Transcript of Jim Gray's interview with Jim Millman

[DCAmateurBoxing]

Note: I left my commentary in (bold & italic) for beginning, but I stopped because I'll let everyone else pick it apart. It was really hard for me not to add my comments.
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Jim Gray: "Jim, it has not been a good performance for the United States Boxing Team. In fact, it's the worst performance going into the medal round in the history of USABoxing. How do you account for this?"

Jim Millman: "When I came on board about a year ago, we knew we were farther than a year to getting things turned around and our vantage point was really towards London." (So you knew that this Olympics was going to be a bust? I have to call Bravo Sierra on this one)
"We got a little bit of a false positive with a good performance at the World Championships, but now we have to just focus on the next four years and get our program back on track to where it deserves to be, given the history of the sport. But it has been a disappointing week. (False positives at the World Championships? Isn't that actually a good litmus test for where your boxers compare to international competitors?)

Jim Gray: "And what is the plan to get it on track, if you can say that in a nutshell?"

Jim Millman: "I think the first priority is to get an increased number of better athletes (he stresses the word 'better') into our sport. Deontay Wilder is a good example . . .All-State basketball, All-State baseball, great football player. . .got intrigued with boxing, got enamored with it, and is now the center piece of our program. We need to attract an increased number of top athletes from other sports to give us more depth coming into a big event like this."

Jim Gray: "Teddy Atlas, myself and Bob Papa in watching these fights and listening to your fighters have got the impression that winning a medal just isn't as important as it seems to be to other countries and to other individuals. Why would that be the case?"

Jim Millman "I would take exception to that. In my experience in working with the athletes over this past year, it seems they've been very focused on trying to give their best performance here. Many of them had opportunities to turn pro early and passed on that to have the chance to compete in the Olympics, so I'm not sure that I would agree with that."

Jim Gray: "There's been a number of bad decisions that have taken place throughout the boxing whole fortnight as it's gone on here. The Americans have been particularly upset over a couple of instances. Is the judging so bad that you are going to have a hard time attracting kids to stay in this program and be wiling to commit to four years?"

Jim Millman: "I think the judging is flawed and needs improvement. I believe that AIBA has the intent of wanting the best system that they can get. We're a tough sport to judge under the best of circumstances. The judges are blocked by the boxers, they're blocked by the referee. It's imperative that the system be improved, so that we don't run the risk of discouraging athletes or losing them for the next quadrennium."

Jim Gray: "What's your assessment of the coaching, in particular, Dan Campbell?"

Jim Millman: "I think Dan and the group have done an excellent job getting the team well conditioned for the tournament. I think the team, top to bottom, was in good condition. I think the coaching staff has had some difficult circumstances to deal with. I think they share my disappointment over what's happened over the course of the tournament. We're going to sit down and talk about all of the elements of the program after the games end."

Jim Gray: "Jim, is it maybe time do what some other sports like water polo, like gymnastics, to go outside of the country - to bring in a quote unquote czar, a great coach from someplace else who's had success elsewhere?"

Jim Millman:" I don't think in today's word, there's any barrier to where you can attract great talent from and we're going to look at all the possibilities moving forward. I think we have great talent in the US. We want to make sure we have the best talent in going forward, but there's no limitation on where we might explore."

Jim Gray: "A lot of the kids seem to be calling back home and getting advice from the coaches who've been with them their whole life and disregarding some of the advice they're being given by Coach Campbell here. How do you respond to that? How do you correct that?"

Jim Millman: "One of the improvements we really need to make is a better balance of work for the athletes between the national coaching staff and their coaches at home. It has to be, not only a seamless transition, but a program where the personal coaches stay more involved all the way through. That's one of the course corrections we're going to make going forward. I believe that if the personal coaches and the national coaches are on the same page, then we can have a more unified approach coming into a big event like this."

Jim Gray: "Has the residency program, which was instituted this past year for boxing, been a failure?"

JIm Millman: "No, I don't believe so at all. I think that we gave the athletes, the majority of the athletes, the best chance to succeed with the resident program - in terms of sports medicine, psychology, conditioning, coaching and a very important factor, which is access to top sparring partners. We had a number of our athletes that couldn't find good sparring partners in their hometown. We're disappointed about the outcome of this tournament, but we think the resident program is on the right track."

Jim Gray: "I want to go back to the judging for a moment. Do you think that America and American fighters have somewhat become psyched out when they enter the ring based on what's happened in the judging and based on the fact that they see so much professional boxing throughout the course of their lives and what scores here [Olympics], isn't what's in their head as what matters?"

Jim Millman: "I think that the . . .I don't believe that the US Team Boxers get psyched out. I think the judging inconsistencies are not limited to the United States. I think it's been across the board. I also think that the professional sport has had it's issues with judging and scoring, if you will. So what I've seen is that our athletes have been ready to go when they've gotten in the ring. I think that some of them have been a bit perplexed coming out about the decisions."

Jim Gray: "Your a good man in a tough job. Are you glad you decided to do this?"

Jim Millman: "Absolutely. You don't find challenges like this ever day. I think sometimes it's the most difficult sports job in the country right now. But, I'm really looking forward to London and we think that we can get this thing turned around and get this thing going in the right direction."

