I’m sorry, I don’t see any issue with the Flotrack post whatsoever. This is a collegiate sport and it’s the countdown to the championship. Turn on ESPN, CBS, TNT, FOX during March madness or bowl week and see how they put spotlights on those athletes.
I see we have a situation where multiple things are true at once.
1. Fans and media are allowed to talk about and analyze sports, including women's sports and women's running. Part of what makes sports so fun to follow and generates popularity is that fans are able to talk about it without censoring themselves. Over policing the way we talk about women's sports is only going to hurt women's sports' popularity in the long run.
2. Members of the team and the runner being discussed are allowed to react to what Mack says. They don't have to be quiet about it as another poster mentioned. The NC State ladies did nothing wrong by responding to the post. They are allowed to feel the way they feel about it, and speak up if they feel a teammate has been wronged.
3. Gordon Mack's analysis is objectively wrong. If a top NC State runner has a terrible day, they are in trouble. It takes 5 to score, and it's silly to say a team title comes down to just one person.
4. Gordon Mack's analysis was not offensive. He didn't criticize her body or appearance. He didn't call Sydney names. He was analyzing what the race came down to based on how he saw it. Wrong yes, offensive no.
5. Collegiate runners are in a weird limbo where it's tough to call how the media treats them exploitation. Especially with NIL.
6. Chris Nickinson and Gordon Mack and others in running media have absolutely exploited high school runners and amateur runners for their own gain. They routinely put a bad product with terrible filming, commentary and analysis and sit on the couch and pay their bills from high school and amateur talent. That isn't good.
Number 2. No. They don't have a right to accuse him of stalking young girls.
actually the question posed was "don't you have something better to do than obsess over little high school girls". Obsess, not stalk seems to be the operative word. And more of a question than an accusation, the way I read it. But they probably did not need to go this far.
First of all....I don't like their podcast, I have never found them to bring anything 'extra' to the table. No insights, besides just reading basic stats. Nothing that any casual observer wouldn't already know...for example, give us info about up and coming runners, or the major differences in several of the courses, there was a lot of discussion on the length of the Ole Miss course...they could easily have resolved the discussion....anyway, I do not say this as an insult...just that they do nothing for me.
Second, his point is valid to a degree, he just said it terribly. The 4/5 runners on every team are the ones that will decide the Team finish. NC State is the favorite, and it will definitely be the case here as well. Most likely Tuohy, Chmiel and Bush will finish close to where expected. It is Starliper and Seymour that have question marks right now. We all know this and it has been said several times. But this is also true for NM, OSU, ALA etc etc. But because NC State is number 1, and gets the most fan attention, it is not wrong for him to point them out.
The focus on Seymour was not wrong...but how he said it was. Which is too bad.
The comments about Mack and being obsessed with HS girls was terrible...even though I don't like them, the fact that they cover HS and NCAA runners is great. I have no idea what they are like in person, but any coverage of these sports is a bonus. That comment was way off-side!
Overall though, the runners reacted to protect a teammate....no issue with that stance.
Number 2. No. They don't have a right to accuse him of stalking young girls.
actually the question posed was "don't you have something better to do than obsess over little high school girls".
So many things wrong with that social media comment. They are women, not girls. They are in college, not high school. He isn't obsessing, he is commenting. And commenting on running races is literally his job.
We finally start to get momentum in womens cross country with controversy which elevates the sport. Then, NC State ruins it bringing fake stalking allegations all because he says a certain runner needs do better. Thanks a lot NC State for moving our sport backwards.
For those taking offense to Brooke Rauber's "obsessing over high school girls" comment, have you considered that she (and many on the NC State team) WERE ONCE the high school girls that were being obsessed over? Have you considered how years of this made THEM feel?
No way they didn't walk away from that with some level of resentment given the fact that they were just kids doing a sport they loved and their performances were poured over, overanalyzed, and criticized by everyone from letsrun trolls, to letsrun media, to Flotrack to runners pace. That their talent was used and profited off of by those platforms while those very platforms provided horrible commentary on their races, and hid them behind paywalls. Did those kids even have a say when their races were uploaded to YouTube for strangers to drop creepy comments on? Youtube some of the high school races from now NC-State women, you'll see what I mean.
I'm not offended Rauber reacted this way. I'm not in any way protective of a man like Gordon Mack.
actually the question posed was "don't you have something better to do than obsess over little high school girls".
So many things wrong with that social media comment. They are women, not girls. They are in college, not high school. He isn't obsessing, he is commenting. And commenting on running races is literally his job.
Brooke rauber said that. Are we picking apart one comment from a young redshirt freshman on social media now? Let's give this a rest.
actually the question posed was "don't you have something better to do than obsess over little high school girls".
So many things wrong with that social media comment. They are women, not girls. They are in college, not high school. He isn't obsessing, he is commenting. And commenting on running races is literally his job.
actually I made an error and did not get the right quote which is: "don't you have something better to do like obsess over little high school girls".
hence it is not referring to them (NC St). It does imply that he does obsess over "little high school girls", which I agree is going too far......but he also went too far in naming one runner of the 255.
We finally start to get momentum in womens cross country with controversy which elevates the sport. Then, NC State ruins it bringing fake stalking allegations all because he says a certain runner needs do better. Thanks a lot NC State for moving our sport backwards.
Stalking is not "obsessing over". I repeat, stalking is not obsessing over.
Also, it might be worth it to consider that them filming high school girls and uploading those races wherever they please, might have gotten these girls some unwanted attention--you have no idea what that has potentially led to.