The Saga Of Brian Sheriff - Part Three

You might be wondering how Mazda became aware of Brian's allegations which led to his dismissal from the company anyway. Well, Brian is not sure but says heavy suspicion falls on Nobby Hashizume of Arthur Lydiard Foundation who had offered to help on the message board thread. "I believe he took it personally as an insult. When I sent him the proof he never responded. He had asked me to provide evidence...After 18 years here I am in a position to tell anybody anywhere to never ever trust a Japanese. I have enough experience from countless situations to tell you that there is no honor in the Japanese vis a vis contracts. There is an amazing desire to cheat on every deal they enter into with foreigners. There is never another side to the story - it's always their side. Even after they see the evidence of fraud by a Japanese against a foreigner they will convince the foreigner is wrong."

I had contacted Nobby for a comment on Brian's situation and in a lengthy voicemail message, basically explained that "cultural differences" were to blame. My calls for a follow up were not returned. 

In one of his emails, Brian had compared his case to those of  former MLB manager Bobby Valentine, who was coaching in Japan, and MLB pitcher Jeremy Powell who had a major contract snafu when he ended up contracted to two teams. Looking into their stories, you get an idea of the Japanese attitude to contracts. From an article in the Japan Times on the Jeremy Powell story:

Best-selling author Robert Whiting, who has seen his share of these disagreements during his long association with Japan, claims culture is usually at the root of the dispute.
"Japanese have looser attitudes toward contracts than Americans," Whiting points out. "They place emphasis on verbal agreement, personal relationships, one's sincerity and the likelihood the situation that exists at the start of the deal will likely change.
"For Americans, a contract is written in stone. For Japanese, it is just a guideline toward a future relationship that is constantly evolving. You are expected to operate in good faith, but what's expected is often vague."

"In the US people think I am making stuff up. The expatriates in Japan also thought the same about me but the Bobby V story last year shocked them into realizing that I'd been telling the truth all along." 

Brian is now married to Yasumi, a local girl he met when he first arrived in Japan. "Coincidently her boss was the Mr. Ito of Mazda legal who told me that he was fully aware of the intent to defraud. He asked me to ask my wife to complain on my behalf. She is so afraid because as a former Mazda HR staff she has seen what they're capable of doing. She actually couldn't believe I'd not been paid because she saw the paperwork before I arrived. A moment ago I told her about Glenn's words and she was stunned." Together they have two sons - 8 and 3 and Brian says after the marrige Mazda stopped their "direct gangster threats" towards him. 

"The Japanese attitude to contracts holds true but only when it's them changing stuff to suit themselves. However if the change is suggested by the foreigner they go ape on you! In Japan they have two kinds of contracts - the one executed under Japanese law and the one negotiated abroad. The latter is usually respected line by line. That's the part causing such problems for any legal assistance. The foreign deal is considered very dangerous especially in that any scandal will reflect negatively on the entire lot...

Bobby Valentine got that attention across to the establishment through media respected expatriates. The result was the ball team didn't go bating him...I have tried to retain a lawyer but nothing... nobody has ever replied. In Japan I was told by the vice-president of the Hiroshima bar association to just take 3 million yen from Mazda and go. Mazda then bragged to me that they had bought him too. Did you see the IAAF reply to me?"

Brian had written me and forwarded the IAAF email he received. It shows they were not keen to provide him any assistance, and he says corruption within is the reason.

From: Pierre Weiss <pierre@hq.iaaf.org>
Subject: FW: Feedback On About iaaf
To: "brianshrff@yahoo.com" <brianshrff@yahoo.com>
Cc: "Anne-Marie Garrigan" <anne-marie.garrigan@hq.iaaf.org>
Date: Monday, April 13, 2009, 11:03 PM

Dear Sir,

 

It took us some time to reply to your email of March 15^th. Indeed

-          You refer to the fact that this message “is the fourth letter I have written to you since 2007”: we looked in our registration system and we did not find any earlier correspondence
-          It looks that they fact that you are critiquing are old by more than 15 years. Why did not react earlier ?
-          IAAF is here to help athletes who are in trouble, but these athletes have first to follow the IAAF rules. When you moved from Zimbabwe to Japan in the 90s, you were supposed to have the IAAF authorisation! We conducted research and we did not find any such agreement. Either you got it and this case, send us a copy. Or you did not ask for this authorisation, and your move was illegal ... so don’t ask now for IAAF support !
-          You speak also about “an IAAF sanctioned contract with the Mazda Track Club”: this is also new to us. Send us a copy please.

