I think it's time we except regular season track and field will never be popular.
This is the casebook example why.
If Bob Kersee can't get Sydney or Athing to show up to a meet he is promoting in their hometown, then certainly no one can force a high paid star to do anything. He's the meet promoter and would rather have them pull out with something "nothing serious" than run the meet as he knows damn well no one in 5 or 10 years will give a rats ass how some did in the LA Classic. They'll only care about Paris, PRs and possibly Budapest in terms of a body of work.
The regular season is meaningless. I guess we should just view it as like load management in the NBA. All athletes have to do is get in the playoffs. That's all that matters.
Hell USATF and World Athletics have stupidly made the same decision to prove that the regular season is meaningless as they don't even make Syd or Athing qualify for Worlds like all the other Americans.
Get rid of the bye. That would be a start.
Probably going to get roasted, but this is how I feel, and I like Syd, but I don't see why New Balance keeps her. Well, I know why they keep her, she's a World/Olympic champion with a WR and dumping her would be a PR nightmare, I get it, I'm not stupid, but they get nothing out of this deal. After she wins, she thanks God and not New Balance. Her Instagram doesn't even mention New Balance. Very few of her posts have her wearing New Balance - not a shoe, a sports bra, a hat - nothing. She barely has any running content on her IG and what little she does have is in her USA kit. She never races to give them visibility. Where's the upside for them? They could probably sponsor 10 solid athletes that will actually race and do well instead of one mega star Sydney that does nothing... but her nails.
Sorry Syd, but for real...
400 meters hurdles is not a popular event..pay her less
I think it's time we except regular season track and field will never be popular.
This is the casebook example why.
If Bob Kersee can't get Sydney or Athing to show up to a meet he is promoting in their hometown, then certainly no one can force a high paid star to do anything. He's the meet promoter and would rather have them pull out with something "nothing serious" than run the meet as he knows damn well no one in 5 or 10 years will give a rats ass how some did in the LA Classic. They'll only care about Paris, PRs and possibly Budapest in terms of a body of work.
The regular season is meaningless. I guess we should just view it as like load management in the NBA. All athletes have to do is get in the playoffs. That's all that matters.
Hell USATF and World Athletics have stupidly made the same decision to prove that the regular season is meaningless as they don't even make Syd or Athing qualify for Worlds like all the other Americans.
Get rid of the bye. That would be a start.
The funny part is that many athletes *do* care about the regular season. Witness Noah Lyles at NB Indoor Grand Prix, Monson last year nearly winning a DL, Omanyala at Kip Keino etc. The Jacobs-Kerley trash talk.
A few athletes and coaches transparently ruin it by thinking they are above anything but the championships. They are actually more the exception than the rule. It’s unfortunate they’re both American stars.
If Bob Kersee can't get Sydney or Athing to show up to a meet he is promoting in their hometown, then certainly no one can force a high paid star to do anything.
According to Sydney, this was Kersee’s decision. It sounds like she wants to run but Kersee won’t let her. Can you reach out to him and try to get an explanation for why he won’t let Sydney run?
I do wonder what would happen if she just went ahead and ran it against Bob’s advice? It’s like when I go out when my dad says not to, and then I get back he doesn’t do anything except maybe yell at me.
I can see SML running and losing early in the season and not being that bothered about it. Mu is probably more sensitive.
According to Sydney, this was Kersee’s decision. It sounds like she wants to run but Kersee won’t let her. Can you reach out to him and try to get an explanation for why he won’t let Sydney run?
She said the same thing in New York last year when Kersee pulled her at the last minute. Reporters asked what was wrong, expecting to hear that she tweaked something. Sydney offered nothing. She meekly said it's Bobby's decision and she does whatever he says.
