> And far to often the
>athlete is left holding the bag. Perfect example was Maurice this past
>weekend. I am sitting in the stands about to watch the first round, and a
>fan turns to me and ask why is he only running one round. As I began to
>explain 5 other fans turned to hear my explanation. USATF should have made
>it clear about the rule change and that Maurice was fulfilling his
>requirement.
If Maurice was left holding the bag in this instance, it's only because he
grabbed hold of it with both hands. It's admirable that he fulfilled his
commitment by running at least one round, but he shot himself in the foot by
running ONLY one round. Fans (and I'm sure the network too) wanted to see
him in the final. That's why some fans were annoyed and he was criticized
in the press.
I thought Maurice was being rather disingenuous in his interview on TV when
he kept saying that he ran only one round because of USATF rules, as though
they had somehow forced him to stop competing after the first round, and
that's why the fans weren't seeing him compete more. When actually the
truth is, without the USATF rule, the fans wouldn't have seen him compete at
all. He would have taken his WC bye and sat out the meet. (Did you explain
THAT to those five fans who turned around?) How is having the defending
World Champion sit out the national meet any good for the sport?
Don't get me wrong - I think Maurice Greene is a great guy, an amazing
athlete, terrific with the fans, and wonderful for the sport. But let's
call it the way it actually is when it comes to these USATF rules.
Kurt Bray
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