ACOG CEO Billy Payne is "a rare combination of vision,
bulldog-hard work and old-fashioned Southern charm. It's easy to
see how the [IOC] was seduced by him," states Atlanta Mayor Bill
Campbell in a profile of Payne in this week's NEWSWEEK. Mark
Starr and Vern Smith report, "With barely a year to go until the
Olympic torch is lit again, Atlanta appears to be making
remarkably good time with its preparation schedule" (NEWSWEEK,
7/17 issue).
FROM NCAA TO USOC: Dick Schultz's recent selection as USOC
Exec Dir may have been unanimous, "but that doesn't mean everyone
was thrilled with the process," according to John Powers. The
search committee was supposed to stay "hush-hush" about the
finalists, but "their names appeared in newspapers across America
a month before the vote" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/9). One one of
Schultz's goals is to get "Americans placed on more strategic
international committees so athletes from this country can be
best served in international competition" (Irv Moss, DENVER POST,
7/9). In Denver, Mark Wolf notes, "Dick Schultz left the NCAA
under a cloud. He joins the U.S. Olympic Committee under
promisingly bright skies" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/8).