I don't follow much track racing, but was really impressed with the facility, and the riders down at T-Town. Seems to me that this is a good thing for our track program. Edumacate me. Bill C
"TritonRider" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]... > I don't follow much track racing, but was really impressed > with the facility, > and the riders down at T-Town. Seems to me that this is a > good thing for our > track program. Edumacate me. The people who train and race at T-town seem to think that McDonough is a good choice (although of course having practically *anybody* at USAC focussed on track cycling would have to be good for that branch of the sport...it's been almost completely ignored for many years now). A different question to contemplate, though, is what does this mean for T-town? First a new indoor track is going to open on the west coast, and now your long-time director is moving on...will T-town remain an international draw, or will it simply become just another US track (albeit a very well run one with excellent facilities at that)? Hopefully the powers-that- be at T-town are already asking themselves this question. Andy Coggan
In article <[email protected]>, Andy Coggan <[email protected]> wrote: > "TritonRider" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected] > m23.aol.com... > > I don't follow much track racing, but was really > > impressed with the > facility, > > and the riders down at T-Town. Seems to me that this is > > a good thing for > our > > track program. Edumacate me. > > The people who train and race at T-town seem to think that > McDonough is a good choice (although of course having > practically *anybody* at USAC focussed on track cycling > would have to be good for that branch of the sport...it's > been almost completely ignored for many years now). A > different question to contemplate, though, is what does > this mean for T-town? First a new indoor track is going to > open on the west coast, and now your long-time director is > moving on...will T-town remain an international draw, or > will it simply become just another US track (albeit a very > well run one with excellent facilities at that)? Hopefully > the powers-that-be at T-town are already asking themselves > this question. Pat's done a great job but the factor(s) that are more important than him are the community and corporate support for T-town's programs and T-town's methods of encouraging that support. I doubt those will change. There have been discussions for years about the value of having a track on the West Coast for training when the weather is not so good in Eastern PA. I think the riders will still want to spend significant time near T-town as opposed to the LA area. Some of the factors that help T-town be successful probably won't happen in LA-at least not for several years or more. -WG
warren <[email protected]> wrote: > Pat's done a great job but the factor(s) that are more > important than him are the community and corporate support > for T-town's programs and T-town's methods of encouraging > that support. I doubt those will change. I see him as having two big challenges: - The perception that you can dedicate yourself to the track, succeed, and still get screwed. Which really hurts recruitment. - Recruiting sponsor support. Track has never really recovered from the loss of EDS as a sugar daddy. The USOC pays money for medals so whatever support they get there is probably a remnant of Marty's medals in Sydney. Last year's Worlds were a disaster so you would have to be pretty optimistic so see any progress there. So I hope he brings some $$$ connections with him. Bob Schwartz [email protected]
Everything therer will continue to go well, once they call me and ask me to run the thing...more later, I have to go sit by the phone and wait for the call. And in reply to the challenges facing track, they far exceed money or attention from the fed. The two main obstacles are the number of tracks that exist ( or lack thereof) and the fact that the fact that success on the track requires great specialization. For the most part, if you didn't learn how to race on hte track as a kid, you ain't going to be able to succeed at it as an adult. The pursuit might be one exception to that and they're doing awaay with that soon enough. > "TritonRider" <[email protected]> wrote in message A different > question to contemplate, though, is what does this mean > for T-town? First a new indoor track is going to open on > the west coast, and now your long-time director is moving > on...will T-town remain an international draw, or will it > simply become just another US track (albeit a very well > run one with excellent facilities at that)? Hopefully the > powers-that-be at T-town are already asking themselves > this question. > > Andy Coggan
