Yep. Change the last sentence to "the average LRC forum poster's attitude" and your post represents my position.
Thank you, wejo, for taking the time to address my thread.
I do value the fact that this forum is a bastion of free speech compared to many other forums, both running- and non-running-related. However, I seriously worry about the impact on the sport from such a volume of baseless accusations.
If someone tests positive, then it is news, and there is nothing that can be done but report on it properly, as I think you do. If there is strong reason to suspect doping (e.g. a sudden onset of musculature on a formerly frail person, eyewitness report of an athlete using syringes, etc.), then I understand and accept that such things should be discussed.
Contrarily, I see increasing suspicion that an American is doping because s/he runs fast or is actually competitive on a world-level instead of just a national level. I see non-American runners also suspected of doping because they simply ran fast. Worst of all, I see some athletes suspected of doping with no reason even stated in the post. This last variety is the one that I despise the most, and would hope you could find a way to discourage, although I would also like to see "they ran fast, therefore they doped" mentalities discouraged as well.
I do believe that the doping problem won't be fixed without discussion of it. However, without strong evidence of likelihood of doping, I think suspicion of doping is more harmful to the sport than helpful.
Perhaps I have the cause & effect backward, but I don't think it matters. Honestly, how healthy is it to hold onto the past so tightly? As an example, 2 to 3 track-generations ago, many 400m athletes doped. So is LaShawn Merritt dirty? To me, it feels like saying, "90 years ago, many wealthy people were bootleggers. Therefore, as a financially successful person, you must be selling drugs on the side." It's not productive, and really not fair.
Yep. I probably wouldn't go so far as to say that wejo is confusing them; rather, I think it has gone un-acknowledged that the line between speculation and defamation has been crossed by posters.
It's true, it would be difficult to implement complete moderation of troll-speculation, due to the sheer volume. I thought about that while writing my original post, but I would still like to see them make a dent in it.
I'm not sure how I was unclear about the types of posts I considered worth moderating. I do not want posts about speculation of doping without decently strong evidence stated. I do not consider fast times to be decently strong.
This is exactly the kind of post that I think is helping kill the sport. It represents "baseless accusation" very, very well. At least in the case of Rupp, Magness saw some things that were highly suspicious, and that is well-known on this site. At least in the case of Mo, it is semi-well-known that he missed some drug-tests before the 2012 Olympics. But lumping the others in without reasons stated, and treating the lot as a cabal of ongoing evil without anyone in that stable having a positive test is really, really detrimental to the appeal of track & field to younger generations and people in general.
I discussed the NOP group because that poster brought them up, but my point stands for any athlete who is quite good and drug-accused without strong evidence.
Don't forget, we, the community of LRC, are among the people who are supposed to like track & field the most. How does it look to the casual runner (or field-er), thinking of becoming more involved, if we are so critical and hateful toward our own? Doesn't sound like fun. Doesn't sound like something you'd want to be a part of.
I'd be all alone with all of the professional athletes who used to like to post here.