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USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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Anonymous post on January 25, 2001
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As a coach of junior triathletes/duathletes here in Ohio I feel compelled to comgratulate Sean "Sparky" Ion on his selection as junior male duathlete-of-the-year.
On the other hand, I can't help but wonder if it was based on anything but longevity. Minnesota's Max Mogren must be scratching his head. He was national champion and world champion, but didn't get the duathlete-of-the-year award. I can't name a race that Sparky won. Go figure!
While we're at it Tyler Johnson won the junior division of our Saturn Duathlon (would havr won the 20-24 age group as well), beating Sparky by over a minute(in spite of running on a bad ankle that would sideline him until Calais). Then at the Worlds in Calais, where Tyler and Sparky were in the elite race, Tyler beat Sparky by ten minutes inspite of a major equipment foul-up on the bike. In fact as I saw it from the streets of Calais, Tyler's performance was surpassed only by Siri Lindley.
So, longevity will have this day, but talent will out.
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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Anonymous post on January 26, 2001
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Not only does the junior duathlete of the year leave one scratching their heads - because Max Mogren was AWESOME last year and on a totally different level than the guy who won the formal award, but it also seems kind of silly that Siri Lindley would be the pro duathlete of the year award based upon only having done ONE duathlon. Although she did better than any of the current crop of pro duathlete women in the world on that one rainy, crash filled day in Calais. It just boggles my mind that any one race (even worlds..) would earn her the title when there are others out there in the U.S. like Kim Bruckner (who should have won the pro duathlete of the year in my opinion given her high world ranking + overall great performance over the year in Powerman + Dannon races..) or Marjan Huizing who consistently place well, and do many of the U.S. as well as international events all season long.
No doubt, Siri could probably have won any Dannon or U.S. based Powerman she decided to enter, just like no doubt a Michellie Jones (she lives in the U.S.), Zeiger, Lindquist,and other full time triathlete U.S. based women would have beaten Siri at any of those races had they focused on doing them.. Not the point. My point is that it just seems dumb to call someone pro duathlete of the year who has only ever done one race, even if they did better than what any of the season long duathletes could have hoped to achieve this year.
If Michael Tobin, Andy Bruckner, or Paul Thomas, who have all beaten Watson and other U.S. duathlon regular heavy hitters in both U.S. and international caliber events skipped all of the U.S. races, were allowed to show up to worlds just because of past results, or because nobody else wanted to go, and did really well - would they also get the overall pro duathlete of the year even though Watson et al did well at all of the races he entered in the U.S.??
It seems almost like a slap in the face of duathlon to do something like this, and seems more like a consolation prize to Siri by USATriathlon, who left her high and dry at the Olympics - being an alternate, in the best shape of her life, and not being able to race, made to pay her own hotel, not even given tickets to see the sport she trained to compete in, and made to find tickets to see the event like a regular spectator would have had to, etc.. She was really treated like crap.
The whole awards thing smells of politics to me with respect to some of the duathlon picks, and though I know it's just some silly award - the sport of duathlon will never be more than an ugly stepchild to triathlon until it is taken more seriously by the people in charge of running the national governing body of the sport - USATriathlon.
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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Anonymous post on January 26, 2001
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I can assure you that Siri's award was not a consolation prize. Keep in mind that we didn't have a dominate woman this year. Bruckner won two Dannon raca and Powerman, while Huizing won two Dannons and was second in two others, and a non-American (Agnes Eppers) won the series. Siri only did one duahtlon but it was the best single performance by a male or female US duathlete in 2000. You could make a case for any of the three winning the award.
And to say Michellie Jones or other US triathletes could have beaten Siri in a duahtlon would require you to ignore the facts. Siri won 2 World Cup Tris this year, beating both Jones and Brigitte McMahon in one of them. You may not agree with Siri winning the award, but it was not political, and she is one of the very best triathlete/duathletes in the world.
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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by LIPS on January 26, 2001
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I am surprised anyone really cares except those who won or felt that they deserved to win. If winning one of these coveted awards is your goal than I feel sorry for you and imagine that you may be happier in some other facet of life. No one cares about these awards or even the biggest duathlon races but for a few duboneheads who's lives are so narrowly focused on this puny little sport. Get on with your lives and just enjoy duathlon for what it is. Train and race, go home, shut up and do something different.
