-
USATF Plot Lines
The World Championships are in August, and this week we select the athletes that will be representing the good old Red, White, and Blue. In spite of the fact that many say the sport is dead, the US Trials are annually one of the greatest meets on the planet – trumped in depth only by the Games and World Championships themselves. As such it’s a meet steeped in drama and plot lines with many of the world’s best athletes going head to head for spots at the big dance. This year will be no different with intrigue all over the place. Take the men’s 100 where we select the trio…
-
NCAA to USATF Who Will Perform Best?
With the NCAA Championships behind them the collegiate stars are at one of the toughest parts of the season - trying to be even better in an attempt to make the World Championships team. After weeks of conference, regional and of course the NCAA Championships, they must try to hit yet another peak against the best the US has to offer. Depending on your event that task could be nearly impossible with some events in the US being as deep as at Worlds. Even so, I did come up with ten collegiate athletes that I feel have a pretty solid shot at earning air fair to Russia. Especially on the…
-
No Excuse for What Happened to Tarmoh
I’ve hesitated on saying anything about "Dead Heat Gate" not because I don’t have an opinion but because I’ve felt there were far to many opinions out there already. But the more I read, the more I’m angered that the villain in all this comes back to Tarmoh. Don’t get me wrong, personally I say a warrior competes. That’s what you live for. It’s what you train for. And when something as precious as a championship berth is on the line at any level – high school, collegiate local regional, and definitely the Olympics – you do what you gotta do. Wrap up a muscle; beg for a lane; plead…
-
NBC Has a New Sports Channel
I sat down a little bit ago to put together my thoughts on this weekend’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. While I was going through the event website I was struck by the fact that there will be no coverage of the Trials – no television, no internet streaming. I found that very disappointing. Especially given that there is a new sports channel that would seem to be perfect for running/track and field. That’s because as of the beginning of this year the old “Versus” sports programming station is now owned by NBC and has been renamed NBC Sports Network. A perfect fit it would seem for track and field since…
-
Why Not Allow Advertising?
I just finished reading Nick Symmonds’ post on Flo Track, “I’m Tired of USATF and IAAF Crippling Our Sport”. I’m in total agreement with Nick. As a matter of fact I have wondered for YEARS why track and field has not allowed its athletes to pursue advertising in the same way that NASCAR has allowed its drivers to do so. I can understand USATF not wanting individual advertising on its National Team uniforms – because frankly that should be reserved for advertising that USATF has procured, if it were procuring advertising! I can also understand the IAAF wanting “clean” uniforms at its Major championship meets. Outside of those settings, however,…
-
USA Track and Field Needs a TEAM Not a Superman
As I noted in my previous post, we lack a leadership presence from our former star athletes within the political structure of American track and field. Whereas other countries have former stars that are active within their federations and/or the IAAF, we have yet to capture any of that talent as we look to move the sport forward in this country. Given that we are at a crossroads at USATF – i.e. in between CEO’s. It would seem that now is the time to look at how we might be able to recruit and incorporate the talents of former athletes, as other countries have done with Sebastian Coe, Sergey Bubka,…