Ben Blankenship - CLASSIEST SPORTSMANSHIP MOVE EVER? - video of 2015 USATF Championship Mile

Manchester wrote:

malmo wrote:

?????

If saying "c'mon" to a competitor during a race is the CLASSIEST SPORTSMANSHIP MOVE EVER, then I have the top 100 MOST CLASSIEST SPORTSMANSHIP MOVES EVER!

#86 will blow your mind!

.

You didn't tell it right. Delivery is everything.

Landy should have been DQ'd for stepping off the track.

HardLoper wrote:

Uhhh, do you guys remember this exact meet last year? Blankenship was obviously doing everything in his power to avoid a DQ.

This is the correct answer. From what happened last year, Ben learned that if you even breathe on one of AlSal's guys, you might get dq'd. So he was avoiding Centro like the plague and trying to be polite as possible and probably apologized mid-race for getting near centro. Rumor has it Salazar still pushed for a DQ.

rojo wrote:

I agree. Maybe we should hire the OP as a troll to gin up clicks? The title certainly made me waste 2 minutes of my day.

Blankenship decided to make a move to the lead. He went a little extra wide to let Centro come with him instead of having to come directly behind him. Not a biggie. Far from the classiest act of sportsmanship ever.

End of thread.

Pretty hostile to your clients there, Mr What About The Sport!

Obvious DQ wrote:

Landy should have been DQ'd for stepping off the track.

Stepping off the track isn't gounds for DQ if he didn't gain from it.

I think Blankenship just wanted an honest race. "Let the best man win" and all that. So I definitely give him props for blowing the race open with 600 to go and not taking advantage of his main competitor's poor positioning.

Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:

HardLoper wrote:

Uhhh, do you guys remember this exact meet last year? Blankenship was obviously doing everything in his power to avoid a DQ.

This is the correct answer. From what happened last year, Ben learned that if you even breathe on one of AlSal's guys, you might get dq'd. So he was avoiding Centro like the plague and trying to be polite as possible and probably apologized mid-race for getting near centro. Rumor has it Salazar still pushed for a DQ.

Except that Alberto wasn't there.

Clearly the usual handle changing haters didn't watch the video, or the post race intro where Centro said Blankenship turned to him and said "come on, let's go!"

They aren't on the same team, but they run for the same company and odds are they know each other, and as Centro has visited Eugene more than a few times since he turned pro, they've likely run together and hung out.

It was a classy act of friendship, that won Blankenship more fans than the naysayers and haters here.

Blankenship is BADASS, and if you don't think so, enjoy your misery.

Meanwhile, I'll

Enjoy The Sport.

A Duck wrote:

Blankenship is BADASS, and if you don't think so, enjoy your misery.

I don't have any horse in this game, and I do not care whether Blankenship is BADASS or GOODASS, but I know it has no bearing on whether I am in a state of misery or not, and if you think it does, I wonder what is taught at the University of Oregon, or whether you are perhaps congenitally illogical...

nullset wrote:

Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:

This is the correct answer. From what happened last year, Ben learned that if you even breathe on one of AlSal's guys, you might get dq'd. So he was avoiding Centro like the plague and trying to be polite as possible and probably apologized mid-race for getting near centro. Rumor has it Salazar still pushed for a DQ.

Except that Alberto wasn't there.

He was watching on tv. He phoned in his protest (he has the officials on speed-dial and they must take his calls immediately or they get fired). Also, he called up Jerry to scream at him, but at least he didn't shove him this time.

I've talked to Alberto about this. He has finally realized that his temper and crude extortion of the USATF isn't in his best interests. All phone numbers of USATF officials have been deleted from his phone. Capriotti's goons have been neutered, as well. Moving forward, Alberto has hired Michael Kuhr to handle all PR and official protests. No more intra-squad conflicts. No more random acts of public drama. Issues get resolved in a peaceful and grown-up manner. Much easier on his heart. Sleeps better too.

Here's how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWfetF1jCO4

"My mother is too old for you...You cannot fv

Usually LRC's fake controversies involve criticizing runners for something that didn't happen, so it's a nice change of pace to have a fake controversy over complimenting runners for something that didn't happen.

BB got bumped by Centro, moved out enough and gestured with his hand that he would make enough space for him. Props for doing this. Some might consider it dumb, which I would actually tend to agree with being a championship race. Professionals sponsorship are based on their performance, I personally wouldn't have given centro space.

But a classy act nonetheless. Says a lot about BB's character.