Smoove I was being sarcastic about 'dodging' me at Gasparilla. Obviously you'd destroy me in a head to head. And you ran very fast in college.
And we're actually pretty much on the same page on a lot of things you indcated: age grading isn't perfect for the reasons discussed already; the annual ranking/championship racing depth drops off considerably with each 5 year increment after about age 45; US masters championships don't get everyone participating like the US open races do (but as I said earlier XC club championships are probably the deepest races you'll find); but you can do a lot by finding and running in the bigger races. The ARRS road rankings are also a good measure. Because you can see the world and national records and then the depth goes down quite a ways. Unfortunately founder Ken Young passed away earlier this year and they are trying to re-start something else along those lines. So we can support them with some small donations and subscriptions.
As far as other things, just chalk it up to differences in personality and presentation style. Good luck with your fine masters running and continued success.