Track and Field Blogs - Mark From Flotrack

I love the sport of Track and Field and it is the best sport on earth. Nothing matches the physical strength and beauty in its purest form like the high school 4x4 at Penn where Long Beach Poly and St. Jago are neck and neck coming down the home stretch with 40,000 people cheering or the unbridled emotion of Darren Brown after he honored his father by breaking four, but the lack of vision and direction the USATF and the leaders have for our sport is depressing. The sport of Track and Field begs like a dog under the table fighting for scraps with spelling bees, darts and billiards for the left overs of poker, X-Games, UFC, football, baseball, basketball and it has gotten so bad that Track has partnered with swimming and gymnastics to solidify our position as a third tier sport. Before I continue I would like to say that the athletes within our sport and the times the Americans are running are getting better and the sport in that sense it is healthy and getting stronger.

The facts are that people have put up road blocks trying to hold the sport down but this will not hold us back. People are scared of what they cannot control and no one can control the community. It is my duty to the community to inform you as to why we did not have interview footage from previous races and we will not have them in the future. Flotrack was not allowed access to post race interviews at the Boston Indoor Games and will not be allowed that same right at the RBK Grand Prix this weekend or at Pre in two weeks because the meet directors did not feel that Flotrack or the community warranted a credential even though last year we were welcomed with opened arms.

There were only 3,508 people at the Adidas Outdoor Classic, which is supposed to be one of the biggest track events in the US. 3,508 people in attendance is no laughing matter. I do not think that adidas Execs were laughing while they sat and watched their event. The only reason the meet was on TV was bc the check that the USATF sent had cleared. The USATF has to pay ESPN, NBC, ESPN2, CBS, or if the USATF is lucky, they work out a deal to cover all productions costs and split the ads for TV stations to even consider putting track on TV. Not only are these TV stations getting paid to cover track, but they are making demands!? Shouldn't it be the other way around? These TV stations could care less about track and field and they only care about the bottom line, but the USATF bows down to them and when I brought up my concern to the USATF we were told we were a "boutique site".

Flotrack is not a "boutique site" and the facts don't lie. We are bigger than USATF.org, IAAF.org, WCSN.com, Sportnet.com and growing everyday. The sport we love is sick but the community working together is the cure. Together we have made huge strides over the last two years, and will continue to push the envelope. Inevitably we will continue to step on some peoples toes, but change is sometimes hard to deal with, and we need change. We cannot stay the course bc if we do, we will at best be fighting under the table for scraps. I believe the sport deserves better and with your help we will continue to fight for our sport. Nothing can hold us back, not the meet directors, the USATF, negativity, nothing! The community will prevail and the sport will be number one.

Track is Back!


Mark


Boston Indoor Games ------- Meet director did not allow
RBK Meet ------- Meet director did not allow
Pre Meet ------- Meet director says NBC will not allow
Oly Trials ------- USOC says no.... but that does not matter bc we will be tailgating doing a live show a block from the track it is going to be a blast. (Correction this is NBC's call)

You cannot keep us down we will fight back and Track will survive!