EARTH TO NBC, ANDREW WHEATING WAS RUNNING..

Rex The Mag wrote:

Dunce, I was at a bar watching this and gave a 5 minute speech to about 15 half drunk people about wheating during the commercials before the race. not one was a runner. they started going batshit when he was moving up. the only thing they cared about was whether he ran faster than pre. one guy gets up and goes to the bathroom and a guy says what were you guys watching? guy says kid just ran faster than pre. Beautiful. Maybe he forgets the entire race by tomorrow. But maybe he does not. I know for a fact he does not care about 1st-4th today.

so you are wrong. and a dunce.

This really happened.

At a meet held in honor of an Oregon runner.

Rex The Mag wrote:

I know for a fact he does not care about 1st-4th today.

That's sure to help our sport.

Not usually this bad?

Are you kidding?

Lewis Johnson is the worst guy on TV doing sport. Bar none. Hammonds mails it in. STones is very good but Ato isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is. The only saving grace is that Rawson was somewhere else explaining to Carol Lewis if you go to your local high school track and run a 100 meters in 15 seconds you're on 4-minute mile pace.

I know Doug Logan has a pretty full to do list but if you want this sport to be taken seriously then it's time to bring in some big boys to do TV. ESPN did this with the World Cup. They ditched their usual JV teams for top level announcers from England.

NBC is absolutely the worst broadcasting station for Track and Field in any event! Everyone on this forum is right for the most part about what they say...those commentators don't know jackshit about whats going on on the track. However if you want to watch decent track coverage watch universal sports (nbc affiliate), which actually have people that know what they are talking about and actually show races! Seriously, I hate it when Flotrack can't record races because these greedy networks cut them off from it....they're coverage is 100x better. smh.

Great job by NBC commentators. How embarrassing would it have been for track and field if they would have concentrated on a guy who was a distant speck with a lap to go? It's kinda assinine to comment on a guy who was not even in the picture. This is track, not the special Olympics. Good job on showing some integrity, NBC.

I was at the meet and you did not want to hear Wheating speak. He came off as an idiot. He was asked "Now that you will no longer be wearing the Oregon Uniform, will you still race from behind, like you did today"

Whaeating responded with. " As long as I keep winning, I guess there is no reason to change anything"

KEEP WINNING???? He just finished 5th.

also amy yoder begley had a major breakthrough in the womens 5k a race not televised and no mention of her or t. dibaba.

actually i am surprised they even mentioned where lagat, manzano and lamong finished as they usually forget about what athletes did if they dont win.

it is sad, but if you want to get mentioned on lets say ESPN and they did not televise, your only chance is to set a world record.

ironically i think larry rawson was an outstanding track announcer as he was very knowledgeable about the sport, i know letsrun ripped on him a lot because of his just go down to your high school track quote. (which i think was his idea of having people appreciate running). i cant believe they cant find someone who is knowledgeable and passionate about track and field.

ato bolden is knowledgeable and passionate, but only in a few events sprints, hurdles and jumps.

mneel2@fau.edu wrote:

Seriously, I hate it when Flotrack can't record races because these greedy networks cut them off from it....they're coverage is 100x better. smh.

Seriously? They're just as bad, just for different reasons.

NBC coverage is embarassing. Much better is Universal Sports european commentators, who display in-depth knowledge of athletes, tactics, and history across all events, track and field, without unnecessary hype and hyperbole. And none of the strange Lewis Johnson interviews that are all the same ("so, how did it feel as you came across the finish line? How does it feel to win today?" It feels good, Lewis.) Where was the women's 5000 meter, the men's 1000 meter (a world record attempt!)?

About as good as the coverage of the Olympics. Summer and Winter.

heard it here first wrote:

I was at the meet and you did not want to hear Wheating speak. He came off as an idiot. He was asked "Now that you will no longer be wearing the Oregon Uniform, will you still race from behind, like you did today"

Whaeating responded with. " As long as I keep winning, I guess there is no reason to change anything"

KEEP WINNING???? He just finished 5th.