 

To conclude: it looks that without further information, facts and proofs, there is nothing that we can do for you.

 

Best regards

 

Pierre Weiss

IAAF General Secretary

"This is the official - only response to date, from the IAAF top. The tone is so unbelieveably cold. I had all the items he mentioned. I wrote back to tell him just that and cited that his predecessor - Mr. John Holt, had personally made contact with me when my country denied me the right to compete in the world champs in 1987. I also mentioned that I had sought and obtained the specific written clearance of both the US and Zimbabwean athletic governing bodies. I had even obtained the required bank and IRS clearance to move large sums of money into the US from Japan. In fact I added that I was introduced to the IAAF secretary general who is now the head of the organisation when I finished 3rd in the Tokyo Marathon in 1993 - an illegal transfer I certainly was not. Guess what? I have never heard from the IAAF again. After providing the proof they sought they walked away from me. Mr. Weiss wrote that none of my other letters were found. I can hardly agree with that because I had specifically spelt out that Mazda had waved to me a letter which they had written to the IAAF to promise sponsorship of IAAF events in return for ignoring any claims I may raise in future. And that was before I'd asked the IAAF to intervene. I had told Mazda that the JAAF had advised me to contact the IAAF. But to protect myself from any charges of violating the terms of the contract regarding contract dispute I had told Mazda of my intention to contact the IAAF.
Mr Weiss is definitely not telling the truth about Mazda, the IAAF and myself in regards to how I came to be in Japan and what transpired there after. The bigger story is IAAF corruption. They sold me in return for cash from Mazda."

  

"My hope is that I can get people abroad to directly write the Japanese - Mazda, Media, Government etc." Brian says. "Bobby Valentine got that attention across to the establishment through media respected expatriates. The result was the ball team didn't go bating him....until your interest in me after all these years I had begun to feel better off dead. Honest, I have constantly contemplated suicide."

 A fourth and final installment will follow in a day or two. Thanks for reading.

  And if you're behind, please read Part One and Part Two.

The Saga Of Brian Sheriff – Part Two

As Brian stated in his Letsrun.com post, he was consulted on the deal by his agent at the time by Glenn Latimer (now Chairman of USATF Long Distance Running), as well as Mark Bossardet of Reebok (now VP of marketing for Saucony), and Steve Bosley of the Bank of Boulder; though the deal was done directly through Tadaaki Hayano (now director of the Tokyo Marathon).

 ”The entire deal was offered to me by Mazda through him. Everything I asked for came after Glenn and Mark Bossardet's input - get nothing less than 100,000 US per year, get a job in the US guaranteed for after the contract, get Mazda team to wear Reebok equipment, and you continue to be on the Reebok team (which was all agreed to on paper)”, Brian says. So, he would seemingly have some allies in the fight for his money owed under the terms of the contract. And, in the beginning he did.  When he had still not received his contracted payment or his apartment after four months, the man who set up the contract, Tadaaki Hayano, came to Japan and confronted Mazda in April of ‘92.

    “Tad realized that Mazda were intent on not meeting their side of the deal very soon after I arrived in Japan. He confided that he'd been tipped off by Mr. Abe, an assistant coach with the Mazda team, about something that was not right about Mazda and the agreement with me.”
    Tad was to tell them that the Massachusetts law had been used to break his contract with Reebok meaning Mazda would be in violation of the law.  Mazda continued to make excuses. In July of ’92 he was told that Mazda was in heavy debt and in major financial trouble. Brian was asked to instead take one lump sum payment with interest at 7.23% at the end of the contract in July of ’98. Brian agreed to it. He was after all being paid the living expense in the meantime. 

