Reebok Thoughts

[nickelcity]

I have not missed this meet since its inception. For me this means coming in from Buffalo and staying in a hotel. Every edition of the meet has been worthwhile.
I completely disagree with some of the above comments regarding the Jamaican fans. Every year has seen a lot of Jamaicans (more this year). They have cheered most for their own countrymen(women) but also cheered good performances. Everyone around me came out of their seats cheering and screaming at Tyson's 19.58. This may differ by section, I was in 101 at the finish line. Those seats go fast and maybe there were more real fans in that area.
Every year I have been surrounded by fans who cheered the distance runners every lap and stood to applaud the finish (no Jamaican's in those races).
I try to avoid generalizations but if I were to do so regarding the Jamaicans near me every year of this meet I would say they were ardent supporters of their athletes and also highly informed about sprinting and truly appreciative of a great performance, by athletes from any country.

[rainy.here]

Re: Reebok Thoughts

As the afternoon wore on and the Jamaicans were getting clobbered by US sprinters, the mood of the crowd became surly to the point that Tyson Gay's terrific performance was hardly acknowledged.

Are you sure about that? I wasn't there, but watching the videos, it sounded to me like the crowd went crazy after his time flashed up on the scoreboard.

[tandfman]

I felt the same way the last two posters did. I thought the crowd was respectful and applauded the good performances regardless of nationality. Of course the place would have gone absolutely bonkers if a Jamaican had won one of the big races, but that never happened.

[Dutra]

Crowd went absolutely silent when Willard caught Sinclair.

[knite]

Crowd went absolutely silent when Willard caught Sinclair.

It actually did, Huge effort for Willard to run down Sinclair like that, but hat's off. Sinclari I must give props for taking the race out and chasing a fast time.