Ego in the sport of triathlon

"Hoo Flung Poo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Why do most triathletes have big egos and over inflated opinions of themselves? None of us are
> going to the Olympics and so this is supposed to be for fun, right? I was at a race last weekend
> and some dude threw up at the swim start because he was so nervous.
>
> Am I the only one who thinks we need to lighten up?

Remember folks, don't feed the trolls....

********, Goddard. You think anything that's critical about the sport is a troll. I for one, agree
with the post. Obviously not his real name, but who cares.

You're right, dude. Triathletes, by and large, are stuck-up, self-absorbed, and selfish. Althought
there are some exceptions, it seems to be the norm. Did you know that triathletes have an abnormally
high divorce rate? Did you also know that triathletes spend more of their disposable income on the
sport than most other leisure sports, including gold!

I don't blame it on the sport - the sport is fine. But for some reason it attracts the worst in
others. Oh, don't ever ask some for training tips. You'll get an earful about how they train
correctly and everyone esle is wrong.

Just ask someone about heart rate trianing, for example. You'll start a holy war!

Keep tri-ing, man. Ignore the egotists.

James

On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 13:37:29 -0500, "James Goddard" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"Hoo Flung Poo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Why do most triathletes have big egos and over inflated opinions of themselves? None of us are
>> going to the Olympics and so this is supposed to be for fun, right? I was at a race last weekend
>> and some dude threw up at the swim start because he was so nervous.
>>
>> Am I the only one who thinks we need to lighten up?
>
>Remember folks, don't feed the trolls....

Sorry, man. You're right. When I saw the name I thought it was another troll. I stand corrected.

"James Goddard" <news@earthwarelimited> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sorry, man. You're right. When I saw the name I thought it was another troll. I stand corrected.

Mr. Donnelly. We can all read Usenet headers and quickly see what a transparent attempt you made to
fake a post by me. We can also read the headers and see that you are, in fact Hoo Flug Poo.

I am sure, however, that Giganews will be very interested in this.

James

James Goddard <news@earthwarelimited> wrote:

>Sorry, man. You're right. When I saw the name I thought it was another troll. I stand corrected.
>

Nothing to correct, James. You were right, it's probably a troll. He just showed up over on
rec.running, too. Started with a couple of innocuous post, but quickly showed his true colors. I've
already kill-filed him over there.

As for the original comments, I've found the majority of triathletes to be normal, everyday,
friendly folks who are quite open and friendly.

Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

"Mike Tennent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> James Goddard <news@earthwarelimited> wrote:
>
> >Sorry, man. You're right. When I saw the name I thought it was another troll. I stand corrected.
> >
>
> Nothing to correct, James. You were right, it's probably a troll. He just showed up over on
> rec.running, too. Started with a couple of innocuous post, but quickly showed his true colors.
> I've already kill-filed him over there.

You've probably already seen that this was not me by now. I gave up on
rec.running long ago. It seems to have quite a few more of these children....

See what he means? You're so worried about your precious reputation you can't even take a joke.

Of course Hoo Flung Poo is a troll. But a troll who makes a great point. Lighten up, man.

J.

On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 14:18:46 -0500, "James Goddard" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"James Goddard" <news@earthwarelimited> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Sorry, man. You're right. When I saw the name I thought it was another troll. I stand corrected.
>
>Mr. Donnelly. We can all read Usenet headers and quickly see what a transparent attempt you made to
> fake a post by me. We can also read the headers and see that you are, in fact Hoo Flug Poo.
>
>I am sure, however, that Giganews will be very interested in this.
>
>James

Okay, Mike but you're the exception and not the rule.

Observed behavior:

* Most obsess over race results - pouring over internet records to find out how they stand
compared to others
* Non-stop comparisons and sizing up of others to determine who's fast and who's not
* Inability to look someone else in the eye and hold a conversation - darting eyes checking out to
see if someone more important is going to walk by
* Spending more time on the bike than with their kids!
* Spending inordinate amount of family budget on races and race related stuff

Need I go on? Let's face it - triathlon, while a good sport, sometimes brings out the worse in
people. Poo isn't saying that it doesn't happen in other sports. It seems to happen in triathlon
alot, though.

