Rupp Interview after 10k - LetsRun asked him about Verne Gambetta and 'innovation vs. cheating'

I'll agree to disagree.

LRC does have it's moments. The Gabby Grunewald, USATF insights were a plus, but for the most part, I find their reporting to be more self gratifying than hard hitting.

I agree they take a stand, but they take a stand the same way a tabloid does. The find a niche on a story, over report it, then act as if they blew the doors wide open on a story that doesn't really have any weight or isn't news to begin with. I.E. the Ryan Hall story. It should have been a really cool addition to a story on Meb's win, but when you read it, it reads as if it wasn't for LRC, the people wouldn't have known that Ryan Hall and Co were a monsterous part of the win... that's not indispensable journalism, that's making a mountain out of a mole hill for facebook likes and traction.

It's great to ask Galen Rupp about innovation vs cheating. But why not do a full story on it. Not just Rupps reaction, but followup with technology people, other people in the industry, other athletes. Why not actually write a story on it? This isn't what Let's run does, so it's hard for me to call them independent and brave when they're really just asking questions at opportune moments and getting zero answers because the setting isn't right for an athlete to honestly or thoughtfully answer a question like that. That's not journalism.

So, it is what it is, and as much as I hate the op-ed pieces, I still read them, so the joke's on me, but for everything LRC does well, there's a litany of things they do that has more similarities with celebrity magazines than News outlets.

Rojo trying to be the Jim Gray of track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4fmEbgKeh0

Is it really a valid question?

He pretty much asked Rupp if he thought what he was doing was cheating.

Like he is going to say, "yes, I think I am cheating and have an unfair advantage over my competitors."

giddy wrote:

. . .

What would be nice, is for the brojo's to actually attempt research or investigative journalism instead of using other people's work to form an opinion and then print the opinion as original work. It's silly. It's talk radio geared to keep controversy going and create news, and more importantly, keep people visiting the site (I suppose that's working, albeit, I think the message board is the sole reason people visit, not the site's content).

But my guess is, they can't get people to sit down with them to get any real meat about the controversies they cover, because they're not a news outlet that can be trusted, they're a spin shop akin to the "People Magazine" of track of track and field.

. . .

One thing which I find lacking from LRC is that they don't (or rarely) have original interviews with athletes outside of the context of a pre or post-race group press conference. I don't see them calling up a athlete, coach, agent to do a one on one interview. Their willingness to "ask the hard questions" or "throw fire bombs" depending on one's perspective is heightened by the fact that they apparently have no real bridges to burn.

He asked if Rupp had heard that his old strength coach called him a cheater for using a pollen mask and air purifier.

Rupp handled it very well but, no, that was in no way a valid question. I can appreciate trying to ask the so called hard questions but this one was based on a lie, or at least warping of Gambetta's true statement

+1

This is why I think calling let's run an indispensable running journalism outlet is incorrect. They have no dependable sources, no real connections within the industry, and no insider knowledge into the controversies they "blast" people about. They take the work of other journalists and post op ed pieces with their take on it and call it journalism.

The few times they do some level of due diligence, I think it's overshadowed by including too much verbiage on how important the work they do is.

So, while getting Galen Rupp's quote about some other guys article might be considered an ok question, the answer he gave gives you absolutely nothing into whether innovation is cheating. That's the story. So the question is kind of irrelevant.

Star wrote:

Like he is going to say, "yes, I think I am cheating and have an unfair advantage over my competitors."

No, he would say, "yes, I am using methods that give me an advantage over my competitors."

they've done many normal interviews - off the top of my head coach wetmore, canova, sage canaday, steph rothstein, John Cook, Brett Gotcher, bill aris, Joseph Ebuya...two/three years ago they had a series of long podcasts with coaches and runners. It was pretty good - not sure why they stopped.

here's the page to the podcasts:

giddy wrote:

+1

This is why I think calling let's run an indispensable running journalism outlet is incorrect. They have no dependable sources, no real connections within the industry, and no insider knowledge into the controversies they "blast" people about. They take the work of other journalists and post op ed pieces with their take on it and call it journalism.

The few times they do some level of due diligence, I think it's overshadowed by including too much verbiage on how important the work they do is.

So, while getting Galen Rupp's quote about some other guys article might be considered an ok question, the answer he gave gives you absolutely nothing into whether innovation is cheating. That's the story. So the question is kind of irrelevant.

giddy: the brojos are not good journalists

agip: well, they could improve, but they alone are talking about this stuff with any wattage. Criticizing LRC now is like criticizing NASA in 1971 during Apollo - 'they spend too much, they killed three astronauts, they take too much credit!' Sure, but no one else is going to the moon, are they?

Nothing wrong with asking the question. Comes with the territory of being the best and being in a group that is open about their "gray area" use. However need to Rojo to get high and mighty for asking a "tough" question. Could of done with out the "Im proud of my self and reports patted me on the back for asking". That just screams in security.

Ask the tough questions and let the rest take care of itself.

sanchobaile wrote:

+1 to this. I'm a professional journalist...

In this day and age, if you want to retain any shred of credibility, I would be careful admitting that little tidbit.

A Suck wrote:

DaveW wrote:

The only reason to ask such a question immediately after a 10K American record was to call attention to himself.

Or...to get an answer?

