Angel's Advocate wrote:
Devils advocates son wrote:If you give him the benefit of the doubt that he actually has played by the rule book and yet has over a decade of hate and criticism by certain folks and this website for over a decade, all the while training his butt off and overcoming almost everything people said he couldn't or wouldn't do, could you understand how he might develop a chip on his shoulder? Could you put yourself in his shoes and speculate how you might react?
Rupp has always had the loner, and follow the leader, personality type. That's why he was a great fit for Salazar. Salazar likes people he can fully control. Rupp is the apex of that. What you are actually seeing is Rupp acting out Salazar's personal frustrations: Don't say mean things about my (second) daddy.
If that's what you want to believe so be it. Not sure why Rupp wouldn't be entitled to his own frustrations towards comments like yours. If I was the most consistent US long distance runner over the past 10 years (and maybe in history?) and had earned a silver medal for my country, which turns out to be plentiful in jealous haters who are more likely to support (and not suspect) the top Kenyans I think I'd have a big old chip on my shoulder. The tone of this website is often, trash Rupp, bow to Kenyans and Ethiopians. Ignore the wild out of nowhere times that east African "juniors" run and celebrate them as the next great ones, and then look for reasons Rupp will fail and seek to find him guilty of cheating.
For the record, Rupp may very well be cheating, so may Centro and Rowbury. So may Lagat and Meb. Maybe Solinsky and Teg were. If you want to believe they are/were you can find things that help support your belief, such as so and so says the were. I'm absolutely certain NOP pushes the limits of science and the gray area. But I'm not convinced they have and actual doping plan in force for any of them. Yet that's the expectation of a great many American fans now, created in part by the mob mentality built of accusation of no hard evidence. Again, maybe they are guilty, but Kara Goucher not believing that someone can't feel burned out one day and race great a week or two later doesn't make me a believer.
All the while Kenya and Ethiopia are complete jokes on drug testing, and yet Kenyans are getting caught on the regular now for real cheating. I guess the Ethiopians are just that more naturally talented than the Kenyans, as they are now running faster and "clean".
If I were a top US runner who managed to mix it up with the top runners in the world and my own country constantly beat the war drums against me and yet drooled over any random east African who comes along with a free pass, I'd find that a hard pill to swallow. And I think that is the tone that is set on this website and carried forward by many who read it.