SO Wetmore pretty much told his Womens team they sucked after they lost?

It's always harder to win as a favorite. It's a sport truth.

Is it possible that Erin's interpretation is much harsher then what Wetmore actually said? Maybe she is beating herself up? Wetmore comes across as very emotionally controlled. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Anyone that has coached women can provide a lot of examples of messages being misconstrued. "Let's up your mileage", "Coach said I was fat!"

If you don't get out fast early there is plenty of time to move up, none of them were favored to win the individual title anyways. You can move up, sometimes by just running the same pace, because most will slow down.

Gordon Minty fell down and was in last place at the NCAA meet way back in the day, came back to finish 3rd (behind Pre and Nick Rose), it can be done.

Need to be strong between the ears.

TrackCoach wrote:

I recall several athletes who have run in World XC saying that no matter how fast the pace gets out, the top athletes never come back to you, you have to the whole race stressed.

Carlos Lopes & John Ngugi are examples who disagree with you.

TrackCoach wrote:

Btw, I didn't think Colorado was even close to being a lock for winning the title, I thought there were 4-5 teams that were all capable on a good day and Colorado was somewhere in that mix and I had Oregon as one of those teams 4-5 teams. Colorado didn't run horrible, I think they were slightly overrated and Michigan and Oregon had a good day.

I agree with this.

Just watched the interview, firstly terribly camera angle, secondly I think it was pretty fair, it was clear she was summarizing so I'm sure she was more terse than he was, more importantly the next line was "one race doesn't define a career" so that's excellent push-pull technique for criticism. You define the problem, then address how to improve going forward. I've never been in journalism, but I feel it's pretty unfair to ask seriously reflective questions like that immediately after the race, best case scenario you get a bunch of "I don't knows", worst case the athletes start to doubt themselves. Maybe they'll figure it out in the coming days or maybe they won't but unless it's something really obvious (illness, injury, etc.) they're not going to have an answer right away. From my experience coach it's probably something mundane, didn't eat right or sleep right or just something else out of the routine that can lead to an off day, sometimes it happens at some meaningless meet in October and sometimes it happens at Nationals. You try all you can to prevent it, but at some point things fall through the cracks.

CGBatch wrote:

I've never been in journalism, but I feel it's pretty unfair to ask seriously reflective questions like that immediately after the race, best case scenario you get a bunch of "I don't knows", worst case the athletes start to doubt themselves. Maybe they'll figure it out in the coming days or maybe they won't but unless it's something really obvious (illness, injury, etc.) they're not going to have an answer right away.

It's like interviewing someone in MMA that just got KTFO: they don't usually know what they are saying, which is why there is a push to no longer interview losers who were KOd.

Come on girls stop being so overly sensitive. Most likely the best girls on the team are getting a $50000+ (yes that is the tuition at Colorado for a non resident) and you are expected to give 110% and you knew when you joined what the team expectations are. If you don't perform be prepared to be criticized by the coach.

If you can't take it you are not ready for the real world where your boss will be critical or fire you for not performing at your job.

Stop being spoiled little snots.

Colorado runs like they've been smoking something... just sayin'...

Weed in the state having some negative side effects, maybe?

It's funny how a lot of people expect track/XC coaches at all levels to be all puppies and rainbows about everything. If a football coach said "our offensive line didn't play well enough to give us a chance to win today," no one would say "oh, those poor little buggers! Their feels are going to be all broken up when they read that quote!" But that's pretty much how a lot of people in our sport react.

Wow her reaction at 1:06 makes it seem like Wetmore really laid into them. She's clearly very upset and held it together pretty well in the interview - kudos to her.

http://www.flotrack.org/video/1014192-erin-clark-of-colorado-disappointed-after-taking-133rd

I doubt he "laid int them" at all. When you coach young women, there is a different dynamic, and with Wetmore I am sure it is one of father figure. Given how laconic he is, it is more likely that what he DIDN'T say that created an effect. Watch all of the Wetmore interview after the race and he mentions almost everyone in the team EXCEPT Clark. That is in some ways, tougher than being criticized outright in her case.

