macca was upset about an interview on triathlete mag and walked to normann and his girlfriend with this blackberry in his hand. he wanted that normann to pick any race in the world to get beaten by macca and stadler said simple "yesterday" - that's pretty much it. a lot of heat a lot of talk...

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kind regards
Kai Baumgartner

Here's the interview complete with Stadler's comments about Macca.

http://www.triathletemag.com/Page745.aspx

"yesterday"...HA! Beautiful, Normann.

Kai--seeing your pic on your blog, I thought that might be you at Lava Java. Any chance getting an English version for the 2x World Champion's website??? (Aside from the messy google translation.)

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

why all the hating on McCormack? he's not the only one that was in the back of that chase pack. He was just the fasest runner that was in the back of that chase pack.

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"I like to start out slow, and then taper off."

-Doug Thorne (TVHS XC)

You do have a good point but I believe this isn't the first time, or even second time, that Macca has been accused of this. This isn't my opinion - I was just following it online like most others so I can't judge.

>>why all the hating on McCormack?<<

No hating from me....Macca is one of my faves, and in fact, was my pic in Z's pool (don't tell Normann). It's just that Normann is my MORE FAVORITE and you have to admit, the comment WAS quite funny.

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

just saw this from Macca:

http://chrismccormack.com/...ryDetail.aspx?id=132

"yesterday"

Awesome.

Wow. I like Macca a lot. But my thoughts about this diary entry: (1) better to just be silent, let Stadler make an ass of himself, and take it to him on the course next time, and (2) get an editor (he doesn't speak like that in person). I do agree with Macca that being a real champion is about more than winning. Stadler has now shown on several occasions that he does not have "what it takes" to earn the kind of respect that goes beyond athletic achievement.

Interesting that Macca pointed out that Normann screwed up things after the race with the Hawaiians (threw away the head thingy). Normann himself pointed that out during the awards ceremony, so I guessit really was a big deal. But now I wonder what he said when he crossed the line?

The World Championship needed this. A little fire in the athletes. Now the stage is set:

Macca v. Stadler 2007



You heard it here first, Macca runs sub 2:45 and gets his win. Every time he feels like slacking, he'll be thinking: I've got to crush the germans. The only relief for Stadler is if he doesn't show up, which is a VERY distinct possibility. If only NBC would give off coverage to versus network...

From that diary entry:
"Norman Stadler on the other hand has fuelled my belly to train for the next 12 months again and I look forward to racing the champ at every possibility I can next year. I want to get in his face and silence his complete arrogance and classless remarks with actions."

man, next year is going to be awesome. I am halfway thru listening to a radio interview with macca from the competitors and he tells of a similar motivation about taking the short course world title from simon lessing which he was able to do.

MacCormack getting riled up about Stadlers unfortunate comments and behavior:

Pot, meet kettle!

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Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

Kind of funny, though.. 160lb endurance athletes "getting in peoples" faces when a stiff wind could blow them over! Very intimidating.

I was thinking the same thing. What was that they said about Macca "talking a lot"?

One guy has 2 kona wins, the other has none. Does Macca realize if/when he beats Norman at another venue, it won't be as big of a deal?

It seems kinda weird to hear the loser talking smack to the winner. I wish Macca wouldn't be the "I'm gonna ..." guy. Nobody likes that guy. Just show up and win THEN talk.


and walked to normann and his girlfriend with this blackberry in his hand. he wanted that normann to pick any race in the world to get beaten by macca and stadler said simple "yesterday"

Hopefully that ended the back-and-forth. The only comback to that is "Yeah, so ..."

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

I am all for getting NBC to drop IM coverage with their excessive human interest stories and tendency to treat it like a freak show. OLN (Versus) did I great job with TDF by treating it like a sporting event like it should be. BTW I thought the Ironman live slow def commentators and coverage format was excellent, I hope NBC execs were watching.

Stadler has now shown on several occasions that he does not have "what it takes" to earn the kind of respect that goes beyond athletic achievement.[/reply]

Shown to who...the all-important armchair quarterbacks on Slowtwitch? Give me a break. The guy trains hard, has won the world championship two years out of three, and is not nearly as outspoken as Peter Reid. You don't think he's earned the respect that goes with being a champion? You can bet he has the respect of the people that matter - his peers. I don't think he's really all that concerned with what ST'ers think about him.