J.

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 15:31:18 -0400, Mike Tennent <[email protected]> wrote:

>James Goddard <news@earthwarelimited> wrote:
>
>>Sorry, man. You're right. When I saw the name I thought it was another troll. I stand corrected.
>>
>
>Nothing to correct, James. You were right, it's probably a troll. He just showed up over on
>rec.running, too. Started with a couple of innocuous post, but quickly showed his true colors. I've
>already kill-filed him over there.
>
>As for the original comments, I've found the majority of triathletes to be normal, everyday,
>friendly folks who are quite open and friendly.
>
>
>Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

"J. Donnelly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Okay?
>
> Observed?
>
> * Most? find?
> * Non-stop? and who's not
> * Inability? darting? walk?
> * Spending?
> * Spending? related?
>
> Need? sometimes?

> Poo isn't saying that it doesn't happen in other sports.

You either suffer from multiple personality disorder, or don't have enough of a clue to realized
that your headers give you away as being the same poster as Poo. Posting a troll and then using a
different name to support yourself is really rather childish, not to mention fraud.

<plonk

You're so obsessed that you actually compare headers. Good. It might be possible that Poo uses
bellsouth like I do! Didn't think of that, did you. Reminds me of another turkey who assumed I was
someone else because we both used Free Agent.

I have no idea who Poo is, but I do know that you're a stuck-up, anally retentive goober.

J.

On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 14:53:50 -0500, "James Goddard" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"J. Donnelly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Okay?
>>
>> Observed?
>>
>> * Most? find?
>> * Non-stop? and who's not
>> * Inability? darting? walk?
>> * Spending?
>> * Spending? related?
>>
>> Need? sometimes?
>
>> Poo isn't saying that it doesn't happen in other sports.
>
>You either suffer from multiple personality disorder, or don't have enough of a clue to realized
>that your headers give you away as being the same poster as Poo. Posting a troll and then using a
>different name to support yourself is really rather childish, not to mention fraud.
>
><plonk

At least he has a sense of humour. You don't have a sense about anything, apparently. Relax, you're
too uptight.

<anonymous>

On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 14:53:50 -0500, "James Goddard" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"J. Donnelly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Okay?
>>
>> Observed?
>>
>> * Most? find?
>> * Non-stop? and who's not
>> * Inability? darting? walk?
>> * Spending?
>> * Spending? related?
>>
>> Need? sometimes?
>
>> Poo isn't saying that it doesn't happen in other sports.
>
>You either suffer from multiple personality disorder, or don't have enough of a clue to realized
>that your headers give you away as being the same poster as Poo. Posting a troll and then using a
>different name to support yourself is really rather childish, not to mention fraud.
>
><plonk

J. Donnelly <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> You're right, dude. Triathletes, by and large, are stuck-up, self-absorbed, and selfish.

Funny, in my part of the world that's simply untrue. In fact, the only triathletes that fit your
description I've ever run across have been here.

And you are one of them.

You have a healthy sense of humour, Penguin. Waddle on! Your friend Tennent needs to relax a
bit, methinks.

<anonymous>

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 15:31:18 -0400, Mike Tennent <[email protected]> wrote:

>James Goddard <news@earthwarelimited> wrote:
>
>>Sorry, man. You're right. When I saw the name I thought it was another troll. I stand corrected.
>>
>
>Nothing to correct, James. You were right, it's probably a troll. He just showed up over on
>rec.running, too. Started with a couple of innocuous post, but quickly showed his true colors. I've
>already kill-filed him over there.
>
>As for the original comments, I've found the majority of triathletes to be normal, everyday,
>friendly folks who are quite open and friendly.
>
>
>Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 20:21:21 GMT, Tom Henderson <[email protected]> wrote:

>J. Donnelly <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
>> You're right, dude. Triathletes, by and large, are stuck-up, self-absorbed, and selfish.
>
>Funny, in my part of the world that's simply untrue. In fact, the only triathletes that fit your
>description I've ever run across have been here.
>
>And you are one of them.

