What I’m not supposed to say about Marion Jones…
By Athletes' Acceleration | October 5th, 2007
Yes, Marion Jones took steroids.
I’ve heard terms like ’shocking’, ‘betrayal’, and
other typical brow beating clichés.
In fact here is the headline from CNN.com:
“Dope cheat Marion Jones quits track”
Really?
At this point are we still so cartoonishly
surprised that a professional athlete denied
taking performance enhancing drugs only to get
caught later?
Track isn’t football. There’s no signing bonus
or guaranteed money.
I mean, Shawne Merriman ‘roided up, got suspended
4 games (4 games!) then they let him play in the
Pro Bowl.
He was essentially welcomed back with open arms.
Rodney Harrison (I grew up 15 minutes from Gillette
Stadium by the way) gets suspended for the same
offense and people in New England can’t wait for
him to come back.
If you want to be outraged, be outraged at that.
I’m not making excuses, cheating is cheating and
she gets what she deserves,but people are going
way overboard.
I know, I know…
But what about the kids?
What a bad example she is setting for young
athletes.
And I don’t disagree with that assertion.
But let’s clarify a few things that I’ll probably get blasted
for…
First, no one cares about professional track and
field.
Sorry, it’s true. For the most part track and
field athletes aren’t influencing anyone to do
(or not do) anything.
Over the years I’ve asked kids on my track teams
if they saw this meet or know about this athlete
or that athlete. I’ve even taken them in to see
Indoor meets at The Reggie Lewis Center in Boston
just to try to get them to pay attention.
And maybe a few of the hardcore boys know a few
of the names, but that’s about it.
In fact, a couple years ago one of my former
female athletes (now on scholarship at a Division
I school, so she was no JV runner) got presented
her State Meet medal by Maurice Green and had NO
CLUE who he was.
None.
And when I told her she didn’t care.
So Marion Jones may be an exception, but not
like people are making it sound.
The only time people pay attention to track and
field is every fourth year, when someone gets
caught doping or you happen to have insomnia and
catch a meet at 3am on some obscure channel.
Now, let me clarify something.
I love track and field. And I love the feeling
of being able to run faster than almost everyone
else. There is nothing more pure and fun in all
of sports to do as an athlete or watch as a
coach or fan.
But it breaks my heart to see what a joke track
is from a spectator, commercial and marketing
stand point.
People would rather watch some guys drive a car
in a circle than watch incredible athletes
achieve superhuman feats on the track and in the
field.
And that’s a crying shame.
It’s the governing body’s fault. (And yes I’ve
read Masback’s blog post on this topic.)
I mean, they should be marketing Jeremy Wariner
with every last advertising dollar they have.
And have you ever seen Lolo Jones?
Why isn’t she on TV and billboards because I’m
buying whatever she’s selling.
Even if there is a meet on TV like the Pre
Classic, Home Depot meet or Boston Indoor
Games…so what?
They all ran a race and then it’s over.
No buildup to the Championship.
No race to the Nextel Cup.
Wow, that’s exciting. Can’t wait for the next
televised meet in 3 months.
If track is getting more popular and better
ratings every year, then I’m not seeing it in
practical reality.
Where is this ‘regular week in and week out
coverage on ESPN and NBC’ that Masback speaks of?
Unless there are only 5 weeks or so in the
calendar year, I must be missing something.
I know it’s hard to compete with the mainstream
sports, but I’m around track and field a good
amount of the time and I’m not seeing the
progress.
I read a book recently titled ‘Words that Work:
It’s Not What You Say it’s What People Hear’.
The title reminded me of these statistics of the
so-called rising popularity of the sport currently
being thrown around.
You can say track is popular, but what I
hear I don’t believe. I guess the words don’t
work for me.
In this country if you’re not regularly in the
mainstream, then you’re not relevant.
Here’s an easy equation to get things started:
Lolo Jones + TV = Ratings
What do you think? (Reply below.)
–Latif Thomas
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This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2007 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Speed Training . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 7th, 2007 at 12:01 am
i totally agree - and my love for track is tantamount and it is terribly heartbreaking that more people don’t find the amazement that track and field has to offer. i loathe nascar at this point (i currently live in nascar central - carolina) how can so many people gawked at someone manuevering a machine and consider the driver an amazing athlete. im not taking anything away from the hand-eye coordination that it requires or the upper body strength to control the vehicle but come on!! thanks for your comments.
October 7th, 2007 at 9:30 am
You nailed it when you commented at people only care about track every for years when someone tests positive for a banned substance. That is why NASCAR is so popular because there can be a train wreck in every corner and if we’re really lucky, a car may go off the track and flip end over end 6 times before coming to rest on a crowd of spectators.
We are a society of under performers who seem to bask in the failure of others and NOT in their accomplishments.
October 7th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
My favorite line in your post is this-
Lolo Jones + TV = Ratings
Classic …and I couldnt agree more.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
I think it’s phony when news media pretend that performance enhancing drug use is uncommon. It’s been going on for decades, and is still is.
