nevetsllim wrote:I'm not going to embark in this discussion any further because I didn't bring Kournikova into the debate in the first place, nor did I plan for the thread to head in this direction. My comment was supposed to be a minor footnote to suggest how it shouldn't necessarily be seen as a negative or depreciating comparison.
What I don't understand is why you would trivialize Lolo's #1 world raning in 2008 by implying that track and field was just a "niche" sport not to be taken as seriously tennis. I think a #1 world ranking is a tremendous accomplishment in any track and field event, especially in an event like the 100 hurdles which is one of the deepest events of the entore Olympic/World Championship program.
nicest person ever wrote:Ughhhh I feel almost physically nauseated that Lolo made the team.
I don't think there has been any athlete I have ever seen, in any sport, in my entire life, who rubs me the wrong way more severely than Lolol.
I hate everything about her.
First of all, her personality is pure trash. Never have I seen someone who thinks they automatically deserve shit more than her. Any time anything doesn't go away, you can instantly tell just from looking at her stupid annoying looking face that she is in disbelief that the universe could possibly not automatically grant her the preordained guaranteed-privilege of everything always going her way, no matter, what, at all times. Her brain is utterly and completely incapable of thinking/caring about anyone other than herself. She clearly can't even comprehend that there are other athletes in her event, many of whom are much better, and much more deserving than her, who try every bit as hard as her, if not harder, and are more dedicated to the sport, and their training, who actually correct their retardedly awful "technique" instead of just wallowing like an idiotic crybaby all day of "WHY MEEEE how could this impossible thing ever happen to me of me not automatically obtaining a gold medal despite my supposed infinite beauty and deservingness, I don't understand waaaaaahhhhhahahahhhh sob sob sob are there enough camera people getting this come on camera people come to me I am the only that matters fuck the gold medalists fuck the people who actually earned their shit its all about MEEEEEEEEEEEEE". PPPHHHHHHRRRRtttttttttttttt...
Ugly people always can see the ugliness in everyone else(in this case i mean on the inside). I find Lolo to be genuinely pleasant with a very warm personality. So what she tweets alot and is very colorful in her off time? Like others have said before she is winning many new fans to the sport and that is a good thing.
On another note Lolo had endeared herself to many people long before her twitter/media escapades. Many people see her as a type of fallen hero who was slain just before she was about to win the battle. Lolo was in excellent form for the entire 2008 season and was clipped(literally and figuratively) by the final hurdle in her final and most important race of her life and then gracefully engaged reporters before the emotions overtook her. Many people connect with that feeling of having your dreams stolen from right underneath you when you can almost taste it. I think fans connect with that more than her hard luck story.
If Bejing wasn't bad enough the poor girl gets stricken with one of the worst injuries any athlete can have(especially a hurdler) a tethered spinal cord which not only affects performance but could possibly affect her ability to walk.She fights thru that and breaks Gail Devers indoor record. After 2011 when her condition finally gets the better of her she pulls out of the 2011 season to have a very dangerous and risky operation. She debuts at Madison Square Garden in Feb of 2012 in her first race in almost a year and kicks everyones butt. She fell on more hard times as the 2012 season progresses and everyone starts doubting her and in the final moment the girl proves she is as clutch as they come. Give the girl a break nothing was handed to her in life and she earned everything fair and square. I honestly think anyone who has a problem with Lolo may need to look deeper into themself and find what is really bothering them.
nevetsllim wrote:I'm not going to embark in this discussion any further because I didn't bring Kournikova into the debate in the first place, nor did I plan for the thread to head in this direction. My comment was supposed to be a minor footnote to suggest how it shouldn't necessarily be seen as a negative or depreciating comparison.
What I don't understand is why you would trivialize Lolo's #1 world raning in 2008 by implying that track and field was just a "niche" sport not to be taken as seriously tennis. I think a #1 world ranking is a tremendous accomplishment in any track and field event, especially in an event like the 100 hurdles which is one of the deepest events of the entore Olympic/World Championship program.
