Doug Logan on the USATF Board of Directors

If the clown shoes fit, then wear them.

Hightower and crew are incompetent Bozos.

Hightower and her crew of phonies will now be on the hot seat to name a new USATF "lackey" that they can manipulate. Possible candidates:

Brooks Johnson - maybe he can dazzle us with his rhetoric once again or can we get an autographed straw hat now.

Sandra Farmer-Patrick - so she can ask once again to be reimbursed for child care expenses.

Jon Drummond - can he write yet?

Lionel Leach - the ultimate con man with an ego the size of a planet ..... he has many business related contacts that can be leveraged.

I heard they will be changing the USATF expense policies so that Hightower can continue with her demanded limo rides and suites along with reimbursed trips to England. What a crew who would be fired in a heart beat in the real business world.

Todays Tom Sawyer wrote:

“It’s people who have earned their credentials to sit on a board because they’ve had a whistle around their neck at regional youth meets.”

Which is why it seems entirely appropriate for them to kick his ass out. God Forbid, that people might actually know something about the sport.

Why Logan was given this job over Bill Schmidt, with an Olympic medal and a sports marketing background with Gatorade and Oakley escapes me--and maybe that's why Stephanie Hightower abstained.

Maybe because Schmidt has the experience and contacts to say no to Nike?

Logan was out of his element on the track background and knowledge side, but was doing some good things. I am glad he is throwing gas on the fire now. Hopefully it will clean up the board

Contacts don't necessarily translate into sponsorships/partnerships, but are a great starting point. A clearly defined job description and prioritized responsibilities with measurables and time-lines could help. Biggest problem with DL was his inability to deliver on too much "braggadocio" of a personal nature and his lack of contacts within the sport who may have delivered sponsorships to USATF or supported him in his quest.

Anyone considering this position will fare no better as long as Hightower reigns in her role. Find a way to remove her as a start and then there may be some level of potential success for the next "sacrificial lamb" at USATF.

Probably the person with the most impressive rollodex is Tracy Sundlin, but he would be ill advised to consider working with SH and her band of incompetents and "rubber stamp" BOD.

If Logan was saying this sort of thing before he got fired, no wonder he had trouble with the Board. The BOD may be terrible, but when you have to have a working relationship with people, you have to bite your tongue sometimes and not say everything that you think.

Or maybe now that Logan has been fired he's saying what he really thought for the first time.

Either way it's a pretty funny quote.

The USATF BOD now has two jobs -- 1. Replace Logan, and 2. Make sure people have confidence that the BOD is doing its job competently.

Dear Tracy,

Please try to be less transparent when attempting to self market regarding a position for which you are fantastically unqualified.

Such efforts insult us all.

Sincerely,

Doug Logan

Dear Doug,

Gee you have outed me, but I really love it here at the Competitor's Group.

Actually (whoever I may be), I admire that you attempted to shake it up at USATF. Unfortunately, you were doomed from the start with the arrogant bushwhacker Brooks and legend in her own mind Stephanie a true leader of the oppressed.

Until the BOD is disbanded and true business people who understand how to assist a CEO in their role and not feel that the chairwoman is the boss are in place ..... the circus will continue.

I love reading the rantings of a pompous, arrogant and slimy individual such a BJ tell us how DL was a "marked" man. Let's all get into the relay zone with Brooks and bring the baton home. The good old boy network continues and lets get on the train as it is about to take us on another wild ride to the abyss.

Todays Tom Sawyer wrote:

If Logan was saying this sort of thing before he got fired, no wonder he had trouble with the Board. The BOD may be terrible, but when you have to have a working relationship with people, you have to bite your tongue sometimes and not say everything that you think.

Or maybe now that Logan has been fired he's saying what he really thought for the first time.

Either way it's a pretty funny quote.

The USATF BOD now has two jobs -- 1. Replace Logan, and 2. Make sure people have confidence that the BOD is doing its job competently.

Come on... they fired the man by sending him a text. If thats not clown material, I don't know what is. He just put into words what many have already been complaining about already. The BOD sucks

The most classic part of this is Willie Banks telling Logan was let go "with cause" but couldn't tell him what the cause was. This is so typical of the USATF.

For those of you not familiar with the business world or contracts:

An executive typically has a contract to due a certain job, and in the contract there is a severance package he gets if he is fired before the contract is up unless he is fired "with cause". "With cause" means taht he failed to lived up one (or more) of his obligations as specificly stated in the contract. It not very often an executive gets fired "with cause" unless something illegal has occured.

