Safety Net of the Chosen Ones:


I really didn't want to talk about why Amy Sannes gets to keep her O-Job with Home Depot, but this situation proves several points I've made about athletes who are US Speedskating's dearest favorites. Three athletes failed to meet the O-Job performance criteria this past season: Sannes, Tim Hoffman, and Chris Callis, but fortunately for Sannes, she had a good buddy inside USS who called the O-Job program on her behalf and made sure they allowed her to keep her O-Job on probation.

Don't get me wrong; Amy Sannes can be a good skater, as evidenced by her performance around 2001-02. But how long has it been since she has even approached her personal best times?

Benefits such as USS stipends, high altitude housing money, and O-jobs should be granted to people who are pushing the limits of their performance, not to someone who uses speedskating as a fun way to stay in shape and travel the world while trying to get a bunch of college credits out of the way and underperforming in international competition.

Correct me if I'm wrong here. Any logical person would say, "I can't believe we invested so much in this skater." USS says, "Hey! Let's make sure she gets MORE!"

This is all I'm going to say on this topic. The next step is for Chris and Tim to request similar intervention from USS on their behalf, and to force USS to face the consequences if they discriminate. I'll be waiting to see what happens.