"P. Diddy" Combs named Athlete of the Week



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Ida Neaux

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"P. Diddy" Combs named Athlete of the Week 11-4-2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INDIANAPOLIS – Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has been named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week for
raising $2 million for charity by finishing the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday.

A first-time marathoner, P. Diddy finished with a chip time of 4 hours, 14 minutes, 54 seconds,
accomplishing his goal of bettering Oprah Winfrey's marathon time of 4:29:20 she set at the 1994
Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. His performance raised $2 million for charitable causes,
which was double the amount he had expected to raise. A native of Harlem, P. Diddy trained two
months for the race and ran with an injured right knee.

Combs plans to split the money between New York City's public school system, the Children's Hope
Foundation and Daddy's House Social Programs, which are two children's advocate groups. The
entertainment mogul called his charity effort, "Diddy Runs the City." Major donors to Combs'
cause included New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, rapper Jay-Z, Ben Affleck and Jennifer
Lopez. "We set a bar and we crushed that bar," said P. Diddy. "This is just a start. This wasn't
a publicity stunt."

Combs' efforts generated interest to thousands of kids about long distance running in bringing it to
a new light due to his pre-marathon coverage through non-sporting and track & field media outlets.

Now in its third year, USATF's Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding
performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete
on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

2003 USATF Athlete of the Week Winners: January 7, J-Mee Samuels; January 14, Kevin Toth; January
21, Michelle Collins; January 28, Natasha Hastings; February 4, Regina Jacobs; February 11, Gail
Devers; February 18, Terrence Trammell; February 25, James Davis; March 4, Stacy Dragila; March 11,
Deena Drossin; March 18, Michelle Collins; March 25, Brenda Taylor; April 1, Deena Drossin; April 8,
Shawn Crawford; April 15, Deena Drossin; April 22, Kevin Toth; April 29, Torri Edwards; May 6,
Allyson Felix; May 13, Matt Hemingway; May 20, Bershawn Jackson; May 27, Tisha Waller; June 3, Sanya
Richards; June 10, Tim Seaman; June 17, Daniel Lincoln; June 25, Kelli White; July 1, Grace Upshaw;
July 8, Allen Johnson; July 15, Jason Richardson; July 22, Shalonda Solomon; July 30, Jamie Nieto;
August 5, Bianca Knight; August 12, Kim Kreiner; August 19, Chryste Gaines; August 27, Kelli White;
September 3, Allen Johnson; September 9, Sandra Glover; September 16, Gail Devers; September 22,
Justin Gatlin; September 30, Eddy Hellbuyck; October 7, Blake Russell; October 14, Elva Dryer;
October 21, Nick Bdera; October 28, Bradley Harkrader; November 4, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

Contact: Melvin Jackson II Communications Coordinator USA Track & Field
(317) 261-0478 x322 [email protected]
 
Give me a F'N break. How about the top male and female runners at the NYC. I hate the media.

