This could become a major story, and a very negative one at that. Our sport has been ashamed of all the drug busts over the past handful of years, but now it seems that corruption might be jumping from our athletes to our governing body.
USATF has always been corrupt. The Men's trials awarded to New York were not above board either. Just wait and watch some of the names that come up in this. USATF thinks that if someone doesn't receive a cash payment, that bribes are non existent. They are wrong.
"intent to file a grievance"
Who are they filing a grievance with?
Anyone know Monsoor's e-mail? I want to send him a message of support
This is awesome news, the selection process was a complete sham. GO PA-USATF, John Mansoor, Thom Trimble, etc.
huhwhat? wrote:
Anyone know Monsoor's e-mail? I want to send him a message of support
The guy has never had a publicly available e-mail address. Doesn't want to be bothered, which says just about all you need to know about him. But you can send one to Heike.
Makes sense. Sacto is pissed at the quid pro quo between the People's Republic of China and USATF. I wonder if the Southern California Association will file a separate lawsuit as well.
Try these email addresses. He'll get it.
Interesting...I predict lots of foot-stomping and whines of "But it's not fair" from the USATF.
Is the USATF's award to Eugene without any bids shady? Yes, of course it is. But from a legal standpoint, I fail to see how the PA has a leg to stand on. The USATF is under no legal obligation to open the site selection process to outside bids. I just wonder what exactly the PA will be suing for. We'll see how this plays out.
heres what is going on...
usatf sucks- lags behind in all areas. masback allies with nike- secures the next 5 years of usatf champs at eugene, leaves usatf to run usatf from a nike position.
usatf will be a wealthier organization for doing this, but is it right?
All of the USATF associations have different levels of outrage over Masbacks dealings and are in the midst of legal action. The replacement CEO search has met a dead-end as no candidate wants to assume the helm. PAUSATF is only the first in a series of major filings and headlines. I predict the meets awarded to Eugene post 2008 will be cancelled by USATF and an open bid processs started.
Screw all of you. What is the big problem about giving it to Eugene? It is track town USA. Everyone is wanting to bring USA track and field back to its glory days, and when was it in its glory days? Back in the 70's. And where were those championships held? Oh Eugene that is right. So just leave it alone. It is going to be good, so don't try and ruin a good thing.
The glory days are today. Team USA won 26 medals at Osaka 2007 WC, 25 medals at 2007 Helsinki WC. The most ever. The USA has never had a stronger track team. It's nice what Eugene is doing and I'll be at the OT and look forward to it, but as you can see we don't need Eugene to resurrect T&F.
'Screw all of you' and 'Back in the 70's' is not particularly persuasive.
Don't get me wrong. Track meets in Eugene are where it's at.
Therein lies the rub. The 'big problem' is the failure of USATF to measurably develop interest in the sport of track & field in any other region in the United States.
The failure here is the lack of principle in which the trials and national championships (2009, 2011, 2012) were awarded to Eugene without peer review and without an open bidding process by other viable TnF venues. Are there no other viable TnF venues in the United States? Well hosting the next three of four major championships is not going to resolve that dilemma.
The failure is the lack of integrity with which Craig Masback drove the ship that awarded these trials to Eugene (without outside review) then jumped ship from USATF into a cozy golden parachute position at NIKE. Sure, the I got mine, you get yours logic might prevail but it is a disservice to the sport in the rest of the country.
The failure, if John Mansoor's inference is correct, is that the Internal Revenue Service is going to start digging into USATF and potentially NIKE, and this could open up an epic can of worms that no one needs.
The failure is that with the narrow centralization of track & field into one niche market that is already thriving, casual fan interest (what track & field needs in order to gain credibility and sustainability) will continue to wither in all other areas of the country, simply due to a lack of exposure and subsequent interest. Track and field will be worshipped in Eugene, and ignored everywhere else.
Sorry but I don't see this is a win-win situation. Eugene wins, everyone else gets the short end of things. I support and applaud John Mansoor's efforts. He may not get anywhere but he has shown us some grit.
This whole situation is a classic case of two monkeys humping a doorknob:
USATF: I think it's pretty clear that Eugene is the best place in the country to have a track meet. All USATF had to do was open the bid process and let Eugene win on its own merits, which it could have and would have without a problem. Instead they go behind closed doors and open themselves up to some legal attacks. If these legal procedures work, one thing will definitely happen - Eugene will lose the meets, or at the very least the process will be opened up again and Eugene will end up with fewer meets than they have now. This is a huge loss for the people that really matter - the athletes.
Nike: A lot of UO alums love their alma mater and want it to be a distance running power again. They want Eugene to have that vibe and be a running town again. That's awesome. Unfortunately, instead of letting it happen organically (which is why it was cool in the first place), they forced it. It takes a lot more than cash from Knight, Salazar, Hollister, Hatfield, et. al. for track to be "back." Toss in all the groupies from Beaverton who didn't actually go to UO but figure since the boss did they better become huge Duck fans, maybe they'll get promoted, and Eugene is a bloated, green plastic version of what it was and what it could be. Eugene is the puppy and Nike is Lennie. I feel bad for the half-dozen or so people in that company who aren't complete buffoons.
Happy to hear about it. We need a level playing field for the sport and the corruption exposed. PAUSATF is doing that for us. This is only the beginning. The IRS and litigation will expose the dirt and we can finally see the payoffs. The meets after 2009 are most likely cancelled now.
Some one should ask Mansoor how this is different than when USATF gave Sacremento the 2004 Trials by way of a business deal. He was not complaining then. If the thinks that will not come up during the hearing he and McCasey are kidding himself
That's not true Sacramento won a fair and square bidding process as did Eugene in 2008. The way 2009, 2011, 2012 were awarded has very different parameters.
For the sake of argument, if the Trials and championships are being divvied up by way of back door business deals it needs to stop. Why not make an example out of smug Nike and Eugene since this was such blatant hypocrisy?
They always settle out of court. Neither USATF nor PAUSATF has the funds for prolonged litigation. Nike and Oregon don't want the bad press, dirty laundry, etc., that a drawn out litigation would prompt, as FBI, IRS, NCAA, and investigative journalists focus their high-powered rifle sights on Eugene. My guess is that the post-OT meets will be cancelled and a new open bidding process started. Carson, Sacto, Stanford, and other nice summer-weather places should start preparing bids as they should have a good chance at getting future national USATF meets.
Process matters, something that the USATF just doesnt get. Believe me - I've been in repeated contact with them and just don't get it. It is like talking to a wall. Their reading comprehension is awful and they repeatedly make major decisions in an obtuse manner, usually without the requisite analysis. Relative to the 2012 trials, the great irony is that Eugene is a special place and probably would have won anyways.