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"Shin Splints"
A Blog by Doug Logan

The Demise of the Fat Cat

Monday, April 20, 2009

The evidence cannot be ignored. Time magazine has done a cover story on the end to the age of excess. There is so much less discretionary air travel that you can virtually walk up to an airport and get a ticket to any vacation destination. Wal-Mart and McDonald's are packed and boutiques that sell to the "swells" are struggling. Ostentation is out; modesty is in. You can see it in the embarrassed faces of those who used to wind up the engines of their Porsches and Hummers and in the pride of the lucky owner of a dawdling Prius.

The business of sports is not immune. Northern Trust Bank was excoriated recently for their profligate spending at their namesake golf tournament while accepting a TARPS handout from the government. Bank of America cancelled talks on a ten-year sponsorship arrangement with the Yankees and entered into a more modest, one-year pact. There are stories of companies who have long-term leases on stadium suites exchanging them for equal-value in seats in the bowl. New stadium palaces have unsold inventory; even the mighty Yankees are relegated to advertising obscenely priced seats in the pages of the Times, while their brilliant, stealth President, Randy Levine, is reduced to hawking his organization's stadium in print and on television. How the hell can you justify $2,500.00 for a single seat behind the plate at "The House that Greed Built" while your fellow man, or woman, is losing his house, job and retirement savings?

Decades ago, the entertainment and sports businesses were the great democratizers, wherein janitors and CEOs stood in line at the same box office and sat side-by-side to witness a new film, vaudeville show or sporting event. No longer. The last 20 years in this business have seen us pander to our customer by what we have called "differentiation". You can't be a mere patron at our events; you have to be a VIP, a big shot, a Fat Cat. Part of this is the result of being brought up by parents who constantly told us we were "special" or "gifted". We grew up thinking they were right, and now we demand special treatment, with separate parking, entrances, food and suites. It was also, obviously, the result of a capitalistic orgy so intense that the term "super-rich" had to be invented better to differentiate levels of staggering wealth. How do we differentiate the super-rich from the simply wealthy if they're both sitting next to a school teacher out in left field?

I submit that we are about to witness a paradigm shift in the business of sports. We are going to experience a return to a more democratic patron experience, and those who have radically differentiated venues are going to suffer the repercussions for years to come. There will be two drivers to this change. First, the corporate host and his wining and dining is going to shift strategies and focus on moderated entertaining. They just will not be able to survive the scrutiny of a public on the lookout for AIG-like situations. And, with the exit of the corporate buyer, these edifices are going to find individuals don't have the wherewithal to purchase these amenities. More importantly, I predict a trend towards the egalitarian in the way we gather to witness events. The hardships of this recession will provoke a healthy return to our core values where we will revel in bearing witness together with others, regardless of class.

As the steward of track field, I like our position through these changes. We have always been a sport of the people and our patrons at events have a lunch-bucket mentality about the spectator experience. I have never been offered sushi at a track meet! [Although, I recently attended the World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan. I was seated in a tent that had a VIP sign on it. However, the tent next to me had a VVIP sign on it. Probably had the good hummus! I gave up about half way into the event and went out on the course, where I had a ball.] I also like the prospects for the Fenway Parks and Wrigley Fields. Events managers are going to have to focus on a more organic, authentic experience.

Authenticity is replacing ostentation. We are about to witness the demise of the Fat Cat.

USA Track Field CEO Doug Logan is a former beer vendor at Yankee Stadium.

