I went to the Penn Relays to see Asafa Powell run against Usain Bolt, the show down was the big motivator for me to go on a four hour road trip to PA from NJ.
After seen the crowd going wild for Bolt as if I was in a Room type coliseum watching Spartacus killing some want to be gladiators, the atmosphere was very fiery as if nothing matters but the moment.
One thing was clear and that was the absent of Powell, everyone was warming up for their events and I couldn’t put my eyes on Asafa Powell. No where to be seen.
Question time
Something strange is going on here…what is the real reason?
Why Powell didn’t take part at Penn’s Relays?
Is it the toe injury?
Is it disagreement between Powell and Nike?
Bloggers are asking: what is going on with Asafa Powell? Bloggers are also asking: Why LaShawn Merritt failed drug test took so long to be publicized? and after three or four days on this website, was taken down so fast, Bloggers did not get a real chance to express there discuss with the revelation on this cheater. please, World-Track.org, bring back the LaShawn Merritt story, because i would like very much to get my pound of flesh….and stop worrying about Asafa…he,s not a cheater.
tony roots you know the deal , the u.s seems to be in control, they could be covering up more stuff , when will justice be done and these medals taken away. saying someone has failed a drug test and they are still able to keep their medals what is the sense of it. remember when ben johnson tested positive,he was treated like he commited murder in the first degree. they went back and removed all his medals from prior games. we have people like gatlin, marion jones carl lewis who tested positive and its like they did nothing. maurice greene was implicated they did nothing but they made an example of trevor graham because he was a jamaican. i think there are more u.s athletes that tested positive and they are covering up. they want so badly to dethrone usain bolt and the 1, 2, 3 in the womens 100 is a bitter pill to swallow.
Asafa Powell is A-okay. nobody expects to go to a tennis match and watch Roger Federer face off with Rafael Nadal for free. Why should Bolt Face off against Asafa without propper compensation. if people can see these things for cheap, why would they want to pay for what it’s worth? I would love to see Asafa face off against bolt like anyone else, but I also believe that all of these fine athletes should be paid well for their craft. another good move by Stephen Francis. You want it, Pay for it Penn Relays.
As for Lashawn Merritt, I think his claim about over the counter (OTC) drug is Bogus. Why is the drug not named, so that people can weigh in on this thing propperly. because he and his lawyers know that the more information they give, the more holes can be found in their story. I think he should disclose the name of the drug so that experts can weigh in on the likelyhood of someone failing a drug test from such a product. and what on earth does a young man like merritt need Male enhancement products for. he looks like a normal man to me. something ain’t right. I think that the iaaf Should intervene and ban this man for the full 4 years like regular steroids offenders. As the rules say they should. just like they did to Dennis Mitchell back in 1998 when he was found to have elevated level of testoisterone. USOC let him walk free. thank god the Iaaf had the balls to over-rule their decision. By the way Dennis Mithcell was part of the two US 4x100m relay teams that held the previous world record of 37.40. I don’t know why it is still acknowledged as the american record. Both teams were loaded with of doping offenders.
Waynef:
The drugs were named, it is DHEA and pregnelone. As a first time offender he will most likely receive 2 years. The news said male enhancement, which more likely means penile enlargement, not sexual stamina.
As for your other point, any smart runner right now, who is looking for media coverage and fan exposure would do well to go wherever Usain is, regardless of appearance fees. Or they can keep running in front of empty seats for pay so that when contract time roles around, they can’t get maximum leverage because the general public has no idea who they are. Sprinters make most of their money from sponsorship anyway, and if they sponsors don’t see them as having mass appeal, they can kiss the big dollars goodbye. Getting free publicitly because Usain also happens to be there is what they should take advantage of. The Americans were very happy to do that.
Stacy
I am aware of the drugs for which Merritt tested positive for. what I am making reference to is the name of the OTC product containming these drugs. in such a level that it would cause him to fail a test for steroids. if what he is saying is true. naming the drug could only help his credibility. for now he sounds alot like Dennis Mitchell did back in 1998. Claiming that havin sex 5 times with his wife prior to the tests, caused him to fail the tests
I would also like to add that Asafa is more than capable of holding his own at any track meet. I wopuld pay to see Asafa on any given day if I believed he was healthy and prepared to give a hundred percent. Having Bolt or Gay in the line-up would only make it more tantalizing. I still believe that these top athletes should not run head to head unless they are paid to do so on a meet to meet basis. Risk injury, for what?.
tony roots you know the deal , the u.s seems to be in control, they could be covering up more stuff , when will justice be done and these medals taken away. saying someone has failed a drug test and they are still able to keep their medals what is the sense of it. remember when ben johnson tested positive,he was treated like he commited murder in the first degree. they went back and removed all his medals from prior games. we have people like gatlin, marion jones carl lewis who tested positive and its like they did nothing. maurice greene was implicated they did nothing but they made an example of trevor graham because he was a jamaican. i think there are more u.s athletes that tested positive and they are covering up. they want so badly to dethrone usain bolt and the 1, 2, 3 in the womens 100 is a bitter pill to swallow.
