Now what ? Is USATF moving to Nike World HQ in Beijing.
So it begins again... How to save USAT@F?
In order to get sponsor interest, you need to have compelling product to sell. A product that interests more that the folks who inhabit Running sites/blogs etc. I'm not sure such a product exists beyond Usain Bolt in Track and Field.
USATF has had a history series of being run by failures and crooks. They guy before Craig Masback took the organization so deep into the red that it looked like bankruptcy was inevitable. Doug Logan never was a good fit, and after an initial period of sucking up to the Stephanie Hightower types, he went out of step. Mistake...he gets fired. The only CEO who has achieved great things at USATF was Craig Masback who took them from a huge deficit (I believe it was over $10 million), to profitability within a few years. Masback finally had enough of the situation there, however, and found a job where he is respected and paid well for his efforts at Nike. As far as I can see, USATF will never again attract someone with the CEO abilities that Masback has. They (USATF) will get exactly what they deserve...and yes, I suspect the USOC is extremely pissed at them.
A disfunctional organization if there ever was one. If there was an alternative, I surely would be a member. Especially since the Gulf Association is and has always been a colossal joke.
Gulf Association bad? I'd be willing to bet that at least 48 of the 57 Associations are are barely functional- especially for open and masters athletes!
Bad Associations wrote:
Gulf Association bad? I'd be willing to bet that at least 48 of the 57 Associations are are barely functional- especially for open and masters athletes!
Not to get off topic. This is a sad day for USATF..
Which Associations do what they are suppossed to do? I'm asking because I have a general idea , but I'm sure most people don't.
Better yet, govt bailout!
A classic situation of a board hiring a CEO and then being mad when he leads instead of letting the board and the chieftains of various constituencies run things.
Now the board can try to find a new "leader" who will make them happy by not leading.
Logan was, in my humble opinion, doing a good job. Sad to see him go, and just makes me think that the Board is full of idiots. Moreso, that is.
It's Bush's fault.
IMO The board wants a talking head. Thats it.... nothing more.
Logan was a good guy and will continue to have respect from the fan, I hope he gets that message and takes his $ 1 million payout somewhere that has a little more respect for hard work
I wonder what USOC is thinking. I hope they are writing drafts legislation for senators and congressmen to submit as new legislation which will break out Elite TF & LDR into a TV company headquartered in Hollywood with a new staff and executive team.
Trouble is every board member / volunteer executive has spent 20 years to get to that exalted position and thinks they deserve extraordinary perks for themselves to hand out to their krew of political supporters. Plus the USATF CEO, Prez, etc. must give reciprocal perks to BAA, Pinkowski, Elite Racing, Wittenberg for similar favors to BM, NYCM, CHIM, SD RnR, Peach Tree, Boulder Bolder, etc.
I hope USATF doesn't get sucked in by Eugene/Portland like under the Masback regime. It'll diss the other associations if Nike buys up the USATF CEO and top exec positions. Then we'll be expected to laud and cream in our jeans over a measly 20k attendance at meets in Pee Hole Town USA.
See this link for a 2008 tax return for USATF
Bad Associations wrote:
See this link for a 2008 tax return for USATF
thanks for that.....NOT!
USOC should hire Doug Logan and have him lead the re-chartering effort to reorganize USATF for the internet age with legislation by US Congress.
It's hard to discuss this too much as no one seems to know why Logan was fired. The board hopefully will come out with their reasons.
For the sake of argument, let's accept the firing as legitimate, the bigger question is how do we prevent this from happening again. Will the board accept responsibility for this mistake? They hired the guy less than 2 years ago with a unanimous recommendation from the search committee. Now he's gone.
What will be done this time to prevent a similar mistake from being made?
All of the issues above are apart from why Logan was fired. He may have been all talk and little action. Having said that considering most of us have no clue why he was fired might say something about the difficulty of the job. What does the board want the CEO to be doing that Logan was not doing and cost him his job? Without a clear definition of success it's hard to be successful at anything.
So okay, purely for the sake of argument, let's accept the notion that Logan was not performing. Logan was held accountable for that and dismissed by the USATF board. Fine. But it was the USATF board that hired him (and not that long ago). So, by their own account, the board clearly failed in making this critical decision. As a USATF member, I want to know how the board is going to be held accountable for choosing the wrong person. Accountability and performance apply both to those who are hired AND to those who do the hiring.
Kastor says it was because Logan had not implemented any of the strategic plans from 2009.
If that is the case, I wonder if he attempted and was thwarted or if they could just not be implemented.
I have experience in the NGB world. Sometimes strategic plans do not pan out.
Less a defense of Logan--since honestly I am no position to evaluate him.
Follow-up questions based on Wejo's post and mine (same idea expressed simultaneously):
Was an "executive search firm" or similar headhunter employed in the process that resulted in Logan's hiring? If so, who were they and how much were they paid? Will the USATF be making use of their services for the next CEO search?