Ok, but you COULD argue that George would be a consistently world class athlete if he weren't injured 3 out of every 4 seasons. He has 2 golds from his 2 healthy seasons. What would his medal count be if he had mostly health seasons?? (Though i'll give it to Ritz that Geordie had a breakable body long before he got to Boulder; so its a toss up).
REGARDLESS! That was amazing, one of the most fun athletes to watch.
Apologize for what? I always believed Ritz was capable of sub 13 before he actually did it and I don't pay any attention to the haters who say he couldn't break 4 for the mile. Yes he could have!
Not really. I watch that and think to myself that he could have legitimately entering this season as an Olympic Champion, but of course he was basically on the shelf for that one and just an active bystander.
Look, of course insanely hard training combined with elite talent will produce good results. But this is no different to last year in Paris where it was Nuguse who managed to run the gauntlet and arrive in shape while everyone else was stuffed. This year it was Beamish who managed to come off his injury cycle and be healthy at the right place and right time.
Heard this the other day and it made me laugh but it's true. The OAC is really an injury/burn-out squad that every now and then get's intermittently healthy enough to race, as opposed to a professional running team that every now and then has to deal with injuries/being burnt out. And not like we haven't seen this before with Beamish - came off injury at the end of 23 and was fit for World Indoors and destroyed the field there to be a world champ. He's done exactly the same here.
Having a huge squad of very highly paid athletes with the best healthcare and infrastructure setup of any pro group in the world (which is what they have) and having one guy perform up to his capabilities is a nice smokescreen but is not a measure of group and coach success. It's just not.
Address: OAC 1 Geordie Beamish Way Boulder, CO 11111
Sorry that you’re so arrogant and full of yourself Ritz. You have had more failures than wins. Get that sauce dosages right for the ones that are staying home.
Ok, but you COULD argue that George would be a consistently world class athlete if he weren't injured 3 out of every 4 seasons. He has 2 golds from his 2 healthy seasons. What would his medal count be if he had mostly health seasons?? (Though i'll give it to Ritz that Geordie had a breakable body long before he got to Boulder; so its a toss up).
REGARDLESS! That was amazing, one of the most fun athletes to watch.
I'd certainly argue that he'd be consistently world class if he wasn't always injured, but like you say, he had a breakable body long before Ritz. Reading the LR article reminded me of his amazing quote “This is my 11th season as a Lumberjack and I’ve been injured in all 11 of them.” If he's hurt for 11 seasons under Mike Smith, I feel like there's only so much you can do as a coach. But also reading the article, he was super injured this season too. Apparently he didn't start feeling good until August, so it sounds like he only got 6 weeks of good, healthy training in at most. And iirc, when he won his NCAA title, he did it off about 6 weeks of training.
I remember he and Morgan talking on a coffee club episode a year or two ago, saying that Ritz didn't know how messed up both of their bodies were when they joined On. Idk if Ritz could've done much more, but even if he could've, George is now an indoor and outdoor World Champion, and he's definitely young enough to still be racing in 2028.
Hopefully since he's healthy now, he can build on it a bit more carefully than he has been, and have a great next couple of years. But even if he trips over Gus tomorrow and has a career ending injury, no one can take away the incredible race he ran today.
I'm sorry, Ritz. I never should have done it and I feel so ashamed! But it was there, just tempting me like a wonderful circus. So much variety, like a delicious zoo. I told myself, "only one" and the sheep just seemed to call out to me. But then I couldn't stop! I just had to try the cute monkey! And then I got daring ... and I grabbed the tiger! Before I knew it, I was taking hippos and elephants two at a time! Afterward I felt so disgusted with myself for involving animals in my search for oral pleasures. It would be bad enough if I cheated with a Cheez-It or Wheat Thin, but Animal Crackers? 🤮
Ok, but you COULD argue that George would be a consistently world class athlete if he weren't injured 3 out of every 4 seasons. He has 2 golds from his 2 healthy seasons. What would his medal count be if he had mostly health seasons?? (Though i'll give it to Ritz that Geordie had a breakable body long before he got to Boulder; so its a toss up).
REGARDLESS! That was amazing, one of the most fun athletes to watch.
Having run with George in college, he’s always been injured/injury prone. To blame it on Ritz wouldn’t be accurate. If anything he’s been healthier under ritz than he ever was under Smith.