Did BTC ruin the USATF champs for you?

Not really. Not anymore than Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda ruining watching the world championships for me.

No, why would I let them ruin it for me? Are you not familiar with the concept of the "heel" in sports? I enjoyed sh*t talking BTC almost as much as I enjoyed cheering for Nur, Infeld, and others.

I enjoyed cheering for the non-BTC athletes, and the vast majority of the events did not have BTC athletes in them.

Those must be great burritos as at least one BTC athlete finished in the top 3 in every distance event for both men and women except the women's 1500. Even in that event, the primary training partner of the big burrito eater finished a close 4th.

Burritos rock, evidently.

Watching BTC I was picturing a Worlds or Olympics based on best performances, or all one country in certain events. They're a huge team with huge resources, so of course will have representation. But other than Bor in the 5K, they had the numbers game won.

A bit boring.

Not so much ruin, more sully. And it's not specifically the individuals racing so much as the way the team (from the top down) handled the situation.

It was a wash, I'd say. Fisher has nice running form yet he, Kinkaid, Schweizer, and Cranny simply provided clear confirmation that USA isn't an exception to doping at the top level of the sport. It was like seeing Armstrong or Landis again, I couldn't suspend disbelief, force cognitive dissonance, or will myself into fantasy to not see the boldface type writing between the lines. There would probably be more exciting finishes in most of those races without the presence of the BTC athletes. But even if they weren't around to remind us of the specter of PEDs, the taint would still be there if possibly a bit less obvious.

I agree with RCM. Although I don't expect any of them to pick up medals in a few weeks (I acknowledge that they got 1 last year), the winners of those races will be juiced. If you think the whole BTC crowd is dirty - a reasonable assumption - you surely don't believe they are the only ones in the world who are.

They are not. The big league dopers will be here in three weeks. But when you see it and see how utterly doping ruins the competition and makes fair competition impossible, even on the domestic level, it is jarring. It is no longer an abstraction or something "everyone" does. Rather it is cheating and robbing other athletes of a fair chance. They outclass the competition in a way that is not natural. And the cheaters will do it with a broad smile on their face. They don't care.

Glad to see I'm not alone in this...you all are putting to words how I felt about the weekend.

And yeah I'm aware the REALLY blatant dopers will be running in 3 weeks....

good grief! Is this how you guys watch sports?

I stopped caring about doping long ago for all sports. NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS. They all “dope” based on the standards that the anti-BTC crowd on this thread operate by, but who cares?

We have a very simple sport. Start at one line and finish at another. I promise that once you stop whining about which vitamins one runner is taking versus another, it can be a very enjoyable experience to watch it.

Great job, BTC and to everyone who made it on to Team USA!

It felt like I was watching the Yankees, Lakers, Patriots win the championship again. I know they are our best shot to medal but I just wanted to see someone else make the team.

Oh joy. The guy who crusades in favor of men competing in women's sports says to stop complaining about doping. Well I guess points for consistency.

Y’all are haters on BTC because they are the best and y’all could never or will never be at their level.

No USATF ruined it!

If anything, BTC makes it easy for me to know who I'm cheering for and who I'm not cheering for. I used to be pretty ho-hum about which athletes make the US team. Now, I hope all BTC members spike themselves or pully hammys. Unfortuntely, the bad guys did well at this US championship.

I love BTC. Fisher and Schweizer are my favorite runners.