All-Time Top Tens -- Men's 800 meters

Ninth in a now-resurrected continuing series.

#10. Joaquim Cruz, Brazil
#9. Mel Sheppard, USA
#8. Alberto Juantorena, Cuba
#7. Ted Meredith, USA
#6. John Woodruff, USA
#5. Douglas Lowe, UK
#4. Sebastian Coe, UK
#3. Mal Whitfield, USA

#2. Wilson Kipketer (Kenya / Denmark)
Born December 12, 1972, Kapchemoiyiwo, Kenya


There's less to tell of Kipketer's story to tell than of the others in this series, as he's the most contemporary of them. He had the prototypical champion runner's pedigree; a member of the Nandi tribe, he was first noticed by Kip Keino who suggested he attend St. Patrick's high school in Iten. He made the Kenyan team for the World Junior Championships twice, where his best result was fourth.

He saw rapid improvement in 1990, the same year that he went to Copenhagen as an exchange student. From that moment forward he made Denmark his home. His relations with Kenyan officials were so strained that given the choice of running in the 1996 Olympics for Kenya or not running at all, he chose the latter.

Kipketer's 1996 and 1997 seasons were possibly the most dominant ever in this event. I really am of two minds as to whether he should be list as #2 or #1. He won three World Championships titles but failed in other major events, most notably the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Had he won that race, he'd be #1.

Year	Rank	Mark	Meets, etc.
1993	--	1:45.46
1994	1	1:43.29	17 wins in 19 meets
1995	1	1:42.87	1) W Ch; 10 wins in 12 meets
1996	1	1:41.83	undefeated in 13 meets
1997	1	1:41.11 WR	1) W ID, 1) W Ch; undefeated in 13 meets
1998	4	1:43.18	3) Euro Ch; ill (malaria)
1999	1	1:42.27	2) W ID, 1) W Ch
2000	4	1:43.35	2) Oly Gms
2001	--	--	injured
2002	1	1:42.32	1) Euro Ch; 9 wins in 10 meets
2003	5	1:43.28	2) W ID, 4) W Ch
2004		1:43.88	3) Oly Gms

Links: Wikipedia -- Statistical Bio

Runners Find Dead Bodies

Headline from today's "The Onion": Nation's Joggers Sick Of Finding Dead Bodies

Their graphic illustrates the problem.

LEADING FINDERS OF CORPSES

Anti-Doping "News"

Sports Illustrated's "The 10 Spot" notes the trend towards children's books "written" by sports stars, and suggests some ideas. They put forth the following for Floyd Landis:

In the deposed Tour de France champ's Is That a Whisker on My Chin? the teen-aged protagonist starts to undergo "changes," as a perfectly natural surge of testosterone helps turn him into a man but skews his doping tests in a medically plausible way. Qualifies as both young-adult fiction and fantasy.

Perfect snark.

Tyson Invitational / USA XC

My thoughts on this weekend's meets and their ESPN2 broadcast...

Race of the Day: Men's 4x400m relay. What was supposed to be a WR attempt by an American all-star team turned into quite a competition. Baylor almost beat a collection of the world's great long sprinters.

Trend: Kevin Sullivan had his best race in quite some time, coming from waaay back in the 3k to win and break his own Canadian record. At almost 33 years old, this is not the time most middle-distance men start breaking PRs. He did get a new coach sometime in the last year or two, leaving his longtime mentor Ron "Warhurts" Warhurst. Whether or not the Michigan coach deserves the criticism some give him is up in the air, but continued improvements would certainly give more ammunition to the haters.

This Week's TV Gripe: Maybe they did this in the last two minutes of the broadcast (I turned it off at that point, assuming there would be nothing). I saw the beginning of the women's pole vault...and not the finish. What gives? Can't edit tape in two days? Yikes, these people are amateurs!

Betting on Track

Earlier this month a new gambling website dedicated to track & field came online. Britain's Telegraph newspaper sheds light on some possible problems: "athletics is relatively new to betting and is apparently unaware of the risks that un-policed gambling poses to the sport's integrity". Betcha didn't know the bookie running the operation is also an agent to several top athletes.

2016 Summer Olympics

The Chicago Tribune's Phil Hersh weighs in on the Windy City's chances.

I really, really hope Chicago gets the '16 Olympics, and I think the chances are good. Hersh does not specifically mention this, but the '00, '04, '08 and '12 games are all out of the general US time zones, which is very bad for TV ratings. No ratings, smaller TV contracts over the long term, less moolah. A fifth straight games in this situation seems highly unlikely. That doesn't mean they have to be in the USA, but I'd be shocked if they weren't in the western hemisphere.

You can see more on the bidding process here.

USATF Cross Country Championships

The race is Saturday morning in Boulder. There's been much discussion about the race, almost all concentrating on the men's competition. Now that Ryan Hall has withdrawn, the race won't be quite as big a showdown as anticipated.

On the other hand, I foresee a tremendous battle in the women's competition. Deena Kastor and Shalane Flanagan are entered.

Anti-Doping News Update

Two weeks ago French middle-distance runner Hind Dehiba was caught at Charles de Gaulle airport with hGH and thirty other prescription medications.

Now we know why she was caught. She told France's anti-doping authorities (AFLD) that she was training in Morocco, but when they tried to test her she was in Albequerque instead. So they tipped off customs officers to be on the lookout for her when returning to France. She was tested that same day and has turned up positive for EPO.

It may just be coincidence that Albequerque is the home of Eddie Hellebuyck, who tested positive for EPO in 2003 (apparently, you can get that stuff anywhere). But I thought it was worth pointing out.

Tommie Smith Autobiography

Just released; NBC Sports discusses and provides us an excerpt. This is at the top of my Amazon.com wish list, and for several reasons.

The protest at left is all anyone wants to talk about when Smith's name comes up. And with good reason; it was an important thing. But there's plenty more to the man. For example, I wasn't aware that Smith and Carlos are no longer on speaking terms because Carlos maintains he let Smith win the 1968 Olympic 200 meters.

A decently-written biography of a great athlete is good enough all on its own. Smith was great by any measure. (For proof, see YouTube.) He was undoubtedly the best long sprinter in history until Michael Johnson came on the scene. However, with Smith there's the added story of the turbulent times, what happened to him before, during and after, and how he reacted to it.

The other guy in the picture? Peter Norman reached the finish line last October from a heart attack, age 64. His life story (a fascinating one on its own) was recently told in a film titled "Salute". HBO's documentary "Fists of Freedom" gives a broader view of the 1968 Olympics and the Olympic Project for Human Rights, but unfortunately it's never been released on video. Another view of the events are told in Lee Evans' biography, "The Last Protest". And in 2005, a sculpture honoring the three men was unveiled on the San Jose State campus.

Picked on the Wrong Guy

From today's New York Post:

Two rookie cops yesterday chased down a Queens punk who, after stalking their Police Academy classmate, bashed his skull with a baseball bat and stole his gun and handcuffs, authorities said.

The thug, Danny Fernandez, 21, looked for a cop for more than three hours before he pounced on Officer Joseph Cho at around 1 a.m. on 102nd Street and 39th Avenue in Jackson Heights, sources said.

Fernandez was nabbed moments later by fleet-footed Officer Patrick Lynch...

Lynch is just out of college, where he was on the track team.

