Doug Logan in Trouble at USATF?!

Sack them all ! wrote:

Lets get to bare bones.

- Logan was not qualified for this job.

- Selection committee was not qualified to select a CEO

- Head hunter that gave candidates was not qualified

- USTAF is not connected or in touch with the sport of running or track ( look at positive growth numbers in running events , high school track & xc ) they have nothing to do with it , period.

- Hightower is a dangerous underhanded , back stabbing incompetent surrounding herself with her posse of friends as staff.

- Logan is an easy target to take down

- Hightower and staff should be investigated and audited , be made accountable for job descriptions , travel and related expenses.

- USTAF needs a complete restructure and overhaul to a become a viable component for the growth and development of track and field.

A lot of opinions, but woefully short of facts.

What irks me is that Logan thinks of numbers like 12k at Hayward, or Mt Hood numbers, are a success. Our sport needs 100k like NASCAR gets, or 50k like NHRA gets, or high ratings like MLE Hot Dog eating gets. Small little pisshole towns like Portland and Eugene are sinkholes. We need a CEO that will take us out of dead cemeteries like Fayetteville, Gresham, Carson, Austin, Flushing Meadows, Des Moines, Albuquerque, Eugene, etc. and take us to the next level. That's what we deserve.

Not with that Board of Directors. No ambitious go getters. No bottom line entrepreneurs. No captains of Media Empires. No outspoken ass kickers. We're lanced !

Good point.

This set of opinions are backed with 42 interviews. To be published before years end , stay tuned.

The suggestions came from the outcome of the interviews compiled in the article.

USATF needs a CEO who has headed up a large corporation and knows marketing. Nothing less will do, pay him/her what the market demands.

Hightower's position needs to go. A board of directors should include a broad spectrum of sports figures and business executives - but not more than seven. You have to be careful with the sports guys/gals because they often have a narrow view of what success should mean in T&F. They have little experience with success outside their specific event.

USATF should think in terms of millions of dollars, and, as someone earlier suggested, they should be able to put on their own show.

Unfortunately, a circular track limits the number of events that can be staged at one time. Think outside the box. A straight runaway for the 100m and a straight and curved runaway for the 200m next to the track would enable more events to be shown quickly. etc etc. Put the steeplechase on the grass at the outer edge of the field with the necessary pits, barriers, small gullies and uneven terrain etc. That would be more of a true steeple and how it was originally meant to be run. They can still run the standard steeple at international events and might need one a year here to get a Q time. If you can't follow two or three events at the same time, stick to boring nascar.

But what we have is not working financially or fan wise. Change is needed.

They'll dump Logan and get some other lame brain as CEO. I doubt if anything will ever change with the structure and Board that is in place. It's perpetual mediocrity ad infinitum. Just enjoy any perks you can get out of USATF because it's an organization of do nothings. It's like the the military or civil service.

sjc wrote:

if this rumor is true watch out for vin lananna to get the job.

Wrong Vin. Vince McMahon is the right person for the job.

I am disappointed that there has been no updates as the final deadline draws near. I suspect Doug's mouth has written some checks that his *$ cannot cash. While it is interesting to speculate on the athletes' discontent with his approach on key topics, the athletes largely ignore the AAC and fools like Jon Drummond. There are some that wonder about real issues (team selection, money for development, nationals prize money, etc.) but most just do their best to run fast and win. The real issue is organizational management:

- Promise growth but don't deliver. Sure, sign the Nike extension that was offered (presumably Masback gets credit for some/most of that deal). Other sponsors? Save a throw in from the USOC on the BMW deal, nothing. Tyson - gone. Hershey - gone. Deals at Nationals, Milrose Games, new youth sponsor - none.

- Improve the office/corporation. Sure, write some blogs and hire several six figure administrators, but where are the improvements? I suspect the COO hire was a complete waste of overhead dollars. A company like USATF should have one layer of management - I dont want to hear about about COO and Exec Directors - I want people that work for a living. All I hear is that Logan is all bluster and no delivery. Has youth improved? Has membership improved? Has the web site improved? Can someone tell me how much we pay for for those bogus press releases? What the hell happened to coaching ed level two.

-Finances. I want to see the finance committee reports and see how the revenues are spent. I want to see how much Doug has spent given so little new revenues are in the door. Do we pay to send him to Europe? Do we have an office in New York now? Why? I suspect many of the staff (what, 50-75 people) work for reasonable wages but what do we get for Beneta, the COO, Terri Crawford,. etc )(what are they paid)? The rumors on Doug's expenses are legendary - can they post his spending on line?

- Politics. I know lets run wants to bash the marathon trials. Maybe even a WTF moment on shortening the Trials. HOw are those decisions made? I thought the Board ruled. I cannot imagine the Board and key players haven less power given the smaller board. Just nbew titles. I missed nationals for the first time in 12-13 years and I suspect I missed seeing the old power brokers, even without the board mtg. Who had suites, who had a handfull of VIP ticlets/tent passes? I suspect same old, same old. If that is the case, has Doug pissed them off? That may be the real decider on whether he stays or goes.

The silence is deafening.

To quote an old friend, "I am not a criminal!".

I was involved in the upper levels of USATF for many years. I quit when all of the above became more than painfully obvious. They are not the opinions of one person, they are the opinions of many. Thank you for posting this. I see no end in sight for the myriad of problems this organization faces.

If Logan is fired by the board, my prediction is that it will take the USOC a nanosecond to step in, withhold funding, and move to decertify the NGB until the board is restructured and replaced.

The voice of Reason v2.0 wrote:

If Logan is fired by the board, my prediction is that it will take the USOC a nanosecond to step in, withhold funding, and move to decertify the NGB until the board is restructured and replaced.

