Darrell brings up a good point that deserves discussion -- professionalism in track
and field. While I agree wholeheartedly that T&Fers work very, very hard for what they
get, I think we insiders have to step back and look at the big picture.
While we may hope and pray for our athletes to get paychecks matching those in the
NBA, NFL, MLB, Premiere League, whatever, mustn't we first make sure that they are
attracting enough interest (i.e. money) to deserve that kind of compensation?
I wouldn't begrudge the HSI bunch contracts in the millions of dollars, if indeed they
were responsible for bringing in that kind of money through their appearance and
performance. In Europe, that happens to some degree -- in the U.S., no dice.
Think of it as you would a brilliant artist or musician, who starves unless his/her
work sells. Does that artist/musician wait for some "governing body" to go out and
market their work? Methinks not unless mac & cheese are dietary favorites in the long
run. To earn a decent living, that person must SELL, SELL, SELL! It's not enought to
just work hard in training/painting/practicing -- the product has to sell!
When athletes can attract U.S. crowds in the tens of thousands, who are willing to
shell out $30-$100 a ticket for a meet every week, the paychecks will come.
That brings me to another point for later discussion -- track fans are a stingy lot...
talk among yourselves, I'm verklempt...
Glen McMicken