So Marion Jones took steroids. Why would anyone consider that so surprising? How else would she be able to run faster than the other Olympic athletes, many of whom (I presume) also were taking steroids?
These drugs work. But the bottom line is that Marion still ran faster, and won the races. Who are we to judge whether her choices were good or evil? I don’t know what I would do if I were a professional athlete… Maybe I would believe I needed to “cheat” to keep up with others.
What I like about your articles is that they focus on other aspects of training, which are relevant to all levels of athletes, steroids or not.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I knew the end was near when the “highly publicized” ESPN 100 greatest athletes list included a horse. . . not the jockey, THE HORSE! We are a hypocritical nation that stands for nothing . . . so as a result we’ll fall for anything. We’ll build up in our minds “Be competitive, build your body as best as you can, win at all costs” then when we do it we’re penalized for using every weapon in our arsenal. Cheating is certainly wrong but then what do call that banned substance list that is CONSTANTLY growing ???
October 7th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
I agree with the comments stating that track is under-appreciatedand I believed that reason is directly related to money. I guess the persons with the power to change this situation don’t see how they can make as much moeny from investing more into the track and field than, perhaps, the mainstream sports.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
How much would Isi be worth if she was jumping in the US???
October 7th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
And yet here in the UK we celebrate athletes who are not the best in the world. When we do get such a person - Kelly Holmes, Jonatahan Edwards, Coe and Ovett - the publicity is enormous. I do feel lucky that track and field is accorded the respect it deserves here, and have sympathy for athletes in the US. I do not, however, have sympathy for Marion Jones. I love this sport, and any cheating in sport is to me an anathema, taking away the very meaning of sport. If I had taken silver behind Jones - luckily, I am neither anywhere near fast enough nor, the odd spot of cross-dressing apart (joke, honestly!) am I the right sex - how would I be feeling now? All that honest work, and then to find out 7 years later I have been beaten by someone who was cheating. And a gold medal 7 years later - if this happens - is not the real thing; it’s not standing on the top step of the podium in the Olympic stadium and hearing my national anthem. So sure, there are worse instances of cheating, and much more hypocritical approaches from other governing bodies, but she has still cheated. She has cheated her sport and herself, but she has also cheated all of those who take part in it, like you and me, and we are a little poorer for it. It’s all such a shame, but the way forward lies with stricter testing and more meaningful bans. Nick
October 8th, 2007 at 12:33 am
You cannot justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior. Marion Jones was competing as an ametuer athlete in games shared by other ametuer athletes from around the world. No matter what other people do in professional sports justifies her betraying her oath in particicpating in her chosen sport.
She was unethical and cheated. She then lied outright about it. She should be stripped of all her medals and justifiably banned for life from competing.
Other sports are charged with determining their own course of action. Hopefully public pressure will shame those involved with the sport into action.
You can be honest or not, there is no in between.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:05 am
When marion was winning races at the Olympics - she was meters in front of the other athletes.
Where would she have run without the undetectable stimulents ?
We will be better of when all performance enhancing stimulents are banned.
How can you stop athletes from using banned substances ?
Easy. You just require all athletes to un dergo lie detector tests before and after competing.
There are so many accurate means of detecting untruths these days - that anyone who failed lie detector tests, really would be be using stimulents.
——
I agree that it is unfortunate that track and field performances are not really appreciated.
I think it is because the public are not aware of how good the performances really are.
we know that even older athletes can perform well in track and field.
70 year old mature athletes running 25 seconds for the 200 meters ?
It happens. The way to get the public to appreciate how good that is, is to get some young well known footballers to race against some of the older runners and see how they fare.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:16 am
Sorry guys but cheating is cheating, on every playing field. I agree that track and field does not get the recognition it deserves. Athletes probably put in more time and effort, with little finance, than most other marketed sports (in this case say nascar). But the people who love track and field know and watch track and field with as much enthusiasm as as a car lover would nascar. These are the fans who should be and probably are upset over Jones’ cheating. Lets not kid ourselves. It makes runners super human. It gives them something normal training can’t. Just like an extra 50 horse power would give a racing car an edge over its competitors. Its cheating, its wrong and its illegal.
And as for a young FEMALE athlete not knowing who Maurice Green is, I bet she knows who Marion Jones is as she probably aspires to be like her when she competes for her country. Or should I now say, aspired.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:27 am
At no time during my athletics career did i ever consider taking a performance enhancing drug, i am also very glad to say that neither did any of my close fellow athletes, we were good international athletes, but not great athletes and perhaps that is what was expected of us to achieve greatness, but at what cost to us as people, anyone who cheats is just that, A CHEAT is a cheat is a cheat wrap it up as you like you cannot defend a cheat, in my book she is a liar and a cheat, please remember it was always important in the past to have taken part in the games, to go to games with win at all cost is the pressure put on athletes by coaches and country, so there is where the blame stands.