Jesse Owens

Runner's World has an excerpt from Jeremy Schaap's new Jesse Owens biography this month. MSNBC has another. Two of the most interesting reviews I can find online come from Playboy (link safe for work!) and The Jewish Daily Forward. (I also happened across two truly frightening reviews on neo-Nazi sites.)

I haven't read the whole book yet, so I'll hold off passing judgement until I do. So far, it appears that Schaap's book is one of if not the most honest Owens biographies yet. He's willing to take on several myths--and there are many.

Aside from specific events that may or may no have actually taken place, there are other issues that always get overblown. Owens is popularly idealized as "the man who outran Hitler" and who disproved Nazi racial supremacism. But in 1936, America had its own theories of white supremacism. Owens' exploits had little if any effect on either country; Germany still exterminated 6 million Jews and tried to take over the world, while blacks still got treated like dogs or worse in America. The Germans won the medal count in 1936, and US head track coach Dean Cromwell said "the Negro excels ... because he is closer to the primitive than the white man".

Even Owens' 4-medal performance was due at least in part to luck. It was a break from long-held tradition for the 100m champ to run on the relay. And Eulace Peacock owned Owens in 1935, beating him in 7 out of 10 competitions that year; it's likely that Peacock would have been Olympic champ if he hadn't fallen to injury in 1936.

Owens was really good at track--one of the best ever. He was pretty good at the 100, much better at the 200, and the second-best long jumper who ever lived. He was also a really nice guy who didn't publicly fume at the raw deals he got. He was in the right place at the right time to become idealized as a hero. And that's exactly what has happened to him.

Millrose Games

My thoughts on the Millrose Games and its broadcasts...

So last night I'm watching the ESPN2 live coverage, and around 8:45 I finally figure out the Wanamaker Mile won't be on, and I'll have to wait until NBC's tape-delay broadcast to see it. OK, I can deal with that. It's certainly better than last year, when it wasn't on until two days later during the Super Bowl.

Well, today I sit down, turn on the tube, and...no meet. My local station decided to run a zit-cream infomercial instead. This is not the first time they've done this; in fact, they used to cut every meet/road race/triathlon until our local clubs bitched up a storm about it and we finally got to see the NYC marathon and Hawaii Ironman races last fall. But I swear, I'm going to go over there and put my foot in someone's ass.

I didn't get to see the Wanamaker Mile, the women's pole vault, the men's shot or the men's 60m (bad). On the other hand, I didn't have to hear Carol Lewis (good).

The usually-better-than-this Tim Layden took the MSG fans to task for leaving while Isinbayeva attempted a World Record...but he got her first name wrong, and his editors didn't catch the foul-up either. Still, his analysis is worth reading.

Race of the Day: Sounds like the Wanamaker. Lagat won again but it was not easy. Last week I thought Webb looked good. While I didn't get to see him, the stink is that he didn't this week. If any more confirmation was needed, we now know Craig Mottram is the real deal.

UPDATE: Nobby Hashuzime's comment: "from what I have seen so far, Mottram is a very smart runner and Webb is not. Webb seems to have his peak all over the place. There's no doubt that Webb is a very talented runner but, again from what I've seen, he doesn't seem to know when to peak."

Trend: Shawn Crawford is running well again. He says he's not being coached by Trevor Graham anymore. As Mike Wallace would have said, "And you expect me to believe that?"

This Week's TV Complaint: Post-race interviews. Most sports interviews right after the fact are rather pointless, but in track they're even more so. Unlike football, for example, our sport has precious little in the way of strategy. As a result, these interviews are little more than a breathless and sweaty exclamation of platitudes and cliches and the occaissional Lord-thanking. For most meets, I simply tape the show and zip through these mindless exchanges.

At the Edmonton World Championships they had a "media 800", where the athletes turned the table on the writers and broadcasters. Among the humiliations they (deservedly) suffered was having a microphone shoved in their faces as they crossed the finish line.

The Wisdom of Calvin & Hobbes

Whilst doing a two-and-a-half hour long run this morning in truly deoplorable weather, I reflected on this deep thought.

I'll Make a Killing!

There's now online gambling for track & field. Just one problem: since last summer it's illegal to gamble online in the USA.

Over at the old folk's home...er, I mean, the T&FN message board, the discussion includes an overview of the Stawell Gift and the actuarial and economic systems of bookies.

The amateur code was created at least in part due to the corrupting influences of gambling. London's Lillie Bridge track "and associated grandstand was burnt down on 18th Sept 1887 by rioting spectators after a fixed sprint match between Harry Gent and Harry Hutchins did not take place because neither of the participants would agree to lose."

Ohio U update

The following was sent to me via e-mail from a former college teammate. The author is uncredited but obviously the parent of an affected Ohio University athlete.

Below is the majority of an open letter from an OU athlete's parents. I cut out the "my poor son" portions, but thought some of the reported facts might interest you.




Here is what, you as alumni should be upset about and keep hounding the adminstation about from now till the time they come clean or reinstate the program or come to some kind of compromise like Miami did several years ago. This has far more to do with a new football coaching staff that has an insatiable appetite for spending and perks than it has to do with Title IX.

Your athletic director has stated over and over in the media that this has to do with equalling the number of scholarships on the men's side of the equation as the women's side. One of your assitant athletic directors, Amy Dean's mantra was "compliance, compliance, compliance."

By cutting men's indoor and outdoor track (five scholarships), and men's swimming (zero scholarships), and women's lacrosse (12 scholarships), that even with my poor math skills, that's a net gain of seven scholarships on the men's side.

This is about the interest of one football coach, who allegedly (haven't seen it in writing yet) got a $100,000 bonus for taking the team to a bowl game, which the team lost money making the trip. There are several more stories coming from the current track coaches about the football program's largesse in general and while on the road in Mobile. As you know, the football coach and the athletic director both are from the Big 12 Conference and have grand plans for the football program, I guess to lose even more money. The sad part is, both will jump ship the first time a larger school makes them an offer. The coach already interviewed at Minnesota but didn't get the job.

These are just a few of the changes that have come about since he and his staff arrived in Athens:

For the first time ever last year, the athletic department paid to keep the team on campus all summer to help them with academics at an estimeted cost of $100,000. Still, the starting tight end failed "softball" and was ineligible for the first couple of games before fall quarter started. He also was ineligible for the bowl game. New quarter, same results I guess.

For the first time, starting last year, the entire football team and staff began staying at Burr Oak Lodge the night before home games. I don't know what that cost is but 85 players, plus staff, has to add up a good bit faster than relay batons and vaulting poles. Oh, and by the way, in addition to the 85 FULL scholarship athletes, they have another 30 or so walk ons and red-shirts.

For the first time ever the team went to a bowl game, every player had his own room at the Univesity Inn for the month of December while they stayed on campus. At $129 to stay there for one night for home track meets, I wouldn't want that bill. Do the math. It had to be 10's of thousands of dollars. There is a rumor that this announcement, cutting three sports, came when it did, because there was so much money
spent participating the GMAC Bowl two weeks before the cuts.

The round numbers I'm hearing is that football took in $1.9 million dollars in 2006 and spent $4 million. They consume about 30 percent of the overall athletic budget. Indoor and outdoor and cross country combined use slightly less than two percent. And, they are keeping the coaches anyway, so where are all the savings?

On the compliance side, there is a website "womensportsfoundation.org" that had an article that ranked the schools in Div. I-A football conferences that participate in the BCS, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-10 and SEC, and then added the Mountain West and the MAC to the mix to make an eight conference tournment out of this mock
competition. The author did a "tournament" comparing the best school in each conference with regard to Title IX compliance based on 2004 criteria set by The Chronicle of Higher Education. By the way, Ohio was top ranked in the MAC.

