you didn't know that and lagat himself said that he was very relieved that the pace was slow because he was so tired. he barely won and it was very possible that someone was going to outkick him (it almost was done). besides, do you not watch track races when you think you already know who is going to win? did you skip the olympic 100 and 200?
No, I knew. I knew Rupp would win the 10,000, too. Don't project.
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.
Baseball is fun.....? wrote:
Amen to that. Baseball is as boring as watching a bunch of guys stand around in some dirt and grass for a few hours, and occasionally one of them bursts out sprinting in some direction for about three seconds...oh wait a second now....
And a track meet is different how? A bunch of guys (but wait, there are also girls) stand around for hours and occasionally some of them burst out sprinting in some direction (but wait, they are doing it for almost 10 seconds).
The real issue is the leadership of USATF. They fundamentally do not understand how to market the sport. T&F fans should be directing their anger and energy to the heads of the sport who are not driving the sport in the correct direction. Just having televised events is not enough. They are not driving interest and creating opportunities to grow the sport.
They actually did play the finish in the men's 5k on TV today. When I looked last night I did not see it on the web, but maybe it is up now.
several people on this thread are under the impression that baseball is healthy and are applying arguments that should be applied to football.
baseball is dying at the professional level(and is struggling at the hs level in this area). all of the fabricated attendance totals in the world cant change this fact. if you look at baseball 40 years ago, baseball 20 years ago and baseball at the present it is not a good trend.
really the only team anyone is interested in is the yankees and whoever they are playing. there are about 4 stadiums that are ever full. not good.
if not for the steroid fueled home run chase of sosa/mcgwire things would be much worse. its a sign of baseballs fall that the NFL gets off perfectly free with rampant pervasive drug use while baseball gets killed for the same thing.
While attendance may be down this year in baseball, every sport has struggled with attendance the past couple of years (even the NFL).
To say baseball is dying is very misguided. Last time I checked having multiple national TV deals, including its own self sustaining TV network, is not dying. I know here in Tampa the attendance may be terrible (which is thanks in large part to the stadium location) but the TV ratings are terrific.
Also, the worst attended team in baseball right now (Cleveland) is averaging 16,343 fans per game. The national championship for track and field is averaging around 8000. Which is the sport dying here?
Waited A Second wrote:
Also, the worst attended team in baseball right now (Cleveland) is averaging 16,343 fans per game. The national championship for track and field is averaging around 8000. Which is the sport dying here?
I live in Cleveland and have attended some games this season. Lots of those tickets are given away/people never show up. In reality it's closer to 10,000, but still far greater than Drake.
they cut away at about 10 minutes to the hour, which means people watching tv at the moment were watching for track, not 'baseball tonighy' which was not to come on for another 10 minutes, so there was no larger audience that was pleased when the coverage was switched to baseball. just a very stupid move, or am i missing something?
Interesting, so T&F is thriving and has no PED problem or at least less of one than baseball?
hannsen wrote:
several people on this thread are under the impression that baseball is healthy and are applying arguments that should be applied to football.
baseball is dying at the professional level(and is struggling at the hs level in this area). all of the fabricated attendance totals in the world cant change this fact. if you look at baseball 40 years ago, baseball 20 years ago and baseball at the present it is not a good trend.
really the only team anyone is interested in is the yankees and whoever they are playing. there are about 4 stadiums that are ever full. not good.
if not for the steroid fueled home run chase of sosa/mcgwire things would be much worse. its a sign of baseballs fall that the NFL gets off perfectly free with rampant pervasive drug use while baseball gets killed for the same thing.
attendance isn't everything in baseball/football. TV being in high definition makes for a much better game in my living room than it used to.