I suspect that he is not one of them, a triathlete I mean. As far as the first post, simply
a troll and not a very effective one at that. As far as triathlete's ego's, as in any sport,
activity or section of life you have people of high ego and low ego. I've met triathletes
that are a bit stuck on themselves, however I've also met, bikers, runners, football
players, weightlifters, business men, talk show host, news casters, mothers, fathers.... You
get the picture who are stuck on themselves. However I've also met many more people falling
in the same categories that are truly nice people and most are fairly humble. OTOH certain
groups of people do have a tendancy to attract certain personalities. IMO many of the people
that are in any type of endurance sport are... "more driven" than most. In a sense one does
gain a bit of ego doing this type of sport. However having a healthy ego is a bit different
than being egotistic as the original trollster suggests.

~Matt

~Matt

MJuric wrote in news:[email protected]:

> However having a healthy ego is a bit different than being egotistic as the original trollster
> suggests.
>
> ~Matt
>

And using someone who throws up before a race from a bad case of nerves seems a reather silly
example of ego. More likely it was the poor fellow's 1st race and he was suffering from
pre-race jitters.

J. Donnelly <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> Of course Hoo Flung Poo is a troll. But a troll who makes a great point. Lighten up, man.
>
> J.
>

Of course you agree with him. You ARE him.

J. Donnelly <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> Reminds me of another turkey who assumed I was someone else because we both used Free Agent.
>

And posted from the exact same host?

Geez, the intelligent trolls are few and far between, aren't they?

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 20:40:28 GMT, Tom Henderson <[email protected]> wrote:

>MJuric wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
>> However having a healthy ego is a bit different than being egotistic as the original trollster
>> suggests.
>>
>> ~Matt
>>
>
>And using someone who throws up before a race from a bad case of nerves seems a reather silly
>example of ego. More likely it was the poor fellow's 1st race and he was suffering from
>pre-race jitters.
>

That was part of the point of a calling the original post a bad troll. A good troll would
have gone for something a bit closer to the truth. Maybe something along the lines of the
"perfectly tanned bodies" and "color coordinated outfits" Or maybe the really expensive bike
angle combined with the slow bike times. Most or all which have been done here already and
probably would have elicited the same response. I know more than one guy that blew chunks
before a race because of nerves, and several more that blew during the swim, yet another
reason for swim caps.

~Matt

In article <[email protected]>,
J. Donnelly <[email protected]> wrote:

> ********, Goddard. You think anything that's critical about the sport is a troll. I for one, agree
> with the post. Obviously not his real name, but who cares.
>
> You're right, dude. Triathletes, by and large, are stuck-up, self-absorbed, and selfish. Althought
> there are some exceptions, it seems to be the norm. Did you know that triathletes have an
> abnormally high divorce rate? Did you also know that triathletes spend more of their disposable
> income on the sport than most other leisure sports, including gold!
>
> I don't blame it on the sport - the sport is fine. But for some reason it attracts the worst in
> others. Oh, don't ever ask some for training tips. You'll get an earful about how they train
> correctly and everyone esle is wrong.

With my somewhat limited knowledge of the types of people in the sport, I'd venture to say that
maybe the sport attracts people who possess certain traits... I won't get into what they are... and
those traits may be what it takes to do well in the sport, but aren't necessarily the most positive
traits to have *outside* of the sport, especially in social situations. But I could be WAY off on
this. Just a few thoughts. BTW, I'm not feeding the troll, just responding to an attempt to take
this topic outside of the world of trolldom.

Cam the Newbie Tri Guy

--
Not every race can be a perfect experience, but every race can be a learning experience.