To quote the article: "In the tournament involving Title IX compliance, the Ohio University Bobcats of the MAC defeated the Stanford Cardinal of the PAC-10 in the finals to win this mythical national championship." So much for non-compliance.

Based on my experiences at Bowling Green, I would say the only kind of action that will get results is to play hardball and put the AD's job in jeopardy. Diplomacy simply does not work.

Swimming World has a pretty good article. Some choice quotes:

First, the University is not out of compliance with Title IX...So why does the athletic director maintain that his department is not in compliance? I believe there are only two possible explanations: Either his analysis was seriously flawed or there was a deliberate attempt to misstate the facts.

...we have learned that even as the A.D. is crying "poverty," he plans to move on with building a $20 million indoor football practice facility.

Boston Indoor

My thoughts on the Reebok Boston meet and its TV coverage...

Race of the day: women's 3000 meters. Although it was not close at the finish, Shalane Flanagan was right on Meseret Defar until the bell. That took some big brass ones. After crossing the finish, Defar looked literally ready to puke. While I think ballsy racing is much prefereable to fast times, Flanagan was able to do both. She took six seconds off Regina "BALCO" Jacobs' AR; the "real" record was set a full 16 years ago. Kim Smith was well back in third and beat Anne Audain's 1982 outdoor national record.

Trend: USA men's milers. Webb ran well. Nick Symmonds ran the 800 in an OK time but in an impressive manner. Across the pond, Bernard Lagat ran well too. I know Webb and Lagat will be in the Wanamaker Mile on Friday night and I certainly hope Symmonds is there too. How long has it been since we've wondered which American might win the Wanamaker?

This Week's TV Complaint (and yes, I have enough for a whole season): Use of graphics. The people doing these broadcasts have done at least a few things right; we got WR pace updates on the bottom of the screen during Dibaba's successful record attempt. We got a "Coming Up" timetable twice. But they're still ignoring the fact that this sport is called track and field. Before every attempt in a field event, we should get a leader board on the screen. Small and unobtrusive, maybe highlighting the name of the competitor about to make a throw/jump. Unless we know the distance needed to move up in the competition, it's just a bunch of guys throwing or running around with a big pole. It should be ridiculously easy to do this on a live broadcast, and with 20+ hours to edit the videotape there's absolutely no excuse for this level of amateurism. A preteen could do it on YouTube.

Yet Another One Bites the Dust

On Wednesday, it was rumored over at Lets Run that Ohio University's men's track program would be eliminated. On Thursday, the official announcement came (men's swimming and women's lacrosse got it too) followed by a press conference. I sat on this one for a few days so I could try to find out a bit more.

The usual reasons were given: finances and Title IX. The AP wirestory ran all over the state said it was necessary to "meet a federal requirement regarding athletic scholarships", which isn't what was said either in the release or at the press conference. Only participation proportionality was cited. Either way, it's a canard; cutting a women's sport does not improve any kind of male-female ratio. Furthermore, the AD's hand was not forced on the issue, as federal regulations give schools a number of options. And an early story on Swimming World's website said OU was already in compliance with Title IX, although its reference is nowhere to be found at the student newspaper's wesbite. My best guess is that university administrators told the students to do a re-write.

As far as the money issues go, I'd really like it if an accountant would get involved in this, because the numbers each side uses are widely different. OU's AD Kirby Hocutt said the university could save as much as $685,000 per year from the cuts. However, the numbers filed with the federal Office of Post-Secondary Education showed a total operating budget of only $223,854 for the affected sports, not all of which has even been cut (XC is included in track totals). Hocutt referred to a $14.7 million annual budget, while his numbers sent to the feds show $16.7 million; Hocutt said the total 3-year deficit is around $4 million, while his numbers sent to the feds have balanced books.

Regardless, the best-case scenario has these cuts closing only half of Hocutt's financial gap. Nor does he mention the revenue OU will lose from these cuts--the NCAA distributes some of its money to schools by the number of sports and scholarships they offer. OU will lose out on over $70,000 sent from Indianapolis.

However, when anyone does future financial figures at a state university in Ohio it looks very bleak. Athletic departments are immune to this except for one glaring hole: scholarships. Tuition in Ohio costs 47% more than the national average. A full scholarship now costs well in excess of $10,000, whereas mine at BGSU fifteen years ago was less than half that.

The 800-pound gorilla in all of this is football, as with every school that makes these kinds of cuts. OU's situation warrants some special mention. Long a bottom-dweller in the MAC, OU's football program made many changes over the past few years. In 2001, the track was removed from Peden Stadium, the field lowered, and seating increased at a cost of $2.8 million. In 2005, OU hired Frank Solich (currently paid $262,172 annually), the former head coach at Nebraska. Just two months into his first season, he got into some hot water. OU became a regular on conference football broadcasts and just this year went to its first bowl game in 38 years.

To which the ordinary person responds, "Hey! They're making a lot of money now!" Actually, not really. The MAC's TV contract revenues are split equally among all conference members regardless of whether they're featured or not (and hosting a TV crew can sometimes add considerable expense). The same goes for the bowl appearance; OU pays its bowl-related expenses and then turns over the remainder of the $750,000 payout to the conference to again be split up equally. The only way to recoup increased football spending is through home ticket sales, merchandising, or going on the road and getting blown out by a big-time powerhouse. It will take OU a long time to get an additional $2.8 million out of that, just like BGSU is still paying off its $2.2 million stadium upgrade (which oddly enough occurred a few years before they killed off sports too).

Part of all this is the "stepping-stone" status of the MAC. It's Division 1-A, but barely. No one in a decision-making position takes a career job in a MAC school. If an AD upgrades the status of the football program while not appearing to run the school broke, he instantly makes himself more appealing to a big-time university. If he ticks off the locals and alumni and leaves the place a wreck, it's not his problem because he's not going to be there. As a friend on the inside once said, D-1 athletic departments are snakepits.

UPDATE: An anonymous poster at Let's Run gives his version of events.

Big Meets set for this weekend

The real indoor season kicks off today with a pair of meets: the Reebok Boston Indoor Games (on ESPN2 tommorrow, 3:00 to 5:00 PM) and the Norwich Union International (aka Five-Nations) in Glasgow (live at 9 AM at WCSN.com). Add in tomorrow's Osaka Ladies Marathon, where the traditionally powerful Japanese women's squad will be selected for August's World Championships, and you've got a pretty good weekend. For minor-league affairs, Trackshark's got the collegiate action covered and Dyestat has the high schoolers.

The five nations in the Five Nations meet are the US, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany and a Commonwealth all-star team (one athlete per team per event). Surprisingly, the USA sent a decent number of top athletes to Scotland despite the meet being on the same day as the Boston meet. If we sent our very best in each event the competition would not be close, but under these circumstances it could be very tight and very interesting. I'll enjoy watching it.

Anti-Doping News Update

A little over two weeks ago the IAAF announced four suspensions, with a suprising name listed among them: Lydia Cheromei. There had been some discussion that it was related to fertility treatment; the IAAF just confirmed it to be the case.

Anti-Doping and Politics

A few days ago USA Today ran a cover piece on outgoing US Attorney Kevin Ryan. He essentially created the BALCO affair and is the lead prosecutor.

