As much as I am a sprint fan, I would think that the more distance oriented
types would be more impressed with Bucher's sub 1:43's than with Mo's 9.90's
and sub 9.90's ... Even though Mo's races are intrinsically better (#3 100
time vs #17 800 time for Bucher - still #1 vs moving to #5 for Bucher) ..
Plus Mo is competing against himself .. He consistently runs fast .. And has
been #1 at 100 now since 1997 (I know Frankie was actually ranked #1 and Mo
#2 in 97 but MO won the World's and lead on the clock) ... So Mo has done
what was expected of him at the beginning of the year .. Vs Bucher who is
likely to be seen more as having an impact on his event ..
The interesting thing is that both have had their nemesis this year
(Montgomery and Borzakovsky) and both have handled them - although Borz
chose not to run at the World's ...The unfortunate thing is that MO risks
his shot at #1 if he runs not 100% and loses ... Puts the emphasis on NOT
competing ... Which is one of those things that I think inherently hurts the
sport ..
Of course Mo could run Goodwill and lose .. And Bucher could run and lose
somewhere along the Golden road .. And then Zelezny is right back in the
picture !!! Of course all said and done I would vote for Mo seeing as I am
about the only remaining sprint fan on the list ... :o) The actual selectors
will probably vote for Bucher .. And we all know that the field eventers get
absolutely NO respect ...
Conway Hill
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 12:10 PM
Subject: t-and-f: interesting AOY slant
> Coming out of Edmonton, I would say there were three decent candidates for
men's Athlete Of The Year: Greene, Bucher and Zelezny. Loss in Z�rich
effectively takes Z-man out of the picture.
>
> Greene (ignoring the Prefontaine debacle) and Bucher both undefeated gold
medalists, with significant impact on the all-time list. Should be verrrrrry
close. (note that 100 and 800 aren't GP events this year, so GP Final not an
issue)
>
> But.... what if Mo comes back and runs Goodwill (friend talked to HSI
people at Edmonton airport and they said no Brussels, hopefully Goodwill)
while less than 100%, and loses? While some voters might feel compelled to
give him "sympathy points," I think a cold, hard analysis would give the
honor to Bucher, assuming he too stays undefeated.
>
> gh
>
