Earlier today the quote of the day was this:
"What About The Sport?
"An Olympic year, a struggling sport dying for attention, and the people who call the shots can't swallow their pride for even a minute. I'd say that this sport deserves every bit of its failure, but these morons are taking the rest of us down with them."
- Track & Field Superfan blogger Jesse Squire, talking about how the USATF has completely ignored the Millrose Games and everything about it on its website, including Bernard Lagat's national record in the 5k. Putting on the USATF Classic in Akransas was great for the sport, but purposely trying to hurt Millrose is not. Ryan Craven also blogged on this issue, saying to USATF, "You may think yourselves clever for not mentioning anything of their achievements while showering praise over your own events, but you do so at the sport's expense." We agree.
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See:
http://www.letsrun.com/2012/homepage0215.php
We've added two corrections/updated to it and are posting them here in case someone comes to the homepage tomorrow and misses them:
"Correction: USATF mentioned Lagat's Millrose record yesterday on its website here
http://usatf.org/News/Camarena-Williams-Named-USATF-Athlete-of-the-Week.aspx
and today had a teleconference with Lagat to talk about his record here
http://usatf.org/News/USATF-teleconference-excerpts.aspx
. The Words "Millrose Games" still haven't graced the USATF homepage this year, but we agree tv meets deserve more attention.
Earlier update: Earlier we also had this quote up by Ryan Craven "You may think yourselves clever for not mentioning anything of their achievements while showering praise over your own events, but you do so at the sport's expense." and the words "We agree." " We need to clarify what the "We agree" is about. Things are done informally here LetsRun.com and Rojo is upset. We don't agree the sport deserves every bit of failure or the people at USATF are morons. Putting the sport on national TV is a great move by USATF. We don't think not mentioning Millrose on the USATF website hurts the sport a ton. We do think it's petty and small minded and not in the sports best interest. That's is what we agree with. Usually non USATF/IAAF meets don't get a lot of attention on the USATF site. But last year when Lagat broke the 2 mile record at the Armory it got this mention
http://www.usatf.org/News/News---Notes,-Volume-11-Number-2.aspx
. Jenn Suhr broke the American record at the Armory this year and it got this mention.
http://www.usatf.org/News/Suhr-breaks-American-record-at-New-Balance-Indoor-.aspx
But USATF has not used the word Millrose Games on its homepage this year. Small-minded. Petty. Our sport is full of people protecting their own little castle while the sport as a whole suffers. USATF should not be in that role. Acknowledging Lagat's record is the right step. Just because Millrose went its own way doesn't mean USATF has to as well. Take the high road especially when you're trying to do good things for the sport.