OREGON - Smith gone - who will be the interim coach?

Rob Aubrey,

I nominate you for Most Overblown Post Award. Jesus.

"Smith destroys young minds...Individuals who lost a part of themselves...behind doors militaristic approach...This is an exultation...Feel the opportunities for success pouring out..." Give me a break.

I take it you don't like Smith. Okay. (He must really have hurt your feelings.) But maybe tone it down a little, huh? Did you really write, "Destroys young minds"?

Let me say two things more seriously:

First, there are lots of reasons why a given athlete may not mesh with a given coach. One reason, I guess, is that the coach is a militaristic mind-destroyer. But there are other possible reasons, too. Some of which may be at least partly the responsibility of the athlete. I had teammates who washed out at college--all deserved a healthy share of the responsibility.

Second, no matter how much you hate the guy, it's just a complete misrepresentation of reality to say Smith has coached only "a few good runners." That's just not true.

Ghost of Middlestadt wrote:

Does anyone remember when the really great idea was to make Harry Johnson the coach of AW after his "awesome, dude" coaching career at South Eugene??????????????????? History...repeat thyself!!!

Nike was forced to fire Johnson after two years, where he was moved to cleated shoes, and was the bain of the Nike Human Resources department because multiple sexual harrassment claims.

History has repeated itself, Bill.

The problem with Rob Aubrey is that he never outgrew high school. Every day he was dressed in MEAD HS sweats. I guess he was hoping to pickup a few South Eugene chicks.

For starters, does all that rain inhibit the ability to punctuate? Secondly, Notso, this was never about money. Thirdly, Dr. Phil would not appreciate that you encourage people to watch his show indebriated. Finally, will no one acknowledge Phil's egregious combover? Or is it only see outide of Oregon's borders?

Pardon, "only seen outside of Oregon's borders?"

The Pacific 10 Conference is proud to announce the addition of Eugene Oregon's Mead High School to our league in the Fall of 2005.

Rob Aubrey wrote:

I (and not I alone) truly support this change, not just to see Oregon head in a better direction. Perhaps more importantly to see great young athletes achieving there best, and feeling good about it.

This is not meant to be a bash, it is really an exultation. This is a great oppurtunity for young runners, and the University of Oregon.

Rob, excellent post. Thank you for your honesty. You have a frame of reference that no other poster in this thread can provide. I'm sure you will be flamed by the ignorant know-it-alls that frequent this site.

I think most T&F alumni of the University of Oregon are excited about Martin Smith leaving. Perhaps we should start our own thread and take a vote. Personally, I don't give a sh*t about what a Scott Fry thinks, or some guy who's pretending to be a D1 coach, or some idiot 12-yr-old "Faux Smith Hater" who thinks he's clever.

We have legends as track and field coaches at the University of Oregon. Martin Smith was a good coach with lousy interpersonal skills. We expect much more than that.

webfoot wrote:

We have legends as track and field coaches at the University of Oregon. Martin Smith was a good coach with lousy interpersonal skills. We expect much more than that.

Thank you for this lovely quote, it will make a beautiful sampler!! What, pray tell, more do you expect from the next legendary coach??????????????

As Rob is probably one of the few people to have run for Martin and Tyson AND posted using his name, he deserves a lot more credibility than those who criticize his attire. I have met and run with Rob and for those that don't know him, the aspersions cast at him are uncalled for.

I have spent time around Martin and actually like the guy. I am in the minority however, and have to respect those who have run for him that believe the experience was scarring. Yes, there are quite a few of these athletes dating back over ten years. Has anybody explained why Oregon shouldn't be able to have any coach they want? What do they owe to Martin or any of us? If they suck in the future, it's their ass; it's their choice.

Am I the only one who doesn't remember a Dellinger/Nike love fest? Seems to me Dellinger picked up Adidas for awhile after a row with the Nike higher ups. Nike was often unkind to Dellinger especially when Dellinger asked for help with his post collegiate athletes. Danny Lopez was one notable runner that Nike shunned that angered Dellinger.

Finally, why so much hate towards Tyson. The guy has quietly given most of his life to helping kids become incredible athletes. Not only are Mead kids fast, they love running. Tyson instills this in them; I've seen it. He's a great guy who loves the sport and is contagious. He may or may not be able to translate this to collegiate runners. I happen to know he has already been involved with some post high school athletes behind the scenes and think he will do fine coaching collegiate athletes. Bottom line is the decision is between Tyson and Oregon. What do either of them owe any of us? I have a very hard time believing that any of the reactionary posts on this board have come from people who have had personal contact with the people involved or are professionals in this sport (coaches, administrators or athletes. I have spent time with with every individual I have written about here and have worked as a colleague with some.

I am also a fan of the sport. I am not a Notre Dame football fan but would love to see them return to past glory. I am not a UCLA basketball fan but would enjoy seeing them in a final four again. I am not an Oregon fan but I would like to see them competitive at an NCAA XC again. It amazes me how many on this board look forward to others' failure. I wish Tyson the best as well as Martin. I believe that what has happened will be best for all involved in the long run. Of course they don't need my permission any more than they needed permisision from any of the bashers on here. This post was just a little information for those who may be interested in a balanced, fairly indifferent perspective.

