Head Case wrote:
JMac is a head case only rivaled by Wheating and Alan Webb on his worst days.
How is he a head case? I've always thought he was just another middle-of-the-pack runner, whose best days were behind him. He's not slow b/c he's a head case. He's slow because he's slow.
Am I missing something?
Run rabbit, run! wrote:
usnspecialist wrote:I agree, I have to admit I doubted McNamara would actually push the pace but he did (for a lap at least). Blankenship finished .02 under the standard in 3rd, so it was pretty much mission accomplished on that point, they just couldnt close the deal.
Huh? This sounds like redefining the mission to me. JMac and the other B-Teamers wanted to go out fast so they could get the standard and make the team. Now you are saying they just wanted to rabbit for the A-Team.
I must be missing something here. What is it?
The mission was that if you came in top3, you went to the games. The odds were definitely against them but at least they gave it a shot. The fact that they closed in 60s instead of 56s doesn't change that.
As someone in another thread said, that is not taking a shot. That was like a 10 year old sprinting off the line of a major marathon to get some attention. Without Wheating, those three guys were the last three finishers in the race. "Gave it a shot." They set themselves up to give up and jog in.
racer II wrote:
As someone in another thread said, that is not taking a shot. That was like a 10 year old sprinting off the line of a major marathon to get some attention. Without Wheating, those three guys were the last three finishers in the race. "Gave it a shot." They set themselves up to give up and jog in.
Amen!
I'm starting to think "At least they gave it a shot" is the elite version of a participation medal.
racer II wrote:
As someone in another thread said, that is not taking a shot. That was like a 10 year old sprinting off the line of a major marathon to get some attention. Without Wheating, those three guys were the last three finishers in the race. "Gave it a shot." They set themselves up to give up and jog in.
And what would you rather they do? When the best case alternative is something like go through 800m in 2:10 and sprint home 3rd in 3:40 and watch the games on TV. The odds of making the team by leading are almost 0. The odds of making the team in a slow race (the standard championship race) are 0. Those are sucky choices.
There is a reason why these guys don't have the qualifer. They haven't been good enough during the last year or so. Even in a perfectly rabbited race (much less one after 2 rounds with no rabbit) the odds of them being able to hit the standard is low.