What had really happened between Tad and Mazda was different, Brian says. “Mazda paid him instead to walk away. I had no idea about the payment to Tad until Mazda HR began to shout at me at the end of the six month stay when I started to talk about returning to Boulder. A Mr. Hada of Mazda HR told me that the terms were slightly in Mazda's favor now since they had bought Tad. He explained that Mazda had paid him and he demanded that I ask Tad to make any contact to Mazda because he was working for Mazda now.”
    “Tad continues to simply say to me he can't remember or Mazda are lying. I have given him the person's name but he won't call him. In fact, over the next six months I was forced to pay him a lot of money through pressure from him and Mazda. When I went to Boulder en route to Bobby Crim in August 1992 Tad locked me into his bedroom and had me sign on a blue piece of scrap paper that I would pay for his graduate studies at CU - $4000 per semester. I have his letters making the follow-up demands.  In fact, Mazda said if I didn't pay Tad I would be on my own in Japan. Japanese immigration would extradite me to Zimbabwe.”
    So where was Brian to turn? He reported both Tad and Mazda to Mr. Susumu Sunahara of the JAAF (Japan Assoc. of Athletics Fed.) in 1993 and has repeated his pleas for help every year since. "It's a scandal that must be avoided..." Mr. Sunahara told him.
“Mazda legal department's Mr. Ito has fully acknowledged my claim to be more serious than I understand it to be. In fact he was the person who said at the time the contract paper was being drawn, as an assistant manager in Mazda HR he was asked to do the visa application paperwork for me. And he said to me, on or around August 19 2004, that he had warned the HR people not to do the illegal thing they were planning in regards to the contract. He told me and I mentioned it in my post on Let’s run that Mazda intended to have my services for free even despite the fact that Mazda had broken my deal with Reebok. He gave me the exact person to confront.
What's my problem? I have never been allowed to see anybody in the legal department nor in the PR department to complain. Mazda keep saying I am handled by a group that isn't directly Mazda but a section of the worker's union welfare fund. Meaning? A paper organization that can't be sued nor even identified. Mazda now say I never ever had an association with the company. I was purged. But that's not the only purging I was subjected to. The IAAF also removed all trace of my athletic performances. Since 1998 when I started to demand my payment from Mazda and intensified my threats of going to the IAAF I've found no data what-so-ever about me in IAAF files.”

And where was Glenn Latimer, Brian’s agent through it all? Well, according to Glenn, he never was Brian’s agent, telling me he merely assisted Brian in gaining entry to a few races in the US. He also denies ever talking with Brian regarding the contract and move to Japan and stated that he was “surprised to learn Brian had gone to Japan”.
    “I'm not going to call him a liar but what he has said is not the truth.” Brian says. “To hear that he was not my agent does come as a huge surprise…. I have written documents from Glenn to Mazda which clearly inform Mazda that he is my sole agent. The deal with Mazda was clearly known to him and with his blessing. I even made arrangement to pay him ten percent…..No, he did not talk directly with Mazda during the negotiations, but he was fully aware of it and was going to receive ten percent. And that ten percent I still believe I owe him.”
    So why would Glenn abandon the deal and Brian? Brian says the relationship had soured in part when he was not released by Mazda for races that Glenn had arranged. “He wrote so very angry letters to me when Mazda would not release me for races he was putting together for me... He seemed to blame me for not really wanting to go. But I was in no position to argue and he never understood that… In fact when I was at Mazda he solicited Mazda sponsorship for a club he had in Mexico. Mazda agreed and asked me to provide the athlete list. Glen sent it and all but a few were Englishmen. Mazda were stunned to realize that it was not a club but rather the athletes he represented. They told me they were surprised I would be part of such a stunt. Glen didn't take it too kindly. I have  a letter in which he tells me that one woman runner is worth six of me…..I began understand the nature of our relationship. In fact I had made a demand to him for my yet unpaid fee for committing to the '91 LA Marathon, a demand he has simply ignored. I may not have been his favorite athlete but any race director will confirm that I was under Glenn right through to 1997. In 1991 when I decided to take the Mazda offer I had been named Best Male on American Roads (?) by the race directors, I was a board member of ARRA, I had been called the best athlete to work with by the Reebok marketing people.”

