Open letter to USATF on Flotrack and Track & Field News

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USATF needs to wake up. This guy could have been a lot more harsh than he was.

post the copy on this thread so we can read it. thanks.

stop mosop wrote:

USATF needs to wake up. This guy could have been a lot more harsh than he was.

Agreed, and he makes a great point with Smith. USATF has to be professional to make the sport professional.

It makes you wonder if there is ANY thing in the world that's not corrupt?

Mark Misch coaches cross country and track & field at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, an NCAA Division II program. He has no ties to Flotrack and his views do not necessarily represent those of Flotrack. This is simply a letter provided to us by a user that we felt was necessary to run, as conversation about the sport is the biggest vehicle toward improvement upon the sport we all love.

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USATF doesn't care to recognize the efforts of the people working their way up in the sport the right way, the one's that volunteer their time, money, energy and put their lives on hold to pursue a dream or help someone else make their dream a reality. All of whom without, there would be no sport.

After seeing what happened to the three men who were denied entry in the 800m at the last USATF Championships (despite the five open lanes) as well as a few other athletes I've heard from, I've just come to the point where I can't stand it anymore. I am currently coaching a couple post-collegiate athletes who I can see being in the very same position next summer and I can't put them or myself through the process again. It's heartbreaking and can ruin a person's spirit and passion for our great sport.

The greatest thing about our sport is it's supposed to be cut and dried, an even playing field where people have the same opportunity to prove themselves with a time, a place, a mark, etc. You're supposed to take the politics and judgement calls out of it. I simply don't understand why the USATF can't just be honest, set a clear standard and say whoever achieves this set standard is qualified for the meet regardless of the numbers. That way EVERY athlete knows where they stand. Who cares if there are 23 or 27 or 33 athletes qualified for an event, just set a single standard and leave it at that, that's what heats and rounds are for, what do they think it's like at the Olympics or World Championships? The heat sizes vary year to year based on the number of entries and they always end up with the same number of athletes in the finals. Why can't the USATF simply do the same thing? Is it really that hard?

As it is, a lot of our athletes are held hostage in "qualifying purgatory" every year, not sure if they're in or out of the national championships/trials. The amount of time, money and emotional energy that is wasted on travel, planning, etc. is something you can't even quantify. It's like competing in a professional sport and not knowing what it takes to qualify for the playoffs. That's crazy!

So what do we have to do? How do we get a real voice about these issues? How do we get this process changed for the better? I don't have any allegiance to a shoe company, or a club that's sponsored and I'm not paid to coach the post-college people that I do so I have nothing to lose as a small college coach by openly sharing these concerns and frustrations that many people in our sport have. I'm just tired of seeing good, hard-working people get the shaft because we have such a poor process in place. How do we get things changed for 2012? How do we get people in place who care about the athletes and restore the integrity of the process and even more importantly restore the confidence of the athletes and coaches in a fair and just qualifying system regardless of their affiliation.

I'll leave you with the following to consider. We were told by the head of the selection committee (a very well known and controversial man) in 2008, that the guys at the bottom of the declaration list didn't matter, that no one cared about them and that they weren't going to make the USA team anyway. Well in 2008, they allowed 30 men to compete in the 800m. A pretty decent runner named Alan Webb scratched from the event, thus allowing the next man on the list to enter the meet. That man's name was Christian Smith. Christian not only qualified for the semi-finals, and the finals, he finished third and made the US Olympic Team! I guess it's a good thing that the committee was in a good mood the day Webb scratched and they decided to let Christian Smith compete, otherwise he never would've been an Olympian.

….If you run the time then you deserve to be on the line!

nikeman wrote:

….If you run the time then you deserve to be on the line!

The only problem is...those athletes didn't run the time (the A standard.)

They ran the "B" - the provisional. Which is, surprisingly, subject to provisions.

I agree the policy could be clearer, but there is no huge injustice here. No one being robbed of something they earned.

They didn't hit the "A" standard - so they don't "deserve" to be anywhere, other than at home. IF they get to run, they should be thankful.

Not my letter, I only cut and pasted the original letter as requested

Does anyone know what we have to do to get John Chaplin ousted from USATF? Can someone ask USATF about this? Is it just a matter of voting at the annual meeting?

There seems to be plenty of public support to get rid of him.

Dr. Dent wrote:

The only problem is...those athletes didn't run the time (the A standard.)

They ran the "B" - the provisional. Which is, surprisingly, subject to provisions.

I agree the policy could be clearer, but there is no huge injustice here. No one being robbed of something they earned.