By the way here is the link for Usain Bolt’s relay race at Penn: http://pennrelaysonline.com/Results/results.aspx?en=241
Waynef, you’re right about the naming of the item. I’ve been waiting for it to come out. But quite frankly, I don’t think the guy is going to place himself as a laughing stock and the butt of all jokes if it wasn’t a male enhancement. I’m still trying to figure out why he didn’t just say a supplement.
Different note, even though you and I may go out to watch Asafa run, the masses will not. Even when he was the WR holder, he wasn’t bringing the crowds. Well, Usain gave up his 6 figure fee to compete, so all respect to Usain, who will risk injury to give his fans an unexpected treat and stellar performance in a country that still fails to appreciate his greatness.
I’ve been doing some reasearch and it seems that there are published reports that the real reason why Powell didn’t take part is because he sported a brand at Penn Relays other than Nike, Nike counseled Powell and let him know that he (Powell) must pay a fine or sit out Penn Relays. Powell opt to sit out Penn Relays instead of paying the fine.
Nike punishment would seems as a more logical reason for Powell absent at Penn Relay.
This sound reasonable except for the fact that Powell’s Contract with nike has expired and he is currently in negotiations with Nike to sign an extension. Nothing is signed yet so I think that the move was a low blow by Nike, if it is in fact true.
I am not buying the NIke threat about fining Powell. If his contract was expired in December and Nike is still undecided to renew powell’s contract that clearly means Powell is unattached at the moment. Unless there is more to this that we dont know because it doesn’t ads up. So now we have three hypothesis put forward: First Franno stated he was not scheduled for the event. His agent blames an inflame tendon. And now john public is saying that Nike threatening to fine him for breach of contract that was expired 3 months ago. Well, in all fairness I am going to stick with the agent excuse even though that is also questionable.
According to the Washintong report their source claimed the name of the product was EXTENZE. It also stated that on the product it mention the A.I. as DHEA and Pregnelone.
You are right Bayreuth. DHEA and Pregnalone are both ingredients in extenze. best of luck to Merritt. that was still an incredibly stupid mistake. If it is in fact a mistake.
I am with you on that Waynef.
According to the Washintong report their source claimed the name of the product was EXTENZE. It also stated that on the product it mention the A.I. as DHEA and Pregnelone.
I would also like to add that Asafa is more than capable of holding his own at any track meet. I wopuld pay to see Asafa on any given day if I believed he was healthy and prepared to give a hundred percent. Having Bolt or Gay in the line-up would only make it more tantalizing. I still believe that these top athletes should not run head to head unless they are paid to do so on a meet to meet basis. Risk injury, for what?.
but watch yah now people are talking about why usain doesnt kick puma to the curb because he is doing well now what about when nothing was going on for him and puma still stood by him im very wary of nike they seem to be intolerant of injury or other factors that would contribute to an athletes performance they may pay you handsomely but once you start to lose you fart them drop you like a bomb as a matter of fact any problems and you dead remember how fast them drop carl lewis when him want to come out as a batty boy
To William, Really? Asafa was stopping traffic and bringing in meet record crowds to his events?
Hey, I like the guy, and I love seeing him perform, but the problem with Asafa is you may end up with a wasted ticket. How many times is he supposed to run at an event and at the last minute, either he or his coach comes up with a reason not to? Even when he does compete, you never know if he’s going to give up half way into the race or if he’ll give it his best. Franno and Powell both need to learn that the fans are his bread and butter. They determine his star power and in turn his contract amount and appearance fees.
All I can say for all the Penn Relays fans, it’s a good thing Bolt doens’t have that mentality. There was nothing in this for Bolt or Mills, but he told them they were going to do it, and end of story. Not all the stupid games Franno was pulling in the week. Imagine if Bolt had that mentality. Imagine if he decided 2 days before an event that it would be smarter not to compete because there wasn’t enough money involved. Sometimes, not everything has to be about money.
