.
TheETG press & media communications
.
.
–
TheETG Spokesperson is club owner Marshall Burt.
TheETG recognizes that Track & Field is a global sport and that sport media outside the United States cover American athletes and U.S. track meets. For interview purposes TheETG club owner Marshall Burt is developing the ability to verbally communicate [at least to some basic level] in the following languages;
Arabic — Chinese — Japanese — German — French — Spanish
.
TheETG Annual Media Tour.
Track & Field Press & Media persons value in-person opportunities to speak with athletes both in-season and during the off-season. To facilitate that end, TheETG has created an annual media tour. TheETG objective is to provide a press and media availability at common gathering places. Time and location details will be posted on this page about 1 – 2 months prior to each event. TheETG will provide an annual media availability at the following locations;
— annual meetings of the U.S. Track & Field Writers Of America
— Bristol, Connecticut [near ESPN headquarters]
— Stamford, Connecticut [near NBC Sports headquarters]
.
USA Track & Field Board Of Directors
2024 Meeting Schedule
— February 4, Sunday 9am
— March
— October
— December
.
USA Track & Field Annual Meeting
— 2023 [to be announced [Wednesday November 29 – Sunday December 5]
.
.
West Potomac High School, Alexandria Virginia opened in the Fall of 1985, but only in recent years started an Athletic Hall Of Fame. One of the athletes I coached in the mid-1980’s, Gabrielle [Pohlmann] Patterson was inducted October 2021 in their 2nd induction class.
.
In 2023 I submitted 2 nomination forms for the class announced Spring 2023, to be inducted in Fall 2023.
2 of Gabrielle’s fellow mega-stud teammates that I coached, Sara [Burke] Powell and Conan McDonough. They did not get voted into West Potomac’s Athletic Hall Of Fame, but excerpts from their achievement bio are worth posting.
Sara [Burke] Powell, West Potomac class of 1986
Fall Cross-Country
— 1985 Southern United States Championships, finished 22nd.
As a result, was named All-South United States.
This was the championship meet for the southern quarter of the United States
Top 8 advanced to the National Championships, which included West Potomac 2021 Hall Of Fame inductee, Gabrielle (Pohlmann) Patterson who finished 8th.
— 1985 Virginia State Championships, finished 15th in the fastest and deepest field in history. All of the top 15 runners were high school national class distance runners in track and/or cross-country. No fewer than 5 runners ahead of Sara, including the National Champion, all qualified for nationals at the Southern United States Championships a few weeks after this race.
— 1985 Northern Region Championships, finished 12th in what remains today, over 35 years later -the- fastest and deepest field in history. Sara’s time 17:40 remains today, the 4th fastest time ever run by a West Potomac high school athlete on the Burke Lake course used across decades for invitationals, District Championships, and Northern Regional Championship races.
Spring, outdoor Track & Field
— 1986 outdoor Virginia State Championships, competed at 1600m
— 1986 outdoor Northern Regional Championships, finished 6th at 1600m
1986 Fort Hunt & Groveton merged to become West Potomac.
The year prior, 1985 Sara was a junior at Fort Hunt. That year….
— ranked 26th in the United States at 1600m by Track & Field News
— ranked 12th on the East Coast at 1600m by Eastern Track
— 1985 East Coast Championships, finished 6th at 1600m
— 1985 Virginia State Championships finished 6th at 1600m
— 1985 Northern Regional Championships finished 2nd at 1600m with a time that finished the season as the 26th fastest in the United States
“Sara’s performance level attracted top college coaches from around the country [including the powerful programs at Penn State, Texas, Stanford, etc] which contributed to other West Potomac athletes getting recruited in later years.”
“Sara was one of the team captains on the West Potomac cross-country and track teams, a high achiever in the classroom and in sport performance. Set a great example for other athletes on the team, contributing to a culture of high achievement.”
“I coached Sara at Fort Hunt and West Potomac. I believe her performance level as one of the better cross-country and track distance runners in the United States to be deserving of consideration for the West Potomac Hall Of Fame. She stands out as being among the top distance runners, male or female, to ever wear a West Potomac track and cross-country uniform.”
——————————
——————————
Conan McDonough, West Potomac class of 1988
Cross-Country
— 1986 Southern United States Championships, finished 18th
As a result, was named All-South United States.
This was the championship meet for the southern quarter of the United States
Top 8 advanced to the National Championships, which included West Potomac 2021 Hall Of Fame inductee, Gabrielle (Pohlmann) Patterson who finished 7th.
Winter indoor track & field
—– 1986 indoor National Championships, finished top 20 at 3200m
—– 1986 indoor Conan’s fastest time ranked #6 on the East Coast at 3200m by Eastern Track
—– 1986 indoor Virginia State Championships, finished 3rd at 3200m
—– 1986 indoor Northern Regional Championships, finished 3rd at 3200m
Spring outdoor track & field
—– 1986 Virginia State Championships, finished 7th at 1600m
—– 1986 Northern Regional Championships, finished 6th at 1600m
“Conan was a team captain in cross-country and track. He was an outstanding team leader and made a huge contribution to the overall culture of dedication and thinking big. He set an outstanding example for new teammates. He led the West Potomac cross-country team to 3 consecutive Gunston District Championships including a season where he led the team to taking 5 of the first 9 All-Gunston District Team honors.”
“Conan was recruited by college track & cross-country powers Penn State, Texas, Indiana, etc. Chose to remain in the area, leading the team at Mary Washington University. He went on to medical school at VCU School Of Medicine in Richmond. Conan has been a medical doctor for more than 2 decades, and is a board certified Anesthesiologist.”
“I believe Conan’s performance level as one of the better distance runners on the East Coast to be deserving of consideration for the West Potomac Hall Of Fame. He qualified for, and competed in a National Championship track meet.
He was among the top 20 cross-country runners in the southern quarter of the United States Of America. He placed in the top 3 at a Virginia State Championship meet and completed that season having run a time that put him at #6 on the East Coast.”
Approaching halfway of year 17.
Across the last 16 years downloads of TheETG free pdf packets have averaged over 4000 per year, and ranged between 2000 – 11,000.
.
There are 50 free pdf packets on TheETG website in 2 main subject matter groups.
1 —– Self-care in medicine and human psychology
2 —– Applied sport sciences for training of Track & Field distance runners
——————–
.
https://theetgtrackclub.com
.
At this point into 2023, so far more than 1000 downloads of the free ETG pdf packets.
Averaging about 4500 per year across the last 15 years.
.
There are 50 free pdf packets on TheETG website in 2 main subject matter groups.
1 —– Self-care in medicine and human psychology
https://theetgtrackclub.com
2 —– Applied sport sciences for training of Track & Field distance runners
https://theetgtrackclub.com
.
The top 10 packets downloaded in 2023…..
1 — TheETG mind-body medicine
2 — TheETG brain cell overwork, overwhelm
3 — TheETG food
4 — TheETG Info: drug use & drug testing are a sham & a scam
5 — TheETG quadriplegic, paraplegic nerve repair
6 — TheETG track & field promotions project
7 — TheETG mechanisms of aging
8 — TheETG Info: genetics vs training
9 — TheETG exercise program
10 — TheETG cancer repair
——————————
.
As you continue to acquire and apply more information you continue to expand the area of what is possible.
.
Watched the Big Ten Invitational indoor track meet broadcast on TV by the Big Ten Network on January 15, 2022. This is to note that the analysts were absolutely outstanding. Sadly, not something one has often heard from fans of our sport about any TV broadcast of a track meet.
I’m an advocate of competition among the on-air talent that covers our sport for broadcasts inside the United States. Too many years of the exact same people doing all broadcasts no matter what network, has not benefited the quality and depth of TV broadcasts of track meets in America.
In contrast, these folks were exceptional!!!
They showed the massive difference between broadcasters that not only know the sport but do their homework to sufficient degree to know who the athletes are, what their performance was a week ago, a year ago, knowing their personal bests…..then saying it on the air, not keeping it to themselves like its a state secret. They were never reaching for anything, throwing in nonsense about what somebody’s favorite ice cream happens to be. They stayed on message, on topic, on their game. They demonstrated the basic truth of TV coverage of our sport, which is…..don’t seek to make things interesting for “the average viewer”, make the sport interesting for the fan so that the average viewer will find it interesting.
—– Sara Kroll, high school track & cross-country coach in Michigan, former Michigan State runner on their NCAA Champion cross-country team.
—– Declan Murray, Sports Sponsorship & Marketing specialist at JPMorgan Chase. Former NCAA Collegiate All-American at 800m, Loyola University-Chicago.
And for the overall production, the –extensive– use of split screen coverage, an absolute necessity for our sport, added significantly to the quantity of coverage.
I will be attending the October 7/8 sports Hall Of Fame induction ceremony of one of the high school distance runners I coached in the mid to late-1980’s who is also one of the founding ETG club members, Gabrielle [Pohlmann] Paterson. She is a 1987 grad of West Potomac high school, Alexandria Virginia.
Gabi was a 2-time High School All-American in cross-country, placed in the top 10 at 3200m in 2 National Championships in indoor track, and top 5 at the East Coast Championships in outdoor track. Her times ranged between top 10 to top 30 in the nation at 3200m in each indoor and outdoor season from her sophomore thru senior years.
She was All-Conference at University Of Texas in the late 1980’s, and was among the first members of my ETG track club in the early 1990’s prior to leaving Austin for Dallas to attend medical school.
Today Gabi is a very forward thinking board certified practitioner of Internal Medicine in Plano, Texas a suburb of Dallas.
[from the free pdf packet titled “ETG info: Drug use and Drug Testing a sham and a scam” located on the Training Packets page of the TheETG website]
“In the present study, we investigated the effects of the anabolic androgenic steroid nandrolone decanoate administration during a strength exercise program on cell proliferation, apoptotic status and brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression…..”
“…..the present findings suggest that the beneficial effects of strength exercise on hippocampal cell proliferation and apoptotic signaling are impaired by nandrolone decanoate.”
F.Guimarães, et al —–The beneficial effects of strength exercise on hippocampal cell proliferation and apoptotic signaling is impaired by anabolic androgenic steroids —– Psychoneuroendocrinology…..Volume 50….December 2014
——————–
“The evidence that supraphysiological doses of anabolic androgenic steroids cause neurotrophic unbalance……anabolic androgenic steroids abuse in humans may affect mechanisms that lie at the core of neuronal plasticity.”
S.Pieretti, et al —– Brain Nerve Growth Factor Unbalance Induced by Anabolic Androgenic Steroids in Rat —– Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise……Volume 45 #1….January 2013…page 29 – 35
Shelby Houlihan, the American Record holder at 1500m and 5000m.
4 year ban, nandralone.
Typical that its -not- until it happens to an athlete that people like that suddenly one sees a problem with drug testing.
My mantra of the last 30 years…..drug use and drug testing are a sham and a scam.
See the pdf packet that’s been on the training packets page of TheETG website for the last 15 years, the initial/original version of it written about 30 years ago……..
ETG info: drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
More than 50 years of watching televised sports. I’ve rarely turned off the sound as a result of one or more of the commentators doing a horrible job.Sadly, the NCAA track meet this past week, Jill Montgomery’s constant yapping. The perfect example of somebody that’s trying way too hard.
In broadcasting NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB games….know the sport, know who the athetes and coaches are, don’t mix them up. Don’t go yapping on and on. Likewise with track.
Most important, a sport event is a news event. You’re a reporter. Report the news.
If you’re yapping all the time you can’t pay attention to the news event, thus you reduce your ability to report the news. You miss stuff that the viewer can see happening, and the viewer can tell that you’re so busy yapping about somebody’s uncle that you missed a lap split, you missed a lead change and major surge that broke a race open. Who is that person that just went from 5th to first and is pulling away from a field of 12. Stop yapping and just call the race.
Like the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB. Don’t kill your ratings trying to “appeal to the average viewer”. Drive up the ratings by appealing to the fan.Talk like your audience have been fans for 5 to 10 years, not like they’re 5 to 10 year old kids.
Track meets are news events.
Each event is a news event.
Report the news.
Lap splits, lead changes, etc, are news. Report the news.
Otherwise, plug the audio into the stadium announcers and let them do your job.
—–[from my facebook post May 31, 2019]—–Back in the mid-1990’s I spent a couple years camped out in the law library at the Univ of Texas. Aside from my normal visits there to keep up with hardcopies of several sport law journals that I still follow today, I spent several hours per day reading contract law journals and statutes so that I could write my own endorsement contracts when the time came. I did that due to the fact that at the time somewhere between 50% – 80% of NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball players were broke or bankrupt within 1 to 5 years after leaving their sport. The sport of track and field had just begun the lengthy process of coming out of the longtime Olympic Games requirement of amateurism that has set our sport back several decades behind the “big 3” pro sports.
Pro players were checking their bank accounts to find that their agent or lawyer “invested” their money into ocean front property in Nebraska. Or found that their uncle who was put in charge of the money had expensive tastes and frequent visits to Vegas casinos. Or they simply didn’t understand the concept of never ending property taxes on the expensive houses and cars bought not just for themselves but family members and friends. After being ripped off or excessively generous, they were broke.
That’s where things were back in the mid-1990’s. It was so problematic that state legislatures got involved. States passed laws requiring agents to register. Sport governing bodies got involved, requiring agents to register and providing seminars to incoming athletes about financial management, not blindly trusting the enthusiastic uncle, etc. And player unions have gotten involved warning their members about certain predators amongst the agent/lawyer pool, and the uncles, etc. .Today things are better than they were back in the day.
Sadly not that much better.
Athletes still want to brag to their friends that “I have people that handle all dat”. Oprah Winfrey did a show on this subject many years ago. Using herself as an example, she talked about the importance of signing your own checks. Knowing where your money is going. Knowing the content of your contracts.
During the past few weeks in track & field, the subject of Nike cutting pay to women that get pregnant has come up. Athletes signing contracts they didn’t read. Agents letting them sign contracts that say that it can be canceled “for any reason”. Come on man!
I participated in the online questionnaire created by World Athletics, in their collecting feedback from participants in the sport. My comments were as follows…..
The future should see us be a fully stand alone sport that has a World Championships every year at its core, no longer centered around the Olympic Games, no longer financially dependent on or influenced by the International Olympic Committee.
Our World Championships in the future should be focused on separating all qualifying and semi-final rounds from a 1 to 2 days of weekend championship finals. This format should be implemented by all member federations for their national championships.
Brain research 101.
Sexual orientation and gender identity.
Female, male, gay, straight, bi, transgender.
Across the last several decades, the frontal lobe and hypothalamus have been the 2 broad areas that brain researchers have successfully identified thus far……where the brain cells are located that determine human sexual orientation and gender identity.
As to say that looking at genitals or measuring testosterone levels isn’t the most educated, accurate, or up to date approach.
Regardless of subject matter, when it comes to the human brain, just about everything having to do with humans exists along a broad, linear spectrum.For stuff like autism, spectrums look like most people clumped together at one end, with a sprinkling of folks spreadout to the opposite end.
For human sexual orientation and gender identity, the largest groups of humans are clustered at 2 polar extremes of straight female and straight male, with a very large number of people spread out between those 2 polar opposites. This would likely be far more obvious had humans historically been less culturally, religiously, and politically problematic towards the subject. One wouldn’t need brain scan technology and several decades of brain research to be aware of such things.
I equate this subject of human physiology to that of fast twitch vs slow twitch muscle fibers in 1970’s and 80’s Exercise Physiology.Folks believed that these muscle fiber types were genetically set in stone. For a couple decades after the hard data existed showing this wasn’t the case, people continued to believe otherwise.
Hence my mantra during my 30 years of following 60 research journals…..
Put data ahead of dogma.
Follow the data not the crowd.
Over 4000 visits to TheETG website so far in January.
Over 40,000 visits to the site in 2020. Across the last 5 years more than 10,000 visits have lasted more than half-an-hour.Since the founding of TheETG website in Sept 2006 there have been over 60,000 downloads of TheETG packets.
TheETG packets…..free, applied sciences based pdf’s on competent self-care in medicine and psychology. And pdf’s on applied sport sciences to Track & Field distance runner training.
The top 10 downloads in 2020……
1 — TheETG mind-body medicine
2 — TheETG human psychology
3 — TheETG repair of brain cell overwork, overwhelm, “mental illness”
4 — TheETG training program
5 — TheETG immune system
6 — TheETG Track & Field Promotions Project
7 — TheETG nutrition medicine
8 — TheETG mechanisms of aging
9 — TheETG knee meniscus, ACL, & rotator cuff repair
10 — TheETG cancer repair
—————-
The functioning of brain cells, muscle cells, blood cells, -all- cells are governed by the laws of nature, -not- your chosen belief system.