Aaron Clark wrote:

Wow her reaction at 1:06 makes it seem like Wetmore really laid into them. She's clearly very upset and held it together pretty well in the interview - kudos to her.

http://www.flotrack.org/video/1014192-erin-clark-of-colorado-disappointed-after-taking-133rd

Just watched the interview. Not sure what everyone is criticizing. She said her multiple-Championship winning coaches gave them an honest assessment. Kids go to Colorado to win championships and perhaps reach their Olympic dreams. Wetmore wants to help them get there. Sounds to me like he's doing his job by being honest with them and she took it the way that she should have.

Aaron Clark wrote:

Wow her reaction at 1:06 makes it seem like Wetmore really laid into them. She's clearly very upset and held it together pretty well in the interview - kudos to her.

If he talked to her like that before the race, then no wonder she didn't run well.

To me the issue isn't so much any coach being honest and critical in and of itself. It's more the timing. Immediately after the race the athletes and particularly the coaches barely know what happened, much less why and emotions are raw. Give everybody some time to calm down and think it through. A lot of misinterpretation can go on when things are emotional. A coach can think that their voice is calm and even keel, but the athlete may think the coach is almost screaming. And the truth is in the middle.

Th

Run Doctor wrote:

Come on girls stop being so overly sensitive. Most likely the best girls on the team are getting a $50000+ (yes that is the tuition at Colorado for a non resident) and you are expected to give 110% and you knew when you joined what the team expectations are. If you don't perform be prepared to be criticized by the coach.

If you can't take it you are not ready for the real world where your boss will be critical or fire you for not performing at your job.

Stop being spoiled little snots.

It's crazy that people would think that Erin is upset over what Wetmore may or may not have said to her. Not a chance. These are tough, competitive women.

She's clearly upset because her team lost the championship they should have won and the fact that she underperformed contributed to their loss.

Run Doctor wrote:

Come on girls stop being so overly sensitive. Most likely the best girls on the team are getting a $50000+ (yes that is the tuition at Colorado for a non resident) and you are expected to give 110% and you knew when you joined what the team expectations are. If you don't perform be prepared to be criticized by the coach.

If you can't take it you are not ready for the real world where your boss will be critical or fire you for not performing at your job.

Stop being spoiled little snots.

You and a few others on this thread are a complete morons (but take heart, you are the biggest idiot; well done). First off, you provide evidence of your stupidity by rolling out the oh-so-tired 110% cliche. But most importantly, this is not a kid whining about her coach being mean to her. This is an athlete feeling the pain of having let down her teammates. Are you really too stupid to understand that? Most good XC teams become very close as they spend and inordinate amount of time together, traveling and suffering through workouts together. And this team could have and should have won a national championship, and the weight of the loss falls on the shoulders of their 21 year old captain. You think maybe that is why she is a little upset?

There is nothing to criticize here; neither the coaches words nor the raw emotions of the team in the aftermath of a poor performance.

Its never a lock in championship racing especially x-country.

We can all be armchair quarterbacks,in in this case I think maybe Colorado believed in the favorite hype on women's side. Wetmore even bought into it if you listened to him at the pre race press conference.

You have to get out hard and hold your position, to think you can move up through the pack in a national championship is just a sure way to insure you will not vie for the title.

Wetmore in letting his women know they did not get it done and blew the game plan is being responsible as a coach.Taking your talent for granted and expecting to do well because the press says so is hard learned lesson.

This level of racing is not based on "lets all get a finishers medals" because we ran hard,its based on winning not just showing up.

Farlflung wrote:

Harvey and Wetmore are in different solar system with regard to emotional control.

That said, this is the second major implosion of his #1 runner at NCAA cross. The other one is well-known and even worse.

I have a feeling that being the #1 woman on a Wetmore team carries a lot of anxiety that can be crippling for some, even those that go on to win world titles.

Wah.. Then run for someone else.

Leave out, stupid, idiot and moron. Then its

+1