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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2013 14:01:41 GMT -8
So that both sides of a story can be heard, please note:
Many of the non-APTE Skaters are paying out the A** for legal services too. They do not have a Pro-Bono agreement with an attorney.
If the APTE skaters' Pro-Bono attorney has changed his mind regarding that status, then this is a burden I believe the APTE skaters and their parents should be bearing. I do not believe emails should be sent then posted on this site soliciting donations for their legal expenses.
The families of the non-APTE skaters have been placed in a position to retain private Counsel and as I noted above, they are paying out the A** for that, and not coming here asking fans to fund them.
Personally, I would appreciate it if the above post was pulled. The APTE skaters have an account set up through GOFUNDME and that is where this information should stay.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2013 18:00:39 GMT -8
....and the magic number per the above post through today's check writing is hitting $20,000.00. So if you feel compelled to donate to a skater, consider the WHOLE STORY and not just the laments of the APTE crowd.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 9, 2013 21:44:00 GMT -8
Thanks for your post, gasp. I think we can all agree that USS is broken and must be fixed - and the APTE grievance is currently the most vocal game in town working toward that end, which is why I posted the link. BB promotes the skaters - ALL of them, and if the non-APTE’s have something similar going, we will absolutely give them the same courtesy.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2013 8:02:53 GMT -8
Lori--your responding post does not address anything in my post. Stating that USS needs to be fixed is redundant, and irrelevant. If you believe the initial grievance is going to effect Change, Growth, and Hope at USS--don't hold your breath. Mark is still there and Tamara is still there. Seems Mike Plant is not as "independent" as I first believed, and has been a mainstay at USOC for quite some time. So yeah, they just brought in another farmer from the same field.
The "other" skaters CHOSE NOT TO BE A PART OF A GRIEVANCE and were unceremoniously brought into the fray by the APTE skaters actions. Maybe the APTE skaters should be sharing the funds. Seems APTE wants everyone to respect and fund them, but they do not offer that same respect to their fellow Olympian hopefuls. They have placed several families in dire financial straights to the point, that their kids may be pulling out of the program, and moving on to other opportunities.
One more time Lori--since the "other skaters" WON'T BE SETTING UP A FUNDING GROUP and schlepping their financial woes your way for "consideration of a post at B/n/B", please remove your post and move it over to Go Fund Me. It is the fair and right thing to do.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 10, 2013 8:57:04 GMT -8
If ANY skater (or group of skaters) wants me to post a donations link, I'm happy to oblige - I'm not going to get into the business of picking and choosing who is 'allowed' to ask for support on this forum based on which side of the fence they sit on, or personal judgements about their financial need. Donate to the causes and skaters that touch your heart - ignore the rest!
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Post by Joyce on May 10, 2013 9:09:41 GMT -8
I commend Lori for doing a stupendous job in maintaining B&B as a forum for "all voices". To "delete" a post for reasons other than lewd or inappropriate would compromise the integrity of that objective. I am a SST fan with no insider information, so I cannot comment on the status of any of the skaters, APTE or non-APTE. I can only surmise that the goals of APTE will benefit ALL skaters and the sport in general. I chose to look at the bigger long-term picture, not the immediate. Did I expect dramatic change and great leaps of self-revelation in the NGB - no, I am not given to flights of fantasy. I believe that there will be slow changes, chipping away one pebble at a time - if for no other reason that in their present state, they are kryptonite to corporate sponsors. Money always talks.
Lori did not favor one group over another, she posts information of interest as she receives it.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2013 22:19:50 GMT -8
Continuing my train of thought...
Pro bono, contingency and hourly are the three methods of hiring legal representation. Contingency would not have worked for Mr. Williams because there was no monetary gain once the matter was concluded. So Attorney Williams would have received nothing on a "contingency" basis.
Hiring him at an hourly rate seems improbable. Since he is a New York attorney, I feel confident stating his rates are upward of $450-$500 per billable hour, if not more. Given the number of APTE skaters involved, his bill could certainly have been divided and paid for by the APTE skaters and their families. But I doubt the skaters and their parents wanted to fork over money for those kind of fees. Williams again, would probably have received nothing because the APTE skaters and their parents might have protested such a potentially large legal bill.
Pro bono IS the only way for Williams to take the case. I personally don't think Williams realized what a fire storm was going to be created by filing the grievances. I think he thought he was so good at this type work (from his past history), that he could file the grievances, get a fast-track hearing and the matter would be over. He was wrong on that assumption. Who knows, maybe his ego got in the way.
