For those of us who missed the NBC Ironman Kona coverage today... (Page 5)

How is a ~14 hour IM finisher not an athlete?  Are the pros the only athletes? 

A 14 hour IM finisher is hardly an exceptional athlete.

I didn't say he was 'exceptional'. I said he is an athlete, which I consider any one who trains to do an IM to be.  You don't have to be elite or pro to be considered an athlete. 

and the post you were responding to said we need great athletes.

We don't watch Larry the Cable guy play basketball or Kim Kardashian play football.

The broadcast should feature elite athletes playing their own sport, just like every other sport. The only reason it doesn't is because WTC is wh**ing out our sport to fill their pockets. Lets stop the carnival act.
At the end of the da

It doesn't work for triathlon but it works for marathons? huh? Just because in the short term it puts more money in WTC and NBC's pocket, doesn't mean it is good for the SPORT

in case folks had not noticed, zero new points have been introduced in the last several posts. People are just arguing past each other with repetitive restatements of your point of view.  Carry on if you must, but really this is now fodder for the Decline of BT thread.

Sorry, but I'm going to hijack this, too, to ask the following - So, how and why did this thread burst into a debate or argument amongst BT members instead of answering the O.P.'s original questions??

because it is on an internet forum, and on internet forums people discuss things and express their opinions. If you don't like that, you shouldn't be on an internet forum. Sometimes topics get derailed and might not interest you, sometimes tangents turn into good information that people can learn from. If every time people get off on a tangent you scream "THIS IS THE DECLINE OF BT" then all we will have is a bunch of short threads with cookie cutter answers and no discussion.

To allow good positive discourse, sometimes there must be negative discourse as well. Trying to turn everything into ponies and rainbows is just going to dilute the quality of information on the site, and chase away the people who are willing to express dissenting opinions.

With all due respect, David (dmiller5) you've missed my point.  I'm not advocating for pony and rainbow threads, or complaining about the negativity.

What I'm saying is, bluntly, that you've made your point quite clear already, as have several others, and now it looks like you're just arguing to argue.  Is your plan to ridicule people like me who point that out, as you're doing above?  Is your plan to repeat your point as a reply to any post that disagrees with you? 

Hypoerbole much??   LOL

My $0.02... I enjoyed it.  Sure there was the fluff pieces on Hines Ward and the angry chef, but don't most sportscasts have this? - i.e. Superbowl half-time show, the "C'mon Man" segment on Monday night football.

Anyway, as it wasn't a live event, IMHO its not fair to compare it to a typical sportscast. 

Its hard to keep the audience in suspense when they know the outcome.

Sorry, O.P.

So, dmiller5, is this an Internet law and you're an Internet cop?

" If every time people get off on a tangent you scream "THIS IS THE DECLINE OF BT"" <---  I did *he asks perplexingly*???