Nate Brannen loses sponsorship???

Sad but true wrote:

Just business. Nate made the final for the first time and finished near the back. That's not likely to improve much at this point.

Beer mile contracts are rewarded to the best at that.

He also made the final in Moscow and probably would have in London if he didn't get tripped up in the semis with 200 to go. Great championship competitor, Saucony made a mistake and apparently they also just dropped Ben True.

It's also worth noting that him finishing in the back of the final was him finishing less than 1.5 seconds behind gold. That's world class. Placing 10th in the Olympics means a hell of a lot more than winning a beer mile "world championship".

rojo wrote:

Nate is going through what Leo Manzano went through in 2012.

To be fair though and this is not hate because I'm a fan of Nate but he's 34 years old and will be 38 (and just a couple of months shy of 39) when the next Olympics come around.

I think age is a factor more than anything and like you said companies do it based on potential. Nate's an injury prone 34 year old 3:34 guy who placed 10th in the Olympic final. Fantastic result, but it's fair to say he's not going to contend for a medal in the 1500m in 2020.

PrZ wrote:

Sad but true wrote:

Just business. Nate made the final for the first time and finished near the back. That's not likely to improve much at this point.

Beer mile contracts are rewarded to the best at that.

He also made the final in Moscow and probably would have in London if he didn't get tripped up in the semis with 200 to go. Great championship competitor, Saucony made a mistake and apparently they also just dropped Ben True.

Potential means little unless you achieve it. Winning/medaling I hate to say is everything in the shoe world, making the final or qualifying or just getting there doesn't mean much.

We are past the Olympic year, contracts slow, the industry of performance running shoes is flat and in a downtrend now. Less sales, less money to spend on athletes and the age old question,do athletes really sell shoes.

We may see a consolidation of athletes and cut back as a whole over the next year.

The athletes attitude that prevails seems to be they think are owed a contract.

The amount of howling and complaining post getting cut or reduced shows a clear disconnect on market value.

Maybe its time to dump contracts as a whole and make running a bonus only format. Bigger and more bonus opportunities based on performance. You run well you get paid, plain and simple.It would weed out the fringe athletes that really are only just hanging on.

I couldn't link this in my original post because it's on his private Facebook, but someone compared it to Manzano and he said something along the lines of "The difference is that Manzano asked for more money, I didn't and they cut me anyways"

Business time wrote:

.

Maybe its time to dump contracts as a whole and make running a bonus only format. Bigger and more bonus opportunities based on performance. You run well you get paid, plain and simple.It would weed out the fringe athletes that really are only just hanging on.

But if you have athletes that you hope can make national teams and maybe even contend for championship medals you run the risk of having them over race.

PrZ wrote:

Saucony made a mistake

How so?

This self loathing is why runners make wads less than the size of your sock and athletes in other sports make money as if they had rocket ships for dicks.

weatherman bob wrote:

I can't believe this guy had a sponsorship and was even still running. Big failure for a hs phenom. Thought he might be selling used cars in Winnipeg.

Jeanyus wrote:

This self loathing is why runners make wads less than the size of your sock and athletes in other sports make money as if they had rocket ships for dicks.

weatherman bob wrote:

I can't believe this guy had a sponsorship and was even still running. Big failure for a hs phenom. Thought he might be selling used cars in Winnipeg.

I thought that was him! I was at ol' Fedoruk's Used Cars in Winnipeg and Nate was there. Have to give him credit, he was very knowledgable on the 2003 Hyundai Sonata I had my eye on. Even offered to take me on a test drive and have the tank full on delivery.

I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but he is certainly my front runner. Will keep you posted on my purchase.

It's not just Brannen. Saucony dropped CPT as well. 3:34 2yrs in a row, 24yrs old.

It's not just Brannen. Saucony dropped CPT as well. 3:34 2yrs in a row, 24yrs old.[/quote]

CPT Has never been sponsored by Saucony, just signed a salaried contract with Asics this summer I believe.[quote]backyard warrior wrote:

Wine mile wrote:

Sent out a weird tweet this morning after the Brooks beer mile shoes were revealed. Anybody know what happened and why a company with maybe 3 other athletes like saucony would drop him?

https://twitter.com/natebrannen/status/809082981986009089

When Nate made the Olympic final I remember reading something about him saying that he reached his goal and anything extra that happens in the Olympic 1500 meter final in RIO is icing on the cake.

Now to me that doesn't sound like someone who is a go-getter. If I was sponsoring someone, I wouldn't want someone representing my brand that tells everyone that their goal wasn't to win. but to just to make it to the start line of the real race..... The olympic final.

Swagme out wrote:

It's not just Brannen. Saucony dropped CPT as well. 3:34 2yrs in a row, 24yrs old.

CPT Has never been sponsored by Saucony, just signed a salaried contract with Asics this summer I believe.

backyard warrior wrote:

Sorry. U r correct. Ambiguous headline and photo of CPT

rojo wrote:

[quote]Can u even chug, bro? wrote:

...

Get a life buddy. If they athletes offered the honest opinion of, "I like my shoes but no ones product is much better than anyone else's," they'd get fired.

Here would be a couple of good tweets, which would be appreciated by the marketing department (in my new):

"I just went out and did 4 x 4 minutes hard run in the snow. Great traction with my XXX shoes... With a pic"

This means that he favours XXX Saucony shoes for its traction in the snow. He doesn't have to say that it's the best shoe. But if I just had a terrible session in my stupid shoes and I happen to follow X runner on Twitter (because he is a charismatic/interesting/positive person., I may say "fyc# it. I'm buying a new pair of XXX shoes before I get injured in this stupid snow...

After a road mile where he runs his best time ever. Thank the shoe a little."the shoe felt amazing in the last 150m. Super responsive, stable..."

Tell us about your favourite jacket in the rain...

Stuff like that

Honest stuff. Don't feel forced. It's karma really...

# of Twitter followers

Bolt = 4.5 million

Farah = 1.3 million

Lavillenie = 167 K

Eaton = 86.9 K

Andre De Grasse = 55.5 K

Lagat = 48.4 K

Manzano = 46.9 K

Centro = 35.9 K

Thieson-Eaton = 33.1 K

Bekele = 22.2 K !!!

WIllis = 17.5 K

Mellisa Bishop = 16.8 K

Vernon = 12.5 K

Derrick = 8.7 K

Andrews = 8.3 K

Shawn Barber = 7.3 K

Hunter (has been a pro for less than 6 months) = 7.2 K

Ches (not a pro) = 7.0 K

True = 6.5 K

Jenkins = 4.5 K

...

Brannen = 2.5 K

Gatlin = 1.8 K !!!! That's a surprise, but he does get mass media coverage

His number of Twitter followers is really on the low end

I didn't know Bekele had a twitter account. Doesn't really tweet often though