I think that with knowledgable distance announcers people would like to see distance races (5 and 10). The majority of the people watching these can identify with a distance race much better than they can a sprint race. How many people in the U.S. run 5k's,10k's and marathons every year? Then think about how many run 100's, 200's, 400's etc.People know a little about the distances because they do it but they can't identify with sprinters.
Fire Tom Hammond! Or at least bar him from ever commentating on track and field again.
Move DL, T&F, & LDR to Hollywood where he can sell our sport in the TV & Entertainment capitol of the world. DL has be be there hanging out in West Hollywood bath houses with the TV execs. Indy sucks.
X-Runner wrote:
KY Jelly wrote:It is pretty simple. All they need to do is delay the coverage by about an hour, and show all of the races back to back, so there isn't so much waiting around.
That's the first thing I thought of.
Although they still show waiting around on taped delayed events.
Because editing costs money.
Eliminating all commercials would require a huge amount of money to come from somewhere else.
On a related note, I watched the Big 10 Indoor Championships on the Big Ten Network today. Even though they seemed to have some college kids doing the broadcast, operated on a low budget, and some of the times and names were mixed up, they did a better job than the US Indoors meet. The commentators actually knew all the racers and their backgrounds. They understood the strategy in each event. They stuck to the racing and didn't have any back stories. They showed post race celebrations and captured some of the emotions of the events. There wasn't 10 minutes of prep before the 7 second 60m dash. Of course, a non-track fan would find this broadcast extremely boring, but it's hard to make running around in circles appeal to the masses (which we all know).
On another note, the USATF really needs to take a hint from the Euros on covering field events. On our broadcasts, we just show a couple jumps or throws by the top people. On European meets, there always cutting back to field events, keeping the viewer updated, and using that lull between races to cover the field events. When the competition gets close at the end of high jump or pole vault or the last couple rounds of the long jump, they always are keen to show the leaders. Honestly, I got excited watching the high jumpers during the Golden League last year. Of course, our broadcast are rarely live, so that might not be as feasible.
The announcers need to be like the guy in this video at the end!!!!!!!!!!!
Look at Mills! Look at Mills! Ooh!ah!
Get chills every time.
This stuff that was done at Boston Indoor Games was pretty neat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byRV8TO-lQk
My bet is they'll be using this tracking information on TV in Europe soon - like they did at the Olympics in the Long Track skating.
Good idea but the NCAA won't allow acoholic beverages to be sold at their venue
What about all the commercials... to me, that is what taker up all the time
Introduce winter biathlon into track racing. Have teams of 2 run in opposite directions from the middle of the track for 200 meters. At the 200 meter point they pick up their guns and begin shooting at each other for a period of 15 seconds. Continue for 20 different segments. If you kill your opponents... you win.
Cheerleaders!
1. Gambling. Just like horse racing. Give odds and then let us bet on win, place, or show. On the Internet, right up until post time. The NFL will never admit it, but their explosion in popularity has a lot more to do with gambling than the sport itself.
2. Get rid of running in lanes in all races above 100m. Waterfall start for everything from 200m on up. The 400m is the most boring event in track and field right now, and it would become the most exciting with this rule change.
3. Match races. Is there a single person who wouldn't want to see the Bolt versus Bekele race that has been rumored?
4. Combine #3 with #1. How fun would it to be for a Bolt versus Bekele race to have an indeterminate length, with everyone betting on when Bekele would catch him?
5. Just like Nascar, have chips on everyone that shows a scroll of names and places on the top, split times, etc. Seems like they are starting to do this one.
T.H.K. wrote:
Fire Tom Hammond! Or at least bar him from ever commentating on track and field again.
The unbelievable thing is that Hammond started as a horse race announcer! Yet he's so flat announcing human distance races.
I thought Tom Hammond did a good job announcing Ben Johnson's World Record in 1987.
Gambling will NEVER work. I'll lay down $10,000 that Evan Jager takes last place in the 5,000m. "Yo, Evan, I got 10k on you coming last place today. I'll split the money with you if you bomb today"
Or even if you have 2 even front runners, say Manzano and Lagat in a race and everyone else is just a notch behind. If I'm Manzano or related to him, I put all my money on Lagat and then just cruise in for 2nd place and get my money for Lagat winning (even if I could outkick him).
I like a lot of the suggestions so far. Another addition that would create a better viewing experience is a creative split screen, especially in the longer races.
Three panes:
- Top left pane, taking up 1/4 of the screen real estate, will show the leader(s)
- Top right pane, taking up 1/4 of the screen, will show the chase pack or other notable runner(s) in the race
- Bottom pane, taking up 1/2 of the screen (the entire bottom half), will show the entire field in the race or as much of it as will fit in the space
Give people the entire story. It's not just about the front runners.
Alternatively, one of the panes could quickly cut to another event, say a jump or throw, and the cut back to the race.
this doesnt happen in horse racing where the jockey controls the horse. jockeys are people too and can split prize money. athletes at an elite level would never sacrafice their success for a bet. those types of people dont dont make it to an elite level. even if they did it doesnt follow that it would be any more common or noticeable than in horse racing or nascar or any race where there is betting involved.
Bernard Lagat wrote:
Gambling will NEVER work. I'll lay down $10,000 that Evan Jager takes last place in the 5,000m. "Yo, Evan, I got 10k on you coming last place today. I'll split the money with you if you bomb today"
Or even if you have 2 even front runners, say Manzano and Lagat in a race and everyone else is just a notch behind. If I'm Manzano or related to him, I put all my money on Lagat and then just cruise in for 2nd place and get my money for Lagat winning (even if I could outkick him).
I was out of track for a several years and came back with a sort of fresh viewpoint...one of the first things I noticed was the odd practice of asking the professional runners to wear a number safety-pinned to their singlet. It was odd to me because I remember doing the same thing when I was a very amateur runner in junior high. It just communicates that track is bush league to the audience... I think all athletes on the professional level ought to have singlets with their name printed on the front and back, so the fans can quickly identify the athlete and before too long recognize them.
hikerdonovan wrote:
one of the first things I noticed was the odd practice of asking the professional runners to wear a number safety-pinned to their singlet. It was odd to me because I remember doing the same thing when I was a very amateur runner in junior high. It just communicates that track is bush league to the audience... I think all athletes on the professional level ought to have singlets with their name printed on the front and back, so the fans can quickly identify the athlete and before too long recognize them.
The bibs are there as adverts more than anything else:
http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2008/oslo/images/Dibaba_Tirunesh-Ejegayehu-Oslo08.jpgA big factor in getting a major name at your meet is all the photo and video press they'll get associated with your sponsor(s). Take the bibs away and there's less reason for ExxonMobil to continue sponsoring Bislett.
