Carl Lewis: "Our sport is proving the definition of insanity"

The only real "team" event I can imagine in track is a 3-legged race.

Everything else is just summing up individuals.

Bob Schul Country wrote:

Track is screwed up........the problem isnt the racing. Its the promotion. Every time I see drone racing and professional video game leagues on TV I wonder why ESPN cant put track on for an hour a week.

You can't polish a turd. Nobody cares about watching track on TV. It is what it is. You can "do it right" or do it wrong. It doesn't matter, the viewership will be the same - LOW.

Bob Schul Country wrote:

Track is screwed up........the problem isnt the racing. Its the promotion. Every time I see drone racing and professional video game leagues on TV I wonder why ESPN cant put track on for an hour a week.

Everyone with the money in this sport seems to not care. Track on TV isnt that hard. No fluff stories, just track with a good commentator and some background on the athletes.

THese high profile coaches and training groups dont want a track circuit or league where they get exposed for being shitty week in and week out.

It's the ratings, stupid.

Drone racing garners more ratings then T&F, otherwise they'd put it on.

Bob Schul Country wrote:

Track is screwed up........the problem isnt the racing. Its the promotion. Every time I see drone racing and professional video game leagues on TV I wonder why ESPN cant put track on for an hour a week.

Everyone with the money in this sport seems to not care. Track on TV isnt that hard. No fluff stories, just track with a good commentator and some background on the athletes.

THese high profile coaches and training groups dont want a track circuit or league where they get exposed for being shitty week in and week out.

I participate in biting fart bubbles in a tub. I'd like to see ESPN show this as a sport. I suspect they would, if it would get ratings.

Same as track and field, it's not on ESPN, b/c no one watches it.

Fart bubble biting, now I do actually think people would watch that.

Does your google not work? Carl has admitted to failing three drug tests. The USOC suppressed them.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/apr/24/athletics.duncanmackay

Too negative ... wrote:

dopers r us wrote:

We should also mention that Carl Lewis was a doper and should have been banned. Corrupt days in the sport...

Some float rumors. Show your proof Carl Lewis was PED positive.

+1 million

— And: "There are too many athletes and we're not a professional sport." (Not sure what he meant by "too many.")

There's only a small pool of money and all the small amounts the mediocre ones manage to get are starving the ones with real potential.

dopers r us wrote:

Does your google not work? Carl has admitted to failing three drug tests. The USOC suppressed them.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/apr/24/athletics.duncanmackay

Too negative ... wrote:

Some float rumors. Show your proof Carl Lewis was PED positive.

His slight stimulant use which may or may not result in a positive PED test result in 2019 is known. The rumors of steroid use by Lewis are still not proven.

Slight ... wrote:

dopers r us wrote:

Does your google not work? Carl has admitted to failing three drug tests. The USOC suppressed them.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/apr/24/athletics.duncanmackay

His slight stimulant use which may or may not result in a positive PED test result in 2019 is known. The rumors of steroid use by Lewis are still not proven.

Watch the 30 for 30 ESPN documentary on Ben Johnson.

I thought ALLL the long-jumpers of the 80s/90s were aided by cocaine no?

Slight ... wrote:

dopers r us wrote:

Does your google not work? Carl has admitted to failing three drug tests. The USOC suppressed them.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/apr/24/athletics.duncanmackay

His slight stimulant use which may or may not result in a positive PED test result in 2019 is known. The rumors of steroid use by Lewis are still not proven.

I said he was a doper and should have been banned. He was a doper. He violated the rules in place at the time. Those are just the facts.

TrackCEO wrote:

Every few years, Carl Lewis stirs up the molecules with comments on the sport's administration.

At Mt. SAC Saturday, while speaking with Scott Reid of The Orange County Register, he issued some wild opinions. I taped the chat. See it here:

https://timesofsandiego.com/sports/2019/04/21/olympic-icon-carl-lewis-track-field-rulers-proving-the-definition-of-insanity/

Among other things, King Carl said:

— Mixed-gender relays are a "clown show."

— Cutting 5K and 10K races in Diamond League "is a mistake."

— "We have a great system that I teach (at Houston). If I was teaching a bad system, we'd be the U.S. team the last 12 years," apparently referring to relay miscues.

— And: "There are too many athletes and we're not a professional sport." (Not sure what he meant by "too many.")

Any reactions? I might add them to my story.

K . E . N.

I don't always agree with Carl but I think he nailed it on all items. The last one I dont fully understand what he means so I wont pass judgement there. Not sure what he means about too many athletes, if its something about the top athletes not racing enough I agree and the marketing for the sport is not done professionally.

