fanatic runner & racer wrote:
But really we are not fans. We are typical hobby joggers.
Fixed.
fanatic runner & racer wrote:
But really we are not fans. We are typical hobby joggers.
Fixed.
I was at a race once where Dathan Ritzenhein was running the 5k. I looked around and few people in the stands were watching, but seemed uninterested. Then I looked on the fields and all the mediocre athletes were either cooling down from the slower heats or warming up for their own race. None of them were the caliber of Ritzenhein. None of them seemed interested in him running a low 13 minute 5k. Then I realized most runners are like the op.
Didn't mean to reply specifically to predictablee.
I'm a semi-professional/sub-elite mid-distance runner (46., 1:46, sub 4). I compete and make a bit of money but work a regular week as well. While I'm curious why the OP isn't that interested in watching if he knows why, I can't say I'm very surprised. What I am more surprised by is that people like watching sports so much in general. I really enjoy playing sports but have pretty much no interest in watching outside of sitting around with my friends and chatting while a game is on in the background. I enjoy watching other elites race more out of curiosity about potential competitors. Watching a 5k/10k/marathon, even if it's fast, is incredibly boring. And I have a clue. I can't imagine how dreadful races are if you have no idea what's going on.
It's wrong to attack someone because he/she is uninterested what the pros in a given sport are doing. Sports were created to be enjoyable for the participants. If someone doesn't care about others playing it, it's not selfish so you all should back off a bit. What would make track more enjoyable to watch for the layperson? A league with teams and dual meets where only a few events were run each week?
HRE wrote:
I'm not at the point the OP is but I'm drifting in his direction so I'm going to take a stab at this hoping you'll find it useful. It may run kind of long for which I apologize in advance.
As you get older it is much tougher to keep track of individual athletes. When I was a kid, for example, there was a time when I knew the starting line ups of every MLB team. Now it's not uncommon for me to not recognize the names of guys who are in the discussion for MVP or the Cy Young award. My interest in the game hasn't diminished but I don't have the time or inclination to go through multiple box scores pretty much daily. I'm a Celtics fan. Twenty years ago I knew pretty much the whole roster. Now I can't even identify their whole starting five.
The same is true for track. When I look at Track and Field News' annual rankings most of the names mean nothing to me outside of the distance events, which I follow a lot more closely than other ones. But even there the percentage of recognizable names has dropped for me and as that's happened my interest in the elite level of the sport has dropped to a greater degree than it has with other sports.
I think the reason for that is in team sports I can not know the athletes especially well but still get interested in the win-loss angle, in games strategies, etc. I like it when the Celtics or Pirates win. I really don't care if Rondo puts up a triple double or not or whether or not Andrew McCutcheon goes 4 for 5. Eventually they'll both be gone but the teams will still be there and whatever interest I have in the individual athletes is dependent upon the effect they have on whether their teams win or not.
When I look at the 100 meters in a big track meet, it generally doesn't matter to me who wins. I may suspect some guys of being drug cheats and hope that they lose or maybe I like one who runs for a smaller shoe company than adidas or Nike, but aside from that, they're all generic running pros, they have similar lives, and there's no equivalent to hoping one of them has a triple double because I'm a fan of their team and that performance will help the team win.
Maybe this is just my age showing, but I thought the sport was more interesting when it was an amateur sport because it forced the athletes to have lives outside of the sport. It was neat that Jack Bacheler was sneaking insects from Mexico back into the US after the '68 Olympics for his Ph. D research. I was a huge fan of Ron Hill making himself the best marathoner in the world while running back and forth from his full time job or of George Young waking up a couple hours before he had to go and teach school thinking, "Those Russians have already been training for hours" to get himself out the door for his first run. It was interesting and inspiring to see people whose lives were like mine doing what I did but doing it so much better. To me, a pro who can do his first run at 10-11 AM, eat, nap, do a little gym work, then head out for run #2 is just not as interesting as the old "amateurs" were.
I'm not suggesting a return to amateur running. If good bowlers can get paid for bowling good runners should get paid for running. But, well, you asked.
I hear and agree with much of what you are saying - one thing that has helped me care more is twitter - you can follow all the major american, british and australian and canadian distance runners on twitter and see a little more of who they are as individuals. Every day you see what a few of them are doing.
It has made the sport more fun for me - try it.
Yeah, I mean, if you aren't a serious competitor you aren't going to pay attention to the serious competition.
I bet you frequently discuss your own running in facebook though
Don't worry man you are not abnormal!
TheNavidsonRecord wrote:
Yeah, I mean, if you aren't a serious competitor you aren't going to pay attention to the serious competition.
That's not it at all. I don't play "serious competitor" football but I am interested in professional football.
