Rojo call out his Boys

Screw Rojo, Mason has talent

I'm surprised more people didn't notice this! Cornell is getting plenty of talent and Rojo should be ashamed of what he said. That was just plain idiotic. However, I think he was correct on his overall point that the athletes win the championships, not the coaches.

Exactly what coaching qualifications did ROJO have prior to his landing the Cornell job?

Did ROJO land the Cornell job mainly based on his affiliation to LetsRun and the recruiting bonanza that implied?

Well....

I think Rojo is actually calling out the limitations on athletics recruiting inherent to the Ivy League. He'd probably blame the conference before anything else.

I am glad someone finally posted this, I really wanted to start a thread, but actually figured there were probably 10+ threads about it already. I can not believe he would throw his kids under the buss like that, not too mention if he is complaining about a lack of talent he has no one to blame but himself.

First he should be recruiting the talent and if he is not able to get the top notch HS kids, well then he should be developing the talent as that is his job as the COACH.

I do not want to hear him complain about not having scholarships etc, because for one an IVY education to alot of kids especially in the north east means alot and there is plenty of aid to be offered, athletic or not. Also give me a break, Vin did it at Dartmouth. Outside of perhaps California, there is no deeper crop of distance runners in the country male and female than in upstate New York, AKA Cornell's back yard.

I think its time for ROJO to put up or shut up. Do his job, get his team to NCAA's, place top 10 with the talent he recruits and/or develops. If he can't perhaps its time for Cornell to look elsewhere.

I agree, way to take a good jab at your own team Rojo, I think he has definitely gotten some pretty damn good talent for a team that isnt a major distance power (like Oregon, Stanford etc). The northeast is rich with talented runners and the scholarship thing is bullshit. Any ivy league education is worth more than most scholarships a runner would recieve anyways plus its not like most northeastern runners cant afford the education. I was a 4:15 high school miler a chose a school that cant give athletic scholarships over other schools offering me athletic scholarships. Most kids dont end up being pro runners thus the education means more.

adaquate will hunting wrote:

I can not believe he would throw his kids under the buss like that

I was wondering what you meant by this, so I looked up the word "buss" on my computer's dictionary. Apparently "buss" is an archaic verb meaning "kiss." I'm somewhat perplexed as to what it might mean to throw someone under the kiss and why you are using Middle English slang.

I don't know what "powers" he had before his year, but according to Cornell's athletic website, this is Rojo's first year in a full-time assistant coaching position. Previously, he was the interim distance coach. Perhaps he had little control over who got recruited. If that was the case, then that quote is more aimed at the other coaches on his team than himself.

http://cornellbigred.com/news/2010/8/3/MTRACK_0803102021.aspx

Or to quote directly:

Moving into a full-time coaching role from the the interim spot he held previously will be men's distance coach Robert Johnson. Johnson will be beginning his ninth season with the Big Red.

"In his eight years with the Cornell program, Robert's athletes have become a major force within the Heps and beyond, winning numerous titles and establishing Ivy League all-time bests in the distance medley relay and the 4 x Mile relay," said Nathan Taylor, the George E. Heekin '29 Coach of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country. "His athletes stand among the very best performers in Cornell history, and I'm very excited about the continued success of the mid-distance and distance portions of the program.

"In the last three years alone, he has directed runners Zach Hine, Chris Arlinghaus, Jim Wyner and Sage Canaday to Heptagonal championships, along with Nate Edelman and Adrien Dannemiller, who have advanced to the NCAA finals."

Some kids don't have the means to give up athletic scholarships. Not all parents cannot afford to send their kid to an Ivy league school.

Get a top of the line education and have to take out a lot in student loans Or get an athletic scholarship, a good education, and no student loans with the option to go to an Ivy league school for grad school. If you don't have the money and do not want to be in significant debt, what option would you choose.

What can Brown do for you wrote:

Some kids don't have the means to give up athletic scholarships. Not all parents cannot afford to send their kid to an Ivy league school.

Get a top of the line education and have to take out a lot in student loans Or get an athletic scholarship, a good education, and no student loans with the option to go to an Ivy league school for grad school. If you don't have the money and do not want to be in significant debt, what option would you choose.

My friend, you are obviously not an Ivy leaguer. You might want to do some research on how a little something called "need based" financial aid works at many of these institutions.

I don't think it's a huge slam to say that his team hasn't been talented enough to finish top 10 at NCAA's. When was the last time an Ivy team did that on the men's side?

You are right, they do give out very generous financial aid packages. However, if I read this correctly, most students will still have to pay for at least some of their tuition and housing right? It may only be $5,000 to $15,000 a year, which is not a bad deal, but would you rather pay that or would you rather go to college for free?

If I was great runner that had full ride offers to the top schools, the ability to train with the best, and be able to be on national championship caliber teams, there is no way I would turn down a full ride for an education I would possibly have to pay for, even if it is a small amount.

However, if I was a pretty good runner with no or only partial scholarship offers to the top schools, the Ivy League would be an enticing offer.

The Ivy league is never going to pull in the known top talent like Oregon, Wisconsin, Stanford, etc. They are always going to have to rely on finding the diamond in the rough.

So much political correctness. It is not throwing your team under the bus to say they aren't as talented as the boys at Oregon. It is definitely an American thing to lie to people and tell them they are better than they are, but it only sets them up for failure. The way to get the most out of people is to first acknowledge who they are, and where they are in the process, and then train them appropriately. Just telling them they are as good as anybody else, and telling them to do the same workouts won't get them anywhere.

And no, ivy leagues can not get whatever runners they want. First of all, some great runners cannot get into those schools, and believe it or not, they might also not get any strings pulled for them. Likewise, there is aid, but for most people that hardly covers all of it, especially if you are upper middle class and your parents don't feel like picking up that kind of tab. If it was so easy then why haven't the ivy league schools been consistently been finishing well at Nationals? Granted, yes Stanford is doing it, but they've made such a bigger commitment to athletics than any Ivy program has.

How many 410 / 900 runners does he get each year? I'll give the guy credit that he has produced some pretty good talent good/very good but not great high school runners.

Why can't we lay the blame on Princeton here. They get unbelievable recruits and have not done jack with them. Outside of the rare Maag, Cabral and Leung they have done little with their superstar talent

Cornell has some very good athletes. Cornell is not like Oregon and Colorado where you can be half retarded and still get into the school. Maybe there are not that many great runners that are smart enough to get into Cornell and keep up with the course load without failing out.

I believe the major complaint brought out on the many threads on ths is that he threw his team under the bus.

Some day Rojo will have a team full of Bruce Hyde types, and score 15 at Heps. Mark it down.

He said "super talent," not talent. Obviously Cornell gets some talent, but they aren't getting super-talented guys and so they aren't going to get super results (top ten at NCAA). Seems pretty clear cut to me.

It was a slam. Cornell can get the talent if Rojo knew how to get them. I know because I was recruited to Cornell and although I chose not to go (Rojo was not the coach at that time), I understand that many kids in my situation (I consider myself in my prime as an "above talented runner") would go if properly approached, key emphasis on properly approached.

If Rojo thinks he doesn't have the tallent, it's his own fault because an education like Cornell is a huge pull for anyone who can get in and the athletes aren't going there not because of the school, but more than likely because of how they are approached. Be a salesman and sell an ice cube to an eskimo!!!