Let's assume Williams has run up $200k in legal services as the pro Bono attorney for the APTE skaters. He's feeling pressure at some level to recover some of his expenses. Knowing the APTE skaters will not or cannot pony up to his financial demands, guess where he goes next: USS. We know they cannot afford it, so the next step is to go USS's insurer. Many attorneys will represent a client to whom they are sympathetic, not charge them any fees, but then charge an inflated hourly rate to (in this case) USS or their insurer, in the event of a settlement or loss in the courtroom.
It would not surprise me to learn that Mr. Williams has tried to push his fess on to USS, USS's D & O insurer, all 3 coaches, the parents of APTE skaters and any other skater Mr. Williams might believe has been part of his burdensome legal expenses over a grievance that was not the "slam dunk" most perceived it to be.
Additionally, Mr. Williams' corporate attorney group with whom he is affiliated, may be applying heavy pressure for hims to: 1) resign as counsel; 2) start bringing in revenue for this case; or 3) has another APTE skater who is in need of legal expenses being paid, due to another "matter" they chose to press forward on, that has nothing to do with the original grievance. Thus the appeal to Lori, approximately 10 days ago, for financial assistance.
So now we have an "anonymous" person spearheading a drive to collect funds from whomever they can, to pay for Williams' time. Maybe Williams has told the APTE crowd the Pro Bono party is over and they are knocking at every door asking others to pay legal fees for which they are responsible.
Legal expenses have also been incurred by the "other" skaters as a direct result of this grievance. They have had to hire attorneys for matters not relevant to the grievance; i.e. the Q & A regarding the skate tampering allegations. Additionally, further legal expenses have been incurred by a non-APTE family, over the discretionary pick by USS for World Champs in Hungary. Good grief, the decision was made by USS, so maybe these parents can back-bill USS for their attorney's fees, since USS acknowledged the skill, hard work and overall performance of their skater that earned the discretionary slot over an APTE skater.
The APTE skaters have shown no remorse about forcing other skaters into incurring unplanned legal expenses simply because they did not join the APTE crowd. As long as the APTE crowd had a Pro Bono Attorney, they didn't give a tinker's dam* regarding the financial impact on others. But now that their lawyer seems to forget the definition of "Pro Bono", the APTE crowd has no compunction about hitting up the fans to pay their legal bills.
This grievance and legal jockeying was a CHOICE made by the APTE skaters. This is THEIR SHOW, let them pay for it.
Lori, you stated that if another fund was established you would post the info to B/n/B. Guess what. It isn't established, it won't be established. There are people out there who still believe in "bearing their own burdens" even if it means a 2nd job here and there, after working 8 hours a day.
The APTE crowd knows how to get in touch with their fans via FB, Twitter, email and cell phone to do a fund raising campaign. Posting the private email that you received to B/n/B is not in character with what this board professes to be, "fair and balanced" for lack of a better phrase, and further supports that the APTE crowd believes everyone on this board is on "their side." Many of us at B/n/B are NOT in the APTE camp. I'm also wondering if the recipient of this money realizes the IRS will probably consider this as income, and tax them accordingly. No good deed goes unpunished by the IRS.
We are close to a year anniversary for the APTE concerns and grievance. Some of the original APTE crowd have dropped out and/or regret their actions. Several of them have approached the "other" skaters about joining their training program at SLI. Hasn't happened.
This is the APTE fight, not mine, not the fans. They went into this with their eyes wide open and have achieved only one thing--getting rid of Jae Su. They have as of yet to resolve any of the other issues. Maybe they should find a new Pro Bono Attorney.
Keep your eyes open people. There could be another coaching change at USS. Be careful what/who you ask for, and what they see, because you cannot mask bad behavior and lazy training and expect to get a "pass" every time.
Lori, I am still requesting that you remove your post. It leans too far to even be considered a post of "all voices". It is a singular voice asking for money.
