It isn't like they are complaining they are Republicans.

Is there no behavior that would cause you disqualify a sponsor from consideration?

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Apparently not. We've hit a new low.

its a setup.

All great PR for TRS and Ben.

Best thing for Ben aka therealstarky

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I'm sorry, I love Ben and his work, but I can't believe the same guy could put a work together like this, and at the same time call out Gomez for putting it out there he was ill before 70.3 WC. Gomez is an athlete that should be above that type of garbage.
As for the SEO stuff, with "13", I got nothing. Maybe it's plausible this was planned out, but is triathlon popular enough that so many are searching for Bahrain Endurance 13?

I think you might have the point confused. The point of the SEO, is that people searching for the Bahrain 13 (not the triathlon version), will find the triathlon team and not the real Bahrain 13. It is not for people searching for the triathlon version of the Bahrain 13.

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And the best, most efficient way to accomplish that is to bankroll a superstar triathlon team?

Possibly, triathletes do come cheap

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LOL. well you do have a point there...

I guess the low is lower than I imagined.

It's a supplemental sponsorship. All these athletes already have a full raft of sponsors, and BE13 doesn't create any sponsor conflict (it doesn't compete with any of the existing sponsors)....it's just extra $$$ for the top pros, so probably not as costly as being a bike or shoe sponsor.

From an SEO standpoint it gets them high quality links from all the athletes' websites, plus lots of links from press releases and media articles. Kinda a dumb strategy IMO, since they won't displace wikipedia at #1.

Pure speculation: the concept was to sponsor a tri team anyway (just like Ball sponsored Rock&Republic, or Tinkof's cycling team), and the idea to add the "13" on the end was someone's "bright idea" on how to get some extra value.

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Something for everyone then :-)
For me, it's mainly his interviews that distinguish him. They are more to the point and he asks questions others might be too polite to ask. The tone is more flippant too. Sometimes the intervees seem to change their tone in response but that can be more telling as to their true character. I do totally respect the fact that TRS is asking the "difficult" questions too and seems ok with simply telling it like he sees it. I have to admit though I only tend to download the podcast when it's one of the more famous guests, and frankly some of them just dont interest me.

While I think your theory is the most plausible, it make me wonder even more why these top pros went along with the sponsorship.

Why sell your soul if it's only for a few extra bucks? Either the sponsorship was significant or they were truly blind to the ethical issue.

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Chris Harris

If Triathlon was a big money sport, this sort of thing would just get buried; someone would get to people like TRS & his guys some way or other.

I liked TRS at the beginning, then thought he sold-out on his original persona & went all "look at me" on the Internet. But now, I'm warming to him again, as he's stirring it up in a way true to the original concept, and I've enjoyed the more recent interviews that I've listened to as well. As long as he keeps it about the sport and not Ben Hobbs, I'll continue to like his work.

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29 years and counting

Because the majority of people on this thread (and this forum) would be amazed if they actually knew how little these guys make from sponsorship / endorsement.

And that is your end of story right there.

well they set Schillings on to him - I'm guessing that a couple of letters from Schillings would be several months of sponsorship cash to most triathletes, I'm also guessing that TRS wont have heard the last from them

Exactly. However Jan and Kienle did address the issue in an adult manner and explained their line of thinking. Chris on the other end went nuclear and tries to bury it by discrediting Ben. It's very immature and only bringing more focus on the issue so it's quite surprising nobody is telling him to stop.

 

who says the "reel Starky" account wasn't created by TRS to keep the controversy going ?

I'm not entirely sure that they "explained their line of thinking", they explained a line of thinking but I didnt see them reference the degree to which compensation was a consideration weighed up against the other issues, unless of course it wasn't a consideration at all and they receive nothing

certainly my experience in the ME is that I've yet to meet anyone,that would say that money was not a primary consideration, if not the primary consideration in their choice to be / work there

The fact that one of TheReelStarky's tweets over the weekend had location as "Amphoe Thalang, Phuket" kinda gives the game away. Would have thought Macca has more important things to do with his time than this nonsense, like giving fake pep talks to Kona champions for example ;-)

For sure, money would be the primary factor. Doubt anybody would wear a country's name apart from your own without compensation. I meant that I respected that they tried to address the issue as adults (the validity of their line of thought can certainly be debated) while others have resorted to sulk and/or bash people for even bringing the subject up.

+1

ah yes, but he also tweeted from Austin Texas, so in other words the geo location crap is a red herring.

I personally think the first was a slip. Then he got one of his friends to tell him how to dupe the location service.

I'm turned off by the vulgarity (belching) and cursing on TRS Podcasts. Is that the way we want to see triathlon perceived? There are better ways to achieve humor through better interviews. I like the platform idea to bring greater exposure to the sport, but the execution is terrible. Once the pointless cursing starts I find it not funny and an embarrassment to the sport.

I think he is very hit and miss. If I never hear lionel sanders crying or that slowman is a 'man's man' again, i'll be happy!

Lots of his points are good, but I think sometimes his ego causes problems. In this case he is clearly right that there are questions to br answered. I think Macca might be after some press for his podcast, I didnt know he had one until this feud started!