yeah ... umm ... well what i am saying is that the structure is all set up wrong... the system isn\\\'t working! and if you think track is better than 6 years ago ... you\\\'re wrong (carl lewis, mary slaney, michael johnson, etc... etc... it isn\\\'t any better than back then). volunteers? yeah to a point ... but come on, put some money into it ... INVEST. not my job, i am out there entertaining the fans (cometitor, doing my job in training and racing ... and paying to compete in the sport to make the olympic team)... please don\\\'t defend usatf in favoring the job it is doing ... they aren\\\'t doing anything but a nut job! maybe a new American track federation should start from scratch and overtake usatf! get a clue usatf... what you\\\'re doing is not working ... no matter how you look at it and try to make yourself feel good saying that you are going in a positive direction (that\\\'s what enron, worldcom and citigroup do.... believe/rely on illusions). i may not be smart enough to think of the right system... all i am saying is that the one i compete for sucks and provides NO SUPPORT FOR THE ATHLETES AT ALL (except if you\\\'re the #1 person in you\\\'re event... I mean what did 2nd place get paid at nationals? maybe 2500 dollars? if even and first was maybe 3000 dollars? GIVE ME A BREAK! this is the u.s., you can get more money a year selling FOAKLEY\\\'s or hot dogs on a street corner than you can being an Olympian (or close to one)! PLEASE DON\\\'T DEFEND USATF! Especially since they can\\\'t tell the truth about the druggies; hence: worldcom and enron at a lower level (it\'s all about how they appear). I ran in a few USATF elite events this year and at the athlets dinners, the night before the meets they were saying, \"When you get interviewed by tv, make sure you say how AWESOME THE CROWD WAS!\" Most times the crowd sucked and others there was hardly anyone there. At one meet the announcers on tv said there was standing room only when in fact the stands were about 10% full.... NO JOKE! False Perceptions = Don\'t get you anywhere and are a sign of weakness!