have common sense on this board. Think of it as investment of money. If two people start off with $10,000 each, and after many investments four years later, Investor A now has $100,000 and Investor B has only $15,000, given all things equal for the next 4 years you can't expect Investor B to catch up to Investor A.
My point is that the flaws at junior level is too big to overcome in the current level of world distance running. Most of you are clueless when it come to other country junior programs and how they operate. They train their junior talent under the most talented coaches as opposed to racing. American race their junior talent more so as opposed to training.
It would take an incredible and innovative post college training program to overcome the junior level deficiencies now serving our junior youth through the 3rd rate high school system. It's simply not going to happen.
Happy New Jahr.
Yea, I know telling people to quit probably isn't something people want to read. But my point is that the current strategies employed in the current training system in this country are basically useless in reaching the world-class levels that everyone dreams about. There has to be major changes made FIRST, at all levels, primarily the junior level because that level provides the critical physical and psychological foundations of base training needed to succeed at the world class levels in senior level years. If you don't already have the junior level system consistently cranking out athletes competitive at the junior world level then it's irrelevant about the kinds of problems the senior level athletes may have that they think restricts their access to those current unreachable levels. For example, why would sponsors want to provide funding for a system where senior runners are already starting in the hole from their junior level training experience? For example, money at the senior level isn't going to fix the problems already associated with the junior level. There's plenty of money budgeted at the junior level through the school system virtually year-round. But the funded junior level training system is useless and more destructive as it does not incorporate strategies that are necessary for appropriate junior level development consistent with our competitive world counterparts.
So where does the initiation process begin to bring about world class competitiveness and popular interest back into the American sport? You've got to begin by diminishing high school monopolization or year-round coaching control of athletes that have both the interest and the talent to succeed at the world junior level. You've got to have special clubs or training centers accessable to junior elites where they can get together on a frequent basis to train together under QUALIFIED professional coaches. Since successful high school athletes are most likely to attribute all their success to their high school coach, abandoning the system that they thought helped them succeed isn't a likely scenario, even though it is that same system that will eventually lead to their demise at the next level.
High school athletes who engage exclusively in their school cross country, indoor track, outdoor track, and summer conditioning programs year after year have virtually zero chance of ever acquiring the training base levels necessary for development to the current world-class levels. That means either programs have to implemented that are too lucrative for elite high school runners to pass up, or both cross country and indoor track would have to be eliminated as sports at the high school level, and where outdoor track was only about 12 weeks in length. This would open up the market for outside interests to implement and develop youth level programs that are not associated with the scholastic program.
Until the demise of high school monopolization, you will never see the American system consistently crank out competitive world-class juniors. And as an unfortunate result, you will continue to see world-class senior wannabees mired in fruitless attempts at overcoming their junior level deficiencies that inhibits their dream of becoming a successful world-class competitor.
my bad Malmo...
next time you're in Kent, I owe you one at Ray's Place
bring your own bike
I agree with Catman, it's the f***ing milk
Aspiring American Distance Runners,
Don't buy into skinny's BULLSHIT argument. He's not only dumb, he's dishonest.
1)Look at what he says:
"Why do blacks (specifically with East African heritage) DOMINATE sprinting to an astonishing manner??"
Skinny- learn geography, you stupid ass. The countries in East Africa--Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan-- don't DOMINATE sprinting. If you were trying to refer to black americans, most of these people are the descendants of West Africans. That said, why don't West Africans dominate in the sprinting events? Why don't Brazilians of african descent dominate? If the reason were truly genectic and not environmental (not enviromental like air you moron, but environmental as in external to the human subject,i.e. NOT genetic) you wouldn't see this geographic variation.
2)Look at who he quotes:
Skinny- I checked your sources. The Washington Post article YOU cited (High-Altitude Breathing May Be in One's Blood, Dec 23, 2002http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27096-2002Dec22.html) refutes YOUR BULLSHIT argument. The authors of the study concluded that,
QUOTE "Efforts to find a genetic explanation have been dismal failures,' said Dallas cardiologist Ben Levine, an expert in exercise medicine. 'My personal opinion is that these successes are cultural. A distance runner in Ethiopia or Kenya is a national hero.'
In an online article to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Beall's team reported on 300 people living in the Semien Mountains about 300 miles north of Addis Ababa. Testing showed they had neither elevated red-cell concentrations nor low levels of oxygen saturation in their blood -- two key indicators of the Andean model.
'We were stunned,' Beall said. 'The Ethiopians are finding the same amount of oxygen we find, even though the amount of oxygen in the air they breathe is two-thirds of what we have at sea level."END QUOTE
The other piece he referenced was by Jon Entine
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0657.htm
. The last time I checked, Entine was not a population geneticist, an exercise physiologist, a biologist, a doctor, or even a nurse. Jon, like you, is exploiting America's obsession with race. Has Jon conducted any experimental or even observational scientific studies on athletic performance? NO. He's talking out of his ass. And so are you. Sorry. I take that back. You're talking out of HIS ass.
Why are American distance runners lagging behind the Kenyans, the Ethiopians, the Moroccans, The Spaniards, the Japanese and many other nations? I really don't know. But I wouldn't write off the state of American distance running to misinformed arguments about race and genetics. Unfortunately, it seems that many of our distance runners have internalized these negative messages. I'm tired of seeing American distance runners all but concede a race when they see that someone African has entered. That's bullshit. Shorter,Mills, Rodgers, Salazar, Pre-- all those guys kicked ass. They weren't cowering in fear because "the blacks have better genes."
It makes me ashamed to hear your argument, Skinny. It's no wonder why we can't get the American people excited about distance running. No one loves excuse grubbing whiners!! If we could put down the Krispy Kremes, the excuses, the damn X-boxes, the remote controls, and learn from our glorious running tradition, we might be OK. It might also help if we paid and respected our runners. Busting your ASS for YEARS and not getting respect/money is f***ing demoralizing. The worst scrub in the NBA makes more than your average 13 and change 5k man. And yet there's hope. McCardle, Ritz, Torres, Culpepper, Goucher-- folks are coming up, it just takes time (and money).
DONE