why does everyone hate Rupp?

I am fairly neutral on Rupp, but if Nike is/has been furnishing his travels to big meets overseas, and his once a week trips to that indoor track to train, he shouldn't have been allowed to compete in the NCAA in the 1st place, and shouldn't be allowed to after the Olympics either (though I think he will likely go pro after this summer).

Well, I lost a lot of respect for him due to his comment aimed at Josh McDougal following the NCAA cross champs this fall.

Everyone and everything track is in bed with oneanother on Eugene and Beaverton, Oregon and it's f***ing up OUR sport, that's what I hate about this. Galen is just a pawn in this game, but the real problem is higher than Galen.

Anyone who has finished ahead of or near Galen Rupp should demand that NIKE flies them to altitude tents, indoor tracks, global meets, hires them masseuses, give him elite post-collegiate training partners, and so on.

I don't hate Galen for taking the million dollar chip. I hate NIKE for being dishonest. They have broken the rules, the University of Oregon has broken the rules, the USATF has slotted all the big meets for the next FIVE years to go to Oregon and blown off the ENTIRE country's voting interest.

It's so inbred all of a sudden. Good luck changing anything. NIKE/Phil Knight, U of O-Eugene, Galen/Salazar, USATF are all on the same page and run their agendas right down our throats. That's one of the major the underlying problems here.

Post the financial records. Go ahead. Make your case.

Rupp already had to pay fines back to the NCAA. Anyone else would lose eligibility.

He trains at Nike HQ (The NCAA has various rules of where and who you can train with), he flys across the country on a jet owned by Nike to workout once a week. Basically lived in the Nike altitude house with professional runners.

No records needed, those are the undisputed facts. This is the stuff thats made public. You are fooling yourself if you don't think there is more to the story.

Finally, a legitimate response. I can respect that.

People pretend as if Rupp has violated someone's rights. He's done absolutely nothing unethical (at least nothing has been demonstrated to be unethical, I certainly don't find using cutting edge and scarce training methods unethical), he's simply taken advantage of a situation he's found himself in.

Mtn Dew wrote:

He's done absolutely nothing unethical... he's simply taken advantage of a situation he's found himself in.

Interesting perspective...

eth·i·cal [eth-i-kuhl]

–adjective

1. pertaining to or dealing with morals or the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct.

2. being in accordance with the rules or standards for right conduct or practice, esp. the standards of a profession:

Just so you know.

You're exactly right, he has advantages that nobody his age has ever had (high school and college). He can somehow afford to take two terms off of school to focus on running while flying around the country and traveling just for training. What other college athlete can take half a year of school off to focus on their sport and then come back? He's gets all the benefits of being an amature and enjoys the training and racing of a professional.

Maybe it's not fair that everyone else isn't afforded the same luxuries.... but should he not train and compete at that level just to make other people feel better? No. get over it. He's fast and he's good and he looks a bit toolish, but he's not. He's a very hardworking tough kid. Let him go, he could be a great contender one day.

As I posted on another Rupp thread, I have nothing against the young man, but I don't like the "charade" of being a collegiate athlete (on-line courses, training in Portland and wearing a U of O jersey). I have no idea if he's breaking any rules, but I'd like to see him just turn pro for, at minimum, breaking the "spirit" of the NCAA system. At the same time, it's amazing how much unnecessary crap this guy gets.

There is a lot of speculation on these threads and even the assumption that he's flying in Nike's private jet. Rupp is getting to suck off of Nike's tit, but I have a hard time believing that they are letting the Salazar/Rupp camp use a company jet.

Regarding the Millrose games, many of you are also assuming that other collegiate athletes were turned away. Perhaps no other coach made the effort to get their athlete invited to Millrose. It's not the fastest track around, so many miler types might have chosen a better track to run fast on.

There are even a few of you trying to downplay how fast he's run for 10K, stating that there are "numerous guys that have run sub 28 in this country." Well, there were 9 last year and only 1 ran faster than Rupp. If you look at the all-time 10K list, Rupp's 27:33 is quite impressive (7th best American ever). Even without Nike or Salazar's influence, his name would open a lot of doors.

Finally, some of you who are still running competitively are wasting too much energy worrying about what someone else is getting. I would be willing to bet that all of you bitching and moaning about not having this or that, having to pay for your own shoes, riding the bus, etc. will never reach your full potential. One of the reasons I failed as a post-collegiate athlete (20 some years ago) was that I stopped having an internal locus of control over my own running success. I kept waiting for my "break" or thought I needed something that others were getting. If you want to be successful, quit worrying about whether or not Rupp is "cheating." Quit worrying about him getting access to Nike's facilities. Work your butt and make your own opportunities. If you run fast and beat good people, it'll open up all the doors of opportunity that you need.

