Vick-tory for whom?
Tuesday 21 August, 2007

Bryan Burwell, St Louis Post Dispatch, Take a BOW!

All the breathless debates about Michael Vick are missing the point. The bigger issue has nothing to do with whether or not he deserves the right of due process, or whether NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell should suspend him, or whether Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank should enable him or give him tough love. It’s not even about whether or not Nike should be launching another designer shoe with his name on it.

All of those are minor distractions from a much larger and far more significant issue. Here’s the real brainteaser that we need to get a handle on:

How did someone like Michael Vick ever come to exist?

Are we really ready to have that conversation? Do we dare explore how a young man of such unique athletic gifts and such obvious on-field marketing appeal was allowed to turn into just another unfortunate mug shot and potential ruined life? How did that remarkable athlete get a $100 million contract with the Falcons, become Nike’s poster boy, rake in endorsements
from airlines and cell phone companies, then find himself on the verge of blowing it all because of an incredible tale that seems to come straight out of some hardcore gangsta rap video?

We can save the "presumption of innocence" conversation for another time. As improbable as it might sound, technically, there’s a possibility that Vick actually could own a house, rent it out to his relatives and be dumb or naive enough to not know that there was a dog-fighting enterprise going on in the back yard. The U.S. Constitution provides Vick with the right a n d opportunity to prove that preposterous possibility to a jury of his peers.

I am far more interested in how it all came apart for Vick and why it keeps coming apart for too many black athletes in America. The ultimate symbols of black athletes in our society used to be men of substance and positive image. Men with social conscience and resolve such as Jackie Robinson, Curt
Flood, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and John Thompson used to be our heroes. They carried a burden and deep-rooted responsibility to portray themselves with a sense of dignity, pride and purpose. Even the cool, counter-culture
rebels such as Muhammad Ali and Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood for something more meaningful than a multimillion-dollar shoe deal.

But somewhere between Jackie Robinson and Michael Vick, things got all fouled up. "Street cred" became the anthem of the modern black athlete, this misguided notion that the only way to appeal to the young demographic of the sneaker-buying public was to adopt the negative attitudes of the thug life popularized by black hip-hop/gangster rappers. According to the 18-page federal indictment, Vick is accused of sponsoring the sort of gruesome dogfighting enterprise that is readily identified as a part of the dark side of that culture.

So that’s how someone like Michael Vick came into existence. He got
hijacked, and we all let it happen. We let it happen by passively condoning this mess. We did it when we turned Allen Iverson into a marketing icon and rejected someone like Grant Hill because he lacked "street cred." We allowed it to happen every time we gave Vick the benefit of the doubt when he kept stumbling and offering weak alibis for his stupidity. We allowed it to happen slowly, insidiously over the past 20 years. The problem is the hijacking of African-American culture by the hip-hop generation that has helped glorify every rotten, foul and disgusting racial stereotype it took generations to eradicate.

The minstrels used to show up in black face, shuckin’ and jivin’ like Amos
and Andy or Stepin Fetchit. Now they come in baggy pants sagging over their butts, glamorizing thug life and prison fashion, legitimizing derogatory racial insults into the mainstream, and convincing an entire generation that this is the measure of true blackness and anyone who bucks this system is either a racist, hopelessly out of touch or a sad Uncle Tom.

Fortunately, not everyone is buying into this nonsense. We’re at war, and
we have identified the enemy. "We have to start making sure folks
understand who the ’Toms’ really are," says my man on the other side of the state, Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock. "It’s the gangsters on the corner who are killing black folks. It’s the idiots who are on TV
rapping about it and glorifying it. We have to make black people understand those are the real sellouts, not the ones who refuse to accept it."

I'm in Love...
Tuesday 26 June, 2007

As a former track athlete, I cringe when people dismiss great performances with the dreaded “it must be drugs” tag.   When Justin Gatlin was busted in 2006, I had just 24 hours earlier defended both him and his generation of sprinters for beginning to distance themselves from what I call “The Balco Era”.  Like many other track fans, after the 2004 Olympic 100m Champion was busted, I cashed in my “love-chips” for track and field.  “How can I continue to love something so much that I can never trust?” I asked myself. 

It’s a question we may even ask ourselves at times in things not related to sport.  I love this sport more than most other things in life, but the constant heartbreak, from the “Balco Bunch” to the Olympic Champion – how much could one person take?  Combine that with the “everyone is dirty” evangelists and even a casual fan might tend to think that track and field is a fraud.  Professional Wrestling is a fraud.  Track and Field is legit.  We have some of the most talented humans on the planet competing in our sport – a few of whom try to cut corners.  Don’t believe idiots like the already-convicted Victor Conte, who will open his mouth to say anything that will keep him in the news and erase the fact that he has very limited knowledge of what it takes to run fast – none of his clients in track were that impressive, even when juiced to the max. 

So what made me fall in love with my sport again?  Remembering how much joy it has brought to my life.  If you really love this sport, there are certain things which you have to remain steadfast in.  Program yourself from now.  Track and field is your offspring.  For those of you who have children - you will understand clearly.  Your children will make mistakes, disappoint you, they may even shame the family name - but you love them anyway – and that’s the way unconditional love is supposed to be.  You hurt at times, you may feel disappointment - and then the love continues.