This discussion is like a football fan whining because WE LOST! No you didn't you weren't competing!!
A BIG FAT OUT!
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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Anonymous post on January 26, 2001
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Someone writes:
And to say Michellie Jones or other US triathletes could have beaten
Siri in a duahtlon would require you to ignore the facts. Siri won 2
World Cup Tris this year, beating both Jones and Brigitte McMahon in
one of them. You may not agree with Siri winning the award, but it was
not political, and she is one of the very best triathlete/duathletes in the
world.
Siri is one of the best in the world of triathlon for sure, but to use the name of a person selected as an alternate on the U.S. Olympic team and wasn't even allowed to start, in the same breath as Michellie Jones, who is head/shoulders above anyone else in the sport, and who has God knows how many world cup/world championship wins along with now an Olympic silver medal is just plain retarded. Same with Mcmahon - she is the Olympic gold medalist and won a race that everyone would have liked to have on their resume, and she will have a big target on her back this coming year by people out there wanting to prove that the Olympics was just a fluke.. I hope Mcmahon proves the naysayers wrong and builds on her Olympic breakthrough win by becoming dominant in the sport.
Nothing to say about duathlon other than doing well at one race does not make a duathlete. I hope I'm wrong and Siri shows up to more than one duathlon in her lifetime. It would be great if some of the elite tri guys showed up as well, it would bring the whole competitiveness of the sport of duathlon (especially in the U.S.) beyond the 3 women and 5 or so pro guys who regularly show up to the bigger races in the U.S.
LIPS is right about the award meaning nothing, but if the sport of du is to get bigger, it needs to be seen as a sport in its own right, and not just something guys/gals who can't swim do to pass the time between swim lessons. The fact that the sport of duathlon is small is all the more reason to encourage season long strong performance, and have some cheesy award to reward the best in the sport - the award iself is inconsequential, however, the very consequential message it sends to other duathletes and potential duathletes thinking of turning pro or just getting started in the sport is that they're better off as triathletes if they're looking for recognition of accomplishment (yes, believe it or not, we live in a competitive society..). If more people do the races, more $$ comes into the sport, more talent comes into the sport, the sport becomes bigger, and boom! Greg Watson or some new star is in the magazines, tv, etc.. telling us about his favorite beer, toothpaste, yogurt, or how it's important to drink milk for healthy bones and teeth...
Yeah, it sounds nutty now, but it only sounds nutty precisely because there are only a few du-boneheads out there right now instead of a wider audience who cares. There are a few people out there who care, who could become a lot more people who care if the conditions are right to do so. The fact there was no elite junior duathletes of the year, and that guys like Mogren et al who are just starting in the sport get little to no recognition for their very hard efforts only makes things worse for the sport in the long run.
Small minds think small thoughts.
OATS! (Canadian)
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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by KROL on January 26, 2001
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YO Oat-meal-
More people aren't involved in the sport(s) (meaning du's and tri's) because they sit on their Lay-Z-Boys watching and nodding their heads. And that ain't saying they're just falling asleep. They think that Michael Jordan is the second coming, they don't even think twice about going to a football game in which a guy who killed someone a year ago is playing (what makes one think you might not run into Ray Lewis in the bar the night after the game???).....face it - people are sheep.
There won't be any more money coming into multisports because those fat arses will keep buying their Miller Lite and MacDonalds.
As for the awards - the whole notion makes me sick today. I was had the opposite viewpoint a few years ago. There is a lot more to racing than an award that gets you nowhere.
Yer racing has more to say about you than the award.
Have a take - don't suck.
LATE!
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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by LIPS on January 26, 2001
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KROL are you ever on a roll. You best get out and start training to burn up some of that angst!!!!!
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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by COACHPOTATOBILLY on January 27, 2001
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KROL writes:
More people aren't involved in the sport(s) (meaning du's and tri's)
because they sit on their Lay-Z-Boys watching and nodding their
heads. And that ain't saying they're just falling asleep. They think that
Michael Jordan is the second coming, they don't even think twice about
going to a football game in which a guy who killed someone a year ago
is playing (what makes one think you might not run into Ray Lewis in
the bar the night after the game???).....face it - people are sheep.
