If you were looking for the face of ignorant journalism, look no further than Pat Forde!

I'd really like to thank ESPN for setting the bar for journalism low enough that they can send a college football reporter from Kentucky with no knowledge of track and field to report on the worlds biggest races. In his latest piece of poorly researched alarmist journalism Forde has while throwing around words like dismal and inexcusable has declared, USA track has hit rock bottom

Of course the main problem with this is that Forde has based this faulty hypothesis only on the glamour events, being the sprint events, and the sprint relays. We'll go beyond that in just one second.

But if we are really gonna analyze those events fairly can it be stated that just a few short weeks ago Tyson Gay had run the worlds fastest 100 meters. True it was wind aided, but at that time we were looking at a Gay/Bolt/Powell throwdown showdown. A race for the ages. Then a few hours later Gay pulls his hamstring while attempting to qualify for the 200. Gay never fully recovered, even if he's too modest to say so. Even if he were to recover, there would be no shame in losing to a once in generation athlete like Bolt.

Even a casual observer could notice a hitch in Allyson Felix's stride and also will see that she wasn't 100% healthy. Yet she runs under 22 in the 200 and gets silver. Not a shameful performance, unless you are Pat Forde and need a story. Then you can throw Felix into the list of American's who haven't won Gold this Olympics. Easy enough.

Had Forde spent more than the minute it would take him to run 200 meters on research perhaps he would have noticed some of the other great stories of USA track and Field that happened these Olympic Games.

20 Total Track and Field Medals through Thursday - Most of Any Country

Shalane Flanagan's American Record and Bronze in the Womens 10,000 M

Jenny Barringer seting an American Record in the Womens Steeple

Fam having what was called by another journalist, "one of the greatest ever rus by an American Distance Runner" in his Steeple heat.

A Gold Medal in Womens Discus.

A Silver in the Womens Pole Vault, behind only the world record holder.

A Silver in the Womens Heptathlon.

The Favorite in the Mens Decathlon leading after 5 events.

TWO American Men winning their heats in the 5000, and looking for glory in the final.

THREE American Women through to the Womens 5000 Final, including Shalane Flanagan who already set the American Record in her Bronze medal run in the 10k.

See, Pat. It isn't that hard. And that was just off the top of my head. I didn't even need to have airfare paid to Bejing to see these like you. All I had to do was wait to see this shit on 15 hour delay on the Networks of NBC. While you, use your press pass, and your plush surroundings, to call the team performance "dismal" from on high.

It's like this sweetheart, sometimes sports yes even Track operates in cycles. Sometimes you'll run into (Behind) a Usain Bolt. And at those moments you could focus on the Walter Dix's of the world making a name for themselves, stepping up huge from where he was 12 months ago, or you could call the entire team dismal. You could focus on what has been a mild resurgence for the US in distance running as they make strides towards greater respectability, or you could say the entire program is at "rock bottom." Of course, you being Pat Forde, you chose to go the lazy route of alarmist journalism with a side dish of hyperbole.

Dismal.

Rock Bottom.

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