At its core, this is an extraordinary sport - this thing called track and field - a joy to behold and a joy to partake in – if you doubt that, come sit with me at the Penn Relays or Zurich or another major track and field meet.  Chances are you’ll be convinced then.  With apologies to wrestling, we are the first Olympic sport, and it’s about time we treated it as such.  Let’s close ranks.  Don’t allow those who don’t know anything about the sport like Jim Rome to bash or disrespect our sport and let’s not, from within, flippantly cast aspersions on those who excel.  I remember a certain retired athlete who had disparaging words for my performances when I first came on the scene (after failing miserably at other “careers”, he’s now “returned” to the sport, pretending to have always loved it - as though no-one remembers when the only time he would be on television would be to ridicule the very sport that made him famous).  I never want to be in that category – former athletes disparaging current athletes.  It’s not a good look.

None of us would be at an NBA basketball game and see a young, talented kid and automatically think that they were cheating – we’d just think that they were better, or more talented  – and sometimes that’s the case in track and field.  Will some people cheat and fail drug tests in this sport?  No doubt, no more than athletes may cheat in other sports, or corporate executives will embezzle, or politicians will be bought off and corrupted – it will not kill our sport and track and field will survive if we are firm in our support for the sport we love.  The cynics will say that the cheaters will always be “one step ahead”.  Track athletes of all people should know that “a step” can be made up quickly!  Dwain Chambers of the U.K. made such a statement recently.  Ask him how long it took for him to get busted.  Ask him how many Olympic Games he will ever be allowed to participate in, for the remainder of his lifetime.   Look at what this sport has survived thus far, and it’s still here.

Here are a few of my reasons for being excited about my sport:

The 200m dash: The forgotten bastard step-child of the 100m is actually more than twice the distance now, it’s twice the event.  What caused it?  Well, the initial reason is a 200m race in Lausanne in 2006, won by then 20 year-old college student Xavier Carter - in 19.63 seconds.  Let’s just call that race floodgate, because since that race we have been awash in mind-numbingly fast 200m times.  Following Lausanne 2006, there have been 4 new entrants into the “19.70 seconds or better 200m” club – a club which had no members in 1995 and 2 members in 1997 (Michael Johnson and Frankie Fredericks),  now boasts six entrants in 2007 – Michael Johnson (19.32), Xavier Carter (19.63) Wallace Spearmon (19.65), Frankie Fredericks (19.68), Tyson Gay (19.68) and Walter Dix (19.69). How good is the 200m right now?  The USA will leave a 19.6 200m runner at home in 2007 - since only 3 of the current 4 of that group entered for the trials can make the U.S. team.  As someone who has always loved the 200m more than the more popular 100m, it’s heaven for me – the only possible way it could be better is if I was actually around still to be in the mix with these talented young men. 

Walter Dix:  Two years ago, when I first saw him, I thought “decent sprinter, awful starter, so-so form, great finish – he’ll do ok – maybe even have an ok pro career if he so chooses.”   This year, after my NCAA broadcast duties on the penultimate day of competition, and after he scared the u-know-what out of me with his near-miss 9.93 of my NCAA 100m meet record, I stayed up late to do some in-depth research on the young man - and then came to a conclusion – he is probably the greatest college sprinter, ever.  That conclusion might spark debate about some of his predecessors who could stake such a claim – it would likely involve discussion about titles, times, eras and competition. I’ll end most of that debate with a few facts.  Dix won the 100m at the NCAA Championships twice in a 3 year span, and he was second last year (and if he stays at  Florida State, it would almost certainly be three 100m wins out of four collegiate years).  He also has won back to back 200m NCAA titles during the last two years.  Wins at 100m, 200m and 4x100m this year make him the first sprinter in over 30 years to have accomplished that treble, and that’s before you realize how few sprinters have won both the 100m and 200m at the same NCAAs, in history.  He did that, easily, in 2007, and almost did it in 2006 as well – as a sophomore.  Here’s the nail in the “debate coffin”.  19.69 for 200m and 9.93 for 100m – so far – as a junior.  I suspect the collegiate 100m record of 9.90 is all but gone this coming week, when Dix hits that lightning fast track at Indy – he would be the first sprinter to have both the 100 and 200m collegiate records in decades.  End of discussion.  Dix is the best I’ve seen.

Alan Webb, Chris Solinsky and Craig Mottram: I won’t pretend to have in-depth knowledge of the distances, but I know who I enjoy watching - and listening to after.  I root for Alan Webb because I know how long the list is of prodigies who don’t pan out on the men’s side, and he has had his ups and downs since leaving university to turn pro.  He is usually the best interview at any track meet, and he is the first athlete that I enjoy watching run a mile so much that I would have traded my “sub-ten” ability for some “sub-four” ability.  His win over Lagat at the Reebok GP in New York was one of the most enjoyable races I have seen in a long time.  Chris Solinsky is another high school prodigy who has just finished up a great career at the University of Wisconsin littered with NCAA champion and All=American honors, indoors, outdoors and in cross-country.  He appears to be headed to a phenomenal professional career.  Australian star Craig Mottram, to me, is Steve Prefontaine, reincarnated.  He runs the way I would have wanted to run if I had been a distance runner and not a sprinter.  I can only dream.

