German Talks the Talk

Two things about that statement that got me thinking.

1) German didn't just catch them and start to make a move up to Rupp and Sam. They caught the pack and were running in it when it the achilles gave out. He may have been contemplating making a move, but he was in the middle of the second pack (with a 3rd pack just behind them) when this happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBkO3_kpJaA

This was probably more one of those after the race type of feelings, when you forget how you actually felt at the time and how far the other guys were away and that they were at that point just feeling eachother out and waiting for the kick.

2) Rupp could have gone at any point and pressed the pace down. He could have had a 60 second margin over luke and chris just like at pac-10's and regionals (his first 2 races of cross season). He would have pulled Sam further away from 3rd place in doing so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAfWyjRZJ2g

The test for German will be next year at NCAA's to see if he can catch Sam. He may be able to and there won't be any hiding. It'll be Fernandez VS. Chelanga with Puskedra & Derrick trying to track them down. If he let's Sam get too far away he may not come back. Without Rupp on his shoulder Sam may be free to run harder and more evenly and not worry about tactics.

But his NCAA run at Rupp is likely over even if he comes around at the 5K outdoors and even if Rupp is doubling 5K & 10K. The base that Rupp has built over the past several years, and the speedwork that Rupp put in over indoors (hell indoor NCAA's featured a great speed workout on day 1 for Rupp) is going to pay off big time for outdoors.

You left a very important part of his quote out:

"I was just in tremendous pain and thought I let my team down and everyone down as people were expecting a lot from me."

Translation:

"I had a lot of pressure on me. The race wasn't really going how I wanted it to and I got caught up in the moment and I took a dive. I knew I let my team down but I just couldn't handle the pressure."

I'll just jump on the "I thin Fernandez is a little douchebag" bandwagon now. I mean he probably has an approval rating of like 90% right now but in a year it will be down to about 30% after he bombs some races and does more retarded interviews.

If you were a really fast, talented runner with a ton of pressure on your shoulders, what kind of stupid shit would you say?

Get over yourself, he's 18 and confident.

What a bunch of morons.

Do any of you have a brain at all? It sure does not seem like it.

All you do is go around picking apart any statement made by an runner. Face it GF is light years ahead of either of you guys. You should spend you time picking apart you own running and not worry so much about Fernandez or Rupp.

GF: 'I'm going to try to go after Rupp and Chelanga and try my best,' and right when I made my move my Achilles gave out ..."

Moron #2: "German didn't just catch them and start to make a move up to Rupp and Sam."

Yeah, he said "I'm going to TRY", "and RIGHT WHEN I made my move".

Now notice that the video did not show German going down. It was prior to that. So if he when down RIGHT WHEN he made his move, we did not see it.

Moron #2: "Rupp could have gone at any point"

Just because GF says he's going to TRY to close the gap, does not mean he is saying he will, and it does not mean that Rupp could not go at anytime. He's not talking about Rupp or if he could have won, just what was happening to him at that particular time. He's going to try to made a move. I, for one, believe he would have placed 3rd. Somewhere in between the two groups, but shoulda-woulda-coulda is for losers.

Moron #1: "after he spent all of indoor avoiding Rupp."

Yeah, right. All indoor, huh? Like the other 2 races he ran which anyone else could have run. He skipped one race, which was meaningless for his team and his career. Smart move.

Moron #1 :"If he really thought he could have run with Rupp in XC, "

He never said he could run with Rupp. He said he was going to TRY to go after them. You know the definition of TRY, right?

Moron #1 : "Who is he fooling?"

You, apparently, but then fololing someone who would not know what to do with a brain if he had one is not too difficult.

On the other hand, it feels kind of good to take a quote or a post and rip it to shreds when you don't really know the person who said it, or wrote it, and don't have a clue what their motivation was for it.

Really, I don't understand why you Rupp or Fernandez worshipers have to tear anyone down who threatens your idols.

In the end, we will know who is better and it will happen on the track, not on these boards.

German is 18, he's not in Rupp's league yet, but he's very, very good for his age.

Rupp has made HUGE strides this year. He's no longer the wonder boy who can't win a real race. He's now a man among boys in the NCAA.

Good for BOTH of them.

