It is "all well and good" if U.S. runner Nick Symmonds wants to make a name for his own personal brand, but it would be helpful in the controversy over his forfeited berth in the forthcoming IAAF World Championships in Beijing "if there was a lot more straight-talk instead of public posturing," according to Alan Abrahamson of 3 WIRE SPORTS. This predicament "is entirely of Symmonds’ own making." He is the only one that would have been on the U.S. team who "declined to sign the so-called 'Statement of Conditions.'" This is "not an unreasonable request." Nike "sponsors the team," and it is a "team event, from start to finish." For Symmonds to say he was "'left off' the team, as he did on Twitter, is disingenuous." A further "credibility matter: Symmonds yesterday in a Huffington Post Q&A said that he "'refused' to sign the Statement of Conditions" last year's World Indoor Championships in Poland. But Symmonds had in his possession an Aug. 4 letter from USATF CEO Max Siegel "pointing out that Symmonds had executed such an electronic signature at 3 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2014." After engaging in "more-than-civil dialogue behind the scenes with Siegel in the lead-up to his decision not to sign, Symmonds’ public persona in the aftermath is flamethrower guy?" It is "for sure not 'dialogue.'" Abrahamson: "So what is it -- to enhance the Symmonds brand?" (3WIRESPORTS.com, 8/11).
