Pass the buck wrote:
That's 99% of the problem. NCAA/USATF employees asks for bribes and perks then take the offer that gains them the most personal benefit. You see the perk giving such as with NCAA big shots at with ceremonial do-nothing jobs at USATF meets and vice versa. NYRR, BAA, Nike, Adidas, etc. all play that suck up game too. Consequently nobody wants to bid with such corrupt people except the pisshole and rundown towns trying to revitalize their communities. The Eugene / Track Town b.s. is the typical sorry ass group of desperate wannabes.
What the hell are you talking about? Bidding is how the real world works. Organizations that want to host the meet must meet a certain level of criteria. There is no reason a Stanford or Arizona could not bid on the NCAA meet (in fact, Arizona did not too long ago...and they won!); they simply choose not to.
You don't just call up the NCAA and say, "Hey, make sure everyone shows up the Franklin Park for NCAAs...we've got it on lock." You have to demonstrate that you've got the people, infrastructure, travel, accomodations, timing, etc. figured out beforehand. That's what the bid is for.
Another example of this process is the NCAA basketball tournament. Those first round cities aren't picked at random by the NCAA; they are selected after each city's organizing committee puts in a bid.
If you think that the NCAA is picking these events based on personal favors, I think you should bring suit against them for uncompetitive practices. Obviously you've been snubbed at one time by these other "unfair" bids. Oh wait, you've probably never even been a part of the bidding process. My mistake.