“In God we trust…..Everyone else must bring data.” [W.Edwards Deming]
“I don’t know that there is any magic level of interest in science that people ought to have. But the more they understand, the more they will be able to control their destiny and achieve their other aims.” [Stephen Hawking]
In reference to the issue inside the governing body of track & field in the United Kingdom, the movement towards making women’s distances in cross-country the same as men. Standardization in sport is a good thing. It would probably be best to make the men’s distances equal to the women’s, rather than the other way around.
In 2020, averaged more than 100 downloads each month of TheETG training packets. Free, research science based pdf’s on Track & Field distance runner training. Nearly 45,000 visits to TheETG website in 2020. Over 1500 visits lasting more than an hour.
The top 10 pdf’s downloaded in 2020……..
1 — TheETG training program
2– TheETG Track & Field Promotions Project
3– TheETG recovery, restoration, adaptation
4– ETG info: drugs, drug testing, sham & scam
5– TheETG “This is Track & Field” document
6– TheETG warmup
7– TheETG background science info
8– TheETG range of motion
9– ETG info: genetics vs training
10– TheETG running injury repair
—————
The functioning of brain cells, muscle cells, blood cells, -all- cells are governed by the laws of nature, -not- your chosen belief system.
—————
“In God we trust…..Everyone else must bring data.” [W.Edwards Deming]
“I don’t know that there is any magic level of interest in science that people ought to have. But the more they understand, the more they will be able to control their destiny and achieve their other aims.” [Stephen Hawking]
More than 3000 downloads of TheETG Competent Self-Care packets in 2020. Free, research science based pdf’s on TheETG website.The top 10 pdf’s downloaded in 2020……..
1– TheETG mind-body medicine
2– TheETG human psychology
3– TheETG repair of brain cell overwork, overwhelm, “mental illness”
4– TheETG immune system
5– TheETG nutrition medicine
6– TheETG mechanisms of aging
7– TheETG knee meniscus, ACL, & rotator cuff repair
8– TheETG cancer repair
9– TheETG exercise program
10– TheETG heart disease repair
——————–
“……the benefits that US health care currently deliver may not outweigh the aggregate health harm it imparts.”Journal Of The American Medical Association…Volume 302 #1..July 1, 2009…page 89 – 91
——————–
“Every spring, U.S. medical schools graduate some students who should not be allowed to become doctors.””…..medical schools have a responsibility to patients and the profession.”
S.A.SantenKicking the Can Down the Road — When Medical Schools Fail to Self-RegulateNew England Journal Of Medicine — Volume 381 #24 — December 12, 2019 — page 2287
——————–
“Every week, about 53,000 excess hospitalizations and about 2400 excess deaths occur in the United States among people taking properly prescribed drugs to be healthier.”
“One in every five drugs approved ends up causing serious harm…..”
[Dr. Donald Light, 2013…..Risky Drugs: Why The FDA Cannot Be Trusted….University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey….Harvard University Center For Ethics]
——————–
“Most drugs are only effective for a small percentage of people who take them.”
[Michael Leavitt….U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services 2005 – 2009]
——————–
“Practice is not reflecting the research. Ninety to 95% of programs have no research base. The gap between what is known and what is being provided in routine care is huge.”
Kimberly Hogwood [New York Office Of Mental Health] Associated Press, The Daily Texan, April 11, 2002
At the annual meeting of USA Track & Field, delegates will be asked to vote on a change in governance bylaws. The changes largely being made due to requirements by the U.S. Olympic & Para Olympic Committee. This issue is a reminder of the existence of a long standing issue for our sport.
The obvious long term solution should be the obvious long term goal.
The supremacy of the World Track & Field Championships over the Olympic Games.
The championship our sport controls vs the one it doesn’t.
The championship that has advanced the professionalization of the sport vs the one that put the ball and chain of amateurism around the neck of the sport during the time frame when the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL accelerated away from us into sport marketing, sport promotions, athlete pay, TV broadcast rights fees, etc, etc, etc. This was proposed within IAAF in the 1990’s.
Here we are again, still yapping about these Olympics people and their continued influence and control over our sport.
At some point this will have to end. We should be the ones to end it.
We are a stand-alone sport. We should conduct ourselves as if such is the case.
The Olympic dream has been a 40 year nightmare to the professional development of our sport.Time to cut the cord.
Coronavirus.
Examples of indoor, enclosed spaces in America where community spread into 50% to 100% of the occupants on a given night has taken place.
Note the size of the spaces in the photos. One can think of a school building as being comprised of many small bars and restaurants.
.
Countries that have done reasonably well at this waited till their new case numbers dropped below problematic level prior to opening their schools for in person classes. Many of those schools conducted outdoor classes.
.
Let outcomes be the judge and jury of your work.
NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, PGA.
Indoor enclosed spaces.
If you’re gonna continue to use the locker rooms, film rooms, team meeting rooms, weight rooms, trainer rooms, whirlpool rooms, massage rooms…..you’re gonna have to limit the number of masked players that can be in at one time or you’re gonna have to close those spaces and move everything outdoors.
Otherwise, transmission will continue and expand as you add to the frequency and number of players that are in these spaces all at once as games are added to practice sessions.
An open letter to the NBA, NFL, PGA, MLB, NHL.
Come on man!!!
It ain’t rocket science.
Its your indoor spaces.
— Your locker rooms.
— Your trainer rooms.
— Your massage rooms.
— Your weight rooms.
— Your film rooms
Small spaces, poor ventilation systems, multiple players lingering for 30 to 90 minutes.
Close them!!!
.
Move everything outside or into much larger indoor spaces with better ventilation.
Otherwise, shut down your seasons and ban players from your facilities.
Your number of positive tests are only gonna keep going up no different than cities opening small indoor spaces without restricting or policing the occupancy numbers. The positive test numbers only go up.
.
We’re 3 months into this.
We know something now.
Lets all act like it.
Contact tracing.
Patrons and employees testing positive at high rates.
Relatively small to medium size indoor spaces is where virus transmission is thriving during this “opening up businesses” time frame.
Bars and restaurants.
Bars and restaurants.
Bars and restaurants.
Bars and restaurants are where people sit or stand for 30 minutes to 3 hours in a space where there’s no mask wearing.
In these indoor spaces, “social distancing” doesn’t matter because;
— ownwers aren’t investing money into increased air ventilation
— ownwers aren’t investing money into improved air filtering systems
— owners are violating occupancy rules and guidelines
Many protest marches across the country today and this past week related to policing.
TheETG position statement…….
The purpose of policing is to enforce societal norms.
Societal norms change overtime.
Police unions and police departments are organizations that tend to be static and conservative, attempting to operate in an environment of constant change and liberalization.
.
Saying that again…..static and conservative, constant change and liberalization.
.
Organizations that have an organizational culture that resist change are organizations that will eventually be waist deep in dysfunction and bad outcomes.
There are no bad apples, just bad organizations created by bad organizational structures, bad organizational cultures, and bad organizational traditions that create or contribute to bad outcomes.
.
Police unions.
Changes in public policy driven by the constant liberalization of societal norms violate their traditions of policing and their conservative belief systems.
Resistance to change or being too slow to change on a planet that is in constant change and liberalization of societal norms and public policy creates bad organizational structures, bad organizational cultures, and bad organizational traditions that create or contribute to bad outcomes.
.
Among the most guarded organizational traditions of police unions is the “us vs them” mentality. It serves as the valued weapon of choice deployed to maintain the status quo.
.
Police departments.
Its the specific instructions and orders given to officers by command structures that setup officers to fail. Those failures produce bad outcomes in their interactions with the public. When officers fail, the command structure that issued the instructions and orders then punishes the officers, adding fuel to the fire of the police union’s “us vs them” mentality.
.
Added to all of the above, police departments themselves are setup to fail when police union contracts create or contribute to a situation where a bad hire can’t quickly be a good fire.
A company or organization that can’t, won’t, or doesn’t do well in policing itself isn’t an organization that will have bad apples, its an organization that will be a bad organization due to a bad organizational structure, with a bad organizational culture, bad organizational traditions, that create or contribute to bad outcomes.
City managers, Mayors, and city counsels are obligated to address bad organizational structures, bad organizational cultures, bad organizational traditions. Its their responsibility. The public’s responsibility to hold them accountable rather than continuing to be blindly reactive to individual incidents, leaving the broader organizational issues unaddressed.
Policing is a public policy thing. Communities, not the police, set public policy.
Overtime our country has come to see this as being the other way around.
That would be the first thing to correct.
There’s a public perception that police departments are a stand-alone entity, outside the reach of City Managers, Mayors, City Councils, state legislatures, Congress.
They are not.
I would argue that these folks haven’t been doing their jobs.
Everyday there are companies in corporate America that make massive changes in structure, culture, and tradition.
Elected folks just need to do their jobs.
On the subject of de-funding the police…..when a Fortune 500 company in America finds itself having difficulty competing in their market sector due to their outdated and/or problematic organizational structure, organizational culture, organizational traditions…….they don’t de-fund themselves.They re-structure, change their culture, adopt a better functioning set of traditions.
Yapping about de-funding the police is unwise
Solutions………
1. instruct the city attorney to fix the police union contract.
— Bad hires have to be quick fires.
— suspension of an officer should consider including suspension of their supervisor
2. city manager has to hire a fix-it police chief. A hatchet guy that’s there solely to remove human resistance to change, and redesign the culture at the potential cost of wholesale turnover of personnel.
3. city counsel sets public policy that forbids “aggression” orders. The ones you see being carried out on camera around the county the last couple weeks. Media folks intentionally gassed and shot with rubber bullets, folks on sitting on their porch shot with paint ball rounds, elderly white guys shoved to the ground, etc, etc, etc.
4. non-members of the district attorney’s office have to be the one’s that investigate and charge officer involved incidents. And in every case where an officer is charged with a crime, there must be a charge filed that doesn’t require proof of the officers intent.
A little under 19,000 visits to TheETG website so far in 2020, and over 1800 downloads of the free pdf packets.
The top 10 downloaded…..
1 — TheETG nutrition medicine
2 — TheETG immune system
3 — TheETG human psychology
4 — TheETG mind-body medicine
5 — TheETG repair of brain cell overwork, overwhelm, “mental illness”
6 — TheETG Track & Field Promotions Project
7 — TheETG mechanisms of aging
8 — TheETG cancer repair
9 — TheETG training program
10 — TheETG knee meniscus, ACL, & rotator cuff repair
.
For the year 2019 there were over 5000 downloads.
The Top 10……
1– TheETG back, neck, & frozen shoulder repair
2– TheETG Track & Field Promotions Project
3– TheETG recovery, restoration, adaptation
4– TheETG food & supplements
5– TheETG human psychology
6– ETG info: mechanisms of osteoporosis
7– TheETG repair of brain cell overwork, overwhelm, “mental illness”
8– TheETG mechanisms of aging
9– TheETG mind-body medicine
10– TheETG nutrition medicine
Articles from the Fairfax Journal 1985, Alexandria Gazette 1986.
Gabrielle Pohlmann was a sophomore at Fort Hunt high school when it closed.
This week she was voted into the 2nd class of inductees for the Hall Of Fame at West Potomac High School, Alexandria, Virginia.
Her 2 older siblings are Fort Hunt grads, Karen class of 82, Dirk class of 84.
.
Middle photo…..35 years ago, May 1985, several members of the final girls track team at Fort Hunt high school.
Sophomore, Gabrielle Pohlmann kneeling on the right.
I graduated from Fort Hunt 1981, coached her at Fort Hunt when it closed and coached her at West Potomac when it opened. Living in Austin I still coach Gabrielle today, a medical doctor in private practice in a suburb of Dallas, Texas.
Her achievements…….
Main event was 2 miles.
In the final year of existence of Fort Hunt high school as a sophomore she finished the indoor season ranked #19 in the nation.
Outdoor, she was ranked top 25 in the nation.
First year of existence of West Potomac high school was her junior year. That Fall in cross-country Gabi finished 8th at the Southern U.S. Championships in Charlotte and 30th at the National High School Championships in San Diego. Named as High School All-American by Harrier Magazine.
Indoor track she finished the season ranked #9 in the nation at 2 miles.
Outdoor track finished top 5 at the East Coast Championships in New York.
Outdoors ranked top 20 in the nation.
.
2nd year of existence of West Potomac high school was her senior year. That Fall in cross-country Gabi finished 7th at the Southern U.S. Championships in Charlotte and 28th at the National High School Championships in San Diego. Named as High School All-American by Harrier Magazine.
Indoor track finished 10th at the indoor National Championships in Connecticut.
Outdoor track finished 5th at the East Coast Championships in New York.
Outdoors ranked top 20 in the nation.
In the school year when the University Of Texas won the NCAA National Championship in both cross-country and track and was the #1 overall program in the country, the head coach at Texas who was also named as the head women’s coach for the 1988 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team came to Gabi’s house on Camden street directly behind Stratford Landing elementary school and signed her as a scholarship athlete and a member of what was at the time, one of the top recruiting classes in the history of collegiate track & field.
At Texas, All-Conference in track, graduated with a 3.8 GPA in the Plan 2 honors program. She is married to John Patterson, a Texas high school state record holder at 400m and a 4-time NCAA Collegiate All-American while at the University Of Texas.
Better than a test for the virus.
Better than a test for immunity to the virus.
Better than a pill to reduce virus replication.
Better than a vaccine against the virus.
Better than all of the above is the knowledge and applied ability to avoid inserting the virus inside yourself.
.
When our country opens up, you will encounter the virus in all of the places in these photos.
Please avoid inserting viruses inside yourself…….
—– Avoid group think.
In the real world of typical American life, when you’re out in public there isn’t a sink and soap dispenser or hand sanitizer next to everything you touch. And if your eyes or nose ich, you’re gonna touch your face.
—– Please rub your nose/eyes using the top of your forearm near your wrist [the non-palm side]. Pretend you have no hands or wrists.
—– Virus adhesion molecules.
Please wipe your hands off on your clothes before and after touching anything and everything when out and about in public. That includes door knobs and door handles, gas pumps, elevator buttons, handrails at stairs and escalators, waterfountain, etc. Wipe your hands off on your clothes before and after touching anything and everything.
—– If you have a virus you can prevent transmission by sneezing, coughing into your elbow rather your hand. And you can wipe your hands off on your clothes before and after touching anything and everything.
.
.
TheETG immune system —–
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGimmuneboost.pdf
TheETG mind-body medicine —–
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGmindbodymed.pdf
TheETG nutrition medicine —–
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGnutrimedicine.pdf
.
TheETG competent self-care
https://theetgtrackclub.com/selfcare
An opportunity for structural change in our sport at the professional level.
Our World Championships are held on the odd numbered years. Next year is a World Championships year. This year’s Olympic Games are being pushed into our World Championships year.
Now would be a good time for us to do what will eventually need to be done long term. The idea that got shelved in the mid-1990’s needs to be dusted off and implemented. A full separation of our sport from the Olympic Games. Within our sport, designate the games as being for athletes under 20 years old.
Now would be a good time to take full control of our sport at the professional level and fully establish the supremacy of our World Championships and our World governing body over the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee.We control our World Championships.
And obviously at some point the World Track & Field Championships will need to go from only being held on the odd numbered years to being held as an annual event.
See the link below to the USA Today article.
Prominent track and field coach John Rembao accused of sexual harassment in lawsuit [Christine Brennan, USAToday March 11, 2020]
I contacted their lawyer to provide info that may help in the classaction lawsuit. Extremely happy for these former Univ Of Texas athletes and proud of them. I was an academic mentor for the women’s athletics department at the University Of Texas when John Rambao was at Texas. Londa and Jessica were freshmen.I worked with 3 of their track teammates who were also freshmen…..one of which was verbally and emtionally abused by Rembao. Several distance runners and high jumpers had spoken to me many times about verbal, emotional, and some physical abuse [female athlete was shoved against a locker during one of the coach’s rage episodes] they were experiencing.See the story at the bottom of this post that has been on my website for the last 14 years.
I have a copy of the letter I wrote to the Patricia Olendorf at the Univ of Texas Office Of Legal Affairs, where I reported John Rambao a day or 2 after reporting him to Randa Ryan, Univ of Texas Athletic Department who was in charge of the academic tutors and mentors. I thought it odd when Randa asked me if I had heard of relationships or sexual incidents going on. I hadn’t at the time. Apparently someone may have already reported something on those issues prior to my conversation.
A few weeks prior to transfering to Univ of Arkansas, Jessica filed a formal grievance with the Univ of Texas Office of Legal Affairs. She asked me to be a witness. I spent 3 hours in the Texas tower telling everything I knew to the lawyer assigned to investigate the grievance.I have a copy of the email sent to me from the investigator, setting up my appointment to meet with him….the 3 hours of me talking.
John Rambao’s contract term ran out and wasn’t renewed. After reading an Austin newspaper article about him moving on to SMU, I sent a letter to the SMU Athletic Director telling him what happened at Texas and encouraging him to take seriously any and all complaints they get from any and all distance runners and high jumpers. I have a copy of the letter.
