How does Craig Engels feel being a "B" teamer now? Not in the Bowerman mile

yeah i saw that and wondered the same thing, but if he rips off a great time then it will be good for him.

Craig has a contract and likely stands to get a larger bonus for defeating a weaker field rather than getting dragged to a 3:50 / 8th place finish (and I'm being charitable with the field assembled for the Bowerman Mile - he could run a 3:53 and be DFL)

If his social media is any indication. he seems to be having the time of his life this summer and continues to build a large and loyal following. Having met him, he seems to be an authentically nice and engaging guy. The only ill words that I have heard about him are from keyboard pundits of LRC. I imagine many of you to be envious middle aged men that never sniffed a pro contract in your glory days.

Doped Up Real Estate Broker wrote:

Craig has a contract and likely stands to get a larger bonus for defeating a weaker field rather than getting dragged to a 3:50 / 8th place finish (and I'm being charitable with the field assembled for the Bowerman Mile - he could run a 3:53 and be DFL)

If his social media is any indication. he seems to be having the time of his life this summer and continues to build a large and loyal following. Having met him, he seems to be an authentically nice and engaging guy. The only ill words that I have heard about him are from keyboard pundits of LRC. I imagine many of you to be envious middle aged men that never sniffed a pro contract in your glory days.

I’m 31. I just find him to be extremely annoying and his act is getting very old. Bros are annoying. Used to be a huge fan of Barstool Big Cat but PMT is awful and he is too now. Makes sense Engels would be a good interview on that show. Tool bags interviewing tool bags I’m obviously in the minority because PMT is one of the biggest podcast out there

Definitely in the minority. The guy is enjoying life, and is obviously a beacon of joy. How can you be annoyed by that? Huge following. Lots of fans.

BC state wrote:

ill words wrote:

I’m 31. I just find him to be extremely annoying and his act is getting very old. Bros are annoying. Used to be a huge fan of Barstool Big Cat but PMT is awful and he is too now. Makes sense Engels would be a good interview on that show. Tool bags interviewing tool bags I’m obviously in the minority because PMT is one of the biggest podcast out there

Definitely in the minority. The guy is enjoying life, and is obviously a beacon of joy. How can you be annoyed by that? Huge following. Lots of fans.

He can, because he probably does not enjoy his life. Probably why he would feel the need to post that comment in the first place.

Doped Up Real Estate Broker wrote:

Craig has a contract and likely stands to get a larger bonus for defeating a weaker field rather than getting dragged to a 3:50 / 8th place finish (and I'm being charitable with the field assembled for the Bowerman Mile - he could run a 3:53 and be DFL)

If his social media is any indication. he seems to be having the time of his life this summer and continues to build a large and loyal following. Having met him, he seems to be an authentically nice and engaging guy. The only ill words that I have heard about him are from keyboard pundits of LRC. I imagine many of you to be envious middle aged men that never sniffed a pro contract in your glory days.

I know Craig a little bit too, and fully agree. I'll also add that he's well liked by the other top pros and despite his popularity and past successes, is just one of the guys. No prima donna attitude at all.

This! Craig is very grounded.. the people's elite runner. No ego, just a free spirited fun runner.

I should clarify my comments. I wouldn’t say Engels annoys me. I just find him hard to root for post Olympic trials. I root for athletes that use bad performances as motivation and get pissed off about losing. Tom Brady is going to go home frustrated when he loses his first regular season game this year and he has literally nothing to prove at this point. I cheer for athletes that would look at being in the B heats as a slight and want to go out and prove something, not pump up the crowd as you get out kicked. Same reason I don’t like Brooks Koepka. The not caring attitude isn’t something I personally care for. Engels didn’t make the olympics and chose to party for 4 weeks rather than stay focused and try to use the rest of the season to prove that the trials were a fluke but all he’s done is show that he never deserved to make the team in the first place.

And as for Big Cat- he used to be my favorite barstool personality and was by far my favorite blogger back in barstool early days. Barstool used to be the anti-ESPN and now their biggest show, PMT, is the most espn like show of all time. It’s a safe show that’s mildly entertaining that is looked at as being better than it is because it is backed by barstool. So I still like Big Cat but don’t really like any of his content anymore.

Good point. I agree that spending your time partying after a disappointing run at the trials indicates you dont have the heart of a champion.

Compare that to.. who was it, Kate Grace? Didn't she have some really fast performances after not making the olympic team? Now that's the right attitude. That's what you want to see from elite athletes or potential elites.

ill words wrote:

I’m 31. I just find him to be extremely annoying and his act is getting very old. Bros are annoying. Used to be a huge fan of Barstool Big Cat but PMT is awful and he is too now. Makes sense Engels would be a good interview on that show. Tool bags interviewing tool bags I’m obviously in the minority because PMT is one of the biggest podcast out there

You sound like one of those unhappy people discussed in the other thread.

Doped Up Real Estate Broker wrote:

Craig has a contract and likely stands to get a larger bonus for defeating a weaker field rather than getting dragged to a 3:50 / 8th place finish (and I'm being charitable with the field assembled for the Bowerman Mile - he could run a 3:53 and be DFL).

That makes sense. Berian's contract only gave bonuses for top three finishes. On the other hand, Berian only got bonuses for elite races, such as DL "A races," so it wouldn't have covered the International Mile. Maybe Nike contracts include specific bonuses covering Pre.

Or maybe Nike/Pre made Engels an offer for Pre that he couldn't refuse. I assume that's how they got Obiria and Gidey to run the 2 mile last night.

PS I know at least one Nike athlete who asked to be put in the International not the Bowerman. He always said it was about his fitness, but you have to wonder.

just mad because his wife doesn’t like him anymore. 😫

More like Nike requires all their big contract athletes to race Pre. Per their contracts they have to race a certain number of Nike sponsored events per year. So if they aren't in a cast or hospital bed they are showing up to Pre to race. If they don't they will trigger those reduction clauses and lose money. So while it looks like all fun and games on the surface for Engels, I think at this stage he'd rather win a random road mile and chug beer in Wyoming than line up at Pre and race the best in the USA and World.