Whatever happened to being a gracious competitor...either in victory or defeat? I'll bet his mama isn't too happy about those comments as it's a direct reflection of how she raised him.

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Michael in Fresno
"Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man" V. Corleone

1. I believe that you have to be (in Paulo's words) somewhat of a "d1ck" to be a world class athlete. There are certainly exceptions to my view but I believe that the desire to be better than everyone else is inherently a "d1ckish" quality. Those who excel because they are truly interested in "being all that they can be" are the ones who are non-d1cks. Personally, I fall into the former category!

2. Competing in triathlons is great fun. Watching the coverage of triathlons, for most people, is like watching paint dry. The swim coverage is pathetic as there is a sea of arms flailing about without knowing who anyone is. The bike is perhaps the least boring. I love seeing the bikes and the occassional pass but it is boring. That brings us to the run. You can't get much more boring than watching someone run. What could be done to make the IMH coverage a little more interesting and compelling? Hmmmm ... how about smack talk? Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea! Seriously, I think that the coverage of IMH will be 10x better next year as a result of the Macca, Faris and Normann "debates".

do we ever hear Tergat saying something like this to Kanouchi ?
It's about the bike!

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"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Oscar Wilde

'...............and you will be a man my son'.

Agreed.
It's amazing isn't it ?
On another thread there was a link to a clip showing Lance Armstrong winning the US Triathlon title at age 18.
He left some great athletes in his wake.
There was Lance, who, as we are all told, was a brat, an arrogant bastard, when he was younger, showing more class and professionalism in his youth than either Macca or Normann in their 'maturity'.
Well, we all called for more "personalities" in the sport and now we've got them, and aren't we lucky !

Well, we all called for more "personalities" in the sport and now we've got them, and aren't we lucky !

No kidding. I always hear people complain that there are no good role models in sport, yet when we have people like Tim DeBoom, the same people claim they are too nice and boring.

In the "Be careful what you wish for" category, I give you the NBA, full of "personalities" with lots of "colorful comments."

Macca has no class and I for one will be cheering for Normann, Faris and/or anyone else to beat him head to head in Hawaii. Let him pump his own chest and accomplishments in races others use as tune-ups, we'll see what happens when he races head to head in races that are important.

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You sir, are my new hero! - Trifan 11/13/2008

Casey, you are a wise man - blueraider_mike 11/13/2008

Casey, This is an astute observation. - Slowbern 11/17/2008

I think there is a difference between "smack talk" in a triathlon competition and the NBA. One is about "less than ideal" sportsmanship and the other is about assault and battery. Comparing TO (over the line arrogance), Barry Bonds (cheater) and Ron Artest (criminal) to Macca is comparing apples to oranges. Is Macca a role model? Maybe not ... but he is much better than most athletes in other sports.

but he is much better than most athletes in other sports.

I agree but the point is the trend that appears to be happening with people hoping for someone with "personality" to make the sport interesting. If triathlon is going to rely on loud arrogant athletes to make it appealing to the public, maybe we are heading in the wrong direction.

We don't have to follow other sports, we can be unique and I wish people would just accept that we don't have to be on T.V every week or have around the clock media coverage to make the sport legitimate. Once you go too far, you can never go back.

It's okay to be different but some people just seem to want to fit in a nice box like all the other mainstream sports.

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You sir, are my new hero! - Trifan 11/13/2008

Casey, you are a wise man - blueraider_mike 11/13/2008

Casey, This is an astute observation. - Slowbern 11/17/2008

Truth is ... I couldn't agree more! When I was a kid I LOVED sports (especially baseball). The personalities have gotten in the way AND we are overexposed to sports. I can remember watching the "Game of the Week" on Saturday afternoons and it was the highlight of my week (especially if the Reds were playing). Now it is more like the game of the hour. With all the coverage on TV today, athletes feel that they need to stand out in ways that unrelated to performance. It's a shame and a challenge (not impossible) for me to teach my children right from wrong when it comes to sportsmanship.

I can only imagine what kind of mouth I'd have if I had 1/4 of Macca's accomplishments. He's always been great for sound bites whether or not a person appreciates his brash tendencies. One thing is for certain, he does back his talk up with a ton of wins every year.

