Doug Logan in Trouble at USATF?!

Let's be honest - since Hightower (she is her name) took power USATF has been on a fast downward spiral. Coaches Education was the first big clue. Now Logan. I've allowed my membership to lapse and have put my money and efforts behind USTFCCCA.

Disaster wrote:

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.

Look, Track is NOT that exciting. To me, I love it. How did I get to love it? Because there was more opportunity for me in track than in my first love, soccer.

You think I'm rare in this? Galen Rupp, Andrew Wheating and Molly Beckwith follow the same path. All loved soccer above running and still love soccer despite being professional runners. Had I been given the opportunity to be a sub on an mls team over a 2nd tier pro runner, you bet I would have taken it, and I absolutely love running.

The fact is, a soccer game is a lot more exciting than a track meet unless you or your family are involved in the meet or you are one of the excentric track nuts.

That represents a drop in the bucket of the average american sports fan and its for obvious reasons.

Most americans don't want to pay a lot for expensive wine because it's too much of an investment for something they can't appreciate right away. The same goes for watching track.

I bet that Doug Logan's job is in trouble is because all he care about is the spirts and not about Track & Field as a whole. Also, I bet he didn't have a plan for the Field & Distance Events for the future at all and that he only cared about Sprint Events

1) You think Rupp would rather be a soccer player? Get real. You don't love running as much as you think you do.

2) It's "eccentric"

3) We're not trying to compete with the World Cup, or the NFL or MLB here. The problem is, as has been pointed out before, that track and field is very poorly managed, and is getting less exposure and popularity than things like NASCAR, drag racing, competitive eating, and other "fringe" sports. Track meets are boring because the TV production has been bungled year after year. It feels like watching a youth soccer game. Boring down-time, unprofessional announcing and presentation, etc. If track meets were produced, promoted, and organized with the professionalism and polish that goes into many other sports, we'd have a much larger fan base, more prestige, and would be able to fill stadiums outside of pisshole cities like Portland.

>Could it be possible that NYCRR are pissed enough about the marathon trials to get him ousted?

No.

LDR made the decision to go with the highest bid. Logan rubber stamped the decision.

In any case the USATF bid process has become a terrible source of controversy wrought with corruption, favoritism, and quid pro quo.

The bid process should be phased out and replaced by a rewards/incentive system common in corporate settings. It works this way. Each local USATF associations would pay a fixed amount to a championships pool. A national committee would decide the location of the championships based on many factors and use money from the pool for the championships. The money leftover from the championships pool plus any sponsor/licensing fees are paid to the local USATF Assn for each winner of the championships from their Assn.

The USATF sounds like a mess. If he took the position, how long would it last and how pleasant would it be?

Why is anyone surprised that Logan is under review? He came in from day one trying to shake things up, removed a handful of people from various positions of importance and put pressure on an organization that is reluctant to change. While that works for a little while, that approach tends to piss people off in the long run.

While Logan certainly hasn't been perfect over the past couple years, the majority of the blame for USATF's problems have to fall on the board of directors. USATF is an organization that took a step forward under Logan's watch, but took two steps backward because of the board of directors.

You can blame Logan for the poor attendance in Des Moines and the other large track and field meets in the U.S., but that isn't his main focus (especially meets that USATF doesn't directly own). Where Logan has failed is his ability to bring on new sponsors and grow USATF revenue, outside of the Nike deal. Money makes the world turn, and Logan's underperformance in that area hurts his position.

Furthermore, Logan's constant focus on the professional side of the sport, has caused him to miss opportunities in the other side of the organization, which is recreational running. The strong majority of USATF members are non-professional athletes. With such little focus on areas like youth T&F, masters T&F and road racing, USATF is continuing to miss their biggest opportunity to grow the sport as a whole (its visibility, its profitability, etc). Road racing is easily the biggest money area in our sport and USATF is missing the boat, which happens to be under Logan's watch.

While these aren't all the problems, there are two major areas of concern that have to be playing into this. I hope Logan gets a chance to finish the next two years on his contract, but I don't see him making the professional changes the board is asking him to make in only a month. His days seem numbered.

Not A factor wrote:

LDR made the decision to go with the highest bid. Logan rubber stamped the decision.

