The Reflector

Aren't you on the track team? Or were? How can you diss Cross Country when it's someone else's passion? It takes a lot of effort and hard work, from what I can tell, to be able to train for these events. Don't be a hater.

Cross country is definately a sport. Have you ever tried to run cross country??? I had many friends in high school that ran cross country and I thought the same as you did at first. But when you really think about it, these ATHLETES are pushing their bodies to the limits. It takes determination and a ton of time. Don't knock these ATHLETES for their sport of choice. Good luck to the cross country team!

Basically you're an idiot. First of all, a sport does not necessarily require a ball. It requires competition from those interested in participating. Following your line of thought, I suppose you do not recognize half of the olympic sporting events that just finished this summer, including, but not limited to, swimming, in which America's very own Michael Phelps was able to break olympic and world records in his 'sport.' And hey I bet he's not even mad that you don't recognize his profession as a ligitimate sport, because he's laughing all the way to the bank with the millions that he's making almost overnight without touching a single ball or hitting a single person at atomic speeds as you'd like to see.

But I suppose we're not exactly talking about swimming, just trying to exemplify your logic on a mainstream scale so that you might reconsider your thoughts before embarassing yourself. We're talking about this cross-country business, or whatever, as you eloquently put it. I mean there's so many fallacies with the statement that this is not a sport that it's ridiculous. Training for this sport is intense and produces a great athlete, it demands great ability to be able to run for five miles on a not-so-flat terrain without stopping, all the while trying to finish before the rest of the group. Granted, you might not enjoy watching this as much as a football game, but that provides you no right to question the very credibility of the sport itself.

I, like many of my teammates, played football and ran cross-country in high school because it does help to give a slight edge over competition when it comes to endurance. And if you don't want to take my word for it since my high school athletic experience probably doesn't qualify me as an expert on the subject for you, then I'll share a short story about a good friend of mine. He played in the NFL for five years before having to retire due to injury, but has told me of his high school and college days, which included not only track and football, but cross-country as well. In fact, we often go for runs on the beach today because it is not the road and track, and is an all around great workout.

So possibly before you question the credibility of a sport or discount any of its benefits, i.e. the four-wheeler rider doing the same amount of work as the runners, give it a try yourself, and beat the rest of the competitors, and then you can make your final judgement about it because then you will have room to talk, but not before. If at the end of it, you're able to win and still do not feel that there is enough training and/or benefits derived from such a sport, then and only then can you refer to it as a useless waste of time.

I have several points that I would like to make. 1. If you have never trained as a cross county runner or in a sport similar, you have absolutely no room to criticize or judge the people that have. Just because you do not think that a sport is stimulating to watch does not mean that it has no value or that it is not a sport. You say that a sport must have a ball to be a sport? I agree with the poster above. Did you watch the Olympics? Those gymnasts did not have a ball but they are indeed athletes. Or how about the marathon runners? They ran 26 miles and they are not athletes because that had no ball? Hey real. My second point is that the opinions of this author have become increasingly more uninformed and childish with each passing issue. I have yet to figure out if he is just as ignorant as he sounds or if he is just trying to inflame people with his unintelligent opinions. Either way... the reflector could do so much better than this guy.

I agree with Robert and think the previous comments only promote communism.

While the athletes are running, balls should be thrown at them, and whoever doesn't fall on his or her face wins.

That's a sport.

I had a ball thrown at me once.. for a touchdown.. fell on my face.. still won. Then there was that lawn darts tournament that one time, that's throwing things at people running, depending on your taste.. But that, well that just didn't end up well and I'm glad they don't really recognize that as a sport anymore..

Get a load of this sissy!!!!

http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics10/400/DM/DMNABHERVBUFOEW.20080920165137.jpg

Luckily, we can't see his tiny shorts in that picture!!!

He is on the cross country team.

The Reflector must really be hurting for writers since it keeps printing crap like this.

It's called satire. And few writers can perform that as well as Scribner.
I'd take a Scribner/Pressgrove/Breland article over a glossed-over topic any day.

Wait. Scratch that. Breland doesn't write satire. He writes truth. And I completely agree with his representation of freedom.

I think he wrote it to be sarcastic, he's a member of the Cross Country team.

http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=90883&SPID=10996&DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=944534&Q_SEASON=2008

Satire is like garlic. Just the right amount can lead to fantastic results, but too much is absolutely repulsive. Somebody PLEASE take the satire wand away from Scribner.

Meredith, you seem neat, but I'm glad that I don't share your compulsion to consistently read things that I hate.

And yes, the Reflector is hurting for writers. Why don't you sign up and share some of your unique and interesting ideas?

You people are dumb. This article was hilarious, as R.L. Scribner's articles always are. I'm a fairly intelligent student, yet when I open a warm Reflector on Tuesday morning, I'm greatly turned off by monotonous and downright boring articles from the likes of Lazarus Austin and company. Where are the creative writers? Where are the writers that cause me to summon laughter that resonates from my pharynx to deep within my loins? Perhaps that last bit was over the top, but my point is the same. Fun World Station is, at many times, the only section of the paper worth reading. The rest is garbage, at best. The satire of the last article was beautiful. Do you not realize that Scribner's picture is often plastered on the pages of the sports section for winning the latest cross country event? Don't take these articles so seriously, people. They are quite humorous that way. So haters, before you blast this man again for writing another masterpiece, make an effort to grow a brain...and perhaps a personality as well.

Scribner-Anyone '08

Yes we can.

Glad to see that all of you MSU cross country supporters could make it out to the meet this past weekend...

WHAT THE HELL! I RUN HIGH-SCHOOL JV AND ITS HELLA HARD!!!! YOu must of sucked or not even tried to make it that boring. To be a cc runner you have to have determination, endur ance and a good sprint. ALL THE CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS HEAR THIS CRAP ENOUGH AT SCHOOL WE DONT NEED IT ONLINE! WE GOT MORE BALLS THAN YOU GUYS IN ANY OTHER SPORT! (sorry girls). but what my point is we dont diss one anothers passion.ANY ONE CAN GET BETTER. SO get of you A@# and actually run (or do one of your grabass sports) instead of being a jock and dissing us.

Wow

You guys are morons. Can you not detect sarcasm anywhere???

Usually, I like R.S. articles. This one, not so much. It takes someone with great physical and MENTAL strength to compete at cross country. PS: If R.S. wants to race me from The Union to Mugshots and back, just let me know. Any day. Any time.

I found it fantastically hilarious.
And I found some of the comments even more hilarious.

Cheers