t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: Show Us the Money
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] / advertisement ---\ Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com. http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015 \--/ Show Us the Money August 1, 2003 By JEREMY BLOOM BOULDER, Colo. When I was a kid, I remember my parents telling me that going to college would broaden my horizons and give me all the opportunities in the world. What I've found out, though, is that the benefits of being a student become clouded when you add the word athlete. That's because the National Collegiate Athletic Association not only rules college athletics, it also limits the opportunities of the 360,000 student-athletes it purports to serve. The N.C.A.A. was formed a century ago to establish rules for intercollegiate competition, and it did an admirable job. Today, however, it has become a multibillion-dollar organization that holds a monopoly on college athletics. Much of the television royalties and other revenue of college athletics go directly to the N.C.A.A., which distributes the money as it sees fit to its 1,200 member institutions. As the organization has smoothly adapted to the big-money era of college athletics, it has kept the student-athletes themselves from benefiting from the changes. Division I basketball players, for example, won't receive a dime of the $6 billion deal that the N.C.A.A. has made with CBS for the rights to broadcast its national tournament. And not only do the student-athletes not share in this wealth, the N.C.A.A. has plenty of rules to keep us from making money on our own. It prohibits us from having sponsors or appearing in advertisements, even if the products have no relation to the intercollegiate sports we play. In my case, to be allowed to play wide receiver for the University of Colorado football team, I had to give up endorsement opportunities I had garnered as an Olympic moguls skier. Or consider the plight of Aaron Adair, a third baseman for the University of Oklahoma who also happens to have survived brain cancer. He wrote a book about his recovery intended to help others with the disease, only to receive a call from a compliance officer informing him that his college baseball career was over because his name was attached to a corporate product. When I voice my complaints, the usual response I hear is: The N.C.A.A. provides a free college education for these kids and that should be enough. I address that question in two parts. First, free? We football players get up at dawn, do an hour of wind sprints, go to classes, spend two hours in the weight room, devote a of couple hours to seven-on-seven drills, study for school, and try to have something of a social life. And this is our off-season - the hours only increase after the games start. Even if you consider the scholarships we receive to be payment, we are recompensed at far less than the minimum wage. Second, the N.C.A.A. doesn't pay for athletic scholarships, the universities do. Many universities rely on wealthy alumni who create endowments to cover tuition, room and board. My solution? I have drafted what I call the Student-Athletes' Bill of Rights and have sent copies to state legislators across the country. Among other things, my proposal would allow student-athletes to secure bona fide employment not associated with his/her amateur sport and collect money generated by the sale of apparel that bears their names and jersey numbers. At the very least this will help student-athletes cover school-related costs, like travel and books, over and above what their scholarships pay for. Also, because the N.C.A.A. doesn't allow universities to cover a student-athlete's health insurance during the summer, the bill would assure student-athletes a full-time policy. It would also help financially burdened family members travel to post-season tournaments. I am not alone in this. Kevin Murray, a California state senator, has introduced a bill along these lines to apply to all universities in his state. The athletic director at Stanford called the bill onerous and warned that if it passed, every athlete in California would be ineligible under N.C.A.A. guidelines. But that's exactly the point: if states start ensuring that us student-athletes received fair treatment, would the N.C.A.A. really ban us all? I doubt it - I bet the organization would understand that its reign was in jeopardy and come to the bargaining table. Responding to my initiative, an N.C.A.A. spokesman pointed out that the organization gives 94 percent of every dollar it receives to the universities, where it supposedly trickles back to student-athletes. I'm curious about where that other 6 percent goes - after all, 6 percent of the basketball tournament contract alone is $360 million. He might also have explained the television commercials made for the N.C.A.A. I see lots of ads
Re: t-and-f: What is a professional sport
Yes indeed, you only need to look at Tennis's Kurnachova SP? to see what one with limited talent can do to attract the attention of the press. Maybe Allen Johnson needs to wear more provocative outfits?? Stella Franci
t-and-f: Fwd: [Oztrack] DQ Farce in Paris Men's 100
An interesting point of view!! Hi Sam Sometime people in high places who set the rules to suit TV coverage and not athletes - are too pompous and have limited hearing of public sentiment from athletes and then the only way to show them how bad something is, to get public attention attracted to an unfair situation. John Drummond I believe did all Sprinters a favour in a much more powerful way than anyone could ever have done by any reasonable representation petition or otherwise. It is like marching in protest for something. I'll bet everyone would believe in some cases something would be worth marching for. But ofcourse most of us hate people marching when it effects us individually and we don't care about the issue. The IAAF ought to consider how decent it is to modify the traditions of the sport to suit TV coverage at the expense of fairness for athletes. If there were many more people in the IAAF who would listen and realize that the system as it stands is damaging to the sport. They would then realize that their own rules have brough the sport into disrepute and not John Drummond. The moment the world sees that fact that John actually got out slower than the guy next to him they realize that the system as it stand is pathetically flawed. Sometime doing a sit in is the only way. He did all sprinters a favour. If this now leads to a rule change - we can call it the John Drummond amendment because that is how the world works sadly. That's politics and this is political. TV vs Athletes. My 3c ---BeginMessage--- Hi Sam Sometime people in high places who set the rules to suit TV coverage and not athletes - are too pompous and have limited hearing