Sean Brosnan’s “4:20 is not that fast” shirt is stupid

everyone's dad wrote:

That is his job description. His job is to win.

honestly, as a high school coach, it's part of the job, but it is not THE job.

You don't know what his job description is. Some schools focus on winning.

Darwin rules wrote:

You don't know what his job description is. Some schools focus on winning.

All teams have a focus on winning but it’s still only part of the job.

He absolutely said you’re not fast if you can’t run 4:20. Those were his words. He then explained it further on multiple occasions, but what most people are commenting about is the message could be said in a different, less offensive way.

It’s motivating if you have the capability his top runners have. It’s insulting if you don’t. Why not just say set no limits and make shirts and stickers that say that?

I wonder which shirt would sell better?

1) 4:20 isn’t fast

Or

2) Brosnan is a d!ck

Sounds like alot of coaches making alot of excuses why they don't have fast athletes.

He never said that. Please post the link... you're all BS

Manbearpig15 wrote:

Sounds like alot of coaches making alot of excuses why they don't have fast athletes.

Exactly. The coaching threads on Letsrun are unreal with jealous coaches who sit home on their laptops as the top programs are doing everything to reach their goals.

So brave hiding behind the keyboard. Imagine you put your energy into helping your team or athletes instead of posting negative stuff about a coach or athlete. It says a lot about yourself. It really does.

How is no one else realizing that this is an anti-drug message?

If you participate in 4:20 festivities, you will not be that fast. Side effects include hunger and lethargy.

This is once again why track isn't a popular sport. Some of its fans can't even take jokes or have fun without getting bent out of shape. The team obviously is aware their coach got criticized for the comment and they wear it as motivation for the team. I bet most of those kids will run 4:20 in that system. Its a good culture to buy into. Y'all need to quit being so soft and learn the value of trash talk which this is really not even when you break it down. From my perspective its the team defending their coaches opinion on his expectations of them and having a laugh about it. Its not targeting anyone in particular in a malicious way.

I appreciate the response. But I think there's a middle ground that's being left out. The alternative to making shirts saying "4:20 isn't fast" isn't necessarily giving everyone participation trophies and making shirts saying "4:20 IS fast." You can set high goals, and have a realistic conception of what 4:20 means (i.e. not much, if you aspire to be a top high school runner), and still not feel the need to rub other people's noses in it.

If I run a race, I try my hardest to beat the crap out of everyone else in the race. But if I win, I don't then turn around and greet all the other finishers by saying "WHY ARE YOU STILL RUNNING, I ALREADY WON THE RACE, BECAUSE I'M FASTER THAN YOU." They know that I'm faster. I demonstrated that by winning the race, not by telling them.

You can claim that wearing a "4:20 isn't fast" shirt is about what you believe, and not about the message it's giving to other people. But that's bullcrap. When you put something on a t-shirt, it's because you're broadcasting the message to others. If it's about your own beliefs and goals, you pin that on the fridge or above your bed, and let your legs do the talking.

I don't see anything wrong with broadcasting the message "4:20 isn't that fast" to all the teams. Its showing a little swagger and cockiness sure. But that's ok in sports. Its not at "Your move, Centro" level. And I still think that's ok.

We all know running is a sport you do when you're not good at anything else.

The hubris here is astonishing. Brosnan gives small )ick vibes.

Quakers Oats wrote:

harlinsdaler wrote:

Time will tell. Will NB talent phase out in 2-3 years? Or is there a system that will produce consistently for the foreseeable future?

It's not a system, it's a group of kids. Look at the roster beyond the 2023 class and who looks like they even have a hail Mary chance of being close to 9:00? Maybe Doshi? Then who? Unless he recruits a handful of the top tier runners, it's not looking promising. The current group were world beaters as freshman. Both Youngs, both Sahlmans and Cantu were all faster as freshmen than Doshi is as a sophomore. Who looks even remotely capable of 9:00 as seniors? Jonah Sloan, Nathan Porter, Jack Watson or Arnav Shetty? That crew looks to more of the lucky to get close to 9:30 crowd.

Noah Sloan (current 8th grader) maybe?

hunter wheres the coke wrote:

Quakers Oats wrote:

It's not a system, it's a group of kids. Look at the roster beyond the 2023 class and who looks like they even have a hail Mary chance of being close to 9:00? Maybe Doshi? Then who? Unless he recruits a handful of the top tier runners, it's not looking promising. The current group were world beaters as freshman. Both Youngs, both Sahlmans and Cantu were all faster as freshmen than Doshi is as a sophomore. Who looks even remotely capable of 9:00 as seniors? Jonah Sloan, Nathan Porter, Jack Watson or Arnav Shetty? That crew looks to more of the lucky to get close to 9:30 crowd.

My theory is that he held off on the recruitment he was doing so he could take a pro or college job after the Youngs graduate

I've heard rumors he is still putting the full court press on some top female talent. We'll see if he's able to keep the pipeline of recruiting moving along to replenish what they're losing.

what a joke smh wrote:

How many high school kids work their butts off to break 4:30 in the mile? And now you’re just diminishing their accomplishment?

Don’t tell them they’re slow in high school.

He didn't diminish anyone who has broken 4:30 in the mile. He didn't tell them they are slow. Context matters, Karen.

He is talking about at the national level. Name a 4:20 miler that is national class on the boy's side. Name one.

ligma wrote:

what a joke smh wrote:

How many high school kids work their butts off to break 4:30 in the mile? And now you’re just diminishing their accomplishment?

Don’t tell them they’re slow in high school.

He didn't diminish anyone who has broken 4:30 in the mile. He didn't tell them they are slow. Context matters, Karen.

He is talking about at the national level. Name a 4:20 miler that is national class on the boy's side. Name one.

Thank you for speaking for everyone who has broken 4:30. I’m sure you proclaiming he didn’t diminish them will make them feel better.

Whatever you think he was trying to say or who you think he was saying it to, the fact remains it was a crappy thing to say to the 99.8% who don’t break 4:20.

So far, the people in this thread defending Sean have called other people in this thread soft, weak, jealous, snowflake, slow, and maybe others.

Imagine if Elon Musk wore a shirt that said "150k salary isn't very much."

His runners are very highly trained. With that kind of training, 4:20 isn't that fast. But it's pretty fast for avg. HS team kids. Even 4:30 is pretty fast. I know many HS kids in my area in Queens maybe run 20 miles per week at most. I heard one group one afternoon complaining about having to run back to school after turning around. The school was only like 1.5 miles away.