Dwight Phillips vs. Lauren Fleshman and Nick Symmonds on Twitter

Dwight Phillips is a very young and an inexperienced businessman and lacks the professionalism needed for the sport. He should have not been given the position he is in. Whoever gave him this position is responsible (USATF or some insider?) His comments on twitter document his incompetence. He should be removed from his position.

JasonHoward wrote:

Dwight Phillips is a very young and an inexperienced businessman and lacks the professionalism needed for the sport. He should have not been given the position he is in. Whoever gave him this position is responsible (USATF or some insider?) His comments on twitter document his incompetence. He should be removed from his position.

He was elected by his peers and they are basically the only people that can "fire" him.

Do like I say or else wrote:

DP get perks like free travel, Olympics V.I.P. credentials, 1st Class Airfare, etc. the same as many "volunteers" have in the past at USATF. That's the problem. For that he has to obey Jill Geer, Max Siegal, and Stephanie Hightower otherwise he;ll be dropped.

How is the AAC elected? Are they elected by the athletes or appointed by the board. Does anyone know that process or have a link to those rules(I can't find that info online)?

It looks like all of the members of the committee are retired or at the very tail end of their careers. Also the athletes on the board like Patton are retired. It would be nice to have more current leadership.

Also as a side the back and forth between Rizzo and Dwight show just how stupid it is for the same organization to cover track and field and road racing. As a field events guy Dwight is going to know nothing about road racing, not his fault. So why is this same organization representing the athletes at the OT Marathon. Road Racing should be a completely separate entity, I know it's not because the IAAF covers it.

In sum, this is not a proud moment for Dwight. And rather than just cut his loses on Twitter, he kept compounding them.

Couldn't help but notice that Kuai company appears to be a bunch of racists. All of the models are white. No diversity Mr. Phillips on your own company.

There's no SUFFRAGE at USATF. We can't vote by US Mail, iPhone App, or Firefox Browser.

Phillips is losing it. Wait, no. He lost it

It's really aggravating me that Dwight cares what the racial makeup of Brooks is.

Personally, when I look at black people, I see people.

When I look at white people, I see people.

Only a racist sees color / lack of color / race.

The fact that Dwight sees in color, and wants to change the colors he sees, makes me think less of him.

True racial equality happens when we all stop seeing skin color at all.

Primo Numero Uno wrote:

How is the AAC elected? Are they elected by the athletes or appointed by the board. Does anyone know that process or have a link to those rules(I can't find that info online)?

It looks like all of the members of the committee are retired or at the very tail end of their careers. Also the athletes on the board like Patton are retired. It would be nice to have more current leadership.

AAC leadership is elected by the athletes who attend the Annual Meeting and are eligible to vote. There are two criteria to be eligible to vote, and I'm going to butcher them if I try to explain... but basically you have to be good to vote, it's not just any hobby jogger who can show up and vote. If you make a World/Olympic/Pan Am type team you are eligible for 10 years, I think if you place high at USAs you have a shorter time you are eligible to vote.

But apparently you can be an AAC officer past that 10 year time. I don't think AAC bylaws are published online.

Most of the event leaders are active or recently retired athletes. Not all of the athletes on the USATF Board of Directors are retired, Michelle Carter won the Gold Medal at World Indoors and set an American Record on Saturday night AND still made it to the USATF Board of Directors meeting the next morning.

Being an AAC Officer is a big time commitment, and you end up spending a lot of emotional energy on it. It's a lot for active athletes at the prime of their careers to do. That's why you see mostly athletes near the end of their careers and recently retired athletes. And honestly, that's why there are AAC officers who may not be considered 10 year athletes anymore, usually no one else runs for those positions.

I'm not an AAC member, but I have sat in on a number of their elections over the years.

C. Athletes Advisory Committee:

1. Duties and responsibilities: The committee shall:

a. Policy advice: Serve as a source of reference, opinion, and advice to the officers, CEO, National Office

Management, Board, and all national and Association committees about current or contemplated USATF

policies and all matters relating to athletes and athletes’ rights;

b. Athlete representatives: Appoint, elect, or oversee the election or appointment of athletes’ representatives

to USATF committees or subcommittees when authorized by these Bylaws and the Operating Regulations;

c. Participation in governance: Encourage and foster the representation and active participation of athletes at

the meetings of USATF, its Board, and its committees, and at all other levels of decision-making within USATF

and in Athletics;

d. Meetings: Conduct meetings of the Active Athlete delegates and other Active Athlete attendees at the annual

meetings of USATF; and

e. Performance: Assist athletes in achieving maximum performance in Athletics competition.

2. Elections: The committee, except for its at-large athletes, shall be elected at the annual meeting in the year in

which the Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to be held by the International Athlete representatives to

USATF. Its at-large members shall be elected by the other members of the committee.

3. Officers: The committee shall elect its chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer. The officers shall constitute the

executive committee of the AAC. No person shall serve as chair or vice chair for more than eight consecutive

years without a period of at least two years away from that position.

4. Financial assistance to meetings: When funding is available, USATF shall pay for the committee members'

transportation and lodging for USATF meetings. USATF shall pay these expenses for the International Athlete

members for Nominating and Governance Panel and USATF meetings, and for the International Athlete Board

members for Board and USATF meetings.

5. Makeup: The committee shall consist of one (1) male and one (1) female Active Athlete in each of the following

categories:

a. Sprints;

b. Hurdles;

c. Multi-event (Heptathlon for women, Decathlon for men);

d. Distances of 800 meters through 1500 meters;

e. Distances of over 1500 meters to 10,000 meters;

f. Road racing and cross country;

g. Throws;

h. Horizontal jumps;

i. Vertical jumps;

j. Race walking; and

k. At-large (active or inactive) athletes.

NOTE: Only athletes with current USATF athlete memberships may be elected to the AAC, hold office, or vote.

come on guys wrote:

Unless I'm missing some context, that exchange between Phillips and Fleshman doesn't seem to make any sense. What in the world is he talking about???

May be just me, but I think the timing of this and the "leak" of the racist email attack on Max Siegel is coordinated? Is there a defensive move by some to proactively call out racism ... I don't know, as a defense mechanism or a weapon? is it possible we will see some future rumors that the Siegel emails are rumored to come from some political opponent. Could this be a theme for 2016 - if you want Dennis Mitchell removed from relay coach, you are racist? If you challenge claims or decison my the USATF office, you are racist?