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Dan · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2001 2:33 pm Post subject:

In that case, I nominate Micah for the "most persistently obsessed with Devers' glutes" poster of the year award!

Dan

Micah Ward · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2001 2:43 pm Post subject:

And I gladly accept!

Conway · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2001 5:59 pm Post subject:

OK .. While you two are watchign glutes, I will pick a rivalry of the year .. And for that honor I will choose .... (drum roll) .. Mutola v Graf .. There has to be some give and take in a rivalry .. Some win and some lose .. And those two did just that .. And had soem very thrilling races .. Greene v Montgomery was really only a rivalry in Monty's mind .. And while Feofanova and Dragila had close battles Stacy won them all .. Same for Borz and Bucher .. Borz got him once, but that is all .. But Bucher had to go to the well every single time .. So they get my #2 vote .. Smile

How about a most underachieving ???

Dan · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2001 7:24 pm Post subject:

I was also thinking Mutola and Graf had the best rivalry. The last 100m at Edmonton was quite something! The problem with Borzo and Bucher is that they never really ran against each other. For 700m, Bucher was in the lead and Borzo was at the back of the pack. It was only in the last 50m that they were even running the same race... Exciting, yes. Rivalry, not so sure. I guess it depends largely on how you define it.

Most underachieving, hmm. I hate to put a negative spin on the season, but I'd almost have to list the most underachieving events: 200 and 400, women's 100, men's 5k and 10k. Aside from Zhanna's upset in the 100, I don't think any of those events offered much to get excited about all year along. Ok, as for an individual, I'm going to pick Marion. Compared to what she's capable of (based more on past performance than potential), she pretty much sleepwalked through the year.

Dan

Micah Ward · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2001 3:46 am Post subject:

Best interview of the year...any interview with Gabe Jennings. Every time I hear him talk it makes me want to listen to the Grateful Dead.

Conway · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2001 6:48 am Post subject:

I have ot agree with your choice of Marion JOnes as most underachieving .. Course I ama little biased cause I think she has underachieved for a few seasons now ..

Jenning for Best Interview .. He is certainly interesting .. Actually he makes me turn down the sound ...

How about a Performance of the Year .. And it must be time to start talk of an Athlete of the Year ...

I'll throw out a couple of performances .. On the men's side I would say Mo Greene's Edmonton 100 win .. In a year devoid of world records on the men's side that was as good as it gets .. On the women's side I would say Dragila's Edmonton win as well .. Wasn't one of her WRs, but a high quality mark under pressure ..

Conway

Dan · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2001 1:06 pm Post subject:

Just off the top of my head, I'm saying Jon Drummond for best interview. He actually offers some insight and speaks coherently... I got a laugh (mostly of disbelief) out of Gabe the first time, but his act (and I do stress act) quickly wore thin with me... Unless he's high during the race, which will pose problems with drug testing, I very much doubt what he shows is authentic, at least not to that degree.

I think Boulami's steeple WR deserves consideration for performance of the year. Not exactly a soft standard he beat. Zhanna had the notable performance, of course.

Dan

Conway · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2001 9:55 pm Post subject:

Boulami's performance was definitely right there .. And STacy is close enough to 16 feet now that her performances are legit .. Hmmm ... Boulami v Greene .. I guess I would have to go with Boulami simply because Montgomery made Mos 9.82 slightly less impressive ... But only slightly ...

Now anyone care to stick their neck out on athlete of the year ??? Taking nominees ?? Greene, Bucher, Zelezny, ElG .... Others ???

Micah Ward · Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 3:02 am Post subject:

Dragilia at worlds for performance of the year. Her marks are certainly legit and at Edmonton she had to face pressure for the first time and she did what she had to win.

Looking at Jennings background I think he actually is genuine...and as goofy as a soup sandwich.

Conway · Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 4:49 am Post subject:

Goofy as a soup sandwich ??? Is that anything like fine as a frogs hair ???

Stacy had an outstanding season and I would think she may have inside track on the women's Performer of the Year !!!

Dan · Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 7:02 am Post subject:

I don't have a problem with Dragilla for women's athlete of the year, but I'm not quite sold on performance of the year. The newness of the event makes it difficult to say how a vault ranks in the overall scheme of things. While Micah praises her ability to win when she faced competition, I look at it a bit different. How can we be sure it's not just a sign that the event is maturing? We don't have any historical data to compare against, so is a 15'8" vault better than a bunch of 8:23 3k's?

As far as Jennings, I think it's largely an act based on his background. His real personality probably bears a resemblance to what we see on TV, but I'd be surprised if it's much more than that.

Dan

Conway · Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 9:37 am Post subject:

How good do you think a 16' vault to be ??? I'm thinkin that while the event is young, 16' is a pretty good mark on the women's level ... Actually I know what we should do .. Take a look at top decathletes and see what they are vaulting .. And use the ohter events and their relationship to the decathlon as a guage for how good the womens pole vault is currently ..

For example a good 400 in the decathlon is somewhere around 47 .. Long Jump is 24 to 25 feet .. Not sure aboutthe pole vault off hand .. But perhaps we can use that as a guide .. Maybe ??

Dan · Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 5:41 pm Post subject:

Good idea. Looking at the Austrian Decathlon site, it appears 4.8m is about average for an 8000 point performer, which equates to 15'9". That would indicate Dragilla's top vaults are roughly comparable to what a national caliber decathlete is capable of. Our 2-time NCAA D3 decathlon champ was about a 14' vaulter and scored in the mid to low 7000's. Let's see what I can find for people in the upper 8000 point range... Tom Pappas (an 8400 point guy) has an open event vault PR of 5.20 and decathlon best of 5.10, with the latter being 16'9".

Wow, I never realized how hard it is to navigate multievent sites until I was actually looking for information!! Sad

Dan

Conway · Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 7:33 pm Post subject:

That would signify then that Stacy is competing at a high level then .. Her performances (based on that) would be quite comparable to other women's records it would seem .. At least those on the field !!

Conway · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2001 12:38 pm Post subject:

OK ... Since no one else will, I will start Athlete of the Year conversation .. My nominees are Stacy Dragila and Maurice Greene ...

Stacy was undefeated I believe (one loss if any) .. Multiple World Records and I think we have established that they are at a quality level .. World Champs winner and tough competitor ...

Greene did everything Stacy did except set a WR ... But the only reason he didn't do that is because he has run faster a couple of times himself -- ie he outperformed the rest of the world on both an annual and historical basis !!! He was undefeated .. Yes I say undefeated, as his only loss was in a race that clearly was won by a false start !!! He met and beat everyone, including the upstart Montgomery ...

So ... Let's get this show on the road ... Smile

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