I admittedly don't follow sprinting all that much, but her progress has definitely got a few jumps in performance and has tapered off since Block's ban:
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=usa/athcode=189546/index.html
I admittedly don't follow sprinting all that much, but her progress has definitely got a few jumps in performance and has tapered off since Block's ban:
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=usa/athcode=189546/index.html
I'm asking this without defending or excusing anyone- I genuinely don't know and I want to understand:
What exactly does a 10-yr ban "from the sport" include? I've never heard of Mark Block, but if he was a coach/agent, I would guess he can't act as an agent or directly coach a pro athlete? Who gave him the ban? It sounds like USADA. Do they have the authority to keep him from coaching or representing athletes? Is he not allowed to attend professional meets at all?
I mean, regardless of what's going on, unless Nike had him up there for all the members of the board to take turns spitting on him or something, it's in pretty bad taste (even if not expressly forbidden) to invite the guy over if he's currently serving a ban. I'm just confused as to the limits of that ban and what the implications of Block being there really are. Again, this is aside from the fact that, obviously, it's a stupid idea to invite a banned guy into your VIP section. I don't think anyone would deny it was stupid and damaging to Nike's image, but was it illegal?
Thanks in advance to anyone who knows anything about how these bans work.
Grizz wrote:
I'm asking this without defending or excusing anyone- I genuinely don't know and I want to understand:
What exactly does a 10-yr ban "from the sport" include? I've never heard of Mark Block, but if he was a coach/agent, I would guess he can't act as an agent or directly coach a pro athlete? Who gave him the ban? It sounds like USADA. Do they have the authority to keep him from coaching or representing athletes? Is he not allowed to attend professional meets at all?
Well, USADA can ban anybody they want, but their effective influence is very small. They can say that he cannot coach any other athletes during his ban. He can continue to coach athletes, either surreptitiously or openly. USADA's next move is that they can extend his ban. They could also move against any athletes who were being coached by him (although I am not sure where that is in the WADA or USADA code). They can ban him from sanctioned track meets and refuse to credential him as a coach. That's about all their authority entails.
I agree it is in bad taste for Nike to have him there.
Here comes the tainted meat excuse:
Jason Richardson @JaiRich
...just getting in from good laughs and great food at Ruth Chris w/ @CarmelitaJeter @TheMarkBlock, my coach, wives, & family
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20 Apr 12
Carmelita Jeter @CarmelitaJeter
Dinner tonite with my parents/manager/coach and @JaiRich. #TeamJet/TeamRich
Retweeted by Jason Richardson
20 Apr 12
So Carmelita, your manager is still Mark Block? Try this hash tag next time #ilookguiltybyassociation
seriously, he has a 10 year doping ban and two of our olympians are calling him their managers still, going out to dinner and tweeting about it?!? you don't see arod or some other yankee going out to dinner with mcnamara still.
Jimbo Kern wrote:
Here comes the tainted meat excuse:
Jason Richardson @JaiRich
...just getting in from good laughs and great food at Ruth Chris w/ @CarmelitaJeter @TheMarkBlock, my coach, wives, & family
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Reply Retweet Favorite
20 Apr 12
Carmelita Jeter @CarmelitaJeter
Dinner tonite with my parents/manager/coach and @JaiRich. #TeamJet/TeamRich
Retweeted by Jason Richardson
20 Apr 12
So Carmelita, your manager is still Mark Block? Try this hash tag next time #ilookguiltybyassociation
seriously, he has a 10 year doping ban and two of our olympians are calling him their managers still, going out to dinner and tweeting about it?!? you don't see arod or some other yankee going out to dinner with mcnamara still.
Take a couple screen shots!
I put up a new thread with the WADA code and the documents for Block's Arbitration, which define (sort of), what the terms of his ban are.
I think that LetsRun is having an identity crisis. Rojo and Wejo seem to want to be taken as serious journalists and even call out coach, agents and athletes to speak out against Block and Nike, presumably on Letsrun or to them )wejo/rojo).
