I like everyone that made the team - Hocker, Centro, and Nuguse. I also like Engels. He's light-hearted and seems like a fun guy. It's too bad that all of them can't run in Tokyo. The fact is, though, that Engels did not run a smart race. But watching how Hocker is developing, I'm not sure that Engels would have beaten him even if he would have run better from a tactical standpoint. More than likely, Nuguse would have been the one that was the odd man out. If Nuguse was the 4th place finisher, that would have made the team selection a lot tidier and without nearly as many question marks. Nuguse does not have as strong of an argument about using Hocker's IAAF ranking for team inclusion as Engels does. About the comment that I read earlier from someone suggesting that Centro may have eased up to let Hocker win to help him secure the bonus point that would bolster his world ranking: that is complete poppycock. Do you really believe that this was thought out in advance or Centro, in the heat of the race, said to himself, "If I let Cole win he'll get bonus points and he might make the team from his ranking even though we're not running fast enough for him to make the Olympic standard?" Yeah, OK! Centro was flat-out racing and Hocker beat him, It's that simple. I like the team and I think they'll do well in Tokyo. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them make the final. I'm also looking forward to seeing what Engels does over the next few years. He's good and I hope he does well.
wannabepro25 wrote:
Nick Willis was one of Hocker’s haters that got silenced.
I must have missed something. I didn't see anything on Nick's Twitter feed that was nefarious or disparaging of Hocker.