of public sentiment from athletes and then the only way to show them how bad something is, to get public attention attracted to an unfair situation. John Drummond I believe did all Sprinters a favour in a much more powerful way than anyone could ever have done by any reasonable representation petition or otherwise. It is like marching in protest for something. I'll bet everyone would believe in some cases something would be worth marching for. But ofcourse most of us hate people marching when it effects us individually and we don't care about the issue. The IAAF ought to consider how decent it is to modify the traditions of the sport to suit TV coverage at the expense of fairness for athletes. If there were many more people in the IAAF who would listen and realize that the system as it stands is damaging to the sport. They would then realize that their own rules have brough the sport into disrepute and not John Drummond. The moment the world sees that fact that John actually got out slower than the guy next to him they realize that the system as it stand is pathetically flawed. Sometime doing a sit in is the only way. He did all sprinters a favour. If this now leads to a rule change - we can call it the John Drummond amendment because that is how the world works sadly. That's politics and this is political. TV vs Athletes. My 3c regards Steve Bennett www.oztrack.com -Original Message- From: Sam Leitch [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, 26 August 2003 10:58 PM To: jim leppik; Shane Roelofs; Darren Alomes - Macquarie Accounting Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Oztrack] DQ Farce in Paris Men's 100 Greetings, I don't care what the circumstances were. I'm a strong believer in respecting an offical's decision regardless of the situation. It has become a common scenario on the sporting field, where athletes dispute an offical's decision. This shouldn't be the case, regardless of the sport. I was interested to hear that an athlete should be allowed to run the race, with the protest to be heard later. This rule makes sense. In a laned event, such as the 100m, it shouldn't matter whether an athlete is competing in the race or not. If this rule exists, it still doesn't allow Drummond to behave the way he did. Respect must be given to the officals and if he wishes to argue the point with the IAAF, then delaying the 100m quarter final in the way that he did, isn't the best way to do it. Thats my 2 cents worth! :) Cheers, Sam. --- jim leppik [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi all, Interesting that the Powell took off before Drummond but had a much slower reaction time Jim Shane Roelofs [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: First of all I'd like to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to Justin Anelzark for his 5th in the Shot!!! Job well done!!! And now to the controversy with Jon Drummond. How can any reasonable person criticise his actions?!?! This guy has put in a tremendous amount of work to be in the shape he's in, to prepare for these championships and he knew that as soon as he left the track it would all be academic. So he did his best to get the officials to see reason. I DOUBT anyone of you would have done differently and if you would have, then let me tell you that you wouldn't be standing in the
t-and-f: IAAF Council Meeting Report
IAAF Council meets in Paris agrees that race walkers will receive Special Awards for World Best Performances Thursday 28 August 2003 Paris - Council agreed that although the two World Bests set in the Mens 20km and 50km during these World Championships can not yet be recognised as official IAAF World Records, the two athletes responsible for the marks, Jefferson Perez (ECU) and Robert Korzeniowski (POL) would receive awards of $100,000 each as a gesture of Fair Play. The presentations will be made in the Stade de France before the end of the Championships. JON DRUMMOND AFFAIR Council officially endorsed the decision of the Competition Director to disqualify Jon Drummond from taking further part in this competition, for behaviour likely to bring the sport into disrepute, following his refusal to accept a disqualification for a false start in the quarter finals of the 100m. Council now expects to receive a report after a full investigation into the behaviour of Drummond, and USATF Admin Officer Michael Cain who is alleged to have advised the athlete not to accept his disqualification, before the next Council Meeting on 22-23 November in Berlin. Council also agreed that a clearly defined procedure needed to be established to avoid repetition of such incidents in future. Among the specific procedures that are being considered are to: Remove the blocks immediately from the lane of a disqualified athlete; Remove the disqualified athletes name from the onscreen start list (or add a dq) Ensure that the announcers and in-stadium presenters are proactive in explaining the rules both before the event starts and when athletes are disqualified; Ensure that the in-stadium screens which are controlled by the Competition Organisers do not show footage that is misleading or can incite the crowd; Ask starters to use their discretion to avoid disqualifying more than one athlete at the same time, but aim to disqualify only the instigator of each false start. Ask starters to warn flinchers who seek to provoke their rivals into making false starts, and to disqualify them if they do so repeatedly. IAAF USATF Council discussed publication of an article in the LA Times revealing the identity of a US athlete who allegedly competed at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 after being cleared of a doping offence. As is widely known, the IAAF sought disclosure from its US Member, USATF, of the names of a number of unidentified athletes, including the athlete from the Sydney Olympic Games, together with all related documents, as part of an arbitration procedure that was conducted before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne in November 2002. In that case, the CAS Panel found that, although IAAF Rules required the disclosure of such information, there were valid reasons in the circumstances why disclosure should not now be made. The IAAF was never informed of the name of the Sydney athlete as the arbitration was concerned with the principle of disclosure not with establishing the individual identity of any athlete. The IAAF and USATF agreed prior to the arbitration that the CAS decision would be final and binding on both parties. Accordingly, respecting the CAS decision, and in the absence of voluntary disclosure of the information or an admission by the athlete in question, the IAAF is not in a position to take any further action in the matter at this time.
t-and-f: 08/30/2003 - U.S. Sprinter White May Lose Gold Medal