@ Minnie, you are exactly right. Where was Nike when Usain was bombing out and getting his countless injuries. They rule him out before, and now want to muscle in when Puma done build him up.
Stacy…I don’t know that they ruled him out. Injury is part of sports, and unless it is an amputation, you will get signed. if he was under contract with Puma, Nike couldn’t touch him. What i cannot understand is, Usain is a bonanza for Puma bottom line, why can’t they redo his contract? Maybe and I hope is agent is asking for the biggest contract ever signed by any athlete. I guess they would have find a way for Usain to buy out his contract with Puma , and then sign on with Nike. If it were legally possible.
Stacy why do you say “puma built him up”. When Puma signed Bolt he had already showed signed of a super athlete. I knew and Pumas people knew it was just a matter of time, maturity(age), mental and physical development and he could be a star. Go back and look at some of his races when he was at Knibb. All you saw was super in the making. His agent should not have signed him at such a young age to such a long contract with no out clause. No sensibly agent would have done that. Because for better or worse, you have given up your bargainig chips.
3 years the most. If you are bad performer, you and Puma part company, and if you are Usain Bolt 2007-2008-2009-2010, the world is your oyster. This is just too many years to be under a bad contract.
Bunny, seriously, what is the problem with you and Puma? Did they kill your grandmother or something. Geez, let it go. Everyone has already spoken to you ad nauseum about the subject and you either ignore it or you don’t want to hear it.
If there are 2 things I now know about you is this:
1. Stephen Francis is ALWAYS right and can do no wrong, regardless of how petulent and puerile he acts, you will always feel he is entitled to bad behavior because he happens to be a talented coach; and
2. Puma can do no right. They are ALWAYS wrong and is only taking advantage of our athletes.
I have asked you to tell us about the magic ball or Madam Cleo hotline both only you and Puma must have had access to 6 years ago for them to know he was going to be a superstar and you did not respond. I also asked you to tell me if you had these same complaints about Puma 6 years ago and if you wrote on any blogs (as you are doing now) and contacted the newspapers about this terrible contract Puma locked Bolt into for 6 long years. In fact, I just wanted to know if you had these same issues re Bolt’s contract prior to 2008, and again no response from you.
Since you apparently have this gift of fortune telling, I also asked you if you had the same problem with SAF’s contract, or if you will only develop a problem if she break’s the WR? Still no answer. You should be able to let us know which one of our athletes Nike, Addidas, or Puma is currently screwing over by not paying them today for WRs and gold medals they will make in the future. After all, dont all businesses operate that way? Pay someone vast sums of money for things they have not done, nor will likely do?
You know what, Alonso Edward is now the fastest 200m runner of all time in his age group. It is inevitable that he will dethrone Bolt and become the next superstar of track and field right? If his sponsor does not sign him to a $100 million dollars right now, it is an intolerable injustice, and they are taking advantage of him and you should picket them too. After all, based on his current performance, a WR is only a matter of time. There is no possibility of injury or losses right? And not paying someone for accomplishments they may or may not fulfill is the way the business world works. Right?
What about Tyson? Does the crystal ball make any mention of him beating Bolt and becoming the WR holder? After all, he ran 9.69 on an injured groin. Of course he is going to beat Bolt and become the next best thing in T&F. It’s inevitable. So, he also deserves the $100 million now, for something he will be able to accomplish in the future.
For the last time, Usain Bolt got the contract he was entitled to at that moment and he was lucky to get it. Who else stepped up and gave him diddly squat. You are walking blind if you think he was entitled to get pay for something he was never likely to accomplish, especially given his nonstop injuries and poor work ethic at that time. Just like the next contract he signs this year will be what he is entitled to at this moment, based on his current dedication, exponentially growing popularity, media coverage, mental and physical health, and WR and gold medals he racked up in his past performances. The End.
Stacy…that was big load of crap.
Really? Do you really think that was an answer?
Quite frankly, if you did not raise these same objections to Usain’s contract prior to 2008, then you don’t have a leg to stand on.
If you are not willing to raise the same objections with the contracts of Gay, Edwards, SAF, Kerron, Jeter, Blake, and every other athlete who is showing incredible promise and potential at the moment, then you have no point.
It’s time for you to put your money where your mouth is, or drop the matter entirely. Either go after their sponsors for not paying them for things you THINK they will do in the future, or stop the nonsense.