Darren Rovell Racist Anti-Meb Article

I wrote in too. This really is sad. I mean, nevermind an American winning at the place Shay died this year. Nevermind him coming up through the U.S. system. Instead, all the guy can write about is this?

He may not necessarily be a racist but he is a douchebag.

1) There is nothing really "racist"--that term is so overused that it is on the verge of being meaningless. If there is anything racist, it is the assumption that one group (Africans) are inherently superior--wait, there might be something to that in this instance.

2) Arnold S is far from a "ringer". A "ringer" is a person who is of superior talent to assist a weaker team win. Arnold is a lousy governor.

3) Actually I am proud to be in the same country. No one is going to kill the guy for making a stupid statement. The fact that anyone read it and the rest of us did is what is most irksome. He will take all the "hits" and emails to his publisher to show how many people read him.

Also, Frank Shorter was born in Germany.

I emailed, with a CC to the president of CNBC, Mark Hoffman. mark.hoffman@nbcuni.com

My email to Rovell if anyone cares...

I am sure that by now you are getting many emails calling you a racist. I will not go that route. I just wonder what you know about Meb and distance running.

Meb came to the US as a young child; he was not a mature, well-accomplished distance runner brought in to bolster American distance running. Of all the countries in the world his parents could have chosen, they chose the US. Ever wonder why?

Frank Shorter (one of the men credited with kicking off the running boom) was born in Germany--granted his father was in the US military.

Alberto Salazar (another famous marathoner) was born in Cuba.

The shame is that many in the running community share your lack of appreciation that Meb was trained in the American system, ran for his high school team, ran for UCLA and earned his citizenship. I assume you, like me, is an American merely by some sort of random chance.

Now get over the issues and revel in the fact that Meb is part of an American resurgence in the marathon. Or you can just pull for the guys with white skin that are "real" Americans. Maybe ask around your office (if you go into an office) to see how many people are not native Americans and tell them how they are second class in your eyes. That is how I interpret your comments about Meb.

Two words: Melting Pot.

This is not a racial issue. There is no American race. We are not rooting for white people, we are rooting for Americans. And Meb is American. He chose this country for himself, and represents it. He's on our team now. If Meb's parents had come over and had him here, would it be any different? America shouldn't be striving to breed the best marathoners so long as we can attract the best marathoners. Are Patriots fans any less proud of Tom Brady because he was born in California?

I sent an email to Rovell as well. I am curious to see if he writes a response to all of these emails. If so, would someone post the link here?

SDGuy wrote:

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ys-cnbcmarathon110209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

After reading this I am ashamed to be from the same country as Rovell...

It's a very well written article that speaks nothing but the truth. I dare you to highlight one incorrect fact in his article. You just dislike his opinion and in this case, he's are right as rain!

This writer is the kind of idiot that brags about the United States' dominance in basketball. Too bad the basketball team didn't achieve that sort of dominance by relying on the crackers on the team. It's the brothers that brings home the gold.

My email...

Mr. Rovell editorializes about what he considers a misleading headline from yesterday's NYC Marathon. I find fault with his argument that the men's winner, Meb Keflezighi, is (to paraphrase) 'technically American through citizenship, but cannot be regarded as such on the podium after a major marathon'. Such qualifications were thankfully not considered when Mr. Keflezighi brought home silver for the U.S. at the Athens Olympic Games.

Mr. Keflezighi found his way to America as a refugee from civil war. He grew up here, ran for U.S. high schools and colleges as a prep star, and has several U.S. championships to his name. To say that he is a 'ringer', or worse - not American, shows a lack of understanding for what it means to be an American. His life story and successes are a personification of the American dream. As such, Mr. Keflezighi honors the red, white, and blue more with his victories than do those who deign nationality on to those whom have already earned it.

My response to him if anybody cares:

"What is the point of this article?

Are you a fan of American distance running? If you were, then you would know that Meb takes his citizenship very seriously and proudly wears the USA singlet. You would know that he was the only elite American runner in the field to wear USA on his chest. You would know that Meb has lived in the US since he was 12 and was brought up in the American running system. You would know that he's grateful for every opportunity he's gotten here, and he acknowledges that he would not have been able to achieve so much in running had his family stayed in Eritrea. You would know that after the race, Meb proudly held up the stars and stripes and said to the fans, "It's all about the USA." Surely, if you had all of this information, you wouldn't have written such a worthless article.

If you're not a fan, then you might not know any of this. In that case you wouldn't be qualified to comment on Meb's historic win in the NYC marathon, would you?

