Doug Logan in Trouble at USATF?!

He was in charge of the USATF Nats in Des Moines and that was an unmitigated disaster.

He should be fired for losing the exposure of Boston & NYC to Houston. Some times its not the money, it's about exposure and those cities allow for the best exposure.

It's like the NHL, they get money for playing on Versus TV, but they'd do better by playong ESPN for free because fo the exposure they'd receive.

Sports are entertainment and you need to get as many eyes on the product as possible.

Disaster wrote:

Adidas/MtHood was good in the early days but as all meets in Oregon it's in the middle of nowhere where there is a small population base. Adidas needs major media to sell products. There's none of that in out-of-the way Oregon. Adidas wanted big crowds in a big city but they picked Carson after AEG showed the the world class Home Depot Soccer and Tennis stadiums. But AEG tricked Wetmore and never finished the stadium. It's still under construction with temporary bleacher seats and no plumbing. Next he Adidas moves to Ichan and Wetmore finds out he's tricked again. The stadium is build in a sewage dump. It stinks bad there. Only crazy Jamaicans will show up.

Challenging some of your assertions here:

Adidas in the early days was at Lewis & Clark College in Portland first, then moved to Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham (suburb of Portland, and closer to the airport).

Portland is not "in the middle of nowhere" at all - major airport (which is currently the top rated airport in the US) and freeways - it's very easy to get in and out of (if it ain't rush hour)

I'm betting that it got moved out of Oregon due to three factors - 1) Pre Classic dominates - so why not "share the love"; and 2) Not enough appreciation for sprinters who want to go to hot weather to run...; and 3) adidas inability to compete with a Nike event in their own backyard.

Small population base? 1.5M isn't considered small...mid market sure, but not small - and it's a population that's known to fill seats for track meets that are properly promoted.

Adidas North America is headquartered in Portland...as mentioned earlier. So, I doubt adidas would put themselves in "the middle of nowhere" where there is a "small population base"....

Your anti-Oregon bias is showing through again... and I'll be the first to admit that I'm a born/raised/employed Oregon guy (not a Duck though) and am biased - but I'm just stating facts here.

Angry Young Man wrote:

He was in charge of the USATF Nats in Des Moines and that was an unmitigated disaster.

In what was was Logan in charge of USATF Nats and how was it an unmitigated disaster?

My understanding is that the venue was chosen before Logan was hired.

I understand that a log of athletes did not show up. That is because there is no Olympics or WC to qualify for. Not sure how that falls at Logan's feet. Can you name specific things you did or didn't do to ensure the event's success?

Was the agent with too much pull Mark Wetmore? I heard this complaint from about a dozen agents.

The site may have been chosen before he took over but everything that went on during the meet was under his watch. Here are a few specific items that he failed miserably on:

(1) attendance -- what kind of promoting and publicity was done that generated 1000 people to show up in a place that isn't exactly filled with alternative options? I'll give you a hint: none.

(2) media coverage -- why was ESPN allowed to pick and choose what was shown and allowed to show taped highlights of field events while distances events were being run? Why was online streaming coverage blacked out when ESPN was live if ESPN was allowed to skip showing most/all of races at its whim? Why was ESPN allowed to use announcers that had an embarrassing lack of even a basic knowledge of TnF? Why was ESPN allowed to completely drop all coverage (including a live 5000M final) to show 3 guys talking about a potential no hitter?

He's in charge so he's responsible for the above. If he were doing his job, most/all of the above would not have happened. What parts of Des Moines were you happy with?

Ok , nice points.

Lets get to bare bones.

- Logan was not qualified for this job.

- Selection committee was not qualified to select a CEO

- Head hunter that gave candidates was not qualified

- USTAF is not connected or in touch with the sport of running or track ( look at positive growth numbers in running events , high school track & xc ) they have nothing to do with it , period.

- Hightower is a dangerous underhanded , back stabbing incompetent surrounding herself with her posse of friends as staff.

- Logan is an easy target to take down

- Hightower and staff should be investigated and audited , be made accountable for job descriptions , travel and related expenses.

- USTAF needs a complete restructure and overhaul to a become a viable component for the growth and development of track and field.

What irks me is that Logan thinks of numbers like 12k at Hayward, or Mt Hood numbers, are a success. Our sport needs 100k like NASCAR gets, or 50k like NHRA gets, or high ratings like MLE Hot Dog eating gets. Small little pisshole towns like Portland and Eugene are sinkholes. We need a CEO that will take us out of dead cemeteries like Fayetteville, Gresham, Carson, Austin, Flushing Meadows, Des Moines, Albuquerque, Eugene, etc. and take us to the next level. That's what we deserve.

Angry Young Man wrote:

(1) attendance -- what kind of promoting and publicity was done that generated 1000 people to show up in a place that isn't exactly filled with alternative options? I'll give you a hint: none.

(2) media coverage -- why was ESPN allowed to pick and choose what was shown and allowed to show taped highlights of field events while distances events were being run? Why was online streaming coverage blacked out when ESPN was live if ESPN was allowed to skip showing most/all of races at its whim? Why was ESPN allowed to use announcers that had an embarrassing lack of even a basic knowledge of TnF? Why was ESPN allowed to completely drop all coverage (including a live 5000M final) to show 3 guys talking about a potential no hitter?

