Threshold Athletics Group (TAG)

With age comes wisdom

2011-11-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

"Age ain't nothing but a number!" One thing age teaches you is that this is a cliche of young people hoping to get old enough to become wise enough to realize this is untrue, and the other thing age teaches you is that this quote is just a catchy Aliyah song LOL. Never has this been truer in my life than this birthday week of mine.
I had a great birthday. The week started with the USATF Coaches summit where I have been going for almost 20 years to acquire the science that enables me to be a better coach to my athletes. It ended with watching 2 friends be inducted in the UCLA Hall of Fame. Life is blessed.
Now I had 3 critical conversations this week, that I never planned on having, 2 of which I had long ago written off as to NEVER having. Things happen in life, and as I stated in my previous post, we grow apart from some people in our lives. A few of these people I had banished to the no-not-never zone. Like I said with age comes wisdom. The fantastic reminder was God will reach out to you from places you least expect it. Boy if that wasn't ever true. HA!
SO the first convo I had came from left field but it was directly related to the 2nd convo, which is the only one I figured I would be having, I just did not realize it would be this week. See I had been dreading this conversation, simply because I had no idea how to have to talk. I was too angry, too hurt, and wanted my pound of flesh, as it were. So I waited. I waited until the time came to me where I could have the conversation in a construction or non destructive way. It took roughly 2 years.
Now the wisdom is in the message from the 1st convo that allowed me to have the 2nd convo. I will use another cliche, I was cutting off my nose to spite my face. Or throwing the baby out with the bath water. I was allowing my frustration to fester into petulance and I was called on it in a direct but useful way. I will share the key point of the convo because wisdom has taught me that somethings are meant to given away. The question was simple, would you give up 5% to better your 95%? BAM! A light went off in my head. Just like that 2 years of "How?" was solved. In the moment I was overvaluing my 5% at the expense of bettering my 95%. Everything else in the conversation followed that theme and I was instantly happier and could not wait to have the 2nd convo. I had it the first chance I got, and it was finally done. I am truly focused on my 95% which allowed for me to receive the 3rd convo.
The 3rd convo would have NEVER happened prior to these previous convos. And both of us knew it. But it did, and I received a wonderful message on a fantastic night. Yes my friend, people grow apart but that does not diminish what was for me in any way. I traveled this earth and saw some fantastic things. I got better as a coach, and learned nuggets of info along the way. Those memories are never far from me.
I am amazed at how my previous blog about the HSI days struck some people. I was just recounting what I always assumed were general memories, boy I was mistaken. Wisdom! People do not remember, retain, nor cherish what you cherish. Share those memories and you may bring some sunshine to an acquaintances day without you ever realizing it.
Alright, I am off to finish my birthday week, it is ending with a smile, and an opportunity. Man this life thing is great. I wonder what I will write about next? Hmmm, maybe about the NOW instead of the past, yeah maybe...

Blog about my last blog

2011-10-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

How interesting, my last blog was linked by Track and Field News, which was cool because it was unexpected. I have written other things I wish were linked, oh wait I never posted those LOL.
A few people have written me saying how they enjoyed the stories. I am glad I have them to share. Maybe someday I will write a book, or a series of stories about my adventures in Track and Field. In the meantime, i will continue on my varied blog. Talking and posting and ranting and observing. For example...

What a tremendous end to the season. The Diamond League ended with a bang. I enjoyed the meet a lot. BUT the negative is the powers that be will walk away believing their league is a success. It is not. It is a decent blueprint but needs some fine tuning to say the least. What I would appreciate the most is a circuit and some rules that are more athlete and fan friendly.
While we all understand what pays the bills, television, it is unhealthy and destructive to make rules that are and events that seem more geared towards TV, than the betterment of the product. I know, I know, don't say too much or rock the boat. Welp, since I am going to ride in this boat I will comment on the boat. I am willing to offer up some elbow grease.
What catches my attention the most is the strictness of the rules that govern the sprints over most other events. And for the life of me I do not understand the logic in it. We all know the show events, 1500, 100, shot put. Yes, mostly an American construct but from what I have seen it is a lot more universal than many care to admit. As of late, the straight away events have carried the sport in the entertainment realm. So why the draconian rule making? Why almost ensure losing star power, as we saw in Daegu? A completely avoidable occurrence, that most see as just a consequence of the sport. Far from it folks, it was a consequence of a bad rule change that served no real purpose other than to hold sprinters responsible for lost TV time.
I have summarized a complicated issue for a purpose. To show the general interpretation of the "business" rule changes. While I am positive TV had a serious issue with the false start delays, I am equally as sure the No False Start rule was overkill. Money is on the line, this is not comparable to a state championship nor a collegiate championship. Usain Bolt lost 60k to that false start. Some think he was trying to cheat, others think he was scared of Blake, I think he was just a sprinter trying to get the perfect start and perfect race, in his quest to make history, AGAIN. I could prattle on for a few more paragraphs, but I will save that for a separate blog.
Ok now I am ready for the season to start again. I may even muster up some excitement about indoors. NAW! lol

How I came to this Threshold

2011-09-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

The world is full of misinformation and wonderful lies. I will write this in part PC prose and straight talk. If you are a child there may be cussin' in the next few paragraphs, you have been warned.
The reasons for me writing this particular blog are varied and span many years, so this blog shall cover many years. I will enjoy reliving some of this, as i excise some demons and tell the wonderful tale of how i came to be a coach in this hellish realm of track and field...
in short, I was born a coach of track. well i was born in to the sport, that is for sure. I have known about track for as long as I can remember. All over my parents house and my grandparents house were pictures and trophies of my uncle and his success as an athlete. I remember loving the clipping from JET magazine. My uncle was in JET! lol I loved the trophies, they were amazing, i particularly loved the huge marble stones that sat in front of the fireplace. Those damn things were heavy! Then there was the laminated picture of him setting the wr in the 440 yd dash. Not to mention the clay statue in the garage that now sits in a museum somewhere. Yup, track is in my blood.
The funny thing is I was more taken by the UCLA on his chest than the sport itself. The sport came along later. I am anti baseball so after a year of tee ball, and having been struck out on a called strike that the umpire never saw, I told my parents I wanted to try track. I was 6. My original trophy is still around here somewhere. The beauty of this decision was my natural speed. I was the fastest boy in my neighborhood. Notice I said boy, there was this one girl everyone avoided racing. Including me. lol I raced this other kid early on, he was tall and lanky, and fast. His name was Steve Lewis.
by age ten I was a long jumper. Sprinting passed me by after the first round of puberty. All my friends that i used to destroy mysteriously got faster, all at once, and BAM the long jump took prime position in my personal hierarchy. Oh I was good at it. This was the point Coach Harris started telling us about hurdles. Fantastic! Now, in my early years of hurdling I raced this other tall kid, he was muscular and looked grown. We wanted to see his birth certificate because there was no way he was my age. his name was Quincy Watts.
Going into high school I had made the decision to hurdle. I won the "C" level City championship in the 300IH. Oh boy I was well on my way to being the man to break Edwin Moses win streak! Until my junior year, then senior year disappointments and I was well on my way to walking on at UCLA. To be coached by none other than my uncle. Heaven!
Life dominated track and by 1991 I had run my last race. Now this is where I start my journey. Christmas 1991 my uncle asked me to come back out to the track as a manager and his assistant to his soon to be pro team. Well, hell yes! Off we went. The dream was sold, we would take over the world, and as success came to the group our collective fortunes would rise, collectively. The group was Kevin Young, a young Quincy Watts (still at USC), and Andre Cason. Many of my teammates dreamed of matriculating to the pro group after their senior years. After the 92 season Nike LA welcomed its first official member, Jon Drummond and Jason Rouser. My boys. I spent more time with these 2 scoundrels than my family. JD would make the world team in 1993 as the lead off of the 4x1 that tied the wr, the still standing AR (37.40). Fantastic. We are on our way.
By this time I have been to conference champs and NCAA champs. The future was bright. I was having a ball. Life was hard but that was ok, I was in love, track had me.
1994 saw Dennis come to the group and become the number one sprinter in the world. He dipped under 10 six times that season, a record at the time. JD dipped four times, the second most in a season. On the UCLA front Ato was busy committing. In 1995 he won the 200 after jumping out of the 100. In 1996, Ato set the UCLA record in the 100 and 200, JD made the Olympic team, Marie Perec had come to town and would be the second woman to win the 200/400 double. Oops I have to go back.
Following 1992 circumstances dictated that John seek representation, and thus the ground work for HSI was laid. John meet Emanuel.
Ok, so as I was saying, in 1996 HSI was dominating the scene, and would officially announce our presence with the signing of Ato. Hello world, the dream is alive and real. JD, Ato, Marie Perec and Antwon Maybank all headed to Atlanta, HSI! The takeover had begun. I watched on TV as the troops performed with Ato winning 2 medals and looking like the next great thing. Marie shocked herself and pulled off the 200 gold. Lovely woman but the faces she made to win that 200 gold were downright scary lol.
That fall saw the arrival of Mo, the next great thing. Now it did not start that way, he was struggling with all things LA; the training, the living, the INCOME, but he was listening. He was always confident. Quincy had returned to the fold and he and Mo were fast friends. I recall the moment Mo acknowledged he had it figured out. Most people think it was when he won nationals that year but it was before that in a race no one except us paid attention to. It was Prefontaine, and Mo was in Lane 8 of the 200! I believe he ran the 100 and got his hat handed to him. As he tells the story he was filling out job applications by this point in the season. Anyway, in this 200 he was torched by Allen Johnson on the bend and a couple of other sprinters on his inside. Coming down the home stretch he ran back by Allen and finished 4th. I think he ran 20.42 or something like that. He came to the back and proclaimed "I got it!" Half way down that straight away, the movement clicked for him. He felt it. The next time he would see a track would be at US Nationals.
This was his second proclamation of discovery lol. He ran 9.96 in the 1st round and John and I looked at each other and shrugged. Rookie went out too hard, we will see what he has for the other rounds. When we got to him in the cool down, John asked him how he felt, and he replied, "I can do that whenever I want to. Sub 10 is easy" Oh boy, what a rookie. Well the rest is history. He was right. LOL
By 2000, Ato, Mo and JD were the triplets. Dominating the sprint scene on all fronts, JD was the personality, Mo the confidence, and Ato the workman. The dream was in full bloom and HSI was on top of the world, literally. We flew flags at circuit meets, folks didn't like that, the IAAF passed rules to prevent it. True story. In 1999, I had the task of coaching the crew through the single greatest day in HSI history. Athens Greece was the place, and we showed out. Mo set the wr that day, 9.79. Ato took second in 9.86, his third such clocking (he would post a fourth such clocking in the next meet in Lausanne). Jeff Hartwig won the PV, I believe he went over 6m that day. Inger had joined the crew, the queen doubled that day, taking 2nd in the 100 (11.04) and winning the 200 in a then pr (22.10). Mo and Ato would follow up her double with their own double, Ato dropping 19.88 to win and Mo running a gutsy 20.02 to back up his emotionally draining wr. In between all of that Larry won the 110s in 13.12 in a photo finish. All victories were meet records at the time. We called John to tell him the good news, he was coaching UCLA at a home meet that day, June 16th, 1999. Yup I remember the day.
Over the next 4 years HSI would see more success, Olympic and world titles, more medals, and the inevitable growth and maturing of the athletes. The ebb and flow of life was treacherous at times, as is the case with any family and its moving parts. Some of us grew a part, but we are all enjoying success in various corners of track. Ato is a respected TV analyst, was a senator in his homeland of Trinidad. He has developed into the public guru for track fans world wide, doing all broadcast in the US and now venturing into web casting. Mo is still the personality. His charisma, and on track accomplishments keep him busy travelling, speaking and doing clinics. He has tried his hand at coaching also, leading a local high school here in the LA area and also coaching Miki Barber onto the 2011 World Team. JD is a trainer and coach in Texas, placing many kids into top high schools and college programs, while consulting (his word lol) a few world class level sprinters, AND COACHING Marshevet Myers. Larry Wade is the HC at Pasadena City College, Kaaron was the sprint coach for the Korean national team and is now John's right hand man, Antwon Maybank is in the midwest coaching, Jason Rouser is in Florida coaching and doing personal training. Gentry Bradley is now the sprint coach for the Saudi Arabian National team. and then there is me!
Hi folks. I have seen the earth traveling with my boys and my uncle over the years. I have touched every continent except for the artic regions. For a number of years I had the privilege of coaching the Saudi Arabian sprinters and hurdlers. In 2000 I made my first Olympic trip, guiding Hadi Somayli and Hamdan al Bishi to Sydney. Hadi would win Saudi's first ever Olympic medal, taking silver in the 400H, in a heart breaking finish. Still hurts to relive it, smh. Hamdan would pr at the Games but would enjoy his glory a month later at the World Juniors where he set the still standing meet record (44.66). Over the next 4 years I would guide my boys to numerous regional championships and records and awards. In 2003 I started my own group, DSports, this venture culminated in the bronze medal in 2008. Tasha would rise from the ashes to win bronze in Beijing, I the single proudest achievement of my career to date. DSports is now Threshold Athletics Group TAG for short. The many years of experience with my uncle have groomed me well for this next adventure. It was a thrill and far more fun and involved than many realize. I am forever grateful to my uncle for allowing me to grow under him and trusting me enough to guide the group when he was unable to be there. Can you imagine having the hopes and dreams of your friends in your care? That was me. At the ripe old age of 28. Now I am 40, a ton of lessons learned. not all rosy, but lessons just the same. The HSI days are long past, but the impact and influence remain. Those times, adventures, trials, tests, and successes helped shape me. I was born a coach, I will die a coach, but I do miss the friendships of yesterday.
I will say to all my guys, no matter where we stand today, I am proud of you all. Success breeds success, and we were damn good then and we are all damn good now. Keep striving to be the best, I damn sure will. See you all on the track.

Oh, I skipped over years and more than a few stories, this damn entry was long enough. LOL

OH, OH, yeah the voice of this blog changed because like I said I enjoyed reliving it, so some of the demons were excised, and the energy changed. I will leave you all with this, Exodus 14:14

Love in so many words...

2011-07-20T11:56:00.001-07:00

Absa... Love for life doesn't have a damn thing to do with fireworks,sex,nor swag! Love is real. It talks to you,fights along side you and sometimes for you. Love cares about you when you don't care about yourself. Love likes your moods not just tolerates them. Love isn't sacrifice, it's sharing in the journey because love sees the finish line when you lose focus. Love walks by your side simply because you're breathing! Love fights you for it's own survival not to leave you. Love is near you, youre ignoring it looking for sex, swag, looks, and gifts. Love is waiting...

Did you know there is Professional track?

2011-05-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have had the pleasure of loving track and field for as long as i can remember. My first season of racing was when I was 6, the trophy is downstairs, says 1977. I was chasing my dreams and fulfilling the family legacy. All over my homes were pictures of dad and uncle running in high school and college. This is what I was born for, it was easy and fun and I won. More importantly I loved to race and compete. I still do. Win, lose or draw I love the competition. I smile when I realize I am stressing because one of my guys lost or underperformed because it is all apart of what I do. I was never more pleased than to learn athletes would be able to receive money and still compete at the Olympics. That was in the 80s.
So here I sit writing you all about the amateur mindset that still dominates the internal workings and thinking of the track world. From administration to fans we are inundated with constant criticism that is rooted in the soil of amateurism. It has manifested itself into a self hate that fights all change and/or evolution, and an aversion to marketing in the name of purity and economics.
A friend and I had a lively exchange about the Great City Games in Manchester. He is of the opinion that until we heal and better the pure product, we cannot afford to put on street fairs and fringe events. For him, and those that share his opinion, it is not building the sport, promoting the on track product, and most importantly building the fan base. he rather see these efforts put into the meets, especially in the US where we are woefully lacking pro meets that capture the public attention. He knows we need better marketing, and feels events like this do not produce long term benefits that will specifically result in a bigger fan base and public interest. His argument has merit and historical backing. Yet, I find it short sighted and destructively narrow in scope.
As a shining example, the Great City Games in Manchester, England is a great marketing tool. The city used to have the UK national championships, and occasionally host a meet but they no longer do for various reasons. This event is staged on the streets and is promoted in conjunction with the London and Birmingham Diamond League meets to be held later this summer. The events ranged from traditional races, such the 110m hurdles, 100 hurdles, and a straight away 200m, to rarely run distances such as 150m and a 200m hurdle race. The athletes are always A list international stars mixed with A list domestic stars. The fans are less than ten feet from the races. TV coverage is comprehensive domestically, which means track is on TV with full production, not studio voice over replays 24 hours later. YET, the old guard frown upon the street races as a side show. Once again, shooting down another tool we can use to achieve what is a common goal, growth of track and field and its fan base.
These critics will wow you with the stories of yesteryear. Remembering the time when dual meets sold out stadiums and cities like LA hosted 4 meets (2 indoor meets,2 outdoor meets). The glory days of the 60s and 70s. 40+ years of remembering, that have done NOTHING to solve today's new problems of low fan turnout, poor public image, and a general malaise of the loyal fan base.
Today I read a blog from Toni Reavis ruing the current CEO search by USATF and the recent news that Stephanie Hightower may be the new CEO. Other very good candidates have turned down the job and it seems as though Ms. Hightower wants the job. Yet as true to the sport, we have decided to talk about the negatives and make sure that we all know why this may not work and is not the best deal we could have had. Cynicism.
I write all of the above to say this...I am tired of the cynicism and cowardly way we go about promoting ourselves. From drug rumors, to public face time, to internal talks about officers in the sport, to the fledgling athletes union. We are the most tested, most busted best self policed sport in the world, but all we present is "track is the dirtiest sport". All we present is a bunch of athletes, coaches and fans that swear before God such and such new superstar is dirty! And if that's not good enough, such and such old super star was dirty. No proof to support it but rumor is fact in our sport, until the accuser runs fast and wins then they are the lone shining angel in a world of devils. Fans and media, sometimes one in the same, sit back and suspect sprinters and hurdlers while marveling at the distance runners. Cannibalism.
At what point will we wake up and start internalizing our concerns and presenting a sellable product to the public? When will we move on from the 70s and realize we have today issues to address. This is no longer about putting on a good track meet nor is it about getting the stars on the track, it is about promoting the product. No more network presentations filled with drug stories that are years dead. Interest pieces about the stars on the track. Lack of personality is not an excuse for lack of exposure.
We are a great sport with educated and intelligent participants. We are a sport, not a game. We are self policed and have spear headed the drug war. Through track and fields efforts the other sports have been forced to develop comprehensive testing programs and actually suspend players. We are the sport that test the ultimate in human boundaries, no teams, no hand signals, no timeouts to regroup. The other athletes in other games watch us and talk about us. They seek out our athletes and our coaches to train under. These are some of the narratives we HAVE to start promoting. If we are serious about growth, those with voices have to do better and STOP dominating the media super highway with cynical pieces, criticisms of successful events, while ignoring the core structures and successes.
Did you know there is professional track?

The Lakeshow takes a sitdown

2011-05-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

It is hard being from LA and listening to Lakers fans. LA is the most optimistic place with the most pessimistic attitudes! We lose a series and the world has ended. Bynum is the devil! How did this happen?
Three runs at the final and we won 2 more back to back titles, yet in the fourth year the team ran out of gas and all is terrible? Looks like more than just the players needed a break from this roller coaster.I have little problem with the way this year ended simply because I can see what happened. The team ran out of pixie dust. It was a great ride and the batteries need to be recharged. I guess it is the coach in me that can be so practical about it. Lakers for life!

Meanwhile, the track season kicked off in dramatic fashion. In Jamaica the sprint gods returned back to the sport. Carmelita ran 10.86. Yohan Blake dropped a windy 9.80. Shelly Ann Fraser ran a windy 22.10. Fantastic meeting. On to Asia for most of the athletes to race in Daegu and Shanghai.

IN my own camp, Ryan left Friday to run Sunday in Kawasaki. He won in 13.73 w -2.2. Less than 24 hours off the plane we will take the W and move onto Daegu. Kevin is on a plane on his way to Daegu to get his baptism in to the pro circuit in his first full pro season. We are working to build on his indoor success.

Osama is dead. Obama pulled the trigger. Thank you! Thank you President Bush for taking the steps to get after this menace to the world who randomly murdered thousands in the name of his own religion. Thank you Obama for giving the order to end this terrible time in the world. And I pray we all heal and move forward and stop living as partisan politicians. We can get back to being Americans.

Indoors is over!

2011-03-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Congrats to all who ran indoors and a special congrats to my hurdler, Kevin Craddock. Kevin ran a pieced together indoor campaign and capped it off with a second place in New Mexico. Gave us a chance to see where he is, and how effective training has been up until this point.
I know many use indoors as a barometer, and others as preparation for outdoors. Being a LA kid born and raised, I use it simply to appease the hunger in an athlete and break training up IF it is needed. I do not translate or over evaluate the races because they are so different from outdoors my mind doesn't even relate the 2.
That being said, now we can focus solely on outdoors, and negotiating 10 barriers to Daegu. The ultimate goal is always making the outdoor teams and winning medals, indoors has zero bearing on that so I give it little weight.
The beauty of living and training in LA is that the weather is rarely terrible. So we can train all year long and at distances we can use.
One of the joys is watching the best of the best train. It is hard work being the best and contrary to the rumors that permeate our sport, the best train hard to earn their station. I watch those I have been in charge of and those under other coaches, and I know what is to come when the summer gets here. The pureness of track is marveled by no other sport in the world. Run faster, jump farther, throw farther, these are the simple skills of the sport. Gods majesty is unrivaled, and all of you that participate in this great sport should enjoy the gifts you are so blessed to use and display.
First stop is Texas, then Mt SAC, then we shall see. One thing I know, this is going to be a fast year in the sport. All signs point to a lot of fast times and high standards. Here we go!

Musings

2011-02-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

My intent is to blog a lot or at least more frequently but I end up on twitter and by the time I decide to blog I have nothing to say lol. Well kind of, more like I do not feel like writing too much more than 140 characters. So here I am, lets go with these random thoughts and points.

Track -
Threshold is off to a successful start. Kevin Craddock ran an abbreviated indoor season and will conclude it this weekend in New Mexico. He started this yr with a pr of 7.73 and now is the proud owner of 7.57. He damn near won his first race in Europe. I am happy for the kid, he worked hard to get a chance and through his hard work he has made himself a name again.
Ryan is training well and we will be ready for outdoors.
I cannot wait for outdoors. Just because I am a fan of this thing and it is going to be a FAST year in track, we have already seen hints.
Congrats to Kellie Wells on a fantastic indoors season.
David Oliver looks to be picking up exactly where he PAUSED his outdoor campaign.
It will be interesting to see who new pops up, thats always interesting.

Life -
My youngest took a dive off his bed and it took a minute to sink in but it scared the holy out of me. Spent the night in the hospital as a precaution. Glad that is over, kind of. He has a concussion, which means I have to watch him for signs of anything more serious. So far so good, he is returning back to himself.