"Ida Neaux" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "P. Diddy" Combs named Athlete of the Week 11-4-2003
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> INDIANAPOLIS - Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has been named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week for
> raising $2 million for charity by finishing the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday.
>
> A first-time marathoner, P. Diddy finished with a chip time of 4 hours, 14 minutes, 54 seconds,
> accomplishing his goal of bettering Oprah Winfrey's marathon time of 4:29:20 she set at the 1994
> Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. His performance raised $2 million for charitable causes,
> which was double the amount he had expected to raise. A native of Harlem, P. Diddy trained two
> months for the race and ran with an injured right knee.
>
> Combs plans to split the money between New York City's public school system, the Children's Hope
> Foundation and Daddy's House Social Programs, which are two children's advocate groups. The
> entertainment mogul called his charity effort, "Diddy Runs the City." Major donors to Combs'
> cause included New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, rapper Jay-Z, Ben Affleck and Jennifer
> Lopez. "We set a bar and we crushed that bar," said P. Diddy. "This is just a start. This wasn't
> a publicity stunt."
>
> Combs' efforts generated interest to thousands of kids about long distance running in bringing it
> to a new light due to his pre-marathon coverage through non-sporting and track & field media
> outlets.
>
> Now in its third year, USATF's Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding
> performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the
> athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the
> previous week.
>
> 2003 USATF Athlete of the Week Winners: January 7, J-Mee Samuels; January 14, Kevin Toth; January
> 21, Michelle Collins; January 28, Natasha Hastings; February 4, Regina Jacobs; February 11, Gail
> Devers; February 18, Terrence Trammell; February 25, James Davis; March 4, Stacy Dragila; March
> 11, Deena Drossin; March 18, Michelle Collins; March 25, Brenda Taylor; April 1, Deena Drossin;
> April 8, Shawn Crawford; April 15, Deena Drossin; April 22, Kevin Toth; April 29, Torri Edwards;
> May 6, Allyson Felix; May 13, Matt Hemingway; May 20, Bershawn Jackson; May 27, Tisha Waller; June
> 3, Sanya Richards; June 10, Tim Seaman; June 17, Daniel Lincoln; June 25, Kelli White; July 1,
> Grace Upshaw; July 8, Allen Johnson; July 15, Jason Richardson; July 22, Shalonda Solomon; July
> 30, Jamie Nieto; August 5, Bianca Knight; August 12, Kim Kreiner; August 19, Chryste Gaines;
> August 27, Kelli White; September 3, Allen Johnson; September 9, Sandra Glover; September 16, Gail
> Devers; September 22, Justin Gatlin; September 30, Eddy Hellbuyck; October 7, Blake Russell;
> October 14, Elva Dryer; October 21, Nick Bdera; October 28, Bradley Harkrader; November 4, Sean
> "P. Diddy" Combs.
>
> Contact: Melvin Jackson II Communications Coordinator USA Track & Field
> (317) 261-0478 x322 [email protected]
 
>Give me a F'N break. How about the top male and female runners at the NYC. I hate the media.

USATF seems to like anyone on drugs these days.

Lyndon "Speed Kills...It kills those that don't have it!" --US Olympic Track Coach Brooks Johnson
 
It just goes to show you how meaningless, hollow, and unimportant these awards are.
 
Buddy Guy <[email protected]> wrote:
> Give me a F'N break. How about the top male and female runners at the NYC. I hate the media.
>
>
> "Ida Neaux" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> "P. Diddy" Combs named Athlete of the Week 11-4-2003

Well, look at the bright side - it's more likely P. Diddy's not on performance enhancing drugs
than some of the names in that list. :)

-Dave (didn't say all drugs, just performance enhancing..)

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
http://www.angio.net/ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.
 
In article <[email protected]>, Dave Andersen wrote:
> Buddy Guy <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Give me a F'N break. How about the top male and female runners at the NYC. I hate the media.
>>
>>
>> "Ida Neaux" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> "P. Diddy" Combs named Athlete of the Week 11-4-2003
>
> Well, look at the bright side - it's more likely P. Diddy's not on performance enhancing drugs
> than some of the names in that list. :)
>
> -Dave (didn't say all drugs, just performance enhancing..)

that he probably didn't take any "performance" enhancing drugs.

--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/
 
[email protected] (Miss Anne Thrope) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> It just goes to show you how meaningless, hollow, and unimportant these awards are.

At least this quote from his spokesman wasn't used:

The lack of conditioning began to show midway through the race, Dr. Drew DeMann, Combs' personal
sports physician, said. He said Combs's legs began to seize up about 12 miles into the race, and he
aggravated a knee injury that had been bothering him for weeks.

"He's hurting right now," DeMann said after the race. "If it was anybody else who was running, they
probably would have quit midway through or not done it in the first place."
 
"Buddy Guy" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Give me a F'N break. How about the top male and female runners at the NYC. I hate the media.
>

I'd consider it the same vein as ESPN naming Tiger Woods "Athlete of the Year."

I don't hate the sports media. They're an unending source for laughs.