Jim Gray: "And we still have Deontay to go. So, there's some hope there."

Jim Millman: "There's no question. And what a great role model and great example, particularly in the heavier weight, which is not really what we expected coming in."

[boxmel]

Jim Millman: "When I came on board about a year ago, we knew we were farther than a year to getting things turned around and our vantage point was really towards London."

No wonder the team was in disarray - they were "throw-a-way" and, obviously, no one cared

"We got a little bit of a false positive with a good performance at the World Championships,

Didn't he also say it was because the best boxers weren't there? And just who is Jim Millman to demean the two gold medals won by Warren and Andrade? If this was the attitude at the top for the past year, no wonder there were so many problems!

Jim Millman: "I think the first priority is to get an increased number of better athletes (he stresses the word 'better') into our sport. Deontay Wilder is a good example . . .All-State basketball, All-State baseball, great football player. . .got intrigued with boxing, got enamored with it, and is now the center piece of our program. We need to attract an increased number of top athletes from other sports to give us more depth coming into a big event like this."

He really doesn't have a clue, does he. A great deal of our boxers play other sports - they are generally well-rounded athletes. However, why in the world would a "top" or "better" basketball or football player want to box if they aren't already doing so? And what would be the incentive to get them to switch to boxing? They don't get a college scholorship or put into a pro draw. And I really don't see how a football or basketball player would add more depth coming into the Olympics, unless they play on the football or basketball team. I don't get it.

Jim Millman: "I think Dan and the group have done an excellent job getting the team well conditioned for the tournament. I think the team, top to bottom, was in good condition.

It's nice that we now have a "conditioning" team - but what about a coaching team? That statement, even though Millman is praising Campbell, doesn't say much for Campbell's coaching abilities.

Jim Millman:" I don't think in today's word, there's any barrier to where you can attract great talent from and we're going to look at all the possibilities moving forward. I think we have great talent in the US. We want to make sure we have the best talent in going forward, but there's no limitation on where we might explore."

Say what? And how are you going to pick that talent? How are you going to determine the best coach in the U.S.? What's the criteria? Offensive or defensive or both?

Jim Millman: "One of the improvements we really need to make is a better balance of work for the athletes between the national coaching staff and their coaches at home. It has to be, not only a seamless transition, but a program where the personal coaches stay more involved all the way through. That's one of the course corrections we're going to make going forward. I believe that if the personal coaches and the national coaches are on the same page, then we can have a more unified approach coming into a big event like this."

Shudda thought about that a year ago. Sorry to see that Millman just realized it.

JIm Millman: "No, I don't believe so at all. I think that we gave the athletes, the majority of the athletes, the best chance to succeed with the resident program - in terms of sports medicine, psychology, conditioning, coaching and a very important factor, which is access to top sparring partners. We had a number of our athletes that couldn't find good sparring partners in their hometown. We're disappointed about the outcome of this tournament, but we think the resident program is on the right track."

Why would you need the residency program for sparring partners? Sparring partners haven't lived at the OTC in the past but have been brought to camps to participate. The sports medicine, blah, blah, have always been available at the OTC camps. Nothing changed except the team had no choice but to stay there.

Just my thoughts. Now we wait and see. I'm sure the USOC will have input on, at least, the residency program. I had also heard that the "marker" for this Olympics was two medals (funding is based on the markers), so we fell short there.

[debc]

JIm Millman: "No, I don't believe so at all. I think that we gave the athletes, the majority of the athletes, the best chance to succeed with the resident program - in terms of sports medicine, psychology, conditioning, coaching and a very important factor, which is access to top sparring partners. We had a number of our athletes that couldn't find good sparring partners in their hometown. We're disappointed about the outcome of this tournament, but we think the resident program is on the right track."

It was nice of him to mention good access to "sparring Partners" better known as "Training Partners". Since they spent 80% of the last year at the OTC and worked as hard as the Olympians. I say this because the TP's did replace most of the Olympians at the International events and duals. This meant they had to be in top shape and maintain their weight within the accepted five pounds. For the most part the TP's did as they were told and followed the rules, didn't cause disciplinary problems and accepted little compensation for putting their lives on hold this past year. I applaud these young men for their spirit, all the TP's had hopes of having won the Olympic spots themselves. Putting hopes and dreams aside they stood by our selected team and choose to support them and USA Boxing.

[Dennis]

Sounds like he buried his head in the sand.

[squarering]

I don't think one of our boxers ducked and weaved that well. So Demetrius really isn't what the the whole boxing world said he was for a year after one loss. Rashi the shoe in on everyones scorecard was just a big facade to boltster our teams hopes and when he lost it was over for everyone,,,,except the guy no one expected to do well. And the Gary Russell situation falls directly on Gary Russell and no one else. Funny, I saw the kid miss making weight in all the years I have known him. Personal coached working with the athlete they trained for years and brought to top only to be handed over to,,you finish the sentence, You mean like they did in swimming, Diving, Gymnastics, HMMMMM personal coaches,,,yes it could work.