Wednesday, April 12, 2006

From the Olympic Trials to the War of Ideas:

There have been some whispers in the darkest corners of American speedskating, that the reason why Nancy and I were left off the Olympic Team is because I was next in line, and that USSPEEDSKATING didn't want to take me to the Olympics because I was "too subversive."

Is this true? Is this the real explanation for why USSPEEDSKATING did not send a full team of women to Torino?

The fact is, there is a limit to the number of possible explanations for not sending a full team of women, and all of them are the wrong answer. All of these possiblities represent a desecration of the purity of metric speedskating:

1. The next athlete in line was too subversive.

2. There is a double standard: One standard for the men, and another for the women.

3. USSPEEDSKATING believed Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. was not good enough to go to the Olympics.

With regard to how we finished at the Trials, and the fact that USSPEEDSKATING did not send enough competitors to fill all of their race entries at the Olympics, both Nancy and I are just as much Olympians as are Clay Mull and Charles Ryan Leveille.

USSPEEDSKATING, if you thought it was embarrassing to enter only 3 women in the Olympic 1500 meters, can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to admit that the reason why you didn't have enough female competitors is because you were afraid to take a so-called "subversive" athlete to the Olympic Games?

Congratulations, suckers! You have walked right into this trap. Oh, yes, USSPEEDSKATING, you had the biggest gun, and you had to point your great big gun right at me. And Nancy became the victim of the collateral damage of your own fear and stupidity. That's right, USSPEEDSKATING: Show the whole world what a great big gun you need in order to hunt vermin like me, because you can't trust the verdict of the electronic timing system to weed me out. And even through my own destruction, I'm laughing at you all, because I have forced your hand. I have brought forth the physical manifestation of the dark soul of USSPEEDSKATING. I have caught you with your pants down, taking a giant dump on the purity of a time trial sport.

Corrupt sports federations are a dime a dozen; everybody knows that. But USSPEEDSKATING was MY corrupt sports federation. And by going out of their way to leave two women off the Olympic Team, they have proven to the whole world that metric speedskating in America is not about beating the clock, but about the decisions of a committee of sniveling cowards who meet behind closed doors and are accountable to no one.

Game over, USSPEEDSKATING. I win.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

"...But she's the only one who knows all the ISU protocols!"

Is this what's keeping you from getting rid of your Executive Director? Because it doesn't sound like a good enough reason to me.

Even though I've never personally had a problem with Katie Marquard, it has become apparent to me that, of all the people responsible for setting up and maintaining the culture within USSPEEDSKATING that I hate so much, I believe most of the responsibility falls on her.

As a product of the Cushman side of the Minnesota Mafia (as opposed to the Sandvig side; I only recently became aware that even the MM is split) I have learned that Katie is a proponent of the Athete Development Model of a sports federation, as opposed to a Business Development Model. The Athlete Development Model is where a small group of athletes is selected, early in their development, and most of the resources of the federation are spent on them.

The Business Development model of a sport, on the other hand, supports getting the word out about the sport, getting large numbers of people interested in participating, and building a larger base. An example of this would be the learn-to-skate program that Pat Seltsam and Mark Greenwald have set up in Calgary, that introduces about 50,000 new kids to speedskating every year, starting with an introduction to inline skating.

It is my opinion that the basic philosophy of supporting the Athlete Development Model of the sport has led to the problems of favoritism and discrimination that I and other athletes have experienced.

As a result of this core philosophy, it seems that every time USSPEEDSKATING has an opportunity to promote, instead, they go out of their way to deny. They go out of their way to deny Wheaton, Illinois, a hometown Olympian; to deny Category One status to a financially struggling short track skater based on some obscure technicality buried deep in the bowels of the Ice Chips; to deny a 50-year-old Master's skater a chance to skate the 3000 meters at Olympic Trials because she missed the cut-off time by a few tenths of a second. (Hey, it's not like you people have thousands of skaters banging down your doors to skate the trials!) And, as in the case of my retirement immediately after my last race at the Olympic Trials - I had become so familiar with their "policy of denial" that I removed myself from the situation, and within a few days, I was proven absolutely correct, when they denied the athlete who finished immediately behind me the chance to go to Torino as an alternate or Team Pursuit member, despite the fact that a couple of their Olympians were suffering from chronic injuries and they could have added two more women to the team.

