Skeptic/Sceptic wrote:
Ritz--three time Olympian; made every World team in XC and track for which he competed; three time XC US champion; two time Footlocker champion; etc. This hardly sounds like someone who doesn't show up when it matters: quite the contrary.
I predicted he would get second and not win. And I compared him to Peyton Manning, who is always near the top, but usually seems to falter and end up not winning.
Making teams is not winning. He's always near the top, but rarely at the top. He has some championships, but fewer than he should. Let's look at his Peyton Manning-like choke jobs, just going from what's on Wikipedia.
4th in 2006 XC Champs
Beat by Webb in the 10000m in 2006 (definitely expected to win this one)
4th at marathon OT, which was a pretty big upset to get beat by Abdi
Came back to get 3rd in the 10000m to make the Olympics
In arguably his best races, his 12:56 and 60:00, he got 3rd both times.
His last two wins were 2008 and 2010 cross country championships. 2008 was a pretty solid victory, but the field in 2010 was weaker than usual.
http://www.usatf.org/events/2010/USAXCChampionships/results/OpenMen.asp