Bumbalough's lean at the tape

karma police wrote:

You're a bunch of pussies. He's competitive and wants to win.

I second this! Rupp was pushing too! What's wrong with competing? Rupp was obviously bothered by it...so it mattered to him to win the heat as well.

Yeah, alright in all sincerity I'll concede that my first post was a little immature/off-color or what-have-you. I'm really not trying to troll, I just think my boy Bumbi deserves a little backup, and a little less hate than he's received for the lean. You said "when you're ready to have a discussion with the adults, you know where to find us". So let's have it. I'm not making fun of anyone, and I'm skipping the color commentary. My points are:

1. I think that track and field as a whole benefits from competitiveness in ANY race, prelims or not. And when we chastise athletes for making things interesting, it hurts us.

2. I think calling Andrew childish is unfair. He was racing, and trying to beat someone in a race is not childish.

Would love to read your response

dirty vegas wrote:

The lack of real world, competitive running experience on these boards is incredulous.

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Only a person or a person's expression can be incredulous.

Perhaps you meant that "the lack of real world, competitive running experience (of posters) on these boards is incredible."

Or perhaps you meant that "the lack of real world, competitive running experience (of posters) on these boards leaves you incredulous."

I've known Andrew since coaching against him in high school. Mellowist, nicest kid. A Phishead to boot. He's not into anger but peace and love.

I love how you call him Andrew to show all of us that you actually know him... this pleases me... I feel like you are a credible authority, that I can now trust...

Now as to your points,

This particular situation does not lend itself to your point because no one is criticizing his competitiveness, they are criticizing him for being a n00b. Criticizing that doesn't hurt track, nor did him kicking in, in a prelim make the prelim any more 'interesting'. What made it 'interesting' was the responses that everyone has had to his n00b move. He looked around like 8 times coming down the home stretch, saw he had it in the bag, and then leaned at the line... it speaks for itself.

Additionally, 'Andrew' looked like a child out there because he looked as if he had never been in that situation before, and did not know it was moot as to whether he get first or second, for purposes of advancing. Hence, childish... Perhaps the term n00bish is better, but childish does not fail to describe how he looked

fair enough argument. i disagree but debate and conversation is what used to help US politics. I'll pass on your thoughts when i see him tonight or tmw.

WashedUpHoya wrote:

Yeah, alright in all sincerity I'll concede that my first post was a little immature/off-color or what-have-you. I'm really not trying to troll, I just think my boy Bumbi deserves a little backup, and a little less hate than he's received for the lean. You said "when you're ready to have a discussion with the adults, you know where to find us". So let's have it. I'm not making fun of anyone, and I'm skipping the color commentary. My points are:

1. I think that track and field as a whole benefits from competitiveness in ANY race, prelims or not. And when we chastise athletes for making things interesting, it hurts us.

2. I think calling Andrew childish is unfair. He was racing, and trying to beat someone in a race is not childish.

Would love to read your response

I agree with you.

Engrishman wrote:

dirty vegas wrote:

The lack of real world, competitive running experience on these boards is incredulous.

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Only a person or a person's expression can be incredulous.

Perhaps you meant that "the lack of real world, competitive running experience (of posters) on these boards is incredible."

Or perhaps you meant that "the lack of real world, competitive running experience (of posters) on these boards leaves you incredulous."

My mistake Engrishman, thanks for pointing that out. I also notice I had a grammatical error in a prior post, in which I meant to write "all lovey" and I wrote "a lovely". However, I would appreciate talking about the subject at hand, and not my syntax (which needs work).

Hey Van,

James is still doing well. We were rooting for him. Bumbi, Kathy, and Phoebe - Tennessee is representing pretty well.

I'd love to see one of them finally make it.

webby wrote:

If you want to be admired like Michael Stember you have to race like Michael Stember.

Nailed it...these two groups do not get along, the only thing they have in common is that weird check mark on their chest. The only person that transcends the groups' dynamic is Ritz as was evident by hugs and cheers from Teg and Solinsky (from the stands) after the Men's 10k.

I have the race on DVR and just watched it again. It doesn't look like bumby leaned but just sprinted in a lot harder than Rupp. Bumby looked like he was working much harder than Rupp and will likely pay for it in the finals. Rupp made the 10k look like a jog in the park where he ran back to back 13:42's. Both faster than Bumby ran in the heats. I don't look down on Bumby for this, but he did look pretty lame clapping for himself after the finish.

I'll say it again... I'm a Rupp fan. Spoke to him once and he was really nice. Big smile, seemed like a big heart.

That doesn't change that what he did was uncalled for.