Allyson Felix:  Who doesn’t like Allyson? She looks 16, runs like she is 30, can run 3 sprint events on a world class level and blew my “high school prodigies never become great” theory to smithereens – and she is barely 21.  Miss Felix may walk softly, but she carries a big stick of talent.  She is poised this year to break 11, 22 and 50 seconds for the 100m , 200m and 400m – and the only person I can think of who’s done that is Marie Jose Perec – she of the 3 Olympic Gold medals.  Good company to be in.  Seeing her in her white Mercedes convertible around Los Angeles tells me that Miss Felix is enjoying life as a track star, and she should.  The future is already here for this 200m world champion and Olympic silver medalist, and she is the female sprinter I expect the most from in the next five to ten years.  She is that good.  I just wish she would be more animated for interviews, because she could be one of the biggest female sport stars in the world, period, given her unique story of high school star to one of the world’s fastest females in 3 events.

Tyson Gay vs. Asafa Powell: When Justin Gatlin was suspended, everyone thought Asafa would dominate for years, and that could still happen, but I’m no longer willing to bet my house on that.  I expect Tyson Gay to give track fans what we haven’t had since Gatlin – a legitimate Asafa Powell 100m opponent.  Gay is faster at 200m and has better speed endurance, but Asafa kills you from the gun, and dares you to pass him with his acceleration.   Gay has done well to improve his start and appears ready to run even below his 9.84 and 19.68 PRs this year, as evidenced by his two magnificent windy 9.7 100m races and an easy early-season sub 20 in Kingston, Jamaica.  It would not surprise me, at all, if the 9.77 100m world record was broken in Indianapolis by Tyson Gay.  A text message to my cell-phone indicating that Gay ran 9.68 for 100m in practice this week might have something to do with that prediction, as well.  No matter who you root for in this rivalry, the outcome is likely to be fast times, world records and legendary races.  I just pray they both remain healthy all year.  We deserve it.

We have much to look forward to as track fans, and I choose to focus on the many great things about our sport, as opposed to the few negative things. You should, too.  The life of our sport depends on it.

    

WORLD CUP blog
Tuesday 27 June, 2006

The best and worst of my World Cup trip to Germany:

First, the best

1. Ghana,despite being eliminated by Brazil in the 2nd round, proved very worthy, beating the USA, and out-playing Brazil (I think) in that round of 16 game.  They just didn’t finish against Brazil and it cost them.  They made a fan out of me.  They play a nice brand of football.  Definitely one of the fittest teams in the tournament, and the fastest by a mile.  Fun to watch, especially for a first time showing, They did for Ghana what our team did forTrinidad and Tobago football.

2.  Germany is to be commended for a fantastic job of hosting the CUP.  Security was good, the weather was fantastic and it was just a great job of hosting a tournament which is difficult to host.  Add to that the wide open freeways with me going up to 260km/h in our Audi and, it was the best memory of Germany I have had since, probably my 19.77 PR in 1997.

3.  Bruce Arena.  Yes, this goes under BEST because after this pompous ass talked about who were the worst teams in the tournament, who would lose and by how much, the "mighty" USA went out in round one, kicked out by Ghana who had all of zero prior world cup experience.  And accept responsibility for what he failed to do? No, he blamed players and everyone else but the man in charge - HIMSELF.  Good to see him have to shut up and go home - early. Good luck with keeping your job, BRUCIE.

4. The SOCA WARRIORS.  Trinidad and Tobago were supposed to be the joke of the tournament, the team all the experts said would just be happy to be there and too busy partying to actually do anything.  Well, we started by holding much-higher-ranked-Sweden to a draw, and then holding England scoreless for almost the entire game, and though we were evertually out in round 1, it was far from a shameful exit. TnT football won many fans, and shut up many of the experts including those from Europe (the UK).

5. English Fans - As much as they have earned their reputations for being hooligans, they could not have been nicer, in Germany, to TnT fans.  Maybe it was the fact that they were scared to death after being shut out and even close to being behind after 83 minutes, but as much as I was looking for them to be ungraceful in victory, it was not to be.  They made a good impression on me, I am sure many would agree.

6. Zinedine Zidane, and Dwight Yorke, of France and Trinidad and Tobago, both first class players, at the end of their careers, both in their last WORLD CUP. Yorke lead his team to a decent and historic first appearance ever at this level, and Zidane lead his team to the quarter finals (as of this writing) past Spain in one of the best games of the CUP so far.  Zidane, a fellow adidas athlete, has always been a pleasure to be around.  (You can see his atoboldon.com greeting on the home page)

THE WORST:

1.  World Cup referees.  Someone told these guys that it was about them. It’s not.  Too many yellow cards, too many red cards as a result, and just too much awful game calling - especially missed 'offsides' calls.  The referees and FIFA have to get it sorted out next time in 2010.  This is the only time some people watch football.  Act like it. Let them play, and stop with the ridiculous calls and cards for everything from time wasting to "flopping" in the box.  Luckily, not even that could ruin this great world cup.

2.  Some Trinis’ attitudes.  I hope, in my lifetime, to see something good happen to the country, or in the country, and people just enjoy it without ruining it with "what ifs" and "it should have or could have been better with this or that".  Leo Beenhakker took this team from one point in qualifying when he joined, to the WORLD CUP FINALS, and then took us to the brink of the 2nd round, in our first ever appearance, in a group with 3 good teams.  Do I think Latapy should have played more in Germany?  Absolutely.  Do I think Leo got out-coached by England in the second half? Yes.  But I also know that you have to take the good with the bad with a coach's decisions.  The man worked wonders to do many things, including getting us there - so it’s not fair to then turn around and talk badly about his coaching if you disagree with a decision he makes based on HIS experience.  Last I checked, no-one with a TnT passport has his experience at that level.  As I used to say with track - if everyone knows so much, how come no-one stepped up to do it prior to him.  Enjoy a great national moment, and stop with the complaining already.  Sheesh.  We did very well, and better than most including most of TnT, expected.