And back to twitter I go. I think I have developed a short attention span. That means I have to get back to reading and writing more. See you at a meet somewhere

2011

2011-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Happy new year.

My guys have had an effective fall. Looking forward to the season. This is why I love this sport and what I do.

Lakers making the drive for three stressful.
The Heat playing the role of blonde bombshell lol.

The BCS is still an eyesore. More on that when I have a proper keyboard.

NFL playoffs on tap. I'm taking the Pats v the Saints. Mike Vick will make a run at it and is my sentimental favorite.

Did I mention the BCS sucks!

TAG game

2010-09-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

In the evolution of life we are changing. That statement is redundant but so am i lol.
I want to introduce my new company, threshold athletics group, tag for short. Firmly based in this wonderful sport of track and field, tag is not merely a training group or track team, it is my brand. Stay tuned to other ventures such as clinics, speed training, hurdle training, personal training, and whatever else i decide to explore in this wonderful life we all occupy together. so please welcome tag and look forward to seeing the logo soon at a track and website near you!
TAG team members are; ryan wilson, jonathan williams, and new comer kevin craddock.
Meanwhile on the track i want to thank and congratulate ryan on a terrific 2010 season. our goal was to stay healthy and consistent and get his name where it belongs in the rankings. mission accomplished. this was a building year and i feel we are set up to accomplish the bigger goals on our shared goal list.

Props to David oliver (do) on a tremendous season and his american record. it has been a renaissance period for the high hurdles and do is the latest to push the limits and expectations. also props to his coach Brooks Johnson. They have been on a five year journey, and their success speaks volumes to the recipe for success in our sport, stability.

Ryan has one race left in this season and then we start preparing for Daegu and London. Jonathan, Ryan and Kevin are my main focus but i do have a couple of choice spots available. I am waiting to see who out there is ready to step up and reach for their dreams.

TAG

I dont want to write an article

2010-07-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

This is a blog. You want news go to TFN.com or follow Conway Hill (

http://theviewfromthefinishline.blogspot.com/
), my space is random and sometimes less than thoughtful.
So on to the show.

A white guy broke ten seconds.  A few want to cry about the skin of the man being insignificant, but oh well, it is an event.  Lemaitre did it to win his nationals in 9.98 and he did it in beating my sprinter Martial MBandjock (10.08). 
Allen walked away.  Over the last couple of years we have become friends, and throughout his entire career I have remained a fan.  I used to believe I would end up coaching him back in the early/mid 90s but it never happened.  He is my mental model of hurdling, even more so than Skeets, which is saying tons for me.  When I picture what I want for my athletes, it is AJ is see.  Lil fella did it like no other for a long time, I will do all I can to convince him to stay in the sport in some significant capacity.
Paris was shaping up to be the big showdown between Dayron and David, but the Cuban champ pulled out with sore legs then went down to injury at practice the next day.  We may have seen something extra special now we are just left with special. ;)
On the home front I am in full track withdrawal!!! I have not been to a significant meet since 2008 and it is killing me.  These are the business months, where I get to see my work flourish and mature, and make those on the move decisions that give races that unknown excitement.  Instead I have become an expert at coaching by Internet feed, emails, skype and BBM!
Speaking of, all my iphone friends, until they show me something that can do what BBM does, text unlimited for FREE, I will remain on #teamblackberry.  BTW I love the iphone and it one touch apps and screen etc.  I have a itouch and it is great.  But I know what my athlete is feeling as soon as he can get his phone.  INSTANTLY.
Meanwhile, Paris is tomorrow, July 16th.  Pls send me all live feeds and result pages, I collect em from meet to meet.
Oh, please congratulate Kevin Craddock on making it to the circuit.  He's a year away but the experience is invaluable. 
Other than that Ochocinco show is great entertainment, TO is melodramatic, Wipeout is the funniest shit on TV, please believe it.
That is all...for now.

Random as usual

2010-07-07T23:09:00.001-07:00

In this world of instant gratification we have found twitter the new fix. We can even combine the various social media such as facebook and twitter. Apparently android can this and more! Amazing. Making friends has never been impersonal! lol However, I am not here to bash the soundbite habits of this new Pepsi generation but rather the ridiculous notion that the caricatures created by people are real and true.
Twitter wars are the dumbest things I have ever seen. The arguments are hilarious. I try to remind people, twitter is not real! Just a bunch of people letting their alter egos run wild. Very few would ever live their twitterafterdark tweets LOL.
Now I will say it is a terrific medium for party announcements and the such. Event alerts are terrific.

Meanwhile Lebron James is on the verge of signing with the Miami Heat, and judging by the last tweet I just received via ESPN someone finally broke the news. So that will give Dwayne Wade Bosh and LeBron to chase his second and their first. My opinion about their chances will lie in who else they sign. Those three alone do not strike me as Celtic, Magic, nor Lakers beaters. Bosh is a jump shooting PF/C which leaves them soft in the middle. And James and Wade both create from their ability to drive to the basket, which begs the question who sits on the outside for the drive and kick? And they are saying Lebron will be the 2 rather than the PG. that is yet to be seen but the styles don't mesh well as I am looking at it.

Lausanne is tomorrow also. Pause... Props to David Oliver (see his blog on the side) and his coach Brooks Johnson (www.spikesandflats.com) for tying the AR in the 110HH, 12.90. Job well done fellas.
OK so Lausanne is tomorrow and Usain Bolt has switched from the 200 to the 100 to protect his irritated achilles. I will be on my computer and phone tough trying to keep up with the results, as usual. If I am lucky I will find a computer and watch the meet. Fingers crossed. Ryan is lined up next to the WRH, Dayron Robles, should be a good race. Looking for Ryan to drop soon, but it depends on how he handles his jet lag this trip.

OK it is late and I am sleepy...

Illuminati, NWO and other stuff

2010-06-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

So the new conspiracy is an old conspiracy but on a grander scale. If you did not know the Illuminati is running the entertainment industry and subliminally influencing us all! JayZ is a free mason and every video is about devil worship, or the Illuminati or both. I have a disclaimer, I do not believe in grand conspiracies and think it is a human construct to shuck responsibility for ones own decisions or to irrationally justify someone elses success over your own. I do not expect anyone to agree with me, but I am right on both counts LOL. I have done the research to prove it. LMAO So go forth into the matrix and just know that NOTHING you do is without the influence of the secret society known as the Illuminati who have mysteriously decided to show themselves EVERYWHERE and use everyone to establish a new world order. At least that is my conclusion after listening to my friends tell me so.
See I thought the diamond sign by JayZ was for The Roc, which is his business, but not so my friends. It is the all seeing eye on top of the pyramid, which is free masonry or the devil or the Illuminati or all of the above. Anyway back to reality.

C Breezy!!! Finally he has been let back into the game. I personally don't think he should have ever been shunned. No man should hit a woman, operative word being should. But since I heard the truest version right off the top I never demonized the kid. He made a mistake. So I am glad he was asked to do what he does best, be a transcendent entertainer. He did the damn thing in the MJ tribute and hes crying was genuine. I saw it coming, the moment the song and BAM!
but here we are in the age of cynicism and haters. Yes I said haters. Commonly called crabs in a bucket. In this current atmosphere hes tears have been called planned and theatre. Its just ridiculous these days.

OK so congrats to Ryan Wilson. 13.17 makes him the third fastest high hurdler in the world and now he is set up to attack this summer circuit in Europe and join the big boys, David Oliver and Dayron Robles. This is the first healthy summer he has had since 2006, so I am well chuffed. It is also his fastest time since 2007, now to go out and pr. Next up another visit with Mr. Oliver and co. in Eugene, Oregon.

Albert Haynesworth stop it. Play ball and get over your self. You have a job to do son, no one promised you ease, and at your price tag you should be versatile enough to survive.
Lebron should be a Clipper but no one has that kind of foresight. If Stern was truly a puppet master this would happen and the NBA would ride LA to billions! Kobe v Lebron in a battle for who's house is it?!!! It would be a marketing bonanza, and by the way, a healthy Clipper team is better than Cleveland and Miami. But i am sure it will be Miami or Chicago. Question, what do you do with Rose if you bring in Lebron? Hmmm...

My closing advice is this, watch Wipeout! If you do not know please do yourself a favor and watch it, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Management

USATF surprises

2010-06-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

This was a surprising day in Des Moines. I was sitting on my couch watching the US lose, UCLA win and WLs left and right at US Nationals. Some from expected suspects and some from unexpected suspects.
I have seen Greg Nixon run all spring and he has looked ready to run, but 44.61 was a surprise result. One because he looked horrible on Friday in his semi. Two he was in lane 9. Three he had never broken 45 before. Four he looked terrible Friday!
Congrats Lolo on the dream victory. I do not care who you are if you can win the US title in your home town on a track you ran on your whole life, that is something special. Family and friends in the stands. Excellent.
Special shout out the Kellie Wells on her second place finish. Long road back but here she is.
Batman and Johnny Dutch were shock performers. Batman hadn't broken 48 in a few years despite his medals and success. And Dutch is a junior in college. 47,63 is ridiculously fast for his age.
The highs got started today, the race I have been waiting for.Ryan cruised through easily. The show starts tomorrow, and will be a fun race to watch.
Ok once again, I am typing half sleep...

Blogging Afterdark

2010-06-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

It is never wise to blog wen sleepy but hey what fun we can have. Now contrary to the title of this entry, this will not be anything close to twitter after dark.

USATF started and the 2010 100m champions are Walter Dix and Allyson Felix. Congrats to you both. The winds prevented the times from being fast. The off year and absence of some of our top athletes have sucked the energy out of meet for some.

My personal interest rest in the 110HH which start Saturday and end Sunday. Looking for my man Ryan Wilson to run well and stay healthy for the summer circuit.

Like I said bad idea to blog late at night, I have fallen asleep twice writing this smdh

In closing, sorry three times now. Ok that was the closing. USA soccer and USATF champs on TV in the AM, I will be in bliss.

Bad business

2010-05-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

The season has started. No new faces so far, and the usual suspects are staking claim to their respective places.
DO drops another early season sub 13. Impressive how he and Brooks have dialed it in and are able to run fast right out of the gate. NICE!
Jet has started her season off strongly having taken down the Jamaican trio in succession. It shall be an interesting summer for sure.
Meanwhile, so I have not posted in 2 months. So much I will not say simply because I don't possess the language to say what I want to say with any type of savvy.
Sadness in the fact that La Shawn has gone down and for such a personal reason. I really cannot call him the smartest man in the room, that is for damn sure!
What I want for Christmas is a sport that is about bettering itself through well planned, and transparent marketing and planning. I do not want to read blogs, message boards or tea leaves to figure out if the powers that be our working to better my situation as a participant in this sport. I have never been so disheartened in my life by this sport. Where are my athletes to go to earn a living, or afford to chase this dream. As the structure stands now it is extremely difficult to afford participation in this sport and that is sad. I know of a couple of stories of very talented individuals who are seriously considering walking from the sport because financially it is riskier than playing the lottery! This is not a good situation. And I will leave it there.
We need to do better. I want us to do better.
Hope to see you all soon on the circuit this summer...

Bootcamp is over

2010-03-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

I learned today that not only is the time of year coaches start to amp up speed and intervals in practice, but boot camp really is over. I know because I attended the ceremonies of my oldest, Ricky, yesterday and today. It was one of my proudest moments in life.
Yesterday was Turning Blue. He received his blue braid that signifies him as infantry. Now the downside is I missed the ceremony but got there just as it ended. Which proved to be perfect. See I was the surprise. He had no idea I was coming, and when I popped up from the mass of people he was surprised, then I got surprised. He gave me hug so tight it almost broke me down. I love that MAN, no longer a boy. And I really did not expect him to react so strongly to my presence, yeah fathers love to feel wanted too. It was fantastic.
Today was his graduation and I was in for another surprise. He was the guidon, or should I say holding the guidon. This is an honor bestowed upon the most upstanding soldier I was later told by a 17 yr enlisted man. Shoulders back, head level, back straight, knees straight, at 6'2". "That's my boy out there!" Looking like a soldier, a man.
Lord I thank you for my children and for the lives you have blessed them with. You know I have not been the father of the year but through your infinite wisdom they respect me, love me, and show me tremendous honor. I know this would not be possible without you. Keep them covered out in this world. Help me continue to show you favor through my love for my children. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Needless to say this man is feeling like he did something right, proud of my man!

I am different

2010-02-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

As the title to this suggest I realize I am different. Not strange or weird or artsy different, I process information differently and think on it from a different angle. That being said this blog will be some random thoughts not short enough for tweets and status updates. Lets go

I was told get a job and do not coach. That was 17 years ago and they were right but I am still coaching. LOL
I was told to get off the internet and stop letting people in on what I think and I am doing. They were partially right and I made partial adjustments. LOL

This is for my man Doc Dossman who I hope all athletes know by now. I know and athletes know that physio's, doctors, chiros, and masseuse's are not the same. We know who to go see for what, well let me rephrase, I know who to go see, and I instruct my athletes accordingly. However, when in casual convo it is time prudent to just use physio as a universal catch-all. Especially on the road. For example some call me a trainer depending on where they are from, I do not get involved in the banter of correction, its not important in casual settings.

To my tweeter friends. Criticizing grammar on tweeter is dumb. You have 140 characters to say what you need to say, abbreviations and homonyms are acceptable and preferred and a part of the text-lingo. Your continued post about grammar is arrogant, presumptuous, and makes you look like an asshole. Real talk. I will write and misspell and keep it pushing becuz its ltd spc avail 2 say wut i wnt 2. You want proper grammar read a blog, or an email, stop embarrassing yourself and trying to clown others in an attempt to make you feel superior.

Do you ever get irritated with folks that complain about texting? LOL I did at first but I remembered something. I do not like to talk on the phone. Hell most men don't. One of those old school stereotype things LOL. I like texting because I can carry the conversation at a comfortable and unforced pace and so can you. Neither of us have to answer RIGHT now. We can readdress the convo with a written record of what was said not flawed memories that lead to arguments lol. That being said, texting has been a universal reverse psychology on the world. We now all appreciate the value of real communication, hearing someones voice, seeing them and their expressions.
Sadly what the internet has created is a false universe. Where people think what they think is acceptable simply because they thought it and have a medium to bring it to existence.

Ok enough ranting, I am far from perfect and I am sure guilty of the things I dislike the most LOL. In more important news, good luck to all athletes going to nationals! My 2 charges Carmelita and Kenny, go make this team!
Oh i do have one more rant. This one is form the heart and goes to my track friends and foes and fans. Shut yer mouths! Root for who you like, be friends and dislike who you want. But stop all these accusations and drug insinuations. One day it will be you if you ever get to realize your dreams. Be mindful of this simple truth. You are working hard and selling out to be the best, to be recognized and to win. When you get there you will want to receive accolades and smiles and have people admire what it took to get there. If all you read and HEAR is about how dirty you are, you will not be pleased. I have seen men cry behind accusations, this is real life and real people just like you. Our sport is shaky and when I hear people in the sport talking about how such and such is dirty it pisses me off. We are all trying to earn a living out here and I am telling you from experience, reaching the pinnacle does NOT guarantee you money. We have to do better, this should not be the case under any circumstances. Watch what you say and who you say it to.
Further, you will not succeed operating from a negative pov. That energy does not breed success, just contempt. Change your mind, be positive. You are better served allowing people to disappoint you than protecting against it through cynicism, pessimism and hateful opinions. Real talk.

24 hours of D - Not a race for the weak

2010-02-02T14:37:00.001-08:00

Suffice it to say my last 24 hours have smacked me around. We can skip the first 4, I am not telling you all what it was anyway, plus the last few is where the action is, like a well constructed action flick. As I have been joking I got fired on my day off, TWICE, that is all. Then I woke up today and started over. Cool.
Get up, felt a little tired, got dressed, kissed my son and dressed him for school (love it), headed off to the weight room to start practice, it is 7am-ish at this point. Got a little business to hand but had to delay it because the person was not in that early. Gym it is! Now it gets good. I started smelling gas in the truck yesterday afternoon, but no leaks I can see but clearly by the time I was leaving the gym I was in full flow of when I was taking the truck to the shop, after practice was option 1A and 1B.
Well remember I had that business to handle so I decided to get it done between the weight room and track, let's roll betsy, even tho she was smelling a little gassy. Rolling along with the windows down hoping I do not pass out from the fumes. Then the accelerator goes dead. Uh oh, I just took the truck in for that. Coast around the corner, step on it to test it and NOTHING but a pop in the engine. Wow what was that? Out of the corner of my eye I see some thing. What is that says my brain. My eyes scream FIRE! The right front is in full flame, and growing!!! Jack Bauer was a black man for 10 seconds. brake/putinpark/unclip seatbelt/grabphone AAANNNNDDD bounce! Walk away from the vehicle D! Call 911, oops, wait...
I skipped a part. On my way to the gym I found out my phone was down. Thought I had made a payment and did not. So I am sitting there at 730am with money in pocket and no way to pay the bill until 10:00am when the shop opens. So no calls to be made except for 911. If you did not know you can always call 911 as along as you have a signal. ok back to the action...
CHP happened to be driving by and pulls over, he blocks traffic and stands next to me and watches the fire, the Car-B-Q as he and the fireman would later call it.
I am safe and sound. The engine is D-U-N! A few sprays from the water hose of the fire truck and it was all over, nice plume of white smoke.
Bye truck, 1989 silver 4runner in decent condition, gone by the car killer. That is 4 for me now, only one was my fault or carelessness, that other three are wear and tear, and a drunk driver.
It is over I proclaim. That 24 hours is in the books. As soon as I pay the 200 to the tow company that was called out to drag the truck away.
Get this, they want me to pay them for the towing and storage AND sign over the truck to them if I want to junk it to them! Where dey do dat???
Can someone show me a track meet! Damn!

Coherent ramblings

2010-01-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

July 3rd was my last published blog, not my last written one LOL. If you follow me on twitter (@dgs1103) or facebook then you know I always have something to say. Kind of stunts my ability to blog because I run out of coherent ramblings since they tend to be random and varied. Let's go...
Indoors has started and while I love the fact I can see results and talk about what folks are doing, I still feel no relevance to outdoors (real track). This weekend is stuffed with big names on the pro level. The college kids have been at it for a while and running fast. For the life of me I wish I could remember these kids names that run these fast indoor times but a couple of them fell off outdoors, so... back to the pros. I watch the 60s, sprints and hurdles. So this weekend is exciting to me. At Millrose the 60s are stacked and over in Europe a few big names are over there to make statements. Should be fun and Sunday will have the track bears out of hibernation.
Pause

My prayers to one Mr Xavier Carter. Young man pick yourself up and grow up. I mean it with all the energy an old head is supposed to pass on to the young lions of the pride. We ALL make mistakes, the successful ones stand up and move forward. I implore and ask all that are near and dear to him to hold him up and push him forward. Forget track and running fast, I am talking about life. Lets all help him step away from the edge and realize there is thrill and energy away from the edge also. Someone pass this on to him if you can, I am rooting for him now and want to see him be a success story not a money story. Money is short, life is long, that will never change.

Ok back to light hearted stuff.
I would like to thank all my friends and associates and enemies for opening my eyes to the darkness of track and field. I was inundated with proclamations of knowledge all fall. No one in track can pr or improve without drugs anymore. Track folks we have too much disbelief in us. You re out there working damn hard to be great and to be the exception, yet every time someone achieves this level we tear them down without question. Benefit of the doubt is not even offered. Let tell you what I know for sure, if you do not think someone else can do it, you do not think you can do it, and you are operating on hope. Hope is not what gets it done on the track. Hope keeps you training, but when you line up to compete hope is a loser. Belief in the impossible is a constant in great ones.
And thank you for confirming that I have exceeded the boundaries of your imagination.

Congratulations to Alabama for completing on undefeated season. But you are not any type of national champion. Boise St is undefeated too. I love college football. I love football but this is about the farce that is CFB. The NCAA should be sued for false advertisement and prostitution, and pandering and racketeering. Nothing about D1 is for the well being of the student athlete, it is all about money. I resolved my anger by deciding the season actually ends the first week in December. The bowls are for entertainment value solely. Without a playoff we do not get a champion. What we get is arbitrary games that are mainly based on fan following (they travel well). College bball and soccer and baseball and track and water polo and ALL OTHER SPORTS have playoffs. Nope these teams do not travel 100+ ppl but with the millions that a playoff would generate it can be budgeted. Ah you get the point, I am not a fan of bowls, the bowl system and i think the presidents are full of shit whenever they try to defend this crap called the BCS. Come one TCU played Boise St this year. Why? Because they could not have another of their member conferences get beat again as Oklahoma did. that would have legitimized the complaints and law suits and legislation against them.
Whenever a congressman takes this issue to congress you know something is wrong with it. Oh and that for statement about the well being of the student athlete was squashed when we had 24 hours of college basketball to start their season. We had games starting after 9pm on the West Coast and at 7am on the east coast. LOL

Ok more later, back to tweeting and watching FB people think i am updating my status on FB 30 times a day LOL. I have my twitter connected to my FB, sorry folks, i like to share some things, at times it is even interesting.

Lion Chaser

2009-07-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

As I sit here watching Beowulf, I decided to take five minutes to write. Let's see if it has any fluid direction whatsoever. The truth is most of my blogs do not flow because I am constantly mentally editing what I write. I have gone so far as to write entire blogs and erase them. LOL Yup a few times. One must guard their thoughts when speaking and writing them down. This is the one reason I chuckle when I am accused of spilling my guts or telling secrets. Ok I do not actually chuckle, I get pissed.
So, Eugene was not so kind to me and my charges this year. On we move to the summer circuit. Ryan started his campaign in Oslo and Kai gets baptized in Madrid. For those of you out there, welcome him to the road, he is a virgin, with a clean passport LOL. Watch out for my man, I do not want him wandering around Europe waiting for a pick up. We all know the stories.
Congrats to D Payne (you owe the track gods lol) T Trammell(again!), and Aries (about time), go get em fellas in Berlin. D.O. get better and see you out there in London.
Here's a little history for you, Johnnie Dutch ran 48.18 to make the team at age 20. Danny Harris in 1984 ran a similar time to win an Olympic medal at age 20. Man where can I get some of that gene pool??? We have Dutch and Anderson coming up through the ranks and young kid Wyatt just getting in the game. The long hurdles are looking for a return to their glory years where you ran 47 to medal or stayed home.
Tomorrow is Madrid, come on Kai let's get it.