COMMENTS
I am sure you did not mean it this way but I read this as saying we will succeed because of a negative. I would like to see how we will take advantage of it regardless of the economic circumstances
Posted by: D Smith on 4/20/2009 2:23:37 PM PT
I would like to hope so for the sake of the fan, but unlikely witht he bloated salaries of sports elitist whining they only make 200 million instead of 210! The end of the Roman Empire was bread and circuses and we are so very close to that. The win at all cost coaches from the children's levels and the 12 month run on sports for kids denigrates the object and idea of pure sport, doing it for the joy. One of the areas where it is still in existence and constantly ignored by the T&F "family" is the Corporate Competitions, done by folks who just love to compete, doing it for the cammaraderie first, the effort second, and if you get a medal, very nice cherry on top. Can the innocence of sport in all it's forms for sheer pleasure come again, probably not.
Posted by: Bradley on 4/20/2009 3:51:30 PM PT
When I read Dougs comments I was unsure of where he was going or where he is coming from in his logic. Track and Field has already been hammered by less is more plus global PC. When he says, Ostentation is out; modesty is in. he is describing the near past and present of T&F! I would love to attend an ostentatious competition, if one exists; you know the one with the piles of cool delectable shrimp right next to the bottles of red and white wines nesting in crushed ice. What the public does not understand is the really poor television coverage of major meets where former athletes with mikes talk on and on with athletes who can barely put a sentence together let alone a paragraph! Ah yes, the public loves to know that Johnny G high jumped 2.03 and what the hell does that mean. I can remember when a jumper cleared over 7 it meant he could almost jump over my ceiling and now its 2.03??? Yupwe joined the global world and threw the American fan in the toilet. Thank God for Adam Nelson, who yells, grimaces, entertains, throws far, entertains and speaks in a literate manner. (Yes I am a throws coach at Northeastern University in Boston). Our sport beams with talent and spark, but we never highlight it or show it only the same, always the same. Bring in more foreigners to win every event. Cheer them on as they begin college at 22 or 23 and graduate at 25 or 26. Give all of Kenya and Serbia a full ride and then move our championships to Durban or Belgrade, anyplace where the dollar is worth less than the euro. Their fans will applaud a 2.03. Joe Donahue Throws coach Northeastern University
Posted by: joe donahue on 4/20/2009 4:09:44 PM PT
A few years ago I went to Las Vegas for the Distance meetings. This was my where I listened to Brooks Johnson talk about The Podium and how we need to train our people to run a 51-53 second last 400m or we could forget placing in a World Championship or Olympic event. The problem is that we only have 1 maybe 2 men that can approach Sub 13.00 5k. The 800-Marathon we have very few men or women that can run at the front in one race let alone compete in the rounds that are needed to get to the finals. Sprinters are Born! Distance runners are made !We don't know how to race .Some very talented runners did not race very smart.I lay that fault at the feet of the coaches. If we intend to truly compete with the World in the Mid and Distance races the runners will come at the post collegiate level .The fact is we need to work with these runners till they get to 28-35 years old. We need many locations to gather and train at. The main thing you need is a coach at each location. A good coach can effectively train up to 15 runners. You don't need to sleep in an oxygen tent or be at altitude . It takes very hard work . Sessions of 2-3 times per day , we are soft. The last World Record Holder this country had above 400m was Jim Ryun. He trained Here In Kansas not anywhere else. The other thing that you need is money for travel (Housing,food,medical) any thing to relieve the runner from losing their focus on the training that is needed to put them in that last lap so they can unleash that 52 second last lap. Some of what Doug wrote kind of reminds me of the way the Old A.A.U. layed things out ,the runners got nothing and the brass got payed well. Yes the Coach needs to be payed as his influence,direction,and coaching skill will be a full time job. SPRINTERS ARE BORN, DISTANCE RUNNERS ARE MADE !!!! I am going to work here in Kansas City With anyone that wants to get faster.They will have a very good Coach. 816-547-8709 Rob McLeod
Posted by: Rob McLeod on 4/20/2009 6:58:39 PM PT
At whose expense? Doug Logan is another of those "Soak the rich and spread the misery equally to all" Blame America First, crowd. I am semi-retired on less than $1K a month, and I am proud to be an American,not ashamed as Mr. Logan seems to be. Sorry, but I don't agree with you at all Mr. Logan; why don't you get a real job in Kenya or Serbia... maybe then you will begin to appreciate what opportunities we have CREATED here. CHEESE AND RICE! Doc
Posted by: Doc on 4/20/2009 6:59:50 PM PT
Iam not quite sure what he said,his diatribe seemed to be written in a Cuban or Castro-like modificaiton.Somebody in the national office should help him with his syntax. He is on the right trail but leave the comments to someone who can be verbose in the the English language.
Posted by: marc cizek on 4/20/2009 8:33:27 PM PT
"We have always been a sport of the people and our patrons at events have a lunch-bucket mentality about the spectator experience" That had what to do with his orignal premise?? That is what T&F problem is we condem ourselves to the lunch bucket crowd mentality...just where will T&F be in the next ten years with this kind of thinking?