As I said previously... there are 2 things here.

1) Whether Bumbi should have leaned (I personally don't care, and neither should Rupp)

2) Whether Rupp should have been more sportsmanlike

I was under the impression this thread was about 2, not 1. Maybe I'm wrong.

Regardless, RukiddingME!!.... I'll 100% guarantee that Bumbi, barring no serious injuries, will be a sub 13:00 runner by the end of 2014.

He will likely finish top 4 at the trials.

I would hardly call that 2nd Tier.

I will also say that it didn't seem like Rupp was mad because he lost his heat (to all those saying he reacted like he did because he is competitive)... he looked like he was mad because someone upstaged him and gave him a race. I'm 100% sure that Rupp could have won his heat if he REALLY wanted to and was more aware of his surroundings, but the fact that he didn't realize that Bumbi would back off, and that he lost on his home track, is what annoyed him.

It had nothing to do with actually losing. It had to do with being upstaged and feeling like he is entitled to not be pressed in a semi.

F

Wow. This thread is still going?

These rest days at the Trials are killing us.

I thought that Galen looked exhausted in this prelim. Form wasn't as smooth, definitely not relaxed. The 1:53 looked easy, but he's made it look far easier in the past. Bumbi leaning got in Rupp's head, no doubt about it. Maybe Rupp thought he was more superior than he actually is, and the realization scared him/angered him. I don't think he meant any disrespect, he was just caught off guard and wanted to get the hell out of there. I'm sure Salazar had a little workout planned after the race as well.

All that being said, Bumbi sadly failed to keep it in his pants and will fade pretty badly that last mile of the final, where we'll hopefully get to see Rupp really hammer and show us what he's made of.

Or he could be in the middle of a 115 mile week, so who knows?

I understand your point- people aren't criticizing competitiveness; at least, they don't think they are. I concede that racing hard when it's not necessary is considered "n00bish", I'm just saying that track might be better off if we did away with this perception. Going for the win should never be met with surprise or controversy.

Also, the fact that were having this discussion still is proof that "Mr. Bumbalough" made the prelims more interesting by his efforts. Instead of allowing the trials to be a mere formality, he gave us nerds something to chatter about on the rest days.

Finally, childish is too harsh. Unusual, sure. Inexperienced... You could make that argument as well. But there's no need to be insulting. Show some respect to a guy who's one of the best in the country and has been third in this event before.

gonchar wrote:

Andrew is at the peak of his career.

Are you sure about that? The guy is not even 30 yet.

WashedUpHoya wrote:

Finally, childish is too harsh. Unusual, sure. Inexperienced... You could make that argument as well. But there's no need to be insulting. Show some respect...

Respect is earned. If Bumbalough's behavior doesn't warrant it, then he essentially brought all of this criticism upon himself.

Is labeling his actions as "childish" too harsh? Possibly, but I don't think so. I'm not a big fan of "1337 speak" either, so calling his lean "n00bish" doesn't seem appropriate, either. You are obviously heavy biased in favor of Bumbalough, so I really don't think you are objective enough to pass judgment. Yes, it's true that "trying to beat someone in a race is not childish." But you are over rationalizing to a great degree.

You already know that it's inconsequential whether you finish in first or second place in a 5,000m heat, especially when you are well clear of the rest of the field. Leaning at the finish line appeared to be something that was done intentionally. It seemed to be unsportsmanlike, and yes, I can't disagree with calling it childish. Basically, it seems like a non-verbal form of trash-talking. What made it stand out even more is that he did that immature little "gotcha" move by leaning, and then decided to hold out his hand immediately afterwards like he's a good sport. The combination of the two seemed to be hypocritical. If Bumbalough had just done one or the other, it wouldn't stand out too much.

You're trying to be rational by saying trying to win a prelim by leaning is irrational? How is what Bumbi did "childish"? I understand the respect for Rupp, but I don't think Bumbi's lean was unsportmanslike or disrepectful. They are BOTH competitors, trying to beat EACH OTHER. Granted this was just a prelim, they both ran hard the last 800 and quite likely some of their competitive nature took over and Bumbi leaned for win, just like one might when having a footrace with an acquaintance. And as for the matter of non-verbal trash talking, then if it's going to be done, it should be done on the track, where the two are COMPETING against each other, not off the track. And finally, Rupp was a bad sport about not shaking Bumbi's hand after Bumbi had extended it to him. I don't care if this was a local 5k or the Olympic finals, show some integrity and shake your competitor's hand.

P.S.- I'm biased towards sportmanship and competition, if you couldn't tell. Go Bumbi, Rupp, and all other American athletes.