I’ll take that as an invite to have some ‘emoticonless’ fun of my own…
Not as much as I’d like to transplant some of the superbly-famed coaches from outside CONUS into our supportive, nurturing environment where they could liberate the current system. (insert favorite emoticon)
Truth in jest aside, it is my view that the historical phenomenal performances of T&F deserve to be considered as the rule, as opposed to the exception, with respect to analytical scrutiny and otherwise as, to me, all sport disciplines deserve to be inhabited by the most favorable outcomes of selection in order that we may coach/view the highest level performances.
It’s one thing to consider what types of training yield the largest margin of improvements amidst the less than elite population of various gene pools; however, the less than elite gene pool category will never ever attain the highest sport results in disciplines that are so heavily influenced by physical preparation (such as T&F).
As a result, it’s very interesting to consider all known factors associated with the most dominant performances of all time as the sport is very much deserving of having this type of talent represent it at the international level.
The question is how might we compare the sportsmen of past and present in light of the significant changes already mentioned (training, surfaces, training apparatus, apparel, and so on)
In the utopian society, soon to come, the national kommission for victorious direction (NKVD) agents will emerge from their Zil limos in the middle of the night to take away the bad coaches, never to be seen again.