I really do believe that the policy of denial, and this spirit of stinginess and elitism rather than friendly generosity, originates with Katie. I won't give specific instances, but I know many USSPEEDSKATING members have experienced this.

A few more specific problems some fellow USSPEEDSKATING members have reported having with the Executive Director are:

1. Not getting prompt responses, or quite often, any response at all, to questions submitted to the National Office, or to requests for paperwork.

2. A high rate of employee turnover in the National Office.

3. Firing people for having "too radical" ideas, or not letting them use their full set of skills and talents to promote and develop the sport.

4. Unfriendliness. (Again, I haven't had a personal problem with Katie, but I've heard this so many times that it is worth mentioning.)


In my opinion, the main problem with our current Executive Director is that she maintains a culture of USSPEEDSKATING that is unwelcoming and not conducive to the growth and development of the sport. I believe that when she has talented people working for her, she prevents them from using their full abilities to promote the sport, and either they get frustrated and quit, or compromise their own performance, or get fired for "being too radical."

I would like to see someone in that position who promotes a spirit of generosity, prosperity, and competence. I would like to see someone in that position who is not afraid to work with talented people; someone who does not want to keep this sport in the Dark Ages, but wants it to move forward.
Two Birds with One Stone:

Hey, USSPEEDSKATING, here's your chance to solve two problems at once! I hear that Bart Schouten is no longer employed at the Utah Olympic Oval. So, why don't you hire him to replace your Allround coach (you know you want to), and let DSB buy out the Qwest and ADT contracts, so Chad and Shani can skate for you?

Sunday, April 09, 2006

The Extraordinary Failures of Mike Crowe:

It is time for The Protocol to throw down the verdict on the USSPEEDSKATING Program Director. Here is my idea of Mike Crowe's Top 10 Failures:

1. Cushman's overtraining "experiments," and failure to learn from them, leading to the underperformance or outright career ending of several athletes.
2. Failure to develop a women's sprint team.
3. Poor team atmosphere.
4. Blatant favoritism, leading eventually to Olympic failure.
5. Failure to integrate alternative-program athletes (and misrepresenting this to the media as well).
6. Failure to intervene in the bad-mouthing of Shani Davis by teammates and administrators.
7. Underperformance of the 2006 Long Track Olympic Team, relative to expectations stated by at least one board member.
8. Failure to fill all spots in the Women's 1500 meters at the Olympics.
9. Failure of the men's Olympic pursuit team.
10. Failure of the women's Olympic pursuit team.

My personal feeling and experience is that Crowe lacked both the integrity and the planning ability that was needed to lead this team throughout the past Olympic cycle. Through the things I've heard him say to the media and to the athletes, he seemed to lose track of the fact that WORDS HAVE A MEANING, and that ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

Some athletes have had good experiences working with Mike Crowe. I think he does just fine working as a coach with a small group of male skaters. But the job of Program Director was way over his head. Not only that: In my opinion, no female speedskater should ever be within Crowe's sphere of influence in any way, be it coaching, team selection, or anything else. I can't imagine that it would be a good thing, whether you're the favorite or the unfavorite.

Even if USSPEEDSKATING could see the magnitude of Mike Crowe's crap-tastic leadership the way I see it, where would they find a replacement? What person having the credentials necessary for such a position would be willing to work with USSPEEDSKATING as it is right now?

Still, I had to say these things. The reason why I resent Mike Crowe is that it always seemed that he was laughing at me for banging my head against the wall in this sport. The fact that I cared so much, and was willing to take so much pain -- it just felt like this was some sort of colossal joke to him.

But when I told one of my friends of this perception, that Crowe was "the jester in the corner," my friend replied, "No way. He's just a country bumpkin. He's not even smart enough to be the jester."

So here it is, like you won't get it anywhere else: A brutally honest assessment of the USSPEEDSKATING Program Director's failures in the 2002-2006 Olympic Cycle. I should get some sort of award for not using unprintable language on this one.
Let's Talk About Failure:

We can talk about my failure to make the Olympic team, but we can also talk about USSPEEDSKATING's own failures throughout this past 4-year Olympic cycle.

