That’s the question that has been placed on the table this week, and one that has been bantered around now for decades. After all, while “student athletes” are expected to live a completely “amateur” lifestyle – i.e. accept nothing from anyone – several of the sports they participate in are huge money making endeavors for their schools. Witness the current NCAA basketball tournament which is reaching it’s culmination this weekend. This extravaganza will make the NCAA and member schools $771 Million dollars just from television rights! And schools that participate in the BCS bowl system in football earn millions of dollars for participating. The coaches that lead these programs and…

Track and field can be an unforgiving sport. One minute you are on top of the world, the next you can be fighting for respect. A WR holder can succumb to illness (Wilson Kipketer), an Olympic champion to shame (Ben Johnson). Staying on top can be a challenge, which is why my list of the Greatest of All Time is filled with those that did just that over the long haul. Regardless the reason for slipping from the top, there is always someone waiting to take your place.  Because as much as track can be unforgiving, it is always competitive. Currently the men’s short sprints are more competitive than ever.…

If accepted entries lists and tweets mean anything, then this year’s Florida Relays should be the meet for seasonal outdoor debuts. A fixture on the US track and field scene for 72 years, the Florida Relays has traditionally drawn strong sprint and hurdle fields and this year is no different. Last year there was an appearance from Tyson Gay in the open 400 meters – and Gay burned the track for a 44.86 PR. This year Gay has tweeted that he hopes to run a leg on the 4×4 – something he has stated he would like to do in international competition for the US. In open events the comeback…

With Kirani James heading outdoors this last weekend I felt that there would be a new WL in the 400 before the weekend was out. I was right – except it wasn’t by James. The head turning performance of the weekend was the 44.86 by hurdler L.J. Van Zyl in Germiston South Africa. L.J. Van Zyl (RSA) is THE hot athlete of the early season. Last month he ripped a 47.66 over hurdles. Now it’s 44.86 over the flat – another new personal best. He now leads the world in both events. The question is: can he hold this pace until August and the World Championships? Because most of his…

The outdoor season should kick into gear with several relay meets being held this weekend. The list of domestic meets includes: Florida State Relays Tallahassee, FL Texas/Arkansas/UCLA Tri Austin, TX Arizona State Invitational Tempe, AZ Lopez Bayou Classic Houston, TX LSU Tiger Relays Baton Rouge, LA Raleigh Relays Raleigh, NC Stanford Invitational Stanford, CA Yellowjacket Invitational Atlanta, GA Alabama Relays Tuscaloosa, AL Baskin Relays Columbia, SC Big 10/SEC Challenge Starkville, MS Springtime Invitational El Paso, TX I’m looking forward to the results of the Texas/Arkansas/UCLA Triangular. I’m very excited to see this type of meet on the schedule for these schools, as all three have very good programs and it…

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time then you know that I feel a high priority for the sport here in the U.S. is to host the World Championships – as well as serve as host to another Olympics. To this point one of the key obstacles that we’ve faced outside of a lack of leadership, has been the lack of a facility capable of hosting such an event! Imagine that here in the United States with sports the huge past time that it is, and this country (one of the wealthiest on the planet) lacks a creditable track and field facility when locations such as Istanbul,…

It’s not often that I get excited about a 20.81 deuce. Typically not unless it’s run by an up and coming prep star. But perusing the results from this past weekend’s activity, I came across a 20.81 that I do find a bit exciting as Bryshon Nellum won the Brown Invitational 200 at 20.81 (0.6). That time, at this time of year, after all that Bryson has been through makes me think he may be ready to realize that potential that we all saw just a few years ago. You may remember him. The star of the 2007 prep season. A double threat prep phenom who ran 20.43 & 45.38,…

Now that the indoor season is officially behind us, it’s time to start taking a closer look at the outdoor season. Roughly 3 months until various national championships, and then a couple more until Daegu. It’s really not that far away. The star of the last World Championships was Usain Bolt (Jam) with his double sprint win in double record breaking time. And with the rivalry between he and Tyson Gay (USA) beginning to peak, the sprints are almost surely to be among the highlight events in Daegu. With the re-breakthrough of Francis Obikwelu at the European Indoor Champioinships just a few weeks ago, it made me ask myself if…

Reading through the news a couple days ago, I came across this article referencing UCLA’s return to a dual/triangular meet schedule as opposed to running primarily in “invitational” meets. I am hoping that this is successful for UCLA and it’s track program, and that the result will see other prominent programs follow. I’m excited because if large college programs would get back to conference dual/triangulars, as well as hosting multi school meets from outside – SEC v Pac12 quadrangular for example – it would be a major marketing coup for the sport. Why? Because it will bring high level track and field back to the community! Nearly every densely populated…

The US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association released their choices for Collegiate Indoor Athletes of the Year. Their choices: Men Track Miles Batty Mile BYU Men Field Derek Drouin High Jump Indiana Women Track Jordan Hasay Mile/3000 Oregon Women Field Brianne Theisen Pentathlon Oregon All had outstanding Indoor seasons, but it seems to me that the voting was weighted heavily on the results of the National Championship meet – where all won titles. With no disrespect to the choices of the USTFCCCA, I would like to add a few names to this list – names that I think had seasons/championship performances that I would have hoped put…