Ben Blankenship - Classy Interview - Wishes Andrews and Leo Well

Blankenship deserves kudos for purposely coming hrough the mixed zone the day after not making the team in the 1500. Our pet-peeve is when athletes feel no obligation to speak to the fans/media after disappointment

Runner's World has written an article about the interview. It does have lots of great quotes.

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/blankenship-regroups-after-just-missing-world-team

Here are some of the best quotes according to RW.

“I think the most important thing in this sport is to win the shoulder-to-shoulder battle,” said Blankenship. “I didn’t really care about Robby at that point. It was more about trying to beat Leo, and I just didn’t do it.”

“I hope those guys hit the standard. I do. I was fourth, and that spot doesn’t get onto the Beijing team,” Blankenship said.

"I ran the race I wanted to run,” he said. “I don’t look at the race as something that I did wrong. I think I did everything right, and it’s just a tough break when you can’t win those shoulder-to-shoulder races.”

So, if Robby and Leo do NOT get the standard, are we then only sending one runner in the 1500m to Worlds? Will Blankenship not go even though he's the next in the finishing order?

STUPID

sorry I don't know this wrote:

So, if Robby and Leo do NOT get the standard, are we then only sending one runner in the 1500m to Worlds? Will Blankenship not go even though he's the next in the finishing order?

STUPID

If Andrews or Manzano do not get the standard, then Ben goes. He has the standard and was the next finisher at the trials. If neither gets the standard, then Ben goes and Wheating will go if he can get the standard, and if Wheating doesn't get it, Merber is next in line and does have the standard.

Blankenship then Merber go.

illiniowl wrote:

sorry I don't know this wrote:

So, if Robby and Leo do NOT get the standard, are we then only sending one runner in the 1500m to Worlds? Will Blankenship not go even though he's the next in the finishing order?

STUPID

If Andrews or Manzano do not get the standard, then Ben goes. He has the standard and was the next finisher at the trials. If neither gets the standard, then Ben goes and Wheating will go if he can get the standard, and if Wheating doesn't get it, Merber is next in line and does have the standard.

Well I probably should amend that. The one thing for sure is that USATF will send 3 to Beijing. Andrews and Manzano can still be part of that 3 without getting the standard if their times are nevertheless in the world top 45, counting no more than 3 from each country (4 from KEN).

the reason they feel no obligation to speak to the fans/media is probably because they have no obligation

Perhaps a stronger organization would make it mandatory to speak with the media. Every major sports requires the athletes and coaches to be available after an event. They are fined if they do not appear.We all understand the heartbreak of finishing in fourth. That is when we want to hear from from them. The winner will praise some religious figure, thank his/her support team and mention what a great group of competitors s/he beat.

obligation? wrote:

the reason they feel no obligation to speak to the fans/media is probably because they have no obligation

Anyone know where I can get that hat?

Asking for a friend, thanks.

No he doesn't deserve any kudos. No one really cares about the day after. The fact is the he ducked the media when it matter the most...right after the race. Did anyone ask him about that or did they toss softballs. There is a reason (I know LR gets confused about this) that it's called "NEWS" and not "old news."

I'm not a pro, but when I raced in college and the local newspaper asked me questions about my race even the failures I didn't run a way or hop a fence.

He shouldn't go because all indications are that he isn't prepared to be professional.

He's whining and trying to subtley say that he deserves to go. I'm not buying his righteous act. I wonder if he would actually turn down a spot. I seriously doubt and and until he does he's just a talker.

Ben is a real, honest guy. In addition to doing the "pro" interviews, I watched him talk with all kinds of people, signing autographs and showing lots of class.

Don't compare your disappointing races in college and talking to the local paper (links please), to someone who came back from serious injury/surgery, laid it all on the line and came up .02 seconds short of making Worlds.

A "real" guy doesn't duck the media by hoping over a fence only to come back a day later. He's another Leer type p**s who always comes of short because he's too busy trying to be different.

I'll wait and see if he has any real class if he declines the trip if offered.

Maybe he understood that he didn't do the most professional thing the day before and was attempting to fix his mistake? That act in itself hints at some level of professionalism.

Also, don't think he even hinted at turning down a spot if it was offered to him. I think he's saying that those guys deserve to go because they were top three at trials and that it would be a shame if they didn't because they missed the standard in the upcoming weeks.