Why is he outgoing? Well, he's being forced out. As in "asked to resign". This is highly unusual in the middle of a presidential term--so much so that the Senate scheduled a hearing on the matter yesterday. Turns out somebody slipped a provision into the renewal of the Patriot Act a few months ago that allows the President to name whoever he wants as repleacements without Senate approval. Ryan is one of 11 who have been forced out; almost all have been investigating and prosecuting...Republican politicians. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.

Ryan doesn't fit the mold, apparently. Your guess is as good as mine as to why he's out. BALCO will go on, and while it might not be prosecuted as well as it was it might also get better. Time will tell.

Corrections and Retraction

When I started this blog last summer, my intention was merely to express my thoughts as a fan and share them with other fans. I was shocked to find out mine was the only English-language fan blog dedicated to our sport; other sports have thousands.

Never in my life did I intend it to stir up controversy or get people mad. Well, that changed this morning. Normally I get anywhere from five to fifty hits a day; today I’ve had 234 so far.

On January 6 I wrote a post about Derek Woodske’s two-year suspension and some connections I thought were a bit odd. Apparently last night someone sent a link to it out via e-mail; most spent less than one second viewing it, but a few left some rather heated comments and two threatened libel suits. This post is an attempt to address those issues.

When writing about public persons, to prove libel the plaintiff must show that the writer knew his statements to be false or had reckless disregard for the truth. These are fairly high hurdles to get over, and furthermore neither applies here. Still, I'd like to address the issues.

My original statement was that Woodske was given a two-year suspension for refusing to take a test, which is a factual statement. I did add a statement that was unclear: that it "counts just like a positive result". By this I meant it earns the same penalty. While my statement might inferr wrongdoing, the same is true of the story issued by the AP and reprinted by hundreds of newspapers worldwide. My statements were no different and cannot be held to a higher standard.

As my statement regarding Jud Logan is concerned, my statements were limited to his career ending in a 1992 doping ban from a positive test for clenbuterol. This actually is in error; he resumed throwing at elite levels in 1997. An astute reader pointed this out and I admitted the mistake. As far as the doping ban, that is a factual statement. Logan himself issued a written statement at the time, referring to clenbuterol as a "safe alternative to steroids" and claiming he stopped using it in February (his positive test was in July). At that time Dr. Don Catlin said "It's unusual for any drug to be around the body for months" but did admit there was no research in this particular case to know for sure (T&FN, October '92, p. 87). In any case, Logan freely admitted using the drug as a performance-enhancer.

Aside from the triviality noted, none of my statements were in error--all check out factually. The retraction I'd like to make is the tenor of the post rather than the facts contained in it. Considering the BALCO and Sprint Capitol affairs, I'm of a cynical mindset these days when it comes to elite track and performance-enhancing drugs, and this attitude isn't unique. I noted the coincidental nature of these events and speculated as to whether they may be connected or not. This is where I have offended, and I apologize and regret the error.

Anti-Doping News

Hind Dehiba (French NR holder in women's 1500m) apparently caught doing the "Michael Vick" at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

Judicial officials said Dehiba was carrying vials of human growth hormone when she was stopped Monday by customs officers at the airport. She returned from a training session in the United States, accompanied by her husband and another unnamed runner.

Husband and coach Fodil Dehiba was also detained, along with the other mystery athlete. He was caught with thirty-one prescription medications.

Rumor has it that the USA, along with Holland, is the best place to get the juice.

TV and online video

WCSN indoor schedule
All live (with on-demand video archived if you miss it):

Jan. 27, 9 a.m.
IAAF Five Nations Meeting (USA, UK, Russia, Germany and a European all-star team)

Feb. 3, Noon
IAAF Indoor Grand Prix: Stuttgart

Feb. 4, 8:45 a.m.
IAAF Indoor Grand Prix: Ghent

Feb. 10, Noon
IAAF Indoor Grand Prix: Valencia

Feb. 17, 9:30 a.m.
IAAF Indoor Grand Prix: Birmingham

Feb. 20, 1:30 p.m.
IAAF Indoor Grand Prix: Stockholm

Feb. 23, 2:45 p.m.
IAAF Indoor Grand Prix: Paris

Yes, the last two are during standard work hours. Try telling your boss "Hey, at least I'm not surfing the web for internet porn...like Larry in accounting!"

Yesterday USATF announced its 2007 TV schedule. I noticed an interesting and uplifting angle in the press release--they included NCAA championship coverage in the broadcast list. They haven't done this in the past, as those are technically NCAA shows and not run by USATF. Apparently, they figured out that promoting NCAA track is a winner for USATF.

Big News -- The Sport Moves Forward

The IAAF announced yesterday that Zurich's Weltklasse Golden League meet will have some major changes in store for 2007. No appearance fees, more prize money, and NO RABBITS. This announcement has set the message boards on fire.

Some reactions...

"yeah, right - there'll be a work-around, I bet. Someone WILL take out the pace, and he'll also finish, albeit behind the field."

"I think if you asked, the majority of athletes would tell you they would rather come 8th at Zurich and run 3:31 than win and run 3:35."

"Zurich is the best track meet in the world. Why change it? Different meets serve different puroses. Zurich compiled the best athletes and the fastest conditions to produce world leading times."

"This is one year. If it degrades the quality of the meet, they'll reverse it."

"I wonder if any of the other big European meets will follow suit. My guess is that nobody will do that until they see how it works in Zurich."

"This will result in some very fun finishes but probably not a lot of fast times."

"Sounds like the organizers have decided to screw the top athletes and keep the money for themselves. So, guys like Asafa and Bekele go from where the top guys are maybe getting $100K in appearance fees, to where less than that is aplit among everyone in their event."

"If the performance money is good enough, enough of top runners will probably show up. Moreover, if the prize money is significantly better for better placings, the competition could be more intense. I guess we're all curious to see how this works out."

"As for "getting real", is it really too much to ask that one lousy meet on the entire European circuit actually be a race?"


In general, a lot of this devolves into arguing about whether fast times are more interesting to watch than close competition. Personally, I go for the latter, and if the powers-that-be want to expand their fan base they better take the sport in that direction. At the very least, this is the best hot-stove league action track fans have had for a while.

My, how times have changed...

...and those of my generation don't even know it.

I' ve been reading some fascinating posts by Mike from Arizona and his "Mystery Coach" at his "Champions Everywhere" blog. Mike was kind enugh to e-mail me two articles on running form, one written by Bill Bowerman and the other by Arthur Lydiard.

The first was published in Sports Illustrated way back in August of 1971 (when I was about 11 weeks old). First of all, it struck me as very different to see an 8-page coaching article in SI. When I began to read the text, it became obvious that whereas today's ESPN-addled sports fan is primarily expected to passively watch sports, the sports fan of 40 years ago was assumed to be someone who participated as much as he watched. And back then, you actually did see SI covers dedicated to hunting and fishing--a strange thought now, since those activities are not spectator-friendly (just ask Harry Whittington).

Now, if you were brought up in that environment, had tough-as-nails parents that lived through the Depression and World War II, and had unprecedented amounts of lesiure time, then your generation just might start to produce lots of top-level distance runners. The Baby Boomers actually did this, and once their generation passed out of their prime athletic years it was all over for the USA.

