2011 was a great year in athletics and so many athletes could be nominated for Flotrack's Best of 2011, but one athlete had the guts to stand up for what he believed in. We at Flotrack do not believe the sport can survive with the status quo and that is why we choose Nick Symmonds as Ambassador of the Year for his accomplishments on and off the track.

I love heated debates! You can really tell a lot about someone when you debate them or witness them in a debate. People debate, because they are passionate, passionate about a topic or passionate about the result. Here at Flocasts our team is striving to make a great product and a great company, so when there is a heated debate the end result is usually a better product. When two passionate people striving for the same goal differ on opinions, but not motive, great things can happen. Great things can only happen though, if the structure allows for the result to be acted on. At Flocasts we strive to have an environment that fosters debates and allows the implementation of their outcome.

Nick Symmonds wrote his blog about logos, because he is passionate about track and field, passionate about his ability and believes that he and his fellow runners, throwers and jumpers are undervalued. As it turned out, there were many other athletes just as passionate as Nick. The shoe companies, who many people believed were holding the sport back, were just as passionate about track and field and the health of the sport. The shoe companies love the sport and want it to grow and prosper, and even though they might differ with the athletes, they are passionate and care about the outcome. What happens when two passionate parties with different view points get together to discuss......... A heated debate! This is exactly what happened at the USATF conference this year in St. Louis.

The debate is healthy, but there is one important element missing, the structure where innovation and cooperation can be acted on. The USATF sits on the sidelines while athletes and shoe companies go back and forth? Is that odd to anyone? I have heard a couple different people at USATF compare themselves to the NFL. I believe this is absorb, but lets go with this train of thought. Do you see Roger Godell or David Stern of the NBA sit on the sidelines while players and owners, much less, shoe companies yell back an forth? Does the NFL have only one main revenue stream from one company? Does the NFL pay to be on TV? Quite the opposite, Roger Godell negotiated a deal with ESPN worth 15.2 BILLION Dollars for Monday Night Football. That comes out to over $100 million a game! Think about that, one MNF game generates more revenue then the USATF did over the last 4 years! The players then get at least 47% of that revenue. What do you think gets more views, one MNF game or one day of track and field at the Olympics? How about nine days of track and field? The average MNF game gets 8.7 million viewers in 2008 and the average night of the Olympics in the US gets 27 million viewers and if you times that by nine nights that equals 243 million viewers which is more viewers then a whole MNF season (150 Million). ESPN is paying about $1.9 Billion for one season. I am over simplifying, but the point is that there is real value in the USA jersey and there is a lot of money left on the table.

Of course Nick is angry and of course the shoe companies are angry. Both feel undervalued, both are passionate about the sport and both see the sport going down the tubes and want to help. My question is, where is the passion and innovation at the USATF? What is Mike McNeese doing to get the most value out of his asset? Is he negotiating with NBC or the IOC over a bigger slice of the pie? Is he asking Pepsi if they want to sponsor the USATF, because Coke owns the Olympics? How much would that contract be? It would at least get you leverage with the IOC. It was really sad to see two passionate parties debating over a sport they love and the one man and organization that could do something about the future, sitting on their hands with what appeared to be.......a lack of passion.

Since Nick spoke up, many more athletes have started to do the same and we hope many more join the cause. In the current system the athletes have no leverage and with no leverage they will continue to be taken advantaged by the IOC, IAAF and the NGBs like the USATF.


Check out Nick's Blog that got things moving in 2011 and had over 30,000 views!