Run-Down Forums

[Dan]

[Conway]

You know it pains me that in spite of money ... No .. Make that becasue of money, this sport is being ruined ... For example:

This is the last year of Colin Jackson's outdoor career ... How many oportunities has this world record holder had ot showcase his remaining talents ?? And what has the IAAF done to use him in any kind of marketing manner ??

The shot put started out hot as hell in the US this year ... And they have been great in the few settings they have had in Europe ... Key word here being "few" ... Regular competition cold have lead to oa WR in this event in my opinion ... Something that has become more and more rare !!!

Last Friday was the first 200 meter sighting in how many weeks ??? An event where - historically - the premier sprinters of any age (100 & 400) have shined brightly (I know it is supposed to be shown but shined sounds so much better) ...

Anyone have a recent Women's 400H sighting ???

And the long jump !!! Just as the US (and the world) begin developing quality long jumpers IT disappears from the face of track and field !!!

I have more but I thi nk ya'll get the picture ... I would continue to rant but that is not the focus of this thread ...

Conway

[Dan]

Those are all very good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) examples. The women's high jump is another that got off to a great start but has hardly been seen since. What was it, 6 or 7 women over 2 meters in the same meet? What about the women's steeple? It seems to only be held in the smaller meets, and even the men's steeple hasn't shown up all that much, as I recall.

I wish the big meet directors would release data so we could get a better picture of their financial stability and where the money is going. I'm guessing the current system is terribly inefficient and has plenty of money to keep things rolling if only a few people would be willing to make sacrifices for the betterment of the sport...

Dan

[Conway]

Now who do you know that is going to arbitrarily cut their own paycheck ??? Cpourse what teh IAAF COULD do is come up with a scale based upon performance incentives that could be used across the board ...

For example Current WR holders could be given $X as appearance fees ... And perhaps that fee could be increased if the athlete signed a contract to compete in x number of competitions ...

I would guarntee any athlete greater dollars if he/she signed for a certain number of competitions ...

I would give some credence to rankings (ie TFN) but possibly lean more towards IAAF's own ranking system to determine where on the payscale one should fall ...

I would also look to factor in PRs as well as previous season's bests ..

All of this would serve to remove the agent from the picture, BUT would spread the money around and still allow for the top tier athletes to eran considerable more money ... Would also allow for more events to be run ... AND would give consideralbe incentive for individuals to compete more (as in in more meets) ...

Now if IAAF would like to contract with me to devise this system I would be more than happy to do so ...

Conway

[Dan]

Aside from the obvious alternative of using the vaunted Fantasy T&F performance rankings as an IAAF payout system, I'd have to say that's as good a plan as any. It still means the top athletes are likely to get paid a bit less, but they'd be pretty unpopular with their peers if they argued against it... Even the NBA is undergoing serious payroll issues, having announced the first salary cap drop in years (ever?), so T&F should take note and make changes while it can.

Dan

[Conway]

Despite it's tremendous popularity in Europe, the sport still has a limited amount of money that is available to it ... The athletes (and managers) should realize that ... The way things are going the cash cow is going to get eaten up !!! THE sport is going to have to do something in order to preserve itself !!!

I keep coming back ot the sport being so much better when the m oney was NOT as plentiful !!!

Conway