3.  Spain.  Nothing gave me more pleasure than to see them and their coach exit stage left, trounced by my once-favorite team - France 3-1 in round 2.  Their coach was caught on camera exhorting one of his players by referring to France’s Thierry Henry, (another of my favorite French players) as a black piece of sh*t.  Nice.  He then refused to apologize to Henry recently.  Nicer.  Hey, Luis Aragones, BE GONE!  Take yourself and that sorry, never-making-a-World-Cup-impact team, and think about how to act like you are in the year 2006.  Karma is a u know what.  Adios, Espana. Racism in football has to be stamped out.  Spain, the world is watching.

4. Eric Wynalda.  This ESPN "analyst" opened his mouth to put his foot in it, sideways.  After England scored against Trinidad and Tobago by pulling a defender's long hair and spinning him around, this genius said "well, I guess you don’t show up to the World Cup with dreads." Really, Eric?  Dreads are a no-no in the WORLD CUP?  Like who? Ruud Guillit, one of the greatest players in the WC?  This is typical of why everyone hates US broadcasts of big events - it is always given from some US-centric view.  In the rest of the world, Eric, dreadlocks are pretty prevalent, even in BLACK communities in your US of A, too.  Think of dreads as long-hair for black guys, Eric - it's ok. Blame Peter Crouch for being a sly cheat, not the person whose hair he yanks!  I know a former USA teammate of yours, Eric - a good friend of mine from UCLA, in fact, who played in the world cup and who has dreads!  COBI JONES come to mind, Eric?  What a fool.  The only reason I don’t think even less of you is that you were honest enough to call the US’ piss-poor performance for what it was, and to call out Bruce Arena for not accepting blame and pushing his players 'under the bus'.  ESPN, lose Wynalda.  He is usually wrong and when he is not, he is annoying.  And do you have to say every time you come back to studio that he has the most goals for the US?  I know I am not the only one who thinks that.  It got old, and quick.

5.  The PNM (the party in power in Trinidad for you non-Trinis) - "the football/sport lovers/supporters/champions".  PUHLEASE!  As glad as I am to see the team get their much-deserved rewards, this whole "PNM loves football" song and dance is a joke.  The Minister of Sports, poor guy, has ZERO clout in his own party, and everyone (on both sides) knows it.  Manning, our beloved "father of the nation" prime minister, now is trying to seem like the "sports prime minister". It makes me sick.  This administration has never supported sports properly (ask Hasely Crawford or anyone who ever represented this country with their blood, sweat and tears on a sports field) so to act as though sports has their full backing now that the Warriors have done well brings back too many bad memories for me.  SUPPORT before the glory! Oh, and Dwight, don’t hold your breath with that "Ambassador of Sports" joke of a title they gave you.  It's just that - a title.  I asked The Honourable Minister Boynes for years what could we do with my sports ambassador title, to please use me in some way, and he did nothing.  He will continue to do nothing, so do like I did.  Smile, be grateful, and know it’s all B.S.  They will go right back to their inept ways ASAP.  See how they did poor Silvio Spann?  Or the support staff?  That is their legacy - 'oversights' and 'oops-es'.  Mark my words.  Danny Montano said a while back he has never seen "someone run to jump on a sinking ship" after my appointment.  Well, Danny, I see it differently! - it’s an attempt to go ANYWHERE ELSE but with a group of inept "yes-men" led by a wanna-be-dictator who, despite 32 billion spent for this year alone, is yet to effectively deal with issues that affect those that put him there - health care, crime, roads - the list is too long.  Oh, and Mr. Manning, making the Ato Boldon stadium the new "home of football", while moving track to Marabella was a brilliant move.  You should be so proud.

What I learned.
Sunday 8 January, 2006

The year 2005 ended with an upgrade and addition to my career medal tally, with the disqualification of Mr Montgomery from the 2001 world champs, which was great, but at this point it could have been 4 gold medals, and I couldn’t care less - that part of my life is over.  It gives me an even four Olympic and four ’Worlds’ medals, and for someone who likes things neat, that is the best part.

When you go fom 15 to 16 it’s a big step.  When you go from 20 to 21 you really feel like a big step has been made.  30 to 31 and 31 to 32 are just mundane, or at least they should be.  They are probably the years I have learnt the most, though. 

My marriage ended, with little fanfare, I have since moved and I have also changed careers.  I don’t have to tell you that 2005 was a strange year, but it ended up being one of my best years.  Why? Because as I grow older I realize what is truly important.  When you are a pro athlete and making a ton of money and you have several big houses all over the world you think that is what makes you happy.  I certainly did.   Throughout my life, when I sat with royalty or heads of state or did something unprecedented I always stopped to pinch myself, and say "Not bad from a little skinny kid from the back of Trinidad". 

In 2005, I realized what makes me happy has nothing to do with money or fame or possessions.  That is a statement more pro athletes in their prime will make as their ability fades, I suspect, but when you wake up every day more talented that 99.9999% of the worlds population to do a certain thing it is hard to not get obsessive about it, I suppose.  I am borderline obsessive compulsive anyhow.

