Newsweek: 'America's Unemployed Olympic Hero'

Newsweek has an article on Olympic champion and 4x100 superhero, Jason Lezak. From Newsweek:

It was late morning in Beijing on Aug. 11. In the waiting area before the start of the 4-by-100 freestyle relay, Lezak called a huddle with his young teammates, Cullen Jones, Garrett Weber-Gale and Michael Phelps. Lezak told them he had been a part of this relay in 2000 and had come in second. He was a part of this relay in 2004 and got bronze. The message: enough. They nodded and walked out to the pool.

Newsweek: [Link]

The article goes on to discuss monetary compensation that Lezak is asking for and while reading it the name, Evan Morgenstein, appears. He is the sports agent who refuses to do any work with TYR due to a lawsuit TYR filed against one of his clients, Eric Vendt, for switching suit brands while on the TYR payroll.

My reference is this quote from Morgenstein posted at SwimNews.com:

"...TYR Sport is no longer on our list of active apparel companies with whom we will do business with in the future." However Morgenstein's decision to speak out against their treatment of Vendt will not effect their current TYR sponsored swimmers. ..."

[Link]

According to the Newsweek article, Morgenstein's client list includes Brendan Hanson, and Aaron Peirsol, who both may also be in the same boat as Jason Lezak; that is to say: Unemployed.

It makes me think of Peter Marshall, a guy TYR sent off to Berlin, Germany, to participate in the FINA, Swimming World Cup and he consequently set three world records in the backstroke. He also came away away with $75,000. Not bad for a fast weekend: [Link]

I have to wonder if TYR had those three amazing swimmers in their stable how well would they have done if sent off to Berlin? Sure would have made one hell of IM relay.

Lezak has the talent, but does he have the talent management he needs to be employed?

Premier Management Group makes a statement!

Evan Morgenstein is the president of a company called Premier Management Group, They are a sports talent agency who represent everybody from Amanda Beard to Erik Vendt. Obviously their job is to negotiate the best deal they can for the athletes they represent and now they refuse to do business with TYR.

Morgenstein sent out an email to SwimNews which stated: "I felt like it was time as a company to make a statement. We will continue to work with our athletes who work with TYR and make sure they get what they need, but in the future we will not be pursuing them." [Link]

He goes on to say that Erik Vendt did NOT violate his contract by wearing a Speedo at the Long Beach Grand Prix while under contract with TYR and after hearing that I sincerely think that any sophisticated reader has questions about that statement.

Morgenstein predicts a backlash from the swim community over this treatment of Vendt and he couldn't be more right about a backlash but it isn't going to be about Erik Vendt. It is going to be, and has been, all about USA Swimming for-profit deals.

One such deal with the Wasserman Media Group led to the pulling of Flowswimming's Floswimming's media credential which annoyed not just the bloggers but just about every swimmer that has ever been to Flowswimming's Floswimming.

We're going to be seeing a backlash from swim suit manufacturers too; (starting with this TYR lawsuit), who do not appreciate a non-profit, National Governing Body favoring one brand over another due to the amount of cash that particular brand pours into the USA Swimming's coffers.

For instance USAS allows no other swimsuit company save for Speedo to advertise in their Splash Magazine. Speedo has banner ads on the USAS site, a Speedo branded tip of the week article and recently we have all heard the National team coach seriously pimp Speedo while never mentioning that he was on the Speedo payroll. (See TYR Brief).

The aforementioned is a big deal for legally, a non-profit is not allowed to profit from the subject of their non-profit. That is why teachers have bake sales instead of tutoring students in exchange for cash. Hence, USA Swimming can't let this go to court. If they do then a judge will tear into their bank account and neither Congress nor FINA would like that.

I suspect this lawsuit will be settled before Beijing or else the public will see how USAS does business. Though I am hoping we do!

So, unlike Swim Network which is owned by the Wasserman Media Group, or Swim News that is very pro Speedo, I am rooting for TYR since this isn't about Speedo, it's about the for-profit tactics of USAS.

Here is a Reuters overview: [Link]

Larsen Jenson and Erik Vendt are wearing the 'Speedo LZR' but they are not signed with Speedo

From the L.A. Times today: "... [Erik Vendt] is wearing the suit he feels is the fastest in the world, not because there is any deal pending," said Evan Morgenstein, Vendt's agent. "I'm hoping to have something for him but there's no guarantee."

"... Stu Isaac of Speedo, however, said talks are ongoing with Vendt and Jensen. ..."

They also bring up Cullen Jones who says he is sticking with Nike and makes it clear that he appreciates them as well. [Link]

I have a feeling that some time after this Olympic year, the Speedo LZR is going to be deemed illegal just like the TYR Aquashift was. In my opinion FINA is now being confronted with the fact that they have seriously alienated a myriad of companies over their meek definition of the word fabric. (Speedo, I believe, has mixed or layered in urethane within their fabric. Hence, is it fabric anymore? Is the neoprene on the blueseventy fabric? I don't know?

There is a lot of FINA sponsorship dollars involved here and those alienated companies might begin to think that the triathlons and triathletes might be a better investment than swim meets and swim stars. In fact, sports agents may suffer over this too. If TYR isn't signing, and NIKE isn't signing, then there goes their "bidding wars."

I think FINA will soon begin to feel their pain in the form of fewer sponsored meets and lots of corporate acrimony for the investment dollars they have been summarily lost will not be taken lightly.