08/30/2003 09:56:49 EST U.S. Sprinter White May Lose Gold Medal By STEPHEN WILSON AP Sports Writer American sprinter Kelli White could be stripped of at least one of her two gold medals from the World Championships after testing positive for a stimulant, the sport's governing body said Saturday. The IAAF said it was investigating whether White committed a doping offense and should forfeit her victory Sunday in the 100 meters. If it ends as a doping case - at the moment all indications are toward that direction - then she will be deprived of the gold medal, IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai told The Associated Press. White's gold in Thursday's 200 meters could also be in jeopardy. In addition, she could face a two-year suspension if found guilty of a serious offense. White, the first American to win both sprints at a world championship, couldn't be reached for comment. USA Track Field officials had no comment. White was scheduled to run in Saturday's 400-meter relay final, but it wasn't immediately known if she would compete. Gyulai said White was eligible to run in the relay, but the entire U.S. relay team would be disqualified later if she is ruled guilty of doping. It is risky for the Americans to make her run, he said. The IAAF confirmed a report in the French sports daily L'Equipe that White's drug sample after the 100 final contained modafinil, described as a psychostimulant that stimulates the central nervous system and is often used to fight fatigue and sleepiness. The results of her drug test after the 200 final was not yet known. The IAAF said modafinil was not listed by name on the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency's current list of banned substances but was considered a related substance. It is very clear that it is a stimulant, but whether it is a soft stimulant or a strong stimulant is not clear and is being debated, Gyulai said. If the drug is determined to be the softer variety, White would be disqualified from the 100 and given a public warning, Gyulai said. If it is considered a strong drug, she will also face a two-year ban from the sport, he said. Gyulai said it was uncertain when the IAAF would make a final ruling. The most appropriate course of action is to allow her to compete pending the completion of the necessary scientific and factual investigations, an IAAF statement said. The IAAF said White told federation officials she has been taking the drug on prescription to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that runs in her family. Gyulai said White did not list the substance on her doping control form as required. White said she didn't do so because the substance wasn't on the banned list. Why should I mention anything? Gyulai quoted her as saying. Under IAAF rules, athletes must notify the federation in advance of any products they take for medical reasons. The IAAF grants waivers to athletes who use products on the banned list for legitimate therapeutic reasons. It's not the first time White has been involved in a disputed drug test in France. In July 2002, after running in a meet at Saint Denis, White's sample turned up traces of a corticoid - an anti-inflammatory steroid. She was suspended for six months by France's anti-doping agency because she lacked a medical certificate, but the IAAF cleared her of any offense. Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved
t-and-f: Some Official Result - Memorial Van Damme - Bruxelles (BEL)Friday, September 05, 2003
Official Result Men - 100 METRES Wind: +0.8 m/s Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Powell Asafa JAM 10.02 2 Gatlin Justin USA 10.09 3 Williams Bernard USA 10.10 4 Capel John USA 10.13 5 Aliu Deji NGR 10.17 6 Lewis-Francis Mark GBR 10.20 7 Chambers Dwain GBR 10.22 8 Boldon Ato TRI 10.26 9 Emedolu Uchenna NGR 10.28 Men - 400 METRES Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 van Branteghem Cedric BEL 45.02 2 Canal David ESP 45.64 3 Laursen Jimisola SWE 45.74 4 Sambu Ezra KEN 45.83 5 Diagana Stphane FRA 45.85 6 Swillims Bastian GER 46.14 7 Barberi Andrea ITA 46.36 8 de Baerdemaeker Xavier BEL 46.68 9 Hedman Graham GBR 46.89 Men - 800 METRES Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Bungei Wilfred KEN 1:42.52 2 Mulaudzi Mbulaeni RSA 1:42.89 3 Sepeng Hezekil RSA 1:43.12 4 Kipketer Wilson DEN 1:43.28 5 Mutua Joseph KEN 1:43.52 6 Borzakovskiy Yuriy RUS 1:43.68 7 Bucher Andr SUI 1:44.23 8 Som Bram NED 1:44.46 9 Jansen Joeri BEL 1:45.07 Kiptoo David KEN DNF Men - 3000 METRES STEEPLECHASE Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Shaheen Saif Saaeed QAT 8:00.06 2 Koech Paul KEN 8:00.42 3 Vroemen Simon NED 8:09.18 4 Nyamu Julius KEN 8:10.33 5 Kemboi Ezekiel KEN 8:12.87 6 Ezzine Ali MAR 8:13.31 7 Tahri Bouabdallah FRA 8:14.44 8 El Ouardi Zouhair MAR 8:14.81 9 Misoi Kipkirui KEN 8:17.27 10 Boit Kipketer Wilson KEN 8:17.86 11 Martn Luis Miguel ESP 8:20.89 12 Slattery Steve USA 8:24.99 13 Cherono Abraham KEN 8:31.73 14 Kipyego Michael KEN 8:32.93 15 Buc Botjan SLO 8:38.64 Langat John KEN DNF Cheruiyot Abel KEN DNS Women - 100 METRES Wind: -0.1 m/s Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 White Kelli USA 10.87 2 Gaines Chryste USA 10.88 3 Edwards Torri USA 10.98 4 Sturrup Chandra BAH 11.01 5 Block Zhanna UKR 11.12 6 Hurtis Muriel FRA 11.12 7 Kislova Marina RUS 11.31 8 Anim Vida GHA 11.32 9 Maduaka Joice GBR 11.48 Women - 5000 METRES Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Tulu Derartu ETH 14:44.22 2 Ochichi Isabella KEN 14:47.70 3 Masai Edith KEN 15:06.64 4 Joseph Restituta TAN 15:07.39 5 El Kamch Zhor MAR 15:11.78 6 Ouaziz Zahra MAR 15:13.14 7 Kwambai Irene KEN 15:14.68 8 Okninska Lidia POL 15:24.29 9 Chenonge Ines KEN 15:35.04 10 Javornik Helena SLO 15:37.98 Komyagina Olga RUS DNF Turova Alesya BLR DNF Women - 400 METRES HURDLES Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Pechonkina Yuliya RUS 53.49 2 Glover Sandra USA 53.87 3 Tirlea Ionela ROM 54.83 4 Blackett Andrea BAR 54.85 5 Tereschuk-Antipova Tetiana UKR 55.06 6 Taylor Brenda USA 55.28 7 Febbraio Surita RSA 55.57 8 Torshina Natalya KAZ 55.91 9 Danvers Natasha GBR 57.08 Women - JAVELIN THROW Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Shikolenko Tatyana RUS 61.36 2 Nerius Steffi GER 60.68 3 Szab Nikolett HUN 58.41 4 Zabruskova Valeriya RUS 57.68 5 Stas Cindy BEL 51.43 6 Lewis Denise GBR 50.14 Kolkkala Taina FIN DNS
t-and-f: More - Memorial Van Damme - Bruxelles (BEL)Friday, Sept 05, 2003