What has Rupp done that's unethical? I'd like a list.

BossMan wrote:

So why hate? We SHOULD be taking the best runners we have and doing everything we can to make them better. I'm sorry if genetically that isn't you. Maybe in another life...

Genetics may give you a head start, but those brn slower don't have to stay there, never assume people can't do something because of how they are born.

Rupp did not pay "fines" to the NCAA. It's a perfectly clear and above the table situation with the payments he made.

You can't be a pro and be in the NCAA.

If the NCAA determines through their criteria a runner has accepted money above and beyond legitimate allowed expenses (like traveling expenses to New York from Portland, for example) then in order to compete in the NCAA, you have to pay that money back.

It'd be like if a runner accepted 500 dollars from a road race in the summer. If the NCAA found out, in order to be eligible, that runner would have to pay back the 500 dollars. It's not a "fine" is a "you're 500 dollars into the pro section, so give it back and you're an amateur again."

That's what Rupp did- the NCAA said "you got this much in pro money from the Oregon Project last year, so give back that much and you can run in the NCAA." He did NOTHING WRONG or ILLEGAL.

As for the other "advantages" I'd say stop whining about it. You don't think Stanford and Wisconsin and Colorado don't have advantages other schools don't? Sorry, Colorado. It's not fair that the school is located at altitude. Other D1 sea-level guys are at a disadvantage.

Sorry, Stanford, you're a wealthy school with great facilities. In fact, the Stanford track is too fast- you'll have to replace it with a cinder one.

For that matter, the Wisconsin coach is way too successful. That's not fair. You'll have to burn out more runners.

Come to think of it, I don't think it's really fair that Division I can give scholarships, but Division III can't. No more scholarships. Any athlete given a scholarship has to go pro now.

In fact, "pro" is really just "very fast runner." Any runners faster than me should have to go pro, because genetically speaking, they have advantages I don't have. It's not fair that I can run 90 miles a week just like Rupp and be lucky to avoid getting lapped by him in 5k. It must be EPO! It's unfair that Oregon has so many fast recruits. . .and all those Cali schools with nice weather year round have an unfair advantage over my poor, Northeastern located self.

I thought letsrun was anti socialist? What are the advantages Rupp has that other big program D1 athletes don't?

I dont think rupp has done anything wrong in the past. A lot of schools have their own advantages that give them an edge (altitude, great facilities, weather, great coaching etc.) And lets not forget that Rupp put himself in a position to get noticed by running the times he did in high school. Salazar taking rupp under his wing is no different than Wetmore recruiting another elite hs runner. He has paid back any money hes received from the Oregon Project. These things are not a big deal to me.

HOWEVER

I think its time for him to move on. He got his national championship as a team He had his chance for his own individual title. If his goal is to run amongst the pros then thats great and he should be commended but dont just do it for a year and then come back. If i were in his position I would not receive satisfaction to run at the olympics and worlds and then come back to try and run against weaker competition. If he wanted to train at Oregon and run college meets in preparation for trials than I would have no problem. But dont take off a semester and come back after running for half a year as a "pro"

I hope he changes his mind and decides to go pro but I wont knock him until he officially comes back to the NCAA

IN THE MEANTIME I THINK WE SHOULD BE SUPPORTING HIM AS AN AMERICAN ATHLETE REPRESENTING OUR COUNTRY AT THE WORLD LEVEL AND THE OLYMPICS

If he decides to come back to oregon, then we can call him an asshole

doesnotmatter wrote:What other college athlete can take half a year of school off to focus on their sport and then come back?

If you don't know any other collegiate runners who have redshirted leading up to an Olympic Games, that simply indicates that you only started following the sport sometime after the last Olympics.

But rational argument is entirely irrelevant to people who are dedicated to hating someone they've never met based on rumors and random snippets of misinformation. This article in the Times has a lot of relevance to this discussion:

blaze wrote:

Genetics may give you a head start, but those brn slower don't have to stay there, never assume people can't do something because of how they are born.

you can't be as good as galen with out good genetics, don't make it sound like everyone could run 13:37 as a junior if they worked hard enough

fall down drunk wrote:

Well, I lost a lot of respect for him due to his comment aimed at Josh McDougal following the NCAA cross champs this fall.

What comment?

Sources?

I'm just guessing here, but I do remember Galen sort of discrediting Josh's win as his own minor mistake of "going to early" or something. Although Josh raced the course a few times more...Galen still raced that very course several times. It seemed he just wouldn't give credit where credit is due.

I like Galen and think he's a huge talent, interesting personality and has a lot to offer our sport and country.