I didn't trivialise it at all and I don't know why you are being so argumentative seeing as I appear to be one of the few pro-Jones people on this thread! I was saying how it might not be wholly accurate to compare tennis to the 100m hurdles which only comprises a negligible portion of the broad umbrella of athletics which is why I described it as niche (okay, I accept comparing tennis and athletics as a singular entity might not be a hugely accurate barometer either). Being ranked eighth in such a broad sport like tennis and No.1 in doubles is a remarkable achievement and I wouldn't view a comparison with Kournikova (in terms of career achievements and talent, not the contrived media narrative) negatively which was the crux of my point which was intended to be little more than a side-note and not where the thread was heading!
I wonder what the odds are that media coverage on Lolo will eclipse that of the more decorated AF and SRR? They are the top three on the Women's Team in regards to media attention. They also have something to prove. If Lolo medals, it'll be a fantastic story (likewise if that also happens to Kellie Wells). Allyson and Sanya need individual Olympic gold to essentially cement their legacies as among the best in USA Track and Field history.
fasttrack85 wrote: Ugly people always can see the ugliness in everyone else(in this case i mean on the inside). I find Lolo to be genuinely pleasant with a very warm personality. So what she tweets alot and is very colorful in her off time? Like others have said before she is winning many new fans to the sport and that is a good thing.
I agree, and find it to be very "Catty" to dislike or hope for Lolo's failure simply because others (media) are paying more attention to her than Harper.
Sorry, but Kellie Wells has a story way better than Jones pretty typical story.
If she wins a bronze or silver, she will basically win a Gold. the winner could break the WR and Jones and her lesser medal will probably still get more attention.
Master Po wrote:I did not state or intend to imply anything like Jones = Kournikova. I was, however, offering a possible comparison regarding a general point, but "comparison" doesn't mean "equivalence." Rather, there are similarities and differences I can think about to understand something. Each has accomplished something in her sport, & each was/has been afflicted by injuries which limited her athletic excellence, & each has been recognized as a marketing opportunity, and at some point each decided to step into that marketing opportunity & make something of it. No complaints from me on either side. My point was this: Regarding female athletes, marketing often outpaces athletic accomplishment, for reasons (obviously) that have less to do w athletic accomplishment, as that level of accomplishment is relative to other more accomplished athletes in their sport. So, Jones & Kournikova are examples of this. Not equivalent. But they are examples of this phenomenon.
ATK wrote:Sorry, but Kellie Wells has a story way better than Jones pretty typical story.
If she wins a bronze or silver, she will basically win a Gold. the winner could break the WR and Jones and her lesser medal will probably still get more attention.
Even if AF and SRR finally win individual gold medals?
You guys are way to track educated to waste time arguing about her flinch. The FS rule was changed earlier this year. Check the archives please. Flinches are not false starts. If the athletes hands nor feet do not leave the ground it is not a false start. That is the rule. So the officials had no reason to call them up on her flinch. They could have but it would have just been a warning. 2 warnings is a dq from the meet
Further thoughts on the marketing & media thing, now that we are in the "meta" phase of this thread. I know everyone knows this, but...the problem isn't Lolo or any athlete who is a temporary media darling. It's the shocking (still after all these years) ignorance USA's sports media has about T&F, generally & globally. Our sports media analyzes most sports at a level to intimidate PhDs & foreign policy experts, but w T&F, there is expectation that (esp. in sprint-related events) gold is USA's birthright & anything less is nothing. E.g. for Lolo, no clue that for her to even make the OT final & the team is an accomplishment. For her to make the final in London or to medal would be fantastic. Same for the others in this event. But what USA sports media truly won't grasp is how great Pearson is, & to finish 2nd to Pearson (whoever does that) -- if all goes to form for Pearson -- has really done something, as Carruthers did last yr. I would guess most of us here are outliers, even among other occasional T&F fans -- e.g., I am 100% USA T&F fan, but I hope Pearson wins gold in London bc she is one of the GOATs. We root for our local favs, but we see & value greatness wherever it is.
ATK wrote:Sorry, but Kellie Wells has a story way better than Jones pretty typical story.
If she wins a bronze or silver, she will basically win a Gold. the winner could break the WR and Jones and her lesser medal will probably still get more attention.
Even if AF and SRR finally win individual gold medals?