2005, therefore, was the first year since I was 16 where I was not training to be the best as a runner.  Then, some things became apparent to me.  "World class track athlete" was fine, but I have much else I want to really accomplish.  I wil be the first to admit that if track was my first love, I found my second.  The "Making a Difference" Project that I am a part of in Trinidad was a big eye opener for me.  I know now that I get a thrill and an excitement from talking to kids that I myself was probably never aware of.  I know now that size of house, bank account or anything else pales in comparison to true happiness.  Of course it does you may say!  Well I KNEW that but please understand that because I have had so much so early in life I always assumed I was happy BECAUSE of all my success in track, for the most part.  Now that I don’t have a world ranking I have found other things to challenge me.  I mentioned the kids, but I also have to thank CBS for giving me my first shot in the US on camera.  CNC  in Trinidad let me do whatever I wanted with my BAHRAIN football show and that was a hit, and of course I no longer am into cars the way I used to be - cuz I am into airplanes now.

My prayer would be for health and happiness for my family and friends for 2006 and beyond, and if I deserve it, that God would allow me to fly weekly, talk to kids daily and have a great career in whatever field in front of the camera he has ready for me. I have a movie to do in 2006 and more broadcasting. 

I am happy because so much of the pressure of track perfection has been lifted, and because I realize that so little of my happiness was really ever tied to anything material.  I just thought it was.

Not bad for a skinny kid from the back of Trinidad. 

 

Good Riddance
Wednesday 19 October, 2005

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/conte-irs-interview-memo.pdf

2005 has been a difficult year for many.  With the third ’Category 5’ storm now headed to the United States in as many months, I will not elaborate on my point about how important sports is in society and therefore how awful it is that sports have been so degraded by cheats at its highest levels.

Now that the ego-maniac Conte has gotten all of four months jail time and made the US prosecutors look like fools, it’s time to move past this sad chapter in our sport and focus on the young, talented athletes the U.S. and other countries continue to produce, who will hopefuly make better choices than my generation of atheltes have, in some cases.

I apologize for the blemish that so many athletes of my generation have left on the various sports that produced greats such as Hank Aaron, Tommie Smith, Jim Brown Wilma Rudolph and so many other athletes who attained greatness and never needed a syringe or a pill to do so.

I believe this document, to which I have posted a link, to be accurate.  As such, I have to come out on the side of truth and say that I believe those who are named in this document as drug users to be exactly that, despite their protests or feigned innocence.  They all knew what they were doing, and despite the "I have never and would never"; "I was unaware of exactly what was being administered" and "Everyone was doing it so I had to in order to compete" protests, they are all just a cover up for athletes who made the wrong choice, some of whom ultimately paid for it with their careers and reputations. 

My sympathies go to the athletes who didn’t choose such a route and lost to their juiced competitors, or were forced out of the sport, directly or indirectly, by them.  May their names and reputations be forever tarnished and may history record that their performances were but drug-fueled apparitions.

Do not email me to ask what I mean.  If a name is on that document as having received drugs from one V. Conte,  I believe that person to be a drug-cheat.

Period.  End of story.

The wake-up call to the USA
Friday 2 September, 2005

I have watched with the rest of the world in horror, not just at the effects of the hurricane known now as the U.S’s most devastating, Katrina, but the response of the powers-that-be to the plight of so many who have been displaced and devastated.   I would like to think that I have always had a clear view of this country because I have lived here for a long time, but yet I was not born here so I have been able to remain quite objective.  I think this is a new low in this country.  In the year 2005, for that many people to be suffering, dying from dehydration, in this, arguably the "greatest country in the world" - this is a huge wake-up call to all citizens and in particular to citizens of color.  Why give more power (under national security guises) when the government treats its most needy citizens like this?  It is absolutely and totally horrific how this has been handled.  It is the worst thing I have ever seen in the US in my lifetime, and it has been hadled worse than anything I have ever witnessed.  A stain forever on the conscience of this country.  Usually when I am upset I can write clearly, but this time is the exception.  I’ll let Michael Moore speak for me.  The right wing likes to make Michael Moore out to be a crazy person.  Well, "crazy" is the only way you would be described if you laid out this scene happening in the USA to someone, before it happened.  What is "crazy" is dead people lying by the dozens on the streets of New Orleans, babies and adults dying for the lack of water to drink, and people in the USA forced to live as though they were in some remote corner of the 3rd world.  Crazy indeed. 

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It’s Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina
and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted.
Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do
you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot.
Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could
really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do
like helping with national disasters. How come they weren’t there to
begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of
Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but
it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were
still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was
on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I
know you didn’t want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don’t
like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of
dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to
Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps.
Don’t let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was
over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don’t listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you
specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers’ budget for New Orleans
this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if
you hadn’t cut the money to fix those levees, there weren’t going to be
any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more
important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was
moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as
you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the
disaster. Hey, I know you couldn’t stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on
some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to
use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out.
Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would
happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and
hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their
global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a
hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that
stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It’s not your fault that 30
percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no
transportation to get out of town. C’mon, they’re black! I mean, it’s
not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white
people on their roofs for five days? Don’t make me laugh! Race has
nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army
helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and
the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,

Michael Moore

Don't Hate, Congratulate!
Thursday 11 August, 2005

In 2000, immediately preceding the Olympic 200m final, the highly touted John Capel, of the USA, (who is now in HSI) had tried to intimidate everyone of his competitors. He trash-talked his way all through the warm-up area, then all through the tunnel on the way to the track.  He just KNEW that he had everyone beat. He probably did, that night, the way he had looked through the rounds.  He then promptly flinched in the blocks, the gun shot as he rocked back, and he was left behind - he came in dead last. 

