Letter from Jack Weiss

Triathlon Forum
1

i received an email from Jack Weiss thhis morning. i suspect it was intended as a letter to the editor, not just a private letter to me, because it is addressed to me (the editor and publisher) in reference to an OpEd I wrote yesterday about the USAT election, specifically the Central Region.

i endorsed Lew Kidder in my OpEd. Jack is another board member candidate in that region, i.e., he is running against Kidder.

in most cases, i’d go back and ask the sender whether a letter was public (for publication) or private, just to make doubly sure. in this case, however, I think it’s fair game to publish it in either case, as people in the Central Region ought to have at their disposal all information about a candidate relevant to the election, including everything written or spoken to a journalist unless explicitly conveyed with an understanding that it’s not for publication.

so, below is the letter from Jack to me, and i do have a reply to it, which will follow in another post. i hope Jack will join in the discussion here on this forum, as that’s what democracy is all about.

From: “Jack Weiss” ironjack@ironheadrp.com
Subject: The Election Process for USAT BOard Elections

It’s apparent that you have failed to look at all of the candidates qualifications. Had you done that you might reconsider your position. If I remember correctly Mr. Kidder had to depart the Board in the 80’s because of a conflict of interest, his magazine was in fact being subsidized by USA Triathlon then known as Triathlon USA and he was a Board member. It was Mr. Kidder that stated every other month that USA Triathlon was finished yet it flourished big time in the South Midwest and elsewhere. During his tenure on the Board how many Age Group related resolutions did he write and get passed?? Bet it doesn’t compare to the 30 plus I wrote in my 6 years on the Board. Mr. Kidder is a naysayer who has contributed nothing to the growth
of USA Triathlon. I suggest if you are going to endorse a candidate you do it for more then your own self interests which from what I have seen do not coincide with the goals and asperations of USA Triathlon or its membetship.

2

I hope his resolutions were written better than this letter.

3

Jack, thanks for your letter. a lot of people read this forum, and if you’re right – that i in particular and we in general – could stand a good dose of the truth, then let us (me) have it.

i do have a reply to a couple of issues you raised. first, with regard to lew kidder’s reason for leaving the board, perhaps you’re right. i don’t know. for at least a decade we’ve had this issue on the board of “conflict of interest.”

maybe his (then) conflict of interest made it tough for him to serve on the board. but that conflict does not anymore exist, since he is not a magazine publisher and has no financial ties to USAT. that said, i personally don’t buy the “conflict of interest” argument. when we don’t have magazine publishers (like john duke, who’s running in the western region) or race directors (like yourself) we don’t have valid expertise on the board. whether it’s lew kidder, you, duke, or whomever, there’s a simple remedy for a potential conflict of interest. recuse yourself from whatever vote specifically relates to your financial interest.

as to the naysaying Lew Kidder: he predicted dire consequences due to certain USAT resolutions. and guess what? he was entirely right. USAT’s annual membership plummeted to something like 15,000 or 17,000 and there were entire states that had no USAT sanctioned races. there were other states that had almost no races whatsoever, sanctioned or no.

now the sport has built itself back up, with USAT largely watching this growth as a bystander, just like me. the federation’s membership been built back up, mostly due to free race insurance for RDs (smart move). but USAT appears ready to make the same mistakes it made before. i’d prefer to see people on the board that remember what those mistakes were, and who will, perhaps, be listened to this time around.

4

I agree, AJ. As a grammar fiend(we did all take English in high school, didn’t we?) I largely write off people who can’t speak or write well, or can’t click the ‘SpellCheck’ button.

The main thing I hate about George W. is that he comes across like an idiot half the time when he butchers his speeches. I think that pop culture has made it so that people think it’s okay not to care about spelling and grammar, not to mention the ability to craft a concise, logical argument, but they are wrong. There are still a lot of us out here who judge people based on presentation, as well as content.

(Don’t worry, CJ. We love you just the way you are.)

5

Being that I just celebrated my first birthday in the sport of triathlon, I’m unaware of what these past unsuccessful resolutions were that did such damage, and concerned /about their possible resurgence. Dan, if you have a moment, will you please outline what these issues were and/or are, and what, if anything, we can do to support doing what’s right?

