Desert Tortoise,
I accepted you challenge and reread your original post and still saw the same thing. Your exact quote was; "...have enjoyed watching him turn himself from a high school has been into such an excellent runner" Now you want to change your tune and say; "garbage on the internet" said that he was a has been. Which one is it? Also, I'd say he was a little better than a "potentially great high school runner". With Ritz I'd say argueably the best combo to come out of high school together ever.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by laker:
(Webb) With Ritz I'd say argueably the best combo to come out of high school together ever.<HR>

Don't forget the 3rd member of the "big 3" from that year was Ryan Hall, who now running great as well after years of injury problems. Hopefully this will start to put an end to all the comments that successful high school runners burn out, and they shouldn't train so hard when they are young. Far more unsuccessful, low mileage runners give up the sport or fail to move on to great things than guys that work hard at 15-16 years old and have success to build from.

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Edit- they were both class of '64. Until both these guys set WRs, they're behind!

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Laker you really are not understanding what DT said about Webb being a High school has been (not that DT needs me to defend him, but I'm going to do it anyway). At the point DT saw him race in person Webb WAS a high school has been. He had the potential to be great pro as we are now seeing, but at that time that's all it was - potential. For about 2 years after High School his performances were no where near what they had been in HS and a lot of folks had written him off as someone who had peaked at 18 and would never be heard from again. Obviously, he has proven those naysayers wrong and no one in their right mind would call him a HS has been now.

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Laker, you need to read the last three years worth of letsrun.com posts about Webb to understand that in general, many track fans considered him a "high school has-been". It isn't something that DTortoise just made up. Definitely, a lot of fans expected big things from the guy, but there were a few years where things were definitely not going well for him.

The times that Webb, Ritz, and Fam ran should be exciting for American distance fans. I would agree that Fam's race was probably the most exciting, especially the way he was closing on the other two.

Okay everybody, I'll accept that alot of people called Webb a high school has been. In my mind it's crazy. How in the world can you pass summary judgement on a 21 year old? His kind of talent can't just disappear. Barring catastrophic injury it had to come back. I guess its symtomatic of Americans "what have you done for me lately" attitudes. By the way what about Geb in London? 9th place! Now there's a has been. I'm sure he'll never run fast again.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by laker:
Okay everybody, I'll accept that alot of people called Webb a high school has been. In my mind it's crazy. How in the world can you pass summary judgement on a 21 year old? His kind of talent can't just disappear. Barring catastrophic injury it had to come back.<HR>

There are lots of HS phenoms who do exceptional things as 17-18 year olds in all sports and then are never heard from again. The talent might still be there, but it just doesn't manifest itself after HS, or the athlete simply never gets any better. Do you remember a kid named Obea Moore? He ran world class 400m times (45.14) and almost made the Olympic team in '96 as a high schooler. Then he got injured, had some academic problems and was basically never heard from again. When Webb had a few bad years after HS, including an injury and leaving Michigan a lot of people thought he would never reach that level again. Like I said before Webb has proven those people wrong and I'm am glad he has, but it was certainly not a given that he would ever regain his form or get any better than he was in HS.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by laker:

I guess its symtomatic of Americans "what have you done for me lately" attitudes. By the way what about Geb in London? 9th place! Now there's a has been. I'm sure he'll never run fast again.<HR>

Please tell me you aren't serious about this! Geb is a totally different case. First of all, Geb has proven himself so many times over that even if he retired today no one would really remember his 9th at London. Also, Geb is older and doubtlessly close to retirement within a few years. If he never wins another race or never breaks another WR (I think he'll do more of both by BTW) people would not say that he wasted his talent or potential as would have been said about Webb if he hadn't rebounded from his problems after HS.

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