On the cross-country team, only 2 athletes returned the following season, 8 to 10 did not. On the track team 8 of 20 athletes did not return. As I stated in the letter I hand delivered to the UT Office Of Legal Affairs……”Something needs to be done to keep the coach from terrorizing his athletes”.
At the bottom of the “Club History” page of my website the following detailed story about these incidents has been sitting there since 2006 [a.k.a. 14 years]………
http://theetgtrackclub com/history
Unfortunate experience #4, high school and college programs in America don’t do well with problem coaches. One example….In the mid-1990’s I worked as an academic tutor and academic mentor for the University of Texas women’s athletics department. I worked several years [7 as a tutor, 5 as a mentor] until Spring 2001 semester when I notified the women’s athletic department that several athletes on the women’s track team were experiencing emotionally violent and abusive behavior from their assistant coach. One of the athletes had also been shoved against a wall by the coach. I learned directly from several athletes that the abusive situation had escalated over a period of years, with some athletes having sought psychological counseling and/or psychiatric treatment as a result. The coach’s behavior appeared to be consistent with the tenants of “intentional infliction of emotional distress” which had been specifically laid out by the Texas Supreme Court [ie. Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, subsequent Bush appointee to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court Of Appeals].I had witnessed some of the department’s past history in dealing with problems with coaches in general. So in this situation I felt I had good reason to believe they would do as they’d done with other coaches in the past. That would be to leave the coach unsupervised with the athletes as they spent weeks investigating and months or years trying to get the coach to change behavior while also documenting various offenses. This tended to continue until the coach’s contract ran out, which they would then not renew.Since an athlete capable of overcoming state sovereign immunity issues could rightly bring suit, to me this was no longer a “coaching issue”, but had become a legal issue. Especially if the athletic department, after being notified by myself and the athletes, continued to leave the athletes alone with the coach. With this in mind, right after I notified the athletic department of the problem, I also I sent an “anonymous” letter to the University’s Director of the Office Of Legal Affairs rather than wait for the Athletic department to deal with the problem. In knowing that the department would leave the athletes unprotected while they gathered information about the incidents, I included in the letter, a threat to go to the media if something wasn’t done to protect the athletes. I also included information about potential NCAA rules violations in 3 women’s sports thinking this might speed things up. Instead of investigating, the University’s legal affairs director handed the letter over to the women’s Athletics director. It was easy to identify me as the person inside the department that sent the letter since I was the only person who could have known all the details in the letter, including the potential NCAA violations. Like I had predicted, as the department continued their investigation the athletes, left unprotected, continued to experience more incidents from the coach.On this team of about 20 athletes, eight [8] athletes quit the track team at the end of that season, six of whom had been trained by the assistant coach in question. Three of them transferred to other schools. One filed a formal grievance against the coach with [ironically] the UT Office of Legal Affairs. I was called as a witness during the investigation by the UT Office of Legal Affairs and interviewed for 3 hours by the person assigned to do an investigation and file a report. I was told by the athletes involved that two sought psychological counseling over the summer, and had been put on anti-depressant medication. That’s in addition to others in previous seasons.I have assumed that due to the media related threat contained in my letter and the fact that I went outside the department with dirty laundry, I was not rehired as an academic mentor after this [which seemed to violate at least “the principle” of state whistle blower laws]. I was told that I wasn’t rehired because they didn’t have athletes to assign to me. Though that wasn’t a problem in each of the 5 previous years prior to the letter. To compensate for the loss of that part time job I eventually went back to the Athletic dining hall job as a food server and dishwasher. I continued working as a tutor until I noticed that for the first time in 7 years they hired tutors in the academic area in which I worked. As the number of athletes being sent to me decreased dramatically I eventually decided it may be best to no longer work for the athletic department all together and stopped.
Coronavirus.
A form of the virus that causes the common cold.
Viruses, preventing their spread into you…..
For viruses such as the one that produces a common cold, in order to “catch a cold”, a virus must enter the body, usually through the eyes, nose, or mouth. This occurs most often when someone who has a cold, sneezes or wipes/blows their nose. The cold virus gets out of their body in this way, often onto their hands.
Assuming they don’t wash their hands or wipe them off onto their clothing, towel, etc,. they then touch door knobs, hand rails on stairs, and other objects that may be common for other people to touch within a few minutes to a few hours later.
.
If –you– then come along and touch one of those objects, the virus then gets onto you, often onto your hands. All that is necessary at this point is for you to use your hands to rub your eyes―nose–mouth without….first….having wiped them off on your clothes, towel, etc, and/or without having washed your hands.
.
Once the virus makes its way into your body, it often finds its way into the mucus area of your nose, and/or upper portion of your throat. In these places, though it will come under attack by your immune system, it will make a major effort to replicate and proliferate.
.
Keep in mind that these viruses usually don’t get into your body unless –you– put them there.
Prevent yourself from putting them into your body. The adhesion molecules that viruses and bacteria use to cling to your hands can be overcome by wiping your hands on your clothes.
—– Program into your brain a deeply ingrained habit to wipe your hands off on your clothes before you use them to rub or touch your eyes―nose–mouth, door handles, stair-rails, etc, etc, etc.
.
If you have a virus you can prevent transmission by sneezing, coughing into your elbow rather your hand. And you can wipe your hands on your clothes prior to touching stuff or people when out and about in public.
.
Avoid group think…..
There isn’t a sink and soap dispenser next to everything you touch and every handshake you engage in. Some dude in the bathroom washes his hands like he’s scrubbing for surgery. On his way out he sneezes into his hand prior to grabbing the door handle to leave. The 10 guys after him grab that handle.
.
Avoid group think….That anti-bacteria liquid-gel dispenser in the hallway, yet another thing that pumps stuff along the membrane of a virus or bacteria that they will adjust to over time, further contributing to the “super bug” phenomena.
.
Anti-bacteria cleaning surfaces at home….try a spray bottle, water, baking soda, and salt, with no super-bug producing after-effect.
Calendar year 2019 had good not great numbers for TheETG website. One of my New Year’s Resolution is to see those numbers go off the charts in 2020 by getting something done on the running side of the equation.In 2019, more than 1300 visits to the site lasted over an hour.
Over 20,000 visitors averaged 2 or more visits to the site, viewing at least 3 to 4 of the 14 pages that comprise the site.
Of the 48 free pdf packets located across 3 pages on the site there were over 5000 downloads.
The Top 10 packets downloaded in 2019……
1– TheETG back, neck, & frozen shoulder repair
2– TheETG Track & Field Promotions Project
3– TheETG recovery, restoration, adaptation
4– TheETG food & supplements
5– TheETG human psychology
6– ETG info: mechanisms of osteoporosis
7– TheETG repair of brain cell overwork, overwhelm, “mental illness”
8– TheETG mechanisms of aging
9– TheETG mind-body medicine
10– TheETG nutrition medicine
Repeating my message from 4 years ago, December 21, 2015……..
Experiencing groundhog day and deja vu all over again. Here we go again with the argument over which event we should use, the mile or the 1500m.
Come on man!!!
The sport has been around a while. Why can’t we all just agree to abandon any and all repetitive foolish statements about our sport that were made 40 years ago, and again 30 years ago, and again 20 years ago, etc, etc. So that both younger and older crowds can all get on the same page on this, let me help those in the older crowd who should have some institutional memory to draw on, and let me help out the younger crowd who seem to be convinced that all statements and belief systems they experience in the sport are new.
1 — track & field isn’t dying.
2 — the 1500m isn’t preventing track & field from acquiring new fans
3 — track athlete drug use and news stories about drug use aren’t killing, haven’t killed, and won’t kill track & field
So lets all agree to stop with these.
Sport promotions. That’s the only thing that matters. We won’t and can’t change anything about where our sport is today in the United States until we go there and do that. Sport Promotions!!!
Running the mile rather than 1500m at the college level does little to address or resolve that issue. Altering event distances isn’t sport promotions. The 1500m isn’t a barrier to attracting new fans of track & field in the United States. Making the sport less standardized doesn’t facilitate sport promotions. Stop. Focus on making championships meets more standardized, from high school to college to pro, and yes that means at the high school level running 400m hurdles, 1500m, and 3000m.
Relative to the NFL, NBA, and baseball, we are where we are as a sport because they have a 30 to 40 year head-start on us in sport promotions. Its not about news stories on drugs. USA Track & Field isn’t stealing money from athletes. And Nike isn’t the devil. Our situation as a sport is not about the metric system. Sport promotions…..Stop wasting time and energy looking else where. You cannot change what you will not acknowledge.
Place your attention on sport promotions. That’s all that matters.
One of many examples to provide an idea of what sport promotions can or should look like for our sport. TheETG Track & Field Promotions Project
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGTrackPromotionmasterofsport.pdf
Not gonna give a well done to NBC as a whole, but am gonna say well done to NBCSN. At least for their several hours of morning coverage of the World Championships [donno yet about the evening broadcasts].
They appear to have abandoned the 2 to 3 decades long approach of…”appeal to the average viewer” that has been kicking our sport in the crotch in TV coverage for so many years.
Dan Obrien’s commentary has been outstanding. People will watch if there’s something to watch. When you try to appeal to everybody you endup being appealing to nobody.
When you direct your coverage towards the fan, as is done with the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL, things tend to go way better as Premiere League soccer is also demonstrating in their weekend broadcasts into the United States.
Don’t wait for vision-less people to say its possible. Make it happen and drive a big bandwagon.
TheETG Position Statement:Format of major championship track & field meets…..NCAA Championship, USA Championship, World Championship
Track meet presentation. The in-person experience and the televised product. Improving and simplifying the presentation of our sport, particularly at the championship level is necessary over the long term as our sport continues to grow in quality and depth at the professional level. Over the long term, as much as we’ve resisted in the past, at some point we’re gonna have to move to a format for our major championship track & field meets where we place the qualifying rounds together as a group as if they’re part of a separate track meet, held earlier in the week. That, being followed by the finals on a Saturday and/or Sunday, held as if its a separate, stand alone track meet.
I’m proposing a quarter-final, semi-final, and final type of format where 1 or 2 days is designated for finals only. The quarter-final and semi-finals placed for all events in a Monday thru Thursday structure. Finals-only events such as the race walk, 10,000 meters and marathon could be spread across the weekend. Switching to a “finals-day” format provides opportunities for broadcasters to expand and deepen their coverage. And switching to this type of format inherently provides our sport with an opportunity to conduct our championship semi-final rounds as if they are a track meet unto themselves. Set apart on their own day[s] earlier in the week, providing our sport with an additional high value product to sell for tickets, television rights, in-stadium advertising, etc. And obviously in this day and age the rights to the quarter-final rounds can be sold to TV or online broadcasters.
Switching to the separate day format for qualifying rounds, semi-final, and finals provides for a better track fan experience, particularly for ticket purchasers. The track fans that purchase tickets will have a far better understanding of the product they are buying. Those that purchase tickets for finals will know that they don’t have to sit through qualifying rounds of some events, waiting to get to see the finals they are really there to see. Low budget fans can more easily choose a “semi-finals day” ticket and know that they’re still getting to see a high value product.
This format provides athletes and coaches an easier way to plan ahead for championship meets in every area from budgets, to tapering, to race day event prep. This format also allows athletes that are participating in more than one non-relay event to have days where they don’t have a final of one event followed by the opening round of another. They can get all the qualifying rounds out of the way, have a day off, then focus solely on their event finals.
High schools and colleges in the United States should also consider moving to this type of format.
In short, at some point its gonna be necessary for us as a sport to move away from the current model that scatters finals and qualifying rounds across several days to 2 weeks, forcing fans, TV viewers, and broadcasters to be experts at schedule reading to know which finals are happening on any given day. We have an opportunity present our sport in a more logical, easier to follow manner. We should fully embrace that opportunity.
TheETG Position Statement:
Time for Track & Field to leave the Olympic Games
Its been a decade or so since some in our sport, quite wisely in my
view, started discussing the subject of making our World Track &
Field Championships a stand-alone focus of the sport. Doing so by making
a formal separation from the Olympic Games. Achieving this by limiting
participation of Track & Field athletes in the Olympics to athletes
under 20 or 22 years of age.
Perhaps several issues with the Olympic Games is the universe telling us to get on with it.
Too expensive to host. Too expensive to attend. Ticket prices out of
reach of the average citizen of the host country. Fewer country’s making
serious bids.
Expensive venues sitting idle after the Games are over.
In the last 50 years the Olympic Games has been a blessing and a curse
for our sport. The world stage every 4 years was the blessing. The rules
of amateurism and branding issues were the curse. And in the United
States in the 1970s when the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball were
reaching escape velocity via sport promotions, branding, and athlete
pay, we in Track & Field were stuck with the Olympics as a
ball-and-chain around our neck. Branded in the public’s mind as a once
every 4 years sport. All narratives being that any athlete training must
be training for “the Olympics”, in the process of being an “Olympic
hopeful”. So attached to the Olympic Games were we that we didn’t even
have a World Championship.
We have a World Track & Field
Championships. Even the first one in 1983 was worthy of being branded as
-the- best track meet on earth. At some point we’re probably gonna have
to end our codependent relationship with the International Olympic
Committee and the Olympic Games. To be a stand-alone sport with a
stand-alone championship. Maybe this is a good time to assert the World
Championships, an event we control, to be the sole focus and stand-alone
Championship at the top of our sport.
The two relatively new approaches at the college level have been demonstrated to be worthy of implementing at the professional level….USA Track & Field Championships.
#1 — for USA Track & Field championship meets stop mixing the prelims and semis of some events with the finals of others. There has to be a time when eyeballs in the seats and on TV can see nothing but finals. This should apply to the world championships as well, especially given that the meet schedule for USA’s is set to match the World Championships.
#2 — Austin has proven the ability to put butts in the seats for
championship meets in contrast to several other cities that have tried
and failed. The track-soccer-only stadium seats at least 18,000 and I’ve
been there for a meet that had about 20,000 in a standing room only
situation. Both exceed Eugene’s new track stadium’s permanent seating
plan.
Austin has matched Eugene in putting butts in the seats which
means it exceeds all other cities. Therefore using the same 2 year
format as the NCAA’s, the USA Championships should be awarded for 2 year
stints, to Austin and Eugene to the exclusion of all other cities.
.
Long term obviously the idea that got shelved in the mid-1990’s needs
to be dusted off and implemented. A full separation of our sport from
the Olympic Games. We control our World Championships. It needs to be
changed from being held only on the odd numbered years to an annual
event. Take full control of our sport.
Aside from proving Austin puts butts in the seats for major track meets, this week the track itself has to now be viewed as among the fastest in the world.
These numbers are by college athletes not pros……
— men’s 100m 9.86…#1 in the world
— women’s 100m 10.75…#1 in the world
— men’s hurdles 12.98…#1 in the world
— women’s hurdles 12.40…#1 in the world
— women’s 200m 22.16…#1 in the world
— men’s 4 x 100m relay 37.97…#1 in the world
— women’s 4 x 100m relay 42.21…#1 in the world
— men’s pole vault 19′ 6″…#1 in the world
— men’s 400m 44.2…#2 in the world
— men’s 200m 19.73…#3 in the world
.
World Junior Records in the women’s 100m & 200m
My vision of what will be coming to our relatively low visibility sport in about 24 months from now. Part of the mission of the club is to promote the sport inside the United States. Contrary to what many in our sport believe, clinics for kids isn’t sport promotions. A functioning sport promotions effort raises the visibility of a sport via promotions, advertising, attracting attention, with a goal towards putting butts in the seats and eyeballs on television.
A broad overview of TheETG Track & Field Promotions Plan.
— create and maintain name recognition and visibility of Track & Field inside the United States
— cultivate a track community by creating effective channels of access to the sport inside Austin Texas
— print media drives television media. Get fans to track meets….then….get the track meets on television.
— focus all efforts –first– within our circle of influence [people that are already within the sport]then….focus on expanding that circle of influence outward.
— create a consistent message. Never change it. One message repeated often, gets heard.
— promote the sport by using political campaign types of tactics. Give away sport identity and affilitation stuff for free [buttons, bumper stickers, t-shirts, key chains].
— no racing in non-championship meets in Europe. There exists no way to promote Track & Field in the United States by racing in Europe if those meets are -not- aired on widely available, mainstream TV channels on U.S. televisions.
— no sunglasses or anything that covers your face during races that reduces off-the-track recognizability.
— no constant changing of colors or designs of uniforms each year that reduces recognizability.
— no constant changing of track meet schedules. Create and maintain expectations and familiarity.
My work product that took 27 years. Mid to late 1991 to December 2018.