I think there are a few reasons. Its a cultural thing. I have not been raised to follow it and the people around me don't follow it. Also, football seems to be a more interesting spectator sport.
Have to agree, along with "Sham." Reading and occasionally meeting the amateur "pros" back in the 70s got me motivated - like you mentioned, Ron Hill, George Young, even going back to Buddy Edelen - but especially Bill Rodgers in his early days of juggling work and running. They gave me common ground I could relate to. There's definitely an effect on the laymen of the sport, like me. Look at those top 30 or so times of Boston in the late 70s and early 80s. Everybody saw themselves running sub-2:30. Even though I'm 60+ now, I still follow the top men and women - "visions of grandeur" still in my head, you know?
fanatic runner & racer wrote:
but you guys need to understand the status of this participant sport. Not a fan.
Translation - "this is my personal opinion so it must be true"
I think the longer you have that attitude the better. The more time I spend reading running articles, following results and, frankly, following this site, the worse I perform. Generally runners are over thinkers so if we just obsess on our own training, sleep, diet and races and not others, we do better. It's not always the case but I relate to your point completely. I do better when I have other distractions
fanatic runner & racer wrote:
I have not been raised to follow it and the people around me don't follow it.
Translation: I don't have my own independent mind, I just follow the crowd.
I wonder if recreational tennis players or golfers post on the message boards how they are not interested in the pro game.
I do some of that on Facebook and a tiny bit on Twitter and it does keep my interest in what some people in the sport are doing and there are definitely people I like and am interested in. I suppose that even though I'm not advocating a return to amateurism though, I personally found the sport more interesting when it was amateur.
fanatic runner & racer wrote:
Actually I love the sport. I love to train and compete.
Not a fan though.
randymarsh wrote:then you can git out
Then why come to this forum?
A lot of fans aren't runners, so there you go.
Fanatic runner & racer reminds me of the Boston scene as Bill Rodgers aged. The guys who came up competing with Rodgers were more interested in their groups races and fitness than in the elites as they became masters, etc.
Me, I'm a runner and a huge elite running fan.
Football? I enjoy it on behalf of my dad, the Patriots maniac, but I would not say I really give a sh-t about football or the NFL, but I sure do like my dad.
Baseball, at least you can have a beer in the sun and that is fun. I never saw much difference between a baseball game and an outdoor rock show. Kick back, have fun, and watch Jerry shred on Tiger.
fanatic runner & racer wrote:
When I finish a major race, I don't really care who won, or which elites competed. I'm interested in my results and my competitor's results. I run with a bunch of guys in their early 40's who are serious runners and we will talk college and pro football and basketball but we never discuss elite competitive runners.
During the Olympics we are interested and if some new and great US runner, Mary Cain, comes along we follow that a little. But really we are not fans. We are typical runners.
I'm not saying this to offend or anger anyone, but you guys need to understand the status of this participant sport. Sometimes wish I was more interested and feel guilty that I'm not, but it doesn't change anything.
Not a fan.
Most people who are passionate about something (cooking, music, chess etc.) enjoy watching others who do it well and perhaps learning from them or at least respecting their abilities. They are both a fan of the activity and those who do it well.
So, I would say you are missing out on something, not that it matters to you. I would say that you are not a "typical" competitive runner.
So "a bit full..." come back and tell us the status of running as a popular participant sport versus a popular fan sport.I didn't think you would ever post again under the same handle to clarify YOUR position.
a bit full of yourself wrote:
fanatic runner & racer wrote:but you guys need to understand the status of this participant sport. Not a fan.
Translation - "this is my personal opinion so it must be true"
First I do respect elite runners. My running group are serious runners but I am not sure I know what you mean by typical competitive runners.
Hodgie-san wrote:
Most people who are passionate about something (cooking, music, chess etc.) enjoy watching others who do it well and perhaps learning from them or at least respecting their abilities. They are both a fan of the activity and those who do it well.
So, I would say you are missing out on something, not that it matters to you. I would say that you are not a "typical" competitive runner.
Truthfully I know more about professional tennis players and to some extent golfers than I do about elite runners. To some extent if the people around me you are right. If people around are excited about a sport I TEND to take a greater interest in it. Isn't that just normal?
Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:
fanatic runner & racer wrote:I have not been raised to follow it and the people around me don't follow it.
Translation: I don't have my own independent mind, I just follow the crowd.
I wonder if recreational tennis players or golfers post on the message boards how they are not interested in the pro game.
fanatic runner & racer wrote:
I'm not saying this to offend or anger anyone, but you guys need to understand the status of this participant sport. Sometimes wish I was more interested and feel guilty that I'm not, but it doesn't change anything.
If you're not saying this to offend or anger anyone, why are you saying this? Do you have any point? What do we not understand about "the status of this participant sport"?
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