Thank you. Very good post where a voice of reason is needed.

webfoot wrote:

I think most T&F alumni of the University of Oregon are excited about Martin Smith leaving. Perhaps we should start our own thread and take a vote. Personally, I don't give a sh*t about what a Scott Fry thinks, or some guy who's pretending to be a D1 coach, or some idiot 12-yr-old "Faux Smith Hater" who thinks he's clever.

WOW I am honored to be ellivated tto the level of Twelve year old. Hey I am on your side WE won. Martin was a BAD BAD person. HE said mean things and was intense when coaching. He didn't run his kids like show ponies for us. He didn't let us run at Hayward feild whenever we felt like it. He didn't even recognize our brillience and adopt all of our suggestions. He just found a way to win and to be successful.

He wasn't successful with the distance runners..... I forget how many all-american has he had in the last 6 years in distance including cross? He has a strong personality and is very competitive. Strong personalities rub some people the wrong way. He rubbed me the wrong way.

Looks like you have been rubbed the wrong way too. Martin Smith winner of several national championships just wasn't good enough for us. So we sabotaged him. And he still found a way around us and won. That really "got our panties in a wad."

I don't care how juvenile I sound listen to my shriekingly hollow laughter. I have won. Be deep down I know that I have lost and am just as stupid as the other haters.

duck observer wrote:

Apparently you are unable to look up your own post.

Here it is again

Watch "Hoosiers" a few times to see how welcome outside interference from know-it-all buffoons is to successful leaders. It is great, though, to watch the Lameass Fucks and their rabble pull the temple down on themselves.

If you are incapable of understanding your own typing, get a remedial english class so you are able to understand your own statements.

You are caught up in semantics and unable to understand that this is a movie, we do not know if it is actually reality at every level.

Deal in reality!! No more movie examples.

Apparently you are completely clueless as to the meaning of "quote from." Again, for you and your fellow idiot, nowhere in my post was I "quoting from a movie". Learn how to express what you mean if you still have a problem with me being right again. If you can't understand the metaphor of the coach in the film turning his back to outsider opinions, or how coaches everywhere do the same damn thing, then your myopia has reached epic proportions. Then again, it wouldn't be at all surprising if metaphors and anything that is less than overt sails 10,000 feet over your silly little dense head. Speaking of remedial English, get your own ass there to learn about not only what quoting really is (hint: it involves quotations and quotation marks), but also about capitalization rules. Funny that you would inist that others deal in "reality" when you have an extremely fuzzy concept of it yourself. That's right, you know everything, you're the fly that's simultaneously always on every wall in Eugene. Whatever, entitlement-addled delusional dolt.

However, Rob Aubrey deserves all the respect and credibility worthy of someone who doesn't utter a peep previously and enthusiastically jumps in to air his own (likely self-inflicted and highly exaggerated) sour grapes after-the-fact. Scott Fry has not only always rationally stated his views, but he always attaches his name to them. He also didn't wait until after a major move (good or bad) had been made to lend his two cents. Of all the people who may deserve respect for the integrity of his thoughts on these threads, it's Scott Fry. The rest of you should be considered clowns and demagogues.

Skip Pickens, go to bed and get off the site............

Truth:

That is probably the most cowardly thing one can do. Say a thing like that and not take credit for it.

As I said, I would love to see Vin or Tyson or any other great coach come in to Oregon. I feel sorry for those who support Martin, and those who are left in the air by his departure.

There have been great runners under Martin. Steve Fein and Pascal Dobert are two of them. Steve was an avid supporter of Martin and I respect Steve for that. Fein was a great runner and a great guy. I wish he had it in him to continue running after college. He was World Champioinship material.

When I talk of the crud that kids endure, it comes from a mature point of view. 4th and 5th year athletes are not babies, they are adults. Just give them their workouts and steer them towards success. Martin spent hours (up to 4 or 5 at a time) going around in circles personally attacking athletes. Calling people fat, bad husbands, shitty at sex and all sorts of nonsense. All the while with a crazed look in his eye. All I can think is, what a waste of time. We should have been running and training.

I personally loved meeting, getting criticized for being the cancer of Oregon for 2 hours, and finally going out for our run. Then coming back at 8:00 at night for an indoor steeple session. Not a very conducive way to run well and get your school done.

Remember we are talking about students and people here. Probably why a lot of good runners left, quit or just ran poorly. Not all, but FAR TOO MANY!

As for the Dellinger bashing. I'm fortunate to say that in my time under Dellingers final years, I was able to compete on teams that finished 8th, 3rd, 7th and 5th at the NCAA XC Championships.

Dellingers list of successful athletes is longer than most of you can research. His time was overdue at Oregon, but he left with class and athletes who respected him from Oregon, Washington and Stanford alike.

On Friday it will be announced that Tyson is the new head distance coach at OU.

Duck Hunter wrote:

On Friday it will be announced that Tyson is the new head distance coach at OU.

I didn't realize Ohio University was looking for a coach!!!!

Congratulations are in order for Pre's former roommate.

Who the heck is Tyson? Not a joke can someone tell me?