In any case the USATF bid process has become a terrible source of controversy wrought with corruption, favoritism, and quid pro quo.

The bid process should be phased out and replaced by a rewards/incentive system common in corporate settings. It works this way. Each local USATF associations would pay a fixed amount to a championships pool. A national committee would decide the location of the championships based on many factors and use money from the pool for the championships. The money leftover from the championships pool plus any sponsor/licensing fees are paid to the local USATF Assn for each winner of the championships from their Assn.

That's a good idea. It's mind blowing to me that USATF doesn't put on their own national championships. They could make a lot of money from hosting their own road race national championships, especially if they added a recreational runner side to the event. The fact that the largest races in the U.S. are multi-million dollar making events should show USATF that if they utilize their property properly, they can make their road racing branch of the company into a VERY lucrative piece of the business.

The future of track and field is not in recreational hobby jogging. It has a place in the sport - but pro running is track and field's bread and butter. While sponsors will inevitably drop some dollars wherever large numbers of people congregate - the hobby jogging marathons, road races or masters running does not make for good TV. Nobody wants to sit through those events as spectators. The future of T&F is with the pros and bringing the track meet into the 21 st century in terms of TV coverage and how the meets are staged and presented.

riley stops wrote:

Where Logan has failed is his ability to bring on new sponsors and grow USATF revenue, outside of the Nike deal. Money makes the world turn, and Logan's underperformance in that area hurts his position.

What were the sponsorship dollars when Logan took over? What are they now?

Well stated.

Until the USATF organization goes through a restructure which should include a total house cleaning it will just stumble along. Im not sure how this will happen as convention committees/attendees drive the vote internally. They are all trying to protect their turf and apply the scratch my back Ill scratch yours rules.

Its board has no relationship or pulse of whats driving the sport or hurting the sport.

No one is holding them accountable.

Here's the Board:

http://www.usatf.org/about/committees/BoardOfDirectors/

Other than Holman, Deena and Banks, what a bunch of lightweights. A lot (most) of the Board has zero background in high level TnF. What do Taylor, Dennis and Phillips bring to the table?

There's too many on the BoD. When you have that many it becomes 'design by committee' affair rather than 'results or face the consequences' type of BoD.

(2) media coverage -- Why was ESPN allowed to use announcers that had an embarrassing lack of even a basic knowledge of TnF?

I think TNF could take a page out of Cyclings book. Ive been watching the tour lately and Sherwen, Liggett, Roll, etc. are more than exceptional at how they broadcast. I mean each day they face a 4-5 hr time frame in which they have to constantly educate and entertain the viewing public on the happenings of the days stage. The TNF broadcasters cant even put together an educated statement during a 4 minute race. "oh there goes that guy around the last turn. Look at his kick!". WTF? Dwight Stone can kiss my white ass.

Too Many wrote:

There's too many on the BoD. When you have that many it becomes 'design by committee' affair rather than 'results or face the consequences' type of BoD.

Why does USATF even have a BoD? Do MLS, NASCAR, NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA, etc. have BoDs? I am under the impression that they don't. So much of the problem with Olympic sports these days are that they are set up like not-for-profit companies, even though they need to run and function like for-profit companies. A BoD slows down progress, especially when it's as tight gripped as USATF's BoD.

I feel for Logan. I think he has some very creative thoughts. I had a chance to talk with him for over a hour when he first took over and he definitely had some ideas that would push the sport forward, however, I am fearful that none of those ideas will ever come to fruition because of the BoD. Logan has a lot of flaws, but at least he's ambitious. I can't say the same for the USATF BoD.

Logan seems like a good guy....the problem is the WHOLE USATF system...You want a major market?? Move the office to NYC or Chicago or LA...Also the void between volunteers and those who are paid in USATF is huge, which creates resentment!

Finally, marketing, marketing, marketing....they truly need an impressario-type like Fred Lebow!!

Word on the street is that several female distance runners complained that Logan acted inappropriately with them, inviting them to dinner and his room.

word on the street wrote:

Word on the street is that several female distance runners complained that Logan acted inappropriately with them, inviting them to dinner and his room.

So where is the scandal with that? It would only be a scandal if it were male distance runners who made the complaints.