Posted by: jazz on 4/20/2009 11:52:38 PM PT
Mr. Logan's blog services no purpose related to the enhancement, advancement, improvement or promotion of U. S. track and field. What a waste of time!
Posted by: Relentless on 4/21/2009 3:07:17 AM PT
What was the purpose of the print of that message. It didn't motivate, it didn't incriminate, it was just an opinion, we all have one, that is why they are free. Track and Field are a sport that we coach or run in because we love competition and the challenge. But we should expect excellence, not ask for things from our athletes, not everyone is a world champ, but, life isn't fair and T&F is a great learning ground to be ready for other things that come after athletics.
Posted by: Les Paul on 4/21/2009 5:48:03 AM PT
I agree with Doug on one point that Track and Field has always been the sport of the people. But everything after that I do not agree with. TF is the sport of the people because it is just like life and the quest for excellence. Those of us who have dedicated ourselves to this sport as coaches, athletes, or fans do so because we love the challenge and the opportunities to better ourselves. Whinnying and complaining about the inequities of life is what sore losers and guilty winners talk about. Those who are working to improve their lot in life look at these situations as just one of the many twist and turns of the race called life and continue on. Last time I check this was American the land of opportunity and promise. Where excellence is noteworthy and mediocrity is shunned. What makes American what it is, is the determination and drive of its people, the same thing that makes Track and Field what it is. Life isnt fair and thank heavens for that or this would be a very boring world to live in.
Posted by: Sean Robison on 4/21/2009 6:57:13 AM PT
So why is Bolt trying to become the next mega millionaire athlete?
Posted by: MC on 4/21/2009 7:38:52 AM PT
Would like to agree with you Doug, but no matter the severity of the downturn, the ills of Wall Street, etc. etc. we are wired as a people who always got what they wanted when they wanted and how they wanted and THAT will not change. Just watch...a couple years down the line, and business as usual. Fat Cats have more than nine lives and that's just how it goes so don't fight it, find a way to tap into it to the benefit of track and field rather than trashing other sports.
Posted by: Steve Nearman on 4/22/2009 5:44:23 PM PT
I agree with modesty...but that is about as far as I can go with agreeing with Doug's comments. While the stories of greed are evident, why don't we realize that there are hundreds that acheive success without being greedy. We make snide comments about the wealthy when so many of us are pursuing that wealth ourselves. Sour grapes, "lonely at the top" syndrome? I don't know but I do know that I would liek to se track and field athletes command significantly higher pay as other pro athletes. For pete's sake You have a small window of a few years to make a lifetime of earnings as an elite pro athlete. Why wouldn't Bolt want to make his millions now as one respondent commented about. After you are gone, those companies continue to make millions. It's Darwanian, it's natural. Doug, we should be finding ways to keep the "authenticty" of the track and field experience but certainly organize it in a different way that allow it to be more marketable. It will be dramtic, different and face all resistance. Form real teams that athletes commit to. Have a 15 to 16 meet season (majors not included). Commit to a logical scoring system. This leads to ampost collegiate draft vs a post collegiate drift that most athletes experience on high school tracks after work. The Fat Cat won't die, but he will not move as fast as the hundreds of other lean cat's that have done it the right way and out number him.
Posted by: mngolden on 4/23/2009 7:36:00 AM PT
Aye carumba! If Doug has this much time on his hands to expound on such philosophical drivel versus actually producing tangible results and doing something (anything) to improve our situation, we are truly a ship adrift without a captain.
Posted by: Jane Runner on 4/23/2009 6:19:24 PM PT
As a recent graduate and a young man who chose coaching as a career I can identify with what Mr Logan says. I've never been to a major league baseball game, professional football game, or professional basketball game because I can't justify spending a week's worth of grocery money on a ticket (not to mention parking, travel to and from, and in Chicago we get the tolls too). But I have been able to watch some of the best track and field athletes compete because a $20 ticket for a full day of track and field competition is justifiable. I can understand why people who have money to burn don't agree with his thinking. For those of us holding down two jobs to stay afloat and who love track and field, it's good to know that it's not going to cost us a big fraction of our pay checks to watch great atheltes compete in the sport we love.
Posted by: Coach Stone on 4/24/2009 9:28:10 AM PT
I am no expert on the social-economics of the near future, but I suspect I will not be able to afford tickets to any Olympic Track anf Field events in 2012. This was not one of Mr. Logan's better blogs, so what. Everyone has a bad day - now and again.
Posted by: Dennis J. Grady on 4/24/2009 2:49:36 PM PT
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Photo of Doug Logan Doug Logan is the CEO of USA Track & Field (USATF), the national governing body for track and field, long distance running, and race walking. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the organization has more than 90,000 members throughout the country.