Slow days

2009-06-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

I went to Houston this weekend and saw my best friend for the first time in about 5 years or so. He and I have gotten a kick out of our significant others who have implored us to call and visit each other. We are just as close whether we talk every week or twice a year (which has happened). That was put to the test this weekend when as we said, nothing has changed. That's my boy for life and I am blessed to have found such a friend. I really wish he still lived in LA though, this is the one thing my girl T Danvers was right about, I do miss him. More than I realized, but it is all good. his baby girl is beautiful, Leila. And his wife is a nut case, Tonnie. LOL

Meanwhile, track season is upon us. Started well and has hit some road bumps for the DSports crew. Tasha returned to London as is her routine, and ran in the inaugural Super8 series. A great idea that will force track into the 21st Century. A two hour team meet with some variations on the competition to keep it entertaining and action packed. Tasha was one of the team captains and spokespersons for the meet. We decided to support the endeavor and have some fun. She ran the short hurdles and the medley relay. She won the short hurdles which is always a fun race for her, and we decided to run the 200 leg of the relay. All was well until 80 meters and she pulled her hamstring. Rehab time! Tasha has a terrific attitude and as her blog said, she'll be back!
Kai Kelley finally broke through and dropped 13.44 last week. That brought a little dance out from the coach. Nothing like the newbies having success to remind you why you do something.
Jonathan Williams had a nice run in front of the federation, and for his own confidence.
Ryan has been running well. He took the Brazilian tour and got a good chance to establish some rhythm. He took second in Berlin yesterday at 13.21. Props to Dexter Faulk who won it in 13.18.

Ok tired of typing, see you all in Eugene, for the show. Time to put people on the team.

The NBA

2009-05-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been told that the NBA is fixed. It is a universal thing it seems. We all like to talk trash about our favorite team and root for them and we all get upset when they lose and occasionally scream about the inconsistencies in the calls. It is what we do as bball fans. And I have heard this from fans and haters across the board. For the record I am a Lakers fan, I do not pretend I am not, I am also a Kobe fan and I also am still pissed about the Shaq trade. We should have at least five rings right now. I digress.
The point is, the officiating this playoff has been suspicious. I am all about human error, but there are some obvious calls either not being made, or only being called at certain times. I am currently watching the Magic/Cavs game and so far I am pleased to say it is just a game undisturbed by the calls. Good for the East. Out West it remains a different story. A rule of thumb for those of you reading and wondering what I am talking about, if you start to notice the announcers talking about calls, or become familiar with the referees names, they are far too visible. Refs should be unknown when the game ends, no matter the result. I promise you any Lakers fan knows Steve Javie's name. And not because of just this year. The funny thing is he has been one of the more balanced referees in Lakers game's.
What I want. I want consistency in calls form game to game. I want them to let this be the playoffs and stop handing out flagrant fouls on routine, hard nose fouls in the playoffs. I want them to call the little hip push everyone defends Kobe with. I want the refs to be invisible. We should never watch a playoff game where the 2 teams combine for 70+ free throws. I can accept the Lakers losing when I know the refs did not influence the flow of the game and the tone of it. Unfortunately this series is reminding of when the Lakers used to play the Spurs, how well the Lakers do depends on how the refs call the game. This should never be the case, but for us Lakers fans it has been the case for years. I will never forget the year the Lakers played the Spurs and for the first 2 games Tony Parker ran right through the Lakers. If they touched him he got the call. I told everyone I knew then, the Lakers will win the series, just let me see how they call the game. Sure enough, Parker went to the hole, Shaq laid him on his back and there was no call. The Lakers won the series in 6 games.
I have a friend that told me after GAME ONE of this series, the NBA wants this to go seven games. I told him no way we are winning in five. After game three I told him "See!" He simply replied, "It is going seven". If you think I am a crazed Lakers fan just look at the Houston series and notice decidedly different game seven was called and how easily the Lakers won.
Ok that's my NBA rant. I am putting my rose colored glasses back on because I want to believe the games are decided on the floor by the teams. Yup.

Let's go Magic!!!

The Refs!!!

2009-05-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

Charles Barkley said it right, the refs are struggling. People like to pigeonhole me on this topic as if I am a blind Lakers supporter or Kobe backer. I am clearly a Lakers fan and a Kobe fan. However, when I say the refs suck I am talking both conferences and all throughout the playoffs. George Karl said it best, there is a lack of consistency.
Example, Denver beats on the Lakers for three quarters, at least on Kobe, then all of a sudden it is the fourth quarter and they start blowing the whistle left and right. This type of inconsistency is happening throughout the playoffs. It throws the rhythm of the game off and keeps the players guessing at what is going on.
As a Lakers fan I am too well versed on the non calls, such as the hip push, which seems to have become an acceptable defensive move but was an instant call in the Jordan days. If you think Kobe shoots a lot of free throws now just think if they called the hip push.

HOWEVER, I am enjoying the competitiveness of the playoffs. There are good games and high drama. Teams are battling to the wire and not giving up. This is what conference finals should look like.

At this time I would like to give a shout out to my man Robby Hughes, the die hard Lakers fan living out there amongst the enemy. I know you are keeping them honest Robbie. And to my favorite Nuggets fan out there in Florida, sorry we have to do it to you. LOL

Blogging

2009-05-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

Been a minute. I will post to make sure I keep up. So...

Season is underway.

Carson was whack. Misplaced hurdles, cool weather, no atmosphere, and a lack of energy.

New York should be exciting.

Wariner returns to Hart.

I lost an athlete to the demands of life.

My son is growing up and it is amazing.

Kobe and LeBron are headed for a collision.

Lakers are the best team in basketball. If they play like it, we win.

Here comes the summer, the road to Berlin is about the HOT up!

Obama is still president hahahahahaha.

I still hate baseball but enjoy the fact that the Dodgers are playing well.

Be back one of these days

In real

2009-05-10T23:00:00.001-07:00

The season has kicked off and I am excited, anxious, and confident about it. The usual

Watching Tiger try to win the TPC at Sawgrass.
Waiting for the beat down the Lakers are putting on Houston.
Here comes the Home Depot meet. I will be spectating for the most part as most of my crew will be resting and running elsewhere.
Ryan is off to experience the Brazilian circuit for a week. Jonathan is going back to Ponce. Tasha has traveled enough, it is time to train. However, Kai and Candice will be in action in Carson.

Off the track my Lakers are working hard at making this championship run interesting. I am weary of the lack of calls my boys get, and it is not just this year, it is every year. Kobe should be averaging 10 free throws a game. Where are the Jordan rules when you need them? The little push in hip on his jumpers, hindering his follow through, to outright slaps and smacks that go uncalled. I especially love when the experts say the Lakers need to go to the hole, why? They go to the hole, draw contact and get no calls. Yet, they are still winning this thing. Folks are all up in arms about Denver and Cleveland. Watch what happens when Denver faces the Lakeshow and not Dallas.

Where is football when you need it???

Not very random this one

2009-04-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

Penn Relays - over hyped by the network and too much talk about redemption. You cannot redeem something that is over. You cannot redeem something specific with something random. It was fun to watch the competition and see a little energy out there, but all the talk about Beijing was just stupid. Beijing is over and cannot be reclaimed. The sprint crown has to be reclaimed at worlds AND at the next Olympics in 2012. Until then, there is no redemption.
That being said, Dix was impressive. Carmelita continued her early season emergence. Jamaica's DMR was impressive. Nice to see Kenia back on form.
Drake relays - on Friday it was in the mid 80s. On Saturday it was cold, wet, windy and raining. Ryan dropped 13.21 from lane 8. Candice opened her campaign with a 12.96. Considering where she came from and is currently going I am pleased with that performance. Jeremy ran an easy 45.01. Lolo gambled with her hamstring and loss. Reports are she will be back by June.

Tomorrow is Guadeloupe, I am normally there enjoying the Caribbean weather and rain. But this year I am home. So Ryan is on self preservation mode, which should result in a good run since he spends most of his summer career on his own. The true meaning of vet. Saturday is Jamaica, Tasha finally gets to run a meet on the island. I thought Melaine was running but she is running the flat 400, however the field is decent and will provide a good early season push for her. Candice is locking and loading for her second race of the year as we continue to work towards Eugene.

Irvine, CA. Steve Scott Invite - this should serve as Kai's coming out party. He dropped a good 13.68 at Mt SAC, got some big boy experience on a trip to Penn relays, and now it is time to drop a real time.

USC and UCLA have the annual dual meet this year on Saturday. I love it!!!!!

Not really in the mood

2009-04-24T08:19:00.001-07:00

I have not been able to blog. Not because I am at a loss for words but because the things I want to write about I do not need to blog about. Kind of a different writers block. My inspiration is flawed, my intent skewed, and my message deluded.
So why am I writing now? Just to write. In the next few words you will not find in depth writing, or well constructed arguments, rather I will just write until it is time to hit the publish button, OR as I have done many times before just delete what I do not want and post some edited version that the world will never know about lol.
I laugh a lot, it breaks the tension and gives structure to my words, but in the world of the Internet this is not always a good thing. People's interpretation of your words are reality, no matter what your intent or voice. I suggest you write, "I am being sarcastic" to make things clear, and even then folks will believe what they want.
Recently I had to take a moment to gather myself as I found myself under attack from a coward. Rightly or wrongly I post a lot on message boards, one in particular. It is no secret who I am and I post accordingly. Well as you can imagine things can get heated when one is sharing their opinion about others. I am no stranger to controversy, used to it, sometimes goad it on. Every once in a while I find myself under attack from the grassy knoll/clock tower. Normally I accept it as part of the game, but this time I was disturbed. The board keeper and a few posters seemed to be in cahoots and that gave me pause. When the issue became my personal life I took offense and I was rebuffed. Granted the coward had his facts skewed but it is clear it is someone that knows me personally, and that is upsetting. I am past it all now, kind of, I tend to hold grudges, but it was so foul it caught my attention.
On the other side of reality Penn and Drake are tomorrow and I am excited. I have three hurdlers running in Drake, the first time I have had anyone run at Drake. I will know a lot by Monday about where we all are.
Ryan won Mt SAC in 13.45. Kai dropped 13.68 which is a tenth off his pr so we are looking good. He looks even better because it cost him his hair. Check out my or his facebook page to see the new Kai. Jonathan went to Dakar and ran in a wind storm. Glad he got some chips for that trip because it was a waste. This weekend should give us a far better idea of what he is capable of. Candice is opening up this weekend, but this will not be any indication of what she will do this summer.
So now I will go to the track and sit back and watch some track. Those bloggers of you and twitters keep me posted.
Shout out to my man Jay Hicks and the crew at PreRaceJitters. They are doing a great job.
If you have not heard it check out Tasha's interview with Dwain this Wednesday, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tashadanvers. It was a great interview and you will have all your questions answered.
Well looks like the publish button is calling me. See you all on the circuit soon, run fast and compete well, I am always watching.

Mt SAC

2009-04-18T08:21:00.001-07:00

OK here is the play by play

Ryan and Kai in the 110s
Carmelita in the 100
Torri in the 200
Tyrone and Martial in the 100
Teddy in the 400

This normally should take a few hours, yet thanks to a scheduling issue this is a 8 hour day if I stay for all the races. I have not decided yet. Just a long time to be at Mt SAC. I will report in tomorrow on what I think about it all.
Time to shower and shave for the show. Peace

"Coach I was thinking>>>"

2009-04-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

"Coach I was thinking...." "Uhm, coach I was talking to [World class athlete X] and they do...."

These 2 lines are reserved for veteran athletes that have been with their coach for years and shown progress and proven they understand their coaches philosophy. These are not lines for neophytes, rookies, or athletes that have never bought into their coaches program.
If you are a non veteran be advised that starting a conversation with either of these phrases will result in A) a quick cussing! B) A smirk. C) A long lecture on what you should be doing. D) A quick cussing. E) A simple but loaded, "Why?" F) The "Be here or be there conversation. G) All of the above. If you are ever in wonderment about whether you are able to approach your coach with these phrases, the answer is very likely NO! However, all coaches advise you to ask the veterans. They will give you the rundown because more than likely they have been there and experienced all of the above.

"How are you feeling today?"
Many athletes think this is a trick a question that when answered incorrectly will result in them missing training, being doubted, being seen as weak or not tough, or dictating their session for the day. So the inevitable knee jerk response is some form of "Fine, Coach." The greatest lie ever told by athletes. Whew. Just tell us the truth. We asked the question for information purposes not ego purposes. Example: Athlete A responds, "Uhm I am a little tight but I am FINE." What does coach say? "How are you feeling?" Athlete, thinking they are hip to the game retorts with, "Fine coach ready to roll!" Coach says, "What's tight?" Athlete "Nothing, nothing, its all good coach." Lawd have mercy, just tell us what we want to hear. You have wasted five valuable minutes trying to dodge a question that is for your own benefit. The "I am fine athletes" seemingly end up hurt. It is because when you were rundown, or tired, or sore, or "tight" you ignored your body, did not tell the coach so he could do his job properly, and in the end he designed a session that was too much at the time. This is inexcusable and will get you the greatest cussin' of you career. A coach knows where the danger zones are in the training cycles, so he wants to know how you are handling the load and how YOU are reacting. Everyone is different, so drop the cookie cutter responses, and give your coach some details.
DO NOT tell coach "Fine" then go tell your training partners that your back was stiff all morning and you thought warming up would help, or your hamstring had a knot in it since Fridays session but you know your body and it will be all fine after you warm it up and stretch it. We hear this through the grapevine and we will have one of those walks where you do very little talking and whole lot of listening. We rather just coach.
Think of it this way, your "I'm fine" Is the equivalent to coach giving you the same workout all year without any variations. And we both know how athletes love to do the same workout over and over and over again. It loses its effectiveness and becomes useless.

From under the scoreboard

2009-04-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Took the crew out to UCLA for a little stretching and racing. A yawner of a meet, that served as a meet and greet more than any hot competition. The purpose being to ease into the season and wake folks up. They are all awake now. By the end of practice today they will know it is time to turn the lights up. We do not need the switch flipped, but we do need to turn the lights up.

I was honored after the meet and humbled. There was an alumni social, which they have been having for the past few years to reconnect with alumni and expose the team to the history of our tradition. I went a few years back and it was the usual old guy convention, very few of my contemporaries were there. I figured I am so vocal about my Alma mater I better start doing things that matter and at least be present. Nothing worse than sideline critics that do nothing to solve the problem.

So there I was observing that the alumni from the 60 and 70s were out in force, and then the alumni from the new millennium were there, but very few from the 80s and 90s. I am talking 4 of us and three of us were surprise visitors, myself being the veteran. So I am thinking I have to spread the word next time to make sure I see my teammates when the festivities start up. Honoring Coach Bush, his athletes not letting him live down the fact that he came out of retirement to coach USC, his athletes telling stories, and then Art stepped up and gave the closing remarks. He was joking about some of his ex athletes, and recognizing various people when out of the blue he said my name. Hahahahahahaaha, made me chuckle.
I have been a vocal person about the state of my schools program and Art and I have had a few emails and a couple of face to face discussions. I would love to be the sprint coach at UCLA, I make no secret, but I do not chase it because Tony is a personal friend. So when Art recognized me in the room, I had to smile, and the strange feeling of humility ran in the room. "He has come into his own as of late," was the line he used. Great on ya Art. Thank you.
For me, it is always strange to hear my name said correctly. Darrell is so commonly pronounced Daryl here in the US, I have grown accustomed to the mistake and the needed correction, Da - Rail, is my name. Art said it right, and that rang in my ears. Felt good too, the room was full of alumni and current Bruins, my people, my brethren. We like that.

Meanwhile, before the social event there was the meet I was talking about. Nothing spectacular to speak about. That will be reserved for the up coming weeks. All I can say is there is a beast on the prowl out there and there will be some disappointed faces in 2 weeks. Stay tuned. I got a little something for everyone this year, no where to run to baby, no where to hide. LOL
I look forward to seeing all of you soon. And remember, "He who run fast in April, get ass kicked in August." I love that saying, good luck to you all, stay healthy, be patient, and let's have some fun at this thing!

Twitter, Kettlecorn, and Training

2009-03-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

Twitter is the new craze. Why? I have a twitter, and I love following Shaq, he is a funny guy, and has good gimmicks, like the first 8 people to come up and touch me get tickets to tonight's game. I love Twitter because my man Jay Hicks at PreRaceJitters and the folks over at trackshark and on track news, keep me posted on ALL the meets as fast as they can get the information. I am spoiled in that sense.
Some folks need to be banned from Twitter. I just do not need to know your every step, and I am sorry, every moment of your day was not superfantabulous! LOL

Whoever created kettle corn should be arrested and tried for witch craft! That's all I have to say about that.

Training is going well. The IR list is low, which is always a good sign. Work is quantitative and filled with quality. If you have never heard good words from your coach, you need to be around me right now! I am looking forward to competing. And I cannot wait until June. April and May will be heat checks, as we get ready for the dance. April is just look sees and the real fireworks start in May. :)

My son is four. His mom decided she wanted him to be sports, so he just started Tee Ball. He had his first game Saturday. I do not think he will hold on to baseball but it is fun watching him do him. He played with the dirt most of the time, watched the ball go by a couple of times until told he could pick it up (obedience lol), and smacked the hell out of it when he was at bat. I cannot wait for football and basketball season. I do NOT like baseball, snore!

WADA is rightt

2009-03-24T20:57:00.001-07:00

How's this for irony, I am defending WADA. I would have never thunk it.

Now that other sports, tennis, soccer, cycling have signed the WADA code, they are required to provide their whereabouts as track athletes have had to for years. With their inclusion has come criticism of the new whereabouts code. Athletes have to designate one hour a day for random testing. This has prompted a lawsuit in Belgium, numerous complaints from tennis stars, and recently a rebuke from soccer authorities.

Listen folks, the problem is not in the whereabouts. It is a needed inconvenience and I for one am not sympathetic to the complaints of the whereabouts. It is a necessary step, and with all privilege comes responsibility. Drug testing is a must. Whereabouts is a must. So deal with it. I coach numerous athletes, and I live with one. Her testing time is 6am which means when she gets tested I am awaken also. Big deal. No one gets tested everyday, athletes are rarely tested more than once a quarter. We sleep well, and do more to ourselves than an rare visit from a drug tester.

The other argument presented is that the effort put into whereabouts should be directed towards better testing. This is not an either/or circumstance, it is an "and" situation. Better testing is does not mean we can ease up on whereabouts. We needed a better tracking system and we have it. Now we need to upgrade the testing system. They are not mutually exclusive but bedfellows in every sense. You cannot ave one without the other.

What has come to light is the astounding gap between cheats and testers. I have read almost every article out there, and I am looking forward to reading Dwain's book. These tell all's give great insight into what and how and when and where. Victor Conte's letter to Dwain detailing the protocol they had was eye popping. It makes it seem as though catching the cheats is an impossible task. Angel Heredia was interviewed and admitted he was still working with other athletes outside of the US because it was easier. So I am left asking what can the labs do? What can the testers do?
I know what I can do. Keep working hard and doing it the right way. I have a medal from 2008 and a young group that will generate more success. Even if doing it right means achieving personal best and being better athletes, that is what it will be. However, I know different. It takes a little longer and a lot of hard work. That's what I love about it all, the cheaters still lose, they get caught, and I will be here to see my people succeed.

And so it begins

2009-03-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Cerritos is in the books! The weather didn't cooperate but it was workable considering the week. We went on with no break and just ran some races.
Jonathan Williams and Kai Kelley ran the 110s. A little in camp battle never hurt anyone. 13.90 in the final. It was a classic battle as they were step for step every hurdle. Both are working on things, so it was encouraging. Jonathan is out to prove I should train him in the highs more, and I am still evaluating Kai.
Tasha opened her outdoor campaign up with another 800. I am very pleased with the run considering she asked to run on Tuesday, I had no plans for her to run anything. So with a full week of training in her legs, she cranked out a 2:08.67. You can see it on her Facebook page.
Now we are on to the next week, back to training and getting ready for the summer. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, it was hard watching my Bruins go out that way. Kevin Love would have made a world of difference, damn. So I am left to wait for next year, those freshmen we have will be great. I am a little frustrated with Ben Howland sitting most of the freshman. He reminds me of Phil Jackson, they have a philosophy and they stick to it, win or lose. We have a seven footer sitting on the bench. A kid that decided between UCLA and the NBA. I guess this is Ben's way of resolving the one hitter quitter syndrome.
Maybe because I am not a Big East fan, but the tourney is not holding my attention as it usually does. I normally find a team to adopt like a Kansas, or even UNC or whoever is playing Duke. But not this year.

The IAAF is still campaigning for no false starts. Expect it to happen, they are fighting too hard for this to happen.

What I think

2009-03-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Friday, March 20, 2009IAAF eyes continued Chambers ban
Associated Press BERLIN -- Athletics chiefs may discuss how to stop British sprinter Dwain Chambers from running even though his doping ban long has expired.
Chambers, who won the European 60-meter indoor title earlier this month, has published an autobiography, in which he provides details from years of systematic doping that left him a "walking junkie."
"The question is how to stop him from running," said Nick Davies, spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The IAAF's legal experts have been studying Chambers' book, "Race Against Me: My Story," to see whether the sprinter can be excluded for "bringing the sport into disrepute."
"He is free to run, he's served his ban. Now, our experts have to see whether he can be banned under this clause," Davies told The Associated Press ahead of an IAAF Council meeting this weekend in Berlin.
Under IAAF rules, an athlete can face penalties, including a competition ban, if found to have brought the sport into disrepute. The experts will first address the issue with the advisory board, which will then decide whether to include it in the agenda of the council meeting.
A suspension could keep Chambers from competing at the world championships in Berlin in August against Olympic champion and world-record holder Usain Bolt.
It is far from clear whether the experts will advise any action against Chambers or whether the executive committee would accept their recommendations or indeed even raise the subject at all, Davies said.
Chambers' 60-meter title was his first major individual trophy since he served a two-year ban related to the BALCO doping scandal.
But the victory was largely overshadowed by the fallout from his book, which has been serialized in the British media.
Chambers wrote that he had been taking more than 300 different concoctions of banned substances after linking up with BALCO founder Victor Conte in 2002. The doping products -- including THG, EPO and HGH -- cost him $30,000 a year, Chambers wrote.
The 30-year-old sprinter broke the European 60-meter indoor record by running 6.42 seconds in the semifinals, then won the title in 6.46 in the final in Turin, Italy.
Chambers dismissed speculation that he might be benefiting from residual effects of 18 months of massive use of doping products before he was caught and said he has been passing drug tests.
He tested positive for THG in 2003, becoming the first athlete connected to Conte to test positive for the previously undetectable steroid.
Under British rules, he remains banned for life from the Olympics. Organizers of European meets have promised not to invite athletes with past doping bans but the chief of Berlin's ISTAF meet, the first event in the Golden League series, has said he might allow Chambers to run in June.
British track and field chiefs have confirmed Chambers will not be part of the 400-meter relay team at the worlds in Berlin because he is ineligible for future Olympics, although he can run in the individual event.
The IAAF has ordered Chambers to pay back his prize money from the time he was doping. He still owes about $150,000.
Among other topics to be discussed by the council are ways of possibly streamlining some events and their presentations to make them more television-friendly, Davis said.
No major final decisions are expected, he said.

So my interpretation of this is simple. The IAAF got their feelings hurt and are lashing out at Dwain. Their vehicle for vengeance is this "disrepute" clause.
The question that comes to my mind is, does Dwain's book differ in any way from the IAAF always calling someone a drug cheat? Or not having a viable marketing plan? OR not developing a meet in the States? OR awarding the World Champs to places that do not have a track following? OR pursuing this issue altogether?