The APTE skaters have certainly taken the shine off this sport from where it ended that long ago evening in February 2010 at the Vancouver Olympics.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 12, 2013 3:49:01 GMT -8
Okay, gasp, here’s what I promised you in response. As you can see, it’s quite the same as what I sent you via Personal Message - but I made it a bit more concise and edited out anything that is of a private nature between the two of us. You’ve complained that I didn’t address your talking points in my responses. I most certainly DID address them. You stated your opinion that the APTE’s request for donations was improper, and you cited the expenses incurred by the non-APTE’s as your argument. Your request: “Please take down the post, because the SLI skaters aren’t asking for donations too”. My response: “No, because I support ALL of the skaters, and I’m not going to pick & choose who is ‘worthy”. Your next post, and much of the third, was more of the same, and my answer is the same: “No”. One of my goals this summer is to expand on the S.O.S. board. I want to gather as many GoFundMe account links from the skaters as possible, and publicize them on the skaters’ threads and on the S.O.S. board. With regard to the APTE fundraiser you said, “It’s just one voice asking for money” - and you feel that’s wrong because “all voices aren’t making similar requests”. So if I use your logic, I have to ask: Should I be concerned about similar protestations if I follow through with my plan to post these links? Do I have to wait until ‘all’ of the skaters have GoFundMe accounts? No? Well, what if a skater has both a GoFundMe account AND a Paypal button on his/her website? Should I say, “Sorry - you’re only allowed one fundraiser link on BB”? What if I see on Facebook that a skater took a vacation to Hawaii? Hmm, maybe they don’t really need the money, so should I delete their GoFundMe link? Or should I demand information on who funded the trip first? What if one of the skaters is an APTE? Shall I say, “Nope, you’re getting money elsewhere - this offer is for non-APTE’s only”. NRP? “Sorry, you’re already getting free coaching & ice time.” Am I to be the judge, and our members the jury? No. I’m not going to play that game, because when it starts, it’ll never end. I’ll say again: Support the skaters and causes that touch your heart - ignore the rest. I stated the ‘rules’ upfront on this thread, and I think I’ve been very consistent in administering them. Rule #1 is that there will be zero tolerance for comments that disrespect ANY of the skaters or their families on the board. As you know, I’ve not been as strict on comments about USS as a whole, and I think you’ll agree that we’ve had a pretty spirited time on THAT subject! However, I challenge you or anyone else to find anywhere on this forum where I have ‘favored’ the APTE’s over any other skaters, or said or done anything whatsoever that has insulted or ignored the SLI skaters, the NRP skaters, or their families. You, on the other hand, gasp, currently have your toes over that line. Yes, I’m biased - I’m biased against the current governance of USS. The APTE’s are the only ones who currently appear to be holding USS’ feet to the fire in a way that they can’t ignore - and as long as Ed Williams and his group are still committed to that matter, I will be committed too. I hold USS directly responsible for the calamity and contention that we’re in right now. If they had been responsive to the people (skaters) they are supposed to serve - ALL of them - we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Right or wrong, it is my sincere opinion that if the APTE’s grievances are ultimately addressed in a positive way (as ALL of the skaters’ issues should have been addressed last summer when they were primarily of one voice), the SLI and NRP skaters will benefit too. I don’t see this as an ‘us or them’ issue, and I don’t understand why you are so anxious to take it to that level. Bottom line… unless and until I see something verifiable and public to the contrary (not just ‘he said, she said’s), I’ll keep the faith in what those who filed the grievance are trying to accomplish. If you interpret that as ‘choosing sides’, then so be it - guilty as charged. The greater issue for me right now is your implication that I’m not supportive of ALL the skaters on this board. I’ll not stand back and allow anyone - anyone - either publicly or privately to make that accusation against me without pushing back. It’s an insult of the highest sort - and as you know, I’ve given you some private info to prove my point. You are making blatant speculations about the motives of others, based on things you’re being told privately - and you’re telling ME to be careful? Don’t get me wrong - I’m not casting doubt on anything you’re hearing. I know this has been incredibly difficult for everyone involved - and I’m not going to minimize their hardship. But as much as you caution me against taking things at face value, it’s time that I tell you the same. You have apparently closed the door of impartiality completely. It’s obvious that ONE of us has chosen sides, gasp - and it isn’t me. You of all people know how close I am to walking away from ST with a “good riddance”. I lamented to a friend on Thursday, “I should be using my valuable time on this earth doing things of a more 'eternal' nature”. At this point I’d much rather be devoting my time to my church and my favorite charities (and USS is NOT currently one of them) - but if I can leave anything positive behind, it would be that I did everything in my power to keep USS' feet to the fire (at least in the court of public opinion) for the benefit of ALL the skaters. As I sat down to type up prolly my 1000th “Screw it - stick a fork in me - I’m done!” note, I received a nice email from the mom of an elite skater who is not involved in any of this mess, on either side. She somehow sensed I was having a bad day and took the time to encourage me - it helped me to focus again on the beauty of this sport and the many good people in it. Because of people like her standing between me and the ST ‘exit door’, I think I’ll hang in there for a bit longer - hopefully ‘till the Olympics, then we’ll see what happens!