December 1990, drove to Austin Texas. Came to coach with and learn from one of the top collegiate distance event coaches in the country. First week she hosted a summit lecture by 2 Soviet coaches, among the top in the world. The only coaches invited to attend were about 5 to 8 of the top Americans. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Days later, report that the NCAA had passed a rule limiting the number of assistant coaches and their pay at large programs like Univ of Texas. Anti-trust law violation but it took years to strike down at the United States Supreme Court. And I learned that the person I came to coach with was being pushed out. Never coached a day at “my dream job”.
Life lesson #1….Adapt to change quickly and easily.
.
Creating TheElite Training Group track club [TheETG] and designing a training program for it became the mission.
I set out to design something representing what we call in today’s world, “disruptive innovation”. A non-traditional, science based training program with very few moving parts, that creates controlability in producing a large forward movement in fitness level in a short period of time — from a small amount of training, and doing so without the all too typical plateau or limitation in fitness progression over the long term. TheETG velocity oriented “all interval training all the time” Training Program disposes of the major strongholds in traditional thinking in our sport, issues surrounding the obsession with weekly mileage, training volume versus intensity, periodization versus standardization, altitude versus sea level, red blood cells versus plasma volume, genetics versus training, drugs versus placebo effect, and now that I’m in my 50’s….the issues around age and aging and the supposedly mandatory loss of power and endurance capabilities that people claim –has-to– come with that.
The objective in the design and structure of the running workouts…..Develop the level of nerve and muscle fiber recruitment, recruitment rate, and recruitment duration necessary to run at goal pace from starting line to finish line. Achieve that through repeated workouts that stimulate gene level inducement of the required training adaptations in and around brain cells and nerve fibers. The big ticket items…..
—– mitochondria, ion pumps, ion channels, blood vessels
—– glucose transporters & glycogen storage capacity
.
3 to 4 years of hours a day in the Human Performance and exercise physiology labs at Univ of Texas with several of the top researchers in the world, decades in the libraries at Univ of Texas reading published sport sciences research, and 22 to 23 years of trial and error with more error than trial. Lots of frustration with repetitive steps forward followed by several steps back.
Work completed. TheETG training program —–
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGMasterOfSport.pdf
TheETG website stats for first quarter of 2019 [Jan, Feb, March].
Website = 14 pages. Downloadable-printable pdf “Packets” on 3 pages.
Numbers rounded down……
Visitors to TheETG website = 5100
Visitors viewed 2 or more pages.
Average number of visits per visitor = 2
.
Visits lasting 1 or more hours = 120
Visits lasting 1/2-hour or more = 180
.
Number of packets on the website = 56 [33 self-care, 17 training, 6 research notes].
Total views of pdf packets = 500
.
The website was created Sept 2006.
Total views of pdf packets
2018 —– 6600
2017 —– 6600
2016 —– 4700
2015 —– 1300
2014 —– 2500
2013 —– 2100
2012 —– 1900
2011 —– 2600
2010 —– 4900
2009 —– 5300
2008 —– 11,200
2007 —– 4400
————————-
12 year Total = 54,000
Average per year = 4500
.
Visitors…..
2018 —– 11,800
2017 —– 11,700
2016 —– 8,300
2015 —– 22,900
2014 —– 24,000
2013 —– 20,600
2012 —– 10,200
2011 —– 9,800
2010 —– 10,000
2009 —– 7,600
2008 —– 9,800
2007 —– 4,100
———————-
12 year Total = 150,000
Average per year = 12,500
Texas has a growing doctor shortage. Our state needs APRN’s to be able to implement the full scope of practice they are qualified for.
Today is Texas Nurses Day at the Capitol.
Nurses supporting House Bill 1792 giving full practice authority for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses. Contact reps, get’em to vote to increase access to care for folks across Texas.
.
In support of the profession of former Univ of Texas mega-studs Kim Cameron [Univ of Texas soccer] Unit Supervisor at Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin, and Joanne Massongsong [Univ of Texas tennis] Director of Emergency Services at St Davids HealthCare in Austin.
TheETG end of year website stats.
Site has 14 pages, 3 have pdf packets.
[33 self-care, 17 training, 6 research notes].
Total views of pdf packets [numbers rounded down]
2018 —– 6600
2017 —– 6600
2016 —– 4700
2015 —– 1300
2014 —– 2500
2013 —– 2100
2012 —– 1900
2011 —– 2600
2010 —– 4900
2009 —– 5300
2008 —– 11,200
2007 —– 4400
site created Sept 2006
.
Visits lasting over 30 minutes [numbers rounded down]
2018 —– 1800
2017 —– 2000
2016 —– 1100
2015 – 2006 = no data
.
Visitors [numbers rounded down]
2018 —– 11,800
2017 —– 11,700
2016 —– 8,300
2015 —– 22,900
2014 —– 24,000
2013 —– 20,600
2012 —– 10,200
2011 —– 9,800
2010 —– 10,000
2009 —– 7,600
2008 —– 9,800
2007 —– 4,100
site created Sept 2006
Univ of Texas will host three meets…..
— Texas Relays = March 27 – 30
— Texas Invitational = May 4
— NCAA National Championships = June 5 – 8
[nationals in 2020 is here also]
A re-post from TheETG Classroom page of this website due to how many athletes have had their name dragged through the mud by the “World Anti-doping Agency” [WADA] related to this drug. Most notably pro tennis player Maria Sharapova.
Put data ahead of dogma, as to follow the data -not- the crowd.
.
For those that don’t know, WADA was created by drug testing lab directors who initially were a part of the IOC, They created WADA to continue protecting and growing their cash cow, also known as drug testing in sport. They prey and leach on the public’s [and athletes/coaches] blind faith in prescription drugs both in and outside of sport………
.
[ESPN July 4, 2018]
“…..the 2016 meldonium debacle in which World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] had to walk back its standards twice because it put the substance on its prohibited list without bothering to study the variations in how people metabolize the medication.”
“So much time, effort and money were invested after the fact when there is little to no proof meldonium aids performance.”
.
Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN Senior Writer
Chris Froome freed to race, but it’s time to take deep breath and reassess anti-doping
ESPN July 4, 2018
.
.
[The Guardian, March 6, 2016]
“Maria Sharapova has been provisionally banned from tennis after she revealed on Monday she tested positive at the Australian Open for a recently banned drug that she has been taking for 10 years for health reasons.”
“The drug is called meldonium, though Sharapova said she had been using it under the name of mildronate and was unaware of both the different name and the fact it is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list until she received a letter notifying her of the positive test 10 days ago.”
.
.
https://theetgtrackclub.com/master/
.
ETG info: drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —–
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
Today is “National Hire a Veteran Day”.
West Potomac high school grad Brendon Dibella [in photo, back row, center] was on national TV this morning promoting his company’s work in the area of helping small businesses owned by veterans.
.
I was Brendon’s cross-country and track coach in the late 1980’s at West Potomac high school, Alexandria, Virginia. Brendon is a grad of the United States Naval Academy and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School after his career on warships in the Navy.
.
He is the Chief Commercial Officer for Street Shares.
The company is located in Reston, Virginia…….”In 2013, StreetShares co-founders Mark Rockefeller and Mickey Konson met for breakfast at a local diner to develop a new business funding option that put the needs of business owners first. They recognized that many banks weren’t lending to small businesses, which often forced business owners to work with unscrupulous lenders to grow their business. As military veterans, they believed that American business owners deserved business funding options that are fair and honest. Their vision became the mission of StreetShares: Bring trusted digital finance to America’s heroes. ”
.
https://streetshares.com
Being a doctor doesn’t make a person a good doctor.
Being a physiologist doesn’t make a person a good physiologist.
Doing a study doesn’t make it a good study.
IAAF helped with a “study” of free testosterone -vs- performance level in athletes at the 2011 & 2013 World Championships. Relating it to the Caster Semenya issue.
Free testosterone may or may not be depressed in athletes that are in an overtrained state. Measuring it without measuring cortisol, baseline testosterone, other overtrained state issues, other testosterone impacting issues makes your data worthless in this context of matching testosterone with performance level.
The use of observational data to set policy in this context is highly unwise.
And on a similar line, cause and effect is cause and effect. Correlation is -not- cause and effect. We don’t live in the 1970’s. Its 2018. We know something about the underlying mechanisms of human performance. We know something about the function of testosterone in human cells. The brain, nervous system, and immune system are the end all and be all of human performance in track & field. Those are -not- about testosterone.
.
.
“Testosterone prohormones such as androstenedione, androstenediol, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) have been heavily marketed as testosterone-enhancing and muscle-building nutritional supplements for the past decade.”
“Contrary to marketing claims, research to date indicates that the use of prohormone nutritional supplements (DHEA, androstenedione, androstenediol, and other steroid hormone supplements) does not produce either anabolic or ergogenic effects in men. Moreover, the use of prohormone nutritional supplements may raise the risk for negative health consequences.”
G.A.Brown, et al
Testosterone Prohormone Supplements.
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise…..Volume 38 #8….August 2006…..pg 1367-1537
.
.
“Testosterone plays a crucial role in neuronal function, but elevated concentrations can have deleterious effects. Here we show that supraphysiological levels of testosterone initiate the apoptotic cascade…….Elevated testosterone concentrations increase cell death……These effects of testosterone on neurons will have long term effects on brain function.”
M. Estradal, et al
Elevated Testosterone Induces Apoptosis in Neuronal Cells
Journal Of Biological Chemistry…..Volume 281…September 1, 2006…page 25492 – 25501
.
“The evidence that supraphysiological doses of anabolic androgenic steroids cause neurotrophic unbalance……anabolic androgenic steroids abuse in humans may affect mechanisms that lie at the core of neuronal plasticity.”
S.Pieretti, et al
Brain Nerve Growth Factor Unbalance Induced by Anabolic Androgenic Steroids in Rat
Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise……Volume 45 #1….January 2013…page 29 – 35
.
.
Drug use & drug testing are a sham and a scam.
Put data ahead of dogma.
Follow the data not the crowd.
I applaud the women who signed the petition to the IAAF about the supposed gender rule, perhaps should be called the Caster Semenya rule. Couple weeks ago Caster Semenya ran an 800m PR at 2-tenths-of-a-second faster than Ana Quirot ran 29 years ago. The problem with the women’s 800m isn’t Caster Semenya or her testosterone levels. The problem with the women’s 800m is the event having gone no where in the last 40 years.
Hundreds of 800m runners with 400m PR’s at 53 that can’t hold 58’s for 2 laps [1:56 or faster]. Hundreds!!!
That’s the problem!!!
Caster Semenya’s 400m PR = 50.40
Can’t hold 55’s for 2 laps [1:50 or faster].
Leave her alone!
.
Last week she finished 6th in a 1500m.
The reason she finished 6th is due to 5 women running faster than her PR of 3:59.92…..aside from running faster than the 4:00:44 near PR she ran that day.
Leave her alone!
Sport Business
Probably a good time for folks to stop continuing to claim soccer will never become a major sport in America. U.S. pro teams putting butts in the seats, more players drawing salaries above $1 million. Aside from Premiere league being on NBC each weekend complete with pre/post game commentary shows like the NFL, now Bundesliga in Germany is also broadcasting in the U.S. on FOX. Sport promotions TV commercials now airing on a regular basis leading up to each season.
All the basics in the road map to major sport status that were followed by the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball are being achieved. Has taken quite some time but step by step growth has moved the sport from once every 4 years attention to 3 pro leagues airing soccer games nation wide.
Track & Field can do this too.
Stephen Hawking, moving on to whatever is next.
A quote that’s been at the top of the homepage of TheETG website for about a decade…….
“I don’t know that there is any magic level of interest in science that people ought to have. But the more they understand, the more they will be able to control their destiny and achieve their other aims.” —[Stephen Hawking]
My data driven mantra of the last 2 decades……drug use & drug testing are a sham and a scam.
[Inside The Games, by Nick Butler, Saturday March 10, 2018]—–“The news raises fresh concerns over whether the integrity of the anti-doping process at events, including last month’s Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, have been compromised by the problems.”
“WADA launched an investigation in January following claims that the new-generation BEREG-KIT Geneva security bottles, made by Berlinger, could potentially be opened.
German journalist Hajo Seppelt claimed in a documentary on ARD that they had been able to open sealed containers “without trace”.
WADA recommended that the new version should not be used at Pyeongchang 2018 and that organisers should continue to use the BEREG-KIT 2016, released for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which they claimed to be satisfied with.”
“It is now possible, however, that even the older version may be susceptible to problems.”
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1062471/berlinger-to-withdraw-from-doping-control-business-after-more-problems-with-testing-kits
ETG info: drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —–
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
Conflict of interest.
Person Z owns business X.
Person Z is elected President of org B.
Issues impacting business X are voted on by the board of org B.
By definition, Person Z has a conflict of interest in overseeing org B discussions & votes on those issues.
FBI Investigation
org A had some financial corruption issues.
As a result, several of org A’s business deals are being investigated.
One of those deals was with business X owned by person Z.
org B is affiliated with org A.
By definition, it is bad business practice to allow person Z to continue in place while there’s an open FBI investigation of org A’s business deal with person Z’s company, business X.
org B’s temporary removal of person Z represents best practices in any company/organization in America.
Under normal circumstances, an organization President under FBI investigation would voluntarily step aside until the investigation is completed. Business ethics 101. A principle taught at every major University across America, including U of Oregon.
.
[The Oregonian, Ken Goe, February 20, 2018]—-“He apparently didn’t help himself by failing to disclose to the board he had been contacted as part of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in its probe into the bidding processes of international sporting events.”
[Oregon Track & Field, Ken Goe, February 21, 2018]—“Meek faults Lananna for not telling the board or his employers at the University of Oregon, where he remains an associate athletic director, that he had been questioned by DOJ investigators.”
Recently added a new page [TheETG human psyc] to TheETG website.
A couple months ago TheETG Research Notes were added to TheETG website. More than 3 decades of my notes from research reading from the late 1980’s to the present.
They were added to the top of TheETG Classroom page of the website. The research reading is from TheETG Human Performance Library consisting of about 60 research journals across 8 – 10 doctoral disciplines.
Access to information and the ability to apply it is the major mechanism of success in human performance in track & field, in medicine, in health & wellness. As you continue to acquire and apply more information you continue to expand the area of what is possible.
TheETG research notes, brain & nervous system —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/ResearchNotesbrainnerve.pdf
TheETG research notes, immune system —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/ResearchNotesimmunesystem.pdf
TheETG research notes, genetics —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/ResearchNotesgenetics.pdf
TheETG research notes, exercise physiology —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/ResearchNotesexercisephysiology.pdf
TheETG research notes, cancer —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/ResearchNotesnutrition.pdf
TheETG research notes, nutrition —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/ResearchNotescancer.pdf
.
I’m in Columbus Ohio for the USA Track & Field annual meeting this week. Arrived on Wednesday. Have been attending the meetings of committees…..Coaches Advisory, Athletes Advisory, Law & Legislation, U.S. Track Meet Directors. Attended the opening general session. I’ll attend the closing general session and Board Of Directors meeting on Sunday, and return home to Austin on Monday.
Yesterday Jill Pilgrim, former General Council for USA Track & Field came to the U.S. Track Meet Directors meeting as the new Executive Director for the Track & Field Athletes Association. It appears that the athletes may now be able to resolve what I believe are their 2 long standing weaknesses that have hurt their effectiveness…..a lack of institutional memory, lack of knowledge of the structure, rules, bylaws of USA Track & Field [a knowledge of “how things work”, and thus how to change & improve things].
Also of note is that I’ve decided to not join the U.S. Track & Cross-Country Coaches Association, and of course TheETG bylaws contain a statement that frowns on joining an athlete “union” outside of the Athletes Advisory Committee. I’m aware of past issues and frustrations of both athletes & coaches that led to formation of athlete and coach “unions” outside of the committee structures USA Track & Field. I don’t believe these were/are necessary to advance the ball for the sport.
Voted yesterday for the Jesse Owens award. I’ll be at the Annual Meeting of USA Track & Field in Columbus Ohio at the end of this month and at the Jesse Owens Awards Banquet.
For me, easy vote for the men but had some difficulty on the women’s side choosing between Tori Bowie and Emma Coburn.
My choices for the Jesse Owen’s Award Winner as the top American Track & Field athlete of 2017……
men = Chirstian Taylor…..triple jump, went over 59 feet, #2 in history
women = Emma Coburn…..3000m steeple chase, against the best field in history at the World Championships she won and set an American Record
[Pitsiladis] “Many of these compounds in a highly-trained individual do absolutely nothing from the point of view of enhancing performance…..”
“…Athletes think if it’s on a list, it works.”
[Roger Pielke Jr, director of the Sports Governance Centre at the University of Colorado-Boulder, CO, USA]…..“WADA’s expansion of banned substances has created a conflict of interest because “a bigger list implies a need for more tests and more testing, which both imply an expansion of the anti-doping industry…..”
