John Hancock's blanket was more important than the American flag

Yeah, that guy was a task master in the finishing area: hold this up, get the flag, wave to the fans in the sponsored boxes. If I was Meb (but Meb is too nice), I'd be like, dude, enough, STFU, I'm freaking tired!

totally agree . what an ass...even told the Kenyan not to bring their flag down....What a jack....he must had more $$$$ than all the runners together....

I forgot, when Jeptoo had finished, 2 Kenyans came down the stairs to give her a flag and he starts shouting NO! NO! NO! and pointing, then directs her away, as if they were all toddlers or dogs about to cross the street in traffic.

by the way...what is that Jack ass name??

i hated that jack ass.....i need his name.

I also noticed that. I realize that he needed to promote John Hancock as they were putting up a ton of money - much of it to the athletes. But don't start bossing around people who have just run hard for over 2 hrs. He was too noticable.

the guy took the whole meaning out the marathon. I would tell him..."get out my way...you hold the john hancock s blanket, I m holding the American flag"

Word. Seriously, that guy was a tool. Whenever an athlete took off the blanket, he was pretty forceful with getting it back on their shoulders. The part that made me really mad is when they had them spread out their arms as if the towel/blanket WAS a flag. Oh that was gross.Seriously, that dude was a tool. I would like his name so I could email him.Yes, I know they gave a ton of money to the race, but HE has to realize, if it wasn't them it would be somebody else. Sponsors for events that big are easy to find (I am a grant writer for a major company, so I know how it works). That moment was NOT brought to us by John Hancock.

money man wrote:

the guy took the whole meaning out the marathon. I would tell him..."get out my way...you hold the john hancock s blanket, I m holding the American flag"

the guy you say was tom meagher, who is the finish line coordinator and a fantastic guy.

Whoever was making him put the athletes through that little ritual was a jackass.

aslan wrote:

the guy you say was tom meagher, who is the finish line coordinator and a fantastic guy.

Whoever was making him put the athletes through that little ritual was a jackass.

Dang, you are probably right but I need to yell at someone for my frustration! Dammn you John Hancock!!!

Actually was glad they stopped the "flag as blanket deal." You are not supposed to use the American Flag as a blanket. NYC started that, and it was really obnoxious. I am all for waving the flag and being patriotic. In fact, I love it. There is proper treatment of the American flag, however, and having it as your towel when you finish is not it. I do not know the rules of flag treatment in other countries, but the default treatment should be to treat their nations flag with the same dignity and respect as is required of our flag.

The corporate sponsorship deal is something else. All of you complaining that Nike owns everything need to realize that if you want other companies sponsoring some running events, they need some return on investment.

What's silly about these antics is that the athletes are not under any obligation to cooperate. If a sponsor wants an athlete to hold a banner after winning, the sponsor should just make it an explicit part of their elite athlete contract. Then you wouldn't need to have some guy prancing around the finish line, trying to politely get people to do something they don't want to do.

Someone like Meb knows better than to try to piss off sponsors. He probably resented that extra endorsement duties were sprung on him without warning, though.

Considering it was John Hancock that declined to sign Meb a few years ago for the Boston Marathon, I would be surprised if Meb had any other use for the towel than to use it as toilet paper.

rothermj wrote:

Actually was glad they stopped the "flag as blanket deal." You are not supposed to use the American Flag as a blanket. NYC started that, and it was really obnoxious. I am all for waving the flag and being patriotic. In fact, I love it. There is proper treatment of the American flag, however, and having it as your towel when you finish is not it. I do not know the rules of flag treatment in other countries, but the default treatment should be to treat their nations flag with the same dignity and respect as is required of our flag.

The corporate sponsorship deal is something else. All of you complaining that Nike owns everything need to realize that if you want other companies sponsoring some running events, they need some return on investment.

Hmm. I disagree with your "proper treatment" of the flag idea. Who decides what is "proper"? The people? The military? Some strange teacher you had in ROTC? I think what would have been proper is for Meb to have the American flag which unites us instead of the corporate flag which divides us. The American flag would have been a symbolic victory. The Hancock flag is a monetary victory for a select few. Which is more glorious? Which supports Meb as a person and us as runners?

There is a federal law, the flag code, that stipulates much of the proper flag etiquette. I don't think it is a law that is enforced or has prescribed punishments but it more of a guide for proper use.

That guy also told Meb's wife to stop hugging him. It was outrageous. He really put a damper on one of the greatest moments in US distance running history. Please don't let him anywhere near the finish line next year.

I just thought it was an over the top response of security to avoid any possibility of breaches.

mv wrote:

I forgot, when Jeptoo had finished, 2 Kenyans came down the stairs to give her a flag and he starts shouting NO! NO! NO! and pointing, then directs her away, as if they were all toddlers or dogs about to cross the street in traffic.

He asked for an American flag immediately after he finished.

Believe it or not there are rules on how to display the United States Flag!

See this link here:

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30243.pdf

§ 8. Respect for Flag.

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It

should never be festooned, dr

awn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to

fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and re

d, always arranged with the blue abov