Dwain is telling his truth. It is ok for him to tell all about his drug program and what Victor did, and Remi did, and he did, and they are praying he tells what other athletes did, but just don't talk about them??? You can't ask for the truth but in limited doses. You can't blackmail athletes by promising them leniency for cooperation in catching the drug cheats but cry foul when that trail starts to point back at you. And you definitely cannot call foul when the athlete lashes out at what he felt was wrong doing on a personal level.
Maybe he should not have said it in his book but that is his right and FREEDOM to do. This is a great example of what is wrong at the core of the sport. This is a great moment for us as we grow and become more professional. We may not like who turned on the light(s) but we should be glad they are coming on. Now the question is who will scatter for cover now?

That's what I think about this mess, it is ridiculous and should be dropped. Censorship is what it is. If they ban Dwain, expect him to sue them and win!

Where have I been?

2009-03-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of information out there to write about and I do not have a single clue as to what I am going to write about. Oh it just came from the air!
Everyone tune into http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tashadanvers and http://www.blogtalkradio.com/buildingonbronze. On Sunday Tyree Washington came on the show and talked about his new campaign, Killaroid, but more importantly he talked about the effect drug cheats have had on his career.
Jerome Young was his friend and competitor, and cost him a moment and money. It was enlightening and informative.
Meanwhile, the indoor season ended, FINALLY! And the outdoor season is about to kick off. Time for relays folks.
There is an interesting phenomenon this time of year, all the sprinters run relays, and all the hurdlers run their races. For the most part this holds true.

I think I have run out of things to talk about. Oh, Jaden started baseball practice. GREAT stuff to watch four year olds run around and grown people talk to them like they really know what is going on and like they really care. Some classics from practice, "Stop kicking the dirt!" "Stop playing around and stay in line!" followed by "The next person playing around is going to run!" LMAO I just stood there with a small on my face and made sure Jaden kept having fun.

Balance

2009-03-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last few months bashing the living daylights out of everything Doug Logan has done. It is only right I give him credit where it is due. I like his conclusions from the P30 report. They were logical, and sensible. I am still wondering where the money from the relay project is going and how he plans to handle the relay meets, but overall I think his recommendations were fair and promising.
We do need change and it will not be easy, I just want to ensure it is not changes based on someone's agenda, and what is best for USATF and track and field.

Athletes, get a union quick.

Kobe mania has struck! You either love him or hate him. Both sides are maniacal LOL I love him and think he is the best ever. Folks try to argue but it just is. I wish the Jordan rules were still in effect, Kobe would shoot 20 freethrows a game. LOL

Training is going well. I am pleased with everyone's progress and levels. We have a good feeling over here. Last time I felt this way I came home with a bronze medal, a medal no one expected. As my man Heavy D sang, "It's that time again!"

Dwain Chambers. Need I say more? Hahahaha. He has exposed the IAAF for who they are and they are after him with everything they have. No meets and now they are trying to ban him for what his book says. Oh but wait, Berlin has invited him to the meet. Uh oh! A chink in the armor. Only person I can remember serving a 2 year ban for 6 years while competing. LOL The European indoor champ has one meet in Europe, and may not be allowed to run at Worlds.

Here in the States we are facing a budget crisis. In Cali they are threatening to fire 9000 education employees, including 5500 teachers. Amazing.

American Idol is boring! but I like the new format with the one judges save. No more Jennifer Hudson fiascos.
ANTM needs to dump Tiffany. She runs her mouth too much and is weak and whack.
I Love Money 2 is the best reality show out. The alliance competition is dramatic and entertaining. I think it hilarious the main alliance is pissed because the others formed their own alliance and dumped one of them. Classic.
Bad Girls Club. Now the fact that this show has no other purpose than to cause drama and show that drama is enough to irritate you. But when five of the girls jumped one girl and then spent a whole night gloating about it, that was top notch reality TV. The saving grace was they sent 2 of the girls home. Sadly I must admit it felt good to watch them leave. LOL Boston was just full of it and Ailea needs to be admitted to an insane asylum.
24 is still the best. It is Jack time!
Heroes is dragging it out and killing me. I am trying to keep up but they are testing me. Never seen a show waste an hour like Heroes can.
Is there anyone as cool as Horatio on CSI Miami!

On a side note: are there any Americans at the USOC training center in Chula Vista LMAO

Your perspective will dictate your opinion

2009-03-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

Man I am tired of the negative. Project 30 is a lie. Forget the actual bias of the panel, we need to only look at the premise behind the formation of the panel. The US failed in Beijing. From here we have had the axing of the relay program. We have a full assault on the preparation of the sprinters. The problem is this is misdirected and ill conceived.
The relays won 2 out of four golds. The sprint relays dropped the stick, it happens. Period. The relay program itself was extensive and did all the things the panel claims they are in favor of and in need of. But what led to this opinion of failure. Logan goes so far as to say no one can look at Beijing and say this was an aberration. With all due respect, that is a stupid comment. It most assuredly was a blip. Nothing more nothing less. He has no factual basis to make this comment.
No jumper won a medal! Not one long jumper made the final. If that is not an aberration I do not know what is. In 2007, we won all four gold medals in the relays and last year we dropped the stick, looks like a blip to me.
The problem is the premise behind the panel. Why was this review board convened? Since all the talk has been about the relays I am led to believe it is the dropped sticks and the $1 million dollars (spread over 6 years by the way). Not the failure of the jumpers, there was nothing said to address the jumping woes in the report. Not the distance failures, which is truly where it was not a blip. Just something about those 2 batons on the ground.
We are supposed to forget that in the 100,200 and 4x100 a wr was set to win. In the men 400 we SWEPT. We won both 4x400 relays. We are supposed to ignore all the injuries to the athletes. Just know that the relay program has been scrapped, freeing up a million dollars.

My second pet peeve is Dwain Chambers. It is time to leave him alone. He has a book tomorrow which I cannot wait to read. He is the European champ and record holder now. He was busted in 2003, returned to the track in 2006. Can we please just get back to track? The acronyms are working overtime to get this man out of the sport, and I for one say let him run and if he is dirty he will stumble again. The end. Move on for all of our sakes. The latest row is from the IAAF who are threatening to ban him and end his career if they can prove his book has put the sport in ill-repute. LOL Censorship is the word. Overt threat to all athletes is what it is. Athletes you all need to pay attention. This is way beyond Dwain and drug cheating, this is about control. Pay attention.

Meanwhile, in keeping with my positive theme. Kudos to Logan for challenging the Jamaicans to a home and home dual meet. I am excited just thinking about it. I am disappointed in the few Jamaican fans I have talked to online who seem to think this is sour grapes and it is just a ploy to take the Jamaicans down because they are on top. Foolishness. This is good old fashioned competition. This is what breeds champions and performances. This is appealing to the American public. It is not personal, it is sport.
It does not matter if the best of the best do not show up the allegiances will push the competition and the performances and feed the future. TV will have easy story lines to write, as we are fed more and more images of Bolt whipping the Americans ass in Beijing, Asafa crossing the line as they take down the US wr in the 4x100. The three yellow vest crossing the line in front of Americans in the women's 100. Veronica Campbell beating the American sweetheart, Allyson Felix. It is a great marketing ploy that can fuel a generation of track.
Do not underestimate the country battle, all you ever need to do is travel to Penn relays and see the sea of Jamaicans that come out to cheer the high schooler's out there. Teams from the LA area go to Penn and immediately adopt the rivalry. We are a nation driven by rivalries, from age group teams to high school to college to pro teams. We love good rivalries. This rise of the Jamaicans in the sprints, our back yard, is perfect. I hope it works. And I want to win!

Coming soon I will blog about something other than track LOL

Desensitized

2009-03-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

I am clearly a little jaded these days. Dwain is releasing his book and the UK is in an uproar. Excerpts have been released and oh yes they are eye popping, but oh well. I am not shocked. I am not appalled. I am amused, very amused. I have a different angle on the history, and a different perspective on it all I guess.
I cannot wait for his book to come out and read it. I want to know just like everyone else. I want to read the names, I would love to know the names that were redacted because they were unsubstantiated. Dwain says he can spot the abusers now. LMAO. That's a load of crap. He is jaded.
I like Dwain, I really do. He has made some stupid decisions and still proves that he has questionable judgment. He is clearly jaded and has the same things in him that allowed him to decide to follow Victor's lead. Until he shakes that weakness he will struggle to be great. The sadness is he is probably the most talented sprinter the UK has produced in 20 years.
As he correctly states in his book, he did all that drug taking and managed nothing! He did not gain a tenth of a second in truth. That race had a 2.0 wind. His 1999 bronze medal run was superior, and he was clean then. So the question becomes who was advising him through 2000 and allowed him to believe and buy into the notion that he was not good enough??? Now that pisses me off.
The young man was good, real good. He had all the makings of the British record holder, and if you doubt it just look at his performances since his return. First race back he ran 10.07. Last year he ran 10 flat. The lesson here is about perspective. It is about determining what is success.
European champs are this weekend. Dwain and Simeon will battle to the finish line to the gold. But I will be waiting for Monday. I cannot get a book, but I know there will be chunks all over the Internet. And I will be reading it all.

Meanwhile, tune into Tasha's radio show. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tashadanvers. It is fun but serious. I invite you all to call in, tune in, listen in and join in. The more the merrier.

A coaching eye

2009-02-28T21:34:00.001-08:00

I realized a long time ago I see everything from a coaching perspective. Everything! Including my life and myself. Probably the source of a lot of problems, thinking things through instead of moving. Anyway, it is what I am and what i am is me.
Some people like to say you are not what you do. That doesn't apply to me. I am a coach because it is a natural fit for me. Even when I ran I thought I would be a good coach. I guess I manifested my destiny without knowing it. I should have thought I would be a good gold medalist! LOL
I would like to publicly welcome Candice Davis. We spent a year and a half playing ring around the rosey but now she is in the fold and I am pleased about this development. Now common practice says I should keep it all a secret and let folks find out later but that has never made sense to me and has been a symptom of what is wrong with the sport. We always think we have to have some doggone secret. Negative. I coach Candice and I am proud of it.
Quick rundown of the DSports roster; Ryan Wilson, Bryan Scott, Tasha Danvers, Jonathan Williams, Kai Kelley, and Candice Davis. Oh and Martial MBandjock, threw in a sprinter for commercial purposes LOL.
Back to the blog. Couple of updates. I have been co hosting Tasha's radio blog shows. She has 2 of them, one is on Wednesdays and the other on Sundays. The Sunday show is every 2 weeks. Wednesday show is Tasha and the Ladies of Speed chatting it up on various subjects weekly. Show time is 1pm PST/4PM EST/ 9pm GMT. Sunday's show is geared towards the younger crowd, Tasha and varied guest will discuss life topics and track, Building on Bronze. Show time is 12pm PST/3pm EST/ 8PM GMT. All of you pass the word and tune in AND more importantly call in. The more the better. even if you do not do anything more than tune in and listen do that. It is great fun. Tomorrow will have Adrian Peck from the UK as a co host talking about the importance of communication.
I advise you to call in from your cell phones for clarity, but there is a call in button and number on the web page. Skype works too. Hope you all tune in and call in.
That was a word from our sponsor.
Lord of the Rings is great! Pick any one of the three movies.
Out of brain power, this cold is trying to run me down, literally, so let me go rest. Until the next thought hits me...

Just News

2009-02-22T10:37:00.001-08:00

I come and talk so now I will just blog.

Tasha and her mum have established separate online radio shows. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aunty-dee and http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tashadanvers. Check them out. Tasha's show is every Wednesday 9pm GMT/1pm PST. They also archive shows so if you miss it you can listen later. If you catch the shows you can call in also.

Congrats to Jet on her recent success on the track. She has taken very well to the training and has folks eyes wide open. LOL

I am still disconnected from indoors. I just can't get into it. Just straight money runs. I like seeing my people win and run well but it carries little weight when considering the big picture and winning medals.

Tasha ran indoors this year. She ran an 800. We planned for it but did not target it or train for it. Figured it was a good spot to show her face to the fans, and let the Brits know she is still a Brit and some personal promotion. All that was fine. We did not expect the expectations. Coach will take the blame for that and it will never happen again. I now know better, and I will use the information to all my athletes advantage in the future.

Tyrone Edgar took second at their European trials but has some niggles and is done for the indoor season.

To all my track people, let's all give a collective laugh to the other sports whining about the WADA whereabouts. See it is new to them, not to us. And boy you would swear someone stole their bike or something. The code is not perfect, the bugs in the system need fixing, and it will only get done if people contact the people in charge and let them know their problems. I do it religiously. And they always answer. Might not be the answer I want but I do know they are aware of my concerns and it is all documented.

Most days I feel like I am walking manifestation of Pinky and the Brain LOL. Yup, everyday I make up a plan to take over the world! And like the brain I never remember what yesterdays plan was hahahahaha. Here I come...AGAIN! :)

First time ever I will do some thing and probably the last. Here is a brief update on who I coach and how they are doing.
Ryan Wilson - training well, looking to return to form after a season of pain, literal pain.
Tasha Danvers - the bronze medalist. Adjusting to the demands, and it is an adjustment, but ran 2:12 indoors, so all is well. Now to get her back home and training
Jonathan Williams - He will set a new national record soon.
Bryan Scott - has a little rookie-itis, but some rehab and well deserved rest should solve it. Healthy he will run well
Kai Kelly - training really well. I am learning his strengths as we go since he came as a dual hurdler I have spent the time determining where I can run him. Maybe he will be the first doubler LOL
There are a few satellite athletes out here too but I will tell you about them another day. You will know their names soon enough.
What? You thought I was going to give you details or something? If you want details please come to West LA college at 10am, bring your spikes, and a commitment. ;)

Until another random thought hits me...

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

2009-02-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

A few points on my mind...

Athletes pay your coaches. These men and women spend everyday with you, rain or shine, helping you reach your potential and achieve your dreams. Pay them. I say this as much as a coach as I am a person that wants to push us into the realm of professionalism. I am tired of hearing the horror stories from fellow coaches. And I am not talking about one year coaches or neo coaches, this tale goes all the way to the best coaches on earth.
Does it makes sense to pay your coach 1% of your earnings? Or less than that? Most of you think it is criminal for a coach to even venture the thought of getting paid off your hard work. Some times you have to sit back and look at the big picture. See, when you are paying out lump sums it is overwhelming. Any time you have to pay anyone $10,000 in a lump sum it hurts. You do not want to do it. I wouldn't. But you have to step back and analyze. You made $200,000 in the year and you have paid your agent $30,000 - $40,000. Your coach has asked you for something, per your verbal agreement (most of us coaches are still working on the honor system), you come up with $5,000. That's a big check, right? You damn right it is a big check. Problem is you haven't paid your coach a dime all year and now you are offering him/her pennies on the hour. Pay your coach.
We love you more than you love yourself most days. We spend countless moments working through the plan so when you step out there to compete you are at your best. I will suggest to all of you, work out a monthly plan and put it in writing, it is professional, it keeps business off the track, and your coach will appreciate the gesture. We are track junkies. There is no denying that we love the sport, but we have to make a living.
For the record, I am not writing this out of anger or any personal situation I am going through. I actually have a contract and removed everything I listed above from the track (mostly LOL). I am writing this because you are a professional athlete, in a professional sport. It is time we all started acting like it, from top to bottom.

Coaches get a contract and help the athletes out. All of the above is not their fault. We have tried to conduct our business on a handshake and trust. It is a recipe for disaster. It does not make you money hungry to establish a professional, business relationship in conjunction with our personal coaching relationship.
Sit down and figure out what you want, put it in writing, and get to negotiating with your athletes. I have done it. It took me a lot of trial and error but I worked it out. Now all I have to do is coach. Ideally, I would like to have an agent, but one step at a time.
Do not sit there thinking when they make it they will take care of you. They are human. They have their own world to manage. And your idea of "take care" is not always the same as their idea of "take care of". So put it in writing.
Don't be an asshole about it either. But handle business as business. This thing we do is too personal to treat it like we are 24 Hour Fitness or something. Just keep the business separate for yourself.

I have more points but it is time for practice.

Dynamic v Static

2009-02-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Ok I normally pace my entries but I have had stuff to say. Tonight's topic is one that irritates me to no end. There is a raging debate among biomechanists, coaches, physios, and athletes about which stretching or warm up routine is best, static v dynamic.
I have seen both. I have seen a couple of videos. Heard more than few opinions, professional and personal. And here is the answer. Yes I said the answer. It is both. You need to have both in your program, not either or. Here is another revelation, dynamic programs contain both. No one pays attention to this small fact. Every single dynamic program I have seen contains static stretching.
That aside, let me elaborate. Static stretching can hurt you. It creates micro tears, and if you push your self beyond your limits you will irritate something. Dynamic stretching is limited by the body and its various systems that protect itself. However, it fails to "stretch" when you are "tight". The theory of dynamic proponents revolves around the notion that blood flow and "warming up" will lubricate the body enough. We have all trained to the point of being "tight", and I do not care how many A skips you do, until you sit down and touch your toes that tightness remains.
Everything is in moderation. Example, I know of a hyper flexible sprinter who developed an insertion issue where his hamstrings meet his glutes. Nothing helped, he stretched and stretched, and yet it remained. He had to stop stretching. His hyper flexibility was irritating the spot. This is why we were told growing up to not bounce but hold stretches. Even in the new dynamic regime they stress not bouncing but controlled movements with a minimal hold.
My warm up is dynamic by definition. It takes 45 minutes. It includes, jogging and/or striding, static stretching, and dynamic drills that focus on the specific movements of running. Admittedly there are other drills or dynamic stretches that can be included, but what I use is effective and ensures a proper warm up when done correctly.
Done correctly. Here is another key aspect. It is hard enough getting athletes to do static stretching for the appropriate time, short cuts are worked into all warm up routines. I did it as an athlete, and when I was in college we had the "modifications" down to a science. Dynamic routines become just that, routines. I watch the athletes do the fancy stuff without a thought of why they are doing it nor with the intensity needed to achieve the prescribed goal. This is to be guarded against if you are using a dynamic routine void of static stretching.
All of my opinion aside, my point is both types of stretching are needed. No one should ever do static stretching for 30-45 minutes, that's called socializing. LOL

Women here's some advice

2009-02-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

Since I have read numerous post about what men need to do I figured hey why not return the kind favor. The hard part is women will write back with all kinds of rebuttals which is a HUGE problem, can't tell y'all nothin'! LOL
1 - Listen before you respond. I mean really listen. Don't hear what was said before or what you thought we meant, listen to what we are saying right now.
2 - Stay on point. An anecdote is just that, a story to illustrate the actual topic, not a new topic to argue about. This is where most arguments end in Chris Brown episodes.
3 - Be a woman. Not meek or weak, but soft, feminine, thoughtful, emotional and caring. We spend our entire existence fighting men on various levels, comparing egos, bashing our heads together like rams on the plains, the last thing we want to do is bang heads with our women as if they are men. You will kill us easier with kindness, I promise.
4 - Know the difference between a man and a pretender. Just because he has a penis does not make him a man. Just because he does not fight does not mean he is not strong or tough. Just because he fights does not mean he is strong or tough.
5 - Something the fellas were discussing today, stop running up on us like you can physically beat us down. You get one of these pretenders and it is all bad for you. You get a man and you will lose him. Women were "blessed" with a mouthpiece no man can match. Your weapon is far more powerful than our fist, trust me, I am a man, I know from experience. We hear you and we remember. Which brings me to...
6 - Be careful what you use as a verbal weapon with your man. Pushing his buttons may make you feel better in a fight but it will cause irreparable damage to your relationship no matter the outcome of the argument. In relationships, us cretins trust our women with information we would never tell anyone else. TRUST. We trust you to protect our soft spots as you expect us to trust yours. When you strike at those trusted issues, we rarely forget it and for the rest of our relationship it shapes how we respond to you. Most of us want comfort, and your man is most comfortable when he can trust you with his ego, his house ( not the physical house), and his secrets. Break that trust and you will spend your days being asked stupid questions like "Where are you going?" when all you did was switch positions on the couch. :)
7 - Make sure you and he are partners. A two way street. This is huge in this day and age. We have been taught to be independent entities that only co exist. This is why the divorce rate is so high. Men and women have ceased being partners in crime. He should be the Clyde to your Bonnie and you the Bonnie to his Clyde. Partners through thick and thin. but see this only works when the thick and thin our shared, when thick and thin are only shared after they become a thick and thin it is a recipe for mass destruction.
8 - Be you. Man I am telling you, us men love a woman that is unafraid to be herself. When we are the only ones allowed to get beyond the wall, you have us hooked for life! There's nothing worse than a woman that tries to change for the man she is with. Another recipe for disaster.
9 - Love yourself.
10 - Take all of this with a grain of salt. I could be 100% wrong. Seriously. I doubt I am but I am not foolish enough to think otherwise. :)

Expectations - A Cautionary Tale

2009-02-17T07:52:00.001-08:00

I woke up and this one just will not settle down. I pride myself on staying on the high ground as best I can, and that means knowing when to say something and when not to. Today I will split the difference with a disclaimer, no names will be used to protect the guilty.

A person spends their entire career, whether that is track or otherwise, striving to reach the level of expectations that define success. It is hard work and in some cases, a labor of love with the belief that when you get there it will all pay off, figuratively and literally. This is what gets us all up in the morning, and drives us through the trials of training and grunt work. The thought that when you put it all together you will reap the benefits. Not in track.
In track you work for the pennies that are out there and believe when you get that medal or run that time or win those races that the business will turn in your favor and pay you. When you win that medal you expect to be the star and garner the support of sport. Not in track.
The cruelest aspect is the dishonest business of cutting people who have won medals that year. Dishonest is the exact word that fits here. We are all told and accept that this is the business we work in, however that does not make it honest. Many athletes run around for year wearing the free uniform a company once offered them, with the implied and sometimes explicit promise that dollars will follow their charity tot he company. It is really sticky when you find athletes that stray and wear generic gear only to be told later that they did not support the mainstream company and have no brand recognition so they will not be signed. That's called blackmail and collusion. When you win an Olympic medal you are a recognized face that is to cash in on that ultimate of successes. Not in track.
Win an Olympic medal, get a shoe contract. This is the baseline sell of track and field. Again, not in track.

I have been on the track in some form for all 38 years of my life. I have been coaching for the last 17 years. It is safe to say I am committed to this and love this. Today I am pissed off and disappointed. More disappointed. I wrote this to share some thoughts and to point out to all of you, be about your business with a long term outlook that includes more than running and the shoe companies. I will attack it with energy and not be swayed by the disappointments, but neither will I stay silent on these important issues any longer. You have to make it happen because no one out there is trying to bring it to you, even when you have done all the things that were asked of you. All the things that have been outlined in the blueprint of success in track. I will see you all in the sun. Do your due diligence

This week in track and world

2009-02-16T14:20:00.001-08:00

Wow. That's all that comes to mind. It is my usual lead in to what I want to say while I think about what I want to say. Wow.

