I'm listening to CBS broadcast of the Boston Marathon, an interview with Ryan Hall, the guy keeps saying "maybe you could be the next bill rodgers". Hall must have been thinking WHAT? He would destroy Rodgers.
What are people's preceptions about this. Hall is faster, but is he better? will he be better?
Discuss
bob lobel is an idiot;
ignorant
arrogant
intoxicated
idiot.
Until Ryan Hall wins the Boston Marathon, he will never be on the same level as Bill Rodgers to non-runners...
Hall is faster, obviously.
Billy was a 2x American record holder, #1 world ranked 3 times, 4x Boston winner, 4x New York winner, and 1x Fukuoka (which then was like the world championships of marathon).
Billy was a winner, pure and simple. Most people would take wins over fast times.
Ryan hasn't really run enough marathons to be compared to Billy.
don't forget billys 3rd at world cross
Rodgers resume is far longer and more impressive - Rodgers strength was his durability and ability to compete at a high level for a long time.
However, if your question is who is faster - Hall takes it easily.
- Also the 3rd at world cross was a great effort for Rodgers but comparing world cross at that time to now is like apples and oranges. Rodgers would have had a hard time placing 3rd at World JR Xc's in 2008(the guy that won it has already run 27:02)
Hall is surely better than Rodgers, but it's not going to show up on a list of victories. Sometimes all Billy had to do to get a major victory was beat Jerome Drayton of Colorado or Kirk Pfeffer of Colorado. That's hardly the same as having to beat Martin Lel.
Hall is the big cheese of american marathoning, bill rodgers used to be fast.
Hummmmm wrote:
I'm listening to CBS broadcast of the Boston Marathon, an interview with Ryan Hall, the guy keeps saying "maybe you could be the next bill rodgers". Hall must have been thinking WHAT? He would destroy Rodgers.
What are people's preceptions about this. Hall is faster, but is he better? will he be better?
Discuss
well hall should be faster, rodgers is 60 years old and fighting cancer.
Good grief. To "be the next BR" doesn't just mean running fast times and winning Boston 4x. It's short hand for saying you can become the most popular with the fans, and the role model for 1000s of XC geeks. Will he become "the face of running in the US?
This is not a great analogy but ....Is Barry Bonds the Babe Ruth of our generation? There is more to it than just stats.
Shabby Ken wrote:
Hall is surely better than Rodgers, but it's not going to show up on a list of victories. Sometimes all Billy had to do to get a major victory was beat Jerome Drayton of Colorado or Kirk Pfeffer of Colorado. That's hardly the same as having to beat Martin Lel.
In case you're wondering who Draytor and Pfeffer are.
Drayton (Candian):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_DraytonI guess Pfeffer got 2nd in NY in 1979.
comparing rodgers to hall is unfair to both. the world is different, african runners have changed the sport. money has changed the sport. technology has changed the sport, as well. training advancement has changed the sport. it just isn't fair. sure, hall is faster and billy won more, but comparing sells them both short. the US has not seen a marathon talent with the potential that Ryan has in a long time, if ever. let's enjoy ryan's career and celebrate him now, because he is now. billy and frank et al. had their time in the spotlight...the whole "greatest" debate is never anything more than a debate as it can never be settled. let's not act like it means anything, even if it is fun...ryan and billy, you are both bad dudes in my book, as if that matters either...
The undeniably impressive thing about Rodgers is that he won Boston in 1979 in 2:09:27. There have been years in the 21st century when that would have won.
Agreed. They are both great runners, and Hall still has PLENTY of time to prove himself. He's so young.
And how many 3rds, then or now, have YOU garnered at the World X-C?
That was also pre-EPO, personal coaching, nutritionists, big shoe contracts et al...
wejo wrote:
Shabby Ken wrote:Hall is surely better than Rodgers, but it\'s not going to show up on a list of victories. Sometimes all Billy had to do to get a major victory was beat Jerome Drayton of Colorado or Kirk Pfeffer of Colorado. That\'s hardly the same as having to beat Martin Lel.
In case you\'re wondering who Draytor and Pfeffer are.
Drayton (Candian):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_DraytonI guess Pfeffer got 2nd in NY in 1979.
Drayton, not from Colorado or the land of candy (\"Candian\"??), was the #1 ranked marathoner in the world at one point. Yeah, total bum. No biggie beating him. Hall is great, no doubt. Billy won the big events consistently... somewhat like Lel. Mmm. Maybe Hall is Drayton to Billy's Lel.
I think the announcer was comparing Hall to Rodgers in terms of popularity and awareness of the general public. If so, he might be right, if some things I saw this weekend were any indication.
Hall was at the ASICS booth Sunday autographing posters, and the crowds were lining up more than an hour before he was scheduled to appear. That's like it was w/ Bill until very recently (and they still line up pretty good for Bill).
Also, Hall was stopped on the street and congratulated or asked for a photo op or autograph. Granted this is on a weekend when half the people in the area are runners, but at least we may be on the way to building at least one recognizable hero for the sport.
I think the Big Cheese should be seen as a new type of BR. He is now the role model for thousands of young kids who have an intensity and passion for running and gutting out their dreams.
Hall has a "GREAT BEGINNING" in the sport of long distance
running ... but can you really compare him to Rogers, Shorter,
Pre OR Batchelor? He needs time ... lots of time ... and Wins ...
lots of BIG wins to be included in the illustrious names above
mentioned. Give him another 10 years up wins, losses,
peaks, valleys, PRs and being broken. Will he even be here in
3 years? We sure hope so and wish him the very best ...
But now is not the time to compare him to the few and far
between ICONS of American Distance Running.
What we really need to do with this Posting ... is allow it
to assist us to recognize just how great the achievements
were of those who put in the Trials of Miles and carved their
signatures in the Asphalt Alleys of America's most unrecognized
but most deserving Athletic endeavor.
Yeah Jerome Drayton was from Canada, sorry...I was just thinking too far ahead to the other guy.
When did Ryan Hall become "The Big Cheese"...and do you actually think that's a decent nickname?