The fact that the USATF BOD tried to tell him he was fired "with cause" but couldn't tell him what the cause was (i.e what obligation he failed to uphold) is completely laughable and amatuerish.

This type of shananigans will likely keep other prospective business minded executives from considering to go to work for the USATF, even as their head. No executive wants to work people with no real world business exerience. And vindictive and political ones at that.

executive runner - you are correct. Being let go without cause without any explanation or substantiation of the action is incredibly ill advised from a litigation perspective. In fact, it is insane. Don't they have a general counsel? Access to legal advice? Any organization worth their salt would have a for cause dismissal prepared in writing (already reviewed by counsel) to present to the executive, and would at the same present that document at formal meeting in an office with calm, prepared witnesses (typically HR) and a senior member of the Board. Emphasis would be put on being factual, detailed, and professional. The fact that this appears not to have happened speaks volumes to be about the USATF. Of course, one likely explanation is that they did none of this because they didn't have any plausible grounds to terminate Logan, and just decided to wing it. Indeed, it is correct to question what kind of qualified executive would step into this mess. It also raises questions to sponsors as to what the heck they are paying for.

And while a "for cause" firing is dependent upon the language in the contract, you are also correct that it is often the case that an organization cannot sustain the burden of proof unless something illegal has been done or another act which stains the organization's reputation significantly.

Forget about whether Logan was the right man for the job. If indeed he was terminated in this way, well, USATF is one broken organization. Ironically, of course, no one at the USATF can speak to the process used, because of course they will cite the risk of litigation.

get real wrote:

Come on... they fired the man by sending him a text. If thats not clown material, I don't know what is. He just put into words what many have already been complaining about already. The BOD sucks

Re-read the article; they did not fire him by sending a text message. Get it right if you're going to criticize, though I agree with your general point that the paid upper administrators at USATF are underwhelming.

I had interactions with the Indianapolis staff and was on one of the discipline-level boards for a few years and thought the organization and processes were OK, but with a lot of room for improvement. That is typical of most volunteer-driven organizations.

THE USATF BOARD IS SIMPLY NOT CREDIBLE. SET THOSE SEATS ON FIRE.

How?

road rashed wrote:

Logan was out of his element on the track background and knowledge side, but was doing some good things. I am glad he is throwing gas on the fire now. Hopefully it will clean up the board

Out of his element because he didn't know anybody, and didn't know a ton about the sport. He wasn't perfect, but he did a lot of good--probably too much! He called out BJ when the relay squads f***ed up (again!) and I can't imagine didn't step on Steph Hightower's toes a few times. But hey, new guy out, old guys (and gal) stay in! Unfortunately, nobody has the power to oust the selfish, arrogant pricks on the BoD.

What a dysfunctional joke. Too bad the next Logan will just be a puppet for Hightower/Brooks. Maybe they'll just cut out the middleman and instate Brooks or Hightower. Then we can watch that tag-team burn USATF to the ground. USATF is a train wreck, through and through.

OP I love your name

Today's Tom Sawyer he gets on high you and the space he invades he gets by on you

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Dear Stuck, I hate you.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like some people at USATF are pushing for an "internal" candidate.--

Hightower said she would not place her name in the running, but added, "I never say never anymore."

"Can I be drafted? I don't know," said the Columbus, Ohio-based administrator and former world class hurdler.

NO TIMETABLE

Miller gave no timetable for a hire.

"This is going to be a marathon not a sprint," he said.

USATF athletes advisory committee chair Jon Drummond said hiring someone who knows the sport is crucial.

"We have tried the outside-of-the sport way," said the former sprinter who now helps coach American record holder Tyson Gay.

"One of the greatest problems we have had over the last couple of years (is that) we haven't gotten the support that we need to really help our athletes who are right on the breakthrough," he said.

Without an experienced leader, "we have wasted the next two years," said John Chaplin, chairman of the powerful men's track and field committee.

"The development plan (for the 2012 London Olympics) is behind schedule, not ahead," said the long-time coach and official. "We need to have somebody who can hit the ground running."

http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=493185.html#usatf+wants+ceo+with+business+track+experience

And Match -- thanks(?)

Todays Tom Sawyer wrote:

Reading between the lines, it sounds like some people at USATF are pushing for an "internal" candidate.--

...

God all of those quotes by Chaplin, Hightower, et al, just reek of arrogance and ignorance. It's not a CEO's job to develop athletes. It's a CEO's job to be the guiding force for an organization. Was Logan 100% perfect? Of course not. But he was doing good things and, perhaps most importantly, raising revenue.

I think "we" (the athletes) are doing just fine in preparation for 2012. No one is "behind."