FUTURE OF THE IBAF

The nominations are in now for positions on the IBAF Executive Committee to include the President. As all know by now, I am not seeking election to any position. I have informed the candidates that I will serve the organization in any way possible to help the growth of our sport. Specifically, the relationship we now have with MLB, MLBPA, and other professional organizations is at an all time high. It's imperative that we keep these connections as strong as possible in the years ahead.
I do hope that the upcoming December election is held with focus on the future of the organization and not on any self serving issues.
This has been a great year for baseball. The Korean Series, Japanese series, and World Series have all been successful by any measure. Millions of fans saw the best of sport in all these competitions.
Our challenge now is to bring the same level of achievement to all our member federations.

PEOPLE KEEP ASKING

A day does not go by without questions about Chicago's failed 2016 bid. How did Chicago lose on the first round? My take: 1) The other cities had either an IOC member or an NOC leader as an integral part of their bid; 2) Tokyo did an excellent job of asking that their bid be supported thru the first round knowing they would be eliminated but to save face; 3) Early on other cities focused on the probable presence of President Obama to soften his effect; 4) Rio played the "small" nation and geographical issue to its' advantage; 5)Never discount the repeat presence of cities in the bid process; 6) The current bid process requires more face-to-face than ever before; 7) It's time for the US Olympic movement to understand the real cultural differences between it and the rest of the world; 8) Middle East and other conflicts work against a US city; 9)I believe cities would fair better to sell America versus a city by itself; 10) In spite of the constant statements on youth, the Olympic Games are still about competition among the best so strut out your best athletes!;11) Many IOC members are still angry about the Salt Lake abuses;12) It was Rio's turn! Get over it!

AN OLD ADAGE!

Most remember the old saying; "Kick me once, you're stupid, kick me twice, I'm stupid!" Well, the IOC made two important announcements today reflecting the IOC/USOC status.
The IOC is closing their USA marketing office in Atlanta (home of Coca Cola if you forgot, the longest serving IOC sponsor) and also diversifying their marketing to be less reliant on US sponsors. Add all this to the events of these past weeks and months, and one wonders if the Olympic movement in the United States is not as fragile as it has ever been.

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF ROGGE

One only has to review the events of these past years to understand the power of IOC President Rogge to appease the demands of NOC's and sport federations to reduce the USOC share of TV and sponsor revenues . US President Obama received the strongest welcome of any world leader in Olympic history. The city of Copenhagen came to a complete halt to allow his motorcade to move to the convention hall.Chicago drops out on first round of voting. Obama is selected for Nobel Peace Prize, an award every IOC President has sought! New York City is considered the world's home. Their bid is defeated by Madrid in 2005. The national pastime of America, Baseball, is removed as an Olympic sport despite it's presence in 12 previuos Olympic Games! Softball, another popular sport among American girls and women, is thrown out as well. The present USOC leadership is given a vote of no confidence by all their sport bodies primarily based on their poor relations with the international sports community. Golf and Rugby Sevens are promoted by the IOC President and added to the 2016 program. No US city will probably be considered as a host til 2024 or later. As young folks say: "Hello!"

THE USOC CONTROVERSIES

As most of you may know, yesterday, the national governing bodies of the USOC delivered a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the current USOC chair and CEO and asked for their immediate resignations. I've been asked many times if these leaders supported Baseball's return to the 2016 games. The answer is NO! In spite of calls, letters, meetings, and emails, except for the two USOC IOC members, there had been no response nor any actions. This in spite of the fact that Baseball still remains an national governing body of the USOC and I, as IBAF president, am only one of two federation presidents from the United States. The other is softball. The USA now has NO IF presidents in the Olympic movement. A shame! During my tenure as USOC CEO, our staff worked with Bob Smith, the then IBAF President to add Baseball successfully to the 1992 Barcelona games. Something has been lost in support of USA sports these past years.

IOC Vote ON 2016 SPORTS

Tomorrow, the IOC Congress in Copenhagen will vote on the two sports forwarded to the Congress by the IOC Executive Committee. Once again, only these two sports will be considered for the 2016 program, no others! If either Golf or Rugby fail, there will be no substitutions made by the Congress. Martin Miller and I visited with many IOC members this past week in Copenhagen to support our Baseball efforts. Although we did receive support from many, the current rules will not allow our consideration. In addition, we did reach out to softball, again to no avail. They will remain independent under their current leadership.

What about Rio? We met with the IOC staff to start our proposals for Rio 2016. It would be an omission to not have Baseball on the program for an Olympic games in the Americas.

World Cup Site

If you want to follow real Baseball, go to the IBAF World Cup site. Up to the minute play-by-play of every game!!