6

Opps, better write off Slowman too I guess.

In his little article called “One Clear Favorite” Mr Slowman used the word “regines”. Is that a word I don’t know of? Maybe it was meant to be “regimes” and he made a mistake in typing the word.

Mr. jmorrissery, You might run out of people to have any dealings with pretty soon. Lots of people make mistakes.

Ok, so Jack Weiss is not a big time journalist, but he is a damn good race director and he’s very good for the sport of triathlon and he gets things done. I can put up with misspelled words and bad grammer.

7

Well now, I suppose “what’s right” would depend on a number of things and might not be the same for every person.

8

JW:

I’ve noticed that even Record9 has started writing with a modicum of lucidity, probably because he’s read some of his posts when sober. :), Or, whatever. But, generally, I think we shouldn’t expect much from the general population in terms of style, form, and too often substance. Furthermore, the occasional spelling error, misplaced modifier, etc. in such an informal forum should be tolerated. I would prefer reading muddy Stengalese that included some good advice, to no advice at all. :slight_smile:

-Robert, the illiterate

9

I’ve already run out. That’s why I chose a sport that requires no teammates.

I do not doubt that Mr. Weiss is a fine race director, and I do not impune his character in any way. However, when you put yourself in the public eye, you have a duty to both yourself and to that public to present yourself in the most articulate, intelligent way possible. The import of your statements is reflected in the effort you put into stating them.

Fat-fingering a post on your favorite forum is one thing; rebutting someone’s argument against you when seeking an elected office is quite another. When you send an email, a letter, or post something on a site’s forum, your words could very well show up anywhere, at anytime. Therefore you should be careful what you say and how you say it.

I did catch Dan’s misspelling, and it made me cringe. But it was still a good article. Am I a nitpicker? Yes. Am I wrong for being so? That is a matter of opinion. We all make summary judgements about one another based on the way we look, the color of our skin, our sex, the clothes we wear, how we act, and so on. Here in the ether, I only know two things about you: The words you write, and how you write them. I must therefore judge you based on those two things.

I am a curmudgeon, it’s true. So on this point sir, I think we shall disagree.

10

“Opps, better write off Slowman too I guess.”

i’m with you. jack’s style doesn’t bother me. well, let’s put it another way. his writing style doesn’t bother me. his personal style is either favorable or not, depending on who you are. i, personally, have rarely found jack other than delightful. others have different experiences.

likewise, as an RD jack does not generate universal praise. he does generate opinions, however, meaning jack is like a variety of regional RDs, like dave hornung in the west and brad jaeger in the east: you love them or you could really do with them, but you’re not ambivalent toward them.

what jack is mostly, though (when considering this topic) is a board member. he’s one of those guys that seems to serve until term limits kicks in, then either goes to “at large” or sits in term limit jail until he’s able to run again. so, he’s got a record (as he points out).

i’m not campaigning against jack weiss. i’m campaigning for lew kidder. the reason is that USAT hasn’t done nearly enough to help its most important customer, ironically, jack himself. it’s the RD that needs help. instead, the RD gets almost no help, and that’s just really, really got to change. no more fooling around. it’s just got to change, or else we’re in for a repeat of our former problems.

USAT has done a lot of things well. it just hasn’t done well what it needs to do well most urgently. so a few things need to change. a few seats need to change. and these seats will or won’t change depending on whether people do or don’t spend their $30, become annual members, and vote.

11

“and I do not impune his character”

i can’t be sure, not having checked, but i’m guessing you’re light on a “g” and over-generous with an “e.”
.

12

Dan, I thought you lived in California. If that’s true I guess I’m confused why it’s any of your business who wins this election. You don’t have a dawg in this fight.

If you do live in this region then of course it’s your business and please accept my apology but I could have sworn I read somewhere that you live in California.

13

I suppose my definition of, “right” is doing what’s best for the sport and what’s most fair for it’s athletes. I do believe that ethics, be it related to sports or otherwise have a fairly common and consistent foundation. They say the past is the best predictor of the future. I’d like to better understand what contributed to the fall off in both membership and USAT sanctioned races.