Last year she was supposed to compete in Monaco and appeared in Diamond League promotions. Then she ended up sitting in the stands and yucking it up during the meet:
Sydney McLaughlin, the world record holder and world champion in the women's 400m, will make her first Wanda Diamond League appearance in three years at Herculis Monaco in August.
so who will be the next to withdraw from this meet? My money is on Hocker. He will do the press conference and then the night before or early in the am will announce he is withdrawing
We were told all last year how SML and Mu are the faces and the future of track in the USA. They are doing more to damage the sport then help it. Why should anyone put money into the sport there is no return for your investment with how so many of US athletes simply never compete
Hocker unlike McLaughlin and Mu is no big deal if he runs or not, he is not that level of Athlete that it significantly affects how many watch the meet on TV or Person.
I don't mean that in a bad way Hocker is Outstanding and still very young and 3:31.40 is a Superb Time. Just so few athletes bring in Fans Like Mondo, McLaughlin and to a lesser extent Mu
I do wonder what would happen if she just went ahead and ran it against Bob’s advice? It’s like when I go out when my dad says not to, and then I get back he doesn’t do anything except maybe yell at me.
I can see SML running and losing early in the season and not being that bothered about it. Mu is probably more sensitive.
If she did that He would tell her to find another Coach and then try to get FemKe Bol or Britton Wilson to try and beat her
I think it's time we except regular season track and field will never be popular.
This is the casebook example why.
If Bob Kersee can't get Sydney or Athing to show up to a meet he is promoting in their hometown, then certainly no one can force a high paid star to do anything. He's the meet promoter and would rather have them pull out with something "nothing serious" than run the meet as he knows damn well no one in 5 or 10 years will give a rats ass how some did in the LA Classic. They'll only care about Paris, PRs and possibly Budapest in terms of a body of work.
The regular season is meaningless. I guess we should just view it as like load management in the NBA. All athletes have to do is get in the playoffs. That's all that matters.
Hell USATF and World Athletics have stupidly made the same decision to prove that the regular season is meaningless as they don't even make Syd or Athing qualify for Worlds like all the other Americans.
Get rid of the bye. That would be a start.
They may have wanted to run, It was likely his decision not to run them, Didn't McLaughlin say it was The Coach's Decision?
I think it's time we except regular season track and field will never be popular.
This is the casebook example why.
If Bob Kersee can't get Sydney or Athing to show up to a meet he is promoting in their hometown, then certainly no one can force a high paid star to do anything. He's the meet promoter and would rather have them pull out with something "nothing serious" than run the meet as he knows damn well no one in 5 or 10 years will give a rats ass how some did in the LA Classic. They'll only care about Paris, PRs and possibly Budapest in terms of a body of work.
The regular season is meaningless. I guess we should just view it as like load management in the NBA. All athletes have to do is get in the playoffs. That's all that matters.
Hell USATF and World Athletics have stupidly made the same decision to prove that the regular season is meaningless as they don't even make Syd or Athing qualify for Worlds like all the other Americans.
Get rid of the bye. That would be a start.
No, load management in the NBA isn’t this bad. The best players still need to play a lot for the teams to make the playoffs. Also, they play because the owners and coaches and the players themselves know the fans want to see them. They honor their obligations as entertainers more often than not. In T&F it seems like many of the athletes and coaches have forgotten this fundamental fact, that they are in the entertainment industry. The sport can do much better to change the incentives to induce/coerce better participation in meets, but honestly, I think this shouldn’t be needed. If there’s disdain for the fans, the sport will continue to shrivel and then die. There’s really no inherent value in running fast if nobody is watching.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Yea - I don’t think load management in the NBA is anywhere near this bad. This would be like if the Lakers received a “bye” straight to the NBA finals and Lebron only had to play the series-clinching game.
Was looking forward to taking my daughters to Westwood to watch Syd and others run. Glad I didn’t buy tickets yet. Another wasted opportunity.
