I know nobody likes to talk about women’s XC here, but I feel the tides shifting. The Gusties and Bethel have such great young talent. The Bethel women ran really fast last night. I’d these schools get a few more impactful runners in this class they’ll will be pushing Olaf and Carleton. And the Saint Mary’s sophomore is a star. This is so good for the conference where it has been a two team race for a decade.
The new coach was recruiting at Hamline elite last night. I saw him talking to some surprisingly fast guys, so it seems he’s doing something Power never tried and building connections with Minnesota athletes and coaches. That will definitely pay off for the Oles.
I spent 20 minutes reading this thread and it’s clear you have a strong argument or complaint you should take to the admin. John Waters is the one to email. He is the assistant AD the XC coaches report to. He seems to have a lot of power, just no more Coach Power.
Tell him the original coach made an offer of a roster spot and you consider that a verbal contract and expect follow-up within two business days. And also make sure he knows Coach Power didn’t communicate on the way out. That will go in his permanent employment file, which is important from a Human Resources standpoint. Don’t let staffing issues get in the way of your sons right to run a sport where everyone is a walk-on and their shouldn’t be any gatekeeping.
Bro is on here telling people to add to Power's HR file. Hilarious stuff.
Kipnick already seems to be doing a good job. Sounds like broke all driving laws just to get his 4 x 800 to Drake. Sub 8 without a warmup is pretty good. I'd hoped to see the Oles and Johnnies make a push for sub 7:30. I doubt we'll see that at conference.
Are you the parent of a 2026 or 2027? I hope he at least informed 2026 commits and recruits, but the Admin may not have wanted him to notify recruits in case he said something inappropriate about St. Olaf.
From what I’ve heard the coach left before his staff had planned Spring Break trips, so the new head coaches are probably just getting in contact with recruits. They may not even have a list of who he was recruiting. Email the coaches
If you’re that turned off, you can always look at Mac or Gustavus.
With everything going on in this thread, it actually feels like the right time to bring back the MJ vs. LeBron debate.
I get the argument for LeBron James, the longevity is unreal, the stats are unmatched, and what he’s doing this late in his career is something we’ve never seen before. If he wins another championship at 41, it’s one of the most impressive accomplishments in sports history, no question.
But even with all of that, I still lean pretty clearly toward Michael Jordan as the GOAT. Jordan’s case isn’t just about numbers, it’s about dominance at the highest level: 6 championships, 6 Finals MVPs Undefeated in the Finals (6–0) 10 scoring titles 5 MVPs + Defensive Player of the Year
That’s not just greatness, that’s total control over an era. When Jordan reached the Finals, there was no uncertainty. The season was effectively over.
And it wasn’t just winning, it was how he won. He led the league in scoring year after year, while also being one of the best defenders in the game. There wasn’t a weakness to exploit. Every possession, on both ends, he set the standard.
LeBron’s resume is built on longevity and versatility, and it’s incredible. But Jordan’s peak is still the highest we’ve ever seen. There’s something different about never letting a championship opportunity slip once you get there. That level of consistency under the most pressure is hard to put into words, and even harder to match.
You can also factor in era differences. Jordan didn’t have modern recovery, load management, or the same medical resources, and still maintained that level of dominance. It raises the question of just how much more he could have done with those advantages.
top 15 list 1. Michael Jordan 2. LeBron James 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 4. Magic Johnson 5. Larry Bird 6. Tim Duncan 7. Shaquille O'Neal 8. Kobe Bryant 9. Stephen Curry 10. Bill Russell 11. Hakeem Olajuwon 12. Wilt Chamberlain 13. Kevin Durant 14. Oscar Robertson 15. Dirk Nowitzki
This thread is solid, but it’s also doing what every GOAT debate does—collapsing the conversation down to NBA résumé + rings + peak. That’s fair… but it might also be too narrow.
If we’re actually talking about “greatest basketball player ever,” not just “greatest NBA career,” there’s a weird, slightly off-the-wall name that deserves at least a seat at the table: Arvydas Sabonis (the original one, not Domantas).
Before anyone rolls their eyes—this isn’t a nostalgia take, it’s a “what if the context was different?” argument. Sabonis in the 1980s was basically a prototype for modern bigs before the modern game existed: 7’3” with elite passing vision (think a hybrid of Nikola Jokić and Bill Walton) Could shoot, handle, and run the floor Dominated international play, including the 1988 Summer Olympics where the Soviet Union beat the U.S.