They didn't hit the "A" standard - so they don't "deserve" to be anywhere, other than at home. IF they get to run, they should be thankful.

Misch is clearly referring to a hypothetical single qualifying time, which would undoubtedly be more fair and consistent than the current state of affairs. The provisions you refer to are clearly unfair and inconsistent, so it's a bit disingenuous to suggest that the "B" qualifiers should simply be thankful and go on their way. They may not be getting robbed, but they are definitely getting jerked around.

You can't vote Chaplin out. Only regional representatives get to vote. It's how USATF protects its own.

Just spitballing . . . what would need to happen to form a rival governing body for track and field? Maybe something more limited in scope (i.e., just governing T&F), given that one of the big problems USATF has always had is catering to too many interests. Would it be the shoe companies that would block this? The USOC? IAAF?

skinny dweeby runner wrote:

You can't vote Chaplin out. Only regional representatives get to vote. It's how USATF protects its own.

And I appoint them hahaha.

Abdi didn't run the time either and he magically showed up on the track and ran the race. He's listed as NT and scratched. He ran the 10,000. He didn't "deserve" it and yet he ran. All people are asking for is consistency and clear standards and rules. John Chaplin is the equivalent of the French judge in figure skating. This isn't f---ing figure skating! If USATF can't get that right, what good are they to anyone?

Dr. Dent wrote:

nikeman wrote:

….If you run the time then you deserve to be on the line!

The only problem is...those athletes didn't run the time (the A standard.)

They ran the "B" - the provisional. Which is, surprisingly, subject to provisions.

I agree the policy could be clearer, but there is no huge injustice here. No one being robbed of something they earned.

They didn't hit the "A" standard - so they don't "deserve" to be anywhere, other than at home. IF they get to run, they should be thankful.

Dr. Dent wrote:

The only problem is...those athletes didn't run the time (the A standard.)

They ran the "B" - the provisional. Which is, surprisingly, subject to provisions.

I agree the policy could be clearer, but there is no huge injustice here. No one being robbed of something they earned.

They didn't hit the "A" standard - so they don't "deserve" to be anywhere, other than at home. IF they get to run, they should be thankful.

The issue, in my mind at least, is that the "provisions", you speak of, are completely ethereal and undefined.

It's more problematic when you consider the entry/scratch period which is open until some ridiculously close time to the event itself. Hell, maybe Abdi declared for the 10k after his warmup?

What prompted this is just stupid. People who were qualified traveled all the way out to Oregon on their own dime, and then weren't allowed to run, in spite of open lanes existing. Rarely can it be said that the NCAA does a great job about this, but in this case, they sure have a better way of determining field sizes. At least you can read about them...

nah.... wrote:

People who were qualified traveled all the way out to Oregon on their own dime, and then weren't allowed to run, in spite of open lanes existing.

No, they didn't qualify.

They didn't hit the "A" standard, they weren't accepted into the meet.

They traveled to Oregon HOPING to run. Who cares if lanes were open, closed, or partially filled.

If they cared so much, they could've run the "A" standard.

They are the idiots for spending their money to go to a meet that they weren't accepted into.

Maybe they should try that at World Champs too - see what the reaction is.

This is part of the reason that our sport is bush league - you have people fly across the country to try and run in a meet that they didn't qualify for - and then throw a hissy fit when told SHOCKINGLY - that they didn't qualify.

And in true bitch fashion they talk about injustice and blame it on the man.

Here's some advice: next time... RUN FASTER.

You know they could have run even with the "B" since the lanes were open. Any T&F guy would have allowed them to fill the lanes just because we've all been there too. Someone on the Nike payroll just wanted to be an L.A. dick and he accomplished that AGAIN.

So you think they didn't run the A time because they didn't care enough? That says alot about you but you are trolling anyways.

Under your logic of thinking there should be no B' standard at all. And I'm OK with that but USATF should state that from the beginning and then STICK TO IT. Saying one thing and then doing another (Abdi) just shows they have no clear cut way of doing business. That's not how a professional organization runs. They should announce 1 year prior to the race how many runners are in each race and go with that. It's not hard.

It would be silly for these runners to go to World Champs trying to get into the race. Why? The world champs have a very defined qualifying process that does not leave you guessing. USATF needs the same. That is how a professional organization is run.

US T&F is bush league because it is being run by a bush league organization.

In an earlier press release USATF told the athletes they were going to enter 30 runners in the 800 (up to 32) and then when they got to Eugene John Chaplin flipped the script on them. Dr. Dent go eat one.