Don't blame ESPN, Blame the USATF and Doug Logan

Pac-10 Guy wrote:

And on top of getting dissed, it looked like there were maybe 1,000 people in the stands . . . What else are you gonna be doing on a 80 degree night in Des Moines?

Pathetic.

and this is why we should just do everything in eugene

I will tell you what needs to happen, but folks NEVER want to pay, and this will continue to happen.

There is clearly a PPV audience for Track and Field, all would prefer this for free, but see WHAT free gets you?

Tell USATF, forget about chopped up bull shit coverage on major networks

either cut a deal with Versus type network, or go simply high quality Web casts period.

And yes folks in this model you would have to pay, so for those whp complain constantly T &F in the U.S. will never even get the same play as soccer re runs ro World Series(College) which has REgional interest at best and I love baseball.

There has to be a way to make this work, and I actually think it could

More folks would have watched a complete web cast and walked away marginally pissed it it was choppy, then cutting entirely away for the NATIONAL TRack Meet. and by the way I wonder what would have happened if Bolt was a U.S> guy, probabaly the same thing.

But, make no mistake you would have to pay, either all year monthly for the few telecast you would get, OR via PPV, OR via web casts, the free to user model will get ypu bumped every time.

I have four ESPN channels at my house. That's fine if they switch the main outlet to a no hitter. But they couldn't put the 5k and the 100 meter final on ESPNnews or ESPNU? They couldn't give us a split screen or a P-in-P?

It's 2010. Most of us have 150+ channels. If I wanted to watch baseball last night, I would have watched baseball. Ridiculous.

For people who are complaining about attendance, there were probably about 5,000 people there. The stadium was empty on the curve and backstretch, but it's a pretty big complex, seating 14,5000 when full. In a non-WC year with about half of the top athletes attending, that's disappointing but not terrible. I will be interested to see what the crowds are like this weekend.

PPV - WTF?

Most of the fvckers here are too cheap to buy tickets to an actual track meet, hence the empty stands, and can only bitch and moan when their FREE coverage sucks.

Tracks problem is that it has not found a way to make itself relevant outside of the Olympics. The World Championships gives track a bump up but outside of that track remains largely under the radar. The Diamond

League which was supposed to bring about a new surge of interest seems to be already falling short in terms of attendance, TV viewership and feedback from fans who attend the meets who say the meets are boring and poorly run. Tracks problem is that outside of individual races which last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes it has not found a way to make meets matter. I proposed on here an international team format for the sport where the meets are not just about individual race

winners but the country winner who scores the most points across all events but it was summarily shot down as unworkable. Unless track

finds a way to make the meet as a whole matter it will forever be relegated to niche status.

The international team format would not be relevant for national champs but in my opinion if done correctly in the context of a meet like a Diamond League meet it could go a long way to making the track meet as a whole mean something.

D. Douglas Dent wrote:

ESPN is contractually obligated to cut to the 9th inning of ALL MLB no-hitters.

You are full of sh*t. I e-mailed ESPN for further clarification on their agreement with Major League Baseball and below was the reply:

Re: USA Track Championships [ ref:00D480H6.5004ArkQW:ref ]

Sent By:

"ESPN Customer Care" On: Jun 06/25/10 9:00 PM

Dear Jim,

Thank you for contacting us.

Although no such agreement is in place between ESPN and MLB, ESPN took advantage of an opportunity to show bonus coverage of a no-hitter. Results of what was missed during the Track & Field Championships will be aired in an update within Baseball Tonight.

For live assistance with any other issue, please call Customer Care at 1-888-549-3776 (ESPN) between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. EST.

Regards,

Kristi

ESPN.com Customer Care

As a fan of track and field I too was disheartened by the cut away from the men's 5000m. That being said in perspective of total viewership, it is a no contest between baseball and T&F especially when a no no is being thrown. Indeed it was a championship race but a slow tactical one at that. The winning time was a minute of the AR so can you really blame ESPN? If anyone is to blame it is the formula in which T&F is shown on TV. The current format only appeals to true fans of the sport and the layperson. Until the networks and the leadership of USATF get creative and work together to market the sport and hold track meets in a energetic, exciting fashion, the sport is going to continue to piddle along. The talent is there but not how it is packaged and brought to the masses.

The complete and utter lack of marketing from the USATF is pathetic. Having it in Des Moines is a perfect example of why it's struggling. If they aren't packing the stands for a National Championship there's a problem. Until they hire someone to run the USATF who understands marketing this will continue.

