RE: t-and-f: Embarrassment, etc.

[Mike Casey]

Hi, Am I missing something?? You’re suggesting that the age limit of world juniors be changed to suit American athletes??? I agree that it was a pity that more of the abundent brilliant US talent didn’t compete, but surely to change a system just to accommodate one nation seems totally unjustified. If the US athletes have other priorities, such as football or High School cross country then so be it. Most of the other Northern Hemisphere countries have exactly the same distractions…..School is back….cross country season is under way…soccer, gaelic football etc has started. The athletes make decisions, they don’t compete in soccer, they miss some of the cross-country season, they study extra hard for any lost time in school. If a lot of talented US athletes don’t want to make these kind of decisions then the rest of the world have to respect that but not completely change things to suit one nation. I think it would be a very sad day for athletics if world championships were scheduled to suit American high school football or British secondary school soccer or whatever other sport happens to clash with them where would the line be drawn????   The US athletes don’t seem to suffer from not appearing at world juniors anyway as can be seen from their continuous domination of world athletics.   Regards Mike   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Ed Grant Sent: 26 October 2000 18:27 To: track net Subject: t-and-f: Embarrassment, etc.   Netters:         The timing of thr World Junior meet couldn't have been worse for full participation of qualified U.S. athletes.           Had the meet been held at a more normal time in the Southern Hemisphere, sa February or March, there might have been a chance for some leading preps and even some college frosh to participate. The age limit, not turning 20 by Jan. 1, could have been extended for those athletes on the simple reasoning that, like it or not, the prepondrance of world athletic talent remains in the northern hemisphere.           The barriers to prep athletes competing at this time of the year are too numerous to even get into. They include the conflicts with football on the one hand and HS (or college for the 2000 HS grads) CC on the other. As far as taking time off from school is concerned, this is also the worst possible, coming at the start of a new school year. And if you think HS federations are going to let an athlete take off a semester, then get an extra one in return (as,m for exampole, Tom Farrell did in 1964 for the Tokyo Olympics, forget about it.                                                                       Ed Grant