If those are your reasons you think Doug Logan should be fired I think you are just really off base. There very well may be legitimate reasons but the TV announcers from USATF coverage on ESPN will not be one of them.

As for #1, not 1000 people showed up. It's not like someone audits attendance figures but official attendance in 2009 with all the top stars was 38,451 which was bigger than the 32,048 fans in Des Moines. One could have to assume Eugene attendance would have dropped this year and not been close to what Des Moines was.

Read more:

As for #2, there were 4 days of live coverage on ESPN of USATFs in a year most people did not care about. Pretty good if you ask me. TV always trumps online coverage. As for the announcers, weren't they Ato Boldon who knows a ton about track and field and Larry Rawson who has been involved with the sport for 50 years? You can complain all you want but to say these are reasons Logan should be fired are crazy.

We should move on because we need higher numbers at every level. It isn't Des Moines fault, nor Eugene's. Those guys are fine. I went to all the top meets at both locations this year. We should move on because we want a CEO that is aggressively seeking NFL / MLB type numbers, multiple major $B sponsors, primo venues in top metropolitan areas, and is transforming the organization into a media organization with major offices in New York and Hollywood. That's not happening.

I didn't say that he should be fired just for those reasons -- I was responding to someone who asked what was wrong with Des Moines.

Someone should audit the announced attendance figures because they are completely fictitious. We are supposed to believe that they AVERAGED over 8000 people/day over 4 days when we know that there were at most 1000 people there on Thursday and Friday?

Why was the IAAF NYSL meet held at a Sewage Dump ? Why is 14k at the PreSL meets considered a success when even HS track meets and Single A baseball games get more than that ? Why was the Adidas Carson meet held at an stadium under construction with no facilities ? Etc. Etc. These are the questions that should be raised at Doug Logan's performance review.

Disaster wrote:

Why was the IAAF NYSL meet held at a Sewage Dump ? Why is 14k at the PreSL meets considered a success when even HS track meets and Single A baseball games get more than that ? Why was the Adidas Carson meet held at an stadium under construction with no facilities ? Etc. Etc. These are the questions that should be raised at Doug Logan's performance review.

Sounds like you are blaming Doug Logan because track and field does not measure up to professional football or baseball. It is fair to ask about what he is doing to improve track and field, it is not fair to compare the present state to some fantasy world where you would like track to be.

I don't think where the meets are held falls under his jurisdiction. Those are put on by private meet promoters, I believe.

Blame ? it's not about blame. It's about where we are going as a sport. It's about where the CEO is taking us in the global media world. If numbers are not increased in any business the CEO is canned, with the exception of the mortuary/undertaking business. I don't see any business numbers increasing (except of course the number of USA T&F medals won at Outdoor WC and Olys). Maybe if Logan can show solid negotiations in progress with $B sponsors, gov'ts, and broadcast TV networks then he'll survive. Then he'll have to close the deals to survive next year's personnel review.

Again, if a main part of his job (and I think it is) is to sign sponsor deals and increase sponsorship of Track and Field then I think it is more than fair to hold him accountable and review him on that criteria. Not sure I feel the same way about attendance at USATF. Sure, I'd like it to be more.

Growing revenue was an area that Masback was spectacularly successful in. What has revenue done under Logan? Has it declined? continued to increase? Held it's own (which I think would be pretty good given the economy)?

We have such a fantastic sport we deserve better. We want a CEO who reflects that enthusiasm, who will get us on prime time TV, get world class venues in the top 10 metro markets, and multiple $B sponsors. We want to be a major league sport. Masback was not hired to do that and he didn't have the contacts. Nobody ever blamed Masback for not taking us to prime time. But Logan was specifically chosen because of his MLS success and Hollywood/NY Media contacts. He hasn't shown us anything thus far. It may be time to move on.

one of my friends is the account exec of a USATF sponsor. There aren't that many, so do your best to narrow it down.

Anyway, he has tried to call Doug Logan 10 times without a call back. Is this the way USATF treats sponsors? What's even funnier is that for the past 6 months he says he's been wanting to GIVE more money to USATF in terms of a grant or something...and Mr. Logan is so busy he can't call one of the key sponsors.

Also funny to note (which I don't think anyone has mentioned) is that Mr. Logan doesn't even live in Indianapolis. Hard to manage an organization when you're thousands of miles away, I would think.

Good riddance.

If true, you account is very damning.

Maybe if there was one solid deal in the works then that would save his skin. But 2 years is a lifetime in the internet age. We're not alone in this world. Our sport is competing with X-Games, UFC, MLE Hot Dog Eating, MMA, Girls/Boys Club Volleyball, BMX, and now NCAA Sand Volleyball is emerging at D-I schools. Those sports are aggressively trying to beat us down and take our kids and fans. It will be a judgement call for the board to decide. It's not like he will be held personally or criminally liable or anything remotely punitive. If the decision is made by the board to move on, I hope he will be allowed to make the announcement himself.