The USA broadcasters were in shock. GASP! How could such a huge (and American) favorite finish dead last?  Jim Gray of NBC came over to me, on the air live back to the USA, and asked me what I thought had gone wrong with Capel. 

Right. 

 As though I was going to waste my air-time talking about what Capel had NOT done, when I had just become the only male athlete to win medals in both the 100 and 200 at those Olympic Games.

"Jim, this is the Olympics.  You can write a book about all the people who came here, and something went wrong." End of story.  Things go wrong.  No-one cares.  Run fast, turn left if necessary. Win, if not, Medal.

This year, Asafa Powell broke the 100m dash world record.  I wrote a blog praising his efforts even before he broke it, when he ran 9.84 to break my Caribbean and Central American Record earlier in the year.  Anyone could see a WR performance from him was coming.  As a former Caribbean sprinter, it is hard for me to not root for Asafa, because I think he is the future of Caribbean sprinting.  Still do.  Some folks, though, are making it difficult for me to do so in the way I would like to.

Justin Gatlin is THE MAN. 

Asafa is not.

Not yet.  Bolt is not. Not yet. Spearmon is not. Not yet.  Maurice Greene is not.

Not anymore. 

I was taken aback when I saw the response of the Powell camp in Helsinki, after Gatlin’s win in the 100m.  Asafa can say what he wants (and did) because he is still a warrior, and of course he has to think in his mind that Gatlin would have lost to him had they lined up in that final.  We will never KNOW.  Neither will he.

Then, though, comes what I think was a disrespectful comment from his coach to the effect of "Gatlin knows what is coming next year and he knows who is the man now." 

Really?  Let me tell you what Gatlin “knows.” 

Gatlin “knows” 100m OLYMPIC Gold last year, against the best field ever, and 100/200 World Championship gold this year.  Oh yes, and he is only the second ever to do that at Worlds.  Gatlin knows he beat Asafa at Pre this year(the only time they raced) when everyone (but Maurice) that mattered at the time was there.  Gatlin “knows” that regardless of what was wrong with Asafa in that race at Pre, he lined up to run – and lost.  The “but he was easing in, checking his stuff out at Pre” thing is old now, and pointless.  Gatlin “knows” Asafa does not have one major medal to speak of.  It doesn’t mean he doesn’t respect the man’s talent.  It means Gatlin “knows” he has done all he can to be the MAN today. 

The Jamaican fans have to lay off a bit now.  The match is over for now, really until 2007.  No more “what-ifs” and “could-have-beens” discussions, and it was in very poor taste (a sentiment echoed by my friend Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated) for the Powell camp to NOT give Gatlin his due, no matter what the circumstances.  It doesn’t look good and it’s poor sportsmanship, particularly when Duncan McKay of the Daily Telegraph has just praised this NEW crop of sprinters as being so nice and polite (unlike those bastards Greene, Boldon et al who talked and postured so much).

I also think Usain Bolt is a phenomenal talent, but everyone knows my theory in here about prodigies.  Most of them never pan out.  He may prove me dead wrong, but so far I am 2-0.  This year, my memories of Bolt will be him preening and carrying on in Jamaica after his big win there, early in the year (no problem with that, I did a lot of it myself) and then showboating in New York (hey, beat him if you don’t like it!) but then, for the second straight year, when it matters the most and everyone is watching, another "ok-so-what-happened-to-him(again)" 200m performance in the World Championship final. Dead last, supposedly due to a cramp.  Before you say “oh but he was in lane 1,” well, he is the one who got that lane because of poor running in the rounds.  So - that’s 2 years in a row now of lots of show and no prove by Bolt at the senior level. At all.

Here is how it stands now. 

I am sure Asafa will come back and be ready to run 9.70 next year.  Maybe Bolt moves up to 400m and runs 43.9 next year. Maybe Bolt even runs 19.6 next year.  Doesn’t matter much.  If both of them stopped running tomorrow they would be forgotten quicker than they think.  Ask Calvin Smith, himself a former WR holder.  This sport is about durability, longevity, medals, and, of course, championships.  You earn your stripes by performing when everyone is watching. Not in your hometown, not when it’s all comfortable, not when you are feeling great.  WHEN IT COUNTS!

That is why people run.  That is what fans remember.  That is what your peers respect.

In other words, until you have done one or more of those, don’t pretend that you are owed something, and be disrespectful in the meantime to those who have already done so. 

The Jamaican fans should be very proud of Asafa’s 100m world record.  I am too.  They should NOT think that is the measure of who is the greatest sprinter on earth right now.  That is not up for debate as of today.  The MAN is the one who has 3 golds in the last 4 championship races he has run at 100m AND 200m in the space of 12 months. 

GATLIN.

I like Powell more than I like Gatlin as a sprinter, but you don’t get to change the rules when your side isn’t winning.

So far, no Jamaican "star" has WON anything!

Act accordingly.

 

Not with a BANG, but a WHIMPER
Wednesday 20 July, 2005

To say that I am disappointed by what has taken place in the BALCO case last week would be an understatement.  To recap, Mr. Victor Conte agreed to plead guilty to distributing steroids to countless athletes in several sports.  His punishment?  A whole four months in jail.  What a joke.  Typical of the grandstanding and BS that happens publicly in sports, particularly in this country.