Track needs promotion as it is not newsreel prone. A diving catch makes better TV than most anything other than a Robbie Andrews or Andrew Wheating surge, or perhaps Usain Bolt doing nearly anything. But to hold a national meet with heats eliminating but 1 to 3 folks per heat, spread over too many days. Ugh. Not something I would drive a long way to attend, and then pay admission for. Not like going to a baseball game, you have to attend this event for days to see everything. And watch great runners run too many races to get to a final. Why it Weltcasse in Switzerland so popular? Nickname: Olympics in a day. So whittle things down and make it peppy, few days, less heats (even if crowded) and maybe a few less doubles, but still a more watchable event. In Eugene they will come no matter what, but a full Hayward Field is still a poorly attended baseball game. A shame, as everyone reading this post knows track is amazing. How to reach the masses? There are ways, but they require cleverness and translation to those not following the sport as regularly as we are. Letsrun.com has certainly helped!!!! How many of you check daily? I do.

Does anyone have ANY proof the ESPN is contractually obligated to show NO-Hitters. I would love to see some proof any proof because it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. MLB has contracts with lots of TV networks both regional and national.

ESPN might just be trying to CYA.

ESpN the law wrote:

Does anyone have ANY proof the ESPN is contractually obligated to show NO-Hitters. I would love to see some proof any proof because it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. MLB has contracts with lots of TV networks both regional and national.

ESPN might just be trying to CYA.

ESPN in NOT contractually obligated to show NO-Hitters.

ESPN's reply to my e-mail is a few posts above

No trials should be shown on TV. No events should be run during the heat of the day. All finals should be run on Saturday night between 8 and 11 pm, one right after the other. No field event should take longer than 30 minutes to complete. Finals in field events should be three attempts. All TV should be edited overnight and shown in condensed version of 1 to 1.5 hours on Sunday afternoon following a ball game or prior to a ball game. Any commentary should be limited to the nature of the competition, since commentators already know the outcome, thus any surprise performance will be noted instead of overlooked.

The evening venue of 3 hours maximum will be appealing to those coming to see the meet and can see all event results. The 1.5 hour TV is for the fan who is not in attendance, but wants to see all the results in short order. Seats must be filled, even if 10,000 tickets are given away to all school kids in the area. Stadium must be full with lots of noise.

Premeet promotion is the responsibility of USATF, the athlete and his or her agent. Drum up some interest in participants. Once entered an athlete must compete or the athlete is fined for non-appearance.

Instead of emulating team sports or NASCAR, track and field needs to emulate golf with emphasis on individuals in the competition.

Finally, prize money needs to be shown at end of each competition, instead of points (has no meaning to fan).

Athletes should get TROPHIES not wimpy medals.

What about a Track and Field Network? Showing everything track related 24/7. Wouldn't that be better than relying on ESPN?

Cowboy Bob....some excellent poits and ideas

This notion of the way they have done this a FIVE day meet all over the place with finals etc in/at a venue that is abusrdly hot running races in the day with NO spectators is horrific.

I would like to see straight through finals though live , not on tape, they can squeeze in 30 second spots in between races etc.

But I could live with waiting and not checking internet and seeing all finals on tape condensed.

It would be better than this, today I watched a 5-7 minute . maybe shorter with Doug Logan talking about how to improve things

All I wanted was his cell phone number.

maybe if we get some real rivalries going people would actually cares. these athletes are nothing but nice to each other, get a little mad at each other. Sprinters are able to build rivalries cause they talk shi*. how bout have rupp talk about how next time he and solinsky are on the track that rupp will burn him. I mean please lets get some drama in this sport, cause to your normal person running in circles isn't too appealing

lol he threw a no-no with 8 walks, wtf is that; I guess it was worth it to switch over, I was LOLing at the no-no with 8 BBs LOL friggin epic no-no

Yeah a Picture in picture would've been great... and since it wasn't even a perfect game... 8 walks... why not show the outcome later in... wait for it... a show dedicated to baseball???? It could be called "Baseball tonight"... Ohh they already have a whole show for that??

The way track is covered has to change if you broadcast the distance races as if they are an afterthought (cutting away every 1.5 minutes) then guess how viewers, fan or not, are going to view distance races/ field events? If the broadcast doesn't care, fans won't care.

Although field events seem to be handled better, the distances thrown have to be compared to something familiar, or leave up mile splits in distance races... Everybody knows how long it takes to run a mile, heck when I say I can run sub 6-7 minute miles on my runs to a general fitness person they're amazed! imagine what 4:20 would make a person think... this is done but maybe, at the end of a race leave splits up, it's cool to see.

The whole broadcast format has to change: show the meet over two days??condensing meets just makes it harder for athletes to compete well, events just have to be related to something familiar... the world used to be astonished and captivated by Roger Bannister breaking four, collegians do this all the time now... running, jumping and throwing are natural... there is no reason this popularity can't happen again.

they cut away to show a no-hitter where the best batters were deliberately walked a total of 8 times...