Pre Classic

You can read the news various places, such as the Eugene Register-Guard. My thoughts...

SYMMONDS!

A new Prefontaine meet record while outgunning two legitimate world powers!

Why does he excite so much? He's an thrilling runner for sure, who runs smart and never seems to get beaten down the stretch. However, I think it's as much the rest of America's bright hopes for distance running (or lack thereof) as anything else. You've got your Alan Webb, who probably could never have lived up to the hype and at this point runs well just often enough to tease and infuriate us but no more. You've got your various Colorado alums that were all supposed to be the next Great White Hope and basically none of them have panned out. You've got your Bernard Lagat, who definitely is a world power but his nationality switch feels so...mercenary.

And then there's Nick Symmonds. His meteoric rise means there are no expectations for him. He doesn't look like a physical freak. He's an everyman. And he just keeps gettting better and better. I also couldn't help but notice the irony of an American who has been described as havinga "hockey-player's body" outkicking a Canadian and a Russian.

I could put up my standard TV complaints about the ridiculously amateurish production of the meet, but what's the point? No one in charge of putting it on the air seems to care one damn bit about whether it's actually good or not. Hey guys, they have something called onscreen graphics. You could give us field event standings in text form, or at least tell us how many laps are left in a distance race!