Nick,
Get a LAWYER now. Then have that lawyer contact all necessary parties and threaten a lawsuit and all the nasty publicity that comes with it. Also, don't forget to mention those who have scratched from the 10,000. You're giving up too easy.
The rest of us should call that cell phone number and express our opinion... LOUDLY.
Nick End wrote:
Hey guys,
Thanks for the support. My coach and athletic director both tried extremely hard to get me in. They both offered to pay for my trip but the NCAA just won't let me run. We've talked to all the people in the NCAA with the power to fix it but none of them will do anything because they followed the rules. It's alarming that the NCAA admits that this sort of thing happens all the time. If it is happening that often then they should change things to help prevent these situations.
Nick
That's total garbage, man. If it were me, I'd be breaking an awful lot of stuff right now. You busted your ass for four years - you deserve it.
Well, the best way to get stuff done is through the press. There is no publicity like bad publicity. Send e-mails to the fellow runners in the meet. The boycott is a great idea.
E-mail local news stations, papers, along with larger national ones. Tell your story. Tell the NCAA you are going to do that. But don't just tell them. Do it. If it gets publicized it will force change. They don't want the bad reputation.
I'm sure some letsrun posters would help write a press release for you...
There you go! Did anyone else get roped into seeing the movie Stick It? Basically the gymnasts "took over" an event after some bogus scoring by a judge. They determined who would win each event by having everyone else scratch. Is the 10,000 the first event? If you could get everyone to protest and make it known the rest of the meet would go the same way, maybe they'd listen. Fantasy, I know but that would be wicked.
I've had a couple sports attorneys look into the legal route and there isn't anything we can do because the NCAA followed their own outrageous rules. I just read about Ludwig and this is getting pretty ridiculous. The NCAA seems to be screwing a lot of people over these days.
Nick
Maybe I'm biased because I'm Nick's teammate. But I agree with this 100%. If Nick is reading this message now, I hope he decides to make whatever noise he can about this. The NCAA supposedly exists to serve athletes. If they come to act opposite to that goal -- which is exactly what they're doing now -- they deserve to look like fools, at the very least.I hope that the other 10,000m runners will do exactly what the poster quoted below called for -- not just for my teammate, but for what is right to do."Sometimes authority needs to be challenged." Indeed.Daniel GordonCarnegie Mellon University
10,000m wrote:
I just want to say as a former college coach and one who has had to battle a few times with the NCAA, the college system, etc. it's time for the athletes and coaches to take the sport back.
I can tell you the very thing that would set a standard and show what the sport is all about.
I would strongly urge the young men who are running in the 10,000m to not start the race unless Nick End is allowed to start. I promise they will not hold the meet up because it will such a black eye.
Sometimes authority needs to be challenged.
We are people, we are the athletes and coaches who work to make the sport go on. Nick end ran 30:38 and rightfully qualified to be in this race. That is the bottom line and I promise that each of those other young men in the 10,000m field feel the same way.
Distance runners are a hard core breed and I think these guys have the guts to stand against the NCAA and only run this race if Nick is allowed to start.
Who cares if the NCAA recognizes it or not, the race is not for them is it?
It's a complete crime if the NCAA gets away with this.
not that it matters... wrote:
Nick,
Get a LAWYER now. Then have that lawyer contact all necessary parties and threaten a lawsuit and all the nasty publicity that comes with it. Also, don't forget to mention those who have scratched from the 10,000. You're giving up too easy.
The rest of us should call that cell phone number and express our opinion... LOUDLY.
While I don't agree with the fact that Nick is not being allowed to run, what good is a lawyer going to do at this point. The bottom line is that the NCAA is correct in the fact that this is their meet, they make the rules for the meet and the coach did not follow the rules. Case closed. Should the NCAA make exceptions to some of these rules, such as what is happening here? Absolutely; I think most of us agree with that. But it is the thought of lawsuits and lawyers that make the NCAA end up being such hard asses about these kinds of situations, which there are a lot more of than people realize. They do not want to make an exception and allow one runner to compete this year, no matter how logical it may seem, and then have another situation in a subsequent year where they don't allow him to compete because the case wasn't as logical as this one and then the lawyers would have a case. By sticking with their guns and saying, we are following the rules, they are in essence covering their butts for future situations.
To those that think this has anything to do with the cost of getting Nick to the meet, that is laughable. The NCAA has so much money and this is not a factor at all in this situation.
The bottom line is that this really sucks for Nick as it does for Steve Ludwig at Parkside, for those that are follwing that case as well.
This whole thing is disgusting. I despise organizations that are directed like this.
Daniel Gordon wrote:
Maybe I'm biased because I'm Nick's teammate. But I agree with this 100%. If Nick is reading this message now, I hope he decides to make whatever noise he can about this. The NCAA supposedly exists to serve athletes. If they come to act opposite to that goal -- which is exactly what they're doing now -- they deserve to look like fools, at the very least.
