That is classic, well done. The whole time I read that I could hear the voice of the NBC announcer.[/quote]

Classic indeed, I was thinking of Southpark and how Cartman would sound endorsing his friend Timothy...

I'd like to see Cartman do Ironman @ Kona. THAT i'd tune in to see for all 17 hrs.

They already "lottery spots" in the Olympics. You ever see the footage of the Olympics 100m freestyle 1:50 put down by Eric Moussambani?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZePJy_nZw

He does the Tower 26 ocean swims in Santa Monica when he's in town. He's no slouch, and is an incredibly nice guy. He's also mentioned that the swim is his weakest point.

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http://aclockworkmango.com

It's worse than than 1:53, it looked like they were gonna have send a lifeguard near the end LOL

ha.

you're assuming Kona is like the olympics. or even like T&F world champs.

It's not.

You have pros. That's the real "world championship" part.

Then you have amateurs. Not olympic-level or WC-level amateurs. Regular people amateurs. Regular people who train themselves up to be pretty competitive for middle-aged folks.

And then you have celebrities...and special sponsor spots... and/or personal interest stories...the main reason why Kona is still on TV.

Is it wrong for me not to have any idea who the hell this guy is???

He's a chef with a lot of really high credentials, a serious attention to detail, and a big temper who has been involved in a few different reality TV shows revolving around cooking and restaurant management. I bet he has an awesome flat Coke recipe, and probably really knows what gels to pair with Powerbar Perform.

I'm not a TV watcher, but I think the show that really brought him to prominence was called Hell's Kitchen. I've honestly never watched it, but I saw some commercials for it where he's yelling, swearing and belittling people, and America apparently gets off on that kind of behavior. I found his behavior downright repulsive, so I refuse to watch anything he does - I just can't support that (but the reality TV world thrives on it, I guess).

Anyway, he seems like a total type A+++ asshole, but I'm sure he's just misunderstood. Nonetheless, his celebrity status could bring some attention to Kona, which may or may not help our sport. On the flip side, we've got guys like Hines Ward at Kona this year, bringing not only some celebrity (at least in the U.S.) along with a positive attitude.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

That link mentions he's a 5 time Comrades finisher. That's bad ass territory above kona finisher

Agreed, Comrades is a seriously impressive event to finish.

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

All signs point to him racing this year - saw on Facebook that he's on the cover of next month's Triathlete magazine. No pressure!

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

His 6:38 at the 70.3 WC must have put him near the back of his age group. I'm fairly sure he didn't get to the Vegas race
under his own wattage either. Yes I know, he's good for the sport and will get us some much needed attention.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

http://www.ironman.com/...3.aspx#axzz2gNleN450


Don't know if anyone has already posted this video but I have to tell you the sentiments he displays here are pretty much spot on as to why most folks I know got into Ironman in the early 90's.Looks to me like he is hooked and for the right reasons....Except of course the tattoo part..

Mind you,if I were talking to him and he couldn't look me in the eye for more than 3 seconds I wouldn't trust him..;-)


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Its GREAT for the SPORT! Quit cryin

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Where EXACTLY was I crying about anything dickhead?


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Why is it annoying to see a world class athlete like Hines Ward participate? You afraid of getting beat?

For fucks sake, the guy is twice the athlete of 95% of on this board. Has every right to buy into Kona if he approaches it seriously...which he is.

not sure what the deal with the big ramsey hate. don't watch his shows. the guy is a prick on his show because it is a REALITY SHOW. it wouldn't be entertaining if he wasn't. in the end the winner gets their own restaurant, sounds like a win win to me.

the guy is good at what he does (top 1% of chefs in the world in terms of success), what are you good at?

i'm not a fan of anyone other than KQ and pro's going to kona. so i'm not going to hate on gordan specifically. i think kona should be for KQ and pros. not people who lost a ton of weight, not people who beat cancer, not people who lost limbs in iraq etc. but that's just my opinion.

john

I say this over and over again - Ironman can indeed invite whoever they like, it is their race after all.

why would the oympics allow that, it was horrible to watch that 1:53 performance

Its GREAT for the SPORT! Quit cry in


In what way is it good for the sport?


Is it going to draw more people to triathlon and make crowded races worse? Is it going to increase the purses (doubtful)? Is it going to make people more interested in triathlons after the race is over?


I keep hearing how having this guy is great for the sport but not sure exactly what people mean.

PJC, can you PLEASE, PLEASE correct the typo in the title of this thread? I know this thread is likely to get a bit of traffic over the next few days, which I'm keen to follow and it's driving me crazy every time I look at it!

Either Gordon Ramsey (note the capitals, as it's his name) is doing Kona (also capitalised as it's a place name) or he's invented some new culinary technique known only to himself and probably Heston (who happens to be another fit bastard chef).

For the love of the dying art of English excellence, please fix it.

Thank you in anticipation.. :-)

Yes, it may draw more people to the sport. More people = increased demand. Increased demand = more money invested in the sport & more races to choose from. More money and races = more product development. More product development = more choices and better equipment such as faster bikes. So, you should thank Gordon Ramsey for that fast ride you'll be on a couple years from now. After all, he is doing this for you.

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Don Larkin
Reach For More
http://www.reachformore.fit/
USAT Lvl1 Coach, NSCA-CPT, NASM-CPT, BS Exercise Science

I actually never watched Hell kitchen, too elimination-esque reality-tv-ish. However I watched Kitchen nightmare (still a reality show lol) and in this one he had the task to save restaurants. I enjoyed this show and from the massive number of episodes I've seen I really feel like he's a freaking honest guy that won't take 20 ways to tell a guy the truth. The guy walks in a fridge, sees disgusting stuff that is just dangerous for all the clients, of course he would bring the chief and the owner there and ask them WTF is that and if their goal was to kill their customers!? *sprinkle some swears* Gordon didn't get there without a rigid discipline and the utmost perfectionism.

Maybe, he's not the most tactful guy I've seen though but often, I have to agree with him in the context of his show.

So I believe most of the hate is coming from people who didn't watch the show or just do not accept hearing bad words, which is fine really, but to be honest, I am in no way offensed by someone saying the F word.

For the triathlon aspect, I wish everyone who went to Kona had to KQ but it's their business and they can do whatever they want. :/

based on the training described in triathlon mag he seemed to be taking it seriously, and to have a respectful attitude to recognizing that he hadn't qualified on merit. I hope he achieves his goal. He's going to suffer like everyone else, but if he drops out or does something embarassing half the world will know.