Please do not try and embelish this with any other form of defence, when she lined up on the track against all those other athletes she knew she had an edge which was illegal never mind the official governing bodies, think of the athletes who lined up against her and lost to another athlete who had told a lie and was a cheat, i do feel for her but her ex husband had been banned for supplying drugs and we believed in her enough to let her run in the peoples games, and please try and remember that, it is the peoples games, and that is why athletes are no longer recognised, there have been too many caught cheating in recent years, and look carefully at which countries have the poorest records for drug abuse, we all have to stand up and be counted, we should be trying to clean up this world of corruption not trying to defend it, this is a point we will never agree on and this only my point of view, not meant as an argument Latif, she has done wrong and now deserves her punishment, only question in my mind right now, why now, why even admit to it at all, she got away with it, but a guilty concience is hard to live with, and she had just about broken every rule in the book. But for what she has now done is some redemption for the clean hard working athletes who lost to her, and for that i applaud her. Vivian Rees (ex 400 metres - 400 metres hurdles international)
currently coach to junior and senior athletes and rugby rising stars.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:30 am
I too agree with your assessment of track and field. However, I do not view Marion Jones as a cheat. All athletes at that level, first and foremost, are entertainers. We watch and marvel at their ability, sacrifice and dedication. Anything that enables them to recover more efficiently and perform more incredibly should be acceptable. All of this hype and sensation indicates someone, somewhere is making money on condemning these so labeled cheats. One thing that does not ever mix well is humans and money; not with celebrities, politicians, corporate executives or athletes. As for sports, when all sports agree on one standard worldwide, then someone may have a legitimate, non hypocritical complaint.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:52 am
Come on guy’s, taking drugs is wrong and she should be severely punished for that. You are side tracking the issue here.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:30 am
As a spectator sport athletics will always run second to events like NASCAR - the reason: we all drive cars and relate to the experience. Unfortunately few people are athletes or have been athletes and will never know the feeling of competing, let alone winning an event. Seroius athletes, particularly in masters age group may needs lots of specialised help to keep their bodies working, but certainly with the use of banned drugs. There would be absolutely no satisfaction out of winning that way. Perhaps sponsors should be more accountable before handing out big pay cheques to cheats
October 8th, 2007 at 2:39 am
Latif,
aren’t you proud that one sport has the integrity to try to clean out drugs from its sport in the face of battalions of lawyers representing lying athletes trying to protect their income and their undeserved reputations (because they didn’t win it fairly)?
If I was a young athlete and I was any good, I might just think I’ve got a chance to get to the top in athletics without endangering my health with banned performance enhancing drugs. In which other speed and power sport might i be able realistically to think that way.
Lets be clear that as a top athlete, Marion Jones was tremendously well paid by the standards of 99.99% of the world so commercially someone is interested in elite athletics. I would argue that as many people would be able to name Carl Lewis from a picture as any great sportsman from the 80’s or 90’s, and, at least here in England, the elite athletes are well known, both past and present. However, what’s all this got to do with drug cheats? Nothing that I can see. The two things are separate.
i hope that the purist form of athletic achievement, athletics, continues to push for purity in the way that the performance is achieved. I want athletes who have used drugs to be removed, but not humiliated and hunted by a press pack. The shame of exposure is enough, and more than most of us could cope with. Let them rebuild their lives. Especially those that have the integrity to hold their hand up when caught and say, yes I did cheat - Dwain Chambers for example.
October 8th, 2007 at 3:18 am
Some of you Americans are beating yourselves up to much. This is a global problem. !9 years ago we thought the Ben Johnson expose brought the whole thing to a head. It will still be many more years and many more athletes will ruin themselves by falling for the stuff. But it will survive. It can be said to be the best kept secret in the world, and only special people can appreciate/enjoy it. Good luck to them in their discernment.
I live in Melbourne, sports capital of the world, and we all love sport. We have had world record crowds for horse racing, three different codes of football, and cricket (can you believe it?)and we even had a baseball game where 115,000 turned out. We are well aware that when you boil it all down, ALL SPORT IS TRIVIA. I don’t know who won the Hurling championships in Ireland, or who is the Chineses National Table Tennis champion, or who is the World Showjumping champion. I can’t even remember who won the women’s 400 metres at the Athens Oympics. But everyone knows the following. Track and Field is the centrepiece of the Olympics, and it is along with the Soccer code of football, THE ONLY SPORT PLAYED IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
It will never die, not whilst we Melbournians draw breath, and people like DJ, and Marcus Amos, and Geoff Bradley and Jon Spear, and Debbie and Patrick and Brad, and millions of other diehard fans throughout Europe and Russia and Africa, and ev ery other continent give a damn. It started off as a sport, and when all theother sports, have destroyed themselves through greed, and drugs, and betting, and corporatisation and every other vestige of modernity which completely stuffs our life, then it will still stand alone as a sport, and the ancient Greek gods will smile.
