THIS JUST IN! THIS COLUMN IS NOT ABOUT THE OLYMPIC TRIALS! After three straight months of ranting about the expected changes to the OT format, I decided to beat on another drum. Another old one, actually.<\/p>\n
If the new USATF leadership wants to make the sport and its athletes more visible (as \u201cProject 30\u201d explains), allow me to suggest that they do so in a literal sense, not just a figurative one. The drum upon which I beat is the U.S. national uniform.<\/p>\n
In our wrap-up of the \u201996 Olympic action, in a piece cynically entitled, \u201cWhy Not Camouflage?\u201d T&FN lambasted the U.S. garb, saying, \u201cSpectator aids have never been better at an Olympics than they were in Atlanta. Unfortunately, the assistance didn\u2019t extend to one crucial area: U.S. team uniforms.\u201d We went on to talk about \u201caura of invisibility\u201d and \u201cstealth suits.\u201d<\/p>\n
We continued, \u201cWhile a good old red, white & blue treatment made sense on the surface, perhaps the predominant blue shouldn\u2019t have been so impossibly, well, drab. In a world of color this was a trip back to black & white and it was anything but nostalgic.\u201d We repeated the complaint after the next Olympics, in Sydney. And while I don\u2019t recall our doing so for Athens or Beijing, nothing changed for the good. Nor did it at all the World Championships in between.<\/p>\n
In an era where promoting the sport is all about visual imagery, and the written word has come to mean less and less, the U.S. athletes remain garbed in a monochromatic world. Dark blue just doesn\u2019t cut it.<\/p>\n
Indeed, at the risk of diving too deeply into the depths of the cutting-edge-fashion pool, I\u2019d say it\u2019s time to get involved in some risky business. Even if the U.S. uniforms are \u201cugly\u201d (it\u2019s all a matter of taste), so long as they\u2019re the most visible gear on the track and field then the mission is accomplished. When those TV viewers who don\u2019t know Tyson Gay from Alan Webb tune in, they should at least instantly be able to exclaim, \u201cHey, there\u2019s the American guy!\u201d<\/p>\n
You know what? Even camouflage would be better than where we\u2019ve been the last couple of decades. At least it would be distinctive.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
THE YOUTH OLYMPICS? WHAT\u2019S THAT? A couple of years back the IOC announced with great fanfare the inauguration of the Youth Olympics, and last year awarded the 2010 meet to Singapore. We haven\u2019t heard a lot about it since.<\/p>\n
The project wasn\u2019t the IAAF\u2019s idea, so while track\u2019s governing body has apparently been struggling with a new concept which operates under the premise that \u201ccultural & educational\u201d aspects are as important for 14\u201318-year olds as is competition, it certainly seems to me that they\u2019ve let the calendar run awfully far down without announcing any details.<\/p>\n
We seem to know that the athletes will come from geographical areas rather than national entities, but where are the specifics on how American kids (to say nothing of other areas) are supposed to qualify? To announce later this year (the only option left) when and where athletes can make the team seems to be leaving it just a little late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"