But you can't blame the athletes for wanting to stay home. Take Johnson, whose record-breaking performance in the Atlanta Olympics was so staggering that we remembered it nearly till the end of the week. He's got an idea about how to cure track. We need to streamline. Now, naturally, Johnson wouldn't want to cut any of his events, but he's right.
Track meets take five hours.
But the athletes need to change, too. In recent years, there have been too many drug scandals, too many rampant egos, too much allegiance to shoe companies over sport and country. Even if there is an American circuit, you have to wonder how many athletes will settle for a dollar here when there are two dollars to be made in Switzerland. The athletes who lament that America falls in love with them only every four years need to realize there are reasons that, every four years, it falls right back out. As of today, America cares.