    Still, Brian says Glenn did make early attempts to contact Mazda regarding the yet unpaid fees, but those efforts were soon relinquished and though they maintained some contact through the years, around ’06 Glenn asked Brian to no longer involve him in the matter. “He told me not to bring him into my problem because it wouldn't look good for him as he was involved with US running.” In a final email response to me regarding Brian’s response, Glenn Latimer simply stated, its “Complete crap. Not remotely right.”, and requested, “Leave me out of this farce.” 

    Mark Bossardet was another person Brian turned to for help. Brian says Mark did try to help. “Mark Bossardet was the person who had a feeling I could get cheated in Japan. He directly warned me of that possiblity and advised me to have every document in duplicate and to have Mazda write everything they said to me. The result is I have all the evidence.” 

Mark would send a letter to Mazda reminding them that they were obligated to honor the contract by law. “But nothing ever came from it”. Reebok’s legal team, including the lady who handled the Mazda offer, remembered the deal but weren’t able to locate Brian’s file. She said they were not obligated to retain documents after a few years. Brian asked her to state that his contract from Reebok was very clear - a third party offer during the contract period must come through Massachusetts law. He says she never did it. His final request to Mark was the week Mark left Reebok for Fila. The response letter only said, "Sorry, can't help you. - Mark.” The letter “left me weak in the knees” Brian says.
    Mark Plaatjes, who accompanied Brian to Steve Bosley's house back in Boulder during the negotiations for advice on the deal, IRS details, and international finance rules, did the most of any body to help him. But Brian says Mark has not replied any of his letters for about four years now. “I feel like an unwelcome guest...”.

    “I came to Japan because it would have given me a six month opportunity to study the Japanese market. Reebok in fact had said they had the door open for me to return when the deal was over. The only thing that's astray here is that Mazda never honored their side of the deal, a deal they proposed to me. I am only trying to collect my money and move on with my life. The running establishment in the US was ready to mobilize for Mama Wolde of Ethiopia, a man who had butchered many people...
They were willing to mobilize the US based athletes to persuade the IOC and IAAF to allow South African athletes to compete in the US during apartheid. In fact it turned out to be a scam only designed for one agent's athletes. My name went on to the document and I've been a pariah in my country since - 1987.
I thought I had friends. Friends would never ask me, "Why are you still there?" when I've been repeating that they're holding my money and my country hostage. If I walk out they will have me killed. If I can shame them then I will be able to collect and walk away.”

“I was one of the first foreigners to have my stuff down in writing and able to seek help... the problem is that the audacity of the scam and fraud was so unimaginable that nobody wanted to even try to look into my claims.
A US ex-major leaguer was caught out in a similar scam last year when the Orix Buffalos had him sign an agreement and when he arrived in Japan they simply switched entire pages...
The Fukyoka Softbank Hawks realized what had happened when the player insisted that the contract was not the one he'd signed. Japan baseball allowed the Hawks to offer him a different deal. My only problem is I have no foreign media asking Mazda to honor the contract. All I need is a direct request to Mazda. They cheated two Samoan rugby players in 1996/7. They didn't pay the agreed amount and had them work in the factory for no pay - just like they did to me (but I was in the HQ). The two guys had their agent write a direct request for Mazda to honor the contract. I was asked to explain to the agent that Mazda had made a mistake and the money would be paid. It was paid.
Justice for me will only come through outside direct interest to Mazda and perhaps to the JAAF and JOC. Names have to be mentioned as I mentioned them on Let's run.
Do you know that none of the people I mentioned have even considered legal action against me?
If I can collect my fees and other unpaid money I will bring my family to the US.”