I know that a lot of people are saying that through my failure to qualify for the 2006 Olympic Team, I failed to "back up my words." This has been used both by USSPEEDSKATING representatives to convince themselves that I'm really not a good speedskater, and also by a few well-meaning but misguided friends who thought that my fear of not backing up my words would be a good motivator before the Trials.

The way I see it, it is my FAILURE that backs up my words even more than my success would have! My own failure, combined with the failure of the US Women's Long Track team in Torino, both provided evidence of the same thing, and that is the rottenness of the USSPEEDSKATING system.

Most psychologists would agree that the hell USSPEEDSKATING made out of my speedskating career was not exactly conducive to excellence: Finding out I'd been used as a guinea pig, being denied access to a physical therapist two weeks before a World Cup event for which I'd qualified, and finding out that I was in fact entitled to the catered "National Team" meals (paid for by the USOC) but that I'd have to take USSPEEDSKATING to court in order to be allowed to eat them.

It was a constant fight, and I never understood it. I was an American speedskater too! And the whole time I was trying to compete for this country to the best of my ability, USSPEEDSKATING was trying to take everything possible away from me.

If I have failed because I barely missed qualifying for the 2006 Olympic Team, then TO WHOM should I justify my failure? To those responsible for producing the 2006 Olympic women's long track speedskating team? Look what YOU have produced, USSPEEDSKATING, and then ask yourselves if the thought, "Let's see if Rodansky can back up her words," has ever crossed your mind. Do you see how wrong that is? Do you see how it's all a part of the same failure and destruction?

Do you bastards comprehend that, in order for me to "back up my words," there came a point where I would have had to swim across the Atlantic Ocean with my speedskates in a waterproof bag strapped to my back, in order to be in Torino when your gutless little Princess Amy finked out of the Olympic 1500 meters?!?!

In my next few posts on The Protocol, I am going to talk about the origins of USSPEEDSKATING's failures, and the origins of the hateful toxicity with which they run this sport.

Through my own observations, and communication with others, I have found that there seems to be a small group at the top of the federation who protect each other despite their individual failures, so that despite the fact that each one has made repeated, glaring mistakes, they maintain power. It seems they cannot be knocked off this pedestal of power by the general membership of USSPEEDSKATING, because the members do not have a good means of communicating with each other (such as an online forum, or database of members' email addresses). Instead, the illusion of a democratic system is maintained through "allowing" us to vote for athlete reps, and other positions that, in my opinion, have not really had that much impact on the goals and direction of the federation.

I believe that if Mike Crowe, Katie Marquard, and Andy Gabel were employed by a company whose goal was to make a profit, then these three would no longer be employed by this company if they performed as they have in USSPEEDSKATING leadership roles.

Since we're on the topic of failure, and the topic of "failed" former athletes who become administrators keeps coming up, I'd like to say a few things about this. I feel that people who haven't had succes as athletes -- however they define it-- still have a chance to have a positive impact on their sport as coaches or administrators, but only if they consciously decide to do so.

I can't comment on Andy Gabel's speedskating career, other than to say that he's an Olympic medalist, which is pretty impressive if you ask me. But I can comment on his failures as USSPEEDSKATING President.

I can't comment on Katie Marquard's speedskating career, other than to say that she's been an Olympian, which is more than I can say for myself. But I can comment on her failures as USSPEEDSKATING Executive Director.

About Andy: I've been told that when some people in USS justified voting Andy in as president, they said this: "We knew Andy was an idiot, but we believed that because he had such a huge ego, he wouldn't let the federation fail." No, here's the truth about what happens when an idiot with an ego is in charge. It's not that he WILL NOT let things fail, but rather WHEN they fail, he will be unwilling to admit that he made a mistake, and will point his finger at other people and blame them for his own mistakes. Also, because this idiot has such a huge ego, he will be unwilling to ask other people for their ideas and for their help, even though others may be more knowledgeable and may actually be willing to help.