Dude - the guy just won the world championship AGAIN...from the front...and going solo...and as a marked man. The other guys knew his strategy, knew they couldn't let him get away and build a lead, but the reality is that they couldn't keep up to him. I don't think ANY of them are ever going to question whether he is a true champion or not.

did I great job with TDF by treating it like a sporting event like it should be.

You're comparing the "race coverage" of an event that has only pros (TdF) and an event that is composed of some pros, but mostly everyday folks living a dream.

Why?

If the TdF had everyday people, and emotional stories of conquest, wouldn't they make that part of their appeal?

FWIW, the last NBC presentation had only 2-3 interest stories and was more than half "race coverage", detailing the dominance of Faris, and the demise of Normann.

You guys do realize that if it was all race coverage, the show's ratings would plummet and it would be moved off NBC to some obscure channel or just off the air altogether, right?

Not unless you can figure out another way to get viewers to tune in to watch a "close race" between competitors that are so far away from each other that they aren't in each other's sight. While it's dramatic for an 8 hour race to be within 1-2 minutes of each other, it's hardly "gripping tv" ... especially considering the winners of the race are not American (that always plays into the American viewing audience).

"Hey great some guy I don't know just won a race I don't care about." You realize that's the prevailing view of American sports fans, right?

Perhaps looking at it from another perspective, the audience that tunes in to check out some life achievement feat for an AG athlete gets to see the professionals at their best on their biggest stage. I don't know no one ever looks at it from that perspective.

Again, last year's show seemed to have quite a bit about Faris and Natasha. There was a lot of race coverage. Besides, don't most die-hard IM fans watch it on ironmanlive?

You can't force viewers to watch something (pro triathlon) that they don't have an interest in.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

You don't think he's earned the respect that goes with being a champion? You can bet he has the respect of the people that matter - his peers.

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I'm not minimizing his athletic achievements. If that is your sole definition of a "champion," then he is one. I think of it in broader terms. I admire his racing ability. I do not respect him in the least -- as a champion or as a person. Do his peers "respect" him. I don't know. I doubt it. They surely fear him, though. No argument there.

I remember how upset Stadler was when he didn't get the respect/attention in Germany that he thought he should have after his first win. It really bugged him that guys in the Tour got so much attention and he didn't.

Just guessing, but he seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't like the idea of Macca's close finish diminishing how dominant Stadler's performance was.

Lance would probably say, "credit to Macca for a great effort. " Hard for me to imagine Norman saying something like that, but maybe if Faris rode out front and then closed like Macca on the marathon, he would have.

"You don't think he's earned the respect that goes with being a champion?"

There is a big difference between winning an event and being a "champion". A true champion has certain perceived qualities that extend well beyond the athletic accomplishment.

Let's hope the sponsors don't get upset. If Stadler continues with his public perception of being a bit of a loose cannon it could hurt both him and IM in general.

It's impossible to judge people you don't know personally based upon media reports. The media can make/break anybody. I don't know if Stadler really is a jerkoff or if he is a great guy who has been misquoted/taken out of context. Hiring a PR manager at this time might not be a bad idea however.

I think the top field was surprised at how well he ran. He was a marked man, but I would wager the folks thought they'd catch him on the run.

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"...it should be swim, bike, run, cage fight." - el fuser
"I noticed that I am in your sig line! Wow! That's s first for me. Thanks." - Fleck

Do you think that the public perceives him as a 'loose cannon,' or is that just the insider scoop for those of us gossiping here in ST. I have to think that when the public watches the NBC Kona coverage, they'll see what we saw - a winner wait around at the finish line and hug the 2nd and 3rd place finisher. He was emotional, and he was a good sport - that's what people will think when they see the coverage. On TV at least, he looked just as happy for them as he did for himself. That's a classy move, the sort of thing that will endear him to many people. That, and his dominating performance.

His on camera behaviour in the race and in the finish will go a long way towards creating a pretty good public image, and the general public or less-involved triathlete is never going to know about the bickering between Macca and himself.

I think he's a personality, in a sport that is full of - let's face it - pretty boring people. He's not nearly the outspoken personality that someone like Shaq is, but then again people seem drawn to Shaq anyway. People seem drawn to athletes that show us a part of themselves, and Normann seems to do that. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, shoots from the hip a bit, and that makes for a person people want to cheer for. He shows that he's human, and he's a far more compelling character than most. Triathletes are like golfers...people cheer for the ones with personality in an otherwise boring cast. Guys like Tiger and John Daly will always have a following, because they're not scared to express themselves.