New Gary Hall commerical

Well, Gary Hall Sr may not be all that innocent. His father in law Charles Keating was sent to prison for defrauding thousands of senior citizens for the Lincoln Savings scandal . Gary Hall Sr and Charles Keating's other son-in laws didn't face charges but it has not been proven one way or another how involved they were with the family business. Gary Hall Jr is allright as far as I'm concern. And swimming is mainly an indivdual sport rather than a team sport. Only a handful of relays are a group effort,most events you swim against other people and the clock.

I think that he is an amazing showman, fantastic swimmer, and I agree a huge asset in the fight against diabetes. He most certainly does attract an audience with his ostentatiousness. However, since he is in the public eye he needs to make to sure that he conveys a good message about swimming. If everyone thinks that all swimmers are showy, they may ignore it even more. While sometimes I think he walks the line in cockiness, and occasionally slips to the other side, I don't think he's crossed it entirely just yet.

He makes swimming fun and he has fun. He may talk the talk, but he backs it up and walks the walk. You people have no idea what Hall is really like. He may or may not be a jerk, but you certainly can't tell from seeing less than 1% of his life. What about all that he did for the other swimmers he helped out in the Race Club or people with diabetes. The thing is that he is fun to watch, he is a GREAT swimmer and he is a huge benefit to the sport. He derseves our respect for his hard work and dedication. I really don't get all the bashing. Has anyone here ever made a mistake or acted imaturely? I know that I have, but those few moments do not define me or my life. Hook'em Blue

"But what really pi--ed me off was that he didn't go to one night of finals (which was required for all the swimmers to attend if they were not swimming) and instead he went off to one of the islands. " Heather has a good point here! Having said that...That may have been a jerk thing to do to other USA team members....but the good he has brought to swimming and his help fighting diabetes...still puts him high regard with me....

I never met to say or imply that he hasn't done good things for swimming, but I also must say that most of my friends that aren't in the know refer to him as the jerk with the fluffy hair. He absolutely backs up his attitude (minus the 100 free debacle in Athens). I think for the most part his teammates like him and repsect his talent and he has done good things for USA Swimming. Sure we all have our moments and I wouldn't judge anyone based off of what they did for a few minutes once. He was/is great to watch. I laugh while watching him.

Originally posted by newmastersswimmer If I remember correctly, he and some of the members of the race club did compete in Indianapolis last year Yes, that's true. Here's the funniest thing about that. Gary was third in the 50 free behind Sabir Muhammad and Aaron Ciarla. So, Gary placed third at Masters Nationals and first at the Olympics. Now what does that tell you about the level of competition in Masters swimming? ;) By the way, I always thought Gary came across as a jerk and I think his actions at Athens were pretty childish. But I have to say he and the other Race Club swimmers at Indy last year went out of there way to talk to the other competitors and made a very positive impression. I saw Gary on deck again this year and once again he was very friendly and talked to anyone who introduced themselves.

Originally posted by tjrpatt Originally posted by swimrat I think if swimming was a team sport we'd all be playing water polo. I don't think that swimming is a team sport in any way, Swimming is a team sport?? I didn't get the memo. I never thought that swimming is a team sport. I didn't say it was a team sport. Someone in the post above me did. I don't think swimming is a team sport at all.

Does it really pay to have sponsors. My best sponsor gave me lots of money until - 1966 Dow Brewery destroys 4,546,000 litres of beer after 16 people die in Quebec City area; 1 million gallons go down the drain.

I just wanted to chime in and say that I am also a big fan of Gary's for all the reasons that have been stated on this thread. I also thought it was cool to see him posing for pictures with many of the masters swimmers at Ft. Lauderdale (and thier families). He was shaking hands with everyone and wishing people good luck on thier swims.....Too bad he didn't swim though b/c I would have loved to have seen him compete first hand.....If I remember correctly, he and some of the members of the race club did compete in Indianapolis last year (from what I read on this board)....but that was before I started swimming again and so I missed it......It was was also very cool to see him not only make the Olympic team again, but win another gold medal!......I say Kudos to Gary Hall!! Newmastersswimmer

Gary will be swimming in the Edmonton Masters Worlds in July and also in Mission Viejo Nationals in August. As part of the Race Club, I know we all had a lot of fun at Ft. Lauderdale watching some pretty old records fall and talking to everyone...