I look forward to German getting healthy and progressing so he and Rupp can put it on the line in future years. I look forward to seeing who is better. This year and in the future, but that's just me. I'm a fan of the sport, not a fanboy of any particular runner.

coach bigfoot wrote:

If you were a really fast, talented runner with a ton of pressure on your shoulders, what kind of stupid shit would you say?

Get over yourself, he's 18 and confident.

Oh come on, it is so obvious that he pulled a Suzy Favor Hamilton at nats. How many people have suddenly gotten hurt 75% into a distance race? It never happens. This is actually the point in the race where people are most likely to drop out. His speedy recovery and vague detail about his injury make it pretty clear that he took a dive. I can't blame him though. He was in a tough position and I'm sure that many others would have done the same thing.

Ah, Moron #3 has shown up.

"Translation:

"I had a lot of pressure on me. The race wasn't really going how I wanted it to and I got caught up in the moment and I took a dive. I knew I let my team down but I just couldn't handle the pressure.""

Translation of the translation: I just can't stand it if anyone could be better than my idol. I'll make up a whole bunch of shit about anyone who could possibly be better than him in a couple of years. Hey, Rupp, call me sometime. You never return my calls.

Oh Sure wrote:

"I was feeling really good. Me and John Kosgei were like 20 seconds away from the lead group. We just started moving and we closed pretty hard and caught the lead group and I was telling Kosgei , 'I'm going to try to go after Rupp and Chelanga and try my best,' and right when I made my move my Achilles gave out ..."

He sure can talk the talk when he's on the other side of the world, after he spent all of indoor avoiding Rupp. If he really thought he could have run with Rupp in XC, he would've jumped into Rupp's 7:44 3k, or 13:18 5k, or Indoor Nationals. Who's he fooling? The fastest he's ever run in his life is away from a starting line with Rupp.

[ ] good at trolling

[x] trying too hard

[?] closet racist

i thought he was a humble guy but he sounded kind of cocky during this interview, almost like he did not want to show vulnerability and wanted to be seen as being 'perfect' or some random shit like that

craaazy wrote:

i thought he was a humble guy but he sounded kind of cocky during this interview, almost like he did not want to show vulnerability and wanted to be seen as being 'perfect' or some random shit like that

thats the exact vibe i always get from his interviews.

I think there are some valid points being made on this thread. There are legitimate question marks over his ability to handle pressure despite his phenominal performances. They have all come in races whereby he has had his own way during the race running even etc. He has had no real challenges actually racing except for NCAA XC where he did not finish. This is an interesting race too as he seemed to have quite a serious injury which is a fair enough reason not too finish but there was never any hard evidence released of an injury and to come back only a few weeks later into world class mile shape suggests it wasn't a serious injury.Before anyone calls me on the world cross being a pressure race...it is not for unless you are African. He had no real expectation of winning so was able to just run and run hard.IN relation to another athlete the only one who is in a comparable situation despite being a girl is Steph Twell who seems to deal with pressure easily, regulary competes with the British girls of similar ability on a regular basis and she doesn't drop out races not going her way.

Oh Sure wrote:

http://www.letsrun.com/2009/ammanpressconference2009.php

"I was feeling really good. Me and John Kosgei were like 20 seconds away from the lead group. We just started moving and we closed pretty hard and caught the lead group and I was telling Kosgei , 'I'm going to try to go after Rupp and Chelanga and try my best,' and right when I made my move my Achilles gave out ..."

He sure can talk the talk when he's on the other side of the world, after he spent all of indoor avoiding Rupp. If he really thought he could have run with Rupp in XC, he would've jumped into Rupp's 7:44 3k, or 13:18 5k, or Indoor Nationals. Who's he fooling? The fastest he's ever run in his life is away from a starting line with Rupp.

you actually make some decent points except for world cross not being a pressure race. with this running community of letsrun and the eyes of the ncaa expecting a medal, how can you say this isn't a pressure race? when ritzenhein medaled, he made this a pressure race for every subsequent prodigy afterwards. also, he definitely proved himself in the 3k versus coe. while coe wasn't a rupp-level name going into this race, he pushed german to the tape and german prevailed in a fast race for ncaa in general, let alone an 18 yr old. that's a pressure race, no questions asked.

those are some good points and I admit I forgot about the 3km in Seattle! But I would still like to see a championship performance from him where he is/should be in contention for the win. There are plenty of athletes that run fast but don't win anything, for example Asafa Powell.

