DJ on Love Affair

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.