Despite the efforts of people like Don Caitlin of the UCLA lab that discovered THG, who has a genuine interest in cleaning things up and has dedicated his life to it, most wish people like me and others would just be silent and let things go on as they have been. They’ll make a great speech and act like they are truly concerned, but at the end of the day just keep the wheels turning and they are content.

Let’s just be honest now. The government got their tails handed to them on this one.  This man supplied controlled substances to athletes in several sports, continues to have an "oh well, they all do it" attitude about it, got his 15 minutes of fame because of it, and probably REALLY thinks he is a genius now to have gotten away with this sort of sentence.

Victor Conte has his own issues to deal with both here and now and in the hereafter, but the bigger issue is that this was the biggest sports scandal ever in history, and the man at the center of it got 4 months of incarceration when it was all said and done. 

Who prosecuted this case? Mo, Curly and Larry?

That’s it? 4 MONTHS!???

After the idiot-of-a-president BUSH used the word "steroids" in a state-of-the-union speech for the first time in American history?

After all that grand jury testimony by all of those athletes?  

And speaking of athletes, is it possible you could have forced him somehow to conclusively reveal all who he supplied to?  Maybe have him expose some other cheats out there?  Maybe? Oh, they just get off scot free...great...

After dragging the sports of baseball and track and football through the mud for countless months (and those who are clean along for the ride)? 

After everyone who has ever done anything athletically superior in any sport had to answer to even their own damn friends as to whether they ever used something illegal? 

Surely this can’t be really happening.  Surely a message would have been sent to the next potential Victor Conte that if you supply illegal drugs to pro athltes you will pay a most hefty price.  Nope.  4 months.  The athletes caught on his drugs are doing years in suspensions, some even their whole careers.  You tell me where is the justice in that?   

This week, CAS (The Court of Arbitration for Sport) will decide if the US Olympic gold medal in the 4x400m, won in SYDNEY, should be taken away, since Jerome Young ran in the heats for the US and was found to be tainted during that time.  While I sympathize with those who were on that team and ran their hearts out, and earned their medal, the reality is that this is a TEAM medal - and has to be returned, otherwise don’t waste mine and everyone else’s time with the Olympic Oath and speeches and B.S. every single Olympic Opening Ceremonies....the reality is that this case is about the ideals of sport, and no athlete, dirty OR clean, is above those.  

Since Conte has gotten off, and the US government, who wasted our attention, our money and our time on even paying attention to what has now turned into a huge joke, here’s my suggestion for some make up work, to the powers that be.  No U.S. help on this one, please!

Tim Montgomery has admitted under oath to the San Francisco grand jury that he used substances from Conte.  None of his marks have been stricken and his Worlds ’01 results remain to this day, two of which involve both myself and my countrymen, some of whom were as young as 17 when they ran against him in the 4 x 1000m relay in Edmonton 2001.

Let’s make a step in the right direction in track and field for a change.  There is a great new generation of athletes blossoming in the sport - Allyson Felix, Justin Gatlin, Kerron Clement, Darrel Brown, Sanya Richards.  Send a message early in their careers that all cheaters will pay harsh penalties. 

Why?  Because some of the new generation will have noticed that Conte got off easily, and that, my friends, sets the wheels a-turning in the minds of  the next one who is going to think about cutting corners with the next svengali that approaches him, or her.   No athlete had to go find Conte.  He found them.  DEALERS find users.

Your move.

Don't Try This at Home
Thursday 23 June, 2005

Sprinting is unlike most other jobs. 

If someone asks, and you say you are an accountant, they don’t then say "I can do accounting better than u -let’s see."  Invariably, as I travelled the globe, when people found out what I did for a living, the response was the same - "let’s race!"  I am sure wide receivers, basketball players and Lance Armstrong didn’t go through any of that.  For some reason, people just know that they are nowhere in Lance’s league or they can’t cover Terrell Owens one on one.  No, you can’t stop SHAQ, he will probably leave you brain dead.  Not sprinters though.  Everyone wants to race you.  I think, though, that what they really wanted to see was how close they could get.    I never did it but it would never have been close.  At all.

The reason people want to race is not just to measure themselves but also because, when done right, sprinting looks like the easiest thing on earth.  Start, rise up, run all out, finish, pose if u win.  Anyone can do that.  Sure they can.   I can play center for the Lakers, too.  How well - is another story.

For years I flew with my uncle Leroi in San Jose, CA as a kid on summer vacation.  I took it for granted. I thought everyone got to fly Piper Turbo Arrows when they were 10.  I knew I wanted to learn to fly myself when I became an adult, and put it off simply because track got in the way.  Then, after retiring last year, I took it up, mainly because I saw this white woman on the (now-defunct) Discovery Wings channel, doing it in this weekly series called "Learn to Fly" and figured I could too, cause her progress seemed really good even though she was AWFUL when she started.

I went into the training as I do with everything else, including my recent broadcasting gig. Learn/read/ask everything you can and don’t think it is going to be easy because it LOOKED like it.  Flying is not hard, but it is far from easy simply because there are a million rules and new skills to learn all the time.  After much delay in my training (I started DEC ’04) because of travel to Trinidad and CBS stuff I finally did my solo flight today.  It was kind of a let-down to be honest.

Solo flight is the last phase before you get your licence, and it basicallly means u get to fly the plane on your own, no instructor aboard.  I made 3 solo takeoffs and landings today with little fanfare, but I suspect that because of all those years of dealing with real adrenaline from track, I am kind of numb.  I thought it would be the most exciting thing I have ever done, or close.  Not quite, not yet.

