Posted by Monetta Roberts on February 16, 2005 at 13:33:39:
In Reply to: Re: manners and nosey questions posted by Leif Irgens on February 16, 2005 at 10:53:44:
Hi Guys,
I've got two, no, three pet peeves about racing, and two are tied for the #1 spot, but I think this one has a slight edge:
(1) When you best somebody in a race, I think you should either congratulate them or just keep you lip zipped. It's a race to see who's faster on a given day; it's not a test of who's the better, more charming or attractive person. However, what happens all too often, is the bested person will say something like, "I've been too sick with malaria to train lately;" "I slammed my foot in the car door just as I got here and it's probably broken but I did the race anyway;" or, "My leg fell off at the second water stop and it took me several minutes to find and reattach it." Some people even start filing these excuses BEFORE the race begins--who cares?? (Same with PRs: mine are important to me, but yours I'll remember for about two minutes, on a good day.)
What beaten people who make excuses are really saying--in my mind--is, YOU didn't beat me, I beat me.
Once I realized people were explaining why they did worse than me instead of better than me in a given race, I hit upon a great retort, and I use it NO MATTER WHAT the excuse is. For example, (1)"I just had a baby last week so I knew I'd be slow today," to which I reply, "Me toooooo!" (2) "I got caught in traffic and started late;" "Me too, dang it!" (3) I had explosive diarrhea throughout the race," "NO WAY, ME TOO!"
I doubt anyone ever believes me, but it makes me feel good to relay a message coded similarly to theirs, "I believe I could've beaten you all the same on a level plaing field."
Bad sportsmanship on my part? ME TOO.
Mo