If you went to Millrose, Post What You Liked and Did Not Like

The Garden crew started putting the track together as soon as the sprints finished. They were there ready to go. 90 % of the track was completed at the conclusion of the shot put. It's a complicated procedure closing the the track. Keep in mind that there must not be any gaps in any of the hundred of sections and the last piece is always the hardest one to get in. All it takes is one slight bend in one of the metal braces to cause a problem.

-In responce to those who say they ought to sell tickets cheap to HS kids to fill the place up: They already do that. If you go to the Armory, everyweek they have a booth set up selling Millrose tickets very cheap to all the HS and college athletes who compete there.

- I thought the barriers they had set up to stop the shot put's were hilarious. I don't know if anybody else was watching but they had these barriers that were about 2 feet high and weighed about 5 pounds each set up at about 80 feet with 10 or so officials standing behind them, trying to prop them up. The shots would take one hop and slam into (or even over) the barriers, knocking them over or breaking them. While probably pretty dangerous, watching the officials trying to stop the puts was one of the funniest things I've seen in some time.

- The MSG ushers should allow for more autographs. After the meet ended, my sister and I went down to the rail near the track to try and get some autographes. My sister saw Reese Hoffa and called out to him and he graciously signed. However, the ushers kept yelling at us and Reese to move on. I will give one usher credit for the line of the night when he said "Come on Reese, hurry it up. You know what happend to the last Hoffa that came to NY"

It's easy to fault the Garden work crew but is this the only track meet of the year? Unfortunately, the crowd had to suffer. Good point about doing the sprints first so this doesn't become an issue in the future. While annoying it wasn't nearly as bad as going to a College/Pro Football game that's nationally televised and waiting for the commercials to end - in frigid temps.

I'd go a step further and give away the nosebleed seats to every track program in the city. Judging by all the articles i read about terrible dietary habits of teenagers, rest assured, the Garden will make a ton of money selling their crappy food to these kids. It'd also make the meet more exciting.

The shotput was exciting but last year was better. The $100 prize was a complete joke and took too much time to introduce/explain.

Ian Brooks was the track announcer for the high school events and he's always terrific at the Armory meets.

I thought it was a fun meet.

I'd also think about having the meet on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon so more parents could bring their kids. Families are starving for entertainment. People attend NY Liberty Games for god's sakes. I think a lot of dads out there would jump at a chance to bring their children to this instead The Wiggles. Keep the pace moving and the kids would be riveted. And shoot some of the t-shirts into the crowd with the guns. Kids love that. It's an interesting crowd dynamic. A lot of older track savvy folks who attend every year. Lots of kids and parents who have one or two degrees of separation from the competitors. Then the depressingly low number of people aged 25-45 who are avid track & field fans. The event could easily transfer to a weekend afternoon and not lose any of this audience. You don't have to worry about the loud, happy hour, fun crowd. They're not there.

I thought the delay was unacceptable. Even before the track mishap the meet was behind schedule. I also think that eight and nine year olds do not need to run in MSG.

I did not like the music. I want to watch the races and hear the results.

I was glad to see a lot of college kids who competed earlier at the armory at Milrose.

I have been going to track meets at the Garden for thirty years and I had never seen it as empty as it was for the mile. It looked as if 5 thousand people left. I hope it was because they had a train to catch(the meet was an hour behind schedule) and not because they did not care.

All in all, I thought it was the best Milrose in a couple of years.

I would not suggest a Sat/Sun event (just keep on sched), but I totally agree that they do need to encourage more families and HS kids to attend. The HS events are some of the most exciting and popular and I would suggest adding a HS Girls 4x800 and moving the Girls HS mile later in the evening, like the Boys mile, it's always a great event. Fastest kid races are cute, but meaningless, and should be run much earlier -- on the track (it would look funnier).

I am horrified that more HS coaches do not bring their kids to this event, and it's a shame that the promoters do not do a better job filling the cheap seats with HS kids. Why not give the tickets to schools at $10 a piece rather than see the empty seats? Any Tri-state HS coach worth a damn should have kids there to motivate them. If his kids are not in the meet, that is, probably, part of the problem.

The hs coaches can buy very cheap tickets at the Armory. The Armory does a great job in promoting MIllrose to the high schools.

Yes, I have seen that, maybe I should place full blame on HS coaches for not taking advantage.

As far as getting families there, I had $90.00 tickets. It would be tough for a family of four to go ($400.00 with tax, etc).

The little kids races could be run earlier.

I was at Millrose in 1993, I think they ran all of the miles back to back adn I remember: High School B&G, College M&W, Open M&W, Masters M, all in a row- a dream and the crowd never sat down and you coldn't hear yourself cheering it was so loud.

I don't mind the music, I think the World Champs had music during distance races last summer.

Autographs MSG, autograohs Craig Masback- good way to bring the athletes to the kids and make them more recognizeable.

Since I went to the meet, I'll add my comments:

--After going to this meet for a few years, I skipped the last two Millrose Games because of really thin fields in my opinion. This year was greatly improved, which is a positive sign.

--As for music: some is OK, but constant blaring music is not OK. I want to talk to my neighbors during a meet, not scream at them. From Trackshark's live coverage of the Armory meet: 'Maybe they can turn down the music for the 100th time so all the fans can actually hear the meet announcer.' Enough said.

--I think that putting the track back together is always going to be a problem. A few years ago, they had the Wannamaker mile, then opened the track to finish with the sprints. About a third of the crowd left after the mile. It was kind of funny. I realize that they have to match the schedule to who is competing and promoting the event. You don't want people spending big bucks on tickets and missing the sprints because they started at 7:00.

