Can Ritz be Bigger Than Webb by a Greater Amount Than Pre is

[DrJay]

....Bigger Than Ryun?????

[jeremyp]

Or can Webb be Phillips-ized? Actually I'm waiting to see the emergence of Fernandez.

[Marlow]

Can Ritz be Bigger Than Webb by a Greater Amount Than Pre is

In a word, no.

Talent is not enough; charisma was Pre's trademark. Webb got big by eclipsing a bygone era's hero, Ryun. He's already off the radar again. Pre's attitude was frozen in time by his death. A runner today would have to emulate Bolt's successes to be bigger than Ryun or Pre.

Bekele, if American-born, would be close, but as an Ethiopian, he's barely in the public's mind.

[bad hammy]

Pre was never bigger than Ryun, just different.

[Conor Dary]

Pre was never bigger than Ryun, just different.

Not only was Pre not bigger than Ryun it is not even close. Anyone who was around in the late 60's remembers Ryun as someone who was well known to non runners. Pre, while big with the running crowd was never that big with the non running crowd.

[Marlow]

Not only was Pre not bigger than Ryun it is not even close.

It was the cachet of a World Record in the marquee event, The Mile, by a Kansas man-boy, with a blistering, indomitable kick, in an era that still paid attention to track.

[kuha]

Not only was Pre not bigger than Ryun it is not even close. Anyone who was around in the late 60's remembers Ryun as someone who was well known to non runners. Pre, while big with the running crowd was never that big with the non running crowd.

Totally agree.

[gh]

But--because of his early death and the cottage industry that sprang up around it--Pre has gone on to surpass Ryun in the public (such as it is) consciousness as it exists today.

[kuha]

But--because of his early death and the cottage industry that sprang up around it--Pre has gone on to surpass Ryun in the public (such as it is) consciousness as it exists today.

Yes, of course--its the familiar James Dean effect. The emotional appeal of "what coulda-been" often surpasses the importance of the stats of an actual, reasonably full, career... (Interesting to note that Ryun was Pre's ultimate age in 1971, well after his career peak.)

[bad hammy]

But--because of his early death and the cottage industry that sprang up around it--Pre has gone on to surpass Ryun in the public (such as it is) consciousness as it exists today.

Eugene-based myth building/polishing. What Ryun did on the track far surpassed what Pre ever did on the track.

[SQUACKEE]

Ryun smashed the world record so thats that. But Pre did hold every American record from 2000 to 10000m. Its not like he's a paper tiger.

Ryun was a machine. Pre was a movie star.

[malmo]

But--because of his early death and the cottage industry that sprang up around it--Pre has gone on to surpass Ryun in the public (such as it is) consciousness as it exists today.

Eugene-based myth building/polishing. What Ryun did on the track far surpassed what Pre ever did on the track.

Exactly. Ryun was a rock star, who couldn't walk through airport without being noticed. Pre was known only among hardcore track fans.

The Prefontaine Exploitation Industry is a recent phenomenon. Poster boy for
MADD.

[gh]

....
Eugene-based myth building/polishing. ....

Well, yes and no. The gradual evolution of the Pre meet and Nike's little boost have certainly given a Northwest sheen to the phenomenon, but my (admittedly hazy) recollection is that aside from sheer word of mouth, RW and all the other running mags of the time (at a time when the running boom was really taking off) gave him a nationwide hit in that regard.

[SQUACKEE]

....
Eugene-based myth building/polishing. ....

Well, yes and no. The gradual evolution of the Pre meet and Nike's little boost have certainly given a Northwest sheen to the phenomenon, but my (admittedly hazy) recollection is that aside from sheer word of mouth, RW and all the other running mags of the time (at a time when the running boom was really taking off) gave him a nationwide hit in that regard.

Wasn't Pre's 5000 in the Munich Olympics a fairly big event for a significant amount of American TV audiences at the time? Shorter also?

[malmo]

....
Eugene-based myth building/polishing. ....

Well, yes and no. The gradual evolution of the Pre meet and Nike's little boost have certainly given a Northwest sheen to the phenomenon, but my (admittedly hazy) recollection is that aside from sheer word of mouth, RW and all the other running mags of the time (at a time when the running boom was really taking off) gave him a nationwide hit in that regard.

Wasn't Pre's 5000 in the Munich Olympics a fairly big event for a significant amount of American TV audiences at the time? Shorter also?

You've been watching too many movies.

Repo Man is a true story, though, all of it.