Felix and SRR have been the top/co-top athletes in their event for the past 8 years, weather it was with WC medals, OG medals, times world rankings, whatever. Outside of her indoor seasons, Jones has basically done nothing except dominate and loose 08 and the Olympics.
And look at how she composes her self compared to Felix and SRR after a race, good or bad. In the stadium and to the media. She is more child like than professional respectable athlete like. She is media friendly.
I always like for the best (however you define that) athlete in an event to win but even though stuff happens, it dampens my enthuiasm when a lesser athletes wins by the misfortune of the better.
For the record very few people(I talk to quite a few of them) who are not enamored with Jones feel the intensity of dislike nicest-haha-person is expressing!
But the lying on the track kicking and pounding her arm routine was way over the top. My DH, who is not one to get into things like this, was appalled. Totally histeronics and playing to the camera. Said it made him sick...and he does not read twitter or any of the other soap opera talk like the rest of us.
slowjo wrote:For the record very few people(I talk to quite a few of them) who are not enamored with Jones feel the intensity of dislike nicest-haha-person is expressing!
I don't recall ever seeing such venomous, irrational hatred based on personal perception expressed by anyone, even politicians, about another person as nastiess person ever rants about Lori Jones.. Granted, her post race exuberance was a little much... but then, never having made an Olympic team in such circumstances, I don't know how I would react..
lonewolf wrote:I always like for the best (however you define that) athlete in an event to win but even though stuff happens, it dampens my enthuiasm when a lesser athletes wins by the misfortune of the better.
lonewolf wrote:I always like for the best (however you define that) athlete in an event to win but even though stuff happens, it dampens my enthuiasm when a lesser athletes wins by the misfortune of the better.
How is that relevant here?
Sort of a generic statement. Here, no, Bejng 2008, yes..
lonewolf wrote:I always like for the best (however you define that) athlete in an event to win but even though stuff happens, it dampens my enthuiasm when a lesser athletes wins by the misfortune of the better.
How is that relevant here?
Sort of a generic statement. Here, no, Bejng 2008, yes..
If your saying Dawn is the lesser athlete then I don't agree. Even in 2008. Which is why I don't exactly see it as relevant.
slowjo wrote:But the lying on the track kicking and pounding her arm routine was way over the top. My DH, who is not one to get into things like this, was appalled. Totally histeronics and playing to the camera. Said it made him sick...and he does not read twitter or any of the other soap opera talk like the rest of us.
Don't forget the disrespectful glancing slap on the back she gave Dawn Harper (congrats for winning?) as she worked the crowd to bring all the attention on herself.
It was TOTALLY over the top and indeed disrepectful to Dawn.
More "look at me."
Also, after the Beijing games Harper PROVED she deserved to be Olympic champ as she spent the rest of the season roasting the fields.
Dogfan wrote:To set Lolo's race straight: human. Also, mother-white, father-black.
In America, a human with a White mother and a Black father or a Black mother and a White father has always been considered Black. Ask our current President if you don't believe me.
This is true even though it makes absolutely no sense at all and is kinda insulting to the white parent.
nicest person ever wrote:If anyone wants to cringe/laugh really hard, check out this post-race press conference vid of Lolo, Dawn, and Kellie from yesterday after the final:
Dogfan wrote:To set Lolo's race straight: human. Also, mother-white, father-black.
In America, a human with a White mother and a Black father or a Black mother and a White father has always been considered Black. Ask our current President if you don't believe me.
This is true even though it makes absolutely no sense at all and is kinda insulting to the white parent.
That's interesting as it shows how far we've (society has) come.
Because the motive, traditionally, was to insult the black one.
I realize you and your brother are mixed race and mean no disrespect. I'm only a generation or so removed myself.
Lolo sells. Harper doesn't. It's not always about results, etc. Sometimes it's about looks and controversy and personality and ability to move the needle. That will always go over well with TV and sponsors, whether you agree with it or not.
To the casual track fan -- not the hardcore like many on this thread -- Lolo is the face of women's track. Whether you agree or not. And the media, especially NBC, is trying to grab the casual fan's attention. The media knows the hardcores will watch regardless.
