MusicmanPA wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm a new poster and I know Mike. When we heard an online site was blogging about Mike's potential cheating we decided to do what good friends do, so my wife and I ignored it and continued to be the Rossis friends. Over the summer something happened, which I think is too personal to share online, that led us to rethink our friendship and support. Then a few weeks ago we heard our nephew, who happens to run cross country, discuss this thread with his friend in great detail. He wasn't aware that we knew who he was talking about, but I was a bit saddened by the substance of his comments.
So I decided these past two weeks to read through here myself and see if anything holds true. I'm always cynical of what is posted online since usually no one personally knows anyone else. I found a lot of the comments quite distasteful. However it's now also clear to me that he did cheat, and it seems blatantly. I am not going to attack him here, but thought it would be important to see the full picture before passing judgement on you all as well.
Based on how much time and effort you spent looking into his cheating, I can tell a lot of you really cherish this sport. I admit I don't know anything about running, but I know a lot about character. We were never fond of his antics online, but didn't want to judge him by that. When we heard about the principal letter we just thought that was Mike being Mike. But then when there were rumors he cheated to get into Boston that whole letter situation made my stomach churn. I also do not agree with most things he's posted on Facebook or his Twitter account since then and ultimately I don't think the way he's responded to this issue is reflective of someone with high moral or ethical standards. I want to make it clear that I decided to post this to vent, stick a knife in the issue and move on. Mike doesn't need to know who I am and neither do any of you so don't ask, but if he reads this I hope he rralizes he has not taken the right path and people will distance themselves eventually.