m. wrote:
I dislike: Lagat (sell out cheat) and Fam (too much hype)
m.
First, I hope you are not referencing the Ironman M-Dot... Tri geek.
Second, despite MY OWN qualms about Lagat being an American, I accept him and am not going to bash him. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. No other pro, be them top teir or bottom, compares to him in humility, willingness to sit down (or cool down) with you and discuss a problem you have been having and offer his advice, or in his general openness (sp) towards people. I've seen him stop and talk to HS and College kids after his races when all of the other guys from the press conference have walked by, ignoring them, and got on with their cool-down. Lagat is a great guy, and I hope to the fictional diety of your choice that you never call him a cheat or sell out again. If you got in to a medal position in The Games, you would do a cool down with whatever flag was put into your hands, be it Canada's, America's, or Iran's, and you'd be happy doing it.
Now, does all this mean that I would be AS happy when (if) he medals for the U.S. as I would if one of us (Read: natural born Americans) won? No, but it would be better than watching some really suspicous guy from Eastern Europe take it, or some random East African take the wreath. Lagat at least has lived and trained here for a long time.