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simonruns

Listed below are comments made by simonruns between Saturday, 12th July 2008 and Monday, 30th March 2009.

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Smith thought she'd be cleared 5:00pm on 30 Mar 2009 A few years ago Martin Bell caught the mood of a nation fed up to the back teeth with sleaze and resigned as a journalist to stand for election as an independent on an integrity ticket. The man in the white suit was duly elected and was a breath of fresh air compared to the majority of MPs at the time, with their noses deep in the trough. Eventually Martin Bell became something of a caricature in this role, but God knows the time is ripe for someone similar to stage a repeat. Against the likes of Jacqui Smith or Tony McNulty (or one of the many Tories who will also prove to be milking the same system dry), such an individual would walk into Parliament.
The jeers and not enough cheers in Turin 2:46pm on 09 Mar 2009 Well Steve, you can't help but show your contempt for Dwain, even when he wins a gold medal. It's very sad. Your comments and Jonathan Edwards' comments on the BBC coverage were very sad, and demonstrated your blinkered hypocrisy.
Dwain took performace-enhancing drugs. He served his ban. He has apologised and he is contrite and has repeated the apology many times. He never broke the law, he transgressed the rules of a sport and has served his time. You and Jonathan seem to think he is morally reprehensible and should not run again.
You were banned from driving Steve, for carrying too many passengers in the back of your vehicle without seatbelts. You were a potential danger to other road users. Dwain was not a danger to others. Should we call you a 'road cheat' wherever you go and stop you driving anywhere ever again?
Jonathan employed Andy Norman as his agent after Norman was sacked as Promotions Officer by British Athletics. Norman was sacked after being found by a coroner to have contributed to the suicide of journalist Cliff Temple. Jonathan did not criticise Norman. Dwain has not contributed to anyone's death.
Stop being a hypocrite. Move on. Take a lead from Charles Van Commenee who, thankfully, is not swayed by hyperbole or sensation, but deals calmly in facts and realises that we all make mistakes and we all move on from those mistakes. Just like Steve and Jonathan have, after their own errors of judgement.
Rutherford's heroics and the 100m showdown 2:31pm on 14 Jul 2008 I watched the grim-faced sanctimonious Messrs Cram and Edwards on the BBC coverage after Dwain had won. I was intrigued when Sue Barker suggested to Jonathan Edwards that it was not just a legal question, but a moral one. Those with long memories of British athletics will remember Andy Norman being sacked as BAF Promotions Officer in the 1990s, after a coroner recorded that his false allegations and threats were material in Cliff Temple's decision to take his own life (Cliff was athletics correspondent of the Sunday Times, and planning a story on Norman). Despite this, Norman remained a powerful figure in athletics and acted as agent for some high-profile athletes, including Jonathan Edwards. Many high-profile athletes continued to do business with Norman, despite him bringing athletics into disrepute in a far worse way than Dwain Chambers. Unlike Chambers, he was not an easy target, but he was a more deserving one. Unfortunately, many of the people now lining up to villify Dwain Chambers were unable to locate their spines when it came to Andy Norman. I guess they consider personal drug-taking worse than contributing to a man's death. I think many of the people preaching morality to Dwain and us should take a long hard look at the dubious choices they have made in the past before continuing with this campaign.
What to watch at the Olympic trials 4:24pm on 12 Jul 2008 I'd like to echo the view of Harpod11 above. Steve Cram never stops sniping at Dwain in both his BBC and Guardian contributions and, at the same time, complains about Dwain dominating the media coverage. It's difficult to see how Steve can have it both ways, when he is making Dwain the focus of his own media contributions again and again.
I think many runners share my view that Dwain has been singled out unfairly as the root of all evil in British athletics by Steve and others. Nobody condones what Dwain did, but no one likes bullying either, and I feel he has been bullied enough. Dwain has conducted himself admirably in the face of great provocation. The Court will decide on the legality of the BOA policy on Wednesday. I wish him every success at the trials in the meantime.

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