Mike Tennent "IronPenguin" Operating Traffic Lights Crossbucks Special Effects Lighting
http://www.ironpeng.com/ipe
 
On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 08:43:49 -0500, Mike Tennent <[email protected]> wrote:

>I'd consider it the same vein as ESPN naming Tiger Woods "Athlete of the Year."

They HAD too, with a name like "Tiger" you know he was going to win a sports award even if it was
at marbles.
 
Yes he does something that hundreds of other people do each year and because he is famous
gets an award.
 
so you're saying that raising money makes you an athlete? come on get real. you know, if i was a
multi millionaire, with friends in high places, maybe i could be athelete of the year too. i'll get
right on that.

geeze!

prophet

when man tries to imagine paradise on earth, the immediate result is a very respectable hell.
claudel - 1929

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003, Dave Andersen wrote:

> DPGumby <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Yes he does something that hundreds of other people do each year and because he is famous gets
> > an award.
>
> Really? Hundreds of other people raise over $2 million for charity when they run a marathon?
>
> -Dave
>
> --
> work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
> http://www.angio.net/ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
> not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.
 
DPGumby <[email protected]> wrote:
> Yes he does something that hundreds of other people do each year and because he is famous gets
> an award.

Really? Hundreds of other people raise over $2 million for charity when they run a marathon?

-Dave

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
http://www.angio.net/ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.
 
"M.J. (prophet)" <[email protected]> wrote:
> so you're saying that raising money makes you an athlete? come on get real. you know, if i was a
> multi millionaire, with friends in high places, maybe i could be athelete of the year too. i'll
> get right on that.

As I replied to you in email:

Nope. I'm merely saying he got the award for raising money, not for running the marathon as a
celebrity.

Does that deserve being named athlete of the week? I don't think so, but clearly someone else did.
There's not a category for "athletic supporter of the week" (forgive the pun), so they did what
they thought would

a) Thank him for doing something unquestionably good
b) Get them some good publicity, too.

-Dave

> On Thu, 13 Nov 2003, Dave Andersen wrote:
>
>> DPGumby <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > Yes he does something that hundreds of other people do each year and because he is famous gets
>> > an award.
>>
>> Really? Hundreds of other people raise over $2 million for charity when they run a marathon?

--
work: dga - at - lcs.mit.edu me: angio - at - pobox.com MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
http://www.angio.net/ (note that my reply-to address is vaguely despammed...) bulk emailers: I do
not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.
 
"M.J. (prophet)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> so you're saying that raising money makes you an athlete? come on get real. you know, if i was a
> multi millionaire, with friends in high places, maybe i could be athelete of the year too. i'll
> get right on that.
>
> geeze!
>
> prophet
>
> when man tries to imagine paradise on earth, the immediate result is a very respectable hell.
> claudel - 1929
>
> On Thu, 13 Nov 2003, Dave Andersen wrote:
> >
> > Really? Hundreds of other people raise over $2 million for charity when they run a marathon?
> >
> > -Dave

M.J.Did you read the article?

It says the award is given to athletes of ALL LEVELS. He did run the marathon.

Would you complain as loud if they awarded it to
* a promising high school youngster that ran a good time?
* the first "over sixty" finisher?
* the first wheelchair finisher?

He was named athlete of the WEEK. It's not like they gave him an olympic medal.

(Or do you prefer that this sport get NO media coverage? NO sponsorships? and eventually no
organized races of any significant size.)

Give it a rest. Ed
 
In article <[email protected]>, Dave Andersen <[email protected]> wrote:

> Does that deserve being named athlete of the week? I don't think so, but clearly someone else
> did. There's not a category for "athletic supporter of the week" (forgive the pun), so they did
> what they thought would
>
> a) Thank him for doing something unquestionably good
> b) Get them some good publicity, too.

And what's wrong with that? As someone else pointed out... it's not like an olymipic metal or
anything... it just sounds like a kind of fun non-award.
--
David Nova Scotia, Canada
 
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