----- Original Message -----
From: R.T. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> It might appear to be a poor showing from the "team"
> standpoint...
> ...for the individuals who were there, it was probably
> reasonable enough performances for most of them, given
> the time of year...
>
> The trouble is, not only did the U.S. not "send" the
> "A" team, they didn't send the B or C teams either.
> It was more like the "D" team. Nothing against those
> individuals, but they are not the cream of the crop.
>
> Anybody who thinks what they saw in Santiago represents
> the current U.S. state of the art, are sadly mistaken.
Sounds reasonable; it is hard to believe their poor showing is
representative of the current state of US athletics.
> The USATF will say they sent the winners from the
> National Junior Champs. But a LOT of people didn't
> bother to even go TO the National Junior Champs.
> To them a Golden West High School win, or a shot at competing
> in the Olympic Trials in Sacramento, was more important
> (although they only had a miniscule chance of making
> the Sydney team).
>
> Reminder to people outside the U.S.- being a democracy,
> nobody can be "made" to participate on a national team.
> The USATF has zero leverage.
The USATF has the same leverage every official sports body has. Including
the NCAA, NHL, NFL and NBA. You're in, you play by the rules. Don't want to?
You're out. (This works both ways: see the plethora of "official"
organisations in powerlifting or boxing as an example of what can happen if
everybody wants "out".)
> The lure ("carrot") of international travel doesn't even
> have the motivational pwoer that it once did, in a post-
> MTV age where most people's homes are wired, kids carry
> cellular phones in their backpacks, and they
> chat constantly on the 'net with people around the globe.
> Chance to go to Rome? "would be nice, but it's not all that
> critical. After all, homecoming is the same weekend,
> and I've got Pre-SAT's." How about Santiago?
> "Santiago? Hah! You've gotta be kidding!!!!!"
In this post-MTV bla bla bla age tourism and international travel have
soared to unprecedented heights. Being "wired" has not quenched the thirst
of the individual for travel; exactly the opposite, in fact -- people want
to go to all these places they've been reading about. See www.tia.org or
www.world-tourism.org for statistics. Although it is true that the per
capita US expenditure on international travel is lower than the OECD average
(USans travel abroad less often than their European and Japanese
counterparts), it is nevertheless experiencing steady growth, and is now at
a higher level than it has ever been.
[Not that any of this is relevant, I just feel the need to counterbalance
rhetoric with a few facts :-)]
> If they don't want to go, or even "try out" for the team,
> there's not a whole lot that can be done about it, short
> of changing the entire developmental structure to take
> power away from high school and college coaches, or
> at least move their power out from under the school
> A.D.'s and the NCAA, and have the coaches report
> directly to the USATF. i.e. de-emphasize school team
> scoring, and emphasize individual development.
> Like that's gonna happen in the next 500 years...right!
>
> And there's little discussion of ways to motivate kids
> to want to compete against their counterparts from
> Poland and Bolivia.
They seem plenty motivated as long as it's the Olympic Games :-) But
seriously, if the WJC is relatively unknown and not particularly appreciated
in the US, then it is indeed hard to motivate enough athletes to take it
seriously. The question is if this is neccessarily a problem. If collegiate
track and field can serve the same purpose for grooming US juniors then
there is probably no need for an intensive campaign to popularize the WJC.
More worrying (from an athletics standpoint) is the crossover of young
promising t&f athletes into other sports. While understandable, it does the
long-term health of t&f no good. In this respect the WJC can serve a
positive role, by providing the extra perspective of international
competition as an added dimension to t&f (so that t&f becomes a little bit
more than just what you do "to pass the time until football season starts").
> Everybody wants a piece of the Americans, but Americans
> can 'take it or leave it'-making an overseas trip to
> compete can easily become more a 'drag' than a benefit.
>
> RT
RT, you sweet talker, you :-)
Cheers,
Elliott
