----- Original Message -----
From: Conway <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: franno <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2000 11:11 AM
Subject: American Sprinting ( was Re: t-and-f: Micheal Johnson)
>
>
>
> Well let's see .. Brian Lewis has been very consistent for the past few
> years, both in terms of times and placement in meets .. As has been Tim
> Montgomery .. Bernard Williams has been strong all year long, and appears
to
> be getting stronger as evidenced by his lowering of his 200 PR (to 20.03)
..
> And Coby Miller seems to be primed to break through here as he did in the
> 200 .. I would think that most countries would be happy to have Lewis,
> MOntgomery and Williams as their top 3 let alone second eschelon ..
>
>
Yeah, a lot of countries would, but they would still have non-medallists.
Note, that since 1991, Dennis Mitchell is the only non-HSI US sprinter who
has medalled in a major Championships.
In the past even with the existence of groups like SMTC and Speed City,
there were others outside of the groups who were the best in the world apart
from the Americans and a couple of people from the Caribbean.
Nowadays, the non-HSI people cannot make that claim.
By the way. How many of the world's top sprinters completed their years in
the American Division 1college system?
1. Maurice Greene no.
2. Ato Boldon yes, but coached by John Smith
3. Bruny Surin don't know but I did not know him in college
4. Dwaine Chambers no
5. Clad Da Silva no
6. Frank Fredrick yes, but he went to a mountain school
7. Obadele Thompson yes, but he went to a mountain school
8. Tim Montgomery no. He only went to Blinn
9. Jason Gardener no
10. Francis Obikwelu no
11. Donovan Bailey yes, but he was an accountant
12. Mark Lewis-Francis - still in British High school
There you have it. My scientific survey.
Sprinters of the world, if you want to succeed as a professional, stay the
hell away from the American College Coaches except John Smith and Dan Pfaf.
But then Dan coaches field events in College. Bubba Thornton is the sprint
coach!!!!
If you go to an American college, do one or all of the following
1. Leave early, very early. The earlier the better. The American D1
College system will kill you
2. Go to UCLA where John Smith is.
3. Attend UTEP, BYU or some other mountainous school.
4. Avoid Texas, California, the South and other traditional sprinting
hotbeds.
Regards
Stephen Francis
