Go the Distance

In the movie Field of Dreams, novice farmer Ray Kinsella builds a baseball diamond in his corn field upon hearing the cryptic message "If you build it he will come". Later on, Ray hears another cryptic message urging him "To go the distance". Those messages urge Ray to take action whereupon at the movie's end we discover that those messages have helped Ray reconcile with his dead father.

In the book "Heatstroke - Why Canada's Summer Olympic Program is Failing and How we Can Fix It" the writer recommends the creation of a high ranking sport body that is void of government interference and comprised of high ranking sport officials with no financial interest and no vested interest to manage sport in this country.

On Tuesday May 18, 2010 almost as though he adopted the very idea from the book Heatstroke - Sport Minister Gary Lunn announced the creation of an Own the Podium board comprised of high ranking officials with no financial interest and no vested interest to manage sport. The board headed by VANOC CEO John Furlong and comprised of Cathy Priestner Allinger - Own the Podium founder, Lane MacAdam - a director within Sport Canada, sport broadcaster Keith Pelley, sport medicine specialist Dr. Mike Williamson and others will have the ear of the federal government who from all appearances has the ability to accept and act on the boards decision.http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Vancouver+Games+chair+Podium+board/3042847/story.html

However, not unlike the movie Field of Dreams itself - this blogger urges Canada's Sport Minister - Gary Lunn - to "Go the Distance".

Today, I ask Minister Gary Lunn to separate sport from government all together with the dismantling of Sport Canada. "There is no reason to have Sport Canada.....it is a bureaucracy that presents another set of hurdles that one has to navigate" notes FIBT President Bob Storey.

With the creation of this board - Sport Canada is now just a duplicate agency whose resources could be desperately used by Canada's Amateur Athletes. Yes, Mr. Lunn- Great Work - But please "Go the Distance"

Some Restraint Please

The early indications are that Marcel Aubut's tenure as COC President will be a successful one. Who would dare argue. A parade in Montreal to celebrate the successes of Canada's amateur athletes in Vancouver - a sold out gala dinner later that afternoon and increased political clout for Canada's athletes.

Canada's amateur athletes are singing the man's praises as a result. " I think if the all the athletes had his attitude, we would be the best nation in the Summer Games, Winter Games," said Olympic medallist Caroline Brunet.

However, some restraint might be in order before we knight the man and declare him the savior of our Summer Olympic Program.

In Claude Brochu's book "My turn at Bat" Brochu notes that Aubut was a minority investor with the now-defunct Quebec Nordiques but structured an agreement with his partners to run the NHL Team as he saw fit; he answered to no one and did as he pleased. Brochu later adds that Aubut as managing director of the club demanded help from the government for the construction of a new NHL arena before finding out if the business community would support him. When the government refused Aubut's request he ended up doing the unimaginable, and sold the team to a an investment group from Colorado.

To hear Aubut speak of the matter he did all he can to save the Nordiques but fails to tell anyone of the financial windfall he reaped from the sale.

So, while we applaud the man today, please people a little restraint. History shows that Aubut is in this for himself.

Welcome to the Jungle

Olympic enthusiasts may not know it, but there is a weekly radio program here in Canada that discusses news and events within the world of amateur sport.

A virtual afterthought after the Olympic cauldron has been extinguished Jungle Jim Hunter is trying to make amateur sport important 12 months a year.

An Olympic medalist in Alpine Skiing and one of the original Crazy Canucks, Jungle Jim became disillusioned with the lack of information about amateur sport here in Canada and decided to do something about it. Using his own money, Jungle purchased air-time on the Calgary Sports Radio Station - the Fan 960 - and started up his own radio show.

Every Saturday from 9-11am on the Fan 960 Jungle Jim hits the airwaves and discusses events that matter to amateur sport enthusiasts. If you are outside of the Calgary area you can listen to the show via the internet simply by going to www.fan960.com.

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Real changes are being made within Athletics Canada and while not everyone is pleased this blogger thinks it is about time. For the first time in the history of the National Sport Organization - Athletics Canada is toying around the idea of a National Training Centre. Under the current structure high performance athletes are scattered across the country under the direction of a "Personal Coach".

A National Training Centre would have the nation's best athletes train in 1 locale thus giving the nations best athletes the opportunity to train beside the best. The system has worked wonders in Rowing, Speed Skating, Swimming, Bobsled, Cross-country skiing etc.. and for a sport that has won one a single medal at the past three Olympiads the proposed system will certainly do better than the current one.

Not everyone agrees, however. Gregory Portnoy in a interview with the CBC noted "This system almost eliminates the personal coach. The personal coach is key in track and field.....the national federation is incapable of developing athletes by itself..." Portnoy however, is a coach serving his own personal interests. Portnoy is a personal coach to long and triple jump record holder Tabia Charles.

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Rumors are abound that the COC wants to take full control of the Own the Podium (OTP) program. Qudos to Own the Podium CEO Alex Baumann who noted in an interview that this would in fact be a bad idea. Baumann was quoted as saying that the the program (OTP) has to make difficult decisions to move sport forward and may be unable to do that if it was part of the COC.

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Glad to be back looking into the world of amateur sports once again.