On 5/2/01 5:04 PM, "t-and-f-digest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 09:51:51 -0700
> From: Richard McCann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: t-and-f: Follow the money?....one last post...well I guess not
>
>> From: Jon Entine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: Re: t-and-f: Follow the money?....one last post...I promise..:)
>>
>> Alan:
>>
>> You could say all you want that the 800 meters is not a distance event, but
>> this is a matter of climes, not boxes. Physiological studies show that one
>> needs to draw on your aerobic energy reserves after about 45 seconds or so.
>> That makes 800 meters very much a distance race. The anatomical and
>> physiological profile of every event is slightly different. Check out
>> JMTanner's studies on this, or more recent ones by Robert Malina, Claude
>> Bouchard, Lindsay Carter, and many others. There is quite a large gap
>> between the 400 meter profile and the 800 meter profile. Period.
>
> And the 1500 and 800 profiles are very different as well. Coe and
> Juantorena represent two examples of completely different profiles that
> were essentially equally successful at 800 (and not that NEITHER is
> Kenyan). Essentially, the 800 stands at the fuzzy border between distances
> and sprints, with more and more sprint types moving into the event over time.
Richard:
Try to grasp the difference between INDIVIDUALS and GROUPS. There may be an
"ideal" body type based on the AVERAGE of INDIVIDUALS, but it is not
eliminate the possibility of wide variation.
I don't know how many times I have to repeat this. The lack of scientific
sophistication on this point is unbelievable.
>
>> Here is a fact: athletes of West African ancestry (African Americans in
>> particular) will NEVER become great long distance runners. There might be
>> some abberations, generally because of racial mixing and the roulette wheel
>> of genetics, such as Johnny Gray.
>
> There you go again, making ABSOLUTE generalized statements that you cannot
> support. What about Brazilian Roba DaSilva?
Last I noticed, Roba DaSilva was not an African American or of West African
ancestry. He is a mix of three different genetic ancestries, European, Asian
and West African. In fact, I discussed this in an article I wrote for a
Brazilian magazine that's on my web site.
I'll say it again: Athletes of West African ancestry (African Americans in
particular) will NEVER become great long distance runners.
You may not like such statements -- and sure, there is a chance that natural
human diversity will prove the absolute statement wrong...but as a
GENERALIZATION, it is absolutely accurate...just as saying that it is
absolutely certain that a Watusi will not be crowned world's strongest man
or an Eskimo NBA MVP. IT WON'T HAPPEN, FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES.
I don't say this: this is anthropology/genetics 101.
>And if you are counting the
> 800 as a distance event, Gray is far from an "aberration"--he is in fact
> the norm!
I have dealt with this before, but here goes: the 800 is on the cusp between
sprints and distance events. IT is certainly not a "long distance event."
>I think you need to take a look at the US 800 all time list, or
> just the start of the Olympic Trials 800 this year.
WHO CARES ABOUT THE US--LOOK AT THE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS. Even at the 800,
ONLY 11 percent of the top times are held by runners of West African
ancestry (and almost all by one man, Johnny Gray). 57 percent are held by
Kenyans or other East/North Africans and 22 percent by whites.
We live in a WORLD. I know you might believe that the US is the center of
all things good, but try to take a broader view here.
Beyond the 800 meters, THERE ARE NO BLACKS OF OVERWHELMINGLY WEST AFRICAN
ANCESTRY WHO HAVE TIMES RANKED AMONG THE ELITE. NONE. ZERO.
>It makes me wonder if
> you have ever been to a track meet!
Richard, that's your mirror talking.
>African-Americans, whom I assume are
> of West African origin, hold an almost dominant position in the event. And
> few blacks competed in this event until James Robinson started in the
> mid-1970s. We're seeing more of them in the 1500 as well now, with Holman
> and Lassiter as good, but not sole, examples. There may be proportionately
> FEWER great distance runners of West African descent, but that is far from
> NONE, which is what you're saying.
>
> Richard McCann
--
Jon Entine
RuffRun
6178 Grey Rock Rd.
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
(818) 991-9803 [FAX] 991-9804
http://www.jonentine.com