She knows how to play the game and get the attention. She makes it easy for the media to like her. And really, what's not to like?
Also, please don't discredit Lolo's accomplishments, either. The woman is a champion, not some floozy who just appeared from nowhere.
I find it funny that folks complain about track not getting attention, and when somebody finally gets attention, folks complain.
Finally, if Lolo doesn't stumble over that next to last hurdle -- and yes, I know the hurdle is part of the race -- is Harper the defending Olympic champ? No. Harper should thank Lolo, instead of being jealous. That is, if she is jealous.
Um... Harper should thank Lolo? For drawing attention away from the true champion the same way she did today? Before slapping Harper on the back disrespectfully in passing as she played to the crowd as though she'd won?
Stop it, please.
FWIW...
Harper is EXPLODING with personality and charm and like scott said she has a remarkable smile. She's smart, engaging, funny and talented. Lolo doesn't have the advantage in any of these areas...or even on the track. But the media would need to show interest and actually interview her to find that out.
The media's lovefest with Lolo is superficial at best.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, Harper raked the 100h fields over the coals the balance of the 2008 season legitimizing her gold medal in Beijing.
Oh, please, TD, nobody is being anti-Harper here. I just don't understand the hate for Lolo, and if anything, please direct your anger to the media powers-that-be. And they will politely show you the ratings/internet hits/etc. that demonstrate how Lolo sells.
That's what I meant to say.
Speaking of which, the only person who should hate Lolo's attention is Sally Pearson.
Finally: Speaking of attention, how many times do I have to hear about your girl Sanya and her football husband? And that's not an anti-Sanya attack, either.
TrackDaddy wrote:Um... Harper should thank Lolo? For drawing attention away from the true champion the same way she did today? Before slapping Harper on the back disrespectfully in passing as she played to the crowd as though she'd won?
Stop it, please.
FWIW...
Harper is EXPLODING with personality and charm and like scott said she has a remarkable smile. She's smart, engaging, funny and talented. Lolo doesn't have the advantage in any of these areas...or even on the track. But the media would need to show interest and actually interview her to find that out.
The media's lovefest with Lolo is superficial at best.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, Harper raked the 100h fields over the coals the balance of the 2008 season legitimizing her gold medal in Beijing.
Check the record.
This!
As an outsider looking in, I never understood the love affair with Lolo. One would swear she had clout like an Usain Bolt the way the media force feeds her to the public. And let's get one thing straight. SEX SELLS! Don't give me the personality bullpie. No Lolo, I didn't need to know your cheery hadn't been picked before the Olympics. Dawn has more personality in her little finger than Lolo could pack in her flat behind. Dawn is cute, bubbly, and damn funny if you get to meet her.
Lolo champion? Ha! Hurdle 3 in London got her name tattooed to it's backside.
vip wrote:Oh, please, TD, nobody is being anti-Harper here. I just don't understand the hate for Lolo, and if anything, please direct your anger to the media powers-that-be. And they will politely show you the ratings/internet hits/etc. that demonstrate how Lolo sells.
That's what I meant to say.
Speaking of which, the only person who should hate Lolo's attention is Sally Pearson.
Finally: Speaking of attention, how many times do I have to hear about your girl Sanya and her football husband? And that's not an anti-Sanya attack, either.
I wasnt angry at you vip and I hope I didnt give that impression. I understand your points but wanted to flip it to show the other side. I agree Pearson could maybe resent it but I doubt she has that problem in her country.
As for Sanya (not Ross per se)...I hope you have to hear about her alot
The difference in Lolo and Dawn Harper is, Dawn may be attractive, bubbly, personable and the 08 Oly w100h but...few people know that...and that is not Lolo's fault.
lonewolf wrote:The difference in Lolo and Dawn Harper is, Dawn may be attractive, bubbly, personable and the 08 Oly w100h but...few people know that...and that is not Lolo's fault.
Yes it is.
If Lolo would have paid more attention, she wouldn't have hit that hurdle, would have been Olympic Champion and Dawn would be silver medalist. Lolo would then deserve all the media attention(even though it would have been less) and we wouldn't be complaining about Dawn.
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