Failed to medal at Olympics, letsrun would call him washed up
Forgot that he's an "American born" white dude. Gault + the brojos would let us know every time he finished 8th in a diamond league but was the true winner in their eyes.
You know, I'll admit it when I first heard of Pre, I didn't get what all the hubbub was about. But the more I grow, the more I realize how much we missed Pre's voice.
He would have hated Nike.
He would have HATED Salazar coddling of Galen Rupp, shuddered over comparisons between him and Rupp over the years and lamented about how if runners are in bubble wrap all the time how can they ever be tough?
He would have stood up for athlete rights.
I miss him.
Knight would have built Nike around Pre and Pre wouldn’t thought any of that stuff about other runners. Where are your comments coming from? He didn’t like the AAU or Harold Norpoth, but that was about it. I don’t see any reason to think would have become a “Get off my lawn” type of guy. He was an extremely charismatic guy that got along well with other people.
Did you really get that meaning from my post?
Pre was known for visiting prisoners to help rehab them. He openly criticized wealthy, powerful people.
Back then, Nike was a small company and if you read Bowerman and the Men of Oregon you'll see that Onitsuka (Tiger) were the big bad guys. I agree that Pre would hate what Nike became- and I mean the situations like at Indoor Nationals when they disrupted the women's 3000.
He also raced- really raced- a lot more than the typical Nike athlete does. He didn't duck anyone (no pun intended). Remember they ran dual meets back then in college.
Make no mistake Craig Virgin was one of the premier runners of that era
ncaa Xc d1 winner
World Xc 2 x winner
countless other big races
Virgin is close to my age. He was very underrated- World Cross Gold. The 1980 boycott hurt him. By 84 he was battling injuries and could never get back to where he was.
Pre was also "cool" Virgin was more laid back.
Careers were also shorter back then- we used to think athletes were old by the time they were 32 or so.
It really is interesting to wonder how social media would change perception back then.
I actually remember thinking Malmo was very cool based on Runners World and what little publicity there was. I was a Pre fan and I liked Liquari more than Ryan. I remember as a 12-15 year old thinking that Liquari was cool and Ryan was kind of nerdy.
Back then, Nike was a small company and if you read Bowerman and the Men of Oregon you'll see that Onitsuka (Tiger) were the big bad guys.
Nike was shady from day 1.
Phil Knight tricked Onitsuka into the contract by pretending he had a company.
Then he destroyed anyone who was selling their shoes in other territories.
Jeff Johnson built the company, and when he requested a tiny pay increase Phil told him to kick rocks.
And the way he found out Onitsuka were looking for a new supplier (making them the 'big bad guy'): Phil Knight stole all of the paperwork from Onitsuka's CFO's (or similar C-suite title) briefcase when he briefly left the room to go to the bathroom.
Knight would have built Nike around Pre and Pre wouldn’t thought any of that stuff about other runners. Where are your comments coming from? He didn’t like the AAU or Harold Norpoth, but that was about it. I don’t see any reason to think would have become a “Get off my lawn” type of guy. He was an extremely charismatic guy that got along well with other people.
Did you really get that meaning from my post?
Pre was known for visiting prisoners to help rehab them. He openly criticized wealthy, powerful people.
Back then, Nike was a small company and if you read Bowerman and the Men of Oregon you'll see that Onitsuka (Tiger) were the big bad guys. I agree that Pre would hate what Nike became- and I mean the situations like at Indoor Nationals when they disrupted the women's 3000.
He also raced- really raced- a lot more than the typical Nike athlete does. He didn't duck anyone (no pun intended). Remember they ran dual meets back then in college.
I knew about Pre visiting prisoners but it would have been impossible for him to do much about it and if he could, it would have been close to being a full-time job. A couple of speeches or an op-ed wouldn’t get it done.
Salazar is not Nike and it’s ridiculous that Pre would hate Nike because their athletes don’t compete that frequently. That it might bother you doesn’t mean Pre would care.
As is the case for any great athlete, it wouldn’t have been his job to change the world. A sports legend turning into Jane Fonda is unheard of.
Almost impossible to compare athletes from back then to today's fragile era.
You're as right as rain. During Pre's era runners didn't dodge each other. They looked forward to their next race.
But you have to remember there was no above the table money for these guys back then like there is today.
So to borrow a term from this track 'n field era, those guys from the 50's, 60's, 70's & 80's were running on "Pure Hate." I put pure hate in quotes because they really didn't hate each other. Just during races. After races they had a reputation of being good beer buddies.
Is that a thing today? Or is it gone with the wind?
On one hand, he fits a lot of the LR lovefest: he's a mediocre, extremely overrated white man competing in a sport that is predominantly weirdos, creeps, and incels. He structurally avoids all of the usual things that LR hates (women, people of color) and would probably be seen as a mythical hero, again despite being extremely overrated.
On the other hand, he's outspoken and has a social conscience. So it's probably a wash.
On one hand, he fits a lot of the LR lovefest: he's a mediocre, extremely overrated white man competing in a sport that is predominantly weirdos, creeps, and incels. He structurally avoids all of the usual things that LR hates (women, people of color) and would probably be seen as a mythical hero, again despite being extremely overrated.
On the other hand, he's outspoken and has a social conscience. So it's probably a wash.
He was the Nick Symmonds of his day. The losers here would hate him.