Memorial Van Damme - Bruxelles (BEL)Friday, September 05, 2003 Official Result Women - 1500 METRES Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Ayhan Süreyya TUR 3:55.33 2 Zadorozhnaya Yelena RUS 4:00.12 3 Rozenberg Yekaterina RUS 4:00.58 4 Maranga Jackline KEN 4:01.22 5 Mugo Naomi KEN 4:01.80 6 Yordanova Daniela BUL 4:01.83 7 Babcock Courtney CAN 4:01.99 8 Varga Judit HUN 4:02.67 9 Yegorova Olga RUS 4:03.16 10 Gorelova Natalya RUS 4:03.83 11 Lishchynska Iryna UKR 4:05.26 12 Tullett Hayley GBR 4:05.72 13 Cioncan Maria ROM 4:11.47 Kosenkova Yuliya RUS DNF Yevdokimova Natalya RUS DNF Men - 1500 METRES Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 El Guerrouj Hicham MAR 3:28.40 2 Baala Mehdi FRA 3:28.98 3 Korir Paul KEN 3:30.72 4 Rono Robert KEN 3:31.33 5 Kipchirchir Alex KEN 3:31.42 6 Higuero Juan Carlos ESP 3:31.61 7 Kipkurui Benjamin KEN 3:32.58 8 Shabunin Vyacheslav RUS 3:32.63 9 Silva Rui POR 3:33.04 10 Chirchir William KEN 3:33.61 11 Chirchir Cornelius KEN 3:34.16 12 Songok Isaac KEN 3:34.85 13 Boukensa Tarek ALG 3:35.31 14 Parra Roberto ESP 3:35.54 15 Rotich Laban KEN 3:35.90 16 Essaadi Ridouane BEL 3:44.09 Lelei David KEN DNF Liefers Gert-Jan NED DNF Whiteman Anthony GBR DNF Men - 110 METRES HURDLES Wind: +0.3 m/s Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Johnson Allen USA 13.16 2 Liu Xiang CHN 13.19 3 Phillips Chris USA 13.29 4 Trammell Terrence USA 13.39 5 Bramlett Ron USA 13.69 6 Inocêncio Mateus Facho BRA 13.70 7 de Souza Márcio Simão BRA 13.90 8 Ross Duane USA 14.03 9 Wade Larry USA 15.17
t-and-f: Resutls 3 - Memorial Van Damme - Bruxelles (BEL) Sept 05, 2003
Memorial Van Damme - Bruxelles (BEL)Friday, September 05, 2003 Official Result Men - 200 METRES Wind: -0.1 m/s Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Gatlin Justin USA 20.04 2 Williams Bernard USA 20.17 3 Crawford Shawn USA 20.18 4 Patton Darvis USA 20.30 5 Brunson Marcus USA 20.55 6 Williams Ricardo JAM 20.65 7 Miller Coby USA 20.90 Mark 1 Gevaert Kim BEL 22.72 2 Anim Vida GHA 22.90 3 Ottey Merlene SLO 23.08 4 Maduaka Joice GBR 23.10 5 Mothersill Cydonie CAY 23.11 6 Mayr-Krifka Karin AUT 23.17 7 Hewitt Lauren AUS 23.22 8 Adams Jenny USA 23.51 9 Rochtus Audry BEL 23.83 Men - JAVELIN THROW Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Henry Boris GER 84.33 2 Vrnik Andrus EST 82.78 3 Blank Peter GER 82.26 4 Nicolay Christian GER 81.43 5 Thorkildsen Andreas NOR 80.41 6 Trafas Dariusz POL 79.25 7 Hecht Raymond GER 78.37 8 Ivanov Alexandr RUS 77.74 Men - 3000 METRES Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Sadi-Sief Ali ALG 7:30.79 2 Kipchoge Eliud KEN 7:30.91 3 Kibowen John KEN 7:32.01 4 Limo Benjamin KEN 7:33.13 5 Kwalia James KEN 7:35.53 6 Kipkosgei Luke KEN 7:37.64 7 Chebii Abraham KEN 7:43.85 8 Espaa Jess ESP 7:56.21 9 Rizki Monder BEL 7:56.93 10 Clerbout Tim BEL 7:59.97 Mayock John GBR DNF Mutai Sammy KEN DNF Khaldi Mohamed ALG DNS Men - POLE VAULT Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Yurchenko Denys UKR 5.80 2 Brits Okkert RSA 5.80 3 Mesnil Romain FRA 5.70 4 Markov Dmitri AUS 5.70 5 Lobinger Tim GER 5.70 5 Mack Timothy USA 5.70 7 Duval Thibaut BEL 5.60 7 Gibilisco Giuseppe ITA 5.60 7 Hysong Nick USA 5.60 10 Averbukh Aleksandr ISR 5.60 Brgeling Lars GER NM Chistiakov Viktor AUS NM Rans Kevin BEL NM Women - HIGH JUMP Pos Athlete Nat Mark 1 Cloete Hestrie RSA 2.03 2 Styopina Viktoriya UKR 1.98 3 Yelesina Yelena RUS 1.98 4 Palamar Vita UKR 1.98 4 Veneva Venelina BUL 1.98 6 Kuptsova Marina RUS 1.95 7 Vlaic Blanka CRO 1.95 8 Acuff Amy USA 1.95 9 Beitia Ruth ESP 1.90 10 Babakova Inha UKR 1.90 10 Mykhalchenko Iryna UKR 1.90 12 Kaliturina Olga RUS 1.85
t-and-f: Commentary on Van Damme Meet
09/05/2003 14:51:33 EST Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP Photo Kelli White Makes Winning Return By RAF CASERT Associated Press Writer Kelli White made a winning return to the track Friday, capturing the 100 meters a week after she became embroiled in a drug scandal at the World Championships. The world champion led a 1-2-3 American finish, followed by Chryste Gaines and Tori Edwards. White was slow out of the blocks and despite a slight headwind won in 10.87 seconds, just 0.02 seconds off her personal best she set in France last week. It was my first time on the track for eight days, White said. It was my first normal day. Gaines, who missed out on the 100 at the worlds, ran a personal record of 10.88. Edwards, the silver medalist behind White last week, also beat the 11-second mark in 10.98. After her 100 victory at the world championships, White tested positive for a stimulant. She escaped a suspension that would have kept her from the Athens Olympics, but she could still lose her 100 and 200 gold medals. She skipped the 1,600-meter relay at the championships because of the doping scandal. It's been tough, she said. Asafa Powell, who was disqualified at the world championships for a false start, set a personal best of 10.02 to upset the favorites in the 100 meters. The Jamaican surged ahead in the closing stages, beating U.S. runner Justin Gatlin by 0.07 seconds. American Bernard Williams finished third in 10.10. John Capel, the 200 world champion, was fourth in 10.13. In France, Powell was a victim of the new false start rule that immediately disqualifies any sprinter following a first false start in the race. This is kind of revenge for what happened to me, he said. I was very eager to win this one. While Powell accepted the decision, American Jon Drummond threw a tantrum in Saint-Denis, holding up the race for half an hour. Hicham El Guerrouj, dominated the 1,500 as he has all season, never letting France's Mehdi Baala threaten him in an identical 1-2 finish as in the worlds. Despite his complaints about fatigue, the Moroccan still finished in a season's top time of 3 minutes, 28.40 seconds, improving on his own mark. Baala set a French record of 3:28.98. In the women's race, Sureyya Ayhan shrugged off the disappointment of a runner-up finish at the worlds and won the 1,500 in a world-leading time this year, 3:55.33. Qatar's Saif Saeed Shaheen set an Asian record in the steeplechase, finishing in 8:00.07, improving on the mark he set last month by 2.42 seconds. It also was the world best time this season, as he held off Paul Kipsiele Koech in the home stretch by 0.36 seconds. Shaheen was trying to become the first this season to break the 8-minute mark. This was the meet to break the (world) record, he said. He was almost five seconds slow for that mark. I'm not happy at all. Kenyan Wilfred Bungei, who missed the worlds because of malaria, improved on the season's best time in the 800, finishing in 1:42.52, edging Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa by 0.37 seconds. In the 400 hurdles, world record holder Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia bounced back from her surprising defeat at the world championships last week to win in 53.49 seconds, the third-best time of the season. Sandra Glover of the United States was second, 0.38 seconds behind. After she pulled out of the world championships because of illness, double Olympic champion Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia got some revenge, easily winning the 5,000 ahead of Kenya's Isabella Ochichi and prerace favorite Edith Masai. In the javelin, Tatyana Shikolenko won with a throw of 201 feet, 4 inches, beating Steffi Nerius of Germany and Nikolett Szabo of Hungary.