NBA All star events were terrific. I listen to talk radio and I think people take themselves way too seriously sometimes. It was fun, it had entertainment, and the stars did their thing. My lasting memory is Dwight Howard hopping up to the 12 foot rim as if it was at 8 feet. I listen to the maysayers, "Oh he is 7 feet tall!" as if that makes 12 feet any closer to the ground. Let me tell you something, dunking at 12 feet is a beast. It has been the test height in the NBA for decades and very few have been able to jump that high, let alone dunk a basketball that high. He touched the rim so easily. Then dunked it off a backboard pass. And then there was the side of the backboard dunk. If you do not know please youtube it.
Meanwhile I am disgusted that Nate won. He used boosters on his last 2 dunks. Whack! his best dunk was his first one, and it was all of that! One bounce, catch, to the shoe tops, reverse flush from an 5'8" man. That was sweet.

If you are a Lakers hater or blind Lakers fan you will not feel me on this next point. Jerry Buss punked out and cost me at least 2 more ring runs. He let it get personal and traded Shaq. I am still mad about it. If you watched them play last night you see why the Big Aristotle calls them the best big man/small man duo ever. Kobe 27, Shaq 22 (in 11 minutes). I had that every week, now I am hoping the Lakers stay healthy so Kobe can lead them to the top. Pissed off about it.

On the track, Isinbayeva OPENED her season with a wr. That would be a five meter opening competition. Whatever, they have figured out, I want to know. Can you imagine opening your campaign with a wr???
Hooker goes 6 meters again.
Lolo is still dominating the spot.
Vlasic goes over 2 meters for the hundredthousandmillionth time in a row, and LOSES! The women's high jump is a very good event.
Tasha is not running Birmingham now. I am disappointed, but as I said it is indoors. No skin lost.

It rained today. It was 50 degrees. It was windy. Check out my FB page to see how we handled that. I am telling you guys it is cold out here.
See you guys out doors. I am sure there was something else I wanted to say, wait, oh I got it.

Barack is killing me right now. He made me a promise and I expect him to keep it. Partisan politics are what he sore to avoid, yet he gave one of the most partisan speeches I have ever heard. And his whack stimulus package is just that, whack. Not enough things to STIMULATE the economy, but a whole load of social programs to improve the quality of life. Just not the time for it, we are in need of specific things right now, and $75 million for anti smoking is not it.

Yup that's all for now

Perspective

2009-02-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

Last year I quoted a classic "He who run fast in April get ass kicked in August!" It was our running joke back in the day as we watched folks run fast early and disappear during money time or fold up. This weekend brings me full circle, AGAIN!
I sent my girl Tasha over the lake to run indoors. She ran the 800 at her national meet. For those that do not know she is a 400 hurdler. And for those who have forgotten, she is a 400 hurdler. We chose the 800 because it fits what we are doing right now and allows her the chance to run indoors and show her face to her fans.
The result was a good 2:12 for her. Not impressive when compared to the half milers mind you but I am pleased. See competitive fire aside, this is her first indoor race since 1995, her first indoor 800 ever, and we did not break training for this. She is not trying to make the indoor team, so in my eyes all is going to plan. Outdoors that's worth about 2:10, so for her fourth 800 in her life I have very little to complain about.
Tasha and I seem to be the only ones with reality in mind. Articles are written and people are talking as if she is a half miler that struggled out there. No it was not the quality run we wanted but it carries no weight as far as long term goals go. She is healthy, she is fit as she is going to be right now, and we got a great gauge on where she is. We did not plan to go out and beat the big girls, if that were case we would be looking at an event change, as some tried to intimate.
For clarity to all, there's no event change. She enjoys running the event, it relates well to her pet event, and she wanted to run an indoor race. She got the chance to see her fans and not fall into the marketing black hole of track stars.
Too often medalists disappear from the track landscape and become irrelevant, never getting the chance to take advantage of the opportunities presented by that success. This is the message I want to get out. We have to work at pushing the product and not wait for the machine to work for you. There is no machine, therefore you have to go get it. You have to make sure the fans see you, the papers interview you, and your brand is visible. All while doing what got you that chance, run.
Make a plan, set it in motion and remember what it is while never forgetting we run to win medals and earn a living. Let everyone play their roles, maintain the brain trust, they will love you when you win in August. My mantra right now, "It is FEBRUARY!" Keep it in pocket.
Oh so none of you feel slighted, good work to everyone doing their thing indoors, more than one way to success.

Today

2009-02-11T07:15:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the Project 30 report came out and the track world is abuzz with talk about USATF reform.
I will read the report today but my insatiable need to summarize has me speaking on it now. And later.
I read an article from the Register Guard in Oregon and the author summed up a feeling I had, the teleconference, and the various articles I have read tell me that the same opinion held before the report was confirmed by the report. Not to say this is impossible, but it comes off as more of an affirmation of preconceived notions rather than a genuine conclusion of the findings.

The relay program is recommended to be scraped and replaced with the same program that preceded it, which is what led to the call for a new program. Come on!

More after I read more...

The Kid

2009-02-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

He is 4 now. And he is a spark plug. He goes and goes and goes. His mum is wishing for an on/off switch after 730PM, and that is the exact time he gets going. Now our place is not huge but it is not small either, I know because he runs and hops all over it. LMAO He is a ball to watch, he enjoys life, not like a kid but like a free spirit. He is an only child and needs no one to entertain himself (like his mum and grandma). He does the things I used to think about when I was his age, to embarrassed or reserved to let people see me "act a fool". Hahahahaha. That's my son Jaden, and I never want him to change he is too much fun. He can sing/rap/dance in just one show.

We finally got some rain, I am not amused, entertained or happy. 2 things I do not like, rain and cold, and it has been both. However, it has provided a natural break in training. Just in time for a transition in cycles. ;)

While the Cardinals could not pull off my predicted upset (so close), my Lakers have run through the NBA this week. We are the team to beat. Just like the good old days (that would be the 80s for you youngsters). I could not resist texting Paul Doyle bright and early Friday morning. Shout out to Shawn Crawford for having court side seats right behind the Celtics bench, and Steve Hooker.
Now I wait for the playoffs because that's all that matters to me.

Good luck to all you indoor runners, stay healthy.

President Obama

2009-01-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

I wrote this wonderful blog on my phone and was unable to post it, so here is the revised version.

It is official, Barack Obama is the President of the United States (POTUS). Sweet! A very proud moment in history.
NOW, here is what I have to say. There are no more excuses. No one should be saying they cannot believe this day ever came. More importantly I do not have to worry about my children facing the insinuation that there is something they cannot do in life. If you think carefully, no one ever told you that you could not be president, it was actual us saying things such as, "One day you could be president" that led to the belief that we had roadblocks there. Unless you are 45 or older, you have not faced any obstacles to your success, especially if you were raised in the West.

Now while some of you are sitting there feeling I have rained on the parade, let me come around the mountain. I am delighted! I love the satisfaction folks like my parents, my uncle, and Brooks Johnson feel. See they lived through the stuff we have watched on TV. It is not a black and white image, the blood is not some different shade of gray, it was red. Emmit Till is not a still image in a casket, it was real and scary. The Watts Riots were not a documentary, my parents lived right there, my uncle was in school when those murders happened and Angela Davis was arrested. They fought for this day and loved through the bullshit that was our society in the 60s.

I want to give a big shout to my man Brooks and his new blog. He brings such history and knowledge to the table. You never realize what it means to be honest until you meet someone that is truly honest. He minces no words or opinions. I appreciate it, and I tend to agree with 95% of everything he says. www.spikesandflats.com

Oh track? Training is going well for everyone. I expect good seasons for all. And there are a few surprises in store for a few out there.
Here comes indoor season. Folks are on their way. We will sit out here and watch the festivities from afar.

Happy New Year

2009-01-07T11:08:00.001-08:00

The calendar has changed and here we are in 2009. So what did I learn.

I learned that I attract a whole lot of attention when I write online. And folks always got something to say about what I write. This is what I learned from that, I am a grown ass man, with a healthy mind and have things to say. YOU do not dictate what I say or when I say it, just as I do not to anyone else.

I learned that I can compartmentalize my life. And that sucks. I do not want to have to break it up, but that is what I learned this year.

I learned I can coach my ass off. I am a coach, Damon! LOL I did it. I can say it like that because this is my first major medal and I hope every coach that achieves at least one appreciates the process it took.

I learned HOW to coach BETTER. Aw man, if only you knew how this year transformed my coaching. I still feel like a 12 year old working amongst men, but that is wearing off. How to coach is the key. I have other coaches asking me questions and I stress the how over the what. The what is easy. The what is in books all over the place. The how is not in a book and cannot be put in a book.

I learned that a man's life is a lonely road. I was told this numerous times in my life, and just when I thought I had experienced what it meant I learned it is even lonelier.

I learned how to love. Let me say something publicly to you all, I love my wife. I do. This will mean different things to different people, including her, but to me it just says I learned how to love this year. Which is a really strange realization to come to but it is the truth.

I learned how to be. This is still a work in progress.

What I did not learn.

I did not learn how to hate.
I did not learn what to coach.
I did not learn how to be loved. Huge difference between loving and being loved, and you have to learn how to be loved as well. I think this is the trickiest part for me but not how some of you are thinking.
I did not learn how to take. I have to work on this one.
I did not learn how to be negative. THANK GOD! I can't do pessimism, cynicism. It grates me. I have my own private pity parties, I do not have the strength to deal with anyone elses. I need light around me, vision, positivity.
I did not learn how to be on the top step of the podium. Give me time, I will get someone(s) there.

ok back to what I did learn.
I learned that our world is what I thought it has always been, a place of chance and opportunity. Barack is president. Never once in my life did I think it was impossible, I am glad everyone else knows this now. I learned that the sport is changing and it is a hard change but damnit it is a necessary one for sure!!!!
I learned that the West Coast is on another planet and it cost too much for athletes to call Cali when they need a coach. :) For those prospecting, the West Coast is attached to the United States. The calling rates are the same as all the other states. And I have a few open spots out here. Doesn't mean I am open to everyone, but there are a select few I will entertain. Email, call, send pigeons, whatever works for you. LOL Seriously.
I learned that 2009 is a great year for me. I spoke it and it is.
D

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T12:06:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!
Did you get what you wanted for Christmas? I was about to tell you a cute story about getting older and not being the receiver but the giver now. But something struck me as I was typing, I did not ask the Man for anything. I was too focused on the material world.
Yes I received my Christmas gifts. Here they are;
My family is alive and healthy.
My mom survived a bout with cancer with a smile on her face and her spirit as high as any Olympic medalist.
My son is happy. He is smart. He is able to be a kid and learn and grow.
My oldest is a grown man, not involved in foolishness.
My girl is a senior in high school and loving life. Cheerleader captain, already accepted to a university, and maintains a 4.2 GPA.
My wife, Tasha Danvers won the bronze in Beijing. As a result her star is rising and she is riding it for all it is worth. She has a book, 'Keep Ya Peckah Up!' Stay tuned, her site will be up for you all to purchase this self help book. It is a great read, seriously.
I was able to go to Beijing and do my job. She stuck with me through everything and believed in me, and we walked away from the Games as Olympic medalists.
I survived my year. That is God's greatest gift to me. I thought I was built to coach, I thought the events in my life were preparing me to create champions on the track, I found out this year, I have been built to do the one thing we are all built for, live our own lives with all its circumstances.
Merry Christmas folks. Make sure you realize not one of those gifts in paper is the true gift you were given this morning when you opened your eyes.

The year in a sentence. Tasha won the bronze medal.
Now I need the rest of my crew to come on board and get theirs. That's my New Years resolution

Did he say that?!

2008-12-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

No DJ this week at least not in the title. This entry should be fun

Brooks has decided to blog and expose the liars and the lies. www.spikesandflats.com. If you are in track please read what he has written and study it. It is very relevant to the development of USA track.
Stephanie Hightower won the Presidency of USATF despite a concerted effort to bring her down and discredit her. It was not a campaign about who was better but rather a do not let her win campaign. It was pathetic to watch the effort due to the fact that she stood accused but very little by way of evidence was actually given. The irony is the most detailed information came from Brooks blog, where he put to rest the rumors and innuendo that was floated about. Thanks Brooks.
Track and field has too many PC people in important places, but that took a change this week.
Congratulations to Jon Drummond the new AAC chair. The next time he says he is done with track I am going to simply call him, "Lifer". I have friends in high places!
Listen my fellow USATF members, the elections could not have gone better, but there is a very important thing we have to pay attention to, the restructuring. Doug Logan was successful in passing his plan, mainly on the back of reducing the size of the board. However, that is not as dramatic as a few other changes people voted in without paying attention. The board members are not directly chosen by the respective committees, instead they submit three names and a selection committee will PICK who they deem best. And then there is the chairman of the board. The President has been the de facto chair up until now. Now the board will chose its own chairman in a separate vote, the bone thrown out there is that if the president were to lose they would be the automatic vice chair. This is misdirection at its best.
The mantra was streamlining and simplifying to remove the infighting and build bridges. This little piece does nothing more than provide contention. A president not winning the chair is an immediate vote of no confidence. The power struggle is immediate.
Then there is the FACT that the restructuring directs ALL business through the CEO and the national office. Nothing gets approved without the CEOs say so. As Brooks pointed out this is bad. This is as bad a structure as you can possibly lay out. Micromanagement is a bad idea in our complex and diverse organization.
Did I mention we will now have three USOC seats on our board? That is 3 voices on our board that have nothing to do with our everyday business but everything to do with money.
Brooks lays it out better than me, I will comment more later. Unless I get gagged, which has happened before LOL.
See you in Vegas next week. I will be there to steal the secrets from Brooks and see how he made D.O. the best hurdler in the US.

Free DJ

2008-11-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

This one will be long, so if you are a skimmer feel free.
I am bitter sweet. A long time mentor and coach finally started blogging and he is killing them with information! It is fair to say the coach is a better blogger than the athlete, lol!

I am so frustrated with the USATF process. I have been trying to go for over five years now to the convention and can never get there, it cost too damn much. Athletes do not know this because they get their trips paid for. I cannot find that vehicle for myself. Sucks! I want to be involved but will be on the outside looking in once again.
For some this is a good thing, but for me I like information and I like being informed when I do hold an opinion, which I always have. Just ask my wife.
If you are reading this I am telling you to vote for Stephanie Hightower for President. If you are a sprinter/hurdler you have no choice. I hate the faction war, but I know it is time for us to have a voice in power and not a backroom voice. We have plenty of behind the scenes power, that is always backed up by the collection of medals we bring home every year.
Read this http://blog.spikesandflats.com/. These blogs speak directly to the criticisms and allegations floating out there.

Obama won, just in case anyone forgot. :)

The country, sorry the world is in an economic downturn, period. If you are foolish enough to think it is a US problem you are not paying attention. The exchange rate has dropped almost 60 cents to the pound.

Practice has started. Love it. Back to my reality, or is it my fantasy??? I no longer think there is a difference. The girls are doing well and learning. The guys are doing the same. And everyone is fit. Now to load them up and make them quit. LOL

This is the time of year I HATE college football, yet it remains my favorite team sport. The BCS is a joke and not having a playoff is inexcusable.

How bout dem Lakers!!! Just give us our rings already.

DJ Slippin

2008-11-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

My blog game has been weak lately. Not sure it will pick up but I will be around. lol

Barack. Just wanted to remind you all.

No track meets. Just the marathons and road races (where the real money is)

Went to TMobile to see when the Bold was coming out. Never! TMobile will not have a new Blackberry for at least 6 months, and that is a maybe. Need to get the wife on BBM quick, she travels too much to keep texting and emailing and skype-ing

Next week is the USATF conference. Can a coach get a free trip too? I have been tryingt o get to the convention for five years now, and it always boils down to economics. Actually quite frustrating because I actually WANT to be involved, unlike most I know.

Lots of movement this offseason, wow! some surprising some pleasant and some just plain baffling. Look folks, if you run the marathon do not go to a long jump coach, thats all I am trying to say.

Dayron Robles won performance of the year. Now we all know I LOVE the hurdles. But this is a joke. 12.87 bested the wr by .01. Bolt posted a 9.69 complete with celebration and a stunning 19.30.
Isinbayeva won athlete of the year. Negative! Jelimo was hands down the best woman on the year. The times she posted this season have not been seen in 25 years!!!!!! Are you kidding me? The girl is a junior, just turned 18!

DSports

2008-11-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

Yawn.
Its that time of year. Reestablishing the routines that breed success in the summer. It starts today.
I am more than happy with the make up of the group. The new faces have brought the right attitude, demeanor, and talent. It is gong to be fun watching them all develop. We are international again.
I want to send my man K Ferg off with my blessings and well wishes. He is embarking on his next evolution and that is cool with me, I just want my man to reach his potential. If you need me Ferg just hit me up.
The wife is returning from London as an entire institution LOL. Many of you here in the States do not know it, but she went home and got on the grind, she accomplished a lot of goals over the last 4 or 5 weeks and I am proud of her. Look for her book coming out soon.
Obama won. I really have a plethora of thoughts on it, but there is no need to elaborate. He won and that has said enough. I look forward to watching him perform.
Lakers are 7-0.
Al Davis is killing my mood.
Jerry Jones is confused of what his job actually is.
When is AI going to get a haircut?
The new event in track and field is "Where is your favorite athlete training now?" LOL

DJ BDay Shout outs!

2008-11-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

It is my birthday tomorrow, November 3rd, and I decided to give on this blog on my day. A few folks and what they mean to me on my day.

Mom and Dad! without you there is no me. The obvious. But it has been the other stuff that I thankful, the stuff that makes them who they are and enabled them to stay together their whole lives without any major hiccups. My mom was 16 when she had me, got married 2 years later and they have never blinked! 36 years and the rock of the family.

My brothers. Daimar and Dion. Just because those are my bro's. We are years apart so we never had the brotherly connection that most have but I will kill you over them, do not get confused. LOL

Martin Beck. I miss you man. He is not dead, just been living in Houston for about ten years now. Married with child, who would have thunk it lol!

Tasha D. My chick. My athlete. My medalists. She holds a special place that would take too many words to explain. And yes, I will kill you over her too. I have her back through thick and thin for better or worse, I got her in all her ways not just the good stuff. And I am not afraid to let her know it. She needs something I am there.

Jaden, Ricky, Aysia. This is what love is about. No bells and whistles. As long as I am alive they love me. As long as I live I will love them. Hurt them in anyway and I will hunt you for the rest of your days. Seriously.

Ryan, Kenny, Jonathan, Tasha (second shout). Thank you for trusting me to help make your dreams a reality. Thank you for believing in me when you had very little reason to.

To my other athletes. Same as above, but had to shout out the OG's above.

john Smith. Uncle John or just John to me. Saw the potential in me when I was out of track and thinking about corporate life. Probably the dumbest decision I ever made but you know what, I have been to every major continent on this earth and have yet to buy my own ticket!!! Thank you John for making my dreams come true.

Maurice Greene. That was a fun ride.

Mike Powell. My boy for life. Hated him for beating Carl in 1991 when I was still a Carl fan, but a little knowledge will change your thinking. MP is my man for whatever I need.

Allen Johnson. Wished I had coached you, but man it was fun watching you do your thing

Marie jose Perec. La Gazelle.

Lloyd Cowan. Mr. Hustle.

Terrence Trammell. Thanks for being real and honest.

God. If I have to explain you are living in denial.

Dave Collins. Flew me everywhere for every meet the last three years. lol Believed in what I had to say to pick Tasha for the Olympics this year.

John Trower. See Dave Collins.

Tomorrow I will be 38. Nice. See growing up it was all about 2000, and the end of days. We are all supposed to be dead. LOL I used to wonder what it would be like to be an adult, look old, be called mister, I am still wondering LOL. I cannot believe I am 38. Let me tell you, life doe snot miraculously change. You have to change it otherwise you will look up and still be that same 20 something fool.
I will wake up tomorrow, dress myself and Jaden, drop him at school, and go to practice for the first day of training. And without an ounce of embarrassment I will miss my wife all day long. Be sure to tune into ChoiceFM (www.choicefm.com) at 10PM PST.

DJ - House music

2008-10-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

I am reading all these blogs, and talking to folks, and all the medalists are running around the world glad handing and whatnot. It is great to read. My friends call and ask what I am doing, and how I feel, etc. Well wishers of course, and then I have to educate them, I am the coach. I get all the blame and little credit. LOL It is the mantra of all coaches, and we revel in it.
See, as much as, I would like to be with Tasha smiling and interviewing I realize that is the husband in me not the coach. The coach is the guy that stood there smiling as she jogged her victory lap. The coach is the guy that kept it light while we waited for final call. The coach is the guy that has already written all the training sessions from now through New Years. More importantly, coach is the guy that is always here when you need him. And that makes this coach smile.

So to all you athletes, mine and others, day one is quickly approaching. Clean up your eating, get some sleep, and by all means, ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN YOU SEE MY NAME ON THE CALLER ID!

Vacation???

2008-10-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

I am on facebook. had the page for a while but never did anything with it, just had it. Well now I am on there reading about holiday trips and off time, and all kinds of non track stuff. Makes me laugh a lot because I realize as a coach there is no such thing as off time.
I am not a college coach which is even worse, but as a pro coach I have to write new sessions, evaluate this summer. Talk to new group member, get new members started training, etc. And the always stressful task of handling business issue, code word for money lol. And none of this includes real life, which is whole nother kettle of fish to handle.
This year is more special the added responsibility and demands of success. I am reading my man D.O. adventures and relating. Tasha has been gone for 2 weeks and has not stopped yet. She has 3 weeks to go and it is a non stop tour. Not to mention, she is not here and not relaxing.
Now this sounds like whining but it is not, just the facts. I love it all. lol well not all

SWITCH!!!!

Palin - the republican answer to Barack. I think they have jeopardized her promising future in a desperate ploy.
McCain - the republicans decided to give him his due instead of grooming a young gun to run against Clinton who became Obama. Bad move.
Barack - superstar on the rise. woefully in experienced but so good in front of the camera. Cannot tell a lie, I hate his economic philosophy, stressing me out really
Biden - beautiful VP choice for Barack who folks on both sides of the aisle were worried about in terms of foreign affairs and experience.

Barack will win this by about 6 points. I originally thought 3 and that still my come to pass, but it looks like 6 unless something dramatic happens.

It is college football season. Argh! No playoff, more upsets, more parody, and more irritation. what other sport do you watch the regular season and then stop caring?
UCLA will be in the final four AGAIN! yessir
Lakers have Bynum back. Trouble for you haters
And I have not figured out the NFL yet this season.

DJ Thinks

2008-10-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts about recent events off the top of my head.

