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Dan
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Conway
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 Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2002 6:18 am Post subject: |
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Wow ... Many potential implications here ... Will she and Tim stay together .... Will Tim bolt too ... How well will either perform this next season ... Tim seems to need Marion ... She seems rather independent ... Will she jump better ... Will going back to the long jump add to or take away from her sprinting ...
This is some thing that shoud have been done in the off season ... Just as Chambers did ... Then if it blows up you lose nothing and if it is a success you have something to build on in the important year ...
AND how is it all going to affect Gatlin ???????
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Conway
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Dan
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Location: Salem, OR
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| Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2002 9:37 am Post subject: |
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Rumors have been swirling that Marion is to be truly coaching by Francis, not Hansen, but I hadn't seen anything that definitive or that also included Tim. Tim did very well in his short time under Graham, but as for Marion ... about time! Her technique was never great, but the more she's worked at it the more it's gone downhill. Getting someone with a proven eye for that sort of stuff will be invaluable. Although, I do agree, the timing could have been better...
Tough break for Graham to lose his core athletes right on the heels of winning the coach of the year award (presented by his group's main sponsor, if I'm not mistkaen)... No clude what it will mean to Gatlin at this point.
One of Ben Johnson's remarks bothered me, although it may have just been his funny way of expressing himself:
| Quote: | "If this is the way he has to make his living, because he can't coach in Canada, he has to go and make a living. I don't really have any problems with him doing that.
"He has to pay his bills," added Johnson... |
The implication is that he would rather not have Francis coaching if it weren't financially necessary, hinting at it somehow reflecting poorly on Ben that Charlie coach at the same place. As I recall, Ben was the one athlete that did not admit to wrong doing in the Dubin Inquiry, instead pointing the blame at his handlers. It sounds like there is still a bit of that going on. 
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Conway
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| Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2002 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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This is a very poor move on the part of Marion in my opinion !!!! She is associating herself with a known "pusher" of drugs in a year leading up to the Olympics ... She is damaging her reputation and sullying her image .... My guess is that endorsers will be running the other way ... Financial suicide ... She's already been suspected as has Tim ... BAd move :t-:
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Dan
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Conway
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| Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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I still say a very bad move ... I expect her endorsements to shrink along with parts of her and Tim's bodies ... ... If she has a breakout year expect the testers sitting at her doorstep !!!
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Dan
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| Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | If she has a breakout year expect the testers sitting at her doorstep !!! |
That's the major down side, as I see it. Even if there are very legitimate technique/technical explanations for a marked improvement, we all know what the implications will be. I don't see sponsorship being much of an issue unless the Francis angle catches the media's eye, in which case it will probably get played up more than it's worth.
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Conway
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| Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 9:54 pm Post subject: |
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If she was really that interested in technical stuff why not hire Tellez ??? Only one reason to go to Canada ... Even the Canadians don't use the Canadian coaches !!!!
This smells like Francis and that is how it will be played ... First herhusband is busted for drugs then she goes to the worlds best known drug coach !!!!! Bad move ....
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Dan
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| Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2002 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Even the Canadians don't use the Canadian coaches !!!! |
Yeah, but that's because they're not allowed to...
To be honest, I'm a bit surprised by your response to the matter. Normally you view drugs as something that merely helps an athlete get to a place they are inherently capable of; just another way of getting there. So, looking at it that way, how can Francis' tainted record with drugs reflect poorly on his coaching ability? He devised a system to get athletes to the absolute highest level at the time. It follows then that there is no better coach out there, Tellez included.
Now, if the matter is one of wise self-marketing, that's a different matter... Sponsors want winners and sales. As long as public perception isn't too riled up, they won't be either. It appears Francis is the driving force but that someone thinks they can mask that fact by naming this Hansen fellow the main man. That's mighty shaky ground. I think the best thing that could be done is to be up front about it and simply say, "I want to be coached by the best, case closed." Francis has spelled out in great detail what his system consisted of drug-wise, so I would venture to say at this point his athletes are the least likely of any to be doing stuff we don't know about. Sort of backward reasoning, but it could almost lead one to think anyone running for Francis is cleaner than their competitors for fear of the scrutiny and awareness of the situation!
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Conway
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 8:35 am Post subject: |
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I could care less about her use of (or non use of) drugs ... I just htink it is a terrible PR move ... One in a recent string ... She had enough to deal with when CJ got busted ... That was a bullet that she was able to dodge ... But then to come right back and align herself with a man who can't even coach the athletes in his own country becasue he is banned is ludicrous in my opinion ... And ot do so in a back handed way so as to not draw attention DRAWS ATTENTION !!!!
Everyone else in the world that has the ability to do so comes to the US for coaching !!!! She has to go out, when arguably the best sprint coaching on the planet resides here ... I say arguably becasue if she really wanted technical why not ocme ot CA and go to Korchemmi (sp?) or Smith ... How about Tellez or Pfaff in Texas ... Or hire a Russian or German coach ... Or even Ottey's coach (former hubby whose name escapes me at the moment ...
No .... She goes for a no name Canadian who has no credentials and has coached no one of note ... Whether she uses drugs or not any improvement coming through this system is going to be construed as such and her name will be forever sullied ... She will go down in history with the same undying suspicion that folowed FloJo to her grave ... Former hubby druggie ... New coach druggie ... She will walk like a duck and cluck like a duck and will be called a duck - even if she looks like a swan !!!!!!!
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Dan
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 10:22 am Post subject: |
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I can't argue with any of that... If she is up front about it and says she is going to Francis to be coached by the absolute best, then I think some clever and persistent PR work can turn that into a good thing (everyone deserves a second chance, why not learn from the best?, etc.). But if things go the direction they are currently pointed, it could quickly turn ugly. And you're right, the questionable Hansen angle begs the question of why not go to any of the many top flight coaches in the US.
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Conway
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 10:43 am Post subject: |
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Well and in the beginning she chose Graham when he really had no credentials either ... And many have felt all along that HE was a front ... I just see her heading downa slippery slope ... Her best season was 4 years ago ... She has been headed backwards ... She was the hope to challenge FloJo ... She touted herself that way ... As well as the "drive for 5" ... She's mentally painted herself in a corner in my opinion and the only way out (that is to be able to retire as a "success" is to try to get a record or two ... She doesn't want to go for the 400 (one she could get if you ask me) so she is going the route .... Well the easier route ... But she is going ot end up with a legacy whe will never be able to shake heaidng in the direction she is headed - be she successful or not ...
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Dan
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Conway
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Location: Northen California
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| Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2002 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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Actually its scary becasue I can actually "hear" this conversation taking place ... 
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