Some guy who sees beer as the fifth food group responds:
You hit the nail on the head Krol. A lot of people really are sheep and just follow along with whatever everyone else is doing. But, one of the posts above does make a hell of alot of sense in that people do like recognition for accomplishment - look at all of those guys doing end zone dances in football games, and how we reward a good performance in whatever by cheering, etc..
All of the award talk is kinda nutty but in my area of the country (mid-atlantic) - there is a whole series of multisport races put on by the same guy where people basically race for a bunch of age-group awards. Yeah, people race these things because they really like Du/Tri, but a lot of these folks *really* like their age-group plaque even if they were the only one in their category racing.. They like the feeling of accomplishment, and I would have never really thought about it much until one day I volunteered to hand the awards out to the finishers and I was really surprised to see these two older guys (70+) who do alot of the races in the series get kind of mad at me because I gave one of the two plaques for 70+ (really rare to get more than two 70+ people in these small races..Same people usually show up.) to a lady who just happened to be at the race and was over 70.. We handed out the awards to the females first that day so I gave her one of the 2 plaques I had - neither said male or female, just 70+.. BIG MISTAKE.
Holy crap, I thought I was gonna get my ass profoundly kicked by these two 70+ guys who got really mad at me for giving away their usual awards.. I ended up pretty much promising out my first born to these guys that I would get them another plaque as soon as possible - since neither guy wanted the other to take home the remaining plaque since one guy was 70-74, and the other guy is 75+, but the plaque said 70+, blah blah.. So, yeah - some people take this stuff very seriously, and I also think that more recognition to age-groupers or pros or whomever can make the difference for some as to whether they'll show up to a particular race, or even get into a particular sport in the first place.
I would have never believed how serious some people take the awards thing until I saw these two really old guys just turning purple at me for giving away what is basically a blue piece of plywood with the name of the race and age-group placing.. To me it was just a piece of wood with something scribbled onto it, but it meant a lot more to those guys who did the race.
I was just a helper that day - I can't imagine how hard it must be to be a race director..
Billy
Rockville, MD
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RE: USATA duathlete-of-the-year awards
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by KROL on January 30, 2001
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Spuds-
I am not discounting the fact that there are a ton of age groupers that race for every plaque that they can get their hands on- but to the EXTREME that people are now gunning for USAT nods.
Here's my beef (as if you really wanted it, but anyway - I am trying to further the cause) - I have raced the last few years, very serious about furthering my USAT "ranking" and getting an All-American status when I realized what I should have seen from the start. What good does an All-American title do for me but maybe make me feel like $.04 rather than $.02?? Frankly - I am out there to get myself in better shape, find a better way to train around my sched and put simply - have fun.
I am not out there for the awards now - I am out there to beat all the other du-bone-heads that I can!!! Look at what we did to ChickenMan in Zofingen - now he doesn't even poke that shiny beak out!!!
OK - so LIPS knows I have some pent up angst here. Let me get back to the point - if I were Joe Anybody, want to go out there to race for me and only me - why do I have to buy a USAT license, and why do i have to pay 7 bucks to each race that they sanction if I don't have one? I care nothing about the organizaion, do not care to be ranked, and i sign the bloody waiver anyway - what's the point? Just cuz USAT wants to make a buck? hell, some of the races are getting pretty damn expensive to do anyway?
Last year I had the priveledge of finding out why lIPS might have gone to bike racing instead of du's - i paid my $10 to enter a spring triaining race, busted my arse for about 35 miles, made the initial break happen, made the final break, got dusted by a former pro with 3/4mi to go, and took 2nd and brought home $30.
it was a good investment.
don't remember if it got to the point, but got a little more angst outta the way.
LATE!
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by crap on April 5, 2001
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have you not all figured out that those awards and rankings are as bogus as the Oscars? who cares? the real people that deserve them versus those that generally get them comes down to (1) some populairty crap (2) the fact that our governing body has it's head up it's butt (NOTE: some who get them do deserve them) (3) the difference between those that can and cannot afford to go to more prestigious races. It is always more about what they think would look good rather than what is really correct. In the end run, what does it matter? Just show up and race and try to kick everyone elses ass. period. The only way you get really good ratings is to hit a few of the "big" races. One can race a "big" race or 2 and someone else can race 12 races a year and kick ass at all of them and will go unnoticed because they could not afford to go to the "big" races. crap is what I say.
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