USATF has a power struggle. It is multi leveled, the USOC wants to dismantle USATF and take it over. LDR wants more power and feels slighted by the sprints who dominate the landscape.
The Presidency is up for grabs this year, I am telling all of you out there to get to Reno and vote! Do not whine about the sport if you are not doing a damn thing to be involved.
USATF has to restructure, the board IS going from 19 to 9 and 4 of those spots will be non track spots. This is a good thing.
Youth track people, you have enough power and numbers to not need to be apart of the board decisions.
Masters you are loved for your passion but you are not mainstream or bringing anything to the table. Love you guys, I thought I would be a masters runner, and I always knew it would be for my enjoyment. Same for you.
USATF should be about the business of promoting the brand name, which means elite level participation.
This year and next year are very important years in the evolution.
Stephanie has taken serious personal attacks during this run for the top spot. It is ridiculous folks, I am not opining, I am telling you. This is for the USATF top spot not the POTUS, and some of you have gone after Steph as if her appointment will end your life. Get over yourselves.
Bob Bowman walks in the door with tremendous experience and insight. He is tough to ignore.
Dee I am not clear about so I will not pass an opinion to be fair.

Rest in Peace Louise Tricard. If you do not know who this lady is please google her. I met her on this thing we call the internet. I had no idea who she was when she started posting with us on the Spdkls board some ten years ago.

Barack is killing McCain. Wait, the truth is McCain is killing himself. Obama is such a sophomore this is a no brainer. When looked at seriously Obama is woefully inexperienced, yet he can talk, he brings a freshness to the politics, and McCain is weak personality wise. And the Palin move was stupid, period.

Time to get back on the grind.

College football is headed towards another mess. USC loses, Texas beats Oklahoma, the SEC is falling apart. The MW may be the strongest conference in the land but has no chance of getting that respect. DO not be surprised if we see another 2 loss SEC team vying for the title. Pathetic.

Bynum and Gasol are my front court. LOL We are coming to a town near you and we will be the show. Last year was a fluke.Once again the West is the strongest conference in the world.

I wanna work for Diddy. hahahahahahaha

get on facebook and find the wife, she has a new creative endeavor going this fall. Last year it was painting, this year it is well go check it out on facebook and on youtube.

DJ on life

2008-10-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

I thought coaching multiple athletes was hard, but trying to get a 3 year old, high on SpeedRacer to go to bed is impossible. He is smart. so he knows how to turn on his TV, and he knows how to bargain and hustle for what he wants. LOL Looks like I am going to have to pull the hard face daddy move on him. He will whimper for ten minutes then pass out like someone flipped a switch.

my vacation is in transition. The rookies are in training. So the few days I spent thinking about last year are over. Last year, I had zero days off, I had started training before the Asian circuit if you can believe that.

it is hot here in the city of angels! and I love it. always rather be hot than cold.

DJ is off

2008-10-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

The off season is a weird time for me. I want to sit and enjoy what happened, but my attention immediately shifts to what is coming. The preseason has started for me already. Writing workouts, and getting the rookies and not ready for prime players started. The cool part is I do not have to be so serious. Miss a day, postpone a session, no problem.

Now that is me. Behind the greatness of DJ is the little engine that could and she is always on in some form. I've done well in getting her to calm down for once. Check out the attached clip to see what goes down in the off season. A little insight into the lives of some of your favorite athletes when they are not running. Enjoy...

For more find her on facebook...

DJ is just saying

2008-09-24T04:23:00.001-07:00

One more day in Korea and we close the shop and head home. The real world.

the Korean Air Force have been running sorties all day, if you have ever been near a fighter jet you know how loud they are. and they are fast too. an amazing sight to see them take off.

we went to the shops today, and as is the tradition here, the evisu store got the most attention. I thought about buying a couple of pair and selling them back home, but losing my check card solved that issue.
For all of you back home, evisu cost $100 on the high end here. So next time you see someone in the States sporting some evisu's they bought for $300 just chuckle.

The irony of closing this season is I have a full crew here. About 5 athletes.

whatever you do, VOTE!

Just DJ

2008-09-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

when im alone in my room sometimes i stare at the walls/and in the back of my mind i hear my conscious call/.... lol For all you youngsters out there that is some classic LL Cool J.

It is 6AM in Shanghai and out side is the thickest humidity I have ever seen. if we were in LA of Beijing most would mistakenly call it smog, but I know it is the atmosphere. looks like fog too.

i have to say, there is nothing better than being in a hotel that is the track. Zurich is around the corner, but this hotel is the track. Go down to the lobby walk through a door and there is the track. too bad this meet is so far away and at the end of the year.

so it is at an end. as a friend said so eloquently, it is the paper chase folks. very few are serious, even less have done a training session in weeks lol

so the election is coming, day after my birthday, yessir. Obama will win. and then we will see what the country is really about. economic crisis, bad politics, and a lack of foresight dominate the US right now. as in everything in life it is reaching its high water mark and we as a people have to do something.

in track folks are starting to realize we have to raise our game professionally. the politics in our sport are dirtier than the presidential race. cries of corruption, open attacks on high performance from the new CEO, and old stars doing NOTHING to bolster the profile of the sport, of the athletes.

athletes, get to Reno our continue to suffer the consequences of indifference and non participation in the business end of what you do.

on a lighter note, it is amazing to watch Tasha go through her new stardom. we talk about it and dream about it, but to actual achieve the medal and become a national icon is a different animal altogether. the reality hit like a ton of bricks. her old teachers, her classmates, her everybody want to acknowledge their connection to her. just makes me smile and laugh. this is forever, she will forever be an Olympic bronze medalist. yessir

this room is off the chain. the Chinese have a great mind for sexiness in designs. the showers and bath tubs all have windows, you can choose to cover them or leave them open and see your room and outside the huge windows to the city. it is like taking a shower out side, not in a corner like it feels at home.

DJ giving props

2008-09-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

DO you did your thing! Good job.

Christine O. Commonwealth, World and Olympic champion. The trifecta and they still do not get it.

Tasha D. way to pull it together baby. The heart and soul of my group, thanks for letting me spin the records for your party.

Ryan Wilson way to do the grunt work this summer. Nothing went how we wanted but you pulled out an entire season.

JKwayke wow! what a year for you. Silver indoors and an Olympic final.

Tyrone E GB, man way to go. first you crawl then you walk then you run! 10.06 and the semis. Last Brit standing. And he ran some of the best second legs I have seen in a while

Wallace my man was going through some things this summer, and he still came through for third whenver he needed it! Get right, the talent is there for sure

Lashawn just crashed the party. A couple of 43s and a gold medal. not a bad nights work.

Dayron is the man. amazing year. And we are coming for ya!

Dawn Harper! What can I say? From knee surgery to start the SPRING to the top of the podium. Niceness

Lolo that run to win trials is historic. that was fast, period.

Tyson Gay is an alien

Usain Bolt is from Mars. I want his dna checked, he is not human. I have seen things in the last 6 weeks to fill a lifetime from him. And he is 22!

Gotta go play some music.... be back

DJ back in the Booth

2008-09-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

What a summer!
Bolt destroys all notions concerning sprinting.
Asafa remains the same, albeit, a little faster. He is the most prolific sprinter in history. Too bad Bolt will surpass him soon, barring injury.
Veronica Campbell has one of the fastest seasons ever and does not even step foot on the track in Beijing for the 100. Jamaica still swept the event.
What in the world is going on with US sprinting? This is the question on people's lips. The answer is really simple. Nothing. All the pieces are there, injuries got in the way. Simple as that. Matter of fact US sprinting was better this year than last year overall, but since Tyson went down and the women were swept in the 100 and the relays dropped the stick, something must be wrong. Naw, nothing is wrong.
Barack Obama is on the verge of winning the White House. But first, he has become the first black presidential candidate to win a nomination. First Obama then 19.30. 2 things folks said we would not see in our lifetime.
On to 2012. And all of the UK is in a panic. LOL You would think they won the "get bombed" lottery the way they are acting. 2012 is an opportunity for the UK to shine, so far they have just proven the British stereotype of cynicism. The stadiums are over budget, there is not enough housing, they have no sprinters, there are no track athletes capable of medaling in 2012. LOL Full panic mode over there.
I read on a message board where someone said Tasha should run for 2 more years then step aside for the younger athletes to have a chance in 2012. And they are serious. She should LET them have a chance. This is about competing. Those youngsters need to step up.
Track is like the wilderness, you want to rule the pack you have to step up and challenge the leader and beat the leader. Period. You want someone out of your way you have to beat them.
Jaden started school this week, Pre - K. He is three and doing addition. Amazing.
Football season has started, what could be better.
I went to see Babylon AD. Terrible movie. It is edited with the assumption that the watcher knows the story already. I have no idea what I watched in the end or what it was supposed to mean.
In case you missed it, Tasha won a bronze medal. I am still happy.
Now on to the newbies, time to get them started. And I cannot wait. 2 weeks

On the road

2008-08-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

So I have a bronze medal now. I am an Olympic medal coach, thank you very much. It feels great, and the better part is the medalist is my wife too. Could not have come at a better time.

So I am sitting in the lobby in Zurich. For track junkies this is the place to be, anyone you want to see will walk through this lobby.

My girl Dawn just smacked in my ear with a chicken kebab. LOL She vows to never change, and she is sticking to it.
Bolt is a 21 year old kid. Unlike some other stars that never leave their rooms he is a constant sight moving through the lobby. The kid just enjoys himself, it is nice to watch.

The beauty of track is seemingly benign conversations are business meetings. All the big meet promoters are here. All the agents are here. I love this sport.

Tonight is the beginning of the second half. I have David Neville and a secret athlete lol, but for the most part I get to just be a fan tonight. Have some fun and then hit the road early in the morning. Gateshead is Sunday, Lausanne is Tuesday (finally making to the Alps), and Brussels on Friday. I really love this stuff.

On the 8th Jaden starts preschool!!!!! Now that's real.
My oldest son Ricky is a fireman officially. Just started with a station this week. I am so proud of him.

Beijing was a success

2008-08-23T01:14:00.000-07:00

Any of you reading that knows me knows Tasha walked away with a bronze medal! Let me talk about that for a few ticks. Uhm, where am I with this? Absolutely, chuffed as my wife says. It is very good feeling when a plan comes together.
We had a long summer and only through the power of the mind and God's grace did this thing turn out successful. From an achilles issue in May to a hamstring strains throughout the summer, we did not have the smoothest of journeys. The beauty was her fitness base was superb and surprisingly sustained her through the whole summer. She never lost her fitness or strength, which meant all we had to do was get to the line healthy and hope her body was back in balance.
The results speak for themselves. It was a pleasure to watch her run around the track in full control and at the level we have always believed she could run at. It was tiring through the years watching women run times and win that were not more talented than Tasha. She has all the talent in her to do the things she dreams about. This medal was one of them. She is a part of history now, an Olympic medalist. As I always say, medals are forever. No one can change the result of that race. And she ran 53 seconds.

The funny part was she ran after Bolt's historic 19.30 and by the time I got to the mixed zone I had forgotten all about his run. Someone came up to me asking me what I thought about the race, and I really thought they were asking me about Tasha. LOL
In short, Bolt's run was mind blowing. Unlike MJ, who was a product of a moment, Mr. Bolt set out to run that fast. Can you imagine getting in the blocks thinking, "I am trying to run faster than 19.32!" Wow, that must be a helluva a feeling to have.

His display in the 100 was jaw dropping, and that's all I can say about that. Wait until Zurich, we may see a 9.5x.

I will blog on the relays later, lots to say there but I promise you it is not what most of you think. Back to cloud nine, I am happy as a clam. :)

DJ from the Booth

2008-08-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Games started in spectacular fashion. The Opening ceremony was great. This is the first time I have come to the Games and not gone to the ceremony. I encouraged all the first timers to go, but a lot of them took this experience for granted, and that is too bad. A huge part of this time is doing the ceremonies and the like. The Olympic experience is special and if you do not experience the little stuff, it is just a big track meet, and that is a tragedy.
In 2000 it was weird for me, I was with the Saudi team. So it was like Halloween for me in certain respects as I dressed in traditional Saudi gear. Then we walked in the Stadium and it was special. I was looking up at 100,000 fans and dignitaries, and then there was the realization that millions of people were watching, including my family. Find the TV cameras so they can see you! And then I had a marvelous thought, I was an Olympian. For my whole life I had associated being an Olympian with US trials and making the top three. not once had I ever thought about the coaches and officials that were a part of the team. Well it hit me the minute I walked out of the tunnel and onto the track. It is something I will always remember.

So fast forward to now. Phelps has already shattered a wr. China has already won a gold. Looks like everything is in order.
The IOC should be ashamed of itself for changing the swim schedule so the US audience could watch the finals live. I am not a fan of the amateur ideal that permeates the Games, but I am a fan of sanctity. We cannot afford to have TV circumventing the athletes. Phelps did well, but it is important to realize their semi final was last night and their final this morning. That is a dangerous precedent.

Sadly, 2 tragic things happened yesterday. Bernie Mac died and some psycho killed an innocent man in Beijing who came to watch volleyball. He was the father in law of one of the coaches. One was tragic because reports were Bernie Mac was stable. The other was tragic because it is senseless and maddening. A definite knock on the Games and China.

I promise you only in swimming is the 4x100 relay on the second day of competition.

Now I am off to laugh about the fact that I have yet to go to a Games as an American. LOL

DJ on the Mic

2008-08-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

So much off the track stuff happening I feel the need to speak on a couple of points.

In Jamaica they have an internal battle that has been raging for years. I am not an insider, so my take is based purely on what I have read and heard. In summary, Stephen Francis, franno, MVP coach, does not like (and that is stating it mildly) the JAAA, Jamaican federation. He has been feuding with them for years. It all came to the forefront this week when he refused a pass from them and did not want his athletes, 10 in all, to attend the Jamaican camp. He protested saying it would cost his athletes, ten percent in their performance.
Well, what a mess. I hold the position that the federation is the entity responsible for resolving this matter. Not saying they have to fold, I am saying they have to be the side that puts this thing to bed. franno is a personal coach and no matter what one thinks, he is only responsible for his charges, not the national team. The JAAA taking a hard stance against franno looks personal. We will see how this plays out. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when the MVP athletes arrived, they came with a letter forbidding them to participate in relay practice. The letter was written by franno and signed by the relevant athletes. As I said what a mess.

Meanwhile, back at the house, we have a new CEO, Doug Logan. He has decided that one way to connect to the public is to blog. Kudos for the effort, however the execution is terrible. He also wrote a letter to the president in opposition to Marion Jones being granted a presidential pardon for her perjury case. In his blog he has defended his by stating it is a way to show the world we, USATF, and the sport is taking a tough stance on drugs. This is completely wrong.
The request for a pardon is a personal one for Marion and has ZERO to do with our stance on drugs. Logan's continued defense that he is being tough and speaking tough is troubling.
It intimates that we have not been tough up until now, and that the attitude of those of us in the sport is one of acceptance. None of which is true.
What he needs to do is start to CHANGE the perspective of what he is perpetuating. Track is the most ardent defender of clean sport as any in the WORLD. We have been testing for decades, let me repeat, decades! We have never had less than a 2 year ban for first offenders, whereas most sports require multiple offenses for ONE year. We are catching designer drugs, doing blood test, collecting samples, have athletes volunteering for test, busting athletes regardless of their stature, and this has been going on for 20+ years. None of this is talked about by those in power. All we get is how bad the drug culture is and that track has a drug problem, Logan's first moves in office have done little to address these lies. And that I have a problem with.
Enough of the harping on the past druggies, the bust, and the talk of sponsors are afraid. Sponsors are about perception, and we will not get the big dollars until we start managing our news better. The NFL is busting folks left and right, but that is never their headline. This is the part where we drop the ball. We whine, and play victim, and then have folks like Logan coming around with tough talk. We have enough in place to prove our toughness, what we need now is clarity on who we are, productivity on our image, control of information. Many see this as secrecy, but that is cynicism. I am talking how to manage to flow of information as it FLOWS. Right now, we make a drug bust and it is a negative, where it should be a positive.

Ok, I am in Macau with the UK team. Tropical storm Kammuri passed by yesterday, so much for practice, it was a mandatory rest day. As you can imagine the hotel gym stayed busy. Now it is dragon flies and back to work. If you do not like humidity this is not the place for you. I love it. Any excuse to not where sleeves and pants is great to me.

DJ from Macau

2008-08-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Macau is a little island known as the Las Vegas of Asia. And I mean it is the Las Vegas of Asia, the casinos are exactly the same here as on the strip, Wynn's, the Venetian, MGM, etc. It is kind of weird seeing these hotels here knowing I am far from the States.
Today is the first day, so I am battling jetlag. Tried to stay up all night last night. made it to 5am and then slept until 10, went to the track, and now I am trying to not sleep. If I can make it, I will sleep all night and come out of the other side acclimatized. If I am lucky.
Meanwhile, in track I cannot believe the news from another little island, Jamaica. The internal battle that has become public is ridiculous. Grown men, some of who once competed at the highest level are now playing a game of roulette with athletes that were born long after their successes. Get out of these kids lives and allow them to fulfill their legacies. Whatever differences franno and JAAA have is between them. This is the Olympic Games, all pettiness should be tabled and dealt with afterwards. I feel bad for the athletes, as they are the bearers of the ultimate burden. Unbelievable is the word I think of.
Here in Macau everything is going according to plan. Nothing special in the works. All the athletes look happy and healthy. I have heard nothing special out of Dalian. Training reports are good, and folks are just looking forward to competing.

I do have one pet peeve. The federations have forgotten this is a once in a life time experience. This is the Olympics. People train their whole lives for this opportunity. That means experiencing the village, the opening ceremony and everything in between. The experience has been broken down to many as a track meet. Having been through this twice, and walking the opening twice, I am telling you there is nothing like this. As a track man walking into that stadium was magical, even as a coach. 100,000 people happy and cheering is something to experience and feel.
Weight room time.

DJ on Love Affair

2008-07-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

I was reading Brianna's blog on her complicated love affair with the sport. Admittedly I did not make it through her whole blog but I got the gist and completely understand the nature of it. All of us in track have this conversation with ourselves whether you coach or are an athlete. The love it takes to do this is great, the rewards are personal and for many are taken for granted.
I will say this, never stop loving this sport, and never base your feelings on your success. And for heavens sake never quit because you are not the best. You quit because you want to, because it has run its course in your life. The sport needs us all and the more people that dedicate their time and lives to this endeavor the better the evolution will be.
I quit against my heart and soul. I quit because life asked me to, not that it demanded it but that it asked. I quit too soon. From that fateful decision came my coaching career, I got lucky. I would have been in this sport forever either way, but luck saved me. I am sending a message to all of you reading this, as you use this sport and it uses you give back to it when you are done running and jumping and throwing. Coach, be an agent, get involved in the politics, but stay in it. The greatest plague of our sport is the sickness of burnout. People leave our sport and never look back. We end up woefully lacking in fresh blood, new ideas, and bodies to fill voids. If you ever wonder why we are so slow to grow as a business just look around and ask yourself where are the friends you traveled with on the road? Are they in the sport or elsewhere claiming they rarely watch the sport anymore.
My answer? I have one teammate that is now a sports psychologist with the USOC. Many of you know him and talk to him, Dr. Ross Flowers. Another friend of mine is a cop. He was the street guy growing up and now he is the law, counseling the youth in the detention centers. Another teammate, is the recreation director at UCLA, running the Wooden Center. There are three oops four of the pro athletes I coached now coaching in some capacity, Jon Drummond, Larry Wade, Kim Carson and Ato Boldon, oops five, Dennis Mitchell, dang six, Gentry Bradley.

Don't walk away from it. grow and evolve with it. It is a guarantee you can only participate on the track for a finite amount of time, but you can give and be a part of this thing far longer. Look at me, I am now in year 31 of my track career, my running ended 17 years ago.

Yeah Brianna called it right, this is some crazy love affair.

DJ Shout outs

2008-07-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Dayron Robles wow.
Usain Bolt the big man all the sprint junkies in life have been wishing for.
D.O. I am coming for you, don't get comfortable up there. ;) Good work this year man.
Terrence T. three teams in a row. Nuff respect
Torri. I would cry for you but you would not appreciate it lol. Been a long road lady, you have set a high standard for others. Thanks for being loyal.
K Ferg. It can only get better for you from here, this will be the hardest year you will ever face, we will be back.
Jonathan Williams. Man thanks for being disciplined and loyal and calm. Your time is coming in Beijing. Shock and awe.
Marshevette Hooker good work youngster. Made your coach proud, believe me.
JD welcome to the coaching ranks officially. Share the wealth brother. ;)
Tyson Gay keep wowing them out there.
Tyrone Edgar the master of turnover. Your time is coming, keep grinding and the doors will open.
Miki Barber move!
Kai K. welcome to DSports.

DJ live from Finland

2008-07-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

You have to love what you do to maintain yourself in it effectively. I love what I do. I am sitting here in Finland working but found out I am not working. LOL Short story with a lot of details.

Let me tell you something, Olympic trials in any country is taxing. And this is where DJ's story begins. I left home in June 24th, and I have been home for all of one night since. US trials was tragic. Here is a brief recap of my 2 weeks in Eugene.
Up first was Torri, the queen. She did her job in grand fashion. A stunning 10.78 in the semi finals is still my lasting memory from the week. It was nice to see her come together right on time because it was looking shaky a few weeks earlier. In the final she got in hurry producing a less than perfect performance. Taking second she qualified and the smile on her face could not have been broader. It has been a long 4 years for her, and making THIS team was part of a final vindicating act.
In the background we had a breakthrough of Alexis Weatherspoon. She managed an 11.08 in the quarter final to make it back to the semi. Pleasantly surprised. All DJ could do was smile, laugh and try to keep the train rolling, hell one more breakthrough and she was looking at a possible trip to Beijing. All good things come to an end, she did not make the final.
Next Leroy Dixon was up. The man in the boot. A talented young man that has yet to realize his own potential, but when he does we all will know. Despite his hurdles and obstacles he made the final, gave a windy 9.99 performance to boot. He had the classic question following the final, as we walked he looked at me and asked, "How does 9.99 get you 6th place?" Welcome to the US trials, the hardest track meet in the world. He still earned his spot and will be making his second straight appearance on a US national team.
Then came David. Mr Neville was always the favorite for the third spot once Angelo opted for the hurdles but no one paid attention, and the TV talking heads were not on their job. In the final he had his favorite lane, 8. lol Coming off of 300 there he was in the lead, and at the line he was an US Olympian. In a pr of 44.63. gratifying is the word here, little known fact, this is John's pride and joy, the 400, nothing makes him prouder.
A word on my boy K Ferg. The young man had the hardest year of anyone. His dad suffered and died from cancer. He got hurt indoors. All in all it took its toll on him, we did not have enough training time, and his fathers illness was too much of a distraction for him to overcome. He will be back next year.
So the second weekend was another emotional moment. My man Ryan Wilson had a great year training, and on June 8th he strained his adductor and psoas, we thought it would be a week, it just got better yesterday. The first round was the first all out hurdle session we had run since his injury. We were just trying to squeeze are way into the final and then see what happened. In the end he could not talk his way around the injury and pain. Again, he will be back. Soon.
Torri looked like a million going in to the 200 but the fatigue and turns were too much. She drew lane one for the final and we pulled her out. Her health was more important out there.

