Ritz Pulls Out of Chicago Shamrock Shuffle with "Leg Strain"

collegiate runner wrote:

He still gets some type of money though, doesn't he? To answer your question I'm tired of our sport throwing money at washed up guys. It's not helping the sport at all. I'm a believer in getting the money that you deserve. I'm not saying that Ritz should be a poor guy on the street, but he shouldn't be making $150,000+ IF he does (which is in my view living extravagantly) because he simply hasn't done so hot in the past couple years.

Maybe I'm an idiot or just a jerk. Who knows.

Since he just had one of his best years ever last year and just a short time ago ran very well against a super field in the NYC half - not sure how washed up applies just because he pulled out from an 8k. As for what he earns or does not earn, shoe companies are not shy about cutting you loose if they perceive your value has passed.

He has always been injury prone, so given that and he probably would not like to be the washed up runner you accuse him of being, I would think you would take every little ache and pain very seriously since you do not know which one might cost you your career.

First, there is enough name calling on this site without calling yourself a jerk or idiot. Let's respect each other-- and ourselves-- and have an honest disagreement. far more than the major professional team sports, our sport pays by performance, even if it involves appearances or endorsement deals. In the past year, Ritz has run in the Olympic 10,000 and run a 2:07 marathon. He's going to get appearance and endorsement money and he deserves every cent of it. If he has a bad year or two, it will dry up very quickly.

I have the unfortunate habit of listening to sports talk on the radio. This suggestion that Ritz retire reminds me of a sports show caller who opines, when an aging baseball or basketball player signs a one year contract for $10 million, that he'd prefer to see the player retire than play when he's past his competitive prime. I always laugh, imagining the caller is making $30,000/year, and saying the athlete should retire rather than play for millions. Ritz will retire when he's good and ready to retire and none of us should have any opinion. I'll predict he'll retire when he can't beat young bucks. Same with Meb and Lagat. None of them cares about my opinion, nor should they.

Yeah, it just boils down to me being bitter over him pulling out of World XC combined with my dislike of anybody associated with the NOP. What you're saying makes sense,I forgot about the 2:07 marathon.

His injury must be minor. Saw him running with Farah, Rupp and Puskedra on the Hollister trail today.

nikeman wrote:

His injury must be minor. Saw him running with Farah, Rupp and Puskedra on the Hollister trail today.

So his boo boo must be awbetter!

John O'Donnell wrote:

First, there is enough name calling on this site without calling yourself a jerk or idiot. Let's respect each other-- and ourselves-- and have an honest disagreement...

None of them cares about my opinion, nor should they.

This guy may be my new favorite poster on this site. I'd love to see our best race more than two or three times a year but with the way these guys are compensated, this is the end result these days. No, our guys shouldn't be out racing on injuries but USATF needs to get its act together and incentivize these guys to mix it up and compete a bit more often.

Yes, you're right: he should travel a long distance to race on cement with a slight calf problem, all to win an 8k race won in over 23 minutes, and risk a longer term calf problem and perhaps place his entire season at risk. Yep, that's the responsible decision for a professional athlete to make. And I guarantee you that Carey Pinkowski was 100% behind Ritz's decision: he wants a first-rate Ritz in October, and not one battling calf problems.

cvfds wrote:

nikeman wrote:

His injury must be minor. Saw him running with Farah, Rupp and Puskedra on the Hollister trail today.

So his boo boo must be awbetter!

You mean he strained his thyroid.

Montesquieu wrote:

[quote] wrote:

Yes, you're right: he should travel a long distance to race on cement with a slight calf problem, all to win an 8k race won in over 23 minutes, and risk a longer term calf problem and perhaps place his entire season at risk. Yep, that's the responsible decision for a professional athlete to make. And I guarantee you that Carey Pinkowski was 100% behind Ritz's decision: he wants a first-rate Ritz in October, and not one battling calf problems.

What are you his agent or is your nose caught in his pubes?

Please, since you know so much, define what kind of "a slight calf problem" he has?

Is he prohibited from running? Did he have an MRI? Did he bump it on a table? Is it a mosquito bite?

Every runner has a ding once in a while, it's just that some have a habit of making it a more dramatic issue than others, which the subject of this thread has done in the past.

I love how you go from "a slight calf problem" to " battling calf problems" in one paragraph for your own dramatic touch.

To think, people actually expected him to run 5 miles on cement! The horrors!!!

This is rather simple. Ritz is NOT hurt. He signed a contract to run the Chicago Marathon in October. Pinkowski included the 8k as part of the deal. Dathan did not want to run the 8k. His agent told him to wait until the week of the event and then they would come up with something. DONE>

I hope it is a positive Drug Test. Everyone knows that Nike is financing the disaster that is TUE's. I can only hope that they didn't hand in some of the necessary paperwork.

I call the problem slight because that what he himself said in the Michigan Live article (and "nikeman" reported seeing him running). I went from slight to "battling calf problems" because anyone who has had calf problems knows how quickly they can worsen and then how long they can take to heal. Five miles fast on cement for someone with a prior injury, who also has a history of pushing too hard when slightly injured, for a race that is meaningless (my God, does anyone possibly think this race was important?) makes little sense. And Ritz hasn't just had dings--he's had major league injuries that have threatened to derail his career.

People please understand that these athletes are always on the fence of being in the best shape possible and being hurt. They are not weekend warriors that just "tough it out" - if they are not healthy, they back off to get healthy - it is not worth it to them to risk missing the World Champs. Don't compare them to the "non-professional" runners; that is very unfair to them and their very successful careers! Ritz, Teg, etc. have led a resurgence in U.S. distance runners by starting a very successful string of good years starting around 2000 - they deserve much credit for our success. Now Rupp, Manzano, Lomong and many others are carrying the torch, but I believe it all started with that junior world xc race where they went 3-5 and ran with the Africans.