Until track and field has a system in place where you have to actually compete during the year to be relevant on the world stage our sport will never be respected. We can't expect to perform every four years and have a sport that thrives. The pros just want to run and hide from each other until they have to compete. Glad some of the American male sprinters are trying to change that
The reason why I love kenny B. He races, races, races, and STILL performs at the championship meets. He raced nonstop last season AFTER HE BROKE HIS FOOT and still took silver in a year which, quite frankly, he shouldn't have.
The only way to get athletes to regularly compete is to follow the tennis model. If you want to play the majors in tennis, you need to compete on the circuit to get a good enough ranking.
Track needs to adopt a version of that. Make it a rule that athletes have to have a regular season if they want to run at Worlds and the Olympics. Their entire value is predicated on their participation at those two events, if they don't compete at Worlds and Olympics, they won't have contracts or endorsements. World Athletics needs to restrict access to those big events to athletes who have competed regularly. What that means can be worked in, maybe it's done on ranking, maybe specify a minimum number of meets they have to run (the ATP requires players to compete at a minimum number of events at each level: 250, 500, 1000). The logistics of this are not insurmountable. Other sports do it well but track seems to have no interest in saving itself.
I think it's time we except regular season track and field will never be popular.
This is the casebook example why.
If Bob Kersee can't get Sydney or Athing to show up to a meet he is promoting in their hometown, then certainly no one can force a high paid star to do anything. He's the meet promoter and would rather have them pull out with something "nothing serious" than run the meet as he knows damn well no one in 5 or 10 years will give a rats ass how some did in the LA Classic. They'll only care about Paris, PRs and possibly Budapest in terms of a body of work.
The regular season is meaningless. I guess we should just view it as like load management in the NBA. All athletes have to do is get in the playoffs. That's all that matters.
Hell USATF and World Athletics have stupidly made the same decision to prove that the regular season is meaningless as they don't even make Syd or Athing qualify for Worlds like all the other Americans.
Get rid of the bye. That would be a start.
No, load management in the NBA isn’t this bad. The best players still need to play a lot for the teams to make the playoffs. Also, they play because the owners and coaches and the players themselves know the fans want to see them. They honor their obligations as entertainers more often than not. In T&F it seems like many of the athletes and coaches have forgotten this fundamental fact, that they are in the entertainment industry. The sport can do much better to change the incentives to induce/coerce better participation in meets, but honestly, I think this shouldn’t be needed. If there’s disdain for the fans, the sport will continue to shrivel and then die. There’s really no inherent value in running fast if nobody is watching.
Load management in the NBA makes some sense in a season that is 82 games long, not counting another 20+ or so games for teams making deep playoff runs. And considering some of the biggest stars are in their mid 30s. And you want guys like LeBron and Steph at their best when the playoffs start.
Also, the NBA does have rules. For example, teams are not permitted to rest healthy players during games broadcast on national TV, or during road games when there are not "unusual circumstances." The fine for breaking the national TV protocol is $100,000. The NBA is well aware it is a star-driven league and they need their stars as visible as possible. Hence, penalties for not talking to the media, etc.
The problem with T&F is that there is no overarching governing body with any real authority so athletes are only beholden to their sponsors and there is no one to take the interests of fans into account in a way that promotes the sport.
The only way to get athletes to regularly compete is to follow the tennis model. If you want to play the majors in tennis, you need to compete on the circuit to get a good enough ranking.
I was thinking something similar- the great thing about tennis is that you can watch some random no-name events and find big names getting in shape for larger events the following week. With this, you can follow one athlete pretty seamlessly throughout the year and get really invested in their performance. There are certain athletes who pop up regularly throughout the year at lots of meets and it's so much easier to root for them as you recognise them e.g. Laura Muir, Kenny Bednarek, Mondo. They will often admit they're not at their peak but they show up for the fans anyway e.g. Muir coming off an injury last year performed at a number of low level events to help get back in shape. She wasn't precious about only displaying her absolute season peak and a load of young fans got to see their hero in action because of it. If only everyone invested in the sport as much as they invested in themselves.