So Monday it was home, wash, sleep, errands, plane to London. UK trials coming up.
Tyrone Edgar,was number 2 going in and the 1st rd was easy. The semi the next day looked great until I found him laying on a table in the back with a lost puppy dog look. Something was wrong with his hamy. Trainers said he was fine, we got up and went to work. He just could not open up, the leg was restricted. He took fourth by a nose. He is still dealing with it right now, disappointed to say the least.
Then it was my queens turn. She had been battling herself since she got to London and all looked to be on the upswing, then the gun went off. Three hurdles were vintage, and after that the race went flat.

So I am in Finland now with the Saudis. Got her last night and found out today none of my boys are qualified because their relay time was not certified. The one guy I do coach that is qualified does not want to go. Now I appreciate the opportunity, but I no longer have a reason to be here. I have Tyrone and Tasha in London needing specific attention, and the facilities there perfect. A good dilemma to have but I have to resolve this issue tomorrow.

So we are all caught up. I am preparing folks for Beijing, not sure DJ will be in Beijing yet though. LOL Irony.

DJ Super Mix

2008-07-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

Here is three weeks in five minutes...

Torri runs 10.78 shutting down. It was simply stunning and I see the woman train everyday. We knew she would handle the field but 10.78 jogging it in was something different. So glad she made the team. I her long and storied career this is the second time she has made the team outright but the first time she will get to fulfill her individual duty. And do not expect to see a three peat of her finals performances.

Tyson Gay is astounding. 9.77 and 9.68w. And it looked like it. He is off the charts and hopefully recovers in time to show up in Beijing.

David Neville. Congrats PK!!!!

Side note. It should have been reported on TV that David was the odds on favorite to win the third and final spot on that team The facts defined it and the TV analyst were knowledgeable to recognize what was coming. He came into the race with a 45.03. He was the fourth fastest from the semis, with Witherspoon being the third but he had pr'd to do that in the semi. Daivd's coach has done this before on numerous occasions. In the semi final he was an easy third. Too bad a bit of unprofessional personal disposition prevented a proper and thorough analysis. And by the way, David's coach is John Smith, as is Torri's. A name missing from the broadcast peculiarly.

Merrit won. no shock. Wariner throws a hissy fit, Shocking.

David Oliver, good work. 2 sub 13s, never seen that before.

Kellie Wells. Poor baby, tragic. Keep your head up, you did a great job this year.

Dawn Harper, the forgotten member of the Kersee hurdle camp.

Denby. Cannot get any closer. damn

I had a terrible week. One hurdler never got the season going. One hurdler got hurt at the wrong time and is yet to fully recovery.

I enjoyed everyday of the meet though.

Now I am in London. It is cold, and wet. I will enjoy it though. Time to get dressed. O, jet lag is a monster when you hit the ground working, whew!!!! Walking sleep.

The Red Carpet

2008-06-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Before every show there is the red carpet, well here is the red carpet report from DJ...

The flight was booked months ago, JS and my itineraries said flight time 1315. Everyone else in the group was 1420. Cool. Well I get to the airport, my customary 2 hours early, I hate to rush, having checked in online all I had to do was drop my bags. Gravy. Well I look at me ticket and it says boarding time 1350. Huh? Flight time 1420. Wow! I looked at the lady and said how come my itinerary said 1315, she shrugged. So much for customer service. So in true european fashion I found JS and we chilled at the terminal for 2.5 hours. LOL

The flight was uneventful, small plane, you know the one. Left side has one seat, right side has 2. Yes they fly those in the states.

Any one that has been to Eugene, ORE knows the airport is tiny. So they manage to not send out Torri's bag, well one of them. There were three passengers missing luggage, 2 of them were found in 2 minutes. Thankfully Torri was one of them. They have a policy here, a bag makes three trips around and they take them off. Well, Torri's bag never made one rotation, and neither did the other man's.

So here we are, in the hotel, waiting for the lights to dim and the opening act to start...

DJ Battle time!

2008-06-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

The week is here. It is now or never. Talk about pressure. I have been waiting for this for three weeks now. Nothing is right, nothing is perfect, but that is what makes it so special. That question about your ability to get er dun! I ask this question of myself everyday, and it is the very question that drives me, thrills me, and pushes me.

This weekend I saw my wife return to action and it was less than anticipated. Now we could mope about it but for what? She has been on the mend, and this was a test run, a run to get her back in the swing of things and let us know where we are. We now know. Just as we did last summer we go to work, getting ready for her nationals and the Games. Mentally she is good and that is all I need.
Tyrone Edgar has announced himself as the new kid on the British sprint scene. I knew he would run this fast when I first talked to him and watched him run, but of course, thinking it and doing it is 2 different things. 10.20 into a 1.8 is a serious run. He then was the star of his relay team, staking a claim to second leg. We do not know where he will be used in Beijing but we will be on the track. The kid is good, and he will be a name to talk about by the time August comes. Makes me feel good because he has risen up through the ranks and not been the child star, just a hard worker that has all the tools.
Asafa Powell returned to action, 9.96. Welcome back.
Darrel Brown ran into Richard Thompson and fell down. WHAT?! Inexcusable in a 100.
D.O. dropped me another 13.10. I see you D.O. I see you. Keep running, I like you and your coach. D.O. has laid down the gauntlet.
Side note, how come Asafa and Usain are selling us that their national champs is not a showdown? Let us have 2 9.7x sprinters, Eugene would be the OK Corral. We create warriors, who are never afraid to battle.
Hey Tyson, what are you going to run this weekend? I will ask your coach. I need a 9.7x so these jock riders can recognize why you possess the gold.
Oh and just in case folks out there think I am selling out my own, never. I expect certain folks to step up and realize their true potential, and I will tell them as much. ;)
Welcome back Torri! 10.94 is right on time, literally. She chose a different approach this year and it is paying off. Talk about someone that earned their keep, you guys have no idea.
Doc Patton holding it down for the elders!
Which one of the young guns will step up?
More soon, I will post a couple of blogs this week.

Congrats to the UK team for finishing first and third at European Cup this weekend. Now UK women take up a collection for breaking my woman's camera and phone in the celebration. That stuff was beyond our budget!!!!! Grr...
It is hot as hell in LA this weekend, 100+, I love it!

DJ says

2008-06-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

Wow!

12.87! Blame D.O. he titled his blog that and Robles took it literally. As well we all should. What an amazing couple of weeks in track.
Bolt shatters all preconceived notions of what it takes to be a good 100m sprinter.
Jelimo runs 1:54.99, the first sub 1:55 in over a decade.
And Robles drops us 12.87 form the sky.

Now we are cooking with Crisco. With trials a few weeks away the heat is rising. I am watching the NCAA meet and the semi final produces 13.25, 13.29, and 13.39. From 1998 to 2003 that 13.39 would have won. The final did not live up to the hype but it was nice. 13.40 by junior Jason Richardson was a nice victory. I am disappointed Craddock was unable to compete (hurt hip), he would have added an interesting element to that final. Good job JRich.

Is Walter Dix as talented as hyped?

Richard Thompson looked promising. Lots of tools and an upside.

I cannot wait for trials, I need to get on the road, it is a break form reality for me, fun is what most people call it. I need some fun. The smell of victory, the emotion of making the team, the thrill of success! If you cannot feel that you are dead.

I am coming to see you all in Oregon, good luck to everyone, even those in the events I coach. There are three spots, I just require one. ;-D

Showtime

2008-06-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

It is June folks, welcome to the Terrordome!!!

This is what it is all about. This is where we all get to see if our words, thoughts, and actions earn us our dream. If you are not feeling it by now you will never feel it.

Props to my man Brooks, and to his protege D.O. for taking it back to the lab and getting ready for the show. I see you.

I am rarely happy about false starts and dq's but it was good to see Xiang get nailed for his rolling start, he does it habitually. I do not think he jumped out on purpose, as some have whispered.

In 3 weeks time we all will be back in Eugene to make dreams reality. Whew!

In the meantime there are a number of European meets where the competition will be gearing themselves up waiting for the Americans to finish playing with each other.

DJ's Opinion

2008-06-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Usain Bolt!
Lightning Bolt strikes New York!
Bolt storms to Record!
Any of these titles would have been great to see Monday morning. Even Gay struck by Bolt. We watched one of the greatest sprint performances in history, and the moment was stolen by the drug scandals of the sport. The celebrations of the Jamaican fans were ignored in lieu of writers rehashing quotes and stories of the past 5 years.
There were a few reports about just the record run and the subsequent elation, but all of those stories were relegated to the smaller publications or Jamaican papers. One prominent US paper thought it news worthy to outright question the performance. Not even a day of praise was allowed before the questions started.
Now, a week later we are still bombarded by drug stories over the actual performance.

And all of this while numerous meets are happening.

We are in the final month, by the first week in July most the major Olympic teams will be chosen. For US athletes the next 2 weeks will conclude their competitive time, most will go home and make the final preparations for their dream push. Fun time folks.

In my next blog I might actually talk about my pet event, the hurdles. I avoid it most of the time because I am trying to keep my secret weapons secret. LOL

See ya soon

Historic

2008-06-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama has clinched the nomination for POTUS of the democratic party. A black man will run for president and it should be noted in all our minds. Our parents and grandparents thought this day would never come. For my generation our grandparents and parents lived through the civil rights movement, I am sure in some cases marched in protest.
The most astounding thing for me is his power. Chris Rock once told a joke in his stand up, "he speaks so well..." yes he does. The man has a power in his voice that is unrivaled. He can move you to tears while simultaneously giving you strength and energy to do anything, all the while instilling confidence. We started this trek with Jesse Jackson back in 1984, and for 20 years figured it would be a reverend or some other black leader to step up and take the chance. Boy were we wrong. He is a career politician with a varied background, that we in the black community are used to.

In stark contrast to Barack's dignity, we have Hillary Clinton placing herself before the process, and the over the party. Instead of graciously admitting defeat, she has not conceded, and is making a play for the vice presidency. As has been the case throughout this campaign the Clinton's have defied the parties wishes and put their name before the party, the people and the country.
One day people will wake up and see the Clinton's for what they have always been, selfish, power mongers.

Congrats Barack Obama, you have officially made history. I am glad it did happen in my lifetime.

Hey DJ!

2008-06-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

My ode to the islands, "Ring the alarm! Another sound is dying...."

Wow, Usain Bolt announced himself to the world last night. To us track heads this kid has been around since he dropped 19.93 at the age of 16 on us. I still say he would have won the 200 in 2003 if they would have entered him. Welp, now he is the odds on favorite for the gold in Beijing.
As a pure fan that was great to watch. I have only enjoyed races like that from those I am connected to, i.e. KYoung, Mo Greene, KFerg last year running Home Depot, Tasha in the semi finals last year, etc. The young man is a phenom, and it is always nice to see the human being go places we once believed mythical.

So I went to sleep with all of that to think over and woke up to watch LaShawn Merritt fulfill some people's dreams by beating Jeremy. Great race by both men. It was nice to see Merritt step it up and win it. It was better watching the two of them battle to 44.0x. People are so caught up in the victory they missed the fact that there has never been a race outside of a major this fast and this close.
Now I will tell you what I did not like, the celebration by the other runners, as if the evil king was vanquished. That was amateurish and did not look good on the broadcast. Merritt should have turned smiled, shook JW's hand, and took his victory lap. Any shit talking and high fiving is reserved for intimate settings. Instead you gave JW a bullet back in his gun. And why? Because he is the best and only LM has stepped up to challenge him in the last three years? Track is like any other game, beat em and you do not have to be jealous of their success.

It is an Olympic year. If you did not know it let me help you out real quick;
David Oliver (D.O.) kicked it off for us with a 12.95.
Bolt screamed in with a 9.76.
Damu Cherry laid down a 12.47.
Veronica Campbell 10.91.
Muna Lee gave us a windy 21, and now has run 10.97.
Saladino opened his season with 8.73m.
And now Bolt has run an unimaginable 9.72, followed by Tyson running 9.85 in his second 100 of the season.
LM and JW run to 44.03-44.07 thriller.

Yup it is that time people. What will come next? Will something happen at Pre or will we be on hold until Jamaican and US trials?

DJ Duties

2008-05-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

This week is the week they have been waiting for, the whole thing comes down to this week. That's right, the Lakers and Spurs! LOL

So the trial has kicked off and there have actually been a few revelations. A few people I know are pissed, a few are shaking their heads, and a few could careless and just want the damn thing over.

I care. I am pissed. I am sad. And I want it over.

Since the BALCO case came around I have endured countless message board attacks and accusations. Specific and detailed were the shots and I remember almost all of them. It is fairly easy to remember because 99% of them are coming out in the trial and came out in the BALCO trial. So you see there is some irritation in it all for me.

I am sad for the sport. We are so mismanaged that we are allowing this to define us to the public with out any positive news whatsoever in the press. We have become the poster children for steroids when we should be the poster children for testing, and busting!

I care for those I coach, and those of you still out here grinding and training and doing it right. None of this has a damn thing to do with the current generation of track athletes.

I want it over so we can move on. We need to move on.

I am asking all of you to spin this thing and promote yourselves. Do not run from the spotlight regardless of the source. You will be asked stupid questions, think about how you wish to answer them with a positive spin that keeps you away from the negative and lets people know the sport is about being clean. You are clean and let people know.

It is an Olympic year. You will perform above and beyond yourselves, as will your competition, it is not drugs, it is the norm. We all work and train really hard for this moment, remember that. Revel in the joy and excitement of making the team and winning medals.

I will beat this drum until you get tired of hearing it from me. That I promise to you all.

DJ Spins

2008-05-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

So here comes the day all the naysayers have been waiting for, May 19th, Trevor’s trial. It is being billed as the tell-all day; the day track takes an irreparable blow to its image. The day track officially dies in the American public sports landscape. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing could be more negatively spun than this and track has faced a lot of negative spin. The rhetoric has over taken the facts, and the subsequent emotion is predictable.
Let’s set the record straight. This is about Trevor Graham being on trial for pedaling steroids to a wide sweeping group of athletes. Track is not on trial Trevor is on trial. In his defense he has tried to place track on trial and plans to implicate as many in the sport as he can. It is not complicated nor is it surprising; it is the coward’s way out, which is fitting because he took the easy way in. No one should be surprised at this defense, his ship has sunk, his game is up, and now he is trying to take as many down with him as he can. What you should be surprised at is how willing the sport is to go down without a fight.
Where is the deluge of stats about the drug testing track and field has had in place for over 30 years now? Baseball did not have a comprehensive testing policy before the BALCO scandal, yet I have not seen story after story about the demise of baseball. Golf developed a testing program last year, and garnered the praise of reporters as, “the best testing policy in all of sports!” Football has no unannounced testing and no one so much as blinks an eye. Yet here the sport of track stands with international out of competition testing, unannounced testing, multiple entities that conduct these test, and accredited labs all over the world, being lambasted by some of its own. Stop the madness.
Time to grow up and participate in the professionalism of sport. We are not an amateur venture any longer and those in charge need to recognize this immediately. Where is the marketing and public relations department on this story? It has been over five years and not one positive spin has been put on this thing and it should have been. This is an easy one for the sport, we have all the parts in place, all the numbers, and all the athletes to counter balance the negative side.
Project Believe has been launched and very few know what it is. It is a drug-testing program developed to profile athletes for present and future drug testing. It will create a blood profile that can be relied upon by the testers to determine any significant changes an athlete’s chemistry. No other sport has this type of program or dedication to drug testing.
There are many steps to righting this ship. It will take a diverse media blitz to turn this thing back in the right direction. There is a need for the veterans to come out and proclaim their anti doping stance, give testimonies on how they were tested and what they went trough when they competed. The likes of Edwin Moses, Seb Coe, Steve Ovett, Carl Lewis, Kevin Young, Jon Drummond, Gail Devers, Jackie Joyner Kersee, etc. should be contacted and in the public's face on a constant clip. There are about four meets on national television in the U.S., not including the national championships; the USATF should have a presence in each of these events promoting the testing and positive side of it all. The networks have proven they will highlight the most dramatic, which is normally the most negative, so the sport needs to rely on itself to counteract this.
Spin is not always a negative thing or something used to hide something, in this case it is desperately needed. May19th will come and go and Trevor will be sentenced on the merits of his case. Every effort should be made to make sure that is what this case remains about. Track is not on trial, a man who cheated and abused the system is.

DJ

2008-05-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

So I am in the Caribbean, Fort de France, Martinique to be exact. I announced to my people this weekend would kick off the season. Bolt made sure we all were paying attention, but the rest had yet to let us know it was that time again. I could not wait until Friday. Doha would start it and Martinique and Modesto would end it.

David Oliver and Allyson Felix made it official, it is THE year. 12.95, 10.93, and 49.84. Thanks guys it was great, and got me going. Now this is easy to talk about because the times speak for themselves, ya know. However, there is something that got me real excited and you had to be there to get it.

Martinique has a secret, the long jump competition is always great. I remember 2 years ago when Walter Davis and Brian Johnson had the headband war, I thought that was great. This year topped that by years. It started from round one, Miguel Pate, Brian Johnson and Dwight Phillips came to party. All three started the competition by jumping over 8.20! It was all in succession and it was a throw back competition. It brought me back to the Myricks - Powell - Lewis days when 27 feet got you third and 28 feet was nothing to be comfortable about. They were not jumping that far but they were jumping farther as a collective and it was GREAT to feel. Every round was dramatic, all the way until Dwight's last jump, when he went 8.47, falling one centimeter shy of tying BJ. If you have ever seen BJ, Miguel and Dwight perform you can imagine how it was going down. The energy on the field was beautiful.

Then came my personal moment when Ryan won the highs. That was good stuff. He beat back the Old Guy aka Allen Johnson, which is no easy task.
But the women's race had me dancing on the infield. D. Cherry and D. Ennis-London locked up in a war. Every hurdle was step for step, EVERY HURDLE! Neither woman was giving up a thing. I was shocked by the final time margin, but that did nothing to minimize the excitement of watching the 2 athletes get after it. 12.47 was the winning time, fastest in the world.

And the festivities ended with a blistering display by Muna Lee in the 200. She came off the bend and it was all over. The end came at 21.91w and it looked that fast.

And so went the opening weekend of excitement and highlights to let us all know this is the Olympic year.

Meanwhile, life is like a box of chocolates. LOL

It is May. For all the athletes out there May is hell. Time to compete and come down off the training or in some cases get in the last bit of training which makes competing a mental exercise the equivalent to solving the world economic problems. For coaches it is a time to insert the mental cues that will win medals and make teams.

Welcome to the Olympic year. I will see you all when I need to see you. Not sure when that will be, but I was told it will be on time. ;-)

DJ Shout outs

2008-05-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

David O big shout out, 12.95! Elite club and company there.

Allyson Felix has established herself as the premiere woman in sprints. A tremendous day at the office, 10.93 and 49.84. Wow!

Muna Lee put on a show in Martinique. Her 200 was a sight to see. 21.91 with a 2.8 was fast!

Brian Johnson and Co. brought the old school back to the long jump for one great night. 27 feet got you third!

And now we wait for Osaka.... I love it all!

DJ Hits

2008-05-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

Some quick hits from the Caribbean.

Guadeloupe was a much better meet this year. Weather held up and saw some impressive runs out there. Ivory Williams was impressive. Told me he will run 9.9 tomorrow.

Martinique is windy. Hopefully at the stadium the weather is a little better since we are some 30km away.

9.76. From some eyewitness accounts it was windy. Long Jump was happening at the same time and the women had negative winds in excess of 2m. The long jump goes opposite of the 100, on the same side. FloJo esque. Makes more sense to me. I have no problem admitting this performance is hard for me to rationalize. It is either that good, or it was windy. I will refrain from the X-File conspiracies.

You ever have to control your temper against your will? I do. I know it sounds a little elementary, I mean when else would you have to control your temper except against your will. But I am sitting around a person I just want to curse and slap. Oh well, this is what grown ups do. Trust in the Lord and behave.

Back to reality... can you believe there are more players in the hurdles! LOL

Looks like rain, but it always looks like rain out here.

DJ at Penn

2008-04-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Penn Relays Ten Years later –

So the last time I was at Penn there was nothing close to USA v. the World. The meet was still fighting the inclusion of professional events and things were contentious. I stood on the infield unable to see any of the actual races, so I have no recollection of what was happening. So there I was ten years removed and standing in the middle of the field again, but this time it was different…
USA v. The World is a lie. It is USA v Jamaica, period. The crowd is pro Jamaican from high school races through the pro ranks. And those JAM fans know it all, and come ready to scream, chant, holla, cheer and boo! And it is great. There is not another meet in the country you will hear U-S-A, U-S-A for some relays, for some high schoolers, and for something non-national team related. The decibel level will give you chills out there and if you cannot rise to the occasion for that then you do not have a pulse. The best time in the stadium is when the JAM teams win or challenge. The flags wave, the screams reach high, and everybody stands up. The DMR probably brought out the biggest roar of all, it was fun.

The action got started Friday actually. David Oliver, Aries Merritt, Aubrey Herring, and Joel Brown set a World’s Best in the shuttle hurdles. I was unable to make it out to see it but any time you can set a world record it is special. I was a little miffed because they wanted 2 teams and were a man short but never called me to ask for Ryan to come, I will ask some questions about that, sounds like a c-o-n-spriacy to me. Lol There was an Olympic development women’s 4x100, but no one was pleased with the race or how the meet handled it. They tried to get the young ladies in the invitational on Saturday but after drawing lane one it was thought a waste of time. Good call JD!
If David Oliver’s shoulders get any bigger they will fall off!
Saturday proved to be fun!
David Neville ran on the DMR, split 45.5 with a 20 meter lead. His anchor leg cost him some money when he gave up the lead in 200 meters.
The 4x100 produced the strangest event ever. Leroy Dixon was on first leg and came around the bend, as soon as he hit the mark for Wallace, the Canadian second leg went to take off and slapped Leroy in the eye, stopping him cold, some how he managed to complete the pass but the race was over by that time for the team. They finished fourth but should have won. Kudos to the other USA team who almost pulled off the victory from lane 2, chasing JAM to the wire.
The women were the show. The teams were evenly matched and it came down to a dream scenario, Allyson Felix v. Sanya Richards on the anchor. The ladies received the baton at the same time and the race was on. Allyson smoothly pulled away to win by a meter.
The 4x400 were full of names and looked to find some drama as the 2 US anchors received the sticks less than a meter apart. However, Jeremy is an alien and made 43 look like a walk in the park putting 5 meters on Angelo without taking a deep breath. An alien I am telling you. He wears those glasses so you can’t see his eyes glowing when he taps into his alien powers! He has it mastered and it is nice to see.
The women’s 4x4 saw Allyson and Sanya on the same team and the result showed it.

