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

http://tinyurl.com/yupqql

Did you know that over $4 BILLION dollars is spent each
year on sports camps, speed clinics and athletic
development programs and resources?

As athletes get specific training, their peers need to
do thesame just to have a chance to compete.

This cycle just drives itself which means there are
countless opportunities for coaches and trainers to
make incredible profits doing what they love…working
with athletes.

A little less than two years ago we ran a program
teaching people how to run successful sports camps and
speed clinics…

And it sold out in 6 days.

We’re considering running an updated version of this
program, but need your input to make it an
overwhelming success.

So please take a few moments to complete a quick
survey that will let us know if this project is
something we should offer again:
http://tinyurl.com/yupqql
In speed,

Latif Thomas