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Listening to Masback talk about the Jerome Young case (and others) is a lot like listening to Bill Clinton being deposed. Rather than talk about the FACTS of the case/issue, the discussion centers on the LANGUAGE of the LAW/RULES. Lawyer-ese at its finest.
Until the sport of T&F/Road Running in the USA becomes a real business, run like a business, with the idea of making a profit we will be stuck with under-qualified & over-worked volunteers trying to handle the bulk of the problems. These volunteers will continue to resent the few paid USATF employees who have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding in their jobs. T&F/Distance running in the USA is trying to be half-pregnant (i.e. amateur vs pro, jogger vs elite). It's high time that the old guard give it up and we all move the sport into the 21st century.
Reading the comments coming out of the USOC these days (taking the USATF out to the woodshed) smacks of even move clowns on an ego/power trips. Keeping the government folks involved with this guarantees nothing but more/continuing bureaucracy and overblown egos focused on political posturing and positioning rather than on the sport/athletes.
The amatuer sports act of 1978 got this mess rolling and until that is totally blown up we are doomed to repeat the existing mess again and again.
The notion that T&F athletes (with very few exceptiions) can't make a decent living is disgusting to me. It's time that the athletes take matters into their own hands and band together to create positive changes for themselves and their sport. I'm not talking about unions and such crap. I'm talking about a calm, cool, levelheaded professional approach to overhaul and revamp the sport from top to bottom. Quick fixes and short term personal gain cannot drive this effort. Only a well thought out long term vision/road map can give the sport a fighting chance to succeed.
I have given up on the idea that the USATF/USOC and other such "governing bodies/national organizations" can reinvent themselves to get the job done right. It's time for a new beginning.
Call me naîve and/or idealistic, but I for one am sick of all talk and little action.
What do you think?
Until the sport of T&F/Road Running in the USA becomes a real business, run like a business, with the idea of making a profit we will be stuck with under-qualified & over-worked volunteers trying to handle the bulk of the problems. These volunteers will continue to resent the few paid USATF employees who have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding in their jobs. T&F/Distance running in the USA is trying to be half-pregnant (i.e. amateur vs pro, jogger vs elite). It's high time that the old guard give it up and we all move the sport into the 21st century.
Reading the comments coming out of the USOC these days (taking the USATF out to the woodshed) smacks of even move clowns on an ego/power trips. Keeping the government folks involved with this guarantees nothing but more/continuing bureaucracy and overblown egos focused on political posturing and positioning rather than on the sport/athletes.
The amatuer sports act of 1978 got this mess rolling and until that is totally blown up we are doomed to repeat the existing mess again and again.
The notion that T&F athletes (with very few exceptiions) can't make a decent living is disgusting to me. It's time that the athletes take matters into their own hands and band together to create positive changes for themselves and their sport. I'm not talking about unions and such crap. I'm talking about a calm, cool, levelheaded professional approach to overhaul and revamp the sport from top to bottom. Quick fixes and short term personal gain cannot drive this effort. Only a well thought out long term vision/road map can give the sport a fighting chance to succeed.
I have given up on the idea that the USATF/USOC and other such "governing bodies/national organizations" can reinvent themselves to get the job done right. It's time for a new beginning.
Call me naîve and/or idealistic, but I for one am sick of all talk and little action.
What do you think?
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