Andy Gabel has done a horrible job as USSPEEDSKATING president. He has spent frivolously, driving the federation severely into debt. Not only did he lie to sponsors and sign misleading contracts with them, but he had no idea of what to do to keep sponsors happy in the first place. He utterly torched his relationship with the athletes, most notably by grossly inflating the amount of money USS spends on each of its World Cup-level competitors and allowing this figure to get out to the media and to the sponsors. If most of us were honest about how this made us feel, it would have been something like this: "Andy, you fucker, I can't even feed myself and pay rent, and you're telling the world that USS is spending $75,000 a year on me, and that I'm going out and buying video games for myself."

Some people might ask me why I'm still involved in this sports politics battle. Of course, I'd like to make sure that the next generation of speedskaters has a better, more supportive environment in which to train, and if this happens as a result of the things I write, then that will make me happy. However, the main reason why I'm still doing this is a purely selfish desire TO MAKE USSPEEDSKATING PAY for making my speedskating career a living nightmare.

It breaks my heart that I cannot be a full-time speedskater. It breaks my heart that they sent girls to the Olympics who refused to race. I'd really like for some USS administrator with a conscience to stand up and say, in front of the entire assembly, "What you people did to that girl is deplorable." But what are the chances that somebody is going to do that?

My mom even said, "What they did to you -- it makes one want to go and thank them for their daughter's experience in speedskating." After my first week of work at the University of Utah, she told me, "I'm so proud of you. Any weaker person would have ended up institutionalized after what you've been through in speedskating."

But I know that the only one who can make USSPEEDSKATING pay for what they did to me, is me. The failures of the USSPEEDSKATING administration are real. So, what I'm going to do is to throw their own failures in their faces in front of the international speedskating community, until they realize once and for all that they have fucked with the wrong speedskater.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Thank You for Following the Protocol.

I'm told that USSPEEDSKATING has fixed the link on their website to the Short Track World Championships. That's a good start.

This is my new hobby. Speedskating Anarchy: An online spectator sport!

Friday, April 07, 2006

Where does the Buck Stop for Bad Public Relations?

So, I'm still ranting about USSPEEDSKATING's public relations and media failures, and I've gotten some input from some of my unnamed co-conspirators. On the topic of bad PR, we would like the USSPEEDSKATING Board of Directors to ask some tough questions.

Where does the buck stop for bad promotion and PR at an event? If PR Director Melissa Scott is competent and has the desire to do a good job, then why can't she? Who gives her the priorities? Who sets the tone for her messages? Who edits her copy? Who evaluates her performance and therefore sets the true incentives on what to do in her job? Who gives her the training and education about the sport to go with her PR background so she can do a great job?

Do these people (USS) understand what the media, the athletes, the members, the event organizers need and want from USS and its PR function in the 21st century? Do they listen to Melissa's assessments and requests and take her advice in her area of professional expertise, or has she been "trained" in the ways of "Don't make waves, and we'll let you keep your job?"

I have some thoughts on this aspect. Not long after Melissa started working for USSPEEDSKATING, she contacted me with a request to do an athlete blog for USSPEEDSKATING, because she thought I'd be an interesting athlete to follow, and that I'd have something to say. I had to warn her in two separate emails that I probably wasn't the one to be writing such a blog, because I had too many controversial things to say. The first time, she replied by saying not to worry - that I could be as sarcastic and funny as I wanted.

I remember thinking, "Oh, boy, is she in for a surprise." She's gonna find out how the federation really treats its athletes, what the athletes really think of the federation, how the idea of what her job was going to be will conflict with the reality of what Katie Marquard and Andy Gabel want from her, and how much she will have to compromise in order to keep her job.

Do Katie, Andy, and all the others really want someone with Melissa's expertise to do her best to make the organization and the athletes shine? Is USS realistic in what they expect of her, or do they give her extra tasks to do, like cater to VIP's from the USS board and ISU officials so that Katie and Andy can look good and keep their jobs/committee positions? Do these extra duties make it tough for Melissa to do her stated job of USSPEEDSKATING PR director?

OK, if USS management and policy makers aren't at fault for this debacle because of how they handled the operation of PR, then did they screw up before that? You must ask: If Melissa is not the right person for this job, is it her fault, or is it the people who hired her? What did they do wrong/right in designing the PR job description? In matching the expectations and skills desired with adequate pay to attract qualified people? Did they go out and recruit a large pool of applicants? What has USSPEEDSKATING done to keep itself from becoming a place where competent PR people (and coaches and other staffers) with competitive offers from other potential employers avoid even applying for the job because of the reputation of the organization, its Executive Director and Board?

