Regarding Gail Devers .. I received several private posts after my comment last week about Gail and her Olympics and Grand Prix finals efforts .. All of these posts refer to her integrity and the fact that she was truly injured while in Sydney .. I pass this on to the rest of the list as I have not seen them otherwise posted and have to assume that those individuals that were actually there in Sydney may have been able to see more that the rest of us with NBCs telecast .. So defer to those whose eyes were closer than mine .. Regarding the AOY .. I hate to admit it but I know absolutely nothing about race walking .. I can talk about almost any track and field event but race walking is something I don't have a clue about .. Having said that, however, doesn't preclude me from saying "Who Else Deserves IT" ... While most of the discussion I have seen centers on walking and its place in the sport I haven't seen anyone come up with a viable alternative .. Lets face it this was not a good year in the sport .. Marks were so so until the Olympic Trials of most countries as the anticipation was that everyone was getting ready to peak for the games .. And then the games came .. And the marks were good but not great in most cases .. NO world records .. A few break throughs, but not many .. And the usual individuals we would be talking about this time of year were all mortal .. Greene dominated the 100 but had many loses in route .. MJ handled all comers in the 400 but his marks were average (for him) .. The 200 (the race I once thought would be THE race of 200) became the accident on the road .. Not once but TWICE this year .. The 800 became a grab bag as Kipketer lost over and over .. And the lightly raced, record breaking ElG of 1999 became the outraced upset victim of 2000 .. Haile looked human .. As did Allen Johnson .. And the terms "field event AND dominance are becoming oxymorons (and some comments made were actually moronic) .. No one stepped forward and said "here I am crown me king" this year .. So maybe it is time for walker to "step" up and claim the top spot .. After all, after this years casualty list he might be the only one able to "step" forward ... Conway Hill [EMAIL PROTECTED]