While I'm definitely a Gen-Xer and my older brother is a Baby-Boomer, I was raised in exactly that kind of environment and my attitude towards running and training was out of step with the 80s and much more in tune with the 70s. In fact, I became a runner in the 7th grade (1983) because of the vaguely (but safely) counter-culturish aura it had from the earliest days of my memory. I work extremely hard at running, and sometimes I think it's a useless endeavor considering my abject lack of talent. But that's the kind of thinking you get in a post-Reagan Revolution America, the idea that immediate success is the only thing worth having. Nowadays it's quaint and odd to believe that struggling for success through ups and downs is a reward in itself.

Fascinating article

One of today's best links. Give it a while, it starts a bit slow but gets better.

I consider myself well-up on the history of track, in this country and others, and I was totally unware of this guy, Delano Meriwether, and his story. Absolutely fascinating.

Worst of 2006

I know I'm about 3 weeks behind the times, but give me a break...

I stumbled across a post called the 50 Most Loathesome People in America, 2006. Right there at #34 is Barry Bonds:

Charges: Literally a fraud through and through; a walking lie in flesh and blood. The idea that any coach, owner or MLB exec couldn’t tell Bonds was juicing when he pulled a slo-mo Incredible Hulk routine over the course of a couple of years, doubling his home run average at an age when most athletic careers are winding down, is a bad joke. So is the fact that the SF Giants are looking to get another year out of Bonds, now 42, three years after Bonds was exposed to the world as a chemical freak, and they don’t give a s**t what he’s on. Record breakers fill seats, after all, even if they’re misshapen mutants. But don’t hate the game, folks; hate the player—especially one who gets busted doing speed and fingers a teammate, falsely or not.

Exhibit A: "It’s called talent. I just have it. I can’t explain it. You either have it or you don’t."

Sentence: Liver tumors, jaundice, fluid retention, high blood pressure, shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts, paranoia, extreme irritability, delusions, and impaired judgment.

Before you follow the link, be forewarned: it gets very rough. Not for those who take offense at much of anything!

Steeplechase wipeouts

Nothin' like a good dip in the water. Let's Run has a collection.

WCSN info

Are you a WCSN fan? (And if you're not, and reading this blog, why the heck not?) I think it's awesome that I can get ALL the major track action via the internet.

Over at the Track & Field News message board, a young intern from the company has been giving us some inside info. Most exciting is their plans for a 24-hour TV channel! You can see a sample TV schedule for this week here--they are already broadcasting via satellite, but do not yet have any distribution deals with cable or satellite TV companies. But I don't think it's crazy to hope they'll have one by summer.

Early Collegiate rankings

Over at my Trackshark blog I have some early-season rankings up for the women's hurdles.

Ryan Hall Half-Marathon

This morning, Ryan Hall broke a 20-year-old American Record in the half-marathon with a stunning 59:43. It's set the message boards (the old men and the young punks) abuzz. He won by over 2 1/2 minutes and beat the living hell out of Oly silver medalist Meb Keflezighi.

So what exactly does 59:43 mean? Putting aside the inexactness of road courses (note that last year's USATF 10-mile championship was certified but later found to be notably short), here are Hall's splits.
10k: 28:21 (4:34 pace)
9 miles: 40:56 (4:32 pace) / 12:35 for 2.79 miles (4:31 pace)
Finish: 59:43 (4:33 pace) / 18:47 for 4.11 miles (4:34 pace)
Remarkably well-paced.

Using the ARRS' records, how does this compare? It's 36 seconds off the World Record (59:06 by Paul Kosgei last April). It's tied for 11th on the all-time world list. The Portugese tables rate it equal to a 2:05:18 marathon and a 26:56.1 10k (which are probably overstatements). For a guy looking to step up to the marathon, it's very promising.

It is pretty darn good, but it's not like an Olympic medal or World Championship or World Record or anything, all of which have been done by US runners of late. So why are the guys over at Let's Run jumping around like a bunch of Kansas City faggots? Well, I'm betting few of them can remember the last time an American-born WASPy type was competitive with the best in the world, and the flavor of that place is a bit Archie Bunker-ish.

Video is here.

James Madison track cuts update

Way back in September, James Madison University announced it was cutting ten sports and (falsely) blamed Title IX. On Friday, a student group made its case against the cuts to the school's Board of Visitors. More or less, the students were politely told to shove it, and these cuts were going forward. It sounds oddly reminiscent of Bush's "listening tour"--pretend to take input, but in fact the already-decided plan of action will be implemented regardless.

What makes this battle interesting is the bull-headedness of the university's leadership. When other schools have sought to make cuts and useed Title IX as a smokescreen, they've at least been wise enough to couch it in wishy-washy language that doesn't use any specifics. JMU's leadership did otherwise:

On Sept. 29, the school announced it would drop seven men’s teams – archery, cross country, gymnastics, indoor track, outdoor track, swimming and wrestling – as well as three women’s teams – archery, fencing and gymnastics – because the school was not in compliance with Title IX, the 1972 law designed to guarantee equal opportunities for men and women.

JMU President Linwood H. Rose said then and again Friday that the school’s only option to comply with the law was to make sure its offerings were proportional to its enrollment...

First of all, it is ridiculous for anyone to assert that these cuts are solely for the purpose of balancing male/female numbers, since three of the ten affected sports are women's teams. But also, as I've pointed out before, current DOE regulations give institutions the option of using any one of three methods for showing compliance in the area of participation. Proportionality is not required, which student board member Stacy Fuller aknowledged:

Fuller said women’s equestrian and water polo both have interest in becoming varsity sports, which would prevent JMU from meeting the third prong of the law, allowing schools to demonstrate it meets the interest of its student body.

Rose and Damico said JMU also can’t meet the second prong, which says that a school is in compliance if it demonstrates progress in the area of expanding opportunities for women.

Rose said JMU doesn’t have a continuing history of adding opportunities for female athletes, in part because Madison started as a women’s college and had a healthy complement of women’s sports from the beginning.

The first of these two assertions proves the mendacity of the second. If two women's teams wish to become varsity sports, then it most certainly is possible to add opportunities for female athletes. The truth is that the athletic department decision-makers do not wish to spend any more money on women's sports, as women don't play football or men's basketball. I find it highly unlikely that either of those two programs have been asked to share the sacrifice.

The affected students are vowing a lawsuit. These kinds of actions generally go in favor of the universities; they simply play to "run out the clock" and the students give up once they're out of school. But if something does come out of this, JMU could get a serious black eye. JMU is a state school and Virginia does have a Freedom of Information Act, and the behind-the-scenes paperwork cannot possibly match the public statements.

Anti-Doping News

The IAAF just announced four suspensions. None really qualify as "news" except Lydia Cheromei. The old farts discuss...

The UK's Business Weekly reports a new highly sensitive mass spectrometer could take the 2012 London Olympic drug testing to a new level.

TV Listings

This is what I've got so far. Feel free to post any additional broadcasts.

