The UNCENSORED "Week that Was"

You should go look up how many world champs/Olympic finals have been won in under 27 minutes. Not too many, and certainly not enough to make it a "given", inclement weather or no.

An Open Letter to Jenny B and Coach Wetmore:

Jenny B -- you are quickly becoming the United States greatest distance runner since Mary Slaney. Note that I did not make a distinction between Men and Women. Only Slaney, who had a American Record range from 800 - 10K has been better and your closing very fast...particularly by making the Steeple sexy versus backwater event. That said, I encourage the following:

* World Champs: If your recent performances are any indication, then a cool night with a packed house in Berlin and great competition will take you to both victory and a World Record. Your stronger and faster than the rest.

* NCAA Cross-Country: I like your plan on coming back to school and finishing up your eligibility....an act of great unselfishness. I'm pulling for the Buffs for the team crown. That will give you something to shoot for in the fall w/o international pressure. Have Fun.

* Turning Pro: Separate your Coach from your Agent so that you'll get dual perspectives on the "way ahead."

* IAAF Cross-Country: I'd highly encourage that your first action as a Pro is becoming vocal about fielding a strong Women's XC team in Poland. Imagine you, Flanagan, Begley, Goucher (if not pregnant), Willard, Kastor, etc toeing the line for our great nation. There's no doubt we'd compete for the title. Furthermore, you'd get experience and continue to build that strong strength base through the early Spring.

* Late Spring/Summer: I'd highly encourage that you focus on the 800/1500 in you outdoor campaign. There's no doubt that you can set the AR in both these events. Perhaps a season ending Steeple to see what happens....I'd use this year to get both strong (x-country), fast (800/1500), and experienced (IAAF vs USATF focused). By the end of the summer 2010 you'll have ARs in the 800, 1500, and steeple w/no doubt a strong performance in international x-country.....the latter being the most challenging of them all. Given your talents across multiple distances, you and Coach can now figure out what you want to focus on in 2012 (5k/Steepl) or (800/1500) and how you want to be marketed. Right now you don't know, what you don't know about where your talent lies.....that's why I think the steeple is a great choice....3K is probably your sweet spot right now. That said, I was absolutely amazed in your Pre Post-Race Interview that you thought you could walk down the world leaders who were well on there way. That's Game Jenny that came from a candid, lucid assessment in the middle of battle. Go Girl!

* The 800...yes, the 800. It's a "soft" AR and I'm absolutely convinced that you have the strength/speed to "shock" the stagnate American Women's 800 performances. Kim Gallagher just couldn't stay healthy enough to run a 1:53-1:54 which she was capable of.....Jearl Clark wasn't willing to become a 800/1500M type to push the record down any further.

* Coach Wetmore: Resist the USATF/Reebok Meet focus unless either true IAAF competition enters or a network wants to feature her as premier.....like why did Willard get more props than Jenny B at USATF Nationals? Resist the urge to go Indoor track versus IAAF X-Country....indoors is a waste of time for most distance runners.

Sincerely,

Lickety Split

Lickety Split wrote:

An Open Letter to Jenny B and Coach Wetmore:

Jenny B -- you are quickly becoming the United States greatest distance runner since Mary Slaney. Note that I did not make a distinction between Men and Women.

Here's a reality check. Male and female gymnastic champions are not equal. The women have it all over the men because of the number of women involved versus men. In running, it is a man's world, and the women's competition is a joke in comparision.

No depth wrote:

Lickety Split wrote:

An Open Letter to Jenny B and Coach Wetmore:

Jenny B -- you are quickly becoming the United States greatest distance runner since Mary Slaney. Note that I did not make a distinction between Men and Women.

Here's a reality check. Male and female gymnastic champions are not equal. The women have it all over the men because of the number of women involved versus men. In running, it is a man's world, and the women's competition is a joke in comparision.

Disagree. Where were you when the USA Women's soccer team took on the Chinese in Pasadena? I like Mr. Split's idea of a "dream team" XC team. I'd pay to watch those ladies run.

Lickety Split wrote:

* Turning Pro: Separate your Coach from your Agent so that you'll get dual perspectives on the "way ahead."

Dude, there's 2 Mark Wetmores in the sport.

Fail.

Your is possessive.

You're = you are. Hard to read and understand what you are writing with about 20 instances of that mistake.

If you have a spanking video with Begley, Flanagan and/or Goucher, Please contact me. Double price for hairbrush scenes.

Greg Bell, you're not funny, just creepy. Epic fail.

After all this attention I think there has to be some sort of mathematical formula to determine the size Lickety Splits' ego has increased to. I would probably say the x and y variables should be: number of pages of responses to his post and times his thread appears on the main page, respectively. Please post your equations...

If you have an extra quarter, go buy yourself a sense of humor