t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: The Decline and Fall of Sports Ratings
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sports are watched differently than they were during the era of the three-network universe. The bonds of loyalty to a nationally televised sport can be broken more easily because there is so much else to do and perhaps less patience. If Sampras is not playing Andre Agassi, viewers may flip to Sex and the City. [EMAIL PROTECTED] / advertisement ---\ Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com. http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015 \--/ The Decline and Fall of Sports Ratings September 10, 2003 By RICHARD SANDOMIR Down. That is where the ratings of most major sports events went in the past year. Whether it was the World Series, the N.B.A. finals, all four Grand Slam golf tournaments or the recently completed United States Open, network ratings tumbled. The declines, in some cases, were huge and led to record ratings lows, and they could lead to networks' slowing the growth in payments for future deals. With the National Basketball Association gone from NBC, ratings for the finals on ABC this year dropped by more than a third. Shaun Micheel's victory at the P.G.A. Championship in August sent CBS's rating down 38 percent, after ratings for Jim Furyk's triumph at the United States Open fell by almost half on NBC. The prime-time United States Open women's tennis final, created in 2001 as a Venus and Serena Williams perennial, dropped 52 percent to a 2.5 for CBS last Saturday when one Belgian, Justine Henin-Hardenne, defeated another, Kim Clijsters. (Each rating point equals 1.07 million TV households.) It has been a weird year; a confluence of factors put a larger-than-usual dent in the viewership of major sports. The war in Iraq drew viewers away in the spring, especially from the N.C.A.A. men's basketball tournament (the championship game rating fell 16 percent). Rain shortened the Daytona 500 and caused days' worth of delays at the United States Open, which also suffered from Pete Sampras's retirement and injuries to the Williams sisters. Tiger Woods was a factor in only one of golf's majors, and the ratings drop-off ranged from 7 percent (the British Open) to 44 percent (the United States Open). The N.B.A.'s decision to shift the bulk of its games to cable, on ESPN and TNT, meant lower ratings for ABC, which did not build the type of audience NBC had because it carried far fewer games. The oases of strength in sports broadcasting continue to be the National Football League (ABC's Buccaneers-Eagles game was the highest-rated Monday night game in two years) and Nascar, which has benefited greatly from moving its main races from cable to NBC and Fox. When rain curtailed the Daytona 500 last February, Fox said it was on its way to posting its highest rating in years. Still, the overall direction of sports ratings is clear. If you look at sports ratings over the past decade, they've declined in general, said Ken Schanzer, the president of NBC Sports. The question is whether the amount of the decline this year is the start of a trend. Artie Bulgrin, ESPN's senior vice president for research, said this year's declines were accelerated by a key segment of viewers focused on the war in Iraq. The audience that paid closest attention to the news, post-9/11, was males 18 to 34, and they were affected for a period that forced sports to take a back seat, he said. He added: It's misleading to look at ratings for selected events and conclude that a negative trend is happening. Sports have never been healthier. Still, sports ratings are not immune to the erosion throughout broadcast television, a trend linked to cable and satellite TV, the Internet, home video and other options. Ten years ago, the World Series had a 17.3 rating; last year it fell to 11.9. The N.C.A.A. championship game produced a 22.2 rating 10 years ago; this year it dipped to 12.6. Only eight years ago, the leading prime-time network program, Seinfeld, averaged a 20.4 rating; this past season the top show, C.S.I., generated a 16.3 Ratings are smaller than ever, and the sports world is the exaggerated tip of it, said Peter Gardiner, chief media officer of the advertising agency Deutsch Inc. Sports are watched differently than they were during the era of the three-network universe. The bonds of loyalty to a nationally televised sport can be broken more easily because there is so much else to do and perhaps less patience. If Sampras is not playing Andre Agassi, viewers may flip to Sex and the City. There are different ways to view the decline in ratings for virtually everything but the Super Bowl. Bulgrin said that from 1996 to 2001, Nielsen Media Research figured that the average rating for nationally televised sports fell 10 percent, a bigger drop than for any other segment of the TV audience. On the other hand, for the year ended in
t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: Decoding a Steroid: Hunches, Sweat, Vindication
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] / advertisement ---\ FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: IN AMERICA - IN THEATRES NOVEMBER 26 Fox Searchlight Pictures proudly presents IN AMERICA directed by Academy Award(R) Nominee Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot and In The Name of the Father). IN AMERICA stars Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine and Djimon Hounsou. For more info: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/inamerica \--/ Decoding a Steroid: Hunches, Sweat, Vindication November 2, 2003 By JERE LONGMAN and JOE DRAPE Last June 13, a test tube of clear liquid arrived by overnight mail at the Olympic drug-testing laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles. The liquid included residue from a syringe that a tipster said contained an undetectable anabolic steroid. In 21 years as director of the laboratory, Dr. Donald H. Catlin had never encountered a smoking gun like this. He had believed for several years that some athletes were cheating with impunity by using designer steroids, and now he had a chance to prove it. Over the next three months, using high-tech screening devices and low-tech tools like pencil and paper, Dr. Catlin and a team of eight chemists cracked the chemical code of the steroid, tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, synthesized it and developed a test to catch those who used it. The result has been a billowing scandal. Urine samples from five track athletes, including Regina Jacobs, the perennial top American women's miler, and Dwain Chambers, Britain's top sprinter, who trains in California, have shown THG in preliminary tests, according to officials familiar with the results. The athletes did not knowingly take a prohibited substance, their lawyers have said. The federal authorities are investigating a nutritional supplement company, the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, or Balco, which one anti-doping official called the likely source of the steroid. Subpoenas to appear before a grand jury have been issued to baseball stars like Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, and reportedly to dozens of other athletes including various professional football players, the boxer Shane Mosley and the sprinter Marion Jones. A lawyer for one of the athletes said the authorities were investigating the sale and distribution of THG, along with possible tax evasion by Balco. Victor Conte, Balco's president, has denied being the source of the THG. Apparently for the first time in a game of pharmacological cat and mouse that has spanned four decades, an unknown performance-enhancing drug has been identified, a test for it has been developed and urine samples have been re-examined before any athletes who might have used the drug were aware that the authorities knew the steroid existed. It has left the scientists who detected THG with a bittersweet sense of enormous accomplishment and dread. It's really nice to be able to solve an important, complex problem, Dr. Catlin, 65, a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology, said in a telephone interview. On the other hand, the existence of the steroid would undoubtedly not be known if a track coach who has not been identified had not stepped forward. He gave the syringe to anti-doping officials in Colorado, who sent it to Dr. Catlin. There must be other undetected steroids out there, Dr. Catlin believes, made by clandestine labs without regard to approved safety standards or federal laws. I do shiver a lot, Dr. Catlin said in contemplating a prospect he calls horrifying. Dr. Caroline Hatton, a chemist at the U.C.L.A. lab, agreed. It's pretty chilling, she said. It's like our worst nightmare was just proved. This might just be the tip of the iceberg. We hope to learn more in a few days, weeks, months. We're a little afraid of what we don't know and may never learn. A Longstanding Problem Dr. Hatton and Dr. Catlin work in a low-slung building abutting an auto body shop two miles from the main U.C.L.A. campus. There is no sign on the door to identify it as the Olympic Analytical Laboratory. If the outside is nondescript, though, the inside contains one of the world's foremost laboratories for the research and testing of performance-enhancing drugs. Each year, 25,000 tests are conducted here for clients like the United States Olympic Committee, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Football League. The laboratory opened in 1982 and served as the official drug-testing center for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; later it provided screening for the Games in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. The U.C.L.A. laboratory is one of 30 worldwide accredited by the International Olympic Committee, and the only one in the United States. Frankly, I didn't know much about the problem when I first started, Dr. Catlin said. He had grown interested in the drug issue while helping to treat heroin addicts as a young