Now I am in Guadeloupe. Time for the season to start…

DJ Hits

2008-04-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

The down side to having a blog is deciding what to write about. You could be like myself and just start typing or you can pick a topic and write about it. I do both. Even when I have a topic I just start writing and see where we end up. It is more fun that way.
Life is fleeting, enjoy it. Life is sudden and for your own sake when you are faced with the inevitable face of death please understand the resolution is not detailed, it is simple and immediate. All that you have failed to say or wanted to say is to be said and understood. No remorse or regrets because it will kill you.
I have been in vicarious counseling the last few months. Some people around me have been going through things and I use their appointments and their tapes and whatnot's to counsel them as well as myself. I now know why I always saw myself as different, and I also understand a thousand times better why I have had 90% of the arguments and debates in my life. I used to think it was the usual right v. wrong or misunderstandings. Now I know it is because I am an introspective person. To some degree it is a fault but that is another conversation. I have always been fascinated by why people think the way they think and why people think what they think. I learned that is unique. At least to the level I take it. I function on this premise, and it has caused me more than one confrontation. People just like to think what they think without having to explain or even understand why. Of course that has never made sense to me, but now I know I have to be more tolerant of others ways not just their opinions or thoughts. It helps a lot.
Now that being said, some of you so called friends and associates need to think a lot more about yourselves as you are defined by your words, actions and the thoughts that are defined by your actions. There are a couple of people that would do well to steer clear of me for the rest of your life. You made some decisions that affected me and my house and I will never let you live that down. I tend to be quiet about my private affairs and I will remain so, I think. This situation may warrant action, but I will do what I can to avoid it. (For some of you I will tell you the situation I am talking about does not have a thing to do with press or drugs or anything like that). It is simple to a few people around my existence, cross the street when you see me. What you did is personal and you will suffer for your moves. Honestly, you should have been a better person and influence if you were a truly honest and caring person. But since you were not, suffer. Nothing you set out for will come to pass, watch what I say to you. Your labors are fruitless because your spirit is untrue and impure. Don't worry about my side, that will be what it will be and it is what it is. This too shall pass.

He who run fast in April, shall not see the podium in August!

Bianca Knight is for real.

The women's sprints is hotter than the men.

Tyson Gay is the man to beat in both sprints.

Robles is the man to beat, Allen Johnson called that right.

Allen must be retired, for those of you waiting for him to retire you are fooling yourself. Allen you keep serving these youngsters as long as they allow you to represent us old guys.

What happened to MT SAC? It used to be the place to be now it is just a meet. Sad.

I am going to Penn for the first time in ten years. Wow! I am looking forward to it.

Damn I need to wash! A LOT!

See y'all on the road

DJs Partylist

2008-04-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so we had Mt SAC and as per usual it is the official opener for those I train. Well it was supposed to be at least. Here is a quick rundown.
Ryan I pulled on Thursday because he had a runny nose or something like that and we are taking zero chances this year. LOL No he had a hot spot in his hamstring, had to pull out of a hurdle session and I was not taking a chance. He has plenty of races coming this year, I am in no rush, we have to be ready at the end of June beginning of July and no earlier.
Kenny is coming along fine. Taking our time getting him in race shape.
Jonathan is having a nice early season.
Tasha is ready.
I do not have time to run through the WHOLE group so I will stick to my four musketeers.
Now for this weekend.
Tasha had a busy day doubling in both hurdles. I love having her run the short hurdles because it is pressureless and something she can be good at. Sometimes I wish we could dedicate more time to it but oh well. So her first 400h race went awry but it was a strong run. Post race evaluation says she was too relaxed about the race. Something she and I both took fault in. She smashed hurdle 2 with her trail leg and almost fell, and she almost stopped. That stumble cost her coming home. I was proud of the way she fought back over the last half of the race. She was smooth with it and not at all busted by the run. In the past she would have been laid out for 45 minutes after her first trip over ten, but this year she was on the phone to me the minute she got to her bag. After putting away a few old demons we got to the business of evaluating her performance and not breaking down the performance. I have learned this year that outsiders eyes can prove to be a valuable tool. Everyone had wonderful things to say about her run and that lifted us both up. See we set out to win everything this summer, and not to lose or run anything slower than 54s. So the result had our emotions for a minute, just for a minute. Now back to work.
Jonathan conquered some serious demons this year. I am so proud of this young man. As a coach you always have your personal favorites and you have your personal joys. Watching this man develop, grow and realize himself is a joy. He stepped out there and ran the race with some top level competition and learned he belongs right there with them. That is what I wanted him to get to this year. I have promised to make him a new athlete, to run with confidence, and I will be damned if I am not watching him grow right before my eyes. I sound like a father. Anyway he ran a strong race. There are some technical issues he needs to continue to work on but he is truly a work in progress. The beautiful thing is he is Belizean so we are booked to Beijing already. It does not get any better than that.
Ryan watched from the stands. After seeing the line up and the results he was glad I pulled him. As of Friday he was still campaigning to run because he wanted to compete, but he realized he did not need to run. LOL
Kenny almost did not get a chance to run. He sat around all day waiting to run the relay and we were a man short by the time it came to run. Luckily we found a fourth and he went out and did a good job. He smiled half way down the backstretch when he heard folks calling his name. And then again when he felt a challenger. I am happy his leg is acting right and he showed some of his old self out there. he was able to turn on the after burners and that was encouraging to see. Now we get him ready for his hurdle debut in three weeks.
I am off to Penn Relays for the first time in ten years and then to the Caribbean to island hop these little meets. It is showtime folks and I cannot wait. Going to be difficult being away from my athletes but they are in good hands and I have their workouts ready.

DJ Playlist

2008-04-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

Is it Track Season yet?
- MC Restless

He who run fast in April, Get ass kicked in August!
- Confucius Sez

Who's next?
- The Olympic Rings

Finally
- The Jamaican Lion King

Always a bridesmaid you will never be a Bride
- The Bluegrass Man

I know I can Sprint
- MC Cornrows

Promise fulfilled?
- Professor X

A Dream Deferred
- The International Mass Choir

Fantastic Voyage
- The Medallist

Gold is What We Want
- Lightning the 6'5er

Unbelievable
- The General Populace

I got Nine on It!
- The Young Gunners

You don't know me
- The Mad Sprinter

Just a few selections from the crates for all y'all listening out there in the land.

Why is this thing so addictive? And how come it is so hard to make money at?

There will be a surprise, there is always a surprise.

I love it. Can't wait to see the familiar faces. Can't wait for the nerves and the thrill and the ecstasy.

DJ Cool down

2008-04-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

So as I sit back trying to ignore the fact that I am at work I am writing you all about today. Now follow closely because this is what some of us do to love the sport.
I spent my entire day at Drake Stadium (UCLA) enjoying a track meet. Here is a quick synopsis of what went down...
Threw together some relays. My star hurdler misses the race because he thought the race was at 1:30PM and thought it wise to leave his house at 11:45AM. Problem is the race was at 12:25PM. This would be foretelling for his day. LOL
Relays went well, a bunch of hurdlers, and qmilers ran. Team A ran 38.88, not bad for having two qmilers on the team; Tyrone Edgar - David Neville - Kelly Willie - Leroy Dixon.
Tasha flinched and nailed herself to the blocks (NCAA rules had her worried) finished second in 13.27.
20 minutes later she lined up and ran 52.89 for a long overdue pr! Thank goodness. Nice work for 20 minutes.
Next up was Ryan for his big re debut at 400iH. He false starts! Amazing. All I could was laugh, he was hot. Had to go get on the massage table and remove himself for a minute. LMAO I think someone was looking out for him today, he was not meant to run those races, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. LOL
The 200 was an in group showdown. Turned out to be our second dramatic event of the year. Kelly went down with a hamstring injury. It always sucks when your athlete goes down. Experience teaches you to keep your chin up and things will be fine in a few weeks. The emotion remains however, you are disappointed.
Craig Everhart ran a pr 20.78. it was nice to see him show his wares again been a long time for him.
Tyrone Edgar ran a modest 20.98, he is a work in progress and everything bodes well for him summer.
So fast forward and we close the day with the 4x400. As a part of Ryan's penance he was thrust into the relay. This is where he was supposed to be. We did alright, nothing to write home about. I was happy to see the people we had running out there. Exorcised some demons and got to see the product under real life scenarios.
One thing was clear from this meet, Allyson Felix is untouchable. She has 2 gears, FAST and FASTER. Her split was 49.5! She was a comfortable 5 or so in the lead and put 40 on the girl within 250 meters! My new name for her is One Speed!
Overall it was a picture perfect day on campus. Damn near a hundred and no wind, it was a track day and I am happy.
I left tired, hot, sticky, dusty, mentally energized, physically tired and went straight to work. Where I sit here now writing all of you. This will end soon but for now I am trying to not move too much. All I want to do is talk about track...

DJ Inventory

2008-04-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

I was coaching today and I had to step back and be that other persona, a mentor. Well I was thinking through my day and decided to take my own advice. Oh what advice was that? Being mindful of the things we store when we take inventory of ourselves. Somewhere in our DNA there seems to be a negative magnet in our personal inventory directive.
We have the uncanny ability to see, remember and hang on to all the negative things that happen in our lives while simultaneously overlooking, excusing, forgetting and dismissing the good things that happen in our lives. It is a vicious process which is ridiculously uneven. Ten great things can happen in our day, but let that one bad thing cross our path and we will instantly forget everyone of those good things.
It is time we all started hanging on to the good things and letting the bad things go. We can advise others to do all day and effectively but look in the mirror and instant failure. No words, thoughts, or affirmations will convince the person in the mirror that the world has not ended. It is funny when you think about it, but clearly something all of us have to get better at.
I am doing it now as I write. I can literally feel the negative thoughts bouncing in the box I have tried to place them in. If only I could throw the box out. As they say in church, the devil is a liar!
Do not load your storage room up with the devils toys, the negative thoughts and memories that keep you clouded and confused about who you are. Fill your mind with the good things that you see and that happen to you and in your life. It is okay to be happy, EVERYDAY. It is okay to be the inspirational one. Everyday you wake and live is a blessing. Every dollar you earn, every life you touch, every compliment you receive is something to fill your heart and mind with. Let that other stuff roll off your back and do not let it distract you from your life, which is your dream, which is your goal.

DJ time

2008-04-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

He works on His own time! God may not be there when we want him but he will be there on time! So much is happening in DJ's life that looks bleak that I have to operate on faith. Even when my faith is the problem, it is the only thing holding me up.
I tell you all He is always on time. The life I live is filled with expectation, and the knowledge that what me and mine pray for already is. I am telling you that this has proven to be a life changing mindset. I am not saying I walk everyday with the confidence of a mustard seed, I am saying when I question what in the world is happening in my world, I turn and force myself to live in the knowledge that God has already done it for me. So far whenever I think this is it, IT has been success and a blessing.
Blessings are truly all around us and man they come at you from strange angles, some of them you will miss due to your own smoke screen. You will mistake your blessing for another blow to the knees, when if you just give it to him and trust that he has heard you, the blessing will pop out like a red rose on white sheets.
I have a partner in this life and she is my constant source of positivity when I am standing on my head ready to whine and cry and sing the blues. She has decided that she will remain positive through it all and I mean through it all, and it has kept me and helped me push on. Even when she has been the source of my stress and darkness, she has played the dual role of being my source of overcoming.
I believe we are made to be a tandem, and I am telling you without my partner I would be in a different place in my life. LOL That is an inside joke if ever there was one.

Six years ago I was in Saudi Arabia, coaching the national team to the Asian Games. Life was very similar for me, tragic. Yet there I was, focusing all my energy on coaching and making the guys the best they could be. Well here I am right back to the Saudi team. I walked away at the end of 2002 to stake my claim in this world. I wanted no more shadows to outrun, I struck out on my own and became the coach I am today. Now my situation is a hybrid, I am still running from those shadows but I have a flashlight now. And as of today I am repeating history, I am the Saudi Arabian national coach once again.
My boys have been longing to have me back, well now they have it. On my terms, in my country, and everyone is happy. Well, almost happy. Here we go, back in the saddle again. except this time, I have my own athletes to worry about, and I will put them first. They are my people, they are the ones that trust me the most and the ones I care about. A lot has been invested in them and just because I have secured some funds for my life does not mean I am abandoning the crew. DSports is for real and I will make sure we stand out.

I love my job. I love what this is about and what I am about. The devil tried to break me, but he failed. His attacks have come hard and furious, everyday, God is my rod and my shield. The devil does not like that. :-)

DJ Olympic dreams

2008-04-05T23:39:00.001-07:00

It has begun!
As I sat on the grassy hill at Pomona-Pitzer’s famed blue track, watching the athletes go by, I had the Blackberry humming with Texas Relay results. Thankfully, the Florida relays decided to do all their hot running Friday, so all I had to keep up with was the relays in Austin.
If you are a true track fan in the US, you have to appreciate this month of April. We call it the relay season, and it reminds us all of why we started running and why we stick with the sport. All the talk of money and contracts and teams is forgotten for four or five weeks, while we all go back to our childhood. Weekend invitational litter the American landscape of track and field and spawn the superstars of all professional sports. Whether it is an age group meet or an high school meet or a college invitational or a weekend carnival that involves all levels, we sit outside in the sun watching track.
After April you would not see a bunch of world class athletes standing around the track or infield watching someone run a 4+ minute mile, or 12 flat 100 meters. We definitely are not watching a 4x1600 relay. Yet, look at the April weekends and you will see these meets featuring the stars of today and the stars of yesterday being honored or just hanging out. I am not sure there is a better time than April for track purest.
Amateurism survives in these baton festivals. The old adage, “give a starving man a saltine cracker and he will proclaim it is the best cracker in the world.” Same applies for the track athlete in April. They have spent months sweating, crying, bleeding, and dying and their tolerance is over. They will agree to run anything, and coaches try anything. World Champion 100 sprinters running 4x400s, intermediate hurdlers running 800s, 400 runners running sprint relays, it is a veritable smorgasbord of talent in mixed up events.
I give the IAAF and IOC credit for deciding to have the countries qualify their relays. We are guaranteed to see high quality relay races from national teams throughout the relay season. For example, in Texas we had the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia field a team for the first time in history. The irony might be that no one noticed! LOL In a few weeks their will be the Penn Relays and we will have a track full of international stars trying to post qualifying marks for their national relay teams.
And thus begins the Olympic campaign. The excitement is at every meet, in every race. We will hear the word Olympics so many times it will become expected. “So, how did it feel to get back out there and shake off the training cobwebs?” “You know, I just want to make sure I am ready for the Olympics!” “I plan to double and bring home 2 medals.” “What events will you run this year?” “I will run the XXX and the XXX and try to bring home three gold medals.” Etc. There is nothing like the Olympic year.
Athletes spend their entire careers building to this moment, especially in the US, where Olympic spots are never handed out or faxed out. You will earn your Olympic berth, and coveted it just the same. So we see meticulous planning and strategies by coaches. A long run here and short run there, time to go back and train heavy in the midst of it all. All in the name of Olympic gold.

DJ from the Crates

2008-03-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

We have officially kicked off the outdoor season.

For the first time I will post something about my athletes. Probably the last time too. Anyway, Tasha and Jonathan have run their first 2 800's of their careers and I have to admit I am very happy with the results. They ran strong, looked comfortable and most importantly showed great fitness. Tasha's pr now is 2:06.25 and that was her first time running the race. Jonathan gave me a 1:52.33 in his first outing.
They ran their second ones last week. We set out to run fast but the work week and subsequent hour delay at the meet was too much to overcome. Both of them ran well and had a full week of training, the meet was actually day five of running. For Tasha it marked something I will never do again, 5 days of hurdling in a week.

Ok enough about them and those.

I have talked enough about Obama now I will switch focus and talk about that woman. For the record i do not like the Clinton's anymore. Not since around the Lewinski embarrassment have I been a big Clinton fan. They proved to me then that politics and power came before EVERYTHING else, including integrity and respect for the highest office in the land. Now we have Hillary lying, oops, I mean "misspeaking" about her trip to war torn Bosnia in 1996. She claims sniper fire and the tape shows her in no danger whatsoever.
The spin has been that she was sleep deprived. Only problem with that excuse is she has been spinning this fish story for months! There was no danger, no sniper fire, and she is shown shaking hands with the Bosnian president on the tarmac.
These people keep proving that they are charlatans and it is high time the puppet show ended. She is ripping apart the DNP primary, she should have clearly stepped down and backed Obama after Super Tuesday. Instead she is fighting to the bitter end and threatening to use the Super delegates to win the nomination which would overturn the will of the people, something they DNP has cried about for eight years and used to their advantage 2 years ago to take over congress. What a mess!

Life happens!

2008-03-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

So I am at the meet this week and few things go down to remind me that "life happens"!

Great race in the short hurdles, 2 women running step for step when uh oh, off balance and smash hit the hurdle and one gets V and the other gets DQ. As I said to my athlete it is a hurdle race, hitting them is a part of the race.
The second was more dramatic. Old time coach is caught slipping, walks across the track and WHAM! sprinter takes him out doing blow outs. Watched the coach get carted off the track on a stretcher. Life happens!
Oh and the meet was an hour behind. I think I mentioned that in my last post.

So I find out Xavier Carter has put down a nice lead off leg on a 4x4 down in Miami in the rain. 45.6 is the reported split. Whatever it is I am glad to see the moles start to come out of the holes and run.
Asafa Powell has continued his busy season with an easy 4x1 anchor that is reported to have melted the track under his feet.
Walter Dix runs a 45.2 relay leg. Impressive.
VaTech breaks out the outdoor season with two young ladies in the 12.8 range.
David Oliver opens the sticks with 13.33!
I love track.

Meanwhile in the world the Bruins survive the first weekend and have the mandatory close call that all championship teams have to go through.
The Lakers are playing steady and gearing up for the playoff push. Kobe is the MVP anything else is Memorex!
Baseball season is coming, someone shoot me now!
Is it football season yet?
And lastly why do all my friends, all two of them live in Texas?!

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

On this day faith was tested and measured and forged!

Since last I spoke a lot has happened.

Bianca Knight is pro. Good luck lil one. She set a precedent for track and field. She and her mother set out to run fast and go pro, similar to a football or basketball player in college. I have definite doubts about this path being effective in the current state of the sport but I am excited by the move. On the business side of things it lets me know the kids see this as a viable path to monetary success. And like it or not that is what entertainment is about and one of the main driving forces behind pro sports dollars. When the athletes start pushing the economy the dollars will start to flow with regularity.
The secondary effect in this is the benefit to my profession, coaching. The shoes companies are willing to pay these kids then they have to start paying the people that train them to produce. It is a matter of time now. They are paying the young ones on potential and it is proven that certain coaches have a system that produces consistently.
Now here is the rub, do your shoe dollars dictate movement? In business promotions come with relocating. Right now the athletes think they can have the dollars and stay home with mommie near by never having to move. Completely unrealistic.

On the track I will confess my people have started competing. Nothing in their pet events though. It has been fun just going to meets with no pressure or expectations. Running new events to see what they can do and how the training is translating. This week in particular has been an adventure. Never have I worked so much for so many days in a week. Time for a mini break. Rest is a part of training too.

The political landscape is off the charts now. For a few days I was seeing doom for Barack and then I read the actual context of some of Wright's words and the farce is up. He was quoting someone else in some of the most inflammatory remarks. Damn shame what the media can do. I being the conservative gentleman that I am it is difficult to watch the right wing attack unwarranted on this. The game is now completely corrupt like never before. I knew Barack would have to eventually fight and here we are. now we will see if he is tough enough to lead this country in the future.

Bless you all. I will start blogging less as the season gets going. I am too tempted to talk trash LOL. See you all on the chitlin' circuit.

DJ's Playlist

2008-03-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

So what had happened was....

Bianca Knight looked all world in that 200 yesterday. The young lady will be heard from outdoors. I was impressed.
I was less impressed with the 60s. It was a bit of a let down after watching the 200s get blitzed the night before.

Something on my mind so I will let it out. Why do stars and celebs hide their charity? I know the cookie cutter answers, my question is actually one that is a little deeper. See I listen and watch these folks of means complain about how their "good" works are never talked about but when asked about them they say they do not want their "good" works publicized. Something about it being private and from the good of their heart and they do not want to exploit a good deed for personal gain. ALL OF THE ABOVE IS SELFISH!
If you are about the charity then you of course realize that your name brings attention to a cause you deemed good. You do not focus on the "you" part but on the giving. To say you do not want it public is to keep to yourself and in the end you have cost that cause through omission.
Do not get me wrong, I comment all of you out there doing your utmost for others and giving you free time to those that need you. Just tell us about it so the rest of us know and our aware. I know a few people who are in search of a cause they can get behind and stand behind. A cause they can endorse.

On a lighter note, my son is three. Well my baby boy is three. He is out of control. I dare you to ask or tell him to do something. You will get a frown, and a lengthy pause, and no words. Quite simply the most frustrating thing you will ever experience. I just want to throttle the little man. Has me and my wife running around like 2 black folks screaming and yelling and him crying. I know my neighbors must be tired of us. I do not think he cried this much as a baby. They boy will cry because you asked him to use the bathroom, even though he has been pacing, running, and dancing a jig in the middle of the living room! LOL You should see him, he will start running back and forth but will not go to the toilet. LOL And I will not understand baby logic, I was never like him, he has peed on himself standing at the door of the bathroom all because HE refused to go. That was at day care, and that was the day he went home in wet clothes. It was time for a lesson to be taught, you want to be wet, then stay wet. I am quite comfortable in my DRY underwear.

Do you hear the silence? It is the calm before the storm we call outdoors. I am a little different type of coach, kind old mixed with the new so please understand when I say this to some of you reading. If you are in an event I coach, I am coming for your head. Just want everyone to know what this game is about. I like most of y'all and would love to coach you too, but for now, see you between the lines.

Practice what you preach

2008-03-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

As a coach this is not what you want to talk about. Sets you up for failure and hypocrisy. I do not say it or use it when it comes to my coaching. If I could practice what I preached on the track I would still be 165, and all of you would know my name.

In real life, not track, I cannot practice what i preach. Not by choice. I want to but I am faced with some life issues that challenge me every day. All I can do is read and think and search for that space that allows us to walk the walk we talk.

I am waiting for that space to reveal itself because believe me, all the space I see is filled with the complete opposite of what I preach LOL. I mean you ever notice how it is so easy to counsel and console our friends but when it comes to ourselves we are virtually unreachable. LOL All of my friends are that way strangely enough. I have sat and told them that all they need to do is follow their own words. Well now the tables are turned and I cannot follow my own advice and damn sure cannot follow theirs. Makes me laugh the laugh of a man that knows he is dying.

It is not funny but if I do not laugh I will cry. It is that time for me, the world seems as though it is disintegrating on my head, RIGHT NOW! Everything is wrong and nothing looks like it is getting better. That rain cloud is my rain cloud and all rays of sunshine are deflected by the mirror of darkness. And I am tired of the damn cloud. I want to kill the cloud, squeeze all the water out of it, and watch it evaporate for the rest of my life.

I tell the athletes when they cross the gates at the track to leave the outside world outside. I am in desperate need of a gate right now.