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SETTING UP THE CONDITION OF MAKING ANY COMPETENT PERSON NOT WANT TO WORK FOR USSPEEDSKATING?

Who is responsible for the interview process? The hiring decision? If Melissa is not the person for the job (which I'm inclined to think is not the case) then who picked her for the spot in the first place?

It's kind of late at this point to blame Melissa, isn't it? Doesn't the path take you to either the President (Andy Gabel) or the Executive Director (Katie Marquard)?
But at this point, these USS leaders pass the buck, perhaps blaming the local event organizing committee (a group of hardcore volunteers from clubs in the area) or the venue hosting the event. I have heard horror stories of how the "USS Blazer Crew" treats local organizing committees - after these volunteers have knocked themselves out to provide a first-rate event, all the "fat cats" can do is complain about how the appetizers in the hospitality room are cold, or the flags are hung the wrong way at the awards ceremony.

To me, it's actually incredible how often it's brought up that Andy and Katie seem to be frustrated former skaters whose dissatisfaction with their own careers might be affecting their ability to run USS. One of my friends says, "So Andy and Katie, if only back in the day you could pass other skaters as well as you pass the buck, you would be Olympic medalists too (OK Andy, relays count, you are an Olympic medalist, but you should make mention in your bio and everywhere else that this was a team medal instead of always trying to pass it off as an individual one! If you really believed in your heart team medals were as prestigious as individual ones then you would have no problem making your own medal's origins well known, yes?"

But even if he could be honest about this one little detail, then we'd still have this problem of poor performance with no accountability to the higher ups. What are the answers to the questions above? Do you continue to pass the buck, or do you accept responsibility?

Or do you just whitewash everything and pretend it was all great and say, "What's the problem? There's nothing wrong here - the PR and the event were GREAT!"

Do you fix the problem? This question goes out to this year's newly elected Board of Directors: DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO ASK THE TOUGH QUESTIONS? Do you have the guts to find the answers? Do you have the guts to actually FIX the problems that have plagued this federation?
Say Yes to OhnoZone for your Short Track Fix:

A few days ago, I went to OhnoZone for the first time, just to check it out. I'd heard that Noelle did an excellent job posting photos and updates from the Short Track World Championships, and I wanted to see for myself. What a great site! USSPEEDSKATING could learn a lot from it.

Even though Apolo wasn't skating, Noelle went to the Worlds and covered this competition in detail. In fact, I heard that she did all of her posts from the Worlds even though her computer charger wasn't working and she had to borrow one from someone else. Now, that's dedication.

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion on PR and media failures on the part of USSPEEDSKATING. Andrew Love recently posted about being disappointed that the short track Olympic Trials were not televised. A surprising number of readers left comments on this post.

Throughout the past week, I've heard more and more complaints about the lack of promotion of the World Championships. Some of my friends have found that if you go to USSPEEDSKATING's web site and try to click on the link to the Worlds, the page doesn't load. A few of my friends who usually follow short track even more closely than I do had no idea that the World Championships were even going on!

A few people complained that Apolo wasn't competing. But I say that Apolo has earned the right to go out there and capitalize on his speedskating success. No other speedskater has come close to Apolo's status as a star athlete in America. He absolutely should be doing things like appearing on the Kids' Choice Awards and the NCAA Final Four.

Apolo has raised the bar, and now it's time for USSPEEDSKATING to step it up. Some skaters and fans have suggested holding major short track competitions in major sports venues, such as Madison Square Garden. Others say that the most important thing is to make sure that short track gains a television audience, by holding the competition in a venue that is suited for TV, and by giving away the rights to televise the competitions - if necessary - until a TV audience is established.

Maybe, at least, USSPEEDSKATING could start by improving their internet-based communication with their own membership.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Do It Yourself when your Federation Fails You:

Nichole Dirkse's emailed reports from the Short Track World Championships provided Michigan speedskating fans what USSPEEDSKATING Public and Media Relations Director Melissa Scott could not. So writes my first speedskating coach, Mark Jastrzembski, of the West Michigan Speedskating Club:

"Many thought Nichole was someone from USSPEEDSKATING sending back reports. That is supposed to be Melissa Scott's job but I could tell from Melissa's tardy and scattered reports that she was not even at the competition."