I doubt it. Stephanie worked too hard to get to this point (total control, perhaps ready to share with Ian) to let this happen. The playbook:

1. Refer to various laws and bylaws (Brooks Johnson's favorite move, show up with various "law books" with pages tabbed with post-its...perhaps an appeal to the Supreme Court...the USOC cannot tell us what to do. Neither can Nike.

2. Cry racsim.

3. Rally the athletes (who are mostly disengaged).

4. Have more meetings - Las Vegas, New York, London!! More meetings. More meetings. More meetings. Executive session. Buffet lunch. Meeting. Reception. Lobby bar. Meeting. Rinse. Repeat.

Doug needs a short leash. Conduct a review (and publish) his travel expenses. Look at recent hires and cut their deals to "market" rate (the IRS requires this already). Reach out to those who left or were pushed out (volunteer and staff). Fine his $50 every time he refers to his life experiences in rock and roll or name drops.

1. Cut budget and return more to athletes and events.

2. Fire terry Crawford (hired as payoff for delivered coaches supoort of various initiatives - there has to be laws about hiring Board members into fictional jobs).

3. Fire Mike McNess - unecessary overhead. Fire the attorney on staff. Farm that out to a real law firm when you need real legal work.

4. Empty out anyone in marketing department manager and above. No way you are good at your job. Even in tough environment, markeitng results are sickening.

5. Make a large percentage of Logan's salry contingent on real results that he can influence - revenue development, financial results (stay within budget) - and not on athlete results which USATF does practically zip to influence.

6. Not sure about Benita Fitzgerald. Probably need to fire or at least make 50% of her compensation contingent on results.

7. Post expense reports and corporate visa card for Logan, Hightwoer, all Board members, and top management on website. I want to see words like "economy car" and "Laquinta" and "Sizzler" and not "suite" and "upgrade" and "steakhouse"

8. Farm website and other communications out to an up and coming agency or group of employees. Whoevere ghost writes for Logan needs to get a real job.

9. Post annual report before the next year passes the six month mark. the anual report is a bunch of pictures and some rah rah crap. Seemingly February publish date??

USA Track & Field dumps CEO Logan

By Philip Hersh

File this the under inmates running the asylum. Here's the Monday statement from the inmates:

USATF Board to hire new CEO

INDIANAPOLIS – The USA Track & Field Board of Directors has voted to pursue new leadership in its CEO position, bringing to a close the tenure of Doug Logan, who had been CEO of the federation since July 2008.

After a meeting over the weekend in Las Vegas, the Board voted to pursue leadership change.

“We sincerely thank Doug for his efforts and his passionate focus on our sport,” said USATF President and Chair Stephanie Hightower. “After undertaking a performance evaluation over the course of the past few months, our Board has decided it is in our best interests to engage different leadership to move the sport forward.”

In accordance with USATF bylaws, Chief Operating Officer Mike McNees will assume day-to-day leadership of USATF as the Board begins its search for a new CEO.

“The Board is committed to a thorough, thoughtful CEO search process,” Hightower said. “Although our goal is to complete the search process quickly, we will not compromise the quality of the search and candidate evaluation. The Board is fully supportive of the USATF staff, and we know they will do a tremendous job as we enter this new phase for the organization.”

Hightower stressed that the USATF Board will continue to vigorously pursue its strategic plan, developed in July 2009 and approved by USATF membership last December. “We simply need to accelerate our realization of this vision and plan,” she said.

+++++++++++++

You can bet the U.S. Olympic Committee isn't happy with this move, even if it unlikely to intervene.

As I wrote in a Blog last week, it is foolhardy to dismiss Logan after just two years on the job. And, unless he was fired for cause, USATF will have owe him a severance in the vicinity of $1 million. That would be ironic, since sources have told me a reason the USATF board was unhappy with Logan owed to what it felt was his inability to bring in new sponsors.

Further irony: Last week, the international track federation named Logan to one of its committees.

My initial attempts to reach Logan and Hightower were unsuccessful. Stay tuned.

Night Runner wrote:

Unfortunately, a circular track limits the number of events that can be staged at one time. Think outside the box. A straight runaway for the 100m and a straight and curved runaway for the 200m next to the track would enable more events to be shown quickly. etc etc. Put the steeplechase on the grass at the outer edge of the field with the necessary pits, barriers, small gullies and uneven terrain etc. That would be more of a true steeple and how it was originally meant to be run. They can still run the standard steeple at international events and might need one a year here to get a Q time. If you can't follow two or three events at the same time, stick to boring nascar.

Lol Wut?

I'd like to point out that one of the difficulties that USATF faces and has always faced is this sport is that potential spectators rather participate in than watch.

I don't know that ANY CEO has an answer.

The lack of a barrier of entry to this sport is also it's downfall - for TV anyway. Not good for sponsorships. Thus only shoe companies and companies related to running/active lifestyle will sponsor. But in NFL or the like you tend to have a diversified sponsorship base.

The exception being Japan. There they show running events live and sponsors are major companies that have nothing to do with running.

Therefore, I think making the sport less accessible to runners (fewer races, harder to get into races,etc..) would actually increase viewership on TV. Those runners who would have been running outside can now be watching Running events instead.

Stephanie Hightower is a crook. She has been noted for causing issues. At the Jr. Games a few years ago in Columbus Ohio she caused USATF to be sued. She forced the Jr team staff to fudge numbers to get a friends son on the team. She uses her african american status as a crutch. She's a bitch!

Did not even give the guy a chance. Another bad move by USATF

Doug has my respect for being a man of honor. As CEO of USATF he lived up his billing by awarding the 1/2 to Houston, firing Brooks, and not kowtowing to Mrs Clarence Thomas. I just wish USOC and Congress could have structured USATF to take advantage of the internet age. Instead we have a bunch of wannabes in charge of the best sport on earth.