Massive crowd at Drake Stadium!!

No lights.

Is that why the live stream is so dark?

So what ? Skiing is a huge sport bigger than T&F and has zero spectators.

0 for 2

Bring back the mile. People only cares about the mile. No one cares about steeplechase, pole vault or discus throw.

Would you rather have no runners or no fans ? The average marathon in America has 5,000 runners and maybe 500 non-runner spectators.

Dude, It is Wednesday night! Not exactly the day most fans would decide take in a track meet unless they were the mom of one of the competitors.

I'd withold judgement until the weekend.

Enough already about Mt Sac. Nobody gives a rats A$$ about a bunch of kids who pay a couple bucks and get to run on those tracks with their hood bros. The real action is the dealing that takes place behind the stands every year. Same ole, same ole amateur garbage.

If it ain't the Olys or Outdoor WCs who cares who is in the stands ? You can't earn a medal at a time trial or national meet. It's important for the USA to have thousands of participants and coaches and not fatties in the stands who know nothing about our wonderful sport.

The NCAA, along with all the other alphabet groups, think of T&F as a nuisance sport. Even the Olympics has downgraded T&F coverage, except for Bolt events. The NCAA should be held in a major market every June. LA, NY, PHilly,etc. where it can be accessible to dense (relatively intense) interest groups who would not have to travel to far to enjoy. Even the most die hard fan won't travel to Drake Stadium if its more than an couple hour drive away.

Considering the stadium holds 14500, its gonna look bare when its a Wednesday night.

The saddest part is when the 10000 started- 3/4 of the crowd left- just like any track meet I guess. Distance races just dont pull in the crowds like the other events.

If the finals on Saturday are like the last time at Drake, it will be nearly full again.

Yes there are lights and they were on later in the evening. Doesn't get dark until 9! As for the crowd....how many show up anywhere for prelims? Hell, look at last week Pre, half the seats were covered to make it look less bare. In 2008, Drake set the attendance record for NCAA's when half the state was flooded. You elitists from the "major" metropolitan areas are what is killing the sport. Go to a major city and nobody shows up for any minor sport. If you are not there...quit bitching!

.>>>>. wrote:

Considering the stadium holds 14500, its gonna look bare when its a Wednesday night.

The saddest part is when the 10000 started- 3/4 of the crowd left- just like any track meet I guess. Distance races just dont pull in the crowds like the other events.

If the finals on Saturday are like the last time at Drake, it will be nearly full again.

I wouldn't assume this happens at every track meet. Because it doesn't.

TV Man wrote:

Mt Sac has 30,000 entries, over 9 days, uses 4 tracks & 8 fields. Only parents, teammates, coaches, and a few old perverts with bazookah lens video cameras are in the stands. No homeless drug addicts, no tree people at Mt Sac.

Bless the Bazookah Lens!

The best part is if you couldn't get seats to be there live because it was so crowded the whole thing was streaming on BulldogVision! So nobody has to miss anything!

trackonlifesupport wrote:

Even the Olympics has downgraded T&F coverage, except for Bolt events.

It's NBC doing it, not the Olympics. Because, unfortunately, NBC knows that gymnastics and swimming gets eyeballs.

You are absolutely wrong, at the very least, there is one spectator of every marathoner. Almost no one runs a marathon with out a support person. After running 26.2 miles, the last thing you feel like doing is driving home.

There were 13,000 people for the Pre meet on Saturday.

Anyone who makes fun of the attendance at NCAA Drake doesn't understand the first thing about our sport. Running and Track & Field are participation sports. Ten thousand entrants at a track meet or road race equates to so many medals at the Summer Olympics and IAAF Worlds. The more entrants we have nationwide the more competition there is at every level which equates to more Americans that make it to the medal stand for the world to see on TV. The Drake Relays has served as one of the primary magnets for runners, track, and field athletes. Drake Relays is one of the nine or ten monsterous events in the United States that has produced the medals that make us the #1 Track and Field team in the world. The other magnets in no particular order are the Texas Relays, Kansas Relays, Chicago Marathon, Penn Relays, Mt Sac Relays, New York City Marathon, Stanford T&F Invitational, and Boston Marathon.