I understand times, but I think it is more basic than that. Ultimately
it is about competition, the times will come. Think back to elementary school,
everyone knew the fastest kid in the school or in the summer when you were at
the pool you raced to see who was fastest. Time was not a consideration. At
junior high school play days you raced to see who was the best, oh by the way
they ran a faster time than the other kids did, but that was not the focus.
They achieved a pinnacle of success at their level, John Q. Public and the kids
have no idea what times mean. I heard two guys in the barbershop talking about
Bolt, they were talking about how much distance there was between him and the
field. They did not know if it was a world record, 9.5 or 10.5, they were
impressed he beat the best in the world by so much distance. I think coaches
have a responsibility to stop chasing records and stress competition. That is I
why I liked John Carlos, he would line up and race in the street if someone
challenged him. If our best athletes in track and field would be willing to
race and compete head to head and worry less about fast times, maybe the sport
would not be in the crisis it is in now.
Carl Valle
Frankly it needs to be a balance in my opinion. Many times I did not win races or get on the podium till later. What did I do? Have time to show that I was racing myself. This gets into the same seductive dual of pursuing winning- and then it becomes at any cost.
Improving your own times year to year is a healthy thing as getting 4th in a race doesn’t mean much if all that matters is “competition”
Paul Davis
Vern-
I think what you are getting at is really a question of the essence of sport. What is sport? I am a firm believer that sport is grounded in play; simple, unbridled physical play, that results in an experience of joy. Too often in today’s sporting culture everyone – coaches, athletes, fans, etc. – forgets that sport is supposed to be fun. What I hear you saying is that the quest for achievement robs participants in the sport experience (all of us) of the joy that should be central to the experience. Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting we abandon the pursuit of excellence – I’m not. And I am not trying to split hairs either; it is simply that I think somewhere along the way we lost sight of the beauty of athletic competition, the wonderful exhilaration experienced when we participate in or witness competitors mutually striving for excellence. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.
Paul Davis
Jeremiah Blatz
I assume that this is response to yesterday’s post about the swimsuits. In that case, I don’t think it’s about the times (even including the suit), so much as it’s about those with money trying to use their money to win.
Everyone wants to win, and for a rich country/program, $50 per person per meet is a small price to pay for that 1% speed boos or whatever. Since they’ve got the money, they’ve got the influence, and they get what they want.
While this sucks for most people in the short term, it may be beneficial in the long term. While you’re never going to get the majority of swimmers into these suits, it may be that some of the ideas trickle down into wetsuits or whatever. If, in 5 years, westuits come out that let divers swim more efficiently and thus stay under longer, then I guess its the glorious advance of technology.
(Of course, it’s equally likely that these, like the detached-heel speed skates, are just used for high-level competition and do nothing but unlevel the playing field and make the manufacturer a lot of money.)
tim sullivan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc
I like how MJ looks at it.
I remember racing a girl in my neighborhood and she kicked my butt, I also remember making up a whole bunch of reasons for why she kicked my butt. I learned nothing from it except how to make excuses.
Fitness Blog
There is no good in a P.B. time, if you are last.