Run to Win

It has been less than a month since USATF CEO Doug Logan challenged the JAAA to a dual meet series pitting the two nations best sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers against one another in team competition.

The meets have been scheduled, and will happen in May and June of 2010. That will give the USATF and the JAAA 13 months to put the event together, sign the athletes to commit, and arrange media sponsorship.

“We look forward to taking on our American friends in head-to-head competition in 2010,” said JAAA President Howard Aris. “We are confident that this kind of team competition, featuring the most exciting events in athletics, will prove captivating to fans around the world.”

The meet on US soil will probably be in the Southeast, so if I can’t manage to make my way down I really hope that it is broadcasted on a television station that I’ll have access to or is streamed over the web so that I can watch it live.

This is bound to be a pretty exciting meet and it will be interesting to see how the nations do in heads up team competition.

(More Info: Doug Logan’s Letter – USATF)

Now this has to be one of the coolest things I’ve heard about in the past couple of years.

Doug Logan, the USATF CEO, hand delivered a proposal to the Jamaican NACAC Representative Teddy McCook.

The proposal calls for a pair of dual meets between the two countries, one on US soil and one on Jamaican soil.

Rather than racing for medals, the meets would be scored by team and would include these events: (Click here to continue reading…)

Marion Jones

USATF CEO Douglas Logan has written an open letter to President Bush urging him not to pardon Marion Jones for her illegal and unethical activities over the past decade.

I can not agree with him more and I plan on writing to the white house with my thoughts on the matter. Marion Jones broke the law, she cheated in her profession, and she lied about both for years.

There should be no double standards for athletes when compared to average citizens of the United States, and pardoning Jones will make us laughing stocks in the international track community. If you think that cycling as a sport gets a bad rap, wait until the United States takes a lenient stance against an admitted doper that broke multiple US laws including involvement in bank fraud.

Pardoning her sends the wrong message, and I think that she should take responsibility for the choices that she has made.

If you would like to send a letter to the White House, you can address it to the following address:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

If you would like to call the White House to voice your concerns, you can dial 202-456-1111 (or 202-456-6213 for TTY service.) To send a fax, dial 202-456-2461.

If you would like to send an email, address it to: comments@whitehouse.gov

The USATF has provided a sample email/letter that you can use when communicating with the White House about your thoughts on offering Marion Jones a pardon:
http://www.usatf.org/promotions/MarionJones/

Click through to read the rest of this entry for Douglas Logan’s open letter to the President.
(Click here to continue reading…)