Thoughts on Bill Matthews article?

He just needs to listen to a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s from the state of Washington, particularly in Seattle.

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How do you find it hard that the winner of the Foot Locker South Regional had coaches from Okie State and Wisconsin interested in him?

How many guys in high school have this type of range (1600- 4:11 and 5k(xc) 14:48)? These times are solid for any college recruit at any school. or example, how many guys at Oregon have high school times better than this range? The answer two--- Yes only two in the best distance program in the history of distance running. They are Edward Cheserek and Jake Leingang.

Now do you understand why?

Well first of all it has been proven that Wisco is the top distance program in history. So get out of here. Also, I'm not saying that these programs didn't have interest in him, I'm just saying I find it hard to believe that the head coach literally flew to his hometown/visited his house to recruit him. I don't think they do that for anyone, much less this kid. Maybe if they're in the area for a meet they stop by to talk to the kid, but a majority of recruiting is done via official visits where the athletes come to the campus to get a feel for everything.

The 14:48 is a bit of a fluke because it was run at McCalpine. Lets stick with what we know, which is the 4:11 and 9:08. How many guys on the Oregon team ran those times in high school? That's what I thought.

Again, not bashing, he was good in high school, but a lot of the article seemed over the top.

runningman2015 wrote:

I thought it was a little bit over the top. I feel for the kid but I mean come on, did he really "see hell" when he was sick?

Context on the "seeing hell" comment...

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"No, a nurse said. In order to properly monitor his post-surgical brain activity, painkillers of all types were forbidden.

“I was just in an excruciating amount of pain as you can imagine,” Matthews says. “I mean they cracked my skull open and took a tumor out. For four days I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t get anything down my throat because I was in so much pain. All I could do was throw up. Legitimately two or three times a day, I’d just vomit everywhere.

“I’d swear I could see hell from there. At that point I’d tell the nurses I think I’m going to die now. I’m in a world of pain, and I just can’t do this.”"

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I've never had brain surgery, but I can imagine that I would be in a world of hurt without any pain killers in the day following.

I raced Bill a few times in HS and never saw much from in college. I just wrote him off and figured he fizzled out. I found his story to be really interesting and I admire his continued fight to keep running. Glad to hear is doing well health wise and has found some peace.

So is he still trying to keep running? Seemed like based off the article he was/is.

runningman2015 wrote:

The 14:48 is a bit of a fluke because it was run at McCalpine. Lets stick with what we know, which is.....

He won the FootLocker South Regionals in XC, which is exactly what the other guy said, right? Or do we not "know" that for sure?

"stick with what we know" ?? Weird comment/reply.

runningman2015 wrote:

The 14:48 is a bit of a fluke because it was run at McCalpine.

What is a "fluke" about that? When can we all put on a pair of Doc Martens and kick you in the side of your skull? Have you ever listened to a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in Seattle?

First of all, this post is generally pretty out of line. Second, he was also top 3 at Nike indoor nationals in the 2 mile running 9:05 (9:02 3200). Since when is a top 3 national finish not good enough?

I can't speak for Dave Smith but I ran at a rival school in Chattanooga and Mick Byrne came down to our city meet to see him. It seems like you may have some issues that should be addressed. The guy also broke Sean keveren's 8:50 guy also from TN) great American course record that fall.

The fastest guy in that grade coming into their senior year was in the mid 9:0's. Matthews was a few seconds behind Dunbar at a race in CA their junior year.

I will assure you that what he saw WAS hell and IS.

I took care of a wife for 4 years and 5 months with a brain tumor (glioblastoma)

and for 2 years and 6 months of that loaded her on a plane to take her to MD Anderson in Houston Texas..

I can tell you stories that would make any story from hell pale in comparison.

I can still remember having the TSA at Bush International (or is it intercontinental?) empty out the entire women restroom because my wife couldn't figure out how to get out of the bathroom stall.

The police emptied it out and I went in and found where she was and had to crawl underneath the stall door to get her out..

that's when I knew I could never leave her alone after that....

