I honestly think I would rather be a multi ncaa cross all-american over being a one time champ...
The reason is once you make it to the top you will be criticized the rest of your career if you stink or dont perform.
If your a multi all american you never reach that instant glory but you prob wont deal with the criticism and you will most likely not get mind f***** the rest of your career and end up running well for your standards.
Can my one time championship come at my senior year at NCAA Outdoors?
Then i would be regarded as someone who had the most perfect peak performance.
Winning DUH!
John Easker finished the top 10 at NCAA Cross three times. Alan Scharsu also. You go down in history for winning the big one. Those two were among the greatest collegiate cross runners ever.
You won't find their names easily. But you will find guys like Marc Scrutton, Zac Barie, Ed Eyestone, Aeron Ramirez. I would say Easker and Scharsu were superior cross runners.
Josh Mcdougal comes to mind when I think about one time champs.... and I wouldnt want to be him right now (running wise)
atop wrote:
I honestly think I would rather be a multi ncaa cross all-american over being a one time champ...
The reason is once you make it to the top you will be criticized the rest of your career if you stink or dont perform.
If your a multi all american you never reach that instant glory but you prob wont deal with the criticism and you will most likely not get mind f***** the rest of your career and end up running well for your standards.
American complacency at it's finest. Why go for gold and have mean people whom I'll never meet make fun of me when I can settle for mediocrity? If we ever want to improve our reputation and results on an international level, we need to go for it. I'm not talking Pre-esque taking the lead in every race and hoping for the best, but c'mon. Grow a pair.
its not a question about giving it your all... its about the runner in general, for me... if I won a championship and felt that brief glory, then the rest of my career got injured and never ran that well again it would piss me off!
Then you need to re-phrase your question then.
At no point did you say the Champ would be injured and never return to the same level, nor did you say the AA would go on to have remain completely healthy and productive.
No reason to re-phrase the question...
which would you want to be?
Obviously if the Champ continues to run well then Id want to be a champ, but if not then the cristism id face from others and myself would be much more tramatic.
Therefore:
If the All-American doesnt run well then the tramatic experience I believe wouldnt be as great because that "brief glory" (the goal being a national champ) hadnt been achieved. so the after effects would personally be much easier to deal with
you fill in the blanks
Traumatic**
atop wrote:
Obviously if the Champ continues to run well then Id want to be a champ, but if not then the cristism id face from others and myself would be much more tramatic.
So basically what you're saying is that you'd rather avoid success because if you're successful, random people might anonymously post mean things about you on LR and you're emotionally unstable to such an extent that such criticism would leave you traumatized.
The one time NCAA champ is more likely to go on to make money in the sport than any random repeat AA. I'll take the path that is more likely to lead to a lucrative career even if it means that Letsrunners will fill their lunch breaks at Ruby Tuesdays with talking trash about me on the message board.
the criticism world doesnt revolve just around letsrun... as well as random people thats the least of the problems.
(my coach, my teammates, my family.. i wouldnt say are random)
avoiding success...... being a MULTI all-american isnt successful?
atop wrote:
the criticism world doesnt revolve just around letsrun... as well as random people thats the least of the problems.
(my coach, my teammates, my family.. i wouldnt say are random)
avoiding success...... being a MULTI all-american isnt successful?
So your family is just going to start spending dinnertime blasting you about your running if you win NCAAs? Your coach is going to make fun of you?
stinks wrote:
Josh Mcdougal comes to mind when I think about one time champs.... and I wouldnt want to be him right now (running wise)
McDougal had other all-american performances though. I'd take his college career in a heartbeat. On the other hand, if I had to take either a one-time xc champ (only AA) or, say, 3-5 AA certificates, I would be strongly tempted toward the latter. Also depends on team situation--in cross, winning it helps the team a lot. If you can get your team to a national championship, but sacrifice any other chances at making AA, you probably go that way as a no-brainer.