You're an idiot, and Yahoo should be ashamed that such an discouraging and pointless article was published on their site."

NObama........................ wrote:It's a very well written article that speaks nothing but the truth. I dare you to highlight one incorrect fact in his article. You just dislike his opinion and in this case, he's are right as rain!

A well written article dosen't selectively weed out inconvenient facts. Like Meb beginning his running career in the United States. Or him living here 20+ years. You can tell the truth, but if it isn't the whole truth then it's not worth much.

Please, NObama. Go renew your Know Nothing party membership.

GO MEB!

The only issue I have with the column is that he obviously didn't do much research. He just probably saw that Meb comes from an East African country and became a citizen in his early 20s -- that must make him a ringer! I e-mailed him as well and pointed out that Meb has never competed for another country and has proudly represented the US in competition not only since becoming a citizen, but in a way long before it as well given his high school and college success. He has 20 national titles, a major marathon win and an Olympic silver, all while running under the US flag.

Meb is the American dream, but truthfully his whole family represents that as well. They took the opportunity they were given when they came here and ran with it, becoming doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Isn't that what it's all about?

This is what is so funny about the Meb comment. I know this is going to sound jingoist in of itself, but in my opinion, its all about where the runner developed. Meb was a product of the USA.

If Bekele became a citizen? Sorry, would have a hard time considering him, from a pure running standpoint, "American".

Will Meb's kids be "American" enough for Rovell? Or will they not count since they will be of Eritrean heritage?

Darren Rovell is the "sports business" reporter for CNBC. His focus is on business trends in sports, which hopefully help you pick stocks. CNBC doesn't do "scores and highlights" sports reporting. I'm sure his "sports business message is "An American won the NY Marathon - Don't get all excited and buy Nike."

I also highly doubt Darren Rovell is even remotely racist.

After reading comments on this board and from other articles regarding Meb's victory I have to comment.

First, NObama - yes, everything he states may be fact, but he glaringly, and conveniently, leaves out certain facts as well, which is just as bad as lying or bending the truth. He forgets to mention when Meb actually came to the county, making it sound like he ventured here in 1998 in his early 20's.

His opinion also presents a false idea - that he is "like a ringer", implying that some organization such as the USATF brought him in to "win the executive softball league". He certainly may present true facts, but he also makes quite a few implications with his writing style and choice of words that are quite embarrassing to himself.

The true story is Meb IS a product of the United States of America schooling system. He is an American citizen. The USA did NOT recruit him in any fashion for distance running, therefore he cannot in ANY WAY, SHAPE, or FORM be related to a "ringer". His family CHOSE the USA because they were refugees in need of a new home. They jumped through all the hoops and were able to EARN their citizenship. Mr. Rovell seems to have condescending feelings towards those who are "American citizen[s] thanks to taking a test and living in our country." As someone stated earlier - with that comment, Mr. Rovell should face up to anybody who earns their citizenship as Meb has and tell them that they don't belong, that they aren't as good as him because he was LUCKY enough to be born here.

On a personal note, this is slowly becoming a sad day for distance running in this country. Instead of celebrating Meb and his victory along with Ryan Hall's 4th place finish and 6 guys in the top 10(!!!) we are busy defending our American record holder in the 10,000m as an American citizen, who is truly worthy of sharing in the joy and appreciation we should all have of this wonderful event. This unfortunate idea that Meb does not deserve to be celebrated as an American like Ryan Hall would be is becoming wide spread and is only reinforcing the misconception that America is lagging in distance running. Instead of seeing how far the Americans have come, it is just giving fuel to that oh-so-common idea among the general American public. Meb is American and I, whether alone or joined by many, will celebrate and appreciate Meb, Hall, Arciniaga and all the others who performed this past Sunday, all of whom accomplished something great for American distance running.

I agree with you. The author is not even following his own poorly informed opinion, as he thinks the last "real" American winner was in '82. That was A Salazar, born in Cuba. The last US born winner was in '79, B Rodgers.

luv2run wrote:

Also, Frank Shorter was born in Germany.

Umm I believe his father was military. Please atleast offer a valid argument.

I'm embarrassed that all these silly letsrun posters are e-mailing him making fools of themselves!

For me, the crucible of U.S. cultural "citizenship" is the Purgatory known as "Middle School" or "Jr High". Unless you have survived this humiliating rite of puberty, you are not of the same experience as the rest of us. Kind of like the Kenyan circumcision rite, only more painful, psychologically anyway.

So Meb is "in" and Lagat is "out", by my criterion.