I'm not even sure why this whole scenario is a big deal. So what the dude didn't want to talk to the media? Can you really blame him? Although this is a sport at the end of the day, he makes a living off of it. I don't blame him for being upset and not wanting to talk to some dude/dudette who is going to rub salt in the wound 2 minutes after he finishes. I appreciate the fact that it bugs him enough to not talk to the media afterwards actually... Heck of a finish by all three of them.

Ben doesn't deserve to go wrote:

A "real" guy doesn't duck the media by hoping over a fence only to come back a day later. He's another Leer type p**s who always comes of short because he's too busy trying to be different.

I'll wait and see if he has any real class if he declines the trip if offered.

Why should he decline the trip? He said Leo and Robby deserve to go. Based on past World Championships criteria, if they (Leo and Robby) don't hit the standard, Ben has earned his spot. Would you decline if you were in that situation? Hell no.

yuiop wrote:

Why should he decline the trip? He said Leo and Robby deserve to go. Based on past World Championships criteria, if they (Leo and Robby) don't hit the standard, Ben has earned his spot. Would you decline if you were in that situation? Hell no.

Exactly. He never says he'd turn it down. I think he'd represent the US pretty damn well in Beijing if it comes to that.

yuiop wrote:

Ben doesn't deserve to go wrote:

A "real" guy doesn't duck the media by hoping over a fence only to come back a day later. He's another Leer type p**s who always comes of short because he's too busy trying to be different.

I'll wait and see if he has any real class if he declines the trip if offered.

Why should he decline the trip? He said Leo and Robby deserve to go. Based on past World Championships criteria, if they (Leo and Robby) don't hit the standard, Ben has earned his spot. Would you decline if you were in that situation? Hell no.

His words... "I was fourth, and that spot doesn't get onto the Beijing team," Blankenship said.

If he's such a "real" guy and an "honest" man. he will honor his word and what he said.

I don't see any reason for a sour interpretation of Blankenship's quote here. It seems to me that he is simply wishing the best for Andrews and Manzano, saying that they earned their spot by finishing ahead of him and that they completely deserve to go ahead of him.

In the event that one of them doesn't get the standard, I don't see how he going to Beijing would be dishonoring his word because he clearly did not say that he would turn down a spot on the team in that event.

Obviously we all can, and will, interpret what he has said as we choose but to say that Blankenship is claiming that he would turn down an opportunity to compete in Beijing if given the chance is to put words in his mouth.

Its reading certain threads like these that almost make me quit visiting Letsrun in general due to the negativity, stupidity, and overall ridiculousness of some of those who post on these message boards. If it were merely just the trolls, I could put up with it- except in this case, I think people truly believe what they are saying and that is the crazy thing in all of this.

Ben is a professional runner- he has a job: to run. Period. He owes NO obligation to the media, NO obligation to the fans. Nada. Zero. His money doesn't come directly from the fans like in other sports- he's not helping to generate gate revenue or jersey sales. His money comes from his sponsorship with Nike which comes down to helping endorse the brand and sell more Nike stuff. Granted, image does come into that- and if he had truly done something classless, then I would be inclined to agree that in that specific case, he was not representing his brand well.

Except the dude was .02 off of making the world championship team. .02. And we expect him (and get angry and call him classless and a p.o.s) because he avoids the media RIGHT AFTER that happens? That's complete bullsh*t. None of you real posters in that moment would want to deal with the media. Right in that moment when your dream was crushed (or at the very least, one of your major life goals), you're thinking "hm, I can't wait to answer personal questions about how I'm feeling right this very minute".

Any runner who has ever had a really bad race or just missed all-state, all-american, all-whatever realizes that sometimes, you just need time to vent and soul-search after a race like that.

I think it was very classy for him to come back the next day, acknowledge that on some level he represents Nike and via his sponsorship has some level of duty to represent his sponsor and in doing so, came back to answer questions and wish the others goodluck.

Get off your high horse for once and think next time when you attempt to cut someone down when guys like Blankenship we should be building up. I would love for him to represent our country at the World Championships personally.

End of rant.

Precisely because he is a professional runner he has a responsibility to the fans and sponsors. The sponsors hope he will make money for them, to promote their brand in a positive light. He would be dropped in an instant if Nike felt he did not promote them, as small as our market share might be.

We fans (the few there are) do support whether directly or indirectly the pros. If we stopped watching or attending meets, there would be fewer runners being supported.

Again, we need to learn from the successful sports leagues out there. The athletes and coaches are required to attend media sessions, AFTER EVERY GAME, whether they win or lose. Same should hold true for every T&F athlete.