t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: Results of Steroid Testing Spur Baseball to Set Tougher Rules
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] / advertisement ---\ FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: IN AMERICA - IN THEATRES NOVEMBER 26 Fox Searchlight Pictures proudly presents IN AMERICA directed by Academy Award(R) Nominee Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot and In The Name of the Father). IN AMERICA stars Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine and Djimon Hounsou. For more info: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/inamerica \--/ Results of Steroid Testing Spur Baseball to Set Tougher Rules November 14, 2003 By JACK CURRY and JERE LONGMAN PHOENIX, Nov. 13 - Major League Baseball, which has labored for several seasons under suspicion that some of its star players were using steroids, said Thursday that in the first year of testing for steroids more than 5 percent of players' tests were positive. As a result, stricter testing standards will go into effect next year. From 5 to 7 percent of the 1,438 random, anonymous tests of players on major league teams' 40-man rosters this year were positive, baseball said, triggering testing for the 2004 season that could result in penalties against players. The players would also be identified publicly. Though the number of positive tests ranged from 70 to 100, it was unclear how many players tested positive. Of the 1,438 tests, 240 were repeat tests, and so some players may have tested positive twice. The steroid issue has intensified for baseball since two former Most Valuable Players, Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco, said in 2002 that they used them and that many other players did, too. More muscle-bound players and an explosion in performance by hitters added to the suspicion that some players might be using performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball's team owners began a push for testing, but the players' union was reluctant before agreeing to the program last year, when a new labor contract was signed. Hopefully, this will, over time, allow us to completely eradicate the use of performance enhancement substances in baseball, Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. But Dr. Gary I. Wadler, a professor of medicine at New York University who is an expert on performance-enhancing drugs, noted that if the 70 to 100 positive tests were grouped together, they would exceed the number of players on the 40-man roster of any of baseball's 30 teams. This seems to indicate that steroid use was widespread, he said, calling into question the legitimacy of baseball players' recent achievements. That's really a very sorry day for baseball, Dr. Wadler said. As part of the labor agreement concluded last year, which included the ban on steroids, baseball and the players' union agreed to the anonymous testing for 2003. Because the positive test results exceeded the 5 percent threshold, the agreement calls for all players to undergo stricter testing starting on March 2, 2004. If the number had been less than 5 percent, the same survey testing would have been repeated next year. Until agreeing to testing last year, the players union had been opposed to it on the grounds that it infringed on players' privacy rights. The new testing plan will be in effect for 2004 and 2005. Unless the combined positive rate is less than 2.5 percent in those years, it will also be in place in 2006. The announcement comes at a time when two of baseball's biggest stars, Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, have been called to testify before a federal grand jury in California in the investigation of a company suspected of making steroids. Bonds and Giambi have said they received only nutritional supplements from the company. Beginning next season, the first time a player tests positive he will receive treatment and education about the substance that was abused and be subject to further testing. A second positive will result in the player's being identified publicly and include a 15-day suspension or up to a $10,000 fine. The penalties escalate to a one-year suspension or up to a $100,000 fine for the fifth positive test. Suspensions will be without pay. If it's something that will ultimately make the problem go away or speculation of a problem go away, then what's wrong with that? said Mets pitcher Tom Glavine, the National Leaguers' representative during the negotiations last year. Players had no specific knowledge of when they would be tested, but they knew since the collective bargaining agreement was reached on Sept. 30, 2002, that tests would be administered at some point this season. Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, said it probably surprised him that players tested positive despite having at least four months' advance knowledge that testing was imminent. It's good that there's been some attention to it, he said. Both sides have agreed there should be attention paid. This is the result of it. The tests were conducted in two phases, with 1,198
t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: East German Steroids#146; Toll: #146;They Killed Heidi#146;
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] LONG ARTICLE [EMAIL PROTECTED] / advertisement ---\ THE DREAMERS - IN SELECT CITIES FEBRUARY 6 Set against the turbulent political backdrop of 1968 France when the voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, THE DREAMERS is a story of self-discovery as three students test each other to see just how far they will go. Pure Bertolucci, proclaims The New Yorker. THE DREAMERS makes its North American premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thedreamers/index_nyt.html \--/ East German Steroids#146; Toll: #146;They Killed Heidi#146; January 26, 2004 By JERE LONGMAN MAGDEBURG, Germany, Jan. 20 - Andreas Krieger opened a shopping bag in his living room and spilled out his past: track and field uniforms, a scrapbook and athlete credentials from the former East Germany. The photos on the credentials looked familiar, but the face was fuller and softer, the hair covering the ears and draping down the neck. This was Heidi Krieger, the 1986 European women's shot-put champion, perhaps the most extreme example of the effects of an insidious, state-sponsored system of doping in East Germany. The taking of pills and injections of anabolic steroids created virile features and heightened confusion about an already uncertain sexual identity, Krieger said, influencing a decision to have a sex-change operation in 1997 and to become known legally as Andreas. They killed Heidi, Krieger said. More than 14 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and more than three years after criminal trials resulted in convictions of East Germany's top sports official and sports doctor, Krieger and a number of other athletes are still trying to resolve legal, medical and psychological issues related to the secretive doping program that was known by the Orwellian euphemism of supporting means. Many of the athletes were minors at the time and say they were given performance-enhancing drugs without their knowledge. Karen König, a retired swimmer, filed a civil lawsuit against the German Olympic Committee, contending that it inherited more than $2.5 million in assets from East Germany upon reunification in 1990 and thus bears responsibility