Are you saying that athletes with successful performances should be exempt from questions related to their training methods?

Marion Jones would have loved you.

There was nothing wrong with the question, the timing was bad. When an athlete sets an American record, you give him his moment and ask the tough questions later.

Btw, AlSal said several years ago at a clinic that he will do anything within the rules to make his athletes better becasue that's whats expected of him. If you are looking for shades of grey, AlSal has almost admitted to it. The stuff that gives you superhuman strenght like an anobolic steriod or EPO, I am almost certain he has never gone down that path and if he has, you would know about it by now. There are too many people who have parted ways with him on less than friendly terms; you can't get that many people to keep their mouth shut for that long and athletes don't sign NDAs. - There you have it.

Good analogy, I laughed.

It's a fair point. I guess at the end of the day, Let's Run has been around for a while and while I expect there to be a learning curve into not only journalism, but web design as well, I don't see much of one happening after a decade of being in "business".

If you're going to make money in web journalism, your site better work, work well, and be designed with a business plan for revenue. If your revenue is generated by ad's, then your content better be good enough to not only retain users, but add new ones as well.

As of right now, I would venture to say the only reason they're able to stay afloat is the reason you pointed out, they're the only ones going to the moon.

They don't have any real motivation to improve.

It's not an impressive question because mostly foaming nationalistic posters, who look for every reason to claim Rupp is dirty, are the ones asking that. That said, I did respect Rojo a lot hearing that question.

He satisfied the disrespectful fans -of which there is a LOT- by putting aside his ego.

Professional or not, if he posted a poll to letsrun about which question to ask Galen, the top result would almost definitely be something along the lines of his "gray-area" bothersome question.

One more, and last, reminder that this is a coach that worked with NOP for less than 6 months almost 9 years ago, when Rupp was 18 years old and fresh out of high school. Rupp wasn't even on (not sure if he still is) thyroid meds then and from the article we don't really even know what specific items Gambetta is referring to. There is some relevance, but right after the race, I'd be surprised if Rupp is going to be sharp on an out of left field question about a strength he had some involvement with in 2005 as an 18 year old.

There is nothing wrong with the question. Why is it bad to ask for a professional's opinion on a question related to the group he is involved with? Could it simply be a bitter ex-employee? Sure. But that asking about it fits with integrity and isn't offensive. The question itself didn't take sides or imply anything. The quote it was about implied a lot. But asking for a comment about those implication is more than okay, it's common practice in journalism and in investigating the truth. And Galen handled it well. I see no hesitation or irritation. He was quick and decisive. I wouldn't expect to him have seen the comments. Asked appropriately and handled with class. It is a non issue. ROJO (and all letsrun staff), keep up the good work and asking the questions others are afraid to ask. Rupp, good answer. You gave good, professional interview and congrats on a great run and AR. I hope training continues to go well and wish you great success in RIO!

What a crappy question.

I wish Rupp had been a little more thoughtful and responded with "Did he really say that air purifiers and masks are cheating?"

Rojo would have had to admit he was misrepresenting Gambetta's article.

Hello world. I had a nice drive up the Oregon coast - very beautiful - hopped on a red-eye and am back online. Not sure if this thread has taken off or if DaveW - who has posted 17 times - is simply excited.Calm down people. 1) For those of you upset by the timing, I have no other access to Rupp. It was then or never. The question was very straightfoward and the answer very straightforward. I view it as both people doing their job.2) Several people have said stuff along the lines of "I gave him an out or asked the question wrong as I tied Gambetta to air purifiers/mask." I'll agree that I could have done it differently and maybe better but it's not really relevant.No question is going to corner an ahtlete into some sort of confession. So in some sense, asking any questions is stupid but yet journalists do it millions of times a day.Perhaps I could asked, "Have you seen the Gambetta article on innovation versus cheating? Some are speculating that it's a veiled accusation at the NOP. What is your response?" But he then could just say he hasn't read it.I was trying to just get the article into a question so he could respond as I assumed (and still do ) that he was aware of it.

DaveW wrote:

So does Rojo come on to his own site to make some direct accusations ... or does he continue to hide behind any third party that he can find and never really deliver a factual story that he is willing to stand behind?

3. Why would I make a direct accusation? I don't have facts to support that. I simply was taking the newsmaking comments of a former member of the NOP and asking Rupp about it.

It was very basic journalism. A very basic, polished response by Rupp. The 'controversial' part was the assertion by another journalist that Rupp was told to say he hadn't read the article.

The standard today among elite sports (EVERY SPORT) is the enhanced athlete. This is to say: All elite athletes are using drugs to perform at a higher level. To deny this is naive and those that do ultimately reveal themselves to be fantasists.

Many of you for years defended Lance, Marion Jones, and hundreds of others.

The default position for any observer of any sport should be to assume that the athletes are using drugs to perform better.

What is extraordinarily frustrating for many of us who see this reality is that The Sporting Press rarely or never asks an athlete if they are cheating, or if what they are doing is cheating, or any question at all that has anything to do with the use of performance drugs.

I have no doubt that any current holder of any running record achieved that record through the use of drugs. The Sporting Press has aided and abetted the use of these drugs for decades, as have the money men in the sports. The only ones who believe that any of these athletes are clean are the fans.