--- In thetruthonworldclasssprints@yahoogroups.com, "wesec33" <wesec33@...>
wrote:
>
> The USA sprinters have no personality, no charisma. They forget sports is
99.999999% entertainment. Usain Bolt has sponsored street meets and has ran a
150 straight away specifically for him. He has embraced this roll. If we want
track to be a bigger sport in the states, they have to change the perception of
track and field... Its possible... Do you realize how many high school athletes
in the US run track. Why the sudden drop off afterwards. If we had the right
leadership starting with the head of USATF on down to the athletes, this sport
could be tremendous! what do you all think
>

The new crop of US sprinters do lack charisma. Maurice Greene, Shawn Crawford
and Bernard Williams were showmen, but Mo is retired, Shawn isn't as good as
Tyson Gay and Bernard has fallen off. When Mo and Ato were killin' it, track
was gaining some momentum. Even though Ato ran for Trinidad, he had a ton of US
fans....a lot of young sprinters who looked up to him. He had more charisma
than anyone in his era. If he won as much as Mo, he would have been a crossover
sensation in the US and that would have helped popularize track a little more in
my opinion. Track simply isn't as popular as other sports in the US. The only
time folks get to talk about it is when we go to these forums. Otherwise, who
do we talk to? The average person only knows Bolt and maybe Tyson.