Imagine if a black sprinter had said that? The Letsrun community would be having a field day about welfare, crack babies, thugs, dragging down America, intellectual superiority of skinny white distance runners over everybody else... Wow, I just realized Letsrun does occasionally aknowledge the existence non-white athletes.

What's really sad is that Craig Virgin is out there and available and NBC needs to get him announcing. Craig does work for the Big Ten Network and did some online work at USATF. He is very passionate about USA distance running and with his credentials and experience would blow away the terrible NBC announcing. E-mail NBC and say, 'Bring on Craig Virgin as our distance announcer!'

That was a dark. dark moment in American track broadcasting history. One of the greatest moments for American middle distance...totally, completely missed by NBC. There is no excuse, and we want a sincere and complete apology from NBC Sports.

Anyone who owns GE stock, SELL.

As to Wheating's lapse in judgement...lets get real here. This is UO, this is Track Town. Great beer, wine and pizza, and the greatest track in the world. What the hell do you want? If you want Stanford students speaking you would have to put up with douchebag 2nd tier athletes like Michael Stember or Louis Luchini. I'll take track ability and better people. Vin made a good move when he went to Eugene.

Perspectivation wrote:

It was pathetic, those guys are complete idiots and I'm not usually negative.

Home town college hero beating world champions, 5th in a race that returned 7 of the 10 fastest milers from last year. School record, getting close to the 3:50 barrier which wasn't broken by anyone on U.S. soil for a loooong time.

Same thing for Wright in the 800. How'd they miss it?

The sad thing is that Lewis Johnson made a good living as a pacer in Europe for many meets. You'd THINK he understood what good distance running was these days. You'd THINK he would know who was in the race and be able to tell the audience what the hell is going on as it's happening...or even after. They harped on Lagat so much in the beginning (maybe deservedly, maybe not) but then didn't even mention him after the race. Sure he wasn't a factor in the race, but to spend all that time at the beginning talking about him only to forget he was in the race just shows these announcers are following some stupid script and don't really understand the racing.

And NO real mention of Wheating is just pathetic. They didn't even show anyone finish beyond the first 3.

Bored Watcher wrote:

NBC = Nothing But Commercials.

Ha! This nails it!

As for the mile, when they were listing the competitors, at first I wondered if Wheating had withdrawn because there was no mention of him (unless I missed it). Only at the end did they mention him parenthetically as the first American. I think Lagat is an amazing runner and deserves attention but sliding over someone who's also shown himself to be a real player seems very odd.

On the west coast the meet was immediately followed by infomercials. NBC probably could have made more money by showing two of those as opposed to this meet so be thankful they showed it and that they carry that Universal Sports Network. You're all big boys and girls, if you don't like the announcing then turn the sound down on your TV.

Virtually all the criticism of today's coverage is absolutely correct. It was nothing less than horrendous and even worse than usual. This was true not just for the Bowerman Mile, but the entire broadcast. Way too much time and focus was given to the mens long jump. The mens 200 race was not covered, Tyson Gay was covered. They left and came back to the mens 5000 so many times they might as well not have covered it at all. Several of those breaks were to show Jen S. no heighting in the pole vault.

Not to make any excuses for NBC, because they did a terrible job, but let's bring a little perspective into our assignment of blame. Who knows, it might even help improve the situation.

Where is USATF when and where the sport really needs them? There are many reasons why NBC (or ESPN or any other major network for that matter) is not likely to make changes and improve the coverage on their own. USATF needs to grab them by the short hairs, get their attention, and set some reasonable standards. Make them change and improve the commentators and the coverage, or get someone else to do it. Use the carrot, the stick, and any other approach needed to bring some real improvements. These broadcasts are a huge part of how America sees track and field, and whether our sport grows or not. They simply have to get a lot better if track and field is ever going to appeal to any more than the hard core fans. Furthermore, this is not a pipe dream; it can be done. For the perfect example, just look at what Versus has done for bicycle racing by providing first class coverage. USATF, are you out there?