Why Ritz, Goucher, top Americans have Made the Right Choice

he is right. we need more races big hyped domestic races like Boulder this year. I don't think the average american really cares if there are kenyans and ethiopians that can run x seconds faster if they're watching a kick-ass American battle and enjoying a beer or two.

it all comes down to beer.

"when the fan base gives a shit about international competition"

that'll be a long, long,long time.

it all comes down to RITZ being a pussy. i dont care about the rest of them, but this is the guy who was talking about getting top3 two years ago, and now he is to afraid to even run against them. I dont give a shit if you dont win or run a bad race. but he straight bitched out on the WORLD CHAMPS.

ritz aint the same guy who pulled away with 800m to go to win his junior year in hs xc champs from sage, ect.

ritz, get over yourself. we once were in love with you. when you represented greatness. when you kicked with 800 to go. when you placed 3rd at jr world.

you aint the same man, what happened???

never be afraid

Hud-son.

Here's an idea: Hold the World XC Championships in America. Serve beer at the meet. Make a big huzzah when the first, second, third, etc americans are finishing. Hold it in California or Oregon, somewhere running is semi-popular. Have the entire race commercial-free broadcast by ESPN2. Put aside a couple hours of time devoted to the meet.

Then maybe the guys from america who qualify will actually show up.

I'm sure Ritz, Goucher, etc aren't skipping Worlds because they're afraid. This sport is all about confidence. Who wants to go to africa thinking that you are in good shape only to be pounded into the ground, and place outside the top 50? That's a pretty crappy way to start out a track season. Most athletes want to BUILD their confidence gradually throughout the season, rather than find out they are only the 73rd best runner in the World.

that's exactly how pussies think.

NW!!!! wrote:

I\\\'m sure Ritz, Goucher, etc aren\\\'t skipping Worlds because they\\\'re afraid. This sport is all about confidence. Who wants to go to africa thinking that you are in good shape only to be pounded into the ground, and place outside the top 50? That\\\'s a pretty crappy way to start out a track season. Most athletes want to BUILD their confidence gradually throughout the season, rather than find out they are only the 73rd best runner in the World.

First of all, the guy who linked to this totally distorted what Dobson is saying. He is saying more Americans should race eachother in the States. He\\\'s not saying they should skip the World Champs to race eachotehr in the US.

And the guy above. You say its not because they\\\'re afraid and then you say its all about confidence and they don\\\'t want to get pounded to the ground. Sounds to me like they are afraid of getting pounded to the ground. That is what you\\\'re saying. Maybe its more along the lines of \\\"they will get pounded to the ground. they are not afraid of this. they know this\\\".

Either way it sounds like fear to me.

who gives a shit about what the "fans" think...that's such a lame excuse. Race to win, not to please others.

Sounds like fear to you, a letsrun 17 year old dumbass

Sounds like wise caution to any elite US athlete

If an american (or a handful of them even) was able to compete and possibly win these international cross events, then maybe the american public would care. The fact of the matter is whatever audience there is for American championship XC, I'm willing to bet nearly all of them would care about an international race. Maybe the US champs and the qualifier should be different races, because obviously some people are not worried about the next level.

Yeah, you know they should probably just stay home, but here's the real reason:

http://www.iaaf.org/WXC06/results/gender=M/discipline=XS/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/index.html

There's nothing to suggest they'd do any better this year. They should probably just leave the racing to the big boys and join the party when they're ready to mix it up. They'll probably never be ready if they just race among themselves all the time, but they shouldn't be forced into doing it if they're scared.

Kind of like teaching a kid to swim...you put then in the shallow end first with those flotation thingies. You don't throw them in the deep end of the pool.

nothing to suggest that theyd do any better this year??

alan culpepper, adam goucher, dathan ritzenhein, jorge torres...

i think those names are a little bit bigger than max king, brandon leslie, and jason hartman...

give me a break i understand some of the criticism but dont throw out idiotic bullshit like this that takes value away from the argument

No, it all comes down to money. There should be more serious local races like Boulder to draw fans, but there's no reason to give up the World XC championships for them.

I think Ritz, Goucher and other "Top Americans" just pi$$ed away all of the hype and good will generated at the race in Boulder.

I hope that they enjoy spending your USATF membership dues.

The "fan base" does give a 5hit about international competition - the "fan base" is right here, and they just pi$$ed on the "fan base".

These d1cks deserve to be booed at their next competition.

Well..I guess we'll never know, but obviously they didn't fancy their chances that much...or did they just pass on the impending glory because they had bigger fish to fry.

i honestly think Ritz is just a straight up pussy. he thought he was the shit after a pretty good marathon debut, and he let himself get hyped up before that race and got cocky right from the start. then he comes in third and now he is all f***ing scared. he is a straight up pussy

Bigger fish to fry? They were the fish and were afraid to get fried. Goucher and Ritz both backed down from the real deal and backed out like a couple of cowards. What is Ritz doing instead??? Selling out to race his workout buddies.

Remember when he was going to medal at World Cross?

Remember when he was a contender at New York?

When was the last time Ritz won anything of note?

Spanked at USATF CC in '06

Spanked by Webb, a miler, in the 10K

Spanked by Ramala in the half marathon

Spanked by the marathon

Spanked by Bekele, et al at Euromeet

Spanked at USATF CC in '07

Now he is pussin' out to run a road race.

Good luck, hope you beat Torres.

hcaoc4ces wrote:

Bigger fish to fry? They were the fish and were afraid to get fried. Goucher and Ritz both backed down from the real deal and backed out like a couple of cowards.

Goucher unlike Ritz has already placed high at World XC, so he can be forgiven for wanting, considering he's in his 30s, to try to PR a few more times on the track while there is still a chance at it.