October 8th, 2007 at 3:38 am
The general public is interested in what they are told to be “extraordinaire”,”glamorous”, and”spectacular”.They are manipulated in order to be exploited. It is easier to exploit a NASCAR fan than a track&field/weightlifting fan. If we all do our best to make the world o tougher place by promoting real athletic values, maybe the people will start realising what a great thing real sport is…
October 8th, 2007 at 3:44 am
Even if Iam not a professional athlete, I would be interested to test my performance both with/without any drugs known to man! I think it is my right to decide about that. I thing this war against performance enhancers is a totally artificial problem! Good luck to all the great people who are ready to push themselves to the limit, with/without drugs!
October 8th, 2007 at 4:50 am
I agree with your comment which states that illegal drug use in football isn’t frowned upon as it is in track & field.
But what I can’t seem to get my head around is the fact that you said one of your former athletes not only didn’t know who Maurire Greene was but also doesn’t care??? I’m tryin to figure out if that is ignorance on her part or just plain stupidity. I mean if an athlete is training in a sport in which she is aspiring to produce a career out of and she doesn’t know one of her country’s greatest sporting heroes in the field she is competing in and she doesn’t care, how much knowledge does she really have and in who’s foot steps does she want to follow?? I don’t know about you but anybody I know who is seriously training in a sport knows their true heroes in that sport, what records they hold, wether it be a national, olympic or world record, what ever sport that may be.
I do believe that marketing and advertising play a huge role in the ratings of sports on tv in relation to NASCAR. But if more time was spent on educating athletes about the history of their sport, interest levels might increase in track and field, even if it only within track and field athletes.
Quick question, does this athlete know who Marian Jones is or even Michael Johnson for that matter??
October 8th, 2007 at 5:21 am
You’re right on about track and field and money. Until there’s a Cup Series of some sort with big money attached to it and some trash-talking superstars, track athletes will toil in obscurity.
However, the problem I have with Jones is not so much the steroid use, but the Bill Clinton-esque, look-us-in-the-eye-and-swear-to-not-doing-it routine.
If you make a mistake, admit it and make amends. My athletes hear it all the time, “if you mess up, you fess up” The Sean Merrimans of the world, and now the Marion Jones’s, aren’t helping us as coaches to reinforce a habit of integrity. That’s really the root of the problem in the athletes-on-steroids uproar.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:17 am
Sad about Marion, but not surprised. She is an incredible athlete regardless, and I remember watching her compete, win or lose, with grace and dignity. I believe the track and field community needs to stand behind her as a united front. Taking away her medals may “officially” strip her of the titles she earned (and will they give them to the 2nd place individual from another country who is not being put on trial for the same thing because “the state” supports the use of banned substances????), but there is no way they can take from her the heart of a champion from which her passion, determination, discipline to train, and will to overcome all obstacles to reach the top find their origin. She is worthy of my admiration still…..
October 8th, 2007 at 6:28 am
As a 51 year old USATF Master in sprinting, I am disappointed with the total lack of consistency of “crime’ and ‘Punishment” in professional sports. I blame the media and overall, greed. Track and field means nothing from a dollars and cents standpoint, so why not give these athletes the death penalty, so to speak, while revenue generating athlets get a slap on the wrist. I don’t condone anything that is forbidden by the regulations of any sport, but let’s be fair and consistent, and if you can choose only one, be consistent.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:51 am
There are no excuses, there can be no exceptions in any sport. As a parent of of swimmer who trains up to 11 times per week and still is just about average but never the less goes to every swim-meet with the best of attitudes, to do her best for her club, for her area, for her nation and to be pure of body and soul and 100% HER, nothing else. When we turn a blind eye remember our loved ones could be the ones getting the raw deal.
October 8th, 2007 at 7:17 am
I am glad to see that before I had a chance to submit my response, that there are atleast a couple of rational readers.
I’m not quite sure how you went from speaking about the cheating committed by one athlete, all the way to rationalizing the use of a banned substance and the bashing of other “sports”.
Now, I would be the first to agree that some “sports” may not actually be sports. But, that is a totally different subject. What you are talking about here is someone getting caught and lying about doing something that they knew was wrong and illegal. Is there really a way to rationalize it?
If we as coaches, trainers, or any other adult, in a position of influence, try to rationalize the use of something that has been proven to be bad for you and goes against the very fabric of honor and good sportsmanship, we should not be allowed to be in that position of influence.
