A friend of mine, Doc Patton, who was a part of that US men's 4X100m relay team that ended up getting disqualified writes a blog. He was the guy on the anchor leg who apparently touched the baton before entering the exchange zone therefore resulting in team USA's expulsion from the finals yesterday.
As I was reading his most recent post, following their disqualification, it occurred to me just how easy it is to criticize and chastise and belittle and point the fingers at what athletes should've and could've done in a particular situation. But having been the person who's been pointed at before, as we probably all have been, there is no disappointment or frustration worse than that which we feel ourselves. The armchair quarterbacks are heavy on the "how could he?" and "it's so easy, anyone could've done that" and very light on the empathy.
As he said, athletes are human, and therefore fallible and until one of us comes from a place of perfection then it's best not to point the finger so quickly. Yes, they made a mistake but who among us in our lives, our professions and careers hasn't? It just so happens that as an athlete, your blunders are often made in front of millions of people and who scrutinize and criticize mercilessly. We choose to put ourselves out there and yes we're professional but at the end of day, mistakes will happen and we, because our shoulders are broad and because of our innate ability to assess, regroup and be resilient, we get back up and as he said "we keep it moving"!! God bless u Doc! Those of us who were true fans of yours before, will continue to be. We know how talented you are and know that great things lie in wait for you.....
Click here to read his blog entry..
I gave my best...
12 years ago
6 comments:
I did not see the race, but just based on what you wrote and my own meager track experience, touching the baton too early can't possibly be the fault of one person. Part of the responsibility must lay with the passer, no? So Doc shouldn't be completely vilified, at least not alone. Now having written this I'll perform my due diligence, albeit after the fact, and search out the video and Doc's blog (I didn't notice whether you display it on your blog).
I agree with your entry. I'm sure that's hard enough on him because when he falls, others fall with him. It's a tough burden.
Just stopping to say hello
...I'm off the blog circuit but you're one of the few I miss.
Hope all is well
e.
exactly
i know he's beating himself up enough as is
It's always easy for people who "aren't there" to always offer their two cents in a situation like this. I have always felt that unless you have been in that position before, then you really can't offer your opinion on how something "went wrong". Athletes are humans and make mistakes, but they are strong enough to recognize that and as you said "move on" from it; it's the asinine couch potatoes that always have something to say when they have little knowledge on what they are talking about. I encourage your friend to keep his head up and ignore those who are not in his position. There is a lot of pressure to perform as an elite athlete, that being the case, he should just continue to focus on that and it'll get better for him.
Jackie, I saw both men's and women's relays (and am tired of hearing my Jamerican friends talk sh**). The men's relay is understandable to me. They're running at extremely high speeds, don't practice on the same team, so mistakes happen. But the women's issue seemed to be preventable. Why run a college kid? Not to say it was Alex's fault, but why risk it? All you have to do is make it to the finals. Why not run another veteran? I'm not a former T&F athlete, but I can't understand why you'd run someone so young in a semifinal. My Jamerican friends were crowing, and I thought we could've pushed Jamaica in the finals.
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