But LetsRun also runs a message board on which every agent, athlete, and coach has been called terrible things by anonomous message boards posters in a very poorly monitored message board set-up designed purely to draw visitors (nd thus more ad dollars) at the expense of truth or fairness to anyone in the sport. A message board truly understood to be a wild west situation to be avoided at all costs by most of those coaches, agents and athletes they Brojo's are calling on to speak up.
Coming from another source this information may draw some teeth and interest, from LetsRun it just draws scorn and doubt from the people they are calling on to speak up.
You wild west message board and serious journalism don't get along well together, so which will it be?
Identity Crisis at LR wrote:
You wild west message board and serious journalism don't get along well together, so which will it be?
Remember John Edwards?
Where USADA's authority ends is where we all need to pick up the slack. USADA can't dictate much but we can make it known who is banned and is still hanging around, we can take pictures of them and who they talk to, we can make it known whose special box they sit in, and we can call them out on it. What Rojo did there should be a model for everyone else. This guy went to the Trials and sat where he did because he knew that he could get away with it. He didn't count on some track nerd knowing who he is. Track fans, follow Rojo's example. Educate yourself on who is banned. Did you know Mark Block's name before today? Neither did I and that's a big problem.
EXCELLENT JOB LETSRUN
You did what every other media outlet was afraid to
Somebody needs to answer this
Maybe Max can tell us. Oh wait he will run and hide on this as well - GREAT LEADERSHIP USATF
ciaran has some nerve. he promotes his ebay sales on here all the time:
Nice try. A Typical Amstrong-esque response. Distract to avoid the argument and attempt to discredit your critics.
According to Mark Block's twitter, he also attended Penn.
Mark Block @TheMarkBlock
http://twitter.com/#!/themarkblock
"Penn is always a great event to attend to see old friends and great athletics. But the atmosphere seemed down.
Way to try to deflect the obvious: if Bill Belichick were banned from football would it be ok to have him in the owner (aka Nike's) VIP box at the super bowl. That would be an outrage...as is this.
Nice work Brojos - where there is smoke, there is fire. I hope this is just the beginning.
Common tactic to attack LRs credibility when they stumble on something big. You are a retard.
edit: he changed his ebay named to "koechkamau", the bastrrd....LOL
oh and Jeter has been around block.
Jason Richardson, 110m hurdle champ
http://twitter.com/JaiRich/status/193577111234162688
".just getting in from good laughs and great food at Ruth Chris w/ @CarmelitaJeter @TheMarkBlock, my coach, wives, & family"
20 Apr 12
utfcjh wrote:
From Ciaran O'Lionaird's twitter @gociaran:
"The gutter press at it again. Actually gutter press is too big to compliment those clowns."
Called "gutter press" for asking why a man with a ten year ban is in the most exclusive sponsor area at the biggest track meet in the country. Great job making yourself sound like an ass, Ciaran.
Assuming he is talking about LRC busting Block, then he seems to be supporting a known drug cheat/enabler. What does that say about him?
If I were a sponsor I would drop him today just in case.
Anyone who has read 'Bowermen and the Men of Oregon' learned that above all things, Phil Knight is a capitalist. He has led Nike on a path of capitalism involving nearly every premier sportsperson including Jordan, Armstrong and Woods. A bunch of solid role models, right?
Ciaran was hawking singlets on ebay and using lets run, now he calls the site the gutter press.
why did you change your ebay name, Ciaran? can you answer that?
Jason Richardson
@JaiRich
Olympian & Gold Medal Professional Athlete (NIKE) and Curator of Aesthetics ...Im a Self Proclaimed Schizophrenic, but all My Personalities Get Along..
"...just getting in from good laughs and great food at Ruth Chris w/ @CarmelitaJeter @TheMarkBlock, my coach, wives, & family"
20 Apr 2012