The CHill Zone of T&F

I’ve been asked a lot over the past 24 hours who I think should replace Doug Logan as head of USA Track and Field. That’s a very tough question. I feel that it should be someone that has a strong knowledge of track and field. That broad catch all could include former athletes, former agents, or someone formerly or currently in the employ of a shoe company (upper management). Not that being connected to the sport in some way is a guarantee that an individual would have the skill set necessary to run USATF. Of course, neither would going out and looking for an executive from another sport be any…

The word out this morning is that Doug Logan has been released as CEO of USA Track and Field. Given that in late July he was given 30 days to make significant improvements in his performance, I don’t think this is much of a surprise. After all, I’m not sure what could have been done in a month’s time to significantly alter his performance or the perception of him by those performing his evaluation. While there are many opinions regarding his release, from inmates running the asylum to rumors of power grabs, the reality of the situation in my humble opinion is that he simply wasn’t the right hire when…

The season is winding down quickly, with the Commonwealth Games the biggest competition remaining – and it’s restricted to a select few nations. For all intents and purposes US athletes are done, with a bit of rest on the docket before resuming training for the upcoming World Championships season. Lots of ups and downs this year, and I will spend some time talking about them as we head into the Fall training / road racing season. But the one area that I want to give a shout out to right away is to the athletes on the track above 400 meters. One of the things that I will have to…

Yes I know that the 2010 season isn’t quite done yet. But for my money it’s never too early to put a relay team together. Because one of the most important aspects of relay running is continuity and team togetherness – and that’s difficult to achieve when team members are practically making introductions prior to stepping on the track to compete! That’s why I think it’s time to start thinking about creating “national relay squads” that are selected and run together during the course of a couple of seasons or so – health and injuries permitting – as opposed to our antiquated system of selecting the first few men that…

After watching the Continental Cup this weekend, I am more convinced than ever that it’s time to move on with something else. Watching the meet the stands were very sparsely populated, and the sport had to have lost money on the event if attendance is any indication. Probably because it’s just difficult for paying patrons to get behind what is supposed to be a championship level event that is missing so many championship level athletes. And while I love the idea of bringing more of a team aspect to the sport, continental teams are just too broad for most people to truly feel connected with. Especially when the teams are…

This weekend will see the first rendition of the “Continental Cup”, which is simply a reworked version of the “World Cup”. At the time of it’s inception in 1977, the World Cup was a welcome sight on the track and field scene. After all, we only had one real championship of any kind on a global level – that being the quadrennial Olympic Games. And with only one championships every four years, the track and field community was starving for something that could be called a “Championship”. So the World Cup was the first institution to fill that void. At the time the concept/format made sense. There were basically two…

As is typical, there has been a lot of action in the men’s 100 meters this off season. Lots of PR’s and, with the exception of history’s three fastest on the clock, quite a few head to heads. The big race for many being this year’s Rieti meet where nearly everyone set a PR or seasonal best. So heading into the next trifecta of Major championships, just where do the sprinters sit with respect to each other? Well, as with the short relay, talk is already heating up regarding this topic, so I thought I would take my own shot at “ranking” the world’s current crop of sprinters. Plus, it…

Ahh the discussion about relays. Doesn’t matter who is in the race, relays always elicit a lot of conversation. Which is why they should be on meet schedules far more often than they are! Take the recent Weltklasse meet in Zurich. The US team in the race came away with a 37.45 – the 5th fastest time ever and #2 time for an American squad. Since then message board speculators have gone nuts – because, according to general message board logic, the assumption is that if that squad could run 37.45 then Jamaica has to be able to run much faster! So with each passing race and PR by an…

The Ivo van Damme meeting in Brussels marked the end of the Diamond League for 2010. And while it was the second half of the “finals” som,ehow the meet was not quite as exciting as I had anticipated. Especially in light of the Rieti meeting that followed. Perhaps it was the cool weather which seemed to keep most performances down a bit. But aside from a few events, the competition just seemed lacking. I will weigh in with my overall thoughts on the Diamond League in a later post, but there were a few highlights in Brussels. The Brussels track always seems to churn out fast 100’s and this year…

Friday will mark the end of the inaugural Diamond League with the Ivo van Damme meeting in Brussels. This meet will mark the second half of the “finals” that began in Zurich, with the final “Diamonds” being awarded. As in Zurich all the fields are loaded, so the events that follow are those that I expect may stand out a bit from the rest.   Men’s 100 WL: 9.78, Tyson Gay – USA Best Entry: 9.78, Tyson Gay – USA Tyson Gay has been the dominant 100 meter sprinter this year with wins over Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell as well as the world’s fastest time on the season. His…