Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The fifth men's National Marathon, which was held in DC on Saturday, was won by Mr. Michael Wardian. Again. The 35-year-old Wardian has now won the event four times. Keep in mind that this year's National Marathon featured over 3,000 runners. When you accomplish something as impressive as this, even the emptiest jingoisms somehow ring true.
"You gotta live each race as your last," Wardian said. "You gotta seize the moment."
See? If Wardian gave up three runs over seven innings in the NLDS, I'd roll my eyes, but if you accomplish something as amazing as Wardian has, you get a free pass to say something as by-the-book as you want. If Neil Armstrong had stepped off the lunar lander and declared, "You just gotta give 110%," nobody would mind.
On the other side of the coin, if Villanova manages to beat 10-seed Saint Mary's today, coach Jay Wright had better say something that hasn't been said before. "Our guys played hard" is unacceptable. Recite the lyrics from Kid Rock's "I Am The Bullgod." Anything.
UPDATE: A vigilant commenter has correctly pointed out that I am using the word "jingoism" incorrectly. WHOOPS. I would have used "cliché," but it seemed, well, cliché.
3 comments
Comments
Uh, you might want to look up jingoism.
maybe cliché, triviality, truism, familiarity, trite expression… but why jingoism?
Or did he really say “You gotta live each race as your last in America” and “You gotta seize the American moment.”?
by Jay Preece on Mar 20, 2010 2:36 PM EDT reply actions
You are absolutely right.
I thought it had evolved into a second definition, but I was definitely wrong. Thanks for pointing it out.
Weekend Editor, SB Nation
by Jon Bois on Mar 20, 2010 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Fun facts about Michael Wardian!
- runs around 13 marathons every year (oh, that doesn’t include the Ultra-marathons)
- after winning the 2008 Nation’s Marathon, he finished third at a marathon in Tennessee the next day
- he’s also run the Vermont 100 and the Western States 100 (yes, both are 100 mile races)
- he’s completed the Marathon des Sables, a six-day, 156 mile race through the desert
by Ryan Hudson on Mar 20, 2010 2:59 PM EDT reply actions
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