Much more yet to come including who Brian thinks brought his claims on Letsrun.com to Mazda's attention. (Hint- it's Nobby)

The Saga Of Brian Sheriff - Part One

Brian Sheriff was one of the top long distance runners in the world from the late ‘80’s to the early 90’s, amassing an impressive resume of podium finishes around the world. In 1991 he signed a lucrative long-term contract with Mazda Motor Corp. to run for their Ekiden team in Japan. But according to Brian, it was not what it appeared to be. Now 45 years old, Brian remains in Hiroshima, Japan some 19 years after arriving. He claims he was defrauded out of over $800,000 he was owed, never receiving a penny from the contract he signed, and conditionally enslaved by the corporation. He says he was tossed out on the streets by Mazda in ’06 leaving him currently stateless, unable to leave the country, and still fighting for what he’s owed.

I remember Brian from his wins at the Grand Rapids River Bank in ’89 and ’90. I grew up in the Grand Rapids area and recently wondered whatever became of the man. Not much comes up when you search his name online. You will find a few archived articles mentioning some races he won and a link to his Facebook page, but little relating to history or accomplishments. After a little digging around I came across a post he made on the Letsrun.com message board in ’06, and an article on Michiganrunner.net, to which he had written a letter in ’04. Both detail his unfortunate predicament in his own words. I found it rather shocking and was disturbed by the story - rare for me. Then there is no follow up, and certainly no word of resolution. His story didn’t sit well with me. So I decided to email the man myself and see how he was doing. Brian responded that same day and we exchanged numerous emails over the next few weeks. He told me everything there was to know regarding his time in Japan and the deal with Mazda. He answered all of my questions and even forwarded emails from the IAAF regarding his situation. From talking with him, Brian seems to be a genuinely good-hearted man who has been broken down by a corporation who intended all along to fuck him over. His tone has been despondent at best.

If you aren't familiar with Brian's history, he was fathered by an Irish-American man, born to a Zimbabwean mother, and grew up a citizen of Zimbabwe. He excelled in running as a junior in that country before accepting a scholarship to run for an American school. But he would be stripped of his citizenship prior to graduating from Texas Tech University in ’90. He would eventually relocate to Boulder, CO in ‘91, where he was recruited to run for Mazda Motor Corporation’s Ekiden team in Japan. A desirable addition to any team, Brian already had a long list of credentials to his name. His wins included; The San Blas Half-Marathon -twice, The Bobby Crim Ten miler -twice, The Trevira Ten Miler -twice, The Grand Rapids River Bank Run 25k -twice, The Texas Relays 10,000m -three times, The New Bedford Half-Marathon, and the Cherry Blossom Ten miler. He was also 2nd in the ’87 Prefontaine 10,000 to Douglas Wakiihuri, running 28:08.

Compiling Brian's emails into a proper story has been difficult and time consuming for a number of reasons. The main one being I'm a shitty journalist. Having worked, and reworked the story over the past few months, I've realized, that for the most part, it's best to just let Brian speak for himself, as he does so well enough. So, here now is Brian's initial response to my inquiry.

Sir, you are the first person to enquire without my direct solicitation to you - I am at a loss for words.
My situation is so embarrassing for the Hiroshima establishment (Japanese authorities included) because they have openly confessed to abetting Mazda in defrauding me. However, as they all tell me and any legal adviser that steps up to help me, Mazda is a Japanese company and I'm a foreign so I must 'understand'...


