Philip Hersch is an ASS.

Hilarious, you snivelling pack of crybabies. it's called a "columnist." He's paid to opine, and there is no pretext that he's doing anything but. The pure fanboy nature of most running coverage is what keeps it from being covered like a real sport. I don't agree with Hersh's opinion, but glad that he has one. Otherwise all we've got is fawning Letsrun and Runner's World type coverage.

Well here is Runner's World's take on Hersh.

http://rwdaily.runnersworld.com/2012/03/phil-hersh-on-runners-throughout-history.html

"Criticism and analysis is one thing. But, jeez, what's with the hostility?

Curious, RW Daily did a little digging, and learned that Mr. Hersh actually has a long history of this sort of thing. Below, Phil Hersh sums up the careers of other notable runners throughout history...

On Terry Fox:

"Couldn't even make it across Canada. Quitter."

On Jesse Owens:

"Didn't take out Hitler when he had the chance. Fail." "

It's usually nice when someone from a major paper writes about running ta all, but I'd prefer nobody writing about running than this guy writing about running. I think the subject of this thread sums it up.

Why is competing for your country so important in track? When Kobe skipped the Olympics in 2000 and 2004, nobody really seemed to care. If I were at Khannouchi's level, I'd do what is best for me. Competing for your country would be low on my list of priorities. The only reason I'd want to compete in the Olympics is because I'd want to face the best of the best, and in the marathon, that is not the case most years.

Let me get this straight: He completely rips KK. He completely rips Hall. He completely rips DD. These people are out there devoting their lives to the sport and he has nothing positive to say. And I'm supposed to think that this guy cares about running? Who continues to pay his salary?

Well, for one thing, Shorter is not the greatest U.S. Marathoner of all time "by any measure." Personally, I think Shorter is the greatest, but if you're measuring strictly by the clock, he's not. (He never even went below 2:10, right?) If your standard is the Olympics, then yes, clearly he's the greatest. But not according to the clock, so not "by ANY measure."

Overall, I think Hersh needs to chill. He takes himself and his self-imposed standards way to effing seriously.

I simply don't understand why the Tribune keeps him employed. Virtually any new college graduate with a journalism degree would be more objective and try to bring something new to the table that goes beyond a bitter opinion. How is anyone supposed to appreciate Olympic sports when all his articles criticize them?

So Hersch's opinion is that dirt poor immigrants owe him top performances in the races he thinks are most important. Is this guy as big of a prick in person as he is in his columns?

Don't trust Moroccan affiliated runners. Ramzi, El G, Trafeh, and KK. All sketchy.

I think it's pretty well established no one likes Phil the pill. The guy has no business writing about anything in my mind.[quote]webb wig wrote:

Comrades wrote:

I don't agree with Hersh's opinion, but glad that he has one.

We can agree or disagree with the opinion expressed within that column. (no big whoop to me) It's Hersh's pissy tone that's so offensive. Perhaps ol' Phil should just stick to figure skating commentary.

Philip Hersch is a talented writer.

Sort of.

Philip Hersh is mad as hell, and he's not gonna take it anymore!!

neanderthal dream wrote:

Philip Hersch is a talented writer.

Sort of.

Yeah, I liked what Hersch did with that "sort of" thing. It was so creative. I even thought it was kind of cute.

Phil Hersh is a miserable man. His writing is petty because he is petty. He is a dinosaur who tries to make himself relevant by dusting up controversy where there is none, or where there needn't be any. There is always a place for the contrary viewpoint, but Phil just comes off as spiteful. Is he a bad journalist or a bad guy? I think he used to be an ok journalist who has since turned into both. Phil, please stick to writing about figure skating, because, who cares?

I just think it's strange to consider a man who won major marathons, set world record and American records and emerged from the doldrums to miss the Olympics last time by one spot and then retires after years of injuries at age 40 a "quitter." What other athlete who retires at 40 for any reason at all gets called a quitter?

dean moriarty wrote:

So Hersch's opinion is that dirt poor immigrants owe him top performances in the races he thinks are most important. Is this guy as big of a prick in person as he is in his columns?

Ask Ryan Hall!

I loved how RH reacted to PH's rudeness. Acknowledged it but didn't upset him in the slightest.

And, to top it all off, he called Weldon Johnston an 'editor.' Knew the article was going down hill after such a rookie mistake.

Overall I would say that most of you are overreacting to Mr. Hersh's article. While he does in fact take a very serious and apparently controversial stance on the career of KK, I don't think that it is as unwarranted as everyone posting here makes it seem.

Hersh, as he shows in his previous articles, was fully supportive of the running efforts of KK and wished to see him bring the spotlight to American distance running. Now, here is where you might say "Well he did do that! With all of those great times!" The fact of the matter is, that in the USA nothing you do outside of the Olympics matters all that much to the general public (Hersh's demographic).

An immigrant named Khalid Kannouchi winning a major marathon or setting a world record means just about zilch to most Americans and even running fans at that. However, if said Kannouchi had been able to dawn a USA uniform and do some damage at the Olympics, he would've been heralded as a great American who overcame adversity and was able to succeed. The American Dream if you will.

This is what separates KK from athletes like Bernard Lagat and Meb Keflezighi. Meb and Lagat both came to the US with the true desire that they believed that they could lead better lives in our country. Feeling indebted, they have both gone to great lengths to dawn USA jerseys as much as possible and have success in the red, white and blue. This is the main point of Phil's article.

I will admit now that I am young at a mere 21 years old and missed almost all of Kannouchi's running prime, but from my perspective I can commiserate with Hersh and say that I would rather a native born American or someone who at least truly showed American spirit to hold the American marathon record as opposed to it being held by a Moroccan who only once managed to dawn the the colors of the red white and blue.

If my definition of "American spirit" is not clear then continue to read. I am by no means claiming that I can not understand Kannouchi's situation and how he too overcame great adversity to become a US citizen. However, I am saying it is every great athlete's dream to compete in a world championships in the US. Be that the Super Bowl, the NBA finals or the Olympics, the goal of American's will always be to show the world on that specific day that we are really good at sports and that, Kannouchi did not do.