Maybe when I get to the next phase where I will fly solo to Santa Barbara Municipal airport (that’s going to involve navigation, fuel planning and a little ocean over-flying) I will get much more excited.

The most exciting thing that happened today was on my first climb-out after takeoff.  I was being MR COOL - nothing could phase me, because I have already done 171 landings already. 

Then the engine backfired.  Loudly.

Just in that moment, I got that feeling I last got when the starter calls you to your marks in the Olympic Games 100m final - and I remembered part of the reason I wanted to learn to fly - the adrenaline rush.  It was perfectly normal for the engine to do that, and this plane is quite new, but your brain doesnt care in that instant. 

So, for all of you who sit at home and think "I could do that!" whether it’s singing on American Idol, acting in a movie, running, or even another sport, by all means, try it and see - you may be right, but NEVER assume that it’s easy because it looks easy.  That’s why professionals are called by that name. 

THEY MAKE it look EASY!

Finally, one that lives up to the hype!
Monday 13 June, 2005

In sports today, exaggerations are aplenty. Every young athlete is proclaimed to be the next somebody else - the next Carl Lewis, the next ‘Tiger’, the next ‘Jordan’. None of them ever are. I was fortunate enough, this past weekend, to witness, in person, the exploits of the next Kerron Clement, already the greatest hurdler this country has ever produced.

The name may already be familiar to you, since he garnered worldwide headlines when he broke Michael Johnson’s indoor 400m world-record, earlier this year. He was born in Trinidad, but has chosen, just recently, to represent the United States. Many local track fans were not happy about his decision, but it is HIS decision. The truth be told, it should not matter. We should be immensely proud of what this country of just over a million people has produced, once again, no matter what passport he happens to currently hold.

By the time this young man’s career is over, I believe he will be regarded as the best athlete born in Trinidad and Tobago, ever. That’s not a misprint. It is my opinion that he will surpass the exploits of Bailey, Corneal, Crawford, Lara, Wilkes, Yorke and all other nationals who have gone before him.

Consider that this young man, at only nineteen years of age, broke a world record that was set by Michael Johnson, at the peak of his career, in 1996 - the same year he ran 19.32 for a 200m world record. For good measure, Clement broke the NCAA meet record in the 400m hurdles this past weekend, with the fastest time run in the world this year. The time he ran last weekend would have won that event at the Athens Olympics in 2004. His talent is boundless. Even though he is yet to run a race where he has proper technique around the track for all ten hurdles, he continues to run faster, chopping huge amounts off of his ever-improving personal best. The NCAA meet record that he broke was set in 1998 by the USA’s Kevin Young, currently the world-record holder in that event at 46.78, and even though that 46.78 record has stood unchallenged since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, the person that will break it is less than a second away from it now, at 47.56, as a teenager.

My reasons for wishing he had remained a Trinidad and Tobago representative have little to do with track but more to do with the role model he could have been, and still should be, to this country. When you speak to his team-mates and his family, you immediately get the sense that he is world-class both on and off the track. From him you will hear no trash-talk. He is very humble – always looking out for his University of Florida team-mates, and eager to make all around him better every day. His demeanour is not what you might expect from someone who, it could easily be argued, is the planet’s best young athlete. He is what any parent would want their child to be, at nineteen years of age.

What you may not see on the telecast of the NCAA meet is how poorly he ran in his semi-final round, causing whispers from the many coaches, shoe-company representatives and agents trackside that maybe he was not going to win the final, despite being the meet’s biggest favorite. His perennial rival from LSU (Louisiana State University), Bennie Brazell, himself an Olympic finalist last year, ran a blistering time in the other semi-final round, and appeared ready to defeat him in the final. The following day, Clement the boy turned into Clement the man, and ran one of the most memorable races you will ever see in track and field. It simply has to be seen to be believed. When he truly learns this race that he is already so proficient at, the 400m hurdles world record is going to be demolished, not just broken. Clement has decided to forego his two remaining years of college eligibility, and although I am usually against such a move, in his case, it is the only logical step, since he is ‘a man among boys’ at university level. When he turns pro, he will become a millionaire very soon after. Shoe companies salivate at the thought of an athlete that young who can dominate for the next ten to fifteen years, barring serious injury, and they have been circling him for months, waiting for him to give up his amateur status.

I was pleased to be a part of this telecast – my U.S. television debut in my new career - since it will now go down in history as one of the best-ever editions of this meet. Several world best performances and meet records were set by other athletes.

Also featuring at the NCAA meet were many of our local stars such as 2005 Carifta 100m Champion, LSU’s Kelly-Ann Baptiste, who did well to get 4th in the 100 final, in just her first year at this stage. She also made the final at 200m. The University of Houston’s Alicia Cave, as well as University of Auburn athletes Fana Ashby, Damion Barry, and new national 800m record-holder Sherridan Kirk, who set that record en route to a 3rd place finish, are also part of the festivities in Sacramento, California.

When you watch the NCAA Championships this Saturday, you will notice how much ‘Trinidad and Tobago’ is mentioned – further proof that successful and supported athletes (and not $850 million dollars worth of stadia) are very effective in showing off a country’s greatness to the world. CBS made this meet the Kerron Clement show, and he did not disappoint. This is your chance to see him for yourself, now. He is moving fast

The 2005 NCAA Championships will air on CBS at 2:30 PM on Saturday, June 18th.

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