S.Devi
Overhaul of global anti-doping system needed
Lancet — Volume 387 #10034 — May 28, 2016 — page 2188
ETG info: drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —–
https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
.
TheETG website. 10,000 visitors so far this year.
Averaging 2 visits per visitor, over 1000 visits last at least 1 – 2 hours.
Part of TheETG mission is to proliferate information so aside from other content there are 2 “packets pages” where there are about 50, $free pdf packets to read/print.
The most viewed packets have a little over 300 views.
The Top 20 most viewed packets so far this year…….
1 — TheETGkneeshoulderrepair.pdf
2 — TheETGTrackPromotionmasterofsport.pdf
3 — TheETGMasterOfSport.pdf
4 — TheETGstopalcoholcaffeine.pdf
5 — TheETGRecoverRestoreAdaptMasterOfSport.pdf
6 — TheETGwarmup.pdf
7 — TheETGnoosteoporosis.pdf
8 — TheETGromsMasterOfSport.pdf
9 — TheETGThisIsTrack&Fieldmasterofsport.pdf
10 — TheETGstopdrug.pdf
.
11 — TheETGpsychology.pdf
12 — TheETGcoachingMasterOfSport.pdf
13 — TheETGmeganutrientsMasterOfSport.pdf
14 — TheETGbackshoulderrepair.pdf
15 — TheETGexerciseprogram.pdf
16 — TheETGnervequadpara.pdf
17 — TheETGmindbodymed.pdf
18 — TheETGcancerkill.pdf
19 — TheETGrunningformMasterOfSport.pdf
20 — TheETGgeneticMasterOfSport.pdf
Just cast my ballot.
My nominees for this year’s inductees into the USA Track & Field Hall Of Fame……..
1. Leroy Burrell [former World Record holder 100m, 4 x 100m relay]
2. Sandra Farmer Patrick [former American Record holder 400m hurdles]
3. Steve Lewis [Olympic Champion 400m]
ETG info: drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
I attended just about all of the annual meetings during the decade of the 1990’s. My first was in Washington D.C. around 1988 or 89. In the 2000’s I pretty much checked out of the sport for quite a while to focus on designing what will hopefully be a disruptive innovation type of training program. In 2016 started the process of getting back into the sport by attending my first annual meeting [Orlando, Florida] in about 15 or 16 years. Have returned to attending these consistently. I’ll be at the 2017 annual meeting. In August, bought my plane ticket and made hotel reservations for the meeting in Columbus, Ohio November 29 – December 4.
Committee meetings I’ll be attending……
— Athletes Advisory committee
— Opening session
— Coaching Advisory committee
— U.S. Track Meet Directors Association
— Law & Legislation committee
— Closing session
— USA Track & Field Board Of Directors meeting
Allan Besselink PT, Dip. MDT [Smart Sport International, Austin, Texas]
Last Fall he was one of the headliners in Copenhagen, Denmark at the McKenzie International’s pre-conference workshop “MDT and the Athlete”.
Last Friday….in the photo, he was speaking in Brasilia, Brazil at Brazil’s physical therapy association’s international conference.
TheETG Physical Therapist since 1992, Allan owns his P.T. clinic Smart Sport International and is a college instructor at P.T. schools in the Austin area, Adjunct assistant professor at Austin Community College in the Physical Therapist Assistant program, Contributing Faculty at the University of St. Augustine in the Physical Therapy program.
Allan has been the Physical Therapist for the United States Track and Field team at the World Cup Of Track & Field, World Championship for Half-Marathon, World Cup Race-Walk, event staff for the Olympic Games, U.S. Olympic Trials, USA Track and Field Championships, and the World Junior Track and Field Championships. Coached world ranked triathletes, duathletes, World Champion masters runners, author of the book….”RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”.
He lectures each year at the Texas Physical Therapy Association’s annual meeting, is brought in to give his “RunSmart” seminars to groups of athletes and physical therapists nation wide, and among the American Physical Therapy Association membership has become a nationally renowned blogger on all things that matter in the PT profession. With the global McKenzie Diagnosis & Therapy [MDT] organization he has been their newsletter editor in years past, now a featured commentator in the newsletter, as well as a speaker in sessions leading up to their annual conferences looking to move MDT deeper into elite sport and treatment of professional athletes.
Allan Besselink is one of about 500 Physical Therapists, Doctors, and Chiropractors in the -world- to have not just certification but the diploma in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy [a.k.a. McKenzie Method] from the McKenzie Institute International. Self-employed physical therapist, college instructor, and a globally recognized thought leader in the physical therapy community.
.
I first met Allan at one of my lectures in 1991 at a nationally known running store in Austin called RunTex. That led to a tradition of having Sunday dinner at his house almost every Sunday for nearly a decade. We attended just about every USA Track & Field Convention together through the decade of the 1990’s. A proud Canadian born and raised in tiny town Brockville, Ontario, he arrived in Austin about a year before I did, attracted by the live music scene and home of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Now a U.S. citizen, Allan is a world famous thought leader in his profession as a physical therapist.
Allan Besselink PT, Dip. MDT [Smart Sport International, Austin, Texas]
Last Fall he was one of the headliners in Copenhagen, Denmark at the McKenzie International’s pre-conference workshop “MDT and the Athlete”. This Friday he’s speaking in Brasilia, Brazil at Brazil’s physical therapy association’s international conference.
I first met Allan at one of my lectures in 1991 at a nationally known running store in Austin called RunTex.
That led to a tradition of having Sunday dinner at his house almost every Sunday for nearly a decade.
We attended just about every USA Track & Field Convention together through the decade of the 1990’s. A proud Canadian born and raised in tiny town Brockville, Ontario, he arrived in Austin about a year before I did, attracted by the live music scene and home of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Now a U.S. citizen, Allan is a world famous thought leader in his profession as a physical therapist. He owns his own P.T. clinic, is a college instructor at 3 different P.T. schools in the Austin area, lectures every year at the Texas Physical Therapy Association’s annual meeting, is brought in to give his “RunSmart” seminars to groups of athletes and physical therapists nation wide, and among the American Physical Therapy Association membership has become a nationally renowned blogger on all things that matter in the PT profession. With the global McKenzie Diagnosis & Therapy [MDT] organization he has been their newsletter editor in years past, now a featured commentator in the newsletter, as well as a speaker in sessions leading up to their annual conferences looking to move MDT deeper into elite sport and treatment of professional athletes.
.
TheETG Physical Therapist since 1992. Physical Therapist for the United States Track and Field team at the World Cup Of Track & Field, World Championship for Half-Marathon, World Cup Race-Walk, event staff for the Olympic Games, U.S. Olympic Trials, USA Track and Field Championships, and the World Junior Track and Field Championships. Coached world ranked triathletes, duathletes, World Champion masters runners, author of the book….”RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”. Allan Besselink is one of about 500 Physical Therapists, Doctors, and Chiropractors in the -world- to have not just certification but the diploma in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy [a.k.a. McKenzie Method] from the McKenzie Institute International. Self-employed physical therapist, college instructor, and a globally recognized thought leader in the physical therapy community.
Prayers to John McCain and his family/friends. Same situation as Ted Kennedy.
Glial cells, the brain’s immune system.
Not an area of cancer cell formation that we do well with.
As a species we’ve done quite poorly in learning how to deal with those cells when they become problematic.
Until the late 1990’s, in physiology, medicine, exercise physiology, and sport we behaved as if the brain and nervous system didn’t exist.
Muscle, heart, lungs, and blood was everything.
But the brain and nervous system control everything.
.
Now in physiology, medicine, exercise physiology, and sport things are just now getting fully geared up.
Way late for folks that are way down the line with anything from brain degenerative disease [Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, ALS, schizophrenia, etc] to brain cancer [glioblastoma, etc].
We got caught with our collective pants down.
The brain, nervous system, and immune system.
The Holy Grail of all things human.
Health, sport performance. Everything!
Craig Engels [w/mustache]…..is son of Todd Engels my fellow class of 1981 grad and track teammate at Fort Hunt high school, Alexandria Virginia. Yesterday’s 1500m final at the USA Track & Field Championships.
Missed top 3 by 2-hundredths of a second. Across the Potomac river at Georgetown University while Todd Engels and I were at Ft Hunt high school, John Gregorek [father of the 3rd place finisher] was one of America’s top steeple chasers and milers.
1 — 3:43.29 — Robby Andrews [adidas]
2 — 3:43.41 — Matthew Centrowitz [Nike Oregon Project]
3 — 3:43.99 — John Gregorek [ASICS]
4 — 3:44.01 — Craig Engels [Nike]
drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
Folks writing articles about the struggles of our sport in the United States.
My reply…….The NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball began doing true sport promotions in the 1970’s. Without Olympics related amateurism rules around their necks or the USOC mission, they were free to go all-in.
They are today where they should be for sports with 45 years to get that done.
We are today where we should be given that we don’t have 45 years of it behind us.
We’re just getting started at true sport promotions.
We’ve been at it for less than a decade.
We could use fewer articles complaining as if such is not the case.
USADA “report” on Alberto Salazar and athletes in the Nike Oregon Project was published online by FloTrack here in Austin Texas. Supposedly a “confidential” report USADA provided to the Texas Medical Board in response to a subpoena. Unless there are anti-Salazar track fans at the Texas Medical Board, it appears that USADA’s approach is to get a conviction in the court of public opinion if they can’t get one by following their own rules or the laws of the state of Texas.
Noteworthy is that about 99% of the “report” is about an amino acid, vitamin D, and thyroid hormone.
Good luck with that.
The “report”, rather than looking like a collection of facts that provide a narrative, instead reads more like a propaganda piece designed to be “leaked”. A document that suggests that USADA is lacking in an internal oversight. An organization that appears to be cutting corners in spite of being the organization that claims to catch athletes supposedly cutting corners.
Organizations involved in drug testing should avoid engaging situational ethics or “contempt of cop” types of behaviors.
The foolishness that is the belief in the efficacy of drugs, is once again stumbling the believers. So now the latest round of silliness is the idea of pressing the delete button on all world records. Start the entire list over again. Hmmm. I thought folks that believe in the efficacy of drugs were of the opinion that “the drug cheats will always be one step ahead of the scientists”. If we take that belief system to its logical conclusion what purpose is there to starting a new world record list. By definition it doesn’t matter whether there’s drug testing or not because “the drug cheats will always be one step ahead”. And the proposal comes with a 10 year cut-off. If the “drug cheat” can stay far enough ahead that their sample can survive 10 years of “the scientists” trying to catchup, then the world record stays on the books in year 10-plus-1 second. Such are the pretzels folks get twisted into with the belief in the efficacy of drugs.
That idea obviously ignores legal and financial issues involved.
I wanna be a fly on the wall inside the room when one of these believers volunteers to be the one to explain to the CEO’s of companies that are endorsement clients of various world record holders.
And for some reason Mr Coe is in favor of saying he never ran 1:41 for 800m.
I’d like to suggest that folks at the governing body level take a moment to consider reality in our sport…….
—– Drug efficacy believers wanna believe that record performances are impossible without drugs.
—– They wanna believe that everybody in a World Championship final are taking drugs. Read any thread on any track or running related internet forum from the last 2 decades.
—– There exists no method of deleting blind accusations and innuendo from our sport or any other sport.
Reality in our sport = the athlete I like is clean, everybody else is on drugs.
Drug use and drug testing are a sham and a scam. Yall are gonna bend yourselves into pretzels over this issue. Stop. Put data ahead of your dogma.
drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
More stuff in the media recently accusing Alberto Salazar of drug use. Summer 2015 on the press communications page of TheETG website I put an email back-and-forth that I had engaged in with David Epstein, author of the Propublica article that got global attention and hoopla emanating from a BBC “documentary” about Alberto Salazar and Nike Oregon Project.
To accept the things stated in his article, logically one had to first accept his not so passive assertion that no doctor in America would prescribe testosterone to a heart failure patient. Mr Salazar being that patient.
That seemed pretty foolish to me. So I confronted him via email with data.
He was displeased.
My facebook post……June 26, 2015
The last couple days I’ve been engaged an email exchange with David Epstein, author of the Propublica article.
He is defending the portion of his article about coach Alberto Salazar using testosterone for treatment of heart failure.
Most of the innuendo about Salazar and Nike Oregon Project athletes communicated in the article depends on readers accepting this portion of the article, implying that he may be giving it to the athletes as well in microdoses.
David Epstein has been defending this portion of his article by dismissing the study I sent him showing that testosterone is used effectively in heart failure patients in the United States…….such as Alberto Salazar who had a massive heart attack several years ago in front of his athletes near the track at Nike headquarters.
That study is on my facebook page [posted Friday June 26] and TheETG website on the Press & Media Communications page. He dismissed the study as being a decade old and having too few subjects, and that there are larger studies showing harm in testosterone use for heart patients.
Below is the response I sent him this afternoon……..
Ya, however the point is your characterization in your article.
You asked cardiologists…….”whether testosterone would ever be prescribed to treat a heart condition.”
The study I provided you obviously says yes.
You clearly left the reader with the suggestion that the answer was no.
You didn’t do proper fact checking or you disregarded the truth.
The problems with the study sited to you by the cardiologists in relation to your implied assertion in your article that no doctor would prescribe testosterone for fear of heart related downside………
—– “Men with a history of MI prior to the first prescription for TT or PDE5I were excluded from the post-prescription analyses.”
—– “Taken together, the evidence supports an association between testosterone therapy and risk of serious, adverse cardiovascular-related events–including non-fatal myocardial infarction–in men. However, there is some evidence that low endogenous testosterone levels may also be positively associated with cardiovascular events.”
—– “our study has limitations related to use of a health-care database that did not include information on the serologic or diagnostic indications for treatment. It also identified only subjects with non-fatal MIs, typically representing about 75% of the total incidence, and was based on the diagnosis of an attending physician, rather than a structured evaluation as might occur in a randomized trial. “
—– “Among older men, the two-fold increased risk was associated with TT prescription regardless of cardiovascular disease history, although this analysis was based on relatively small numbers of MI cases in each subgroup.”
————————-
The information below provides sufficient contradictory information about……..”whether testosterone would ever be prescribed to treat a heart condition.”……suggesting that you should -not- have suggested in your article that no doctor would prescribe testosterone for Alberto Salazar. You didn’t do proper fact checking or you disregarded the truth.
WebMD News [Wednesday July 2, 2014]
Study: No Link Between Testosterone, Heart Attack
Finding runs counter to some prior reports; much larger trials are needed, experts say
By Mary Elizabeth Dallas
“Although recent research has linked testosterone therapy with a higher risk for heart attack and stroke, a new study involving more than 25,000 older men suggests otherwise.”[Jacques Baillargeon, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston]—“…..there is a large body of evidence that is consistent with our finding of no increased risk of heart attack associated with testosterone use.”
“In fact, men at greater risk for heart problems who used testosterone actually had a lower rate of heart attacks than similar men who did not receive this treatment, the researchers said.”
————————-
The information below provides sufficient contradictory information about……..”whether testosterone would ever be prescribed to treat a heart condition.”…..suggesting that you should -not- have suggested in your article that no doctor would prescribe testosterone for Alberto Salazar. You didn’t do proper fact checking or you disregarded the truth.
Mayo Clinic……
What are the heart risks associated with testosterone therapy?
by Todd B. Nippoldt, M.D.
“…two recent studies have also reported a lower risk of death in men who were receiving testosterone than in those who were not.”
————————-
The information below provides sufficient contradictory information about……..”whether testosterone would ever be prescribed to treat a heart condition.”…..suggesting that you should -not- have suggested in your article that no doctor would prescribe testosterone for Alberto Salazar. You didn’t do proper fact checking or you disregarded the truth.
U.S. Food & Drug Administration
January 31, 2014
“At this time, FDA has not concluded that FDA-approved testosterone treatment increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. Patients should not stop taking prescribed testosterone products without first discussing any questions or concerns with their health care professionals. Health care professionals should consider whether the benefits of FDA-approved testosterone treatment is likely to exceed the potential risks of treatment.”
—————————————
The information below provides sufficient contradictory information about……..”whether testosterone would ever be prescribed to treat a heart condition.”…..suggesting that you should -not- have suggested in your article that no doctor would prescribe testosterone for Alberto Salazar. You didn’t do proper fact checking or you disregarded the truth.
M.Stout, et al
Testosterone Therapy During Exercise Rehabilitation in Male Patients With Chronic Heart Failure Who Have Low Testosterone Status
American Heart Journal….Volume 164 #6…2012…..page 893
“This study assessed the feasibility of a 12-week program of exercise, with and without intramuscular testosterone supplementation, in male patients with chronic heart failure and low testosterone status and collected preliminary data for key health outcomes.”
“This study shows for the first time that testosterone supplementation during a program of exercise rehabilitation is feasible and can positively impact on a range of key health outcomes in elderly male patients with CHF who have a low testosterone status.”