14

I think the topic bears airing, and this is as good a place as any, but I also haven’t the slightest doubt that Jack’s letter was DEFINITELY NOT meant for publication. Either that or he’s an idiot. It was a personal note to you, and you hung it out with the laundry. I understand your intentions, but I think you hit Jack below the belt by allowing a rather hastily composed personal letter show up on your forum.

It was also perhaps injudicious of him to send it to you, but I’ll bet you dollars to Krispy Kremes (wait, that makes no sense, donuts are more than a buck these days…) that he will not be pleased at what you chose to do with it.

That said, let the flames begin!

PS: I also got a chuckle that the posts regarding spelling show that they’ve been edited. Just my sense of humor…

15

“You don’t have a dawg in this fight.”

i don’t mean this as a dig, but i must presume you don’t keep a close watch on what’s going on in our federation. there’s a political party, for lack of a better term, and it’s headed by western region board member jim girand. he’s got people elected in every region in which he takes an interest.

i have no beef with jim. in fact i like him. but that’s the way the game is played nowadays. i live in the west, but my western region board member can’t do squat for or agin’ me. only the entire board can.

i have a national audience to whom i write. just like triathlete magazine or IT. for this reason, and for that reason stated above, i believe i have a sound basis for airing my opinions on this election. the one right i don’t have is to vote in your region.

i just hope that i’m not more passionate about what goes on in your region than you are. i do care about the future of our sport. i saw it shrink to less than half its size, only because a few board directors made some pretty bad decisions 12 and 15 years ago. i’d like to not see that happen again.

we need, i think, to see what’s going on. USAT’s priorities are these: increase annual members, and increase the number of sanctioned races. these are good goals. but they serve, in purpose, to freeze non-sanctioned races out. you can see the ultimate end of this in play right now. what entry fees are you paying? what were these fees 3, or 5, years ago?

you can vote for whom you want, but a lot of us saw things happening in the late 80s that we were powerless to change, because very few people voted, and our board was peopled by a “low common denominator.” i’d rather that not happen again. i’d rather keep entry fees low, help RDs be successful, and keep people from bolting our sport for a sport they can afford.

17

While I don’t necessarily advocate the posting of Jack’s letter, I’m fairly sure that there’s nothing illegal in doing so unless there is an expressed confidentiality notice attached to the body of the email.

18

You’re right, Dan. The word impune is incorrect in this case, although it is a word. I should have written impugn. Now I’ll quit whining about grammar so you can get on with your real discussion.

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there’s a political party, for lack of a better term, and it’s headed by western region board member jim girand. he’s got people elected in every region in which he takes an interest.<<

The entire voting process I find quite suspect. Case in point:

A clubmate and I were at a race a few weeks ago and were approached to vote. I’ve already voted. My clubmate hadn’t and was given a ballot and was asked to sign it and give it back to Mr. Girand. I told my clubmate that perhaps he should mark the ballot. You are to vote your region (which candidate was standing right there) and also for an “at large” candidate. My clubmate was told which at large candidate to vote for. I gave him my opinion, but found the entire experience distasteful.

20

Please note that the guy is running for election to office. Do you really think he should expect confidentiality when he writes a response to an article supporting his opponent to a publisher who runs a tri forum? Get real. Talk about no reasonable expectation of privacy.

21

Dan, I already vote for Bill Burke for three reasons;

  1. He is the first person from the SE Louisiana area to run.
  2. He is generous with his time and money. He directed a race in Belingham, WA on June 1, 2003 and donated his time and his entire crew’s time and materials to put on a duathlon for one of my teamates who is afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s disease. His people arrived in New Orleans on Friday, after driving cross country, and set up on Saturday for the Sunday races. Good People!!!
  3. After a veiled venomous e-mail from Jack Weiss to the message board of the SMW regions’s Runner Triathlete News, I decided I would not vote for him in any other race in which he ran.

Is Bill part of the Jim Girand machine?

Bob Sigerson