Also, the whining about running sports, and their athletes, not getting the respect they deserve also goes against what we should be promoting. Do we all participate in sports just so we can get recognized by others? If getting recognized is what you want, then by all means follow the example of the Marion Jone’s of the sporting world. She has sure gotten her due!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:21 am
Its a shame that people actually think that these people are acctually faster because they take drugs .Its correct they are faster but it is due only to the fact they are being able to work longer and harder than someone who is not on the drugs .This is a situation that was all brought on by the large sports companys and indeed any company wishing to take advantage of the short term coverage a runner gets when they reach the headlines with that gold around the neck, it lasts only a short time .You are talking large sums of money something these people would never get if was not for the fact these companys use them to make a large profit from their names.These runners shorten their lifes and increase the probabily of serious damage to them selfs just for that shot of that big time large sum of Green back.Its a shame but thats the way it is.None of these people whould be has good has they are unless they had the talent in the first place all of them in a world that was clean of drugs would still be the champion ’s they are or were. These drugs will not take a spinter of moderate capabilities to a world record .So what do we do.Well we could take away that lure of the big money but that will never happen so maybe these companys should demand that every person should be drug free or no free ride.In cycling a number of Italian frame builders have taken there sponsorship away from teams for that reason .Sure they may be loosing money because there product is no longer up in the headline ’s but guess what if your product is good sales in the long run are not lost.THey put the integrity of there Company name first not wanting to have people think they condone the riders or team management’s use of drugs. Has a former Runner in the early sixtys .I beat several top names without the use of anything and some of my times would have given me a chance at a Medal in 64 but things happen and I never got a chance to prove myself thats life .I am glad I never got into all that crap today Iam still in farly good shape and have no joint problems or ill effects due to drug use so even though my dream was not finalized ,today at least I am walking on healthy knees and hips .Just in closing why don’t we separate these people from each other and have a drug free classification and a user’s classification but only the non users get to the Olympics and I don’t mean those who test freee of drugs for six months after use .First time caught and thats game over yoy join the drug users division that means no Olympics.
October 8th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Why in the world do you want exposure (read “money”)? MONEY drives all “big time” sports. If you really want a clean, amateur sport, take the MONEY out of it. Then the incentive to participate is from love of the sport, pure competition.
BTW, I firmly believe that pro athletes take “sups” for the recovery benefits. But that’s a whole other discussion…
October 8th, 2007 at 8:55 am
The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money itself can be used for good everywhere in the world.
My daughters are distance runners and I believe that the lessons learned in this sport have made them smarter, more organized, healthy, etc. girls.
I love track and field and agree that with added marketing and promotion the sport would be better. I also believe that wholesale changes in the format need to be done to entice everyone in this fast-paced, multi-tasking world to buy into it. No other sport allows athletes from every country to actively participate.
where are the ones with the cash to ’step up’ and promote this sport! I will be the first one to support you.
As for Marion Jones - consequences are appropriate for all behavior. However, let us not be too quick to judge someone without walking a mile in their shoes.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:04 am
as a steroid user in the past i am a little bias but i still had to bust my ass to get the few gains that i got . so as for as jones , she just got caught , 95 % of all pros use something so give her a break .
October 8th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Track & Field athletes are poorly treated in most of the western world - they need to reach the top so that they can get money as well as make money from endorsements. This says something about the big corporations and the media empires as well as the cheaters aong the athletes.
Yes, Marion Jones deserved all that is coming her way and yes the athletes she beat will feel cheated not only by her but by the system.
It is a pity that the perception in the US is that athletics only matter once every four years - the US athletes DO compete in the World Championships and in other meetings around the globe, and they are not covered by the media back home?
I hope that the sport can sort out the drugs and financial support problems fast. But to go down the route of other more glamorous sports is no answer - there are as many cheats in them, if not more - and heaping money and glamour on them has not produced anywhere near appropriate improvements!
October 8th, 2007 at 9:55 am
I’ve run, coached and officiated T&F for 30+ years. Several points made above are well taken; but Im going to offer some divergent opinions/comments. Track is not a very viewer friendly sport, there are lots of excellent, creative and intellegent well informed discussoins in Track & Field News on this topic. So, fo ra thorough review on this visit them or subscribe. The bottomline is that few people want to watch people go round in circles for 4 hours… or watch the ungodly long pole vault event… not even many track athletes! It’s not money. It’s the sport itself. Until the very nature of races, jumps and throws change - i.e. distances, trials, time breaks - it won’t change regardless of the money poured into it.
“They all ran a race and then it’s over.” - You’re right - just the way it should be, what is your point here?
Sorry, although catchy, Lolo Jones + TV = Ratings is way off base.
As for Marion, not necessarily a surprise but yes a disappointment. These drugs don’t really “work” as Jon mentions without extremely hard work. If the average person took steroids and did nothing or only modest workouts they in fact would NOT be some great athlete. If you study the effects of steroids I believe that there are many athletes using, who have not been caught and many world class and record holders who indeed are clean.
I love track, I wish the meets were only 2 hours long, I’ll always be cheering for my favorites. I’ll be coaching and officiating it and relishing in it for many years to come. And I’ll continue doing everything I can to be a part of improving it… not just standing by criticizing it.
Upward and onward!