The key thing: the version the NBA got was not the real Sabonis. By the time he joined the Portland Trail Blazers in 1995, his knees and Achilles were already wrecked. He was 30+ and still incredibly effective—but it was like watching a diminished version of what had already been a generational talent. There are credible arguments (from players and coaches who saw him pre-injury) that a healthy Sabonis in his prime could have been: The best passing big ever (ahead of even Jokić conversations) A matchup nightmare in any era A true “offense hub” decades before that concept took over the NBA Even Larry Bird famously called him one of the best players he’d ever seen.
Why this matters to the GOAT debate Your Jordan vs. LeBron framing is really about peak vs. longevity, which is the core of the modern debate: Michael Jordan = unmatched peak dominance + perfect Finals record LeBron James = unprecedented longevity + all-around production But Sabonis introduces a third axis “Unrealized peak due to context (era, politics, injuries)”
If Sabonis: Comes to the NBA at 22 instead of 31 Has modern medical care Plays in today’s spacing …you might be looking at a player who breaks the way we even define “best.”
I spent 20 minutes reading this thread and it’s clear you have a strong argument or complaint you should take to the admin. John Waters is the one to email. He is the assistant AD the XC coaches report to. He seems to have a lot of power, just no more Coach Power.
Tell him the original coach made an offer of a roster spot and you consider that a verbal contract and expect follow-up within two business days. And also make sure he knows Coach Power didn’t communicate on the way out. That will go in his permanent employment file, which is important from a Human Resources standpoint. Don’t let staffing issues get in the way of your sons right to run a sport where everyone is a walk-on and their shouldn’t be any gatekeeping.
Bro is on here telling people to add to Power's HR file. Hilarious stuff.
Kipnick already seems to be doing a good job. Sounds like broke all driving laws just to get his 4 x 800 to Drake. Sub 8 without a warmup is pretty good. I'd hoped to see the Oles and Johnnies make a push for sub 7:30. I doubt we'll see that at conference.
For the few interested in an update, here it is:
We didn't need to threaten anyone, we just needed to get in touch with the right people. Once that was done and the communication breakdown was exposed everyone was very responsive and apologetic. FWIW I didn't come here to whine, I came here because you all knew more of the story than I did and knew the names of the right people. Thank you for that.
Final note, he accepted his offer for admission yesterday so it looks like I'll have to create an actual LetsRun account and spend more time here and on the Track thread learning more about the MIAC, a conference I didn't know existed before 2026. Go Oles!
Congrats to Ole assistant AD John Waters on this accomplishment and his fantastic mustache. Getting a top recruit and clearly framing the pecking order to his new coaches proves he’s the man to be in charge. Only upwards for the Oles now that he has coaches that meet his goals form the program.
To the original poster, be sure to the check MIAC Track Talk thread for even more conversation.
The future is bright for Kopnick’s Oles. Sophomore Seppanen runs a massive 14:35 PR, freshman DuVivier runs 14:52, Bjork barely misses running under 15:00 and several other freshman ran around 15:20. The team has gotten massively better this season with the new coach.
Will we have a line to shake the hand of John Waters at the MIAC Championship? He's done more for the camaraderie of the MIAC coaches than anyone in decades. And he's made a random dad of an incoming Ole very happy. Sloppies all around.
Impressive, but also somewhat surprising given the talent of some athletes that have just showed up at Olaf. Great to see Kipnick getting these improvements so quickly. Oles, what has he changed for such progress?
Impressive, but also somewhat surprising given the talent of some athletes that have just showed up at Olaf. Great to see Kipnick getting these improvements so quickly. Oles, what has he changed for such progress?
Glad to see the whole "Random Ole" and "They just show up at Olaf" sentiments are continuing. The answer is good recruiting and development by Power foryears, which is why DuVivier, the XC freshman of the year, and others are there. And Kopnick being just as good, if not better (but that can't be answered for a few years
Impressive, but also somewhat surprising given the talent of some athletes that have just showed up at Olaf. Great to see Kipnick getting these improvements so quickly. Oles, what has he changed for such progress?
which is why DuVivier, the XC freshman of the year
DuVivier was the oles second freshmen at MIACS. Hitchcock broke 26 and was the freshmen of the year. Been struggling with injury with spring. One of 4 ole freshmen to break 15:25 last night Ole dominance continues to roll on for anothe generation
People here cited phil for like 8 years of results after he left but of course two weeks after power leaves the team immediately "improves". I get the sense that half of you guys have never trained.
Good to see powers training has cemented this years squad as one of the best in the history of the MIAC. Anyone have a sense of another program with of most sub 15s in 1 season?