Then there was another 3 years of things..indescribable..

Satan himself could not have thought of the torture that I saw.

The worst part is the hell that Bill Matthews caregivers will see and deal with and do it splendidly.

Only later suffering night after night of nightmares...that will never go away..

Yeah, he saw hell, The caregivers are seeing hell and the caregivers may well suffer from that torture for years and years to come..

Good luck Bill. Good luck and bravo to the caregivers!

Two things to say..1) original poster-you are legitimately insecure and clearly envious of athletes who have reached high levels of success. Just based off of statistics it's highly unlikely you even had the opportunity to race him when he was healthy, or anyone else like him in a national class race. He sounds like he's doing pretty well now and it looks like he was recently engages to a cute girl. He's probably doing much better than you...especially after what he went through.

2) the guy who posted above me-I am sorry to hear about your wife. That sounds unbearable. Thank you for shedding some light on having personal experience with a medical situation that involved some of what he went through.

I used to race him back in the day and we talked whenever we'd race in xc. I can say that he shared with me he had lunch with Dave Smith from OK State that flew down to TN, and that Mick Byrne also came to see him. More kids are running faster on the track these days than his graduation class...but you shouldn't be so shocked..let alone it sounds like you have a personal agenda against him. I'm sure Mick Byrne and Dave Smith have decent judgement in what they do for recruiting.

Dude what the hell is wrong with you? How is an article about this guy's struggles with Brain cancer over the top? Just appreciate you are healthy and don't go passing judgement over whether Bill saw hell. Jeez what is wrong with some people.

runningman2015 wrote:

I thought it was a little bit over the top. I feel for the kid but I mean come on, did he really "see hell" when he was sick?

He was certainly a good runner in high school but I don't think that someone who didn't break 9 in the two mile had coaches from Wisconsin and Ok State coming to his house. Could be wrong but seems unlikely, especially considering how many guys per year break 9 these days.

What did you guys think?

Did he see hell? A day after brain surgery and no painkillers? Yes, I'm sure he did. You say you "feel for the kid." Sure doesn't sound like it. Until you've gone through what he went through (and I sincerely hope you don't), you have no place to think his description was over the top. I can't imagine his situation. Good to hear he's doing better.

The guy did make regionals in the 5000 his first year of college leading into the health issues coming along. I don't know of many first year American's that do that. Runningman2015...you were off on a few things with your judgement it sounds like. Along with how you stated that coaches of schools like Wisco and OK State that paid him a visit shouldn't have for "a kid like that". We'd love to hear your response to the points brought to the table after what you've said. Maybe you could introduce yourself with your name and PR's...

I grew up running against him in Alabama and he won our state title his freshman year in large division and ended up running something crazy in the low 9:20's for track that freshman year. He ended up transferring to a school TN and couldn't find anything on him for a while...we figured he quit. Then he came back senior year to race in the great American meet in AL, and won it breaking the old record. You can see the list of top 25...he ran faster than Joe Bosshard (13:43/28:41 at CU), Ben Hubers, and Sean Keveren. Seems like a true waste of time for the college coaches.

http://www.nationalscholastic.org/gacc/article/379

I ran in Bama back during his time and became friends with him. He was a fun guy to see race when he was picking off a few state titles from seniors his freshman year. He was a frequent topic of discussion back in AL when he was there and was a tough racer. Don't know where he ended up outdoors but did see him pull off 4:22/9:28 double on a wooden track at our state meet. We kept in touch occasionally when he went to boarding school and I can confirm what someone stated earlier about the coaches. Byrne came down for the meet and dinner and got to meet their team..Smith came down for lunch with the coach he and his family and the boarding school coach. I lost touch with him for a little while but had spoken occasionally to catch up with him..he was definitely in a dark place through the health issues but when I saw the engagement come up I gave him a call and sounds like he's finally found happiness again and seems to be healthy. Don't comment on what you don't know.