Kelly Lundy wrote:
I've never heard of that writer.
What "awards" has he won and if he is so "in demand" why is he writing on obscure web sites?
Alan Abrahamson is one of the most prominent Olympic writers in the world. He co-wrote Michael Phelps and Apolo Ohno's biogrpahies. He's on the IOC Press Commission. He's on NBC during the Olympics. He's a good dude. I consider him a personal friend.
However, I've never disagreed as much with something he wrote as this piece.
I may write a whole piece on this but for now:
USATF has a lot of money in the bank (I'm assuming nearly all of this is from the Nike deal and USOC grant money, if I'm wrong and there are significant new sponsors beyond this let me know), but otherwise there is a lot of dissatisfaction from athletes (and members) about having a voice and being treated fairly.
Fair sport should be the #1 priority of USATF and the USOC. Without that the money means nothing.
Athletes don't feel competitions are run fairly. I think many don't feel the national office cares much about clean sport. It seems with a lot of things within USATF there is the semblance of rules but almost always an out clause of "but we can do what we want." The Members voted 85% against Stephanie Hightower. They clearly think she's not the best choice to be on the IAAF. That was ignored. The Long Distance Committee voted unanimously for the Olympic Marathon Trials to be in Houston - that was ignored. Then there was the whole indoor DQ controversy which got a lot of national coverage in the WSJ. Rules were ignored and USATF imposed a solution that was not in the rules. Then another athlete who was wrongly DQd was not reinstated for 8-9 months. The powers that be never said, "Hey we got this wrong." That falls on Stephanie and/or Max. If Max wants to pretend he can only do the business side (I think he is no longer pretending that as he did issue a statement on Jon Drummond's ban) then it falls on Stephanie 100%.
Dennis Mitchell, a convicted drug cheat, was appointed to be a national team coach THIS YEAR for the World Relays by the national office. That falls on the CEO and Board 100%. They didn't even follow the rules for letting the Executive Committee select a list of names. Yet they knowingly put a drug cheat as a national team coach. Stephanie is the ex-athlete, I think most people would think athlete stuff falls to her.
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/05/usatf-dennis-mitchell-convicted-doper-head-sprint-coach-world-relays/Yet the members are supposed to get upset because Jon Drummond wasn't stripped of his position? Shouldn't it be the national office that has all the power do that?
USATF may be doing a great job financially (I really think that means they signed a New Nike deal without putting it out for bid), but so is the NFL. And a lot of people don't like how Roger Goodell has been running the NFL. He appears to make up the rules as he goes along. Now imagine, if Roger only handled the business side of the NFL and there was this whole other side of the NFL that had thousands of volunteers who thought they were protecting the integrity and image of the game and the head of this other side of the NFL was their President. If wife beaters (drug cheats) were being appointed as NFL coaches against the NFL members wishes and there was an international football federation and the members 85% to 15% voted against the President (who was appointing wife beaters as coaches) to be on the international federation board and she ignored them and got her fellow board members (who were also signing off on wife beaters to be coaches) to ignore the 85-15% vote do you think the members, the press or the public would be happy?
That is what is happening with USATF.