Most controversial would probably be his mixed relays comment. Completely agree. Adds no value and should be removed asap. A failed publicity stunt that further damages that screams "we are not professionals here"

A person who has an opinion is alive wrote:

Carl Lewis is one of the greatest athletes ever. His opinions of the sport of track and field ,which he understands very well, should be paid attention to.

I congratulate Carl for having the courage to speak his mind.

Carl is right, and I share his opinion

What Leroy and Carl have done at the University of Houston is remarkable and should be studied and emulated

Carl is right

Do you need another box of kleenex after you finished that HJ?

Dirty Diesel wrote:

A person who has an opinion is alive wrote:

Carl Lewis is one of the greatest athletes ever. His opinions of the sport of track and field ,which he understands very well, should be paid attention to.

I congratulate Carl for having the courage to speak his mind.

Carl is right, and I share his opinion

What Leroy and Carl have done at the University of Houston is remarkable and should be studied and emulated

Carl is right

Do you need another box of kleenex after you finished that HJ?

Carl gets pissy when anyone disagrees with his pronouncements from on high. He's always right.

Perhaps some of you recall that Lewis held court from his villa in Rome in 1987, during the World Champs and after his whipping by Benjie in the 100. He gave an interview for UK TV during which he stated:

""A lot of people have come out of nowhere and are running unbelievably, and I just don't think they're doing it without drugs," said Lewis on an ITV interview....

Obviously targeted at Benjie - don't think he was addressing e.g. Silke Gladisch or other clear and notorious dopers.... maybe they hadn't exactly "come out of nowhere" LLLLOOOL!

Buuut....

"although Moore reveals another quote which did not make the final edit that would have been sensational if it had: "If I were taking drugs, I could do a 9.80 right away-just like him." Strong stuff, but with no out of competition testing back then, Moore rightly points out that Johnson seemed untouchable."

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/that-1980s-sports-blog/2013/oct/21/ben-johnson-carl-lewis-dirtiest-race-history

Now Carl was right about this - he often is - but he's also a sensitive and hypocritical narcissist, and what was objectionable was that he should have included himself in the overall denunciations. Considering the Exum revelations, Benjy was right, and Lewis should also have been suspended prior to the 88OG even by the lax standards of the rules of the time.

I am not sure if the 1988 OG 100 was the dirtiest race in history - there is some strong competition from the M and W 400 at the same Olympics, as well as numerous other races in the 70s to 90s - but it does illustrate both the selectivity of doping enforcement and the prevalence of the problem.

Makin a + contribution: wrote:

TrackCEO wrote:

Every few years, Carl Lewis stirs up the molecules with comments on the sport's administration.

At Mt. SAC Saturday, while speaking with Scott Reid of The Orange County Register, he issued some wild opinions. I taped the chat. See it here:

https://timesofsandiego.com/sports/2019/04/21/olympic-icon-carl-lewis-track-field-rulers-proving-the-definition-of-insanity/

Among other things, King Carl said:

— Mixed-gender relays are a "clown show."

— Cutting 5K and 10K races in Diamond League "is a mistake."

— "We have a great system that I teach (at Houston). If I was teaching a bad system, we'd be the U.S. team the last 12 years," apparently referring to relay miscues.

— And: "There are too many athletes and we're not a professional sport." (Not sure what he meant by "too many.")

Any reactions? I might add them to my story.

K . E . N.

Unfortunately, Carl Lewis is a BIG MORAN.

FIFY

Speaker of the truth wrote:

Track just needs to accept the fact that only the Olympics matter to its relevance. Everything outside of the Olympics really is just a clown show. Just accept it and move on....

It doesnt have to be........get that stuff on ESPN once a week and people will learn to like it, follow thier favorite events and athletes.

THe problem with it is that outside of the sprints......they arent racing. Distance runners are killing themselves by running super slow for most of races and then racing the last lap..

It's a small pie wrote:

— And: "There are too many athletes and we're not a professional sport." (Not sure what he meant by "too many.")

There's only a small pool of money and all the small amounts the mediocre ones manage to get are starving the ones with real potential.

Also: it makes NCs a bloated affair with too many rounds for too many events. Should be a 2-day meet with straight finals in all but the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and hurdles. No potential medalist gets eliminated in the steeple quarterfinals.

[b

Carl Lewis is one of the greatest athletes ever. His opinions of the sport of track and field ,which he understands very well, should be paid attention to. .

but seb coe was a great athlete