Anyone else think the Kenyan importing is getting ridiculous?

You are not a very good troll. Step your game up.

the bigger douche bag wrote:

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Ah, you are exactly what is wrong with the sport...with Gebresallasie, you are a fan of a complete drug fraud. Cycling -Armstrong.....Baseball --Barry Bonds and Distance Running --Gebresallasie......You don't get it????? How stupid can you be???? American parents do not want their kids to emulate cheaters, and the corporate world runs from the druggies.....you seeing Barry Bonds endorsing MCDonalds? No way! Same for Track and Field..... corporate sponsors run the other way.

Hobey Baker wrote:

Any more ridiculous than the number of Canadians and Euros in NCAA D1 hockey?

Try college tennis (M & W) for a real eye-opener.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the system won't change until an all-Lithuanian team/starting five makes the Final Four.....you know I'm right on this one.

I do agree that east african domination is hurting the sport - world xc is a dual meet and dying, and european diamond league distance races are absurdly homogeneous.

Problem is that there is nothing that can be done about it other than wait for a new era. That may take decades to come. It's going to hurt the sport for a long, long time.

Maybe when Kenyans get just $500 for winning a diamond league 5000 they will stop showing up and that is what will change things.

As for those who argue that people should be able to relate to a Kenyan as easily as they relate to a Canadian - get a flippin' clue and stop throwing the racism card around. It is fine to identify with someone with the same background as you.

agip wrote:

I do agree that east african domination is hurting the sport - world xc is a dual meet and dying, and european diamond league distance races are absurdly homogeneous.

Problem is that there is nothing that can be done about it other than wait for a new era. That may take decades to come. It's going to hurt the sport for a long, long time.

Maybe when Kenyans get just $500 for winning a diamond league 5000 they will stop showing up and that is what will change things.

As for those who argue that people should be able to relate to a Kenyan as easily as they relate to a Canadian - get a flippin' clue and stop throwing the racism card around. It is fine to identify with someone with the same background as you.

African dominance is not hurting the sport. Non-African's lack of good training is hurting the sport.

Actually, African dominance KILLED road-racing in America (as many predicted). The only thing that SAVED road-racing in America was American-only championships.

You know I am right on this one.

agip wrote:

It is fine to identify with someone with the same background as you.

Absolutely, but somebody having a different background does not mean you cannot identify with them. I do not think people have any problem relating to and identifying with the struggles that Lopez Lomong went through. He grew up in the Sudan and avoided becoming a child soldier before coming to the US.

I know a lot of people (both runners and non-runners) who watched NBC's little show on Ruddisha and asked me about it. They had no problem identifying with him despite their different backgrounds.

It seems to me that if you think you can identify with Galen Rupp's story (coached by Alberto Salazar since high school) then the only thing stopping you from identifying with Kenyans is ignorance about what they have gone through.