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Post by osaycanusoc on May 12, 2013 8:50:10 GMT -8
Thanks for all you do Laura! You are truly an unselfish and unprejudiced supporter of the sport and the athletes, all of them, as well as an articulate and principled advocate too. Glad to see you aren't about to let yourself be bullied or censored, period, but especially when you are doing the right thing.
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Post by chesapeakemom on May 12, 2013 16:36:46 GMT -8
Thank you, Lori. You are such a true fan of speedskating. It is important that everyone: the athletes, fans, families, etc. understand that no one needs to "take sides." The real cause of the many problems is not the APTE, but the actions/inactions of US Speedskating. We should all be working together for the betterment of the sport.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2013 18:21:27 GMT -8
Regardless of who we support financially or emotionally we are all true fans of speed skating. But it would be foolish not to acknowledge the split that has occurred among the skaters leading up to and continuing through the grievance. Any action that continues to cause great pain and suffering for any of the skaters, should be avoided, if at all possible. Here's the Reader's Digest version of my private email to Lori. Like, Lori, some information has been deleted:
We always agree to disagree, and this is a case in point. Lori, you recently advised me to do a brief teaser of news media links I post due to copyright infringements if I post the entire media document. The same should have applied to the email the APTE skaters sent you. I so wish you had asked myself or someone from the "other side" as what their thoughts might be regarding posting the email in its entirety at B/n/B. I would have advised against posting the entire email. I would have advised, just as I said in the beginning, refer them to the Go Fund Me Account.
Following the "teaser idea" why didn't you do a brief overview of the email then advise people to go the GO FUND ME account and the other resources you refer to in your PM to me? The APTE skaters have the ability to share any information they wish at GOFUNDME. (The other resources being individula threads and SOS threads)
You have no idea of the firestorm your post has caused in the ST community that does not sit on the APTE side of the issue. Tears, anger, extremely hurt feelings just to name a few.
Regarding your statement as to stating "you are only allowed one thread" at B/n/B. Nope I don't agree with that. The skaters have personal threads and SOS threads and they should be used for whatever purpose that is directly relevant to that thread. That is another alternate place this email/post should have been placed. The Boycott thread is very active and read by many who are active at B/n/B, and those who lurk. Therefore, this email/post has been seen by a lot of eyes! That is why it should never have been posted on the Boycott Thread, and that is why I asked you to move it to the Go Fund Me account. Sadly, APTE's original goal through GO FUND ME was not reached. I wish them luck, on their 2nd round of solicitation.
I stand with you regarding USS--that is a group concern as to how they fund and don't fund and govern this sport. But the grievance itself is very much a personal matter of the APTE skaters against USS. Sadly for them, they haven't achieved much. I don't believe they ever will. Mike Plant won't make it happen, nobody will. I guess USS should ad a new banner headline to their website: SKATER BEWARE! We don't care about you except every 4 years in February.
The APTE skaters have a goal of $15,000.00 If the original group of say 12 are still involved in this process, please don't tell me they can't scratch up a little over $1,000 each to cover that amount. And yes, they might have to forego a vacation or something else in order to pay for legal services they hired. We all adjust our daily lives relevant to our income and expenses and unexpected expenses! So the APTE crowd can too! Additionally, they state this money is to be used to legally bind USS into compliance with the bylaws/procedures of USOC. Sounds like to me Williams will do exactly as I stated in my post, go after USS or USOC to cover any and all legal expenses that the APTE crowd cannot cover.
Overall Lori, I believe you had other options available to you to get the word out about the APTE's need for $15,000.00. You stated up front you had the email for about 10 days. I don't know with whom, if anyone, you might have shared this info(other than your spouse), but if you spoke to people you know are sympathetic toward the APTE skaters, then you should have also sought out someone from the "other side", as to their thoughts.
I still say the email/post does not belong on the Boycott Thread. Move it over to the SOS thread & each individual APTE skaters thread.
