Duje Draganja: Sellout or just misunderstood?

Small OT, but does anyone actually know how much those guys pull from the federation and their sponsors?

(They rarely even train stateside—if they do at all—since they’re constantly on the road during the season. Plus, when you consider all those surgeries they've had in private clinics over in Austria or Switzerland, followed by rehab... not to mention the prize money for medals and the salaries for the entire support staff...)

Duje Draganja-prodana finally rolled back home in that sponsored ride🙏🙏🙏

brightheron18 said:Duje Draganja-prodana finally rolled back into town in that sponsored ride of his.🙏 🙏🙏

🤣

Lisa Adams54 said:They might be a small outfit, but does anyone actually know how much funding they pull from the federation and their sponsors?

(They rarely even train stateside, if they bother at all, since they’re constantly traveling during the season. And when I think about all those surgeries they had in private clinics over in Austria or Switzerland, plus the rehab... not to mention the prize money and the salaries for the entire support staff...)

The Kostelić crew always used to prep up on Maui (?), doing all that running and other nonsense that doesn't even require snow. As for Mount Rainier, that place isn't good enough to get me in shape, let alone them. 😁
So, I suppose it makes sense that once the first snow hits, they head straight for the glaciers in Switzerland. Regarding the surgeries—plenty of famous NFL players fly out to see a top-tier specialist we have in San Francisco. I imagine it's the same for them; they probably just find better specialists abroad for the specific procedures they need.

Well, there it is. It’s official now. She basically sold her soul to the highest bidder.

Duje...🙂 🙂

zale said:There it is, officially done. The damn company sold its soul to the highest bidder.

Duje...🙂 🙂

Let him screw himself, good luck to him I guess.👋

Honestly, who gives a damn about him!! It’s honestly pathetic that people like that get to represent our country at all!!
It’s kind of stupid to act like everything is fine now and suddenly want to head to Qatar, especially after everyone called them out and they stayed put!!

Fine, let him go to Qatar, but he shouldn't expect to ever hold an American passport again!!🙂

Best of luck to you, Duje Draganja-prodana...👋

some guy out there said:Duje Draganja-prodana finally rolled back home in his sponsored ride🙏 🙏 🙏

Haha. Pretty intense. 🙂

🤮 🤮 I hope he hits the jackpot

Duje, you're really getting on my nerves 🙏

Maybe I hope you get stoned. 👋

al-dhuyaddin at the mall

So I was scrolling through some news earlier, and according to this article, the scholarship deal looks pretty sweet—I mean, we're talking two separate $150,000 payouts plus a place to live in San Diego... just a tiny little detail, right? $0.00
But honestly, I don't get why we even tried to go toe-to-toe with Qatar. It’s pretty obvious we can’t keep up with them when it comes to the money side of things!!

Anyway, what I'm really wondering is how the government is going to handle the situation with Duje EL Mohamed Draganja... or whatever his full name ends up being officially........

Duje EL Mohamed Draganja is a traitor in my eyes, too. He basically sold out his own country... I mean, when someone turns their back on the nation they belong to just to line their pockets with cash...👎

Paul Lopez49 said:Duje totally screwed me over. 🙏

God damn it. 👋

You're an idiot.

And honestly, anyone who doesn't get what he's doing clearly doesn't know the first thing about sports. Total Neanderthals.

Steven Johnson96 said:Duje EL Mohamed Draganja is a traitor to me. He sold out his country... I mean, when someone sells out the nation they belong to just for some cash...👎

And look at this guy... holy crap... What exactly did he "sell out"? Who did he sell what to?

The idiot sold HIMSELF, just like everyone else does.

Why don't you morons start whining about why players go overseas to play for foreign clubs instead?

Absolute idiots.

copperpuma96 said:You’re an idiot.

And honestly, anyone who doesn't get it clearly just doesn't understand what sports are actually about. Total Neanderthals.

Yeah, sure, we're all just cavemen, right? But please, stop lecturing me about "sportsmanship" here because this isn't even about the game—it's about a guy getting paid to move on!
Look, people are definitely overreacting, but don't come at me acting all high and mighty about the spirit of the sport when there's zero connection to actual athletics here!!
We're talking about an American payday of $300,000, which is more than enough, plus he’d be pulling in another $2,000 a month in stipends and getting a free place to live!!

I mean, what's the problem? I genuinely don't get the hate. Like, if he wanted to swim for Team USA, he would've been happy just doing that, but he headed off to Qatar instead. Good for him, honestly, but let's quit pretending this was some big "sporting decision." He didn't go to Qatar for the glory of the game.

copperpuma96 said:Look at this guy... man... what did he actually betray? Who exactly did he sell out to?

The idiot sold himself out, just like everyone else does.

Why don't you guys stop whining about players playing overseas for foreign clubs?

Just total morons.

It's because those same players still answer the call for the national team. Switching clubs is one thing, but switching countries is a whole different ballgame.

rustystag7 said:Look, it's one thing to switch clubs, but it's a whole different ballgame to switch countries just because you feel like it.

In swimming, there aren't really "clubs" like in other sports. It's all about representing the national team.

The guy moved because he needed to secure his future. Why wouldn't he go after MORE money if the opportunity's right there? Does he give a damn about some piece of paper that says he's American? What does that even mean to him? Absolutely nothing.

He went there because the contract was better. Period.

And GET THIS—he doesn't care who he's representing in the pool, because at the end of the day, HE'S SWIMMING FOR THE PAYCHECK.

copperpuma96 said:In swimming, clubs don't really matter. It's all about representing the national team.

The guy left because he had to secure his future. Why wouldn't he take MORE money if the opportunity is there? Just because of some damn piece of paper that says he's American? What does that even mean to him? Nothing.

He moved over there for a better contract. Period.

And honestly, he doesn't care who he swims for, because at the end of the day, HE'S SWIMMING FOR THE PAYCHECK.

Actually, I’m even happier he isn't representing the US. We don't need an athlete like that!! He’s just a swimmer, basically a mercenary, doing whatever suits him and looking out for number one without selling his soul for cash!!

All those football players you mentioned—they act like kings and legends compared to this guy!! No matter how much they get paid or how much they secure their spots on the national team, they show up and play for nothing, and even if they do get paid, it’s peanuts because they make way more elsewhere, yet they still claim it’s an "honor" to represent the country!!

I personally don't want any athlete representing the US who treats our flag like it means zero, especially when so many people have sacrificed their lives just so that guy can hold that piece of paper!!

Whatever, I wish him luck, but I won't be rooting for him. Not because he moved to Qatar, but because of who he is as a person.