whoever coached the u.s. olympic 400 meter relay team needs fired ..... immediately .....

it is a tough job.   most relay teams have some constancy in membership, and also receive good coaching in how to get the baton around the track efficiently during competition.   the constancy helps, as team members can hone the necessary skills needed in handling the baton.

the u.s. olympic relay "teams" lack that constancy, the cut throat nature of qualifying for the u.s. track team assuring that team membership is never a given, and always a year by year process derivative of the competitive nature of getting onto the team.   the membership of the relay team is always in a flux.   this has to be recognized.

but, those problems being acknowledged, the lack of skill in team members passing the baton is a joke, and whoever is responsible for it simply has done no kind of job at all in teaching the skills necessary for even rudimentary performance in passing the baton.   and, so it went in this olympics, with the team absolutely botching two of the three baton passes, and doing a mediocre job at best with the third pass.    so bad were the passes that they positively inhibited and prevented the runners from getting up to speed.   as a result, a team that had two members qualify for the finals in the 100 yard dash (a non-relay sprinting competition) finished 6th in the finals of the relay.

somebody is responsible for training and educating these runners in how to pass the baton.   that person has failed, miserably.  and, if the team members who are supposed to learn these skills won't (and didn't) pay sufficient attention to learn how, and exercise sufficient diligent practice to polish the skills, won't do that, they have failed (and did) again, miserably.    those coaches who have so failed, should be fired.   and, whoever replaces he/she/or them should be given the authority to suspend from the team those runners who won't work hard to acquire the skills necessary to compete on a competent level:  you don't pay attention, you don't learn, your butt is bounced.

so, get rid of whoever is there now.    hire someone with a proven competence to teach the necessary skills to the runners.   and, if the runners are so bone headed and arrogant that they will not learn, bounce them from the team, and replace them with runners who can be taught.

john jay @ 08.05.2021

p.s.   i watch a program that features film clips of dogs who have been caught "red pawed" doing something receive reprimands, and to a dog, they get "hang dog" expressions on their faces, avert their glances, and assume "guilty" postures and dog wags.   i watched the u.s. 400 meter relay team trying to explain their failure to handle the baton in a loosing effort, in a post-race interview.   the interview, was, not surprisingly perhaps, almost identical to the films of the guilty dogs ....  hang dog, to a man.  they wouldn't accept responsibility for their performance, they wouldn't look the "camera" in the eye, rather averting their eyes, to a person.   they knew their guilt.

i don't care who the coach of the u.s. relay teams is.  retire him, right now.   and, get rid of this relay team:  fence posts could do better.

Comments

[Mark Matis]

How racist of you!!!

[jj]

what is worth doing, is worth doing well.   i am a wellist.    laughing.