I believe Cowboy Bob is moving in the right direction with his thoughts! I might suggest that be a separate discussion because it would be a good one. Directors - five paid organizational positions - obviously COO, Communications, CFO, and Legal counsel are included -- Officials, Coaching, Road Running, Amateur (Youth, Master's, HS, Collegiate), Elite/Post Collegiate! This will make for a great discussion. Hmmm! Anyone else!
I'd like to see what USOC is thinking. I hope USOC decertifies USATF over this and gets Congress to re-write the law which created USATF.
Kevin Hanson would be my pick for a ton of reasons.
1. Ability to bring in top level sponsors.
Money is #1 and these guys always seem to have it. They pulled in Saturn when USATF couldn't get an automobile deal.
2. Not afraid to tell someone to F off.
They told NYRR that they didn't want their money when everyone else was tripping over themselves for a handout.
3. Understands how to run a business.
4. Involved in all aspects of the sport. Youth, Masters, Open and Pro's.
Our fellow Semitic bro is the best man for the job:
Kenneth Feinberg
Bob Kennedy.
I pray to God that Congress is more concerned about health care, social security, and our defense budget. Among other things.
bored of the boards wrote:
This post could be the start of a new thread.
Let us see some comments on this idea as a stand alone discussion.
Does Cowboy Bob want to start the topic with a new subject title?
Cowboy Bob wrote:A Possible Fix for USATF - Just one person's idea
1. Divide the organization into a minimum of four units each responsible to CEO, who is answerable to Board of Directors - as is the case with most businesses that are public.
2. Division consists of Yourth Sports, Masters, Amateur and Professional. Each unit will have a Director fully versed in that area of expertise. The only involvment in road running is collecting dues from those who race in RRC sponsored events. Let RRC be otherwise independent, they do a good job.
3. All Divisions under the auspices of USATF are accountable to CEO and adhere to principles and policies set up by CEO and Board of Directors.
Goals for each group
Youth Sports - participation - monies allocated to Youth Sports is primarily based on increases in participation within each "francise" be it state or area, if more than one youth :francise" in state (NoCal - SoCal). Directors develop standard programs based on principle that any activity taking longer than 1.5 hours is boring and takes away from developing the sport. (Note main competition is soccer, a sport where you don't see tents set up prior to games.
Masters and Amateur Participation and Competition- Create State Championships and Regional Championships that provides opportunities for Masters and Amateurs to compete in meaningful competition. No meet shall last longer than 3 hours, so meet organization is paramount. No prize money or gifts beyond $100 resulting in no need for expensive drug testing. Emphasis is on fun competition (think Sunday morning softball leagues).
Professional - Run by high profile individual with serious background in management of talent and meet management. Create a series of 6-10 meets around locales in US that appreciate track and field and have events where a minimum of 10-12 athletes compete at professional level. Accountability is based on attendance figures, with meet promoters being rewarded for increased attendance, and certain levels of attendance (10,000 - 20,000). Monetary purses for top 5 in those events that have a minimum of 10-12 legitimate competitors. This money is beyond any other funding an athlete gets. Limit number of events to keep meet short and interesting. Thus, meets should last no longer than 2 hours with event broadcast live or delayed tape within 24 hours. All meets will be posted live on webpage of USATF. Posting of winnings and performance listings by event of top 5 on a weekly basis. Create track and field categories (Sprints, Distance, Jumps, Throws) overall winner money winner in each category wins extra $100,000 at end of season.
The CEO does not have to be a major track and field personality, rather he or she needs to have been involved in Olympic sports of one kind or another that has grown over the past 10-20 years. This person is the policy maker, promoter, fund raiser and creater of ideas. Each Division head, however, needs to have expertise in their division. So, the goal should be that there is a hiring of a CEO and a hiring, under the guidance of the CEO and Board of Directors, of at least 4 Division leaders.
All answer to the Board of Directors, since the Board is the group that is elected to oversee all operations. However, the CEO has the autonomy and ability to move in new directions, with the Board's approval, to develop and grow USATF.
This is a quick version of some of my thoughts and ideas...
This is what happens when you have a lot of time on your hands....:-)
This does seem to be a good base for constructive conversation.
Road running DEFINITELY needs to be spun off. USATF is too unwieldy, and road running is a big part of that. The poster joking about the "7.5k road championships" is right, in a sense. Youth and Masters also ought to be its own division. I like the "road running, youth & masters, and track" model. My only worry about spinning them off is that they'd lose funding and be unable to secure sponsorship dollars (i.e. Pepsi might only sponsor road running, but not youth or masters running).
Ines Sainz as CEO would garner a lot more press coverage for USATF.
i'm surprised bobby knight isn't getting more mention. i remember when there was spculation he'd take the job before it was offered to logan. . . i was able to track this down online. . . .
"After Knight graduated from Ohio State and before he enlisted in the Army, it is well known that Knight got his start as a basketball coach at Cuyahoga Falls High/Middle School in Ohio. Little known is that Knight also was the middle school track coach at Cuyahoga. The star member of his middle school track team? Ohio's greatest distance runner, 1972 Olympic champion Dave Wottle. Wottle then was just a 12 year old who could run 2:06.
knight's remained a fan of the sport from whet i hear. . .
Bobby kisses no one's ass. They'd probably try to rid him in less than a year.
rojo wrote:
Shoebacca wrote:I vote Rojo for CEO. You might think I'm joking, but fewer people are as in-touch with the actual pulse of American interest in the sport. He has also shown a willingness to talk to everyone in the business and probably has a bigger network than most track and field people who have gone through life mostly concerned with their own career.
Thanks for the compliment but I want to officially state, "Not interested." Sadly, the $600,000 salary the job offers is just way too far below what I plan on making each of the next few years.
I'm pretty confident the big salaries football coaches get will soon spread to Ivy League cross country coaches.
holy shnikes! 600K+!!!!!!!!!!!
he for real?
Who cares? Little league and beer league softball don't get sponsors. Youth and Masters are great to have but shouldn't drain resources from the little available for elites.
Little League (WS) are shown on ESPN... when was the last Track Meet ;-)?
Stanhope wrote:
Little League (WS) are shown on ESPN... when was the last Track Meet ;-)?
ON ESPN? USATF Championships had coverage on both ESPN and NBC. The adidas Grand Prix and Prefontaine Classic were shown live on NBC (like previous years) and Weltklasse and Brussels were shown on tape delay on NBC.