to assist the former East German athletes. She is seeking $12,500 in a test case, and as many as 140 former East German athletes, including Krieger, are deciding whether to file similar complaints. Last month, a state court in Frankfurt ruled that König's case could proceed. Indications are that the case could be settled out of court, according to German news reports. Jens Steinigen, König's lawyer, said in a telephone interview that he was also exploring the possibility of suing the pharmaceutical company VEB Jenapharm, formerly state-run and now a subsidiary of the Schering AG Group. According to evidence in the criminal trials of the late 1990's, Jenapharm produced the steroid Oral-Turinabol that was given to East German athletes. We won't be able to make these wrongs undone, but the athletes can still use the money for medicine or therapy, Steinigen said. As Krieger sees it, no amount of money could restore his health, which he considers harmed by steroid use and secondary effects. He experiences such intense discomfort in his hips and thighs, from lifting massive amounts of weight while on performance-enhancing drugs, that he can no longer sleep on his side. Only the mildest physical exertion is tolerable. Long unemployed, he now works two days a week as a clerk for a real estate agent. On Tuesday, the same day that President Bush called for an end to steroid abuse in American sports in his State of the Union address, Krieger again told his own story, feeling compelled to shed more light on one of the darkest chapters in the history of performance-enhancing drugs. As many as 10,000 East German athletes were involved in a state-sponsored attempt to build a country of 16 million into a sports power rivaling the United States and the Soviet Union, recent trials and documents of the East German secret police have revealed. An estimated 500 to 2,000 former East German athletes are believed to be experiencing significant health problems associated with steroids, including liver tumors, heart disease, testicular and breast cancer, gynecological problems, infertility, depression and eating disorders. Some female athletes have reported miscarriages and have had children born with deformities like club feet. In 2002, two years after the criminal trials ended, the German government established a compensation fund of $2.5 million for the doping victims, with a maximum payout of $12,500. Only 311 athletes, however, made claims - Krieger among them - by the deadline of March 31, 2003, according to Birgit Boese, a board member of Doping Victim Aid, an assistance group. Some
t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: Sports of The Times: A Last Chance at Winning Olympic Gold Is Being Tarnished by Politics
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ THE DREAMERS - IN SELECT CITIES Set against the turbulent political backdrop of 1968 France when the voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, THE DREAMERS is a story of self-discovery as three students test each other to see just how far they will go. THE DREAMERS is now playing in select theaters. for more info: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thedreamers/index_nyt.html \--/ Sports of The Times: A Last Chance at Winning Olympic Gold Is Being Tarnished by Politics March 14, 2004 By HARVEY ARATON A WEEK after his daughter was born last month, Sammie Henson took a road trip that mystified friends, frightened family, made people wonder what in heaven's name an athlete might risk for the sake of his sport. His sister asked his father, How can you let him go? His father replied, You know Sammie's going to do what he wants to do. Lucky for him his wife, Stephanie, the one left behind with the three little ones, from newborn to 4, understood best. She knew he had to go because his competitive blood was boiling and the Olympics were beckoning and the tournament was in the very kind of rabid environment that made the challenge beguiling. Sammie Henson got on the plane with the small contingent in United States colors and returned to a country he had visited once before and where freestyle wrestling is really a mania. He went to Iran and he went without fear. If you're an athlete who truly loves what you do, you go, he said. And I've always tried to do what I felt was in my heart. This is not to confuse Iran with postwar Afghanistan, or Tehran with post-Saddam Baghdad. Nor is it Crawford, Tex. And it was just two years ago, in the aftermath of 9/11, that an American freestyle wrestling team was due to depart for Tehran to compete in the world championships, when a call was received at the Colorado Springs headquarters of USA Wrestling, bearing cautionary news. It was the State Department, saying that they knew of threats that had been made against us, said Gary Abbott, director of special projects for USA Wrestling. Even though we had a good relationship with the Iranians from our first postrevolution competition there in 1998, our board voted not to go. It's the world we live in, and it's always a question. More than ever now as we count down to the Athens Summer Olympics, with Greece saying it needs NATO's help to secure the Games, as terrorist bombs tear apart Spanish trains and heighten fear across Europe. United States athletes, for their part, are facing their first mass excursion abroad since 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq, at a time when even in Mexico American soccer players are subjected to Osama! chants. On the flip side of insanity was Sammie Henson's experience last month in the quarterfinals of the Tehran tournament known as the Takhti Cup, where he found himself on the mat against a Turk and suddenly a crowd of several thousand - all men - was chanting U.S.A.! U.S.A.! Could be there are some old regional resentments that take precedence over the continuous frost between the United States and a country President Bush included in his axis of evil. Henson's take on the outburst of support in the aforementioned match he lost was something less political. I just think the Iranians know and respect good wrestling, he said. It was in Tehran in 1998 that Henson won a world championship, watched the American flag rise to the roof in a country that had not been host to American athletes for two decades. He went on to win a silver medal at the Sydney Summer Games in 2000 before he started pinning diapers more than opponents. He became an assistant wrestling coach at Oklahoma and Penn State and this season at West Point. At 33, on the outermost edge of his wrestling prime, Henson is gunning for a last shot at the gold. Up a class in weight to 121 pounds, he admits that the favorite to win the Olympic trials in May is Steven Abas, but he occasionally answers the telephone these days with the greeting, Sammie Henson, 2004 Olympic champion. He has no doubt where he wants to be come August, and that is why he kicked his Olympic drive into gear in Iran, where he could count on the creative tension he relished when he defeated a Cuban, a reigning world champion, in Havana. Henson has wrestled as far away as Siberia and has always come home feeling warm and fuzzy, as he did last month. How many Americans, he wondered, get to compete and kibitz with counterparts from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq in the same week? How many will tell their children, as Henson surely will, that they beat an Iranian in Tehran in February 2004, and received a round of polite applause? In Tehran, Amir Bashiri, an Iranian-American who has worked with the wrestling teams of both countries,
t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: Outdoors: Endurance Athletes Are Taking Up Snowshoe Racing to Stay Fit Year-Round
