How "lucrative" would a deal like this be anyway? I'd like to know. It certainly would not parallel basketball and football athletes.
Cory Beard > -----Original Message----- > From: Kurt Bray [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 6:32 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: t-and-f: Dan O'Brien/Alan Webb > > > That may well be his strategy, but the sports world is > littered with the > human wreckage of athletes who "grabbed the chance" while > they could but in > the end couldn't cut it, or got injured, or otherwise failed > at the pro > level and ended up a few years down the road with neither the > money nor the > college degree. > > It's certainly true that his worth to shoe companies will > sharply drop if he > keeps coming in 9th in his college races. But it seems to me that, > especially in view of last weekend's performance, any shoe > company with half > a brain willing to sign him now will likely have the contract > laced with all > kinds of performance clauses that will deny him much of the > money should he > continue to bomb. > > And even if he doesn't mind throwing away the educational > opportunity, it > still might be a good idea in terms of maturing as a runner > to get the upper > hand with college boys first before diving into even deeper waters. > > And besides, IMHO, "NCAA Champion" is a worthy title unto > itself - not > something to be thrown away lightly > > Kurt Bray > > > >Kurt, maybe he is thinking he should grab the chance to get > a shoe contract > >before his profitability declines after a bad performance or > two. One race > >may not effect his worth... but what if he "bombs" a couple > more times... > >he > >is still riding on 3:53... he SHOULD take the loot. He can > still train in > >Michigan, go to school, etc... but instead of peaking for > NCAAs he would be > >peaking for WCs and European races. Bernard Lagat goes to > grad school... > >doesn't seem to be hurting him. Wislon Kipketer was a grad > student in > >Denmark when he set the WR in the 800. Marrius Bakken goes > to college and > >has run about 13:08. He can do everything he is doing now, > with less of a > >course load at school, get a degree (in 5 or 6 years), and > train with his > >current teammates. He just can't race at NCs. Big deal. > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com > >