Sunday, January 28
12:00 AM, Fox Sports Net
P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon

3:00 - 5:00 p.m., ESPN2
Reebok Boston Indoor Games

Monday, January 29
12:00 AM, Fox Sports Net
P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon

Friday, February 2
7:00 - 9:00 p.m., ESPN2
100th Millrose Games

Saturday, February 3
2:00 - 3:00 p.m., NBC
100th Millrose Games

Monday, February 5
12:00 PM, Fox
P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon

Tuesday, February 6
12:00 AM, Fox
P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon

Sunday, February 11
1:00 - 3:00 p.m., ESPN2
The Tyson Invitational

Saturday, February 24
3:30 - 4:00 p.m., ESPN Classic
SportsCentury: Florence Griffith Joyner

Sunday, February 25
4:00 - 6:00 p.m., ESPN2
AT&T USA Indoor Track & Field Championships

Saturday, March 17
6:00 AM, ABC
Rodes City Run

Saturday, April 28
1:00 - 3:00 p.m., ESPN2
Penn Relays

Saturday, May 19
5:00 - 7:00 p.m., ESPN
adidas Track Classic

Saturday, June 2:
11 p.m. - 12:30 a.m., ESPN2
Reebok Grand Prix

Sunday, June 3
1:00 - 2:00 p.m., CBS
Reebok Grand Prix

Sunday, June 10
4:00 - 6:00 p.m., NBC
Prefontaine Classic

Friday, June 22
8:00 - 9:00 p.m., ESPN2
AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Saturday, June 23
2:00 - 3:00 p.m., NBC
7:00 - 8:00 p.m., ESPN2
AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Sunday, June 24
1:00 - 3:00 p.m., NBC
AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Wednesday, July 4
7:00 a.m., Fox
Peachtree Road Race

Anti-Doping News

EDIT: Please see the new post, "Corrections and Retraction".

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport announced two doping suspensions on Thursday. One of them was a former Canadian hammer throw champ and current Adams State assistant coach named Derek Woodske. Woodske refused to take a test in November, which counts just like a positive result.

There are a number of interesting items in this story. One of them is the fact that Canada even has a national sports-ethics program. Another comes from the other drug bust, a lifetime ban handed out to a top bobsledder--which indicates winter Olympic sports are a big enough deal in Canada that an athlete is willing to risk a lifetime ban. But the really interesting item is US-based.

Woodske came to Adams State after serving a stint as a volunteer assistant at Ashland University while throwing in Eagle head coach Jud Logan's Ashland Elite program. Logan, as you may recall, ended his career with a doping ban in 1992 (clenbuterol), just as his coach Al Schoterman's career ended with a 1984 doping ban. Woodske was not the first hammer-thrower from Ashland Elite to earn a doping suspension; John McEwen was caught up in the BALCO/THG sweep of 2004 and linked to fellow THG-user Kevin Toth. And Adriane Blewitt, a D-II national record setter while at Ashland, was diagnosed in late 2003 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, an rare type of cancer.

Now, in Logan's defense, none of these athletes tested positive while actually in his program but after they left. Blewitt's disease is most common among people in their early 20s and there's no known link between it and performance-enhancing drug use. But the whole state of affairs does arouse some suspicion, and forgive us if the last few years has left us in a cynical mood.

Track & Field News Annual Issue

It just came in the mail today. This is one of the few issues that I spend a lot of time looking through. It's mostly stats and rankings, and so leaves little to write about.

One item did catch my attention, simply because of the awkward and misleading way it was written. Referring to the #1 and #3 world-ranked pole vaulters:

Top-rated Australian vaulters Steve Hooker and Paul Burgess say they will swear off love until 2008.

You have to read a bit further before you realize they're talking about women, and not each other.

Starting off the year right

Last night my wife & I tried something different to ring in the new year. We did a midnight 5k. The usual activities don't hold much appeal for us anymore. When you live in a college town, most of your friends are out of town over Christmas break, and anyway living near college students tends to make partying somewhat less attractive. Last year we took off to Key West for their rather wild New Year's celebration, but this year we were up for something a bit more calm.

The race actually started at 11:45 PM, with the idea that you start in one year and finish in the next. It was DARK. I've literally never run that late before...except when I was drunk, in trouble, or both. I did a track 10k at 10 PM once--this was a far different experience. My touchy achilles tendon is a bit tight today.

There are two major New Year's races, the São Silvestre in São Paolo and the San Silvestre Vallecana in Madrid. In the Madrid, the Eliud Kipchoge bettered the official road 10k world record in 26:55. Even if the IAAF ratifies it, the ARRS most certainly will not since the point-to-point course is significantly downhill.

Side note: Both races are in honor of Pope Saint Sylvester, a 4th-century pontiff whose feast day is December 31. This is appropriate for running, since he succeeded Pope Saint Miltiades...and a different Miltiades led Athenian forces in 490 BC at the Battle of Marathon.

Year-End Summary

It seems obligatory...First, some links.

Track & Field News' men's and women's Athletes of the Year, men's and women's Performances of the Year, and #1-ranked men and women

The IAAF's end-of-the-year reviews for sprints, middle distance, long distance, road running, hurdles, jumps, throws, and combined events

Race Results Weekly's Marathoners of the Year; Runner's Web's Ten Best Moments of 2006 for US Distance Running

Now, the year in review for the Superfan.

The blog was launched on June 11 with a review of the NCAA Championships TV coverage. Since then, I've also begun blogging for Trackshark and Garry Hill gave me a positive review. As of right now, the blog has had 4,337 hits.

As a fan, I got a few nice opportunities. Early in the year I was given a chance to announce at our local high school conference championships. It is hands-down the best job to have a t a track meet. Then the USATF championships came to Indianapolis, the NCAA XC regionals came to my little town, and finally I saw two NCAA XC Championships in one weekend (part 1 - part 2).

I was asked to take the boys' cross-country coaching job at my school. While our season wasn't the most successful, we had fun and a lot of improvement.

As an athlete, this year was a disaster. I bombed a marathon in April, then developed achilles tendonitis which I wasn't able to get under control for six months. I don't keep track of miles anymore, only training time; my annual total was 252 hours, or just under 5 hours per week. Short of injury, I prefer to keep it in the 8 to 10 hours per week range.

Olympic Distance Event Medal Count

Which nations have won the most Olympic medals in the distance events? Would you guess Kenya, or Finland? Either way you'd be wrong. I counted 'em up; to see who it is, follow the link.

Anti-Doping Tirade

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman punches around Mark McGwire in an online column which details his Hall of Fame vote.

Some will claim steroids were not disallowed at the time, and that, of course, is 100 percent false. There was no testing for them during McGwire's career, and no spelled-out punishment. But they were neither permitted in baseball nor legal in our society.

Some will say that everyone did them, and I'll agree that many did do them. But I will say first that not everyone did do them, and most who did got away with it. While McGwire has never failed a test or confessed, in my mind he is caught.

Heyman does not specifically address it, but baseball and track have very similar doping problems. The common issue is a reverence for each sports' stats, numbers and records, which doping has totally and completely fouled up.

College Track Drawbacks

Over at my Trackshark blog, I posted my thoughts about college track's drawbacks and what to do about them.

The Other Shulman: Book Review

This isn't the first time I've pimped this novel, as I noted its winning the Thurber Award for comedy writing. I got it yesterday morning, and read the whole thing before midnight.

I won't bother with much of a synopsis; Amazon has plenty. "Middle-aged schlimazel waddles through NYC marathon and self-discovery" does fine. If you're looking for the exploits of superstars, skip it. This is a great story of an ordinary person's struggles. My only complaint is the ending, which feels like it was thrown together in the final hour before a publishing deadline.

What I should add is that while this is billed as comedy, funniness is not the point of the book. It's much like Little Miss Sunshine or Dry: A Memoir in that the comedy complements the storyline, which otherwise would be too horribly, suicidally depressing to get through. Like these other stories, the suffering is both necessary and passing. Plus, it's the New York City marathon...