OK, so my sources who were actually at the competition tell me that Melissa WAS actually there! in that case, can someone tell me WHY she was there, if her reports on the meet itself were so crappy? That makes things even worse! It means she got a free ride to Minneapolis to party with the Minnesota Mafia and NOT promote the World Championships of short track. How typical! What the hell are you people thinking?

Once again, people who "got themselves there" did a better job than USS. Nichole Dirkse is a new skater from Michigan who, as Mark Jastrzembski was quick to point out, is already making a significant contribution to Michigan Speedskating with her insightful reports on the Short Track Worlds. In fact, it seems she has done a better job of observing and reporting on the competition than some of the people who are paid by USSPEEDSKATING to do so!

As I am still on the WMSC emailing list, I was able to read Nichole's reports myself. I'm impressed that she covered the World Championships with the enthusiasm of a true short track speedskating fan, honoring the achievements of skaters from all over the world, rather than taking the narrow, "USA! Rah, rah, rah!!! (Fake)-boom-bah!" approach so typical of the USSPEEDSKATING spin doctors.

So, where was Melissa? I must admit, I haven't read any of her reports on the short track competition, since I took myself off the USSPEEDSKATING mailing list after her post-Olympic spin started making me dizzy. But I'd trust Mark Jastrzembski with my life, so why shouldn't I trust him on his assessment of Melissa's reports? OK, so she was at the competition, but she sure didn't do her job while she was there. "Present?" Yes. "Tardy and scattered?" Also true, though an incorrect conclusion was drawn from an interpretation of her reports.

If it's true that USSPEEDSKATING's public relations department dropped the ball on this competition, then what we have here is another missed opportunity. After the Olympics, this World Championship short track competition was the second most important meet of the season for the short trackers. Don't give me any pathetic excuses about Americans not liking speedskating! Even we Americans can get into short track, with its high-speed crashes and controversy! And we just had the World Championships on American soil, and the USSPEEDSKATING reports that came out of it sound like the PR director wasn't even there.

Who is surprised by this latest example of incompetence? After all, USSPEEDSKATING is the federation represented by Olympians who are afraid to race, program directors who lack direction, coaches who learn nothing from their own unethical experiments, and now, apparently, public relations directors who don't relate anything.

But I'm comforted by the fact that at least when USSPEEDSKATING sends Katie Marquard to a competition, she is there for a reason: To make sure that Bart Schouten doesn't get a pair of warmup pants because his skaters didn't sign the contract!!! Where would we be without our WARMUP PANTS NAZI? "No pants for YOU!!!"

But I digress.

All I really wanted to say is that skaters and speedskating fans like Nichole Dirkse represent the kind of future for speedskating that a "terrorist" like myself dreams of. (Please don't blacklist her just because she's Protocol-approved!)

...and now with the failure of USSPEEDSKATING to properly promote and publicize the World Short Track Championships, this federation's glaring incompetence is becoming more and more evident. I think now that even those skaters and fans who would rather "focus on the soul of speedskating" are coming to realize that if they don't DO SOMETHING, then the "SOUL" of this sport will be swallowed up by the Evil Dead!

If you care about this sport, its soul, and its future, you can no longer put your fingers in your ears and sing, "La-la-la-la-la, we are a pure sport! We do what's best for the athletes!"

(Can you say, "BRAINWASHING"???)

I prefer to say this: "I WILL NOT DELIVER THE CHILDREN INSPIRED TO SPEEDSKATE BY THE 2006 OLYMPICS INTO THE HANDS OF THE MINNESOTA MAFIA."

If you truly want to change this sport, this spring, at the board meeting in Salt Lake City; if you don't want a federation run by "yes" men (and women) who don't do the jobs they are supposed to do; if you want them to STOP sending women to the Olympics for the purpose of going out to dinner with the program director and to START sending women to the Olympics FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPETING; if you want to see this sport thrive in a welcoming atmosphere instead of choked off by country club elitism that really protects the mediocrity of a chosen few; then you must go directly to the source of the problem:

If you want the Minnesota Mafia thugs out of your way, then you must get rid of Katie Marquard.