I was wondering if I would see him, and then when I was racing I didnt care. But I did see some dude wearing a bright orange POC aero helmet, and remarked as I passed him like he was standing still, that it was an ugly helmet and made him look like a dick, literally. I just saw that he posted on the Vineman FB thread so I looked at his profile and it was him wearing that helmet! hahaha (for reference here is a link to the helmet: http://www.pocsports.com/en/product/1601/tempor)

My brother and I were tracking you yesterday and we were sure you were going to run down Ray for the cash. Congrats on another great race and thanks for the entertainment.

-Mike Lamoureux

Let me know when you find out...I'm still in the dark on this one...

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I tweet!

But I did see some dude wearing a bright orange POC aero helmet, and remarked as I passed him like he was standing still, that it was an ugly helmet and made him look like a dick, literally.

You said this to a racer, who you didn't know, as you passed them. Wow. I'm confident he isn't the dick in this situation.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

I said it in my head, because the helmet looks just like a 'helmet' if you know what I mean. And what I really said in my head was 'wow that helmet looks like the head of a penis'. I may have actually said something encouraging to him, just like I said to everyone else that I said anything to that day. I will stand by my statement that it is an ugly helmet.

Got it. I agree, it is an ugly helmet.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

It's Andrew Messick. He's schizophrenic.

The helmet always reminds me of Dumb Donald from the Fat Albert cartoons.

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"The runner-up John Dunbar, a US Navy Seal, led after the second transition and had a chance to win but ran out of water on the marathon course; his support crew resorted to giving him beer instead." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

I refuse to read 34 pages.

So what's the lowdown, how does ST feel about this summed up neatly for me?

Thanks! :p

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From the last few posts, and my response, a few of us agree that the POC Tempor is, in fact, an ugly helmet, and makes people look like Dumb Donald. That's all I got.

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"The runner-up John Dunbar, a US Navy Seal, led after the second transition and had a chance to win but ran out of water on the marathon course; his support crew resorted to giving him beer instead." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

That USAT needs to raise the bar for pro membership so we aren't so lousy with fast AG'ers masquerading as pro's. Fewer pro's, tighter and better prize purses.

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+1

It wasn't too long ago that during the Monday awards luncheon, which got scrapped in 2012 and replaced by the postage stamp stage under a pup tent in the Olympic oval among cafeteria tables and cheap mid morning snacks, that Mike Reilly would announce the next year's race had already sold out. It's 6PM DST and reg is still open. WTF is happening to this iconic race? It was a blast hanging out with the TRS crew yesterday, job well done. Next time, keep the old dude away from the gorilla suit.
I'll wear my Gluten Tolerant band with irreverent pride.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/..._Placid..._4488.html

It's very split down the middle....just like how people look at this stuff generally in life.

Some people believe because you work hard, you should be rewarded regardless of what that work produces. It makes it extra special if you work hard and someone else makes a lot of money....again, regardless of whether you are contributing or not. These folks tend to support this movement.

Some people feel that you should be rewarded based on what you produce. If you're the driving force behind someone making money, you should be compensated for that. If you are not the driving force....well, then that's too bad. These folks tend not to support this movement.

So the question still goes unanswered.....why does 7th place "deserve" anything?

Is it because WTC makes a lot of money? Is it because they work hard? Is it because they contribute to participation? Is it because they drive revenue? Is it because everyone should be able to live the dream of a pro? No one has really given a good answer. At least for me. Saying, "WTC makes all this money, they should pay the pros more." is not good enough. That is making a direct correlation with WTC profits and pros.....does that really exist? If pros were gone tomorrow, how would that effect WTC? Interesting question and certainly not cut and dry.

TRS actually summed it up best with his last statement in the front page interview......

TRS: "From my point of view, I have loaned my genius to shine a bright spotlight on the issue of compensation for professional triathletes. It is now up to the professional athletes to act. If a group doesn't collectively come together in order to increase their negotiating leverage, then I will stop feeling sorry for them. There is only one rule in negotiation: he who cares more loses. Right now you are all too in love with the Ironman brand and KPR points. They have demonstrated that they don't really care about you. Figure out a way to make them care, or move on to another brand."

For once, we are in complete agreement......

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I'm sure all those on the bubble will be delighted to have these former pro's return to AG racing,

And it's always WTC or long course racing these pro's gravitate towards because they wouldn't last a New York minute in ITU.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
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WTC will start paying out $1213 more in prize money at each event and use that as justification for raising entry fees $50.

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And while they are at it--Do they have how much Mike R. makes as 'The Voice of Ironman'?? I mean if he cares enough to snatch the IMLP7th check at the finishline I'd guess he makes more than the OA winner...

His son was the one that actually took it away and tore it in half but same point applies.

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Great response fastandyellow, saved me 34 pages.

Edit: Super poor form by WTC for the confiscation of the check. Y'all that mad that someone's trying to do something and someone rained on your little parade?

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There are several pro's on this board some who are very prominent now, some who have been top 3 or won an IM, who we would never know about if the standards were raised.

Not all the fast pro's on here were fast when they started as pros. Some their first 2-3 years as pro's routinely got their asses handed to them by age groupers

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They make a shitload. All major expenses are covered by the town or by sponsors, ie police, volunteers, food, schwag. So, the vast majority of registration revenue is straight up profit: 3000*$800 or whatever they charge nowadays.

So, yes, $25K purse is chump change to the bottom line of any given event of the 100+ under the WTC umbrella. However, on the flip side they could give $0 to pros and have no pro field at all and the event would still sell out at 3000x$800, so why would they even dole out this minimal $25K at all? This has been proven at IMLP itself when there was no pro field whatsoever in 2010 (right year?) and that fact didn't stop the event from selling out in 0 nanoseconds 365 days prior. Same thing with IMMD this fall. Other than pros themselves, for whom is the lack of a pro field causing them to not register for the event?

I expect this TRS awareness campaign will have an effect. I bet it has got Messick and crew thinking. And I think it will end up to not be good for the lower tier pros who can now scrape together a little cash at the small purse events like this one. I predict that instead of giving out small to moderate prize purse money at all 100+ events, WTC will give out big prize purse money at a select 10-20 events. Not Kona money, but closer to Kona money than $25K. So, they will effectively create a couple of races a year at 70.3 and 140.6 level that will become the prestige races attracting the prestige talent and these races will have a good payday for those good enough to get it. A-level pros will have a chance for a better living. And B-level pros will be left high and dry because the A-level pros will scoop it all up.

I predict WTC will do something along these lines and they'll move these big purses around to different events year by year. They'll market it as a huge bump in prize money, and people will get jazzed about a bunch of new events at $300-$500K of total purse, while in reality the total given out across all events will stay flat or decline.

That's my prediction. I've been wrong plenty of times before.

Did the gluten free bands ship? I'm still waiting on mine, it's like a $10 invenstment just to piss off a coworker. That and a loaf of french bread.