Just when I thought I was seeing signs of improvement, signs that those in charge in Chicago were beginning to pay attention (whether they admitted it or no), along comes another report into my mailbox from Camp 1 telling me that things were even worse than I had imagined. Here are a few items from the professional training session for our top referees . . .
• It’s normal in a professional event like this for participants to be picked up at the airport. Except for the twenty-five or so who were left stranded and to their own devices. To be fair, though, it can be difficult and time-consuming to get all the arrival times, to check with the airlines to find out about delays, and then make a schedule to fit. Too complicated for the organizers, apparently . . .
• At the fitness test the following morning, runners were told that if they false-started, they should keep running (!) Of course, we understand that a false start disrupts the concentration of the other runners, but no matter—keep running. In one fifty-meter sprint, the entire group took off without a starter. I assume they all passed . . . Alfred was not happy. If I'd been in charge, I wouldn't be happy either!
• “Then we took the written test,” said one National Referee, “and they allowed everyone to sit so close together that three-quarters of the people I talked to laughed about cheating.” Then (the staff) said we should be proud that for the first time in National Camp history, everyone passed the first time.
Presumably, this was a clever way of reminding the referees about professionalism and their ethical responsibility to the game . . .
• Outdoor sessions continued the shambles. Paul Tamberino announced at the fields that they had had to be changed at the last minute. “It looked like he didn’t know what to do,” said my correspondent, “and the instructors got upset because they—along with us—didn’t know how to accomplish what they were told to do.”
• In Alfred’s session after the USA/Denmark game, he skipped all the text and went to the video clips—to hurry through. “I feel we got cheated,” wrote my correspondent. “That first camp had all the National Candidates, and they should . . . have a camp that would have inspired them. I don’t know anyone who was inspired! Especially me!”
• He ended with the observation that it was a good thing everyone got out two hours early on Sunday because “. . .they could actually prepare for the other camp.” Ouch!
What more is there to say except ask the question I have asked before (and no doubt will again): “Is this the best that we can do?”
Comments