Lagat calls out Sam Chalenga on Twitter

El Keniano wrote:

TomHurtins wrote:

Bunch of triggered keyboard warriors. If Africa is so great why did they all leave? Why does every Kenyan who come into the NCAA system join the army or apply for citizenship instead of going back to Kenya after graduation? Because it's a bad country.

Excuse me? Many middle class Kenyans, myself included, attend University abroad. Majority of us return. Speaking for myself, in those four years, all I felt was homesick. I have no desire to permanently settle anywhere else but Kenya. But then again, unlike Sam and Paul, I'm not a man.

FTFY

El Keniano wrote:

TomHurtins wrote:

Bunch of triggered keyboard warriors. If Africa is so great why did they all leave? Why does every Kenyan who come into the NCAA system join the army or apply for citizenship instead of going back to Kenya after graduation? Because it's a bad country.

Excuse me? Many middle class Kenyans, myself included, attend University abroad. Majority of us return. Speaking for myself, in those four years, all I felt was homesick. I have no desire to permanently settle anywhere else but Kenya. But then again, unlike Sam and Paul, I'm not a villager.

They are triggered because Sam points out basic facts.

Snowflakes like Kebenei get mad when someone says America is better than Africa, while he lives here. Very hypocritical!

El Keniano wrote:

Excuse me? Many middle class Kenyans, myself included, attend University abroad. Majority of us return. Speaking for myself, in those four years, all I felt was homesick. I have no desire to permanently settle anywhere else but Kenya. But then again, unlike Sam and Paul, I'm not a villager.

Anecdotal argument, but:

I had 6 Kenyan teammates in college. Not one returned to Kenya after graduation. I knew many others from other universities, none of which returned to Kenya. All joined the army or are trying to find an American girl to marry for a green card. I cannot think of one Kenyan out of all that I knew who ran in university(about 15 Kenyans) who returned to Kenya after graduation.

Doesn't make them bad people, but it says something about the place they don't want to return to.

I know Lagat retired after the Olympics, but when was the last time he raced in Africa?

TomHurtins wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

Excuse me? Many middle class Kenyans, myself included, attend University abroad. Majority of us return. Speaking for myself, in those four years, all I felt was homesick. I have no desire to permanently settle anywhere else but Kenya. But then again, unlike Sam and Paul, I'm not a villager.

Anecdotal argument, but:

I had 6 Kenyan teammates in college. Not one returned to Kenya after graduation. I knew many others from other universities, none of which returned to Kenya. All joined the army or are trying to find an American girl to marry for a green card. I cannot think of one Kenyan out of all that I knew who ran in university(about 15 Kenyans) who returned to Kenya after graduation.

Doesn't make them bad people, but it says something about the place they don't want to return to.

My neighbour in Nairobi is American. Worked for an NGO for three years and when his contract ran out, pulled strings to get a year extension. After that ran out, he bought a parcel of land and married a local girl therefore getting permanent residency. Says something about America if people's go through such lengths to avoid returning.

Trackbot Bernard Lagat races

All of you guys are missing the point.

Yes they came to USA for a better life and nearly all feel bad that they had to do this. They have a certain amount of pride in their roots. They wish that things were different but will always be defensive of their homeland.

Hosting any global event is one of those things that help their homeland.

When one of their own is critical they should be called out. This is not a first offense from Sam which is why so many have jumped all over him. It is very telling that his brother joined the mob.

HardLoper wrote:

Lagat graciously ran for Kenya when he wasn't even a Kenyan citizen

I thought this post deserved a response.

That was a nice dig, referring to Lagat quietly becoming a US citizen in 2004 and then running for Kenya at the Olympics.

Yes, this was clearly a joke along the lines of, "The competition is so difficult in Africa that a good runner will be lucky to get 11th place. You might not want to run there if you want to finish higher than 11th place."

Diego is home wrote:

All of you guys are missing the point.

Yes they came to USA for a better life and nearly all feel bad that they had to do this. They have a certain amount of pride in their roots. They wish that things were different but will always be defensive of their homeland.

Hosting any global event is one of those things that help their homeland.

When one of their own is critical they should be called out. This is not a first offense from Sam which is why so many have jumped all over him. It is very telling that his brother joined the mob.

Add your name to the list of idiots that misunderstood and still misunderstand despite Sam clarifying many times over now.

Add you to the list of idiots that have never had a conversation with Sam.

Sam has a history and those of us who know him, know that.

keep it to yourself. Lagat had already been held out of the 2003 World's, at his peak, by Kenya after a positive A sample but before the negative and more accurate B sample test. So, he lost 2003 World's. Then had he declared his American citizenship in 2004, Kenya would have kept him from competing in the Olympics. His only consolation would be a better American record of 3:27, which he ran after the citizenship came through. Kenya went on to stop him from competing in 2005 World's because of the citizenship declaration. So, think about it, at the very height of his career, he wants to compete in the Olympics after being wrongly held out of World's, and to get a shot to beat El G, whom he beat in that 3:27 race, and you are saying he was evil for not declaring he was an American citizen immediately and being unable to compete in the Olympics? That's not right.

juicy miler wrote:

I know Lagat retired after the Olympics, but when was the last time he raced in Africa?

This seems like a pretty relevant question. I'm hoping someone can provide an answer. I've always been a Lagat fan, but I don't recall him racing in Africa in the past few years, but I could obviously be wrong.

Sam raced in Africa and voiced an opinion, which was admonished by Lagat. I would therefore assume that Lagat had brought his brand power to a meet in Africa recently (past 2-3 years) in an effort to boost the running scene/coverage. After all, actions speak louder than words.

Is that you Sam?

Sam Black Mzungu wrote:

Is that you Sam?

No. I'm a white guy in his thirties.

Seems like a lot of people are being oversensitive.

If some kid who was born and raised in Georgia made a less than flattering tweet about the South after returning to the general area for a competition, I'm pretty sure no one would be telling him to remember his roots.

Hard to know context from a single tweet, but judging by the reactions of people who are his acquaintances it seems like there may be more to it than just an ambiguous comment about the level of competition and race conditions. I would go with Rudisha's reaction that it was a dig at having the competition in Uganda which is unfortunate...

This was not what Sam was saying, but now that we have started the conversation:

In all honesty, which cities/countries in Africa could host the Olympics or a world caliber event? Maybe South Africa since they have the infrastructure in place from the world cup 2010. Other than that, I can't think of any other countries capable of hosting.

oh, calm down wrote:

Seems like a lot of people are being oversensitive.

If some kid who was born and raised in Georgia made a less than flattering tweet about the South after returning to the general area for a competition, I'm pretty sure no one would be telling him to remember his roots.

That's the problem. All this "remember your roots" junk is why Mexicans and Koreans that have lived in the US for 20 years still can't speak a word of English. Either come to be American, accept American culture, or stay in your own 3rd world filth.