[quote author="dbandre" date="1223029127"]Davan:
Just shut the heck up, no one is lying and no one is avoiding facts. A 10.28 on a longines timer on a track surface in 1956 is better than 10.28s today period end of story. Those guys at the NCAA’s ran into a .5 m/s headwind. So they run .05-.07s faster into no wind. Morrow ran 10.2s the day before as did Ira Murchison and Thane Baker. To put it into perspective Hayes ran 10.1s 4 years later, yes that Hayes, Bob Hayes.
Look at the overall times and how much worse they were than times achieved just 2-3 weeks prior. You blatantly ignore the truth and mention things that are of little significance–yes -.5 wind isn’t much, but pouring rains and cool weather for multiple days is significant. Were there accurate wind gauges for Morrow? I’ll wait for that one.
I don’t know where you received your slanted view of history, but it’s wrong. It just doesn’t mesh with reality. African American sprinters and Caribbean sprinters of great quality have been around for quite some time.
Some have been around. Those social groups as A WHOLE have not been afforded the same opportunities for a variety of reasons until the last 2-3 decades and even still are not equal yet for more reasons. That doesn’t mean some governing body keeps them out, but their cultures tend to be rife with poverty, single parent homes, violence, and much more. Sorry, but it’s a fact.
Despite your insistence on crack and other drugs being a problem and your insistence on racism as being the other problem, but lets not forget the AAU/TAC/USATF and the USOC and even the IOC always went out of it’s way to exploit black athletes or any athlete for that matter if they could. Which takes us back to 1968, when the Black Power salute of Tommie Smith and John Carlos was done on the podium a young skinny Australian who split 2 of America’s best in the 200m including beating the WR holder at the time of the race in John Carlos. This man whose name is Peter Norman was never again to compete on the international stage because of his support for Smith and Carlos and when those altitude assisted records of Mexico City were long gone Peter Norman’s 200m Australian record of 20.06s still stands or when we come further in history to 1980 when the scottish sprinter of Allan Wells won Olympic Gold against the great Don Quarrie of Jamaica on a cold and brutal russian day into a headwind reminiscent of this year’s NCAA meet, Wells has held the Scottish record of 10.11s for seemingly ever. Tell me that I am forgetting history or I am lying. Name more than 1 white american sprinter who has come close to either of those marks in the modern era? Kevin Little at 10.13 and Kevin Little at 20.10? This is absolutely absurd.
Name 1 white US sprinter that was near there to begin with. You just named a bunch of non-Americans from a different era and asked for a white American, a bit of a different subject, huh?
Not even 10 years ago, we did have 6.5 Casey Combest out of high school and we’ve had white Canadians in Michael LeBlanc and Macro. Not sure exactly what else you expect. Perhaps you should produce the next great white sprinter since you’ve written so much nonsense on the issue here.
Furthermore, you continue to strawman out the socioeconomic issues by saying sports bodies allow many to compete, which is so damn ignorant, I’m surprised you have the balls to post it. That is only part of a much greater issue. Who gives a crap if you can compete in track if you don’t have food or a place to live or whatever else?
Look, if you’re a white athlete, you should absolutely do everything you can to be the best and to hell with what anyone says about it. There are exceptions to everything and it’s just a matter of time until a white guy (or Asian or some other group) is great on the world level in a short sprint. That DOESN’T mean though that the trend of West Africans dominating is incorrect or is going to end, but just shows there is already a propensity and advantage there and there are very few and far between that can compete with them from a genetic and talent standpoint. As an athlete, we have no interest in worrying about our individual possibilities and limits, but when analyzing the sport and trends that take place, it is irresponsible and illogical to not note the obvious that has been discussed here in length or to say it is just because of yams or grass tracks.[/quote]
I consider a disadvantaged socioeconomic background to be a positive to an athlete in their formative years. As long as that background doesn’t interfere with their physical development. Often those children must do things their well to do counterparts don’t have to do and to play they must become much more creative than their counterparts. This places a certain drive and motivation for many disadvantaged youngsters to do well in sports and some instances school if peer pressure doesn’t get into the way. In fact, maybe it’s the over-emphasis on sports in poorer communities that is the larger cause of many repetitive problems within american society today. Not many of the high profile athletes give back to their communities. What they give back is a pittance to what they make except in a few instances. Certainly the owners of sports franchises don’t give much back to such communities that they exploit, they instead have the citizen of the city taxed to pay for facilities that will make them money. What you see as a disadvantage I see as creating a physiological advantage once someone reaches the ages beyond puberty and beyond. A child without structure who ultimately seeks or embraces structure has learned more than one who doesn’t and this includes motor abilities and skills. There is no strawman argument involved. Maybe you don’t believe in the plasticity and malleability of the human musculo-skeletal system and the genetic changes brought about through training and everyday activity and at what ages though changes are most present but I do.
No its not because of yams or grass tracks, but those yams and grass tracks are part of a lifestyle that is conducive sprint development. If they aren’t and the physiological differences between even the Jamaican and American sprinters currently exists cannot be genetic and environmental influences then it must be drugs. I cannot think of any current athlete in any other US professional sport that could possibly run the 100m faster than 10.3s much less faster than Tyson Gay does.
I hope someday you have a son or daughter who at ages 14 or 12 depending on the gender shows great aptitude for either distance or throws, but when they get to HS, the coach immediately puts them into the sprinting events, despite their objections. Then you will understand what i mean by stereotyping, bias, and pigeonholing. It’s typical liberal ass closed mindedness which you display. As for me every athlete who approaches myself gets asked these question first if I know their name, “What is your background” and “What are your goals”. Even athletes I approach about doing multis show at least an aptitude in a jump and a sprint and the first question about multis is I gauge their interest in doing the heptathlon or decathlon. The color of the athlete’s skin means nothing to me.