October 8th, 2007 at 10:01 am
What Marion Jones did is reprehensible. And she is paying for it dearly. At least she has come out and admitted to her transgressions with full disclosure and obvious regret . I have not seen Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and countless other players do that (except to make money off a book, i.e. Canseco). Also worth noting.. the Olympics testing system is years ahead of baseball and football. This is by choice. I love football and baseball, but the NFL and the MLB are not all that interested in eliminating performance-enhancing drugs. At least T&F is constantly trying to keep the sport clean.
October 8th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Latif
I am not going to spend alot of time responding to your statements. I am a former trackster and lover of the sport and many others. I coach track and other sports as well and I am around sports (football, baseball, basketball, ect) all the time. Simply put Latif, I thank you for stating the OBVIOUS TRUTH.
James
October 8th, 2007 at 10:41 am
I recently went to a website where they had a clip of the Oslo Dream mile with Steve Scott and a clip of Alan Webb beating that record.
It looked like Alan Webb was running at my old high school. The spectators were outnumbered by athletes.
October 8th, 2007 at 11:07 am
It ’s hard to comprehend sometimes the level to which people will go to win, but in today’s world it’s not uncommon. I’d like to see track get the same recognition in the US that the sport receives in Europe. I think part of it is marketing, no doubt Lolo Jones would be able to push a lot of product….but it’s more than that. The sport doesn’t have a champion…someone with the grace and charm to be a true ambassador for our sport. To be honest the time it takes to cover our sport during our competition is unlike other sports like football, baseball, basketball, in a few hours the even can be captured, the media covering the sport can pack up and leave the same day.
In a sport where the top events and competition are spread over a whole day or multiple days the sports media doesn’t want to invest that much time anymore. We all want it and want to see it all in a couple of hours.
So…until we get someone passionate and with the right connections, and can market the sport, have the athletes stay clean (not all are dirty), we may not see the sport rise to the level of the European events. We simply live in a society that wants it all, now!
October 8th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Latif,
I go back to when the Coliseum Relays drew 70,000 spectators to see Bob Hayes run against Henry Carr in the 220 yard dash. I agree with almost everything you say. I am a former member of the U.S.A National Coaching Staff to the World’s Weightlifting Championships, and we were always the bad boys of Olympic sports. Nowadays the drugs have gotten so expensive that only the pro’s and top line revenue generating athletes can afford them. Unfortunately it will take a long time for Track to regain the cachet it once enjoyed.
I know. Weightlifting is more obscure now than it ever has been. At one time a match with the Soviets would draw 10,000 into MSG.
Sincerely,
Bob
October 8th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
The reality of world level athletics and pro athletics is that any training method is used to achieve the goal. And what´s that goal? TO WIN. There is no clear and fair playing field. Everyone´s biochemistry and genetics are different. The idea that there are two identical competitors in any field is beyond sophmoric. IF everyone is using performance drugs then there still will be a winner–they all won´t tie or draw. The people who want to lose will not use the best training or the best pharmacology (to use the inane analogy of NASCAR: why would anyone use bad fuel or smaller carbs?) The reality of the world is that Political Leaders lie, countries torture those they are against, continue to use and abuse natural resources and exploit 3rd World Countries–but that image is ok. THe athlete who uses all means to acheive a goal (in opposition to destroying the planet) is OF COURSE the more cupable. I would say check again on what is REALLY important. And yes track and field has no future beyond the Olympics so it is not heavy influence in the world of sports.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I agree with a lot that Dean has said.For Track and Field to increase it’s financial viability it has to be on TV.TV= $.To be on TV some one has to figure out how to make it and keep it interesting.Think about it half of the kids in the USA are or have played soccer .That’s huge no other sport has those kind of numbers however professional soccer struggles.The reason I believe is that watching soccer on TV is awful so no does and I say that having played soccer at every level(back in the day).No TV no $.T&F needs to be packaged and formatted to fit this venue I don’t think it would be that tough except for the “governing body”.A good choice of words which would you rather have this sport run as a business or a goverment?The way it’s set up now is just weird.
The Marion Jones story is typical of the problems with drug testing.She won her medals and got her glory and moneys years ago.Now she’s sorry.Big Deal.She should never have been allowed to compete if those where the rules.Testing needs to be set up and scheduled using the best available technology to only allow clean athletes to compete.Businesses test this way so does the military.We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here.
I will go to a couple of dozen T&F events this year.The level of sophistication,coaching and talent is tremendous.We’ve got a great story someone has to tell it.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Nascar is about the dumbest thing to call a sport. Most track athletes can out preform any athletes in any sport. I about throw up everytime I c nascar on espn and every once and a while i get to see the pre classic. Most people don’t even know who pre is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 8th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
i have competed,coached,and been a track fan for 32 years,and i feel that track will continue to be a non-issue to the general public until we aggressively promote,support,and fund it.as for me,i`ll be in the shadows,slugging it out.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Nice rant. Open up track and field to specialized wagering like they do for horses and dogs for c-sake, people will start getting more excited. just human nature, like running and jumping.