While I'm not bothered by his comments (and I certainly don't think he's a dick for saying what he did), I do find them quite funny for a number of reasons. First, he brags about a 5 minute margin of victory when it was only 2 min. 37 sec. Second, he's making such a big deal about beating Faris in a January sprint. Third, he really does seem to be obsessed with Faris -- it would be one thing to mention beating Faris and what it meant to him once, but he repeats it throughout.

As much as Macca spoke (in his Competitors interview) about how his comments are carefully calculated as mindgames, it really looks like sombody has actually gotten into his mind. In fact, one of the first things I thought about Normann's comment after Kona was that it was a deliberate attempt to do just that, designed to entice Macca to leave the comfort of the pack next year and a way of putting him in his place ("despite drafting (legal or illegal), you could only get so close to me "). On further consideration, I doubt Normann really planned it that way -- I see him as more emotional than calculating -- but it was one of the first thoughts I had.

but he is much better than most athletes in other sports.
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....and that is what is REALLY sad.


It's funny how much respect most of us at the amature yet competetive level show in our sports....at least in my observation. I remember finishing a workout and Greg Watson wanted to do one more 2000 meter interval (running). One guy (I'll leave his name out) said, "I'll try to hang on if I can." So, Greg lead the first 4 laps with this guy following right behind, but then with 300 meters to go this guy decides that he wanted to finish strong so he passed Greg and blew him away while sprinting the last 300 meters.

The rest of us watched and our jaws dropped and thought, "that wan't cool." Greg came up to us later and said, "Did you see that? What the hell was that all about?"

There was no trash talking....just a simple violation of track etiquit that, as competetive runner, we just didn't like. The guy was young and we just chalked it up to a little immaturity.


However, I must say that I HAVE unfortunately seen a lot more arrogannce in triathlon than I have in running....at least among the adults. There are just too many guys trying WAY too hard to be cool.......but that's just my opinion.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

Well...as I said in the other post, Macca races well when he is mad. Look what he did when they did not select him for the Aussie olympic team! He tore off a string of victories in everything he entered. I suspect that what the Germans said after Kona will make Macca race faster this year. That kind of motivation only seems to make him faster. We could see another Scott/Allen duel this year.

Mike

Let's see how Craig Alexander does at Oz.. I got a feeling he's going to do the "smashing" in Kona..

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"Nobody is an atheist the last 6 miles of an Ironman"

Why is he being a dick? Faris started this with his BS in Hawaii, Macca is just answering back.

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Let's say I call you a cheater. Later on, I come up to you and I apologize for what I said. Months later you go on and on AND ON about how you beat me in a chicken shit race. You're a dick. Agree?

Its hard to forgive someone when they call you a cheater on an international stage. I dont recall Faris apologizing in that same publication?

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I thought everyone was a Christian around here.

Stop using soundbites! An Eye for eye, if you call someone a cheater through a magazine, apologize through the magazine.

Its actually comical, there both being a bit inmature, you dont see American triathletes doing this:) Go Bears! Go Bush!

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Soundbites? You mean like this?

"I use the google" - GWB

[reply]Why is he being a dick? Faris started this with his BS in Hawaii, Macca is just answering back.[/reply]

I hope you don't teach your children that sort of reasoning.
"Well, he hit me with a mallet so i clobbered him with a sledge hammer."

Again...just walk away and let your actions do your talking.

God's holy trousers! What a thread!

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"Go yell at an M&M"

You do not see Americans triathletes doing this because at this time there are no good American triathletes.

:^)

I was in Kona when he appeared for his first race there, talking with Mitch Thrower of Triathlete and the former head of WTC. Macca came up and was spouting such cocky stuff, he was a total pain in the ass, and proceeded to melt down on race day, blaming nutrition instead of Deboom and Reid wearing him down. He seems to need a bit of work with a decent sport agent as it's apparent that he hasn't learned. As for Normann, he's showed his true colors with his completely immature tirade at the finish line. Both have little class, and need to look at the Scotts and Allens for a bit of a lesson. When he can stand up to their standards, then perhaps he will be worth of admiration, but for now they both are little boys and not much more.

Thank God the women haven't followed suit, as there seems to be a lot of class.......Natasha is always a great example.

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Gary Geiger
http://www.geigerphoto.com Professional photographer

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I thought that "[a]s always, there [was] sportsmanship and respect" at Kona this year. Where did it all go so wrong?

;^p

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''The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t.''

—Lars-Erik Nelson