InWyo wrote:
Excellent work BroJos!
Are you guys pushing this story to other news outlets? Not a fan of Phil Hersh, but I would certainly like to see him do a column on this, and perhaps your friend Time Layden...put a bit more pressure on NIKE to respond.
A few points.
1) After we asked the question at the press conference, a few other mainstream journalists came to us and asked what we were going to do with it. We said we were going to publish the story Monday or Tuesday. We waited for a response from USADA.
2) When I contacted USADA yesterday, we said the one condition we would hold off on the story would be if they wanted to do some sort of enforecement/sting opertaion. They did not, so we went with the story.
3) That is the Nike VIP box. Nike should account for who invited Mark Block in there. It is no different than Trevor Graham being in the box.
4) It is clear to me that Mark Block is still involved in the sport. USADA enforcement needs to get involved.
5) Other agents were hanging out in the box with Block. One agent when asked to comment said, "As far as I know. Mark Block isn't banned by IAAF or any other organization except USADA."
That is not the case. WADA signatories recognize USADA bans. Block is not supposed to be involved with the sport in any capacity. If a meet that recognizes WADA negotiates with him, that is like letting a doped athlete into their race. Other agents should not associate with him. The agents turn a blind eye just like Nike in this case. The agents association has a statement saying they won't work with an athlete who has had a 2 year ban:
http://www.athleticsmanagers.com/yet the agents pal around with Mark Block at a meet. That enables doping in the sport.