Tweet
February, 2005 -- Track & Field News staff brought up five major queries about the 2005 season in the wake of expectations from the 2004 season:
1. What Did Alan Webb Learn In The Olympic Year?
2. How Will Jeremy Wariner Adapt to Turning Pro?
3. Who’s Winning The Doping War?
4. Can Stacy Catch The Russians?
5. Ritz's Pro Debut
Five Big Answers
1. Webb: 2004 taught Webb to screw his racing head on straight, take on all comers, roll with the punches and not to hang on for the ride. Result? His second-straight national championship victory in the 1,500m; Top-5 all-time USA mile; new PB in the 1,500m; AR in the 2-mile. Top-5 all-time in the 5,000m. 2004:s sit-and-wait in the championships cost Webb a spot in the Olympic semi-finals. The 2005 Webb was a new machine, one which determined its own fate. 2005:s championships saw Webb make it through the rounds, to the WC final, run a gutsy 100m race, and bring back hope to those faithful few who rode along his every race.
2. Wariner: Would prove to handle the riches and fame, expectations and scrutiny with class, style and the same grace as his predecessor, Michael Johnson. Would win some, lose some, be tested by a pesky ex-teammate - and an NCAA athlete - while on American soil, and foil the best in the world while here in Europe. First (we know what) kid under 44,00. Turning pro would bring world-record talk from the Wariner camp, and 800m record-talk from his message board supporters.
3. Dope: Last I checked, the score was still tied late into the fourth-quarter, with Jones, Montgomery, Kenteris and Thanou facing fourth and long after quarterback sacks and/or fumbles near their own goal lines. Montgomery hoping the wolves stay still and quiet while he launches his long hail mary pass to a small group of uncertain sheep. Jones replaced late in the game, and apparently will hold a press conference declaring her fumbles in the zone were due to being pooped from a long defensive game.
4. Stacy: Insofar as the Russians could not catch the Russian, Stacy, unfortunately, had no chance on earth, in heaven or anywhere in between to play on the same field. Tafnut held his hopes high throughout this 2005 campaign, and was with Dragila through to her untimely disappearance from the WCs - which he witnessed on a computer monitor. Pyrek proved to be a sound, able and willing foe, and seems to have taken Stacy:s place in the try-to-take-the-victory-if-Issy-No-Heights competition. A win is a win is a win, nonetheless, and Stacy was without one on the international stage this year.
5. Ritz: Run Ritz, Run. 2005 would prove to mirror 2004, with high expectations following a good performance, and a good performance followed by certain disaster. Ritz got his training act together after injury stifled his 2004 OG hopes. Ritz turning pro meant changing coaches, changing workouts and changing his attitude toward his training. Ritz fired up his pro career by taking a close third (28.25) in a multi-loop race in Italy on New Year:s Eve, finishing one second behind Sergey Lebed for the victory. Ritz stamped his pro career:s first victory by beating a host of Africans in Belfast one week later. Ritz took his confidence, backed by a long training stretch, into the USATF meet, and won the long course ahead of Torres and Broe. Then Ritz got blasted by the Africans in the World Championships. While Bekele fought off his own demons in his double-duty chores, Ritz hobbled home with a blister and a disappointing appearance in March. Pro Cross Country-Ritz grade: B.
____________________________
1. What Did Alan Webb Learn In The Olympic Year?
2. How Will Jeremy Wariner Adapt to Turning Pro?
3. Who’s Winning The Doping War?
4. Can Stacy Catch The Russians?
5. Ritz's Pro Debut
Five Big Answers
1. Webb: 2004 taught Webb to screw his racing head on straight, take on all comers, roll with the punches and not to hang on for the ride. Result? His second-straight national championship victory in the 1,500m; Top-5 all-time USA mile; new PB in the 1,500m; AR in the 2-mile. Top-5 all-time in the 5,000m. 2004:s sit-and-wait in the championships cost Webb a spot in the Olympic semi-finals. The 2005 Webb was a new machine, one which determined its own fate. 2005:s championships saw Webb make it through the rounds, to the WC final, run a gutsy 100m race, and bring back hope to those faithful few who rode along his every race.
2. Wariner: Would prove to handle the riches and fame, expectations and scrutiny with class, style and the same grace as his predecessor, Michael Johnson. Would win some, lose some, be tested by a pesky ex-teammate - and an NCAA athlete - while on American soil, and foil the best in the world while here in Europe. First (we know what) kid under 44,00. Turning pro would bring world-record talk from the Wariner camp, and 800m record-talk from his message board supporters.
3. Dope: Last I checked, the score was still tied late into the fourth-quarter, with Jones, Montgomery, Kenteris and Thanou facing fourth and long after quarterback sacks and/or fumbles near their own goal lines. Montgomery hoping the wolves stay still and quiet while he launches his long hail mary pass to a small group of uncertain sheep. Jones replaced late in the game, and apparently will hold a press conference declaring her fumbles in the zone were due to being pooped from a long defensive game.
4. Stacy: Insofar as the Russians could not catch the Russian, Stacy, unfortunately, had no chance on earth, in heaven or anywhere in between to play on the same field. Tafnut held his hopes high throughout this 2005 campaign, and was with Dragila through to her untimely disappearance from the WCs - which he witnessed on a computer monitor. Pyrek proved to be a sound, able and willing foe, and seems to have taken Stacy:s place in the try-to-take-the-victory-if-Issy-No-Heights competition. A win is a win is a win, nonetheless, and Stacy was without one on the international stage this year.
5. Ritz: Run Ritz, Run. 2005 would prove to mirror 2004, with high expectations following a good performance, and a good performance followed by certain disaster. Ritz got his training act together after injury stifled his 2004 OG hopes. Ritz turning pro meant changing coaches, changing workouts and changing his attitude toward his training. Ritz fired up his pro career by taking a close third (28.25) in a multi-loop race in Italy on New Year:s Eve, finishing one second behind Sergey Lebed for the victory. Ritz stamped his pro career:s first victory by beating a host of Africans in Belfast one week later. Ritz took his confidence, backed by a long training stretch, into the USATF meet, and won the long course ahead of Torres and Broe. Then Ritz got blasted by the Africans in the World Championships. While Bekele fought off his own demons in his double-duty chores, Ritz hobbled home with a blister and a disappointing appearance in March. Pro Cross Country-Ritz grade: B.
____________________________
Comment