Jenn Suhr made a public statement about choosing to not compete this weekend at the USA Track & Field indoor championships without stating specifics she was referring to.
Public statement on secret occurrences. Come on man.
Making accusation without stating the accusation.
Can’t we all in Track & Field agree to avoid this approach.
I know what you did but I’m not gonna say what you did but I am gonna publicly state that you did it, whatever “it” is. Come on.
Boooo, hissss!
If “it” is a problem please say what “it” is.
A happy well done to fellow Ft Hunt high school grad and host of the NBC Today show, Hoda Kotb. Adopted a baby girl.
[USA Today, Tuesday February 21, 2017]—–“The Today anchor made the announcement on NBC’s morning show Tuesday via phone to viewers and a table full of her colleagues.
“I do have something to tell you,” Kotb, 52, began, “but how about this? Instead of telling you, I’m going to show you something.”
A picture of Kotb beaming while holding a newborn then appeared on screen to applause.
2016 coming to a close.
Not my greatest of years but certainly in the ballpark.
This year the ball was advanced pretty far in all areas except getting fit enough to run races.
In 2016 I revamped my website, attended my first annual meeting of USA Track & Field since the late 1990’s. Got caught-up on keeping-up with research reading in my list of about 60 research journals that I’ve followed since 1991. Started [at least] being able to speak in short sentences in the languages I’ve been working on since around 2005 [Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish].
On the running races front, at present I can’t say with 100% certainty that I’ll be racing in 2017.
I will be, with some significant degree of certainty racing in March 2018, indoor USA Track & Field Championships men’s 800m….the first round at least, if not the final. Obviously I’ll run one or 2 meets prior to that to get a qualifying time. Since this project has taken me so long [over 20 years longer than originally planned] the age thing will be newsworthy but hopefully -not- more so than TheETG training program at less than 5% of the required mileage of a more traditional approach. “Disruptive innovation” was the original objective when I started in the early 1990’s. This training program definitely moves that needle.
TheETG position on the turmoil related to the Youth committee chair an executive committee folks……..
We hired our last 3 CEO’s largely around the common theme of bringing in more sponsors. The “no brainer” areas to pursue first in bringing in more sponsors obviously are companies that make things that we use in our sport or provide services that we use in our sport.
Starting blocks, timing systems, online race registration sites, etc, etc, etc.
No committee chair, no person on an executive committee in USA Track & Field should be surprised to find out at some point that company X has been granted -exclusive- rights to be the “official provider” of product X or service Z to USA Track & Field and any and all official USATF competitions.
— In my view the CEO of USA Track & Field doesn’t need to consult with committee chairs prior to signing a contract with a company as a “official provider”. We’ve fired CEO’s for failing to sign enough companies to contracts. We can’t now demand to have a thumbs up or down input and micro-manage the CEO’s job.
— In my view the CEO is wrong if he suspends anyone for violating the “official provider” exclusivity contract without first giving that committee chair and executive committee members a request that they cease and desist.
— In my view, if the CEO contacted the committee chair and executive committee members and issued a request that they cease and desist violating the “official provider” exclusivity contract……he isn’t required to ask twice. He isn’t required to grant a hearing to get their side of the story. The CEO has done his due diligence. Whatever happens after that ain’t on him.
If folks persist after being asked to cease and desist, whatever happens next is on them.
If they feel they were doing the right thing, they should own it.
When you choose the behavior you choose the consequences.
We can’t have 20 CEO’s all with authority to decide that an “official provider” will be a kinda sorta “official provider” with somewhat exclusivity rights.
If we don’t like the companies that the CEO has chosen as an “official provider” there is recourse in all manner of ways other than to persist in violating the exclusivity clause of a contract…..and by way of those actions, telling other companies that you might go rogue on them as well if they are so foolish as to sign a contract with USA Track & Field.
Your actions tell companies that the CEO has no control or authority because any one or more committee chairs might decide for themselves what companies they’ll do business with.
I’ll be in Orlando Florida on Wednesday through next Monday, attending the annual meeting of USA Track & Field.
I attended just about all of the annual meetings during the decade of the 1990’s. My first was in Washington D.C. around 1988 or 89.
In the 2000’s I pretty much checked out of the sport for quite a while to focus on designing what will hopefully be a disruptive innovation type of training program. Now starting to get fully back into the sport, so this will be my first annual meeting in about 15 or 16 years.
Congrats to Univ Of Texas coach Tonja Buford Bailey named by USA Track & Field as “Coach Of The Year”. One of the top spring and hurdles coaches in the world.
Only 2 women have ever won this award since it began 18 years ago and she is the 2nd. The first, also from Austin Texas was Sue Humphrey in 1998, one of the top high jump coaches in the world. Coached Charles Austin, the American Record Holder, 7’10” even though she is about 5’3″ tall.
Austin Texas, track & field lives here!
Drug use and drug testing are sham and a scam.
Beware of drug testers looking to make mo money, mo money, mo money.
[Reuters, May 9, 2016….by Steve Keating ] — WADA seeks TV rights tax to help pay for anti-doping fight.
“A tax on television rights holders and contributions from sponsors could provide new revenue streams for the cash-strapped World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as it looks to fund the fight against performance-enhancing drugs in sport.”
“…Reedie floated the idea of 0.5 percent tax on worldwide sporting media rights he estimated at $35 billion that would contribute $175 million a year to the organisation’s war chest.”
“WADA currently operates on an annual budget of $30 million with 50 percent coming from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the rest from governments.”
drug use and drug testing are sham and a scam —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
Drug use and drug testing are a sham and a scam…….
“The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it’s stepping up warnings about testosterone and other steroid drugs.”
“The FDA has previously warned against over-promotion and overuse of testosterone replacement products……The FDA does not approve the use of testosterone to treat the effects of aging. But it’s already a $2 billion industry, with millions of men buying gel, pills or getting injections.”
by Maggie Fox
FDA Steps Up Warnings for Testosterone, Other Steroids
Health, October 25, 2016
drugs & drug testing, sham & scam —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGstopdrug.pdf
Congrats to Shannon Rowbury, Nike Oregon Project and coach Alberto Salazar.
Last year she became the American Record Holder at 1500m.
Last week she became the American Record Holder at 5000m.
Nearly dropped out of the sport after college due to repetitive injury.
Got with John Cook my college coach. Progressed to world ranking at 1500m. When he retired she got with Alberto Salazar.
Now one of the top American distance runners of all-time.
.
I cast my ballot for this year’s USA Track & Field Hall Of Fame inductees.
1. Butch Reynolds [former World Record Holder 400m]
2. Leroy Burrell [former World Record Holder 100m]
3. Sandra Farmer-Patrick [former American Record Holder 400m hurdles]
Pardon my bias, Sandra is a fellow Austin resident. A year or so after I moved here in late 1990 she was #1 in the World.
At the world level, her personal best 52.79 run 23 years ago is still among the Top 10 in history, currently the 9th fastest time ever run.
Ok, yes I’m glad Matt Centrowitz won the 1500m.
With that outta the way, he ran 3:50. I’ll recite my position dating back to 1992 when Fermin Cacho won running 3:40. I dislike watching folks get on the podium at a World Championships or other major championship having run the time of a high schooler or young college athlete.
Welcome to my complete disdain for the “jog 3 laps and sprint like a mad man” so-called race strategy.
I don’t understand the concept of training hard, getting fit, then showing up on race day and treating the track like its a dice table in Las Vegas.
Training hard getting fit, then setting it all off to the side, outta your way so you can jog most of the race and try to outkick everybody.
I don’t get that.
I didn’t get that back in the day with Steve Ovett, Seb Coe, Steve Scott, Sydney Maree, Jim Spivey, Steve Holman, Jeff Atkinson, Said Aouita, Noureddine Morceli, Hicham El Guerrouj, Asbel Kiprop etc, etc. So many championships won by these folks collectively, yes, but so many lost after running fast times earlier in the season.
And among Americans, so many left at home to watch the World Championships or other major championships on TV after running a fast time earlier in the season then rolling the dice, treating the track in the final at the USA Track & Field Championships like a dice table in Las Vegas, finishing 4th or worse as a result. Why not just attempt to run up to your fitness level and embrace the outcome of that.
Consistent behavior across a period of years in the men’s hurdles contributed to forcing the creation of the “no false start” rule for everybody across all running events. Perhaps its time for a “no medals” rule for the men’s 1500m.
To qualify for major championships you already have to not only be among the top 3 from your country but you have to hit a qualifying time also. Maybe its time to set a minimum qualifying time for medals as well.
Anything slower than the cut-off time and all you get is a handshake and a pat on the back. No medals, no prize money checks. You run slower than 3:30 or 3:32 in the final, congrats on winning or placing but no medal for you.
Sorry, not sorry.
Probably set the cut-off at whatever time was #8 or #10 on the world list in the previous year.
Medals at elite championships should be earned via elite level performances.
Austin Texas, Track & Field lives here!
Current and former Austin residents at the Olympic Games……
— Ryan Crouser, shot put Olympic Champion, Olympic Record Holder.
His 22.52 meters [73’10”] now the 10th best shot putter in history.
— Michelle Carter, shot put, Olympic Champion, broke her own American Record to win 20.63 meters [67′ 8″].
— Ashley Spencer, 400m hurdles Olympic Bronze medalist.
— Byron Robinson, 400m hurdles finished 3rd in his semi-final in a personal best 48.65. Didn’t advance to the final.
— Mike Rodgers, 4 x 100m relay ran lead-off leg in the semi-final, helped them get into the final. His 9.86 last year ended the season at #5 in the World. His personal best of 9.85 is 13th fastest in history.
— Morolake Akinosun, 4 x 100m ran anchor leg in the semi-final, helped them get into the final. At the U.S. Olympic Trials she ran a personal best 10.95 finished 4th in the fastest 100m final in American history.
— Mario Sategna, assistant coach [throwing events] of the men’s Olympic Track & Field Team. Head track coach at University Of Texas, both the men’s and women’s 2016 Olympic Champions in the shot put are former Univ Of Texas athletes.
— Courtney Okolo, 4 x 400m relay Olympic Champion. The NCAA National Champion at 400m. Courtney is the Collegiate Record Holder.
— Sanya Richards-Ross, NBC commenator for track & field. 400m World Champion and American Record Holder
— Trey Hardee, NBC commenator for track & field. 2-time Decathlon World Champion
— Lewis Johnson, NBC commenator for track & field.
I’m not a fan of drug testing or drug testers in sport other than body building.
So its always quite pleasing to me when they get slapped down within their own system of nonsense. Given the collective punishment the drug testing folks have applied to Russian athletes it pleases me to no end that long jumper Darya Klishina won her case yesterday and will compete at the Olympic Games in the qualifying round today and final on Wednesday night.
Darya is among the top 50 long jumpers of all time.
She lives and trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and hasn’t lived in Russia for 3 years. Been tested here in the U.S. more than 30 times
Quite outstanding that her case was overturned and the fact that her coach is Loren Seagrave makes it all the more satisfying.
Back in the day, a few months before I left Virginia in 1990 I was chairman of the sport science & sports medicine committee of the local association of USA Track & Field. I brought in fellow sport science nut Loren Seagrave, the top sprint & hurdles coach in the world to speak for 4 hours at T.C. Williams high school for a sprint clinic I hosted for local high school track coaches the day before northern Virginia’s regional championship meet, also held at T.C. Williams.
Olympic Games are underway thus I re-post this from earlier this year.
[Sunday April 17, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Its been a decade or so since some in our sport, quite wisely in my view, started discussing the subject of making our World Track & Field Championships a stand-alone focus of the sport. Doing so by making a formal separation from the Olympic Games. Achieving this by limiting participation of Track & Field athletes in the Olympics to athletes under 20 or 22 years of age.
Perhaps the current issues with the Olympic Games is the universe telling us to get on with it.
Too expensive to host. Too expensive to attend. Ticket prices out of reach of the average citizen of the host country. Fewer country’s making serious bids. Expensive venues sitting idle after the Games are over. Now in Brazil….pollution, low ticket sales, Zika virus, impeachment of their country’s leadership.
In the last 50 years the Olympic Games has been a blessing and a curse for our sport. The world stage every 4 years was the blessing. The rules of amateurism and branding issues were the curse. And in the United States in the 1970s when the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball were reaching escape velocity via sport promotions, branding, and athlete pay, we in Track & Field were stuck with the Olympics as a ball-and-chain around our neck. Branded in the public’s mind as a once every 4 years sport. All narratives being that any athlete training must be training for “the Olympics”, in the process of being an “Olympic hopeful”. So attached to the Olympic Games were we that we didn’t even have a World Championship.
We have a World Track & Field Championships. Even the first one in 1983 was worthy of being branded as -the- best track meet on earth. At some point we’re probably gonna have to end our codependent relationship with the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Games. To be a stand-alone sport with a stand-alone championship. Maybe this is a good time to assert the World Championships, an event we control, to be the sole focus and stand-alone Championship at the top of our sport.
January – June 2016
.
[Thursday June 2, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
TheETG training program in a nutshell……Traditional training programs focus on training up muscle, red blood cells, heart and lung capacity. TheETG focuses primarily and almost solely on the brain, nervous system, and immune system. Traditional training programs call certain days “easy days” or “recovery days”. Those have all been stripped away, replaced simply by rest. In the area of periodization, traditional training programs progress over a period of months from slow mileage and hills, to some higher velocity training, then some “speed work” and so-called “peaking”, then several weeks off and loss of fitness. TheETG training program condenses the “base building” and all other workouts into a one month period of time with all the workouts, rest days, and break periods standardized rather than making-up stuff as we go, everything changing from one month to the next, from one season to the next, from one year to the next.
This makes the design of TheETG training program pretty simple. There are 5 standardized running workouts in the training program each month all year around. In addition there are several designated weights and stretching workouts. The all workouts are done all-year-around. They -don’t- come and go from the training program as is the norm with traditional training programs. All training is spread across the -first- 25 days of each month. From Day 26 to the final day of each month is a Break Period from any and all training.
TheETG velocity oriented “all interval training all the time” training program.
1 —– Base Building Mile’s Day= 3 x 1 mile with full recovery in between each. Fartlek run placed inside an interval workout done on an hills course with surges in pace up each mega-sized hill. Usually run on the 1rst day of each month. In terms of physiological training adaptations “altitude training” is more about hills that come with mountains than the air at altitude. This workout is TheETG training program’s velocity oriented, “all intervals all the time” replacement for what practitioners of traditional training programs call “altitude training” as well as a “long run”.
2 —– Base Building 800’s Day = 3 x 800m with full recovery between each. Usually run on the 7th day of each month. TheETG velocity oriented version of what is called a “tempo run” in a traditional training program. A moderate to fast pace run, done in interval form on the track.
3 —– Base Building 600’s Day = 3 x 600m with full recovery between each. Usually run on the 13th day of each month. TheETG velocity oriented version of what is called a “tempo run” in a traditional training program. A moderate to fast pace run, done in interval form on the track.
4 —– Base Building 400’s Day = 3 x 400m with full recovery between each. Usually run on the 19th day of each month. TheETG velocity oriented version of what is called a “tempo run” in a traditional training program. A moderate to fast pace run, done in interval form on the track.
5 —– TheETG Goal Pace workout = reps run at goal pace, cumulative reps add up to the race distance. Usually run on the 25th day of each month.
Looking back at the end of each month, TheETG’s velocity oriented “all interval training all the time” training program, including warmups, etc. averages about 5 to 10 miles per week rather than the 70 to 150 miles per week of a traditional, mileage oriented training program.
———————————————————-
.
[Sunday April 17, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Its been a decade or so since some in our sport, quite wisely in my view, started discussing the subject of making our World Track & Field Championships a stand-alone focus of the sport. Doing so by making a formal separation from the Olympic Games. Achieving this by limiting participation of Track & Field athletes in the Olympics to athletes under 20 or 22 years of age.
Perhaps the current issues with the Olympic Games is the universe telling us to get on with it.
Too expensive to host. Too expensive to attend. Ticket prices out of reach of the average citizen of the host country. Fewer country’s making serious bids. Expensive venues sitting idle after the Games are over. Now in Brazil….pollution, low ticket sales, Zika virus, impeachment of their country’s leadership.
In the last 50 years the Olympic Games has been a blessing and a curse for our sport. The world stage every 4 years was the blessing. The rules of amateurism and branding issues were the curse. And in the United States in the 1970s when the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball were reaching escape velocity via sport promotions, branding, and athlete pay, we in Track & Field were stuck with the Olympics as a ball-and-chain around our neck. Branded in the public’s mind as a once every 4 years sport. All narratives being that any athlete training must be training for “the Olympics”, in the process of being an “Olympic hopeful”. So attached to the Olympic Games were we that we didn’t even have a World Championship.