Merry Christmas

Anti-Doping News

Old News: Grandma's Marathon female champ Halina Karnatsevich DQ'd for stanozolol.

New Twist (via Associated Press):

Scott Keenan, executive director of Grandma's Marathon, said it was the fourth time USA Track and Field had selected the race for drug testing. It was the first time an athlete tested positive.
...
Keenan said race organizers will continue to encourage USA Track and Field to include Grandma's Marathon on its schedule for drug testing in the future.

Do directors of "mid-major" races see it as prestigious to get selected for dope tests? And if so, does it actually improve the profile of a race to have a positive test? Seems that way. So an event promotor would actually relish a doping DQ. I guess in the world of second- or third-tier marathons, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

I Won!

I'm Time Magazine's Person of the Year!

Oh...and you are too. That kind of ruins the exclusivity I was expecting.

I suppose it's a decent choice in a year without an obvious one, although a bit of a cop-out. That doesn't keep some people from bitching about it -- George F. Will says bloggers reek of narcissism (which he says on national TV without a note of irony), but others might argue we pose a threat to his kind of entrenched media power. Whatever. Google says the average blogger has one reader. I know who mine is, and he looks at me in the mirror every morning.

While Time tries to call the internets a revolutionary medium, the web as a democratic tool is merely a technological re-hash of the 19th-century penny press. Funny that Time makes this choice in the very same year that Net Neutrality became a big issue.

Christmas, TV, and track

I just watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on TV. It's really amazing; even though the show is 41 years old, the only out-of-date items in the whole thing are the jazz-trio soundtrack and the debate about whether or not Christmas is too commercialized (by now everyone has given up all hope--and it's really weird to see Charlie Brown's overtly religious message of austerity and humility sponsored by the ultimate soul-less entity, Wal-Mart).

The more I think about it, the more I believe the 1960s and 70s had to be the best time for children in this country, and Christmas-time is no exception, as the "golden age" of Christmas specials started with the Peanuts gang (1965) and extended just into my age bracket with Little House on the Prarie's "Christmas at Plum Creek" (1974). After that, things went decidedly downhill; the Dayton Daily News ranks the worst of all time, with nine of the ten released between 1978 and the present. (If "ALF's Special Christmas" doesn't make the cut, you know they're really bad!)

So you've got kids. And you've gone to see truly terrible Christmas movies with them, and if you see one more maudlin holiday show on TV you're going to lose it, go all Henry Rollins on the neighborhood and crucify your neighbor on his front door with nails from his well-stocked garage. And you're a track fan, too. What are you going to do?

A decent show produced within the last few years is Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves of Fire. It won't be on TV this year, but you can buy in on DVD or VHS. Created by Aardman Animations, the geniuses behind Wallace and Gromit, it stands up well to the repeated viewing you'll be forced into. Cut to the good parts: Robbie, son of Rudolph, competes in various running/jumping/throwing events at the "Reindeer Games". Christmas stuff? Who cares, this is track!

Gatlin article in WaPo

Yesterday the Washington Post ran an article on the Justin Gatlin affair. There's little new in it; they rehash the same wild and wierd conspiracy theory that massage therapist Chris Whetstine sabotaged Gatlin.

At the T&FN message board, EPelle once again gives us the best analysis, noting that the story "has gotten much more interesting and more detailed as time has gone along", lending credence to the idea that it's all made up. At Let's Run, Old Runner Guy astutely noted the following passage in the article:

The case has attracted the attention of federal investigators, according to several sources, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has allowed an unusual extension to give Gatlin's lawyers time to assemble their client's defense.

This IS new, and it leads us to wonder: what are the feds looking for? One possibility no one has mentioned is Trevor Graham. He's already under indictment for lying to federal agents in the BALCO investigation, and they may be looking for some more evidence against him.

BALCO, perjury, and Marion Jones

There's been some recent news in the BALCO trials; Thursday, cyclist Tammy Thomas (right) was indicted on perjury charges. Yep, that's a woman. You think she might have used steroids?

Also, recently Marion Jones said she's undecided about her future (read: she's thinking about retiring). T&FN message board maven EPelle notes the timing, and wonders if anything is going on:

Her [EPO-positive] "A"-sample was released just after Gatlin's camp went public of his testosterone positive. ...The cyclist gets indicted during BALCO/Phase III (it is in this phase according to authorities) for lying to the Grand Jury in BALCO/Phase I in stating she had never used PED's and/or that she did not get illegal drugs from Patrick Arnold. Marion Jones nearly simultanously states she is unsure what direction she will head in 2007.

Another post by EPelle, quoting the San Jose Mercury-News:

Another possible target for perjury is Marion Jones, an Olympic gold-medal sprinter who also testified in 2003. If she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, Jones might have a problem because her ex-husband, C.J. Hunter, said under oath that he gave the sprinter banned drugs and saw Jones inject herself.

At least two other grand jury witnesses who worked with her former coach, Trevor Graham, have testified in the case. Also, Balco mastermind Victor Conte Jr. has said in interviews with the Mercury News and others that he supplied Jones with performance-enhancing drugs. Jones repeatedly has denied all allegations.

Bonds attorney made an interesting comment on Wednesday:
``If this is phase three, why not indict Barry?'' Bonds' attorney Michael Rains said Thursday. ``The simple answer -- they need the testimony of Greg Anderson.''

The same has seemingly applied to Marion Jones: No witness testimony from Victor Conte. His plea bargain allowed for silence on his part when it came to any help he could have provided the authorities in their fact-finding against athletes, distributors, coaches, officials, agents, etc.

Patrick Arnold received the same condition in his plea agreement, which allowed him to not have to name names. However, he had the following to say:
"Track and field, especially the sprinters, they were more sophisticated in whom to seek out," he offers as a hint.

This is nothing but speculation, but quite interesting to be sure. But why on earth were Conte and Arnold, the masterminds behind BALCO, given this kind of free ride? Strange indeed.

Clarion University Drops Track

...and, of course, blames Title IX. (Clarion is a D-II school in the Penn State system.)

The issue is usually complex when teams are cut, but in general it comes down to the fact that football gobbles up gobs of money and other sports die to feed it. Title IX is only involved in that women's sports, already generally ignored and underfunded, don't get the axe.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sports columnist Sherry Anderson muddies the issues when she takes the AD's word at face value. At the very least, she reveals her near ignorance of both small-college sports and Title IX.

She lists the recent expansion of women's sports at Clarion, yet parrot's the AD's talking point that the school could fail to show "a history and continuing practice of expanding women's opportunities". Obviously, it can, and so any proportionality issues are a moot point. (Clarion's new release incorrectly states proportionality is a requirement; the law is well enough known that this can only be a deliberately false statement.)

Anderson also suggests that football be taken out of the Title IX equation. First of all, four separate attempts to do just that have been rejected by Congress. Secondly, she states that "Clarion operates below [the] NCAA [limit] of 90 players", but doesn't give us any perspective on the issue. Some digging shows that Clarion's football team actually did have 90 players last year, while the other five men's sports now remaining had 62 athletes between them.

But the icing on the cake is this: "Add a caveat, such as requiring that a school show that its football program is in the black and some of that revenue is used for women's programs." There are somewhere in the range of 60 or so schools in all of college football that actually make money, and none of them are cutting any sports. (Hint: if a profitable team isn't in the Pac-10, Big XII, Big Ten, ACC or SEC, it better be named Notre Dame.) If Clarion's football team were able to make a profit, they wouldn't have cut a thing.

