Re: Who was in the US Squad

[Truman Prevatt <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>]

This is a topic which will never be settled. There was so much "chest
thumping" prior to the ride by some team members, team head, the head
selector and others that anything less than a gold seems to be a total
failure.  

The bottom line is look at the post during the "blackout" of results
from the ride.  The celebration was over Val/Jedi.  It seemed clear that
no one really cared about the team results.  I think that in an
individual sport such as endurance riding, the big prize is the
individual gold.  Val brought it home.  She has brought it on two
different horses and a silver on a third horse.  Noone has ever done
that before.  

Lets not belittle that accomplishment with bickering over "team results"
in one of the most individual sports in the world.

Let's join to give Val the credit she desirves.

Truman

Joe Long wrote:
> 
> On Sun, 13 Dec 1998 09:57:34 -0800, "Carlos Crespo" <ccrespo@nigma.com> wrote:
> 
> >It is a sad reflection of the sport and the  current state of competition
> >if the way to win is to play conservatively, not take risks, and aim for a less
> >than optimum performance. In my book, this is not competition.
> 
> >WHERE THERE IS NOTHING VENTURED THERE IS NOTHING GAIN.
> 
> >Great horses and Great Competitor do amazing, unpredictable feats in the face of adversity.
> >Underestimating these horses and riders is a big mistake.
> 
> Why do you keep beating *this* dead horse?  No one said anything about not
> taking risks or turning in a less that 100% effort.  I pointed out that the
> results of the race bore out what I and others have been saying about team
> selection, that the *consistent* team wins the Gold.  That's a fact -- deal with
> it.
> 
> In my book, the best competitors find out what is the best approach to victory
> and employ it.  They also go out and *do* it, and they don't put down the
> achievements of those who beat them.  I'm not taking anything away from the U.S.
> team and their fine achievement when I give credit where credit is due to the
> New Zealanders.
> 
> >CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TEAM, BUT MUST OF ALL TO VALERIE AND JEDI FOR A
> >GREAT PERFORMANCE AND FROM WHOM WE NEVER EXPECT ANYTHING SHORT OF
> >OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE.
> 
> I'll second that.  I also never expected anything less than optimum performance
> from the U.S. team, and I believe we got it.  There's no sense finger-pointing
> and crying sour grapes because another team won; we congratulate them and begin
> preparing for the next competition.
> 
> --
> 
> Joe Long
> jlong@mti.net
> http://www.mti.net     Business
> http://www.rnbw.com    Personal

-- 
Truman Prevatt
Mystic “The Horse from Hell” Storm
Rocket a.k.a. Mr. Misty
Jordy a.k.a. Bridger (when he is good)
Danson Flame - hey dad I'm well now and ready to go!

Brooksville, FL