We have a World Track & Field Championships. Even the first one in 1983 was worthy of being branded as -the- best track meet on earth. At some point we’re probably gonna have to end our codependent relationship with the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Games. To be a stand-alone sport with a stand-alone championship. Maybe this is a good time to assert the World Championships, an event we control, to be the sole focus and stand-alone Championship at the top of our sport.
———————————————————-
.
[Friday March 4, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
A congrats to USA Track & Field for what’s about to happen over the next few weeks. The indoor USA Track & Field Championships followed by Portland’s hosting the indoor World Track & Field Championships on American soil. Quite outstanding!
The congrats on the USA Track & Field Championships I give somewhat sarcastically, related to indoor championship moving to Portland and away from Albuquerque. No offense intended to hosts in Albuquerque, New Mexico but going back 3 decades I’ve never been a fan of awarding any major championship in our sport to any city located at altitude. About 20 years ago I went so far as to write into TheETG bylaws that club members will avoid competing in track meets located above 1000 feet altitude.
Promotions and business wise our championships are everything. As a sport we should take reasonable steps with our championship meets to provide conditions for good performances across all events.
Hosting championships at altitude or awarding outdoor meets to places where its cold in June. These are things we should just say to the bidding and organizing committees at those locations…..sorry-not-sorry.
———————————————————-
.
[Saturday February 6, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Until earlier today the National High School Record for the indoor mile was held by fellow former northern Virginian, Allan Webb [3:59] set 15 years ago. Today at a meet in New York City yet another northern Virginian, Drew Hunter ran 3:58 to break the record.
Prior to graduating South Lakes high school, Reston Virginia Webb broke the outdoor record set by Jim Ryun in the 1960’s, running 3:53. After college, Webb went on to become the American Record Holder for the mile at 3:46.
In the history of the sport in America only 2 high schoolers have ever run under 4:00 for the mile indoors. As of today, the 2 fastest indoor high school milers in American history come from the northern quarter of Virginia.
And last Fall, both the cross-country National Champions, both the boys and the girls champion, were from northern Virginia [Drew Hunter & Weini Kelati].
Yet another example of Virginia’s 40 – 45 years of being overly represented in producing the nation’s top high school track athletes and coaches [and in producing folks that go on to become among the world’s top athletes and coaches].
To further highlight the point of the degree to which high school track in Virginia is overly represented at the top of our country, using the current national rankings so far this indoor track season;
— One or more boys from Virginia rank among the top 3 in the nation in the following events…..60m, 200m, 300m, 500m, 1000m, mile, 3000m, 55m hurdles, long jump
— One or more girls from Virginia rank among the top 3 in the nation in the following events…..300m, 500m, 1000m, mile, 3000m, 55m hurdles, long jump, triple jump
Its been like this for decade after decade.
———————————————————-
.
[Tuesday February 2, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Track underway in the new year, a belated congrats to Jama Aden on last year.
He arrived to get his masters degree at George Mason University, Fairfax Virginia shortly after I left as an undergrad in the early 1980’s. He coached by and with my college coach John Cook. In the late 1980’s while I was coaching in the area at the high school level they coached one of my former college teammates Abdi Bile to be the 1987 World Champion at 1500m.
In the 1990’s Jama moved with John Cook to Portland to help coach one of Nike’s distance runner development projects. After coach Cook “retired” to Florida, later coaching several of our country’s top distance runners [Leo Manzano to an Olympic Medal at 1500m, Shannon Rowbury to a world ranking at 1500m, Shalane Flanagan to an American Record at 10,000m, etc, etc], Jama went on to establish himself as one of the top track coaches in the world.
He has since coached several male distance runners to world rankings and world championship medals. Last summer likely the most successful season of his career. His top female athlete Genzebe Dibaba took down the world record for 1500m that stood for 22 years.
1500m is about a football field short of a mile. She ran 3:50, about 4:06 mile pace……demonstrating that we’ll eventually see a woman run under 4:00 for a mile during our life time.
.
Archived selected
Press & Media Communications
.
.
[Monday December 21, 2015] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Experiencing groundhog day and deja vu all over again. Here we go again with the argument over which event we should use, the mile or the 1500m.
Come on man!!!
The sport has been around a while. Why can’t we all just agree to abandon any and all repetitive foolish statements about our sport that were made 40 years ago, and again 30 years ago, and again 20 years ago, etc, etc. So that both younger and older crowds can all get on the same page on this, let me help those in the older crowd who should have some institutional memory to draw on, and let me help out the younger crowd who seem to be convinced that all statements and belief systems they experience in the sport are new.
1 — track & field isn’t dying.
2 — the 1500m isn’t preventing track & field from acquiring new fans
3 — track athlete drug use and news stories about drug use aren’t killing, haven’t killed, and won’t kill track & field
So lets all agree to stop with these.
Sport promotions. That’s the only thing that matters. We won’t and can’t change anything about where our sport is today in the United States until we go there and do that. Sport Promotions!!!
Running the mile rather than 1500m at the college level does little to address or resolve that issue. Altering event distances isn’t sport promotions. The 1500m isn’t a barrier to attracting new fans of track & field in the United States. Making the sport less standardized doesn’t facilitate sport promotions. Stop. Focus on making championships meets more standardized, from high school to college to pro, and yes that means at the high school level running 400m hurdles, 1500m, and 3000m.
Relative to the NFL, NBA, and baseball, we are where we are as a sport because they have a 30 to 40 year head-start on us in sport promotions. Its not about news stories on drugs. USA Track & Field isn’t stealing money from athletes. And Nike isn’t the devil. Our situation as a sport is not about the metric system. Sport promotions…..Stop wasting time and energy looking else where. You cannot change what you will not acknowledge.
Place your attention on sport promotions. That’s all that matters.
———————————————————-
.
[Tuesday April 28, 2015] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Given the frequency of occurrence, this isn’t a small point or request. During TV broadcasts of track meets in the United States, there’s a problem with commentators referring to past Olympic Games and World Championships based on the city where they took place.
During an NFL game this coming season, nobody is gonna refer to the New England Patriots as being the winners “in Glendale”. Few people in the TV audience would know what that means. Commentators will instead say that the New England Patriots are last year’s Super Bowl Champions. No mention of where the game was held. It would be helpful if track & field commentators would do the same. When talking about an athlete, saying that person was the winner in Beijing or the winner in London. What does that mean to most people in the TV audience?
Would it not enhance the broadcast to simply stick with saying the athlete is the 2012 Olympic Champion, the 2013 World Champion, the 2011 World Champion. The city can be left out of the equation. Few people can tell you what city last season’s Super Bowl was held. Why expect folks to instantly recall where the last Olympic Games was held?
———————————————————-
.
[Thursday March 26, 2015] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
I read the Flotrack article about Justin Gatlin. They refer to a study done in 2013 by a group at University Of Oslo in Norway reported on by the BBC in October 2014
Testosterone given to mice for 2 weeks. About 12 weeks later they had the testosterone mice and placebo mice exercise for 14 days. Both groups showed a large amount of increase in the stuff that was measured. After the first 6 days……”The two groups afterwards grew in parallel…”.
Then based on the 12 week time frame that supposedly constitutes 10% of the 24 month life span of mice, the researcher concluded that this projects to 10 years of the life span of humans. Then the word decade became decades, and thus we have this statement by the researcher……”I think it is likely that effects could be lifelong or at least lasting decades in humans”. And from there we’re off to the races to get the supposed application of this study to doping in sport……[BBC Sports October 6, 2014]—-“Kristian Gundersen, Professor of Physiology at the University of Oslo, who conducted the research….”Our data indicates the exclusion time of two years is far too short. Even four years is too short.”
I’d like to suggest that this –not– what science looks like.
This is what drug use and drug testing studies have looked like for the last couple decades. And as is typical in the era of the brain, nervous system, and immune system……we see that muscle is presented as the end-all and be-all of sport performance, and drugs have zero physiological downsides to performance. And as is typical, the lay media articles about this study make no mention of the effects seen in the placebo group [in this study, large improvements in the same stuff measured in the drug group]. No mention of the well established downside effects of testosterone on performance related drug induced changes in the immune system, nervous system, brain, and other tissues that are far more impactful on performance than muscle. And obviously there is no mention of the problematic equating of mice years to human years.
As a baseline for the reader, lay media reports on this study should begin by quoting the portion of the study that talks about —-non-steroid—- use in humans…….”In modern society it has been commonly observed, that previous strength exercise seems to make it easier to regain muscle mass later in life even after long intervening periods of inactivity and mass loss….(Staron et al. 1991; Taaffe & Marcus, 1997).”
.
[from International Journal Of Preventive Medicine]—“….the findings of this review suggest that although rats are indispensable elements of biomedical research, they are not a miniature form of humans” —– “Special care should be taken when the intention is to produce correlation with human life.”
[Pallav Sengupta — The Laboratory Rat: Relating Its Age With Human’s — International Journal Of Preventive Medicine….Volume 4 #6…June 2013….page 624 # 630]
.
[from Journal Of Biological Chemistry]—-“Testosterone plays a crucial role in neuronal function, but elevated concentrations can have deleterious effects. Here we show that supraphysiological levels of testosterone initiate the apoptotic cascade…….Elevated testosterone concentrations increase cell death……These effects of testosterone on neurons will have long term effects on brain function.”
[M. Estradal, et al —– Elevated Testosterone Induces Apoptosis in Neuronal Cells —– Journal Of Biological Chemistry…..Volume 281…September 1, 2006…page 25492 – 25501]
.
[from Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise]—–“The evidence that supraphysiological doses of anabolic androgenic steroids cause neurotrophic unbalance……anabolic androgenic steroids abuse in humans may affect mechanisms that lie at the core of neuronal plasticity.”
S.Pieretti, et al —– Brain Nerve Growth Factor Unbalance Induced by Anabolic Androgenic Steroids in Rat —– Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise……Volume 45 #1….January 2013…page 29 – 35
———————————————————-
.
[Tuesday March 17, 2015] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Concussions in the NFL.
Chris Borland, a previous nominee for Defensive Rookie Of The Year, giving up the remainder of his $3 million contract to retire at age 24 due to fear of potential for brain degeneration suffered by some older players. Says he has researched the issue and based his decision on what he has learned.
In the words of a few doctors working in the medical research portion of the U.S. government, as a country we do a poor job of disseminating and proliferating research information to doctors, as well as to the public. Estimates are that only about 15% of information that we acquire as a species from research gets disseminated. Most doctors don’t read research, and many resist information that contradicts strongly held beliefs.
Some research based information that we as a species have known for many years…….
One of the major mechanisms of long term damage to brain caused by repeated concussions is the production of things called oxidants that cause something called oxidative damage.Thus, avoidance of long term damage to brain from repeated concussions is a matter of anti-oxidant supply. As tends to be the norm in our popular culture in areas of cancer and heart disease, etc…on the subject of concussions, brain research and brain researchers specializing in nutrition medicine are being ignored. Logical, science based approaches to resolving such issues fail to attract the attention of the popular media, and people suffer as a result. Hence a commonly used slogan..”my people perish from a lack of knowledge”.
Long term oxidant induced damage to brain cells is one of the major mechanisms of aging. Dramatically accelerated oxidant induced damage to brain cells caused by -very- high levels of stress, repeated concussions, or traumatic brain injury causes dramatically accelerated aging in brain cells. This kills them off by the million, a rate exceeds the rate of regeneration. Thus obviously the fix is to reduce the level of oxidants by supplying anti-oxidants. And at the same time, engage in activities and consume foods to elevate brain cell regeneration levels. Engaging in these for one or 2 months post-concussion will likely prove sufficient to resolve concerns of long term brain injury.
—– Consume foods and supplements to reduce oxidants……..
Consume at one time, the combination of these mixed berries…..strawberries– black berries– blue berries– raspberries– grapes
Consuming at one time, the combination of these 4 vegetables…..broccoli florets– chopped carrot– chopped romano tomato– chopped cucumber
The combination of these 4 supplements….selenium [200mg]– beta carotene [25,000 IU]– vitamin E [400 IU]– vitamin C [500mg]
—– Consume supplements and engage in activities to elevate brain cell regeneration levels…..resveratrol [100mg]– n-acetyl-Cysteine [500 – 600mg]– Autogenic relaxation– meditation– math problems [do in your head, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division]
.
“The existence of a gap between science and practice is universally recognized. Clinical research findings and clinical practice guidelines that have promise to improve health move very slowly from the research setting into clinical practice, and many of these interventions never reach those who could benefit.”
“It is estimated that it takes an average of 17 years to translate 14% of original research into benefit for patients and an average of 9 years for interventions recommended as evidence-based practices to be fully adopted.”
M,Tinkle, et al —– Dissemination and Implementation Research Funded by the US National Institutes of Health, 2005-2012 —– Nursing Research and Practice…Volume 2013…2013
———————————————————-
.
[Monday March 16, 2015] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Dating back to high school I’ve never understood why serious athletes have been willing to consume alcohol, particularly on weekends after track meets or long runs from which their bodies are in the process of recovery and adaptation. Here in Austin, also unfortunate that the local company “Flotrack” has produced a “Beer Mile” event.
.
“Alcohol decreases protein synthesis and mammalian target of rapamycin-mediated signaling and blunts the anabolic response to growth factors in skeletal muscle.”
J.L. Steiner, C.H. Lang —– Alcohol impairs skeletal muscle protein synthesis and mTOR signaling in a time-dependent manner following electrically stimulated muscle contraction —– Journal of Applied Physiology….Volume 117 #10…..November 2014….page 1170 – 1179
.
“Beer is promoted by popular media as a good choice for rehydration, but there is limited support for the claim. After consuming H1.6 L in 1 h, urine output was greater for beer (1218 ± 279 mL) than for LAB (745 ± 313 mL, p = 0.007) and water (774 ± 304 mL, p = 0.043).”
“In conclusion, rehydration with beer resulted in higher diuresis, slower RT, and impaired VCoP than rehydration with LAB or water. Postexercise rehydration with beer impairs fluid retention, reaction time, and balance.”
R.Flores-Salamanca, et al. — Canadian Journal Of Applied Physiology….Volume 39 #10….October 2014…page 1175 – 1181
———————————————————-
.
[Wednesday March 4, 2015] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
The 800m event in Track & Field. A disgrace for track coaches world wide.
I graduated from high school in June 1981. That month, Seb Coe ran a world record 1:41.7. That record has moved forward by less than -1- second in the last 34 years. Only 3 men have run faster.
There is only one situation worse than this for the 800m event. The women’s progression at 800m.
The record [1:53.2] was run 2 years after I graduated high school. No one has run faster and only 6 women have ever run under 1:55.0. That’s a disgrace!
Before hiding behind the “drugs, drugs” mantra related to the world record holder, simply imagine if the subject were men. Imagine a world were there are about 90 high school male runners who have run between 3:55 to 4:00 for 1500m [4:11 – 4:16 for 1600m] and –zero– have run an 800m in 1:53 to 1:55. About 60 college age runners who have run between 14:30 to 14:45 for 5000m and –zero– have run an 800m in 1:53 to 1:55. You’d be in shock.
And if that situaiton persisted year after year you’d be embarrassed if you were a coach. But that’s the situation for the women’s 800m. An absolute disgrace!
Lets examine the 5 seconds rule. There may be issues if an athlete can’t run an 800m that averages per lap at their fastest 400m time plus 5 seconds. Add 5 seconds to a 400m personal best and that’s the split enroute to an evenly paced 800m.
An 800m run in 1:53 is averaging 56.5 seconds per lap.
An 800m run in 1:55 is averaging 57.5 seconds per lap.
How many women have run at least 51.5 to 52.5 for 400m since 1983. Several hundred if not 1 or 2 thousand perhaps. Only 6 women have ever run under 1:55.0 for 800m. And that’s the 5 seconds rule, not a 4 seconds or 3 seconds rule. The level of progression of human performance in the 800m event is a disgrace for track coaches world wide.
We can do better than this. Our athletes deserve better than this from us.
———————————————————-
.
[February 7, 2015] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
About the TV commercial for USA Track & Field that’s been running during this year’s major professional indoor track meets. On the upside…..It is outstanding that our sport now has a commercial that finally contains video clips of several of our sport’s top athletes past and present, all in one ad.
The downside……The message. It communicates that as a sport we have a very serious self-image problem. The result of our having spent so many decades telling ourselves that we can never achieve what the other sports have achieved. Several decades ago when it mattered most we failed to recognize the ball-and-chain around our neck of being married to the amateur status requirements of the Olympic Games. Meanwhile other sports aggressively pursued sport promotions and rapid expansion of professionalism. They were hard at work promoting themselves and reaping the rewards of that while some in our sport were suggesting that we turn our track meets into a circus, and make the women’s high jump and pole vault into peep shows.