Yes sir, I am still in Hiroshima. It is impossible for me to leave - I came out here with a contract that was impossible to re-write - TAC/IAAF Trust Fund Contract for Corporate Endorsement of Athletes. The contract was the only type available for me to enter Japan.
Payment was one time per year - at the beginning of each contracted year. At a rate of 10 million yen per year I was to receive 70 million yen. I have not seen a penny. Mazda had also used Massachusetts law to end my contract with Reebok - using the right of first refusal clause. By that law Mazda were legally obliged to honor the contract in full. Mazda has simply told me, "Let's talk about it later..."
All expenses were contractually obligated to Mazda. I was charged for all and told I'd be reimbursed. I was to be repatriated to the US at the end of the contract. No sir, that again Mazda has ignored.
Worst of all is that Mazda raided my private trust fund (TAC/IAAF) in Boulder, Colorado to pay tax on the annual payment I had not received. The company produced fake proofs of annual payment showing that I'd been given the money. However they also produced totally different papers a month or so later showing the money would be paid in due course. The Japanese police and immigration have been asking me to simply take it as a lesson learned and return to the US. It's mind boggling how they can fear no retribution nor remorse.
I have all the papers in my possession. The most damning is the document that came out after my Let'srun.com post. Mazda hauled me in with the intent to sue me for libel and slander. My claims had no proof they said. There had never been a contract as I described.
I simply told them to call the government and the JAAF because there was only one type of contract I could enter into with a Japanese company. Mazda then said they changed my contract after I came to Japan. On that I reminded them about the Massachusetts law under which the negotiation with Mazda had taken place. I also mentioned that Mazda had ended my long association with Reebok.
Mazda told me to just find proof my contract claims were real or I'd be in serious trouble.
I was grilled through three meetings in which their demands for proof grew even more threatening in their tone. They didn't mince their words in telling me that I would get physically hurt. But just before the fourth meeting I noticed a Japanese language reference to the actual date of my contract signing. I also noticed that it showed the full term of the deal. I then asked the lead inquisitor to tell the 'court' what he needed from me. He repeated that I just prove Mazda had promised to pay me 10 million per year.
I pointed out to the wording I'd read and asked him to read it and comment. He read it and stunned the room by his totally casual reply, "Yes, we do have your original contract. We are in this meeting only to discuss your Let'srun.com post. You said, "Mazda would pay me 10 million per year - net", we want to tell you we didn't promise such a thing. We said minus taxes. That would be less than 10 million...
I then asked him, "And what about all my expenses including rent. You charged me rent on for seven years and threw me into hotels for three weeks per year at my expense when you closed your dormitory for the holidays. You put your runners in my hotel rooms - thirteen people, and made me pay for the rooms. What does the contract say about that?


He opened his file and took the document out. For fourteen years they'd been telling me it didn't exist. And only a day before they'd threatened me by saying I had one more day to find it or I was dead. They'd even laughed that immigration would never give me a copy claiming that they had bought immigration.
When I demanded to hold the contract in my hand the man hesitated but I raised my voice and he gave it to me. I was stunned. The amount was not 10 million but 11 million yen!
It was bigger than I recalled. And it was signed in a signature I was not using until about 1996 - five years after I had allegedly signed it.
Mazda had been saying they'd changed my contract because I'd arrived late to Japan. That was of course not true but under Japanese law the company has the benefit of the doubt.
However this new document showed under term of agreement that the deal was based on the issuance of a visa to enter Japan. It would be retro-active to the day of signing.
Mazda had had a difficult time obtaining a visa for me for reasons I can explain later - reasons that prove Mazda intended to defraud me from the very beginning. In fact sir, I was trafficked by Mazda from the US under the pretense of having me stay in Japan for six months only. I am still here 18 years later...


Upon the details of that contract being read to the 'court' the senior gentleman who had attended to prosecute me walked out. He had been told to kick me out of Mazda for failing to prove my internet claims. Instead he told me that my internet claims had been kind to Mazda. He was shocked. Less than six months later I was kicked out onto the streets without a single penny. I had been told to wait while Mazda looked into the new phoney contract. Mazda PR and Mazda Legal Department asked me to get a lawyer. I did but the same two groups asked the lawyer to forget about helping me. This has happened three times now.


There is no more course of action other than the type we never want to take. I am surprising myself by the length of time I have managed to physically restrain myself. What's making it worse is that I have also known the exact cause of sudden acceleration in vehicles since 2005. Mazda claimed that I was dangerous and for that and they tried to keep me from leaving the country. I warned through a number of media organisations that there was a serious flaw with the technology they were using. I had discovered the cause when trouble shooting for Mazda and Ford in Venezuela. A memo was then sent by the chief auditor for Mazda warning the company that I was an extremely dangerous man.
I am at a loss...


