A. Wheating on Nick Symmonds: "Nick likes to make waves, but I feel like he's going to get a tsunami back in his face.&quot

sound like he plans on hustling to feed himself

the economy needs more hustlers

everyone can't work for the Goverment

Shoebacca wrote:

If LetsRun.com existed decades ago, then this is the exact feedback you would be hearing towards Prefontaine from the message boards. Here's a guy trying to get attention for the sport. You may not always agree with the ways he does it, but you can't deny he loves the sport. He's one of the few people willing to climb the uphill battle to make things better.

Steve Prefontaine was on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was a freshman at Oregon. He later decided to use his platform to help athletes.

Symmonds is trying to make himself famous. That is not remotely similar to Pre. Maybe Pre would do the same thing today, but that's pure speculation -- he didn't have to; he was a legitimate sports star already.

People talk about bringing attention to the sport -- how in the world is Nick Symmonds chasing Paris Hilton bringing attention to anyone other than Nick Symmonds? That does absolutely nothing for the sport, but it feeds Symmonds' ego quite nicely.

yeah, kind of agree. But I don't have to like the guy, just respect him. Positives: He is trying to shake things up with the USATF- that is a very good thing. No TV or video games. Check. Good thing. I could live without the self promoter aspect, but I don't really care. He's our only 1:44 consistently. BUT, the Paris Hilton thing really turns me off. How in the WORLD would a fit athlete, surrounded by beautiful fit track women, even think about a flabby skank like Hilton? And if you don't like TV pop culture, what in the hell are you doing chasing Hilton? We know, we know. Thats where I lose it for Symmonds. No respect. GO KD, Go Charles, GO WHEATING!

I am surprised more folk aren't slamming Wheating for his

"we don't want to step on anyone's toes" statement.

Wheating's statement is totally understandable. What isn't understandable is how Nick is getting rocked for using his platform to bring attention to the sport.

To be financially successful, with a trickle down to the athletes, track needs to be more than a secret society of the swift. Nick gets that.

A small dose of WWE isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as it is applied with wisdom and calculation. Nick is perceptive enough to see this.

Come to think of it, a no-holds-barred race might be entertaining.

the clarifier wrote:

I am surprised more folk aren't slamming Wheating for his

"we don't want to step on anyone's toes" statement.

Wheating's statement is totally understandable. What isn't understandable is how Nick is getting rocked for using his platform to bring attention to the sport.

To be financially successful, with a trickle down to the athletes, track needs to be more than a secret society of the swift. Nick gets that.

A small dose of WWE isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as it is applied with wisdom and calculation. Nick is perceptive enough to see this.

Come to think of it, a no-holds-barred race might be entertaining.

You're right. When track was popular, Coe was a media darling and Ovett refused to talk to the press. In the 80 Olympics Ovett went in the villain and came out popular because of the "I love you" signal to his girlfriend.

It takes all kinds- religious, boastful, quiet, obnoxious, Long hair, short hair, no hair, you name it. Personalities help make the sport popular.

the clarifier wrote:

What isn't understandable is how Nick is getting rocked for using his platform to bring attention to the sport.

Where has Nick brought attention to the sport?

He hasn't.

It's crazy that a real track fan would be upset that a star in our sport is trying to help market himself and track. I think when he comes out and says this is his intention that it makes everything seem to calculated, but nontheless, attention brings in money. Pre was trying to take down the AAU because they were crippling the sport, and not necessarily to the same degree, but Symmonds things there are certain governing bodies that are limiting track today and he wants that to change. Full respect for the man.

"I want a 14-year-old kid, like I was, to look at track and say, 'Damn, track is cool.' If you're 14 and you're an incredible athlete, you can do either track or football. You see all of these football players living these amazing lives, doing amazing things. What's to make you do track?"

"I want to show kids ... I've been to 30 countries, competed on four continents. I'm exchanging emails with Paris Hilton. This is a cool sport."

How could you dislike someone that just wants to make the sport better?

The best thing about track is that once the gun goes off, none of this sh#! matters. Stopwatch and order finish do not lie. No BS excuses blaming other team members or bad officiating.

All this crap aside, who, from the stars and stripes, is better than Symmonds @ 2 laps right now? Like him, hate him . . . no one. So he qualifies and maybe makes the finals in London and then gets smoked by Rudisha and co. Next event please.

I have no problem w/Nick actions...I just hope he doesnt screw up and not finish in the top three. That would be embarrassing.

symmonds is a boss. the sport needs more people like him and bolt to build a relevant and significant fan base.

To pick up on RukiddingMe!!,

"I have no problem w/Nick actions...I just hope he doesnt screw up and not finish in the top three. That would be embarrassing."

Further:

I would rather see him medal than help the sport.

Kanye North wrote:

the clarifier wrote:

What isn't understandable is how Nick is getting rocked for using his platform to bring attention to the sport.

Where has Nick brought attention to the sport?

He hasn't.

Bingo. None of what Symmonds is doing (even the Paris Hilton ridiculousness) will resonate with the masses. (Memo to Kayne North: Do you seriously believe Symmonds has a "platform"? Get real.) The only thing this clown has done that's helped the sport is participate in the great 800m final four years ago -- that got media attention and was something very positive for t&f. Symmonds is a self-promoter with extremely poor taste in women. End of story.

your comments show way more about you then nick symmonds.

So he's just "using" Paris Hilton to become popular, and to make track cool?

Gotta think about that for a while.

Kanye North wrote:

Where has Nick brought attention to the sport?

He hasn't.

And that's because with current USATF and IAAF regulations athletes really aren't able to garner any sort of attention that may overshadow those organizations. It's similar to what you had back in the 60s-70s with the AAU - they were financially suffocating athletes while creating this perception that said athletes needed the AAU in order for the sport to exist and be successful, and that was all just BS while they went and collected all the acclaim at the athletes' expenses.

While Symmonds may not be directly attacking the USATF's and IAAF's policies regarding sponsorship, he is still attempting to bring attention to this issue with his actions. The sport has plenty of marketability, but without change that potential will never be recognized.

And if Wheating is such a huge Pre fan, then why is he afraid of stepping on a couple of toes? I'd have to imagine that Pre would be okay with saying f**k the shoe companies if push came to shove.

I like that Wheating posts content online and uses his track notoriety as a platform for fun, but he's missing the big picture if he's going to step back and caution guys like Nick for going against the grain.

Duck Fan wrote:

Wheating is right on the money. You pick up a $11,000 sponsor but lose the $75,000 one.

Ok...Nike drops him - that leaves him with adidas, saucony, new balance, you catch the drift that will be interested and pay him equal money.

Symmonds is right in the fact that the sport needs more popularity, but it needs the right kinds of popularity. It does not need Paris Hilton or gossip over what Andrew Wheating said about Nick Symmonds. Track is one of the only sports in the US to still be (mostly) free of the paparazzi and evils of media. As track becomes more popular it will become increasingly difficult to protect the sport from becoming corrupted. Also, everyone talks about "what PRE would have done" but the truth is PRE would hate gossip and all that stuff, he would want ATTENTION yes, but FOR HIS RUNNING. As running gets more popular the pros will need to work together to ensure their rights are protected and they get the money the are entitled to.