We didn’t know what sport promotions was or how to do it. Just told ourselves the results that the other sports were enjoying couldn’t be done. Our top athletes used to vow to promote the sport, but “promote the sport” turned out to consist of talking to kids at an elementary school or running one relay meet on American soil prior to heading off to Europe to race for real. That doesn’t put butts in the seats or increase the ratings for our pro meets on TV. And you can’t promote the sport in the United States by racing in Europe.
The NFL and NBA don’t need us to put up a TV commercial telling them……”you’re welcome”. Once upon a time in the United States Of America the sport of Track & Field was an equal to them. While we were asleep at the switch we got left behind. Way behind. But we’ve removed the Olympic ball-and-chain from around our necks. Now we need to stop acting like the forgotten child and both assert & insert ourselves into the pro sports market in America. Lets invest less energy into telling ourselves what can’t be done. Soccer has a similar history to ours. In sport promotions they’re exploding in our country. What’s our excuse?
A good leader knows the way, shows the way, and goes the way.
———————————————————-
.
[March 3, 2011] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
Here in Austin today I attended a nutrition medicine lecture by Bharat Aggarwal of the U of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. His lecture was titled “Inflammation, Chronic Diseases and Nutrition: A Silent Link”. Hasn’t been usual or common for nutrition medicine peeps to be working at one of the most prestigious cancer centers on the planet so I had to go see what this guy was gonna say. He -didn’t- disappoint!!!
Data trumps prevailing opinions about 2 of the most controversial subjects in medicine in the United States…….
1 — Nutrients rather than drugs
2 — Cancer treatment by nutrients rather than chemo and radiation
His lecture and his career involve the combination of the two. Its an either-or, not a both-and. Since data trumps opinion he brought the data. He began his lecture by taking down the biggest, most pervasive myth in American culture related to cancer, saying…..”Anything and everything we need to know about cancer, we know it”.
Those of us who read a lotta cancer research and refuse to give money to cancer charities or run 5k’s “for the cure” know how accurate that statement is, and how long it has taken for somebody at a major cancer center to say it publicly. The only odd thing about his statement is that he works one of the most famous cancer treatment centers in the world, MD Anderson.
He continued, dispelling other cancer myths such as the myth that most cancers are caused by your genes. Only 5% – 10% of cancers are due to genes. He showed data demonstrating that cancer rates in the U.S. between 1950 – 2002 haven’t dropped in spite of our “war on cancer” initiated by legislation signed into law by President Richard Nixon.
And he went into chemotherapy drugs, making the statement that over the long term many cancer patients die not from cancer but from long term effects of the chemotherapy. Again, that statement coming from a prominent, award winning researcher at one of the most prestigious cancer centers on earth.
Most of his lecture consisted of his data about the mechanism of inflammation, a substance he targeted called Nuclear Factor-kappa B [NF-kappa B] and the substances in a large number of spices, plants, and trees that inhibit its negative activity in several disease processes including cancer. This would include the deadliest of cancers, such as pancreatic cancer. Apparently there are plants and spices that contain substances that also activate cell death receptors in cancer cells, and tumor suppressor proteins as well.
Data trumps both opinion and the pharmaceutical industry. One of his slides highlighted the point……pharms vs. farms.
Regardless of what anti nutrition supplement news reports one sees on the national network evening news and regardless of the large number of drug commercials during the national network evening news, one way or another nutrition medicine is coming to this country. Now inching its way toward critical mass. It is no longer in a position where it can continue to be laughed at, laughed off, ignored, or outlawed.
“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” [Hippocrates]
———————————————————-
.
[December 10, 2010] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
As a sport we’ve gone many years seeking ways to improve track meet presentation, the number of track meets on television, and the number and dollar amount of sponsorships. To some degree we’ve put the cart before the horse.
As a sport we should –first– set some targets to shoot for in the growth in spectatorship at our sport’s major [non-relay] invitational and championship track meets and some targets to shoot for in the television ratings for those meets. The targets we set will drive the types of ideas and strategies we develop and implement to achieve improved track meet presentation, the number of track meets on television, and the number and dollar amount of sponsorships. Achieving the targets we set will increase the number and dollar amount of sponsorships, increase the number of track meets on television, and drive demand for further improved track meet presentation.
Getting our sport into the same broad “ballpark” as the top tier sports in the United States, should be a goal. And with that in mind, we will need to set targets at levels similar to what those sports achieve.
The NBA and NHL average about 20,000 “butts in the seats” per game.
Professional Golf averages 20,000 – 30,000 for on its major courses.
Track & Field is currently between 5000 – 10,000 for our major [non-relay] invitational and championship track meets.
We conduct our major outdoor [non-relay] invitational and championship track meets in venues close to the same size in seat availability as these indoor venues. Given where our sport is today, it is reasonable and realistic for us to set and work to achieve a target of getting 15,000 “butts in the seats” for our sport’s major [non-relay] invitational and championship track meets. And we should start moving in the direction of holding such meets at slightly larger venues [such as Univ. of Texas 25,000 seat track only facility]. That gets us in the same broad “ballpark” as the NBA, NHL, and Professional Golf.
The television ratings for NFL games average about 15 – 18 million viewers.
The television ratings for NBA Championships average about 10 – 15 million viewers.
The television ratings for Major League Baseball Championships average about 8 – 10 million viewers.
The television ratings for PGA final day of major tournaments average about 5 – 10 million viewers.
Track & Field is currently at 1 – 4 million.
It is reasonable and realistic for us to set and work to achieve a target of getting 5 – 10 million viewers for each of our sport’s major [non-relay] invitational and championship track meets. That gets us in the same broad “ballpark” as the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, and Professional Golf.
A part of the mission of ‘The ETG track club is to “Promote growth in spectatorship of U.S track and field”. Toward that end, we are today setting the following goals…….
— 15,000 “butts in the seats” at our sport’s major [non-relay] invitational track meets.
— 15,000 “butts in the seats” at each of the final 2 days of the NCAA and USA Track & Field National Championships.
— 5 – 10 million viewers of our sport’s major [non-relay] invitational track meets.
— 5 – 10 million viewers of each of the final 2 days of the NCAA and USA Track & Field National Championships.
In the sport of Track & Field, our choir has stopped coming to church. People who have participated competitively in our sport at some point in their lives, people who have been at some point relatively hardcore track fans, have stopped coming to our meets and stopped watching on television. As a sport, lets set a strategy that has as its first priority, to simply get the choir back in the pews before we venture out to bring in new church members. There are several million members of the choir out there to get back in the pews. Lets win them back. That in and of itself can move our sport most of the way to the “butts in the seats” and TV viewer targets, putting our sport in the broad “ballpark” of the major sports in the United States.
———————————————————-
.
[November 16, 2010] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
At the major Championship meets in our sport at the professional level, the start of our short sprint and hurdle races have starting blocks that provide speakers for the athletes to hear the starter and the sound of the gun. In spite of this set up, a major problem is that the sound of the gun can reach the ears of the runners closest to the starter before it reaches other runners in the race. This allows the runners closest to the starter to have a faster reaction time, potentially improving their performance over the other runners. As a sport, we may at some point want to come up with a creative way to address this situation.
.
“Loud sounds can decrease reaction time and increase force generated during voluntary contractions.”
“Reaction time for the 100/110 m athletics events at the 2004 Olympics were obtained from International Association of Athletics Federations archives and binned by lane. Additionally, 12 untrained participants and four trained sprinters performed sprint starts from starting blocks modified to measure horizontal force.”
“Runners closest to the starter at the Olympics had significantly lower reaction time than those further away. Mean reaction time for lane 1 (160 ms) was significantly lower than for lanes 2-8 (175 ± 5 ms), and reaction time for lane 2 was significantly lower than that for lane 7.”
“……increasing “go” signal intensity from 80-100-120 decibel significantly decreased reaction time from 138 ± 30 to 128 ± 25 to 120 ± 20 ms, respectively.”
“Peak force was not influenced by sound intensity.
“We suggest that procedures presently used to start the Olympic sprint events afford runners closer to the starter the advantage of hearing the “go” signal louder; consequently, they react sooner but not more strongly than their competitors.”
“….it was surprising to find that at the 1996 Olympic Games, there appeared to be a relationship between lane assignment and reaction time, such that reaction time progressively increased from lanes 1 to 8…”
“According to OMEGA, the official time keepers of the Olympic Games, the “go” signal has been delivered through the speakers behind each runner since 1984 to avoid problems related to sound propagation. However, Lennart Julin and Dapena suggested that the discrepancies in reaction time in the 1996 data are consistent with delays related to the time required for sound to propagate from the starting pistol beside lanes 1 to 8, suggesting that the use of the loud gun remains problematic.”
A.M. Brown, et al— “Go” Signal Intensity Influences the Sprint Start—-Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise…..Volume 40 #6….June 2008…..page 1142-1148
———————————————————-
.
[July 19, 2010] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
The women’s 1500m event appears to have begun moving this year.
Performance wise, like the men’s long jump, the women’s 1500m event has been at a relative standstill for decades. It makes no sense that so many women 1500m runners can go sub 2:00 for 800m, but can’t go sub 3:55 for 1500m. There is something seriously wrong with that. The women’s 800m has suffered the same fate, especially Americans. So many American 800m runners can go in the low 50’s for 400m, but can’t break 1:56 for 800m. The 5 second rule should apply. 800m runners who have 400m pr’s around 51 – 52 should be able to average around 56 per lap. That’s 1:52 – 53, at or under the current World Record.
With Christin Wurth-Thomas’s sub 4, we now have 5 American women at 3:59 or under for 1500m. Unfortunately though, Jan Merrill ran 4:02 about 35 years ago, and I was only 2 years out of high school when Mary Slaney ran 3:57 [1983]. About 15 years later, Suzy Favor ran 3:58. Over a full decade ago.
That’s among the things I mean when I say that performance wise, the event has been at a relative standstill for decades.
The upside though, is that over the past 2 years we suddenly have 4 American women running at 4:00 or faster. Prior to that, we went about 25 years with a –cumulative– total of only 4 American women All-Time at 4:00 or faster.
The event may be finally moving in a good direction, and perhaps no longer stalled.
Going from 800m to 1500m, one can apply the 7 – 8 second rule. Given that Mary Slaney ran 1:56 for 800m, she likely couldda, wouldda, shouldda been able to run around 3:49 or 3:50 for 1500m. At or faster than the current world record.
———————————————————-
.
[July 8, 2010] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
Sport business and sport promotions aspects of LeBron James choosing a team. The NBA has to be very happy. Having a situation land in their lap, expanding a star athlete’s name recognition to non-fans of the sport, the main requirement for expanding a sport’s fan base.
Track & field can learn from this episode of Sport Promotions 101. The main requirement for expanding the sport’s fan base in United States is to expand name recognition of track athletes among non-fans of the sport.
Landon Donovan had his chance to take advantage of his situation a few weeks ago. Unfortunately he handled it in the standard manner that people in track, soccer and other sports trying to break through in the U.S. typically handle things. Went the “Today Show” and “Good Morning America” route instead of getting on a direct flight from South Africa to Connecticut and camping out in front of ESPN headquarters for one or two days, moving his sport forward in the United States among non-soccer fans.
Track athletes do it too. If you want what you’ve never had, you’ll have to do what you’ve never done.
In Track & Field we seem to be set on the strategy of promoting our sport by focusing on it collectively being the “#1 Track Team In The World”. We have convinced ourselves that we can only do well in the United States by promoting the “team sport” aspect. Americans will only follow team sports. There has to be a winner and loser of a team competition.
Professional golf, and professional golfers may disagree. Viewers of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in tennis may disagree. We in Track & Field, may need to reconsider our approach. Perhaps abandon potentially faulty assumptions we’ve been married to for a long time, for which we have no data to support. As the saying goes in science, “In God we trust, everybody else bring data. USA Track & Field, please bring data.
———————————————————-
.
[February 7, 2009] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
In the United States, “the other” financial crisis looming is in the form of Traditional Medicine. It’s drug oriented culture may finish the job of bankrupting the country.
The ETG supports major changes to the health care system in the United States, particularly as it relates to the practice of Traditional Medicine. We welcome a move away from Traditional Medicine by large numbers of it’s “customers”. We also welcome a change in belief system and behavior in the practitioners of Traditional Medicine.
Along those lines, the article below is a directive to all medical doctors in the United States, issued by their professional organizations. It’s existence represents a major move forward in the right direction, though medical doctors usually fail to read such information.
excerpts from the article……
[Doctors Urged to Prescribe Exercise….By Todd Zwillich WebMD Health News….Nov. 5, 2007] —- “The groups, including the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American College of Sports Medicine, want doctors to order regular exercise for practically all their patients.”
“The new campaign is called ‘Exercise is Medicine’.”
“Doctors must now take moderate exercise ‘and prescribe it liberally to their patients,’ says Robert Sallis, MD, president of the American College of Sports Medicine. ‘Every physician, every specialty has to be on this same message’.”
“Exercise is really a free medication,” AMA President Ron Davis, MD, told reporters at a briefing in Washington. Davis said that exercise should not be an “option” but should be as critical as blood pressure or cholesterol tests.”
———————————————————-
.
[August 17, 2008] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
Usain Bolt’s performance of not really running the final 30 meters or so of the Olympic final at 100 meters, yet still finishing in 9.69, warrants one final repetition of the ETG Press Communication below. First posted June 2, 2008, and repeated on July 1, 2008, we offer it once again as reminder of where human performance is headed.
[repeated from July 1, 2008]……
Given Tyson Gay’s 9.68 100m performance last week, its worth rewinding and playing again the ETG Press & Media Communication from early last month [June 2, 2008]……….
Obadele Thompson ran 9.69 at altitude [El Paso, Texas] with an aiding wind of about 5 meters per second. Tyson Gay ran 9.68 at sea level with the wind at about 4 meters per second. So there are now 2 athletes in the 9.6 area with the aiding conditions on the decline, and there is now an official world record nearing the sub 9.7 performance level. With that in mind we’re replaying below, the June 2 communication——–
The 100 meter World Record was broken last weekend.
The ETG is not a club for sprinters, but some comments……
We’re seeing a positive trend in sprinting. A gradually more consistent move toward the necessary long, high velocity training of the long sprinter being applied toward running the 100 meter dash event.
Physiologically, the 100m dash is an in fact, an –endurance– event. Even the fastest sprinters in the world fail to hold their maximum velocity for more than 10 – 20 meters of the race. The person who slows down the least after reaching his/her maximum velocity is the person who has the highest level of performance. Being aerobically fit at –very– high velocities is the underlying mechanism of performance for this event and the pathway to further world records. In years past, we’ve seen members of the Santa Monica track club [ie. Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Mike Marsh] and others [ie. Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, etc.] have some of their best years when having done well in an abundance of relatively long, high velocity workouts [200 – 600m], and now we’ve seen the lengthening line of long sprinters who have moved down and experienced high level success at the 200 and 100 meters [ie. FloJo, Michael Johnson, Usain Bolt].
In our sport, we can expect to see the continued move forward of the 100m World Record, perhaps on a more frequent basis, as sprint coaches begin to effectively piece together this aspect of the underlying mechanism of performance for this event, and successfully develop a standardized protocol that addresses it. As some in the sport get this done, we’ll see more sprinters, male and female, running major times on a more frequent and more consistent basis as their training programs empower them to have a greater level of controllability over their performance level.
These are great times to be alive and on this planet in our sport. We’re going to see a 9.6 run for 100 meters. We’re likely to see a 9.5 run for 100 meters. We’re going to see a woman run under 10.4 for 100 meters. The limits of human performance are well outside of the ballpark in which many people in our sport believe them to be.
———————————————————-
.
[May 9, 2008] —– ETG Press & Media Communication
The ETG offers congratulations to Shalane Flanagan and her coach John Cook. Last year Shalane Flanagan broke indoor American Record at 3000 meters [8:33] as well as the outdoor American Record at 5000m [14:44], and last weekend she broke the American Record at 10,000 meters by close to 20 seconds, with an absolutely outstanding performance, 30:34.
John Cook was the college coach of ETG club owner Marshall Burt, at George Mason University back in the early 1980’s. The ETG wishes them well this summer in moving the 5000 meter American Record further forward.
.
.
..
“Drug use and drug testing are sham and a scam”—–[Marshall Burt]
.
[Pitsiladis] “Many of these compounds in a highly-trained individual do absolutely nothing from the point of view of enhancing performance…..”
“…Athletes think if it’s on a list, it works.”
[Roger Pielke Jr, director of the Sports Governance Centre at the University of Colorado-Boulder, CO, USA]…..“WADA’s expansion of banned substances has created a conflict of interest because “a bigger list implies a need for more tests and more testing, which both imply an expansion of the anti-doping industry…..”
S.Devi
Overhaul of global anti-doping system needed
Lancet — Volume 387 #10034 — May 28, 2016 — page 2188