October 8th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
For some reason, most of the comments are historically, sociologically/culturally myopic. Several comments have been made about the “US” emphasis on winning-oriented culture. Though this may be accurate to a degree it is no different than most other countries over half a century (and maybe longer)!In the 70s Ben Johnson was the poster child for drug use. In the 60s, 70s and 80s all the Eastern Block countries used, promoted and protected their athletes in the use of performance enhancing substances. In the early 90s it was the coach of Chinese women. And, before anyone points fingers at just Marion Jones, take a look at the monthlyu updated list of T&F athletes banned due to illegal substance use.
I’m not defending it at all. Just keeping it all in perspective. Some good ideas and creative comments here.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
John 8:7 …Let he who is without sin cast the first stone at her!
Who is innocent? Who among us has not cheated or lied at one time or another?
Not to say that since we all have cheated it is ok for her and others, but we are not in the position to judge.
It is hard to see people cheating in a sport that I love but it bothers me that eveyone is pointing the finger like it is not happening everywhere else. Sure Marion Jones was a role model but the outcome of her situation should reflect to those that looked up to her that cheaters never prosper. Maybe with the spotlight on track and field it will help clean up the sport.
I feel bad for the athletes that ran in her relays in 2000!
October 9th, 2007 at 5:58 am
I wanted to hear it from Marion. What do we do with a young athlete, we influence them, unforunately Marion was influenced by the wrong person, for the wrong reason. Coaches, how do we use this? Let’s see, World Class Sprinter falls from grace for using banned sustance or doping, or simply cheating. That’s called “a bad example”, that’s how we use this, as a bad example and what not to do as athletes in track and field. We must Love the Sport!
October 9th, 2007 at 10:04 am
HI,
I think anyone cheating is a disgrace to their sport, and should be banned in any sport…simple as that! They need stiffer laws and the only way to enforce drug use is make it illegal like they do cocaine and marijuana. Give some prison time or a fine they can’t pay off for the rest of their life… and then see if winning is that important. If you have international runners in the states caught for steroid use then they should be under that jurisdiction and be put in prison or given a lofty fine. ( I mean steroid, hardcore drug use…not being caught for taking cough medicine) I am sure they would find a better and healthier way to get the same results. Money isn’t the root of all evil…winning at all cost is…it has been that way for years…even before athletes starting make all this money. I believe once the drug use is taken care of….the competitiveness between athletes would be the same.
Tour-de-France…what a boring race that is…watching a guy bike for miles on end…I find no excitement in that. Hotdog eating contest…that gets more coverage then track…it is not the sport of track…it is the way it is marketed…if we can find a way to market track that is more appealing to the public, track would blossom. Change the sport a bit…make it more flashy, give in more contact, add some different events, etc…track has not gone with the times…it is the same as it was 100 years ago……get all the marketing experts together and brainstorm…how do we make track and field appealing to the world? I am sure there is a way.
October 9th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Bicyling is the business model I think would work for T&F.Teams have a corporate sponser with budgets ranging from 4.7 to 20.4 million dollars a year.There is a set pro circut of races for the elites and a series of smaller races for the younger riders.All are under contract all on salary.Bicyclist can be very well compensated salary + endorsement .The races also have sponsors and great media coverage.The Tour deFrance this year had a TV viewing audience of 2 billion(yes thats billions)and 15 million spectators on site.
October 9th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
There is a big difference between playing on a football team and representing your country. On a football team one day you may be a charger and the next day you might get traded to another team. Go ahead take steroids if you get caught you are just embarrasing yourself.
But don’t embarass your country few people get to represent there country. It should be an honor
October 10th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
You have got true.
It is a crying shame about athletics these days.
Marion Jones was a heroe for many people but who going to get the Sydneys medal afer her???
By or not to be.
Thanou the greece sprinter was the second……
Marion is an incredible athlete regardless, and I remember watching her compete in a past.
Unfortunately we dont know yet who is guilty and who not.
As we can see the blood test in cycling works.
October 12th, 2007 at 1:42 am
In the UK it matters a great deal to the kids! I coach under 13s upwards and most of them know the names of all the top athletes from around the world, They are household names over here, and THEY ARE inspired by them! How can we teach them cheats never prosper, if NO top athlete is clean! I think all athletes in all sports should be BANNED for LIFE if PROVEN guilty! I feel such an idiot believing Marion Jones was clean.
From a Gullible and Gutted UK coach!
October 12th, 2007 at 9:12 am
There are alot of good ideas stated.
BY the way in europe soccer is watched on TV a lot. But I do think it would help to have more of a championship season for T&F. Whatever Marion Jones (let me add Flo Joe as well) took, and with that harmened themselves, she had superb sprinting style, step over, drive down, awesome. All the details of perfect form Latif emphasizes: Watch a race of one of these two women, it´s all there.
