Andrew Poore: "If I'm not a pro athlete, I'm not going to waste my time trying to pretend like I'm something I'm not&

Sounds like he was tired of being

Poore

YEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

I hope Alexa Efraimson reads this.

Alexa is not going to have any issues. She will get a contract similar and above what Ajee Wilson got. She won't get Mary Cain money, but she will be well into the six figures annually.

Here's the deal. Saying that the shoe companies are the life blood of the sport right now, goes without saying. But that's merely because Max and USATF remain inflexible and adamant that athletes can only have 1 sponsor on their uniform. Of course the shoe companies then have all the power. It's a little like saying you can only choose from GM or Ford for your car, no other brand and no other form of transportation is allowed. And then griping about the fact that GM or Ford have all the power. It honestly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

Now, imagine a sport where athletes can literally be sponsored by any company they want, and can offer marketability in return on their uniform. I would argue that if that was allowed, there would likely be many athletes that would be sponsored by a ton of different companies, and perhaps one of them is NEVER a shoe company.

I mean seriously, it's like USATF is intent on remaining a sub-par, amateurish professional sport, with CONSTANT shortcomings that will never communicate with the general public.

Okcw wrote:

she will be well into the six figures annually.

Let's not get too carried away here.

akdg wrote:

I hope Alexa Efraimson reads this.

I agree. I believe it is foolish to consider our sport professional. The money limited both in figures and duration of a contract relative to "real" professional sports.

The leadership at the National office is unstable, often a "me first, athletes 2nd" priority.

Development of young talents like Efraimson might be better in the college system provided she runs for the right coach.

Training groups like the Beasts, any of the NIKE groups, BAA (Mahon), NB (Coogan), adidas (do they have a group other than BAA?) would be limited in the development process of a teenager.

Ajee, Alexa, Mary are rare talents. Their development is no "sure thing". As fast as Alan Webb ran most feel he did not maximize his talent "from going pro" early.

I wish our outstanding group of young runners well. It's a tough journey in our sport.

Exactly.

It's disingenuous to say that NASCAR focuses on the maker's sponsorship when teams, imagery, and drivers are sponsored by companies from every walk of life. The most diversity in running sponsorships is the Goughers riding around on those ellipi-go things.

If the International Olympic Committee really is the one with the problem with multiple sponsors, why doesn't USATF sell off sponsorship to say 50 companies and make the 2016 Olympic uniform a montage of logos. If this plan is well publicized other countries will follow and then the IOC will have the problem of having to prevent athletes from competing on TV in front of the world because they don't like what they are wearing...

Okcw wrote:

Alexa is not going to have any issues. She will get a contract similar and above what Ajee Wilson got. She won't get Mary Cain money, but she will be well into the six figures annually.

Ridiculously sexist really when you consider that Poore is just way faster than any of those athletes at any distance.

Ajee and Cain place at world championships (for their age group), with the prospect of placing or continuing to place in the senior ranks in a few years.

Poore was good. Great US runner, but not the same investment.

Also, if a sponsorship is paying for media hype, who did a better job, Cain or Poore? AW has a name for herself, and Cainsanity is already over the tipping point.

The shoe companies are the bedrock because they lobbied the hardest and fight the hardest for that fact to remain. In NASCAR, the car companies make the cars. But they don't force the drivers to also wear their fire-retardant suits and helmets. Not the case with running.

In the case of running, there's no company that is only making shoes. They're forced by the status quo to split their focus on having an entire line of clothing. The clothing and the shoes suffer as a result.

Right now I'm forced to wear adidas gear and frankly, it's BS. Their new line of Boost seems good (I'm not completely sold on them). But the rest of their running gear sucks. I have gloves that rip at the seems after two uses and 'compression' sleeves that feel like nylons, and broken zippers on my warmups.

The strategy is to put the shoes on the feet, and monopolize the rest of the sport from there. They make money, not quality . They don't act in the best interest of the sport.

Here are a couple of NASCAR cars (notice the sponsors all over):

http://pauldunay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/nascar_photo.jpg

Here is Nick Symmonds having to cover his sponsored tattoo:

http://www.javelinexperiential.com/wp-content/uploads/nick-symmonds.png

+1

I do not understand how Max cannot see the differences between NASCAR and USATF in terms of sponsorhip. One lets the athletes (term used loosely) get whatever sponsor they want and the other limits and controls the athlete's ability to get sponsors.

X-Runner wrote:

Here are a couple of NASCAR cars (notice the sponsors all over):

http://pauldunay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/nascar_photo.jpg

Here is Nick Symmonds having to cover his sponsored tattoo:

http://www.javelinexperiential.com/wp-content/uploads/nick-symmonds.png

this post should be sent to Max Siegel

+1

original message wrote:

akdg wrote:

I hope Alexa Efraimson reads this.

I agree. I

The leadership at the National office is unstable, often a "me first, athletes 2nd" priority.

Development of young talents like Efraimson might be better in

Ajee, Alexa, Mary are rare talents. Their development is no "sure thing". As fast as Alan Webb ran most feel he did not maximize his talent "from going pro" early.

I wish our outstanding group of young runners well. It's a tough journey in our sport.

How is Ajee a rare talent? Her PR is what-like 1:59? She is like 6 seconds off WR? That is like a male professional who can run 1:47. Not a rare talent.

Can someone clear this issue up for me? Is there any legal/contractual obligation for USATF to apply IAAF's uniform restrictions (two logos max, with the size restrictions) to the races USATF puts on domestically, including national champs?

I'm also confused. It looks like USATF agrees to follow USOC and IOC uniform rules for special events like trials, championships, etc but does this cover all "pro" events?

I feel like in the absence of multiple sponsorship, programs like NE Distance which offer housing, part-time work, and some financial support for rising elites are where we should be heading. It's a great model, and there's no reason you can't be a national or world-class runner and also work a few hours at another running-related job, especially if your training takes that into account and is structured around it.