I hope that the other 10,000m runners will do exactly what the poster quoted below called for -- not just for my teammate, but for what is right to do.
"Sometimes authority needs to be challenged." Indeed.
Daniel Gordon
Carnegie Mellon University
10,000m wrote:I just want to say as a former college coach and one who has had to battle a few times with the NCAA, the college system, etc. it's time for the athletes and coaches to take the sport back.
I can tell you the very thing that would set a standard and show what the sport is all about.
I would strongly urge the young men who are running in the 10,000m to not start the race unless Nick End is allowed to start. I promise they will not hold the meet up because it will such a black eye.
Sometimes authority needs to be challenged.
We are people, we are the athletes and coaches who work to make the sport go on. Nick end ran 30:38 and rightfully qualified to be in this race. That is the bottom line and I promise that each of those other young men in the 10,000m field feel the same way.
Distance runners are a hard core breed and I think these guys have the guts to stand against the NCAA and only run this race if Nick is allowed to start.
Who cares if the NCAA recognizes it or not, the race is not for them is it?
It's a complete crime if the NCAA gets away with this.
No doubt. You stick up for your teammates, that's what it's all about. Nick, if you need anything, I've got your back too.
Do something!
Wejo, couldn't you post the cell phone number and e-mail address on the front page, to catch more attention?
It looks to me like the person on the Division 3 M&W Track & Field Committee from Nick's region is
Jon D. Cutright, Coach from Juniata College
His e-mail address is:
I SAY START SENDING E-MAILS IF YOU WANT TO HELP OUT!!!!!
Hoovis
------------------------------------------------
Division III Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee
Legislation: Eight members total, including six members on common rules committee. Of eight, must have two men, two women and one member from each Division III track and field region (Atlantic, New England, MidEast, South/Southeast, Great Lakes, MidWest, Central, West). Four members must represent men's track and four must represent women's track. Quota of 25 percent administrators: 2.
Liaisons: Kristin Steckmesser, Heather D. Perry
Chair: Joshua Payne (Sep 2005 - Sep 2007)
(W) WEST REGION
Coach Troy Engle
Occidental College Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conf. SEP 2006
(W) GREAT LAKES REGION
Head Men's & Women's Track and CC Coach Joshua Payne
Hanover College Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference SEP 2007
(M) MIDWEST REGION
Head Men's T&F Coach/AD of Facilities Mark Guthrie
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference SEP 2007
Head Mens/Womens Cross Country/Track Jon D. Cutright
Juniata College Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corp. SEP 2009
Head Track and Field Coach Seth D. McGuffin
Eastern Mennonite University Old Dominion Athletic Conf. SEP 2008
SWA, Assoc. Director of Athletics Vanessa Seljeskog
Macalester College Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference SEP 2008
Women's Cross Country Coach Ned Bishop
Connecticut College New England Small College Athletic Conference SEP 2009
Here's a rule: get your entries in early to avoid these mistakes. It is a bummer though. Find a nice road race some where and crank one out and win some $$ and then get drunk
I just sent an email to the Mr. Cutright and I would encourage everyone to do the same. I competed at the DIII national meet 2 years ago and although I might have had a different perspective then, I hope that I would've done everything possible to help out a fellow DIII runner...boycott if necessary. I hope the coaches and the athletes put themselves in Nick's shoes and search within themselves for what they feel is the right thing to do (whatever that may be). The NCAA is not God and this ruling is complete BS.
Call Kristin Steckmesser... her cell is on page 3 of this thread.
Bureaucratic constipation... gotta love the NCAA and the USATF. They could give a $hit about the athletes. Why not just let the athletes govern themselves and have a neutral mediator that can be deferred to when arbitration is actually required.
not that it matters... wrote:
Call Kristin Steckmesser... her cell is on page 3 of this thread.
317/966-6441
I'm sure the North Central College guys (right down the street from Benedictine) are having some kind of race over the weekend (maybe nude mile relays too?). Go stay with them and at least get a couple good long runs in.
I am going to write an article/OpEd piece for the papers -- the college paper at Benedictine College and the Indianapolis paper. I think I'll try and position this as a bigger piece not just about Nick but about how this apparently "happens all of the time."
So, if you know of actual instances that I can verify where athletes have been "cut out" of NCAA Championships (track and others) because of clerical errors...I would very much appreciate you posting them on here or e-mailing me:
matthew_fleckenstein@yahoo.com
Thanks.
Hoovis
not that it matters... wrote:
not that it matters... wrote:Call Kristin Steckmesser... her cell is on page 3 of this thread.
317/966-6441
No answer yet. Someone is going to have to answer eventually.
I know it is the last thing you want to hear now, but...sorry to see that happen bud. You had a great season. If anything, let this fuel your post-collegiate running career.