Here's the point to Title IX, which people don't understand. Agencies which recieve federal monies are required to treat men and women equally for the simple reason that they are taxed at the same rate.

Carl Lewis sighting

He, along with sister Carol, was in the audience last night on the live season finale of NBC's reality weight-loss game show The Biggest Loser. Both were wearing "I ♥ Wylie" t-shirts in support of finalist Mark Wylie.

After a bit of digging online, I found out why he was there. Wylie is the Vice President of Best Buddies International, a charitable organization that provides "opportunities for one-on-one friendships and integrated employment" for people with intellectual disabilities; Carl Lewis is a member of its board of directors and a big supporter (a recent fund-raising auction item was a day with Lewis at the 2008 Summer Olympics).

TV Listings Update

Monday, December 11
ESPN Classic, 4:30 PM
Jim Thorpe All American

Thursday, December 21
ESPN Classic, 2:30 AM
1977 Superstars

ESPN Classic, 8:00 AM
Who's #1?: Best Female Athletes

Saturday, December 30
CBS, 1 PM
NCAA Fall Championships

Friday, January 5
ESPN Classic, 2:30 AM
1973 Superstars

Golden League

A few days back, the IAAF announced the setup for this year's Golden League jackpot. It's back to splitting the $1 million only between athletes who go undefeated, with a new safety net--if no one is undefeated, it's split between those who win at 5 out of 6 meets.

Over at the T&FN boards, the topic of discussion turned towards the slate of GL jackpot events, and how they seem to be the same events year after year (100m, 1500/mile, etc.). Garry Hill explains the reasoning, mainly marketability and meet promotion. Another points out that an event with two good athletes virtually guarantees that neither will win the jackpot. My reply:

I think we've highlighted one of the problems with the whole Golden League setup in the first place. A back & forth season-long battle between two great athletes is probably the best thing that a sports tour could hope for (classic example: Arnold Palmer and Jack Niklaus). But the Golden League doesn't reward such a thing. In fact, the GP circuit's season-long standings haven't rewarded that since its inception, since the cash always goes to the athletes with more or less unopposed dominance.

Do any of our creative minds have alternative ideas?

Got any? Post 'em in the comments.

Anti-Doping News

Two stories in the news today...

First, the testers have apparently beaten the cheaters out of the gate on gene doping (which is nothing but gene therapy used for a nefarious end). Gene doping was seen as the next step beyond drug use, and far more powerful. According to this article, it's more or less been stuffed as a cheating option before anyone seriously tried it (so far as we know).

Second, Ben Johnson told Australia's Herald Sun newspaper that Carl Lewis was involved in a conspiracy to sabotage him and cause his positive test at the 1988 Olympics. This is on its face a laughable claim, as Johnson testified under oath that his drug use began in 1981 and so no conspiracy was necessary. Besides, this story was first told at least 15 years ago, and so far the search for this "mystery man" who spiked Johnson's drink has been as serious as OJ's search for Nicole Simpson's "real" killer. But at least this story taught us that Tony Kornheiser and Charles Wilbon (ESPN's Pardon The Interruption) have absolutely no knowledge about elite track & field.

Wish List

This afternoon my mother-in-law asked me to write up a Christmas wish list. In that spirit, I'm posting a list of things the track fan in your family might want.

Books

1. Bowerman and the Men of Oregon
The best track book in quite a while

2. The Other Shulman: A Novel
Winner of the Thurber Award for comedy writing

3. The Last Protest: Lee Evans in Mexico City
Amazon.com's average review: 5 stars




Videos

1. Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story
Newly released on DVD, this was just voted the #1 running movie of all time.

2. The Olympiad's Greatest Moments
8-volume history of the Summer Olympics

3. On The Edge
Also newly released on DVD, it's probably the best fictional track movie out there

Apparel

1. Onitsuka Tiger Ultimate 81s
The old-school shoes.

2. Track Jacket
In style once again, you can get one with any college or national team colors/logo.

3. Dave Wottle's ITA jersey
There's only one, and it is currently owned by a coin and sports collectibles dealer named Tom Noe. It'll be up for auction soon, as Noe owes Ohio about $17 million.

Games
1. Konami Track & Field arcade game
Awesome!

2. Track & Field Math Board Game
A lot of fans are coaches (like me), and a lot of coaches are teachers (like me). This is an instructional track & field math game!

3. Bruce Jenner Decathlon Game
As far as the board game itself goes, it's completely lame, but this is a great collectible for a Baby Boomer or Gen-Xer.

Terry Fox

I just got my new Runner’s World yesterday, and didn’t have time to sit down and look through it until today. Generally, it’s 100 or so pages of glossy fluff; I only subscribe because it’s cheap and usually gives my running a pick-me-up. But sometimes they have a really good article, the kind that could get into one of the annual Best Sports Writing anthologies.

This issue has one of them, and I urge you to get the magazine and read it. It’s a look back at Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. Unlike most Americans I know who he was (or is, as many refer to him), but I had no idea he was such a hero in Canada. I must say, I’m a bit embarrassed at my ignorance since I have many Canadian ancestors, live close to the border, and watch a decent amount of CBC. I'm disturbed to realize Rick Mercer would have as easy a time with me as any other American.

The story of Fox is a great one, but what struck me as amazing is the very same thing I was ashamed of not knowing: he is among Canada's greatest heroes, more revered than Alexander Graham Bell, Pierre Trudeau or even Wayne Gretzky. This was an everyman who, at first glance, struggled against tremendous difficulty and ultimately failed. Yet his struggle gave the entire nation the gift of health and life. When CBC ranked The Greatest Canadians two years ago, the only one ahead of Fox was a Socialist (Tommy Douglas).

I'd like to organize a Terry Fox Run in the Toledo area, but we've got a Race for the Cure on the same exact day. I think I'll go up to Windsor next fall and run in respect for the man, and more importantly the whole of Canada.

Anti-Doping News

Developing story: the IAAF gives the Mexican federation a warning.

Despite a considerable requests and subsequent reminders, the Mexican Athletic Federation had repeatedly failed to provide the IAAF with the name and doping control form for an adverse analytical finding related to a doping control test on one of its athletes.

This is strike one. Strike two is a fine, strike three is suspension of the federation (and therefore all its athletes).

I have no details on this story yet; your guess is as good as mine. Somebody flunked a dope test and there's a tug of war going on. The T&FN message board may eventually give us more info.

Anti-Doping News

Developing story: the IAAF gives the Mexican federation a warning.

Despite a considerable requests and subsequent reminders, the Mexican Athletic Federation had repeatedly failed to provide the IAAF with the name and doping control form for an adverse analytical finding related to a doping control test on one of its athletes.

This is strike one. Strike two is a fine, strike three is suspension of the federation (and therefore all its athletes).

I have no details on this story yet; your guess is as good as mine. Somebody flunked a dope test and there's a tug of war going on. The T&FN message board may eventually give us more info.

Anti-Doping News

Developing story: the IAAF gives the Mexican federation a warning.

Despite a considerable requests and subsequent reminders, the Mexican Athletic Federation had repeatedly failed to provide the IAAF with the name and doping control form for an adverse analytical finding related to a doping control test on one of its athletes.

This is strike one. Strike two is a fine, strike three is suspension of the federation (and therefore all its athletes).

I have no details on this story yet; your guess is as good as mine. Somebody flunked a dope test and there's a tug of war going on. The T&FN message board may eventually give us more info.