I am willing to talk with you, tell you all that you may need for your story, and I am no longer afraid of them. They stole my life from me sir. The least I can do is make sure it never happens to any one else again. I will forward a letter I received from the top IAAF man. It will prove to you the corruption in the sport.

Much obliged to you sir,

Brian  

Much, much, more to come on this in the following days including my conversation with USATF man Glenn Latimer, Brian's agent at the time. Or was he?? The story just gets crazier.

Steve Jones Was The Man

He didn't die or anything. He's still alive, just not as fast.

"Jogger Kills Dog With Bare Hands"

All dogs should be on leashes at all times. They are wild, unpredictable animals. No matter how cute they look, or sweet they seem, they can turn in an instant to a viscous killer for not apparent reason. They cannot be trusted. All animals actually. Remember the chimp lady in CT. The one whose chimp ripped the face off her friend. Don't trust them.

I had a dog charge me while I was running once. It jumped at me and tried to bite my dick. It was frightening. Luckily the owner called the dog away, who then shot me a, "SORRY!". Fuck your sorry. I should have stopped and kicked his ass, but I don't have time to be fighting animals and their irresponsible owners in the middle of a workout.

This guy in FL did the right thing though. He wrestled the beast to the ground and choked it to death. 
This should be a lesson to dog owners everywhere; Keep your pet on a leash or suffer the consequence.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A Port St. Lucie jogger used his bare hands to kill a large black Lab-chow mix that attacked him and his 7-year-old son on Southwest Masilunas Street Saturday.
Port St. Lucie police say they interviewed the victim, 32-year-old Josh A. Harris, shortly after the attack and reported him bleeding heavily from the nose with numerous bites and scratches on his face and arms.
The man told police his son was riding his bike in front of him when they approached a home in the 3600 block of SW Masilunas St. Saturday morning. Harris said he was southbound when they noticed the large dog staring at them from the front yard of 3633 SW Masilunas. Harris told his son to get behind him and the now barking dog charged them as they passed the house, lunging and jumping on Harris.
Harris told police he was able to get the dog on the ground after a struggle and held it by its neck to stop it from biting. Police say it's not clear if he choked it to death or broke its neck, but it was dead by the time help arrived.
The dog's owner, Peggy Hamilton, 59, said she was unaware the 5-year-old Lab-chow mix, which weighs about 85-100 pounds, was running free. She said all of the dog's shots are current, but she wasn't sure about rabies. The dog will be tested for the deadly virus.
Harris's son, Jackson, had banged on a neighbor's door during the attack. Getting no response, his dad told him to ride his bike home and get his mom. The two returned to the scene and police interviewed him.
Hamilton said the dog had never acted this way before.
Police described Harris's injuries as serious and he was taken to the emergency room at Martin Memorial Medicenter for treatment. His latest condition wasn't immediately available.

Read more: http://www.cbs12.com/articles/lucie-4730061-dog-port.html#ixzz18DcEYDym

Ryan Hall Has Written A Book

It's called "Running With Joy" and will be available in February. The book follows his 14 weeks of training leading up to the 2010 Boston Marathon.

I know you are thinking, "Oh no. It's pretty much gonna be him talking about God the entire book, isn't it?". And the answer is, "yes", as you can see from the first chapter HERE. There are 11 mentions of God in the first paragraph.  But if you just look at the training logs and not read the rest, it could be worth it. 

Bolt

It can difficult sometimes to fully appreciate the dominance of the world's best sprinters over mere mortals, because unlike the other distances raced on the roads, sprinters never race them. You do see the one white guy from Czech Republic or where ever getting his ass handed to him, but even he is flying.

Watch here as the worlds fastest man jogs 100m and handily beats a bunch of ESPN employees sprinting all out.

Jake Gyllenhaal Talks Running