--Stick to Friday nights.

--Thanks to the table full of ladies who graciously signed my program after the meet. Darn cute ones, too.

on the music thing...

i just think its a tad funny that TrackShark did their live Armory meet coverage and was so disgusted with the music that he actually typed it in about half a dozen times in the live results thing..

TrackShark is def not some old fart who likes things boring...However, I think his main complain was that the music was too loud and didnt lessen when the announcer said something..

just goes to show that if the music isnt done just right...in regards to a few key variables..it will suck and ppl wont like it..

I don't think having music or some more effects during the mile introductions is anything like having profiles on albino amputees.

Go to an NBA game, an NFL game, when they introduce the home team the music is blaring. Remember the michaal jordan bulls, I still have that music in my head?

As for the rest of the meet, they did play music during the meet, (I was in a press room for a lot) and remember hearing a few songs. Just don't turn it inot an Olympic Trials where they have a track event, 30 minutes of nothing, a few field event prelims, then another event. This is very boring for the fan.

And as for the albino profiles, a marathon is 2.5+ hours long. Not much in terms of action usually happens the first hour. You need to sprinkle some profiles in there.

If we want track and field to only be followed by a few hard core fans, that is fine, otherwise we have to reach out and bring in more fans, and they have to be entertained. The NBA and NFL and every other sport in America gets this.

It is kind of interesing and these posts show it, that Millrose has to use the highschool, local, and club races to get the majority of people in the seats. 1 kid runs, he brings his family and friends. That multiplier is good but not good enough to sell out the place.

Overall the meet was entertaining and I hope people who went will come back.

The autograph idea is a great one. They could have an area in the cheap seats or the concourse where athletes sign after/during the meet. I was with Krummenacker in the warmdown area and once one of the high school athletes asked him for his autograph and the kids realized he was signing, they swarmed around him and he graciously signed and let them take photos.

And I swear the following story is true, I was standing track side and these 2 girls came up to me. I could tell they wanted autographs. They said, "Are you a race walker?" When I said no, they were upset. They only wanted racewalking autographs. I never kner racewalkers had groupies.

At least I must still look like an athlete.

Tickets are sold for $10 to High school athletes and college athletes both at the 168th St. Armory and this year through promotional codes that were given to coaches and runners via a grassroots effort at High School and College meets throughout the Tri-State area.

Anyone who has been to the Millrose Games in the last few years would notice that the stands were significantly more full than in the recent past. This is the first year that the HS/College discounts were promoted so heavily outside of the Armory itself, I'd expect it to catch on more in the next year or two.

I think you have to hand it to Global Athletics (the meet organizers this year, they run the Boston Indoor Games as well) for putting Millrose back on the right track. It has looked like some sort of WWF event in the past few years (and even lacked a title sponsor last year) but this year there was more of the traditional professionalism and pomp that gives the Millrose Games its legendary aura.

Overall I'd say the two major errors where setting the Track back up (some people were leaving, though not a lot) and the rabbit in the Wanamaker - this track isn't about WR times its about great match-ups. Lagat and Bekele would not have needed a rabbit to run a great race.

The HS Races are great fun, and I think it would be a great idea to bring back some of the local Colleges with intense rivallries for next year. Problem with scheduling was the Metropolitan Champs are today (Sunday) in the Armory so many of the NY Area college programs wanted to hold off.

I went to every Millrose Games from 1968 thru 1992. I finally just got disgusted with the meet and have only been back once or twice since just to visit with friends there. I was not surprised that the meet almost didnt happen a couple of years ago. We need this meet to succeed. Major market, major venue, reasonable TV coverage. This meet is really a gauge as to how the sport is doing. It's great that it is getting better. At least it's moving in the right direction as opposed to slowly slipping away to oblivion. Congrats to USAT&F and the organizers (I assume this is "the" David Katz) for putting energy behind Millrose and finding new ways to promote the event.

b0B

loud music is only exciting if you're deaf

wejo wrote:

I don't think having music or some more effects during the mile introductions is anything like having profiles on albino amputees.

I meant that both are justified on the basis of, "The hardcore fans will watch no matter what, but there's not enough of them, so we need to do things to keep the interest of the casual fan."

Dave you are right the armory does a great job promoting the games and my team always gobbles up a section of tickets (and we're not even a very big or good team). It is bad enough our fan base is dwindling so it is a shame more teams don't show up. However I remember when the tickets were 5 bucks. If only 14,000 are being sold then perhaps let us get the tickets for 5 bucks. Perhaps getting the athletes to mingle with the fans would be a great idea. At the world outdoor champs I was impressed that some of the British athletes would come up into the stands and take pictures and sign autographs with their fans. I would love to see this at Millrose. I would love to see more college relays but college teams seeking qualifiers do not want to come and race at a slow track.

disclaimer: I have heard sorta nice- and not so nice- things about david katz, so i don't care about him one way or the other.

that said, say what you want about david but i feel we should all be thankful he's on here monitoring how the "true" track fans feel about the meet. before you naysayers yell "he doesn't give a $#it", if katz didn't actually care, he wouldn't waste his time replying here, and yes it is almost 100% him. keep posting CONSTRUCTIVE criticism (and compliments, if you wish) and perhaps you'll be fortunate enough to see them implemented in the future.

thanks for taking the time to clarify things here and add your comments david, some of us appreciate your time.

dude-