Well, in my defense I did say it was small stuff and encouraged an economic model that incentivizes the best to compete.

I look forward to your suggestions regarding the big issues facing the sport.

Scott

Embrunman? Is that one of those easy Euro courses? ;-) HA!

Welcome to Slowtwitch Vineyards where you will find one of the widest selection of whines on earth.

Wah! It’s harder to get to Kona as a pro so many people race as amateurs instead. It sounds to me that they don’t really want to be a pro triathletes, they just want to race in Kona.

Wah! Most pros have real jobs. Then they aren’t pro-triathletes. They are professional accountants, or waiters, or whatever and triathlon is their hobby.

Wah! Pros have to accumulate points to get to Kona. That’s so hard. This is basically the same as other individual sports. Tennis players don’t get into Wimbledon by winning one tournament, they need to accumulate points throughout the season to be ranked high enough. The same thing goes for golfers. With the exception of The Masters (which is an invitational tournament that is not part of the PGA Tour), players need to be ranked to get into the season-ending FedEx Championship, The US Open, etc. Some of these events have special qualifiers that are held the week before the event where they add a few players to round out the field. Would you support having an Ironman the week before Kona that granted eight slots to the qualifiers? If these athletes are going to actually be Pros, they should have to compete in more than one race and they should compete against their peers to get to the World Championships.

Wah! WTC makes so much money and the prize money isn’t enough. Ironman/WTC is a private business and very few of us know how profitable they are, if at all. They have investors that shelled out their money several years ago and generally investments such as these pay off after this duration. Also, there’s a lot of wrath for WTC but very little for the sponsors. The sponsors are the ones with the most direct benefit from an athlete’s performance but in many cases they aren’t giving that much to the athlete. Back in the mid-80’s, I considered playing golf professionally. In those days, the prize money was nowhere near what it is today. Most spots didn’t pay enough to cover your trip. Even today, if you miss “the cut” (generally the bottom 55-60%), you go home with nothing after playing in a Monday qualifier, a Wednesday Pro-Am and rounds on Thursday & Friday. Expenses add up quick. Anyway, almost everyone made more money through endorsements than they did through prize money. Maybe sponsors should be doing more.

The list of whines goes on, “I don’t like mass swim starts”, “There aren’t enough referees on the bike course”, “race fees are too expensive”, “races sell out too fast”, “I can’t sign up a year in advance”, “More than one Ironman a year (including Kona) is too much for me”, the list goes on.

Over the years WTC has successfully grown Ironman. They have taken risks that have paid off but could have just as easily bitten them in the ass. They have a strong global brand that thousands of people respect while the crabby minority keeps poking them with a stick. It’s definitely correct to offer constructive criticism and solutions but just whining and complaining doesn’t do anyone any good.

Well said. I'm assuming he's not responding because his PR person is beating him with his keyboard.

I just have a hard time believing this is the real CEO. Given how brand conscious IM is, I just can't believe the CEO would make this kind of marketing/PR blunder.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

Off topic, but at Kona 2014 you'll have possibly 4-5 ex champs in the field (FVL, Jacobs, Faris & possibly Crowie and Macca as a long, long shot). Then add in guys with top 10 results in the past who have never won the race (Kienle, McKenzie, Potts, TO) then add in others who will be 1st timers (Del Corral, Frodeno) and I haven't even mentioned Rapp, Starky, Marino, Butterfield, Cunama, etc.

So, I'd say there are at least 10-12 guys who have a shot to win.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

It certainly appears to be Andrew, but lets us also see that comment a bit "in pink."

Ha ha!!!

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Seriously? Seems to fit his reputation perfectly.

Mmm...not quite on the golf. The top 125 on the list in Fedex points are eligible for the first tournament of the playoffs (Barclays). This also determines the tour card holders for the next year (Used to be the top 125 on the money list). However, there are exceptions. Win a tournament, and you get automatic invites to all the majors, and are exempt from losing your tour card for 2 years. Win a major and it's 5 years (Used to be 10). The special qualifiers are usually Mondays, and one day events. The exact format of how many qualify for the upcoming tournament, etc., varies among tournaments. Other tour cards are determined by end of season rankings on the web.com tour, previous exemptions, etc. (This explains why John Daly was able to get into some tournaments even after his game tanked, because at the time he was one of the last 10 year exemptions for winning the 1995 US open).

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

This post is unbelievable to me. You just don't get it. I was one of the donors to 7th place, albeit a very small donation. I was planning on racing New Orleans 70.3 and Augusta 70.3 in 2015. However, these last couple of posts are the last straws for me, as long as you or PE are involved in the WTC, you will not receive any entry money from me. You may be quite the businessman but you and your company are bad for the sport and its development.

You may have thousands others, but I am one customer you will not get back.

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Hunter Robinson
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Sponsored by: http://www.92fifty.com

 

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Agree

I don't care what pros, if any, show up at the race I race, but I do care that there is a healthy pro field within the sport.
If I go to Syracuse, I don't care who is there. If I go to 70.3 WC or Kona, I do.

The pros should unionize. They currently have no leverage. If they get organized they could bargain. Imagine an October where every pro got sick on race morning. It would take huge balls but it would certainly require a response.

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Member - Teamfirefighter.com

I have no idea what you are talking about. It's a yes or no question. Will you confirm that the OP is Andrew Messick?

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Based on his participation in this past thread

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...rch_string=;#4857427

Seems legit.

Its his account, guess you could have to be at his desk and see him typing to know for sure. How cool would it be if you or one of your minions hacked his account here and started this horrible thread!! Sad part is that 99% it is him, and like some unnamed pro who thought he could come here and make everyone like him, this thread is not going to go at all like he had hoped.

That or he has a great sense of humor(thus herberts pink comment) and he is joining in on the pro money roast. I think not….

triathlon is a highly physically taxing sport. golf, tennis, bowling,baseball are not.

Yes, it is Andrew Messick, CEO of Ironman.

But I saw a bit of humor in it.

Have you ever played tennis?

I guess you have never pitched or caught before? well maybe you have......

TRS is clearly a newbie.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Can't say I exactly agree with your approach. Just saw the pictures from Twitter. I seem to remember some music awards show where Taylor Swift was onstage accepting an award and Kanye West stepped on stage, took the mic and started some rant about how the award should have gone to someone else who deserved more recognition. Seems to me that is what you were doing.

I have no problem if you want to give more things to someone because you think they deserve it. Want 7th to get more? Pony up for a burrito and bottle of water at Chipotle and give them all the cash that's left. Good on ya. But jumping into someone else's stage that they've paid a lot of money and invested a lot of time to put together and taking the spotlight away? Just doesn't seem quite right.

Cross posting in case peeps here haven't seen this on twitter already earlier tonight: http://www.somerandomthursday.com/...ds-and-speaking-out/

He didn't steal the mic from Mike Reilly...they were at a bar in LP