I am not going to publicly defend myself on this thread, and some of you may think, "guilty as charged" per Lori's above post on some matters. Lori and I have had many "fun" discussions on differing subjects, so this is just one more. Several months ago as Lori noted, she was ready to let B/n/B be fan driven and she would peek in on occasion. She has committed a great deal of time to this little project and I was certainly sympathetic to that cause. For me personally, I think I'll follow her lead and sign-off here at Boots and Blades. It's been fun. I have met alot of great people, but as Lori said, it is time to move on.
Best of luck to ALL of the akaters. I'll keep up with USS on their FB & website (cough, cough) and the skaters too via those same methods.
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Post by osaycanusoc on May 12, 2013 20:41:34 GMT -8
Gasp, I am confused by some of the statements in your most recent post, starting with how Lori's post of the appeal does not belong on the "National Team Members Boycott Coaches" thread.
The subject of those athletes boycotting is why the thread exists in the first place. It seems totally appropriate the post on raising contributions for follow up legal work to the grievance that followed the boycott be posted on this thread.
Also am confused by the animosity toward a group that is working to get USS to adopt USOC compliant bylaws that provide for proper governance per the Ted Stevens Act. Revising the bylaws and making sure USS follows their own bylaws properly seem to benefit ALL the athletes across the board. Not sure how that can be perceived so negatively by athletes or their supporters who claim to also be for the same types of reforms?
Also not sure why you say Mike Plant "won't make it happen". Seems premature and awfully negative to conclude that, unless you have some inside info that says otherwise. If so, please share.
Also, never have ever heard of any scenario in a legal proceeding like this that would allow for a complaintant to be able to collect legal fees from USS or the USOC for what it cannot raise on its own to pay its attorneys. If you have info on that which says it is possible, please do share. If not, I don't think you should be making assertions and predictions about what other people can or will attempt to do when you are making false statements.
Finally, for the moment, I don't think Lori ever said it was time to move on and she was leading the way in moving on.
If you feel like returning to clear up some of the confusion, please do.
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Post by mtnme on May 13, 2013 1:57:54 GMT -8
There is so much to respond to here, I don't even know where to start. A well thought out post would probably take me until the wee hours of the morning to complete, which I'm not up to. So I'm just going to jump right in. I apologize in advance if the organization of thought is wanting and what is to follow just comes off as a bunch of random brain firings. There are several issues/subject matter that were brought up in the previous posts that need to be addressed, so this post is going to be all over the place...
THE FORUM
When Lori and I started working on the forum, we had some very concrete ideas of what we wanted to accomplish.
1) Create threads for all the individual skaters for all their photos, news articles and accomplishments. 2) Disseminate ST information 3) No dissing the skaters or fellow members on the forum.
Both Lori and I started our ST fandom on other forums and/or blogs. (GA and Ohnozone specifically, though we perused the others as well). We certainly saw boards that did not allow differing opinions, allowed vicious personal attacks and bullying against anyone who did, nasty remarks about skaters (my personal pet peeve being what I call 'Baver Bashing'), and how quickly a board could have a complete and utter meltdown into just plain awful. Not wanting THIS board to become that, we have guidelines, which Lori has posted on the forum. In a nutshell, these are the highlights with some thoughts of my own.
A) We aren't apolianne. (clothing as secret messages anyone?) We allow differing opinions here, even ones we personally don't agree with. We've worked really hard to allow all viewpoints instead of smacking down anyone who disagrees with our particular little world view. We expect the same courtesy. In fact, most of the time the exchange of ideas is stimulating. Post your comments in a respectful manner. On subjects where passions run high and you realize you aren't going to change someone's mind and they aren't going to change yours and things are degenerating quickly, sometimes you just have to agree to disagree and move on. Edicts and demands however on what someone is allowed to think, what they are allowed to believe and what they are allowed to post based on your own personal opinion will admittedly get you more gracious patience from Lori than it will me, and she has been exceedingly generous with people and situations that would have gotten me to tell someone to 'kiss my under-carraige' - pronto. Which brings me to point B... B) This is Lori's forum. She signed up for it, her name is on the account, she runs it, she fixes the problems, she's the one who has spent thousands of hours on it and she ultimately is the one who calls the shots, makes the rules and has the final say. If she feels strongly enough about a subject that she's sticking to her guns instead of being persuaded by your arguments, everyone is just going to have to accept her decision. I stand behind those decisions 110% - even the ones I may not be wild about. If anyone disagrees with that then they can start their own forum. Hey, proboards is FREE. So are blogs. Knock yourselves out...
