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

Writers have picked up on the Wheating video angle. It's another avenue to giving the public more access to the athlete.

One of the major issues in gaining more attention for the support is that the general public needs/wants a reason to care about the participants. Not saying that it's a good thing; it's a reality.

Another thought:

Looking out for yourself and looking out for the sport are not mutually exclusive activities.

I've been watching some Paris Hilton video ...

Do NOT underestimate her leg speed velocity!

Maybe she will be the surprise at the trials.

She finishes strong!

Jeez, what a small, narrow-minded person you appear to be. Go back to W Virginia or the sticks or wherever you came from. The world is much too sophisticated for you.

I love what Nick Symmonds is doing. The state of the sport is a direct representation of the people that ARE the sport. A bunch of personality-devoid skinny people that just want to "get along" and "not make waves." Why is Pre still so famous? He stood up and did something about it. I cannot stand how insanely weak some of you people are. Why is football so huge? Because football people demand it.

Yeah people b!tch about the sport never getting attention, but when an athlete does something to create attention folks jump on him.

i wish nick well,

man go out and nail the og spot and paris too.

[quote]KJones wrote:

Do NOT underestimate her leg speed velocity!

quote]

Yes, but it looks like she opens up too much at the hips. And there may be a touch too much up and down.

Wouldn't that negate lsv? Not sure about the impact on her turnover.

Run2winit wrote:

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.

YES

girls gone wild wrote:

i hate this hilton crap, but the sport needs guys like Symmonds and Fam to get more money and support in. I like Nick for the fact that he is willing to stand up for the athletes.

Symmonds is trying to do for the sport what Pre did back in the early 70s. He may not be popular with everyone with his brashness (like Pre), but I believe his motivations are altruistic.

I don't have a problem with Nick as long as he can back it up with good performances and so far he has.

Nothing like Paris Hilton existed in the time of Pre. She is a new evil, the like of which this world has never seen before.

This makes me really not like Wheating. At least Symmonds is trying to do something! I don't like Paris Hilton, but at least I can talk to my non-running friends about it because they might see it in the magazines or on stupid gossip shows. And hey, maybe non-track girls will see something about it and think of how Symmonds is a stud and actually start following track. That would be cool.

I just hope Nick doesn't slip her the salami until after he makes the team!

DKCCC wrote:

I don't like Paris Hilton, but at least I can talk to my non-running friends about it because they might see it in the magazines or on stupid gossip shows. And hey, maybe non-track girls will see something about it and think of how Symmonds is a stud and actually start following track. That would be cool.

Paris is not a bad gal at all actually. Just a little confused like the rest of us.

I just don't particularly like any celebrity. Yes, she could have a lot of the problems I have but anybody that craves the limelight (if they really didn't want the attention they could isolate themselves) kinda turns me off. I could've said much nastier things about her but I'm just indifferent.

Stong words from another anonymous dipshit who never has done anything and never will

sdfhsdfjkhs wrote:

Sorry, but Symmonds thinks he is more important than he actually is. He is a guy who is an international never was, and it won't be long before he is a national has been. Not many care about his running or even know who he is. He ought to be thinking about what he will do for the next 50 years of his life after his runnning life ends.

The fact that he wants to spend time with another nobody like Paris Hilton says it all.

haha love all the bitter people on this board whose girlfriends/sisters have been symmondsed.

if you don't want nick to bang your girl dont bring her to eugene.

simple as that. don't need to get all bitter over it on the internet.

goat888 wrote:

haha love all the bitter people on this board whose girlfriends/sisters have been symmondsed.

if you don't want nick to bang your girl dont bring her to eugene.

simple as that. don't need to get all bitter over it on the internet.

Wow, pathetic fanboy alert!

Symmonds thinks dating Paris Hilton is going to bring some fans to the sport and inspire 14 year olds.

I don't know about you but when I was 14, the guys winning medals were inspiring. Symmonds had his chance to be inspiring last year at the WCs with 200 to go, when he wussed out and let the medal go. Even he knew it when he finished, and was visibly disappointed in the moments after the race.

Before that, I'd not been a big fan of Symmonds, but that was a very human moment and I felt bad for him. I'd been hoping he'd come back this year with renewed determination and get the medal that could be within his grasp.

Instead he thinks this sideshow crap is going to work for him. Sorry, but I'm not a fan of it. It's probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Wheating knows it and was polite with his words.

Now I find myself indifferent for Symmonds to make the team. Is that the kind of fan support he was hoping for? Maybe it's part of the tsunami Wheating was referring to.

As far as Symmonds' racing legacy he is about the equivalent of Krummenacker, except that Krummenacker won a gold medal at world indoors. All respect to both Symmonds' and Krummenacker's running success, but unless Symmonds wins an Olympic medal, he won't be remembered by many in 10 years.

Comparisons to Pre are ridiculous. Pre was famous for what he did on the track; he spoke with his feet. He had a huge fan base and used that to work against the AAU for athletes' rights. I'm not sure where Paris Hilton comes into that. Symmonds will never have that kind of fan base, if nothing else because track is not that popular anymore.

Winning/total domination are what gets the headlines. How was Lance Armstrong so popular regardless of the US lack of interest in cycling? Pay attention when you watch the Olympics this year. Guess who the stories are about...99% of the time its the gold medalists.

If the Symmonds/Hilton thing turns into a story at the Olympics, it's going to be one of those sappy side stories that we all hate to watch, where they will cut away from covering the 800m race to show us some clips of Paris and then they'll cut back to the last 15 seconds of the race as the Kenyans sweep up the medals and Symmonds finishes off screen. The same stuff we all cringe about that causes even more people to not know anything about track.

Wouldn't you all agree that a better story would be Symmonds being on screen and outkicking someone for the silver or bronze?

Hate me if you like, but think about it for a while and you'll know that I'm right.

I think he needs more than Paris to really inspire the 14 year olds. He should bring multiple girlfriends to the meet.