October 14th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
I agree with the gist of what you said. I was disappointed but not shocked that Marion Jones lied about her steroid use. I had suspicions as I watched her destroy the competition in the 2000 Olympics. I read Game of Shadows and got a real eye opener about her alleged steroid use. I found it hard to believe that she didn’t know what she was taking. The sad part is that she - like many of the other top athletes who have been implicated in the steroid scandal - probably didn’t need to cheat to win. But international track and field seems to be so competitive that even the best athletes seem to think they need to cheat just to remain competitive, if not to win. Perhaps if ESPN would broadcast more top track and field events instead of poker, darts, and spelling bee tournaments, more people would begin to realize just what great athletes many of these track andfield athletes are and they would get the recognition they deserve. But that’s a whole other story.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
The use of performance enhancing drugs is to boost your body’s chemical elements to maintain its resolve, therefore increasing the period to dynamic and intense training, of which you can’t do if your body don’t have it. Our bodies only produces enough elements in traces to keep us functioning, because it knows that too much will eventually damage itself.
What I’m saying is this, taking these substances to boost the body’s elements does not increase your performance, but it does increase the performance to training longer and harder (more intense and longer intervals without fatigue). This is why the muscules look more compact and lean than the athlete that didn’t take any. So I do agree (and it is true) with some of the comments, that they still need to train hard to get where they are, only alot longer without fatigue. I don’t condone what she has done but to vilify an individual like some of you have is totally against beliefs. What would you do if your friend/son/daughter/ admits that he/she is an alcoholic or a drug addict? Would you still be cynical and react? or would you embrace them and help them through their ordeal? We live in the times now that if you are a celebrity (through their own hard work), that errs at some time, they get vilified, and the pimp is the media, culprit and the good for the exposure and the public is the puppet. Human beings will always react, either out of jealousy or some other reason or its the way they were brought up of right and wrong. If you ask a very competitive athlete and they will tell you that they will always try to find an edge to WIN, and yes actions without worrying about consequences, stardom is more important until they get caught or admit through conscience. I can only assume that most athletes take drugs, which I believe they do. The ones that gets caught are the more competivie ones or shall I say the most dumb.
The average person take drugs, right? You drink coffee to enhance your awareness and kick start your day, at work, leisurely etc, to have that edge (thats a performance enhancing drug). You don’t see anyone crying fowl, hell no. Look, rules are rules, she broke it and she admited it, thats right “admitted” which is the beginning to recovery. The only crime that she has done here is lied to herself, the authorities, to her family and close friends. Maybe her friends knew all the time and supported her for whatever decision she makes (that will be a true friend and there are not many around). She is paying the prize now, physically and mentally through shame and humiliation for the rest of her life, so lets get over it and move on.
A suggestion to what she can do is use the time to make our kids and athletes aware that there consequences to breaking the rules and these cosequences will ruin careers and the shame that will last a lifetime. Do what Bill Clinton is doing without pocketing the money, it goes to charity to fund projects to making kids and athletes aware of the physical repercussions and psychological consequences of breaking the rules, maybe then we can have some closure, of which I doubt.
October 17th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Ok firstly i agree in theory with what is being said by you lolo jones + TV = ratings however being from Europe where Athletics is a big deal its hard to have sympathy for Jones. But then again this is a bit of a double edged sword as in my opinion probably 75% of athletes are taking some sort of performance enhancement drug their just not getting caught. I think the only way to purify the sport is to let them take what they want , deaths on the track will be the only way to discourange athletes from taking roids or let them take nothing and to try to cut it out its just not practical and not working as proven by the amount of athletes testing positive every year.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:28 pm
I have no sympathy for people who cant get to the top without performance enhancing drugs…drug cheats have no place in any sport and are simply a cancer that undermines those that have “talent”…watching marion jones pitifull attempt at remorse was a joke…and what about the athletes that finished behind her at the olympics who had their chance at recognition stripped away….imagine years of dedication and training aimed at olympic glory only to find out later you were “robbed” by a scumbag drug cheat….like i said ” no sympathy” for cheats
November 27th, 2007 at 3:23 am
[…] What I’m not supposed to say about Marion Jones…I love track and field. And I love the feeling of being able to run faster than almost everyone else. There is nothing more pure and fun in all of sports to do as an athlete or watch as a coach or fan. But it breaks my heart to see what … […]
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 am
Your comments are so true. I love track & field and bellileve it is one of the purest forms of competition. These athletes train years for sometimes just 10 seconds or 26 feet. T&F coverage in this country is a joke. I wasin Europe in August and actually got to see an entire 2 1/2 hours of a track meet, all heats not just the stars. The stadium was packed and fans were excited. You are right about other sports, which are more rampant with performance enhancing drugs than T&F. A friend of mine says almost everyone in the NFL enhances. Track forever!!!