All this said it would be brilliant to see him win some big championship races I just don't think as it NOW there is nothing to say he has that ability. I know he is only 18 but he is running senior world class times and regardless of your age that brings pressure and it needs to be dealt with. The more 'big' races he does the more experience will be gained. And in the long term it is probably better to have one or two big defeats/losses as that will help develop him as any they would any other athlete.

flopper wrote:

Ah, Moron #3 has shown up.

"Translation:

"I had a lot of pressure on me. The race wasn't really going how I wanted it to and I got caught up in the moment and I took a dive. I knew I let my team down but I just couldn't handle the pressure.""

Translation of the translation: I just can't stand it if anyone could be better than my idol. I'll make up a whole bunch of shit about anyone who could possibly be better than him in a couple of years. Hey, Rupp, call me sometime. You never return my calls.

Yeah, your right, my idol is someone that is younger than me.

I really like German and think that he has a great future ahead of him, but he buckled under pressure at nats, there was no injury. Have you ever had an achilles injury? Even the smallest ones take a long time to get over. By his reaction to the injury he should have been out for a year, unless he was faking it.

HoldOn wrote:

Yeah, your right, my idol is someone that is younger than me.

I really like German and think that he has a great future ahead of him, but he buckled under pressure at nats, there was no injury. Have you ever had an achilles injury? Even the smallest ones take a long time to get over. By his reaction to the injury he should have been out for a year, unless he was faking it.

Were you at Nationals? Did you see the incident in question? Fernandez was in great position and looking relaxed, he did not have the look of someone who was struggling mightily or was contemplating a dive. Shit happens, just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

I have had an achilles injury, took me a week to get over. If you have the right trainers and do the right things you can be back up in no time.

Read some more World XC coverage - German clearly states that it wasnt an achilles injury, which would explain why it healed so quickly. German and his coach were actually really relieved that it wasnt an achilles injury.

he didn\'t injure his achilles... that\'s just what the early reports were before they actually knew anything

the actual injury was to his plantaris muscle, so that\'s why he recovered faster than would be expected for an achilles injury

he needs a PR person, though... shouldn\'t be talking like that...

HoldOn wrote:

Oh come on, it is so obvious that he pulled a Suzy Favor Hamilton at nats. How many people have suddenly gotten hurt 75% into a distance race? It never happens. This is actually the point in the race where people are most likely to drop out. His speedy recovery and vague detail about his injury make it pretty clear that he took a dive. I can't blame him though. He was in a tough position and I'm sure that many others would have done the same thing.

Why the hell are you still here? It's not like you are saying anything intelligent. You just continue running at the mouth like some annoying Boston Celtic's heckler. The truth is if you ever met German Fernandez you would shit in your pants. Not that he would inflict bodily harm on you. He would probably simpy go up to you and say,"Have you ever met me and why are you talking shit about me on a public thread? Get a life loser."

did you guys see how that pussy rupp avoided german at the razorback invitational mile? what about when rupp *ducked* the washington husky indoor 3k? yeah, what a pussy. he was obviously scared and thinks about GF all day every day. i bet every single one of his decisions are based on where GF is running, like how he (rupp) went to nats because GF had stated his commitment to world cross way before indoor nats.

----- right? -----

In the end, the threads like "german talks the talk" is always started by someone who has felt personally disrespected during the last few years of Rupp-bashing. I guess it's a compliment to Fernandez that he is now the target of this abuse, which really does remind me of someone's blind support for their retarded girlfriend. I'd cite some examples or explain the metaphor, but we are all like totally with me, right? Seriously though, who wouldn't be excited because of Fernandez? He's sweet! And Rupp? He's kind of *you know*, but awesome too!

So to all the Rupp supporters: he's having a hellofa school year! Both are! But there is no need to be starting this trash talk. Fernandez has done nothing but set records the past two years, which outweighs any post about him.

So here's to this thread and the same exact threads, started by the same insecure Rupp-wannabees, that will be posted about how Fernandez ducks Rupp and fakes injury! You guys rule!

In conclusion, I hope the top US runners stay healthy throughout outdoors! I'm pumped... for the racing, not the lame addictive letsrun message boards posts and inane Rupp (or GF) fanboys. It's impossible to not be stoked for all of the great times and results unless you're immature and insecure and a bunch of other adjectives made from letters that make words. Bye!