C) Absolutely, positively, no personal attacks on the skaters or forum members. We've both worked really hard to support ALL the skaters. I can't speak for Lori, but do I have my favorites? Yes. Are they given more due than other skaters here? No. Do I wear their promo T-shirts to competitions? No. How I personally feel about a skater and how this forum is run is two separate things. The forum is impartial where the skaters are concerned. My private likes are irrelevant. I make sure of that. I know Lori does too.
D) Posting the APTE's funding request is completely in line with our mission statement. Disseminate information. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that requires anyone to open their wallet and honor that request. B & B just passed along the info. Fans are free to do with it what they will...or ignore it completely. Past that, every skater still has the right to ask.
E) Lori considering 'Throwing in the towel'... I can understand why. I did that for the most part quite some time ago. I've said it before and I'll say it again. When you do things of a philanthropic nature, you do it freely, with both hands open without expecting things in return. I cop, in my mind, that also includes not being crapped on six ways to Sunday.
Much has been made of the divided camp of skaters, yet the photos of them on FB shows them smiling and hanging out together. They must be getting along to some degree. As far as my interaction with them, they've all been great.
It's the parents, the fans, uhhhmm, well, the supposed 'adults' that are tough to take. I will say for myself, I don't even have kids, let alone kids that skate. I personally come from a figure skating background. In other words, I have no dog in this fight. But I do feel for these struggling athletes and I do have a sense of justice - and wanted to help. I've spent an unbelievable amount of time, money and energy on supporting short track in general, and TRF, BB and the Ice and times blog specifically. In return I've often gotten demanding and unappreciative parents and condescending powers that be, to belligerent, scolding fans - to the point that it just became such an all around pain in the @ss, and I finally just said 'screw it!'. I still pay to keep the TRF site up and running, Lori and I still talk about the idea of making it non profit, I still post here, I still whip out my poison pen on occasion at the ice and times blog (for when I think what I have to say is too over the top for BB) and I still try to support short track and its athletes in my small way. The rest that goes with it however is just more hassle than it's worth. Do the skaters deserve better? You bet. Do I have the patience required to put up with the never ending b.s. level that unfortunately surrounds them? Nope.
And so, once again, those that would be allies for the skaters and their cause get fed up and burned out and the skaters are left on their own to fight it out with their unresponsive NGB. And of course, that's exactly what USS and the USOC want. No public scrutiny, no need to clean up their policies. It's sad, really.
But my biggest point is this. Get off Lori's back. She does more for this sport for so little in return, those of you making her life miserable have absolutely no right, and I'm offended on her behalf.
I'm sure I had some more points to make, but it is now in fact the wee hours of the morning, and I can barely keep my eyes open. And so I'll have to save the rest of my comments for another time.
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Post by osaycanusoc on May 13, 2013 9:32:10 GMT -8
Thanks MTNME for reminder of the history and mission of the TRF and the B&B efforts. It would be nice if you guys could be made the USS PR people for skater promotion and fan development as you provide a great service that is sorely absent in this area that even personal athlete social media efforts can't quite fill as well.
And your egalitarian approach and willingness to support all skaters rather than cherry pick the most fun and easy ones is unique and special too. Thank you.
Getting the info out and keeping it all respectful and constructive (I won't say 'positive' because sometimes what has to come out is not always 'positive', at least by itself in the short run, but it has to come out and people have to be educated so eventually things can be made truly better) is really helpful to the sport and to all us fans. Thank you.
And you are right on, if you and others get burned out and quit it plays right into the hands of those that are intent on putting their needs first (USS and USOC) at the expense of the individual athletes and the sport as a whole.
For a fast, early AM rant, you nailed it.
Thanks for all you and Lori do and have done all these years.
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Post by osaycanusoc on May 13, 2013 9:43:22 GMT -8
Oh yes, and forgot to add, regarding your comment about seeing the pics and stuff on the athletes working out and hanging out together, I found that nice too.
I think it is great when you can show how you can still cooperate and enjoy being in the moment while still holding on to your principles as an athlete and being willing to make a stand when it counts and you're left with no other options. Seems like a mature approach - as long as you're not at physical or emotional risk, try to further the team and find, share and enjoy common ground as often as you can.
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