Jerry Powell

Chuck... Liked the column. But when was the last time the Oregonian

carried (let's not even talk about featured) cross country ski

racing? Or when has your employer plugged developmental sports of

ANY kind. Especially the hard kind.



Next up... the Tour of the Willamette. Known internationally as the

hardest stage race in North America... Oregonian coverage? Well, you

guys ran a story once when Andy Hampsten called it the greatest race

he'd ever been in. It's next month... If the race organizer can find

enough sponsors. What's that have to do with the newspaper?

Everything. Sponsors for developmental sports are everywhere when

they have some reason to believe that their little contribution to

getting some kid tuned to go run, ride, ski, or skate gets noticed.

Absent that, the wonder is that some of those folks support us at all.



Speaking of support. The Oregonian's record for supporting minor

sports and developing athletes is pretty close to zero. Sure, the

couch potatoes are an easy target (they generally don't move very

fast) in the blame game... but what about the sports media that goes

into a feeding frenzy over well-paid team pros, and ignores the stuff

that just might attract little Joey or Suzy to try it out.



Hey... how come the first time short track speed skating gets ink at

all in the Oregonian is when a kid from Seattle that raced all over

the place on in-line skates gets a place on an Olympic podium? Has

the Oregonian ever reported on the in-line skating scene or on the

local speed skating action?



Do you think there's a connection (or not)?



Jerry Powell

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