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] An alternative to the treadmill and more fun [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ THE DREAMERS - IN SELECT CITIES Set against the turbulent political backdrop of 1968 France when the voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, THE DREAMERS is a story of self-discovery as three students test each other to see just how far they will go. THE DREAMERS is now playing in select theaters. for more info: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thedreamers/index_nyt.html \--/ Outdoors: Endurance Athletes Are Taking Up Snowshoe Racing to Stay Fit Year-Round March 14, 2004 By Alicia Ault SQUAW VALLEY, Calif. On a cloudless, crisp day in the northern Sierras last Sunday, 90 snowshoe-clad men and women, and a few teenagers, bunched together at an icy starting line, raring to run up the steep slope before them. They had come to compete in the United States National Snowshoe Championships. With efforts for snowshoe racing's inclusion in the Olympic program unsuccessful to date, the sport offers only the thrill of victory, a T-shirt and, occasionally, some money to those who finish first. In fact, there was no prize money at the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) nationals, where racers zigzagged up a ski slope, gaining 800 feet in a mile, crunched through a mile of powder, skidded down a pitch so severe that some took it on their backsides, and finished with a long, flat loop around a meadow. The top racers clocked six- to seven-minute miles while running at elevation over 6,000 feet and wearing aluminum snowshoes that measured 22 to 25 inches in length. . Nine regional events produced 167 qualifiers for the nationals in five divisions: competition, open, masters, juniors and seniors. Only 90 showed up, partly because of the low stakes and the long travel for some. Even so, It's a whole lot more competitive than it was four years ago, said Nikki Kimball, this year's women's champion, who finished in 47 minutes 31 seconds. Kimball, a 32-year-old physical therapist from Plattsburgh, N.Y., said trail runners, ultramarathon runners and other endurance athletes were increasingly taking up snowshoe racing. The men's champion, Greg Krause, a 26-year-old triathlete from Denver, finished in 40:07. Bernie Boettcher, a 41-year-old from Silt, Colo., who finished third here, said he started racing to train for mountain running and kept at it when he realized it let him train year-round. Peter Fain, a 31-year-old trail runner from Truckee, Calif., brought the snowshoe championships to Squaw Valley this year. He said one reason he started snowshoeing was, Here you can't run in the winter unless you want to run on the side of the road, which is foolish. Snowshoe racing has been around for 150 years but has evolved into a competitive sport in the last decade. Mark Elmore, sports director of the United States Snowshoe Association, attributes this growth to the advent of lightweight aluminum frames, urethane decking and spring-loaded bindings that let racers pop off the snow with less effort. The one-pound shoes often have a slight asymmetrical shape to enhance the running stride, and have sharp cleats for traction. Many racers rivet running shoes into the frame. The learning curve is minimal - if you can run, you can race on snowshoes - and costs are reasonable. Snowshoes run $200 to $300, and race entry fees are $5 to $35. Entry to the nationals cost $10. The Outdoor Industry Association estimates that of six million snowshoers, about one million are hardcore participants, lured by the woods in the winter and the potential to burn 500 to 1,000 calories an hour. . From 5,000 to 10,000 people participate in the 100 or so races held each year from December to March in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and California. There are also international races in Canada, Finland, Japan, Italy and France. Colorado and New York have the most races. The snowshoe association was established in 1977 mostly to regulate qualifying events for the Empire State Games. Based in Corinth, N.Y., the nonprofit association has worked since 2000 to organize regional qualifiers, and the first national championships were held in 2001 in Plattsburgh. The top five finishers at the nationals win slots on the United States team, which would compete internationally if finances matched ambitions. But for most competitors at the nationals, snowshoe racing is more about fitness than reward. The endurance athletes among them say trudging through snow offers a superior aerobic workout. It's the best training I do all year, said Mark Macy, a 50-year-old trial lawyer from Evergreen, Colo., who won the men's masters division in 51:15. When not arguing cases, Macy runs ultramarathons and competes in
t-and-f: NYTimes.com Article: Balco Twist Puts U.S. Track on Defensive
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ THE CLEARING - IN THEATERS JULY 2 - WATCH THE TRAILER NOW An official selection of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, THE CLEARING stars ROBERT REDFORD and HELEN MIRREN as Wayne and Eileen Hayes - a husband and wife living the American Dream. Together they've raised two children and struggled to build a successful business from the ground up. But there have been sacrifices along the way. When Wayne is kidnapped by an ordinary man, Arnold Mack (WILLEM DAFOE), and held for ransom in a remote forest, the couple's world is turned inside out. Watch the trailer at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/theclearing/index_nyt.html \--/ Balco Twist Puts U.S. Track on Defensive April 21, 2004 By JERE LONGMAN In three months, Olympic trials will determine the United States' track and field team for the Summer Games in Athens. In four months, the Games will begin. No team is historically more powerful than the Americans in track and field, the Summer Olympics' most important sport. But no team is more unsettled at the moment, given the possibility of continuing fallout from the Balco steroids scandal. Already, four American track and field stars face suspensions after testing positive for the designer steroid THG, or tetrahydrogestrinone. National and international Olympic and track officials are tensely waiting to find out whether other athletes will be prohibited from competing in Athens because they used illicit performance-enhancing drugs. A potential twist in the case is this: Athletes do not have to test positive to be considered doping cheaters. The United States Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees drug screening in Olympic sports, can sanction athletes if they admit to having used banned substances or if other evidence, including documents, statements and witnesses, can prove drug use beyond a reasonable doubt. As Olympic and track officials await a resolution of the Balco case, which may not go to trial until the fall, they face the potential embarrassment of sending cheaters to Athens and then having to force athletes to return tainted medals after the Games end. Sports officials would like the Balco issue settled quickly, but they are powerless to resolve matters themselves. We have to wait; there's nothing we can do, really, said Nick Davies, a spokesman for track and field's world governing body, known as the I.A.A.F. It's something we have to live with. Terry Madden, chief executive of the American anti-doping agency, said in February that he expected investigations by the federal government and the anti-doping agency will lead to the initiation of more doping cases against athletes and others. How does the anti-doping agency build its case against athletes who may be implicated in the Balco case but who have not tested positive in drug screenings? One clue is a meeting tentatively scheduled for today between officials of the anti-doping agency and Victor Conte Jr., founder of Balco, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. He is one of four men in the case charged with distributing steroids and laundering money. It is not certain whether the meeting will occur, Robert Holley, who is Conte's lawyer, said yesterday. Presumably, the anti-doping agency would seek firsthand knowledge about doping and corroborating documents from Conte. But it is not clear that such a meeting would be beneficial to either side. It remains uncertain what Conte would offer to the anti-doping agency, or what the anti-doping agency could offer him. Conte would be unlikely to admit anything to the United States Anti-Doping Agency without first securing a deal from federal prosecutors, lawyers familiar with the case said. Any plea negotiation or any negotiations of any kind of disposition short of trial would have to go directly through the U.S. Attorney's office and the Justice Department, period, Holley said. And U.S.A.D.A. isn't part of that. It is possible, officials involved in the investigation said, that Conte's cooperation with the anti-doping agency might be viewed favorably in a plea negotiation with the United States attorney's office in San Francisco, which is prosecuting the case. Conte is also scheduled to meet today with prosecutors to examine evidence, Holley said. Victor Conte has information that he would love to be of service to the Olympic Committee, if that were something that were a viable option, given the charges pending against him, Holley said. But, he added, We cannot do anything to hurt his position. The anti-doping agency has worked with federal investigators on the Balco case, but it is not known how much evidence the Justice Department would share as it builds its own criminal case. Matthew J. Jacobs, an assistant United States attorney in San Francisco, declined to comment on the
