Most of my conversations started by people asking me, "Are you a coach?" or "Do you know someone competing?" or, because I look like an athlete, "Are you running in the Master's event?" In fact, of about 40 people in my immediate area, only 4 besides myself were spectators. They were locals from Eugene, and they were intelligent dedicated fans.
Don't make us all laugh ;-) Eugene is a nice small town, but there are more people at LAX (airport) on any given weekday at 2 A.M. than in Eugene/Springfield.
The So Cal USATF Association dwarfs your little Oregon Assn by 100 times. A huge percentage of the total USATF membership are So Cal residents. Likewise, a huge percentage of Olympic and international medals are won by So Cal residents. On any given weekend in So Cal, there are dozens of high school meets, junior high school meets, juco meets, four year college meets, road races, master meets, cross country races, youth meets, triathlons, half-marathons, etc. The number of participants, fans, officials, etc. are 100 times that of Oregon. Rememeber that So Cal is warm all year around. The health clubs, gyms, beaches, trails are packed every day at all hours.
International and Olympic events have always been an amazing success in So Cal. The 1932 and 1984 Olympics were a total success. The FIFA mens and womens champs were record breakers. USC's 9 Football Natl Champs, UCLA's 11 Basketball NC, Dodgers 5 World Champs, Lakers 10 World Champs, Raiders 1 World Champs, annual Rose Bowl Game and Parade, etc. were all huge fan draws.
An L.A. IAAF WC or Olympics would be another guaranteed record breaker. For example, just a few weeks ago, the Lakers drew 93,000 fans to the L.A. Coliseum, and 2 million fans to the Lakers 15th World Championships Victory celebration.
None of those people at LAX made it down to the 405 to Carson for USATF when it was there or for the Home Depot meets. As I said before, Oly Trials always have a good turnout regardless of where the meet is held. The same is true with the actual Olympics. No one argues this.
What's sad is the Master's meet has more people show up than PAC 10's when they are held at UCLA.
Perhaps you could mobilize that huge So Cal Association to attend a track meet en masse. Sure there are a huge number of people who do everything from triathlons, road races, masters track and field, pick up basketball, etc. etc. but they aren't putting their collective butts in seats to watch a track meet.
The biggest meets in California are the CIF State Meet and the CIF Sectional Meets that lead up to it. The majority of those people, besides the coaches and athletes, are friends and families of the competitors. Most of these people aren't going to be driving down to Cal State Dominguez Hills or UCLA to watch a meet filled with people they don't know. Most probably couldn't name the event they're kid runs. I know my parents couldn't. My dad did know my ppg and what positioned I played in basketball. He also went to pro and college games. Track, not so much.
WC, Oly Trials and Olympics are really irrellevent to this discussion.
Who has the most people show up to a USATF outdoor championship meet in a non Olympic year? I'm pretty sure it's Eugene.
I would love to say we could put the meet on anywhere, just to make it easier to get to and allow true track fans the opportunity to see it up close and unedited. On the other hand, it's nice to go to a meet and see people besides the same group I see every year enjoy the meet plus have the stands be pretty full.
Eugene is the only place, which does suck, where year and year out people will show up to watch a track meet.
Relevant points. For the guy who wants meets in So Cal, all we can say is look at the miserable turnout for the Home Depot meet. I hope he isn't holding his breath for an Oly Trials in the near future because USATF basically goes to the high bidder. The meet is expensive to put on and I seriously doubt that USATF gives much credibility to any organization in California, considering the state is bankrupt and it would be very risky to give it to any organization from that state. Risk aside, why hasn't So Cal bid on anything relevant in recent years? Maybe those who put on these meets realize that they don't have paying fans down there.
No fans will show anywhere in the world to a track with no toilets or running water. SO Carson is just poor planning by Adidas and USATF. Fans will show up in droves elsewhere in L.A., Eugene, Sacramento when the facilities are at a level for basic civilization. Even the beaches have running water, toilets, and showers. The Los Angeles area especially has the media companies, international name, and critical mass for another successful IAAF worlds, Olympic games, FIFA World Cup, etc. Atlanta and Salt Lake City may have bungled their chances but L.A. has come thru every time in history. Certainly L.A. is the best choice for our sport.
What a troll. Grade: 0/10. Southern California has more people than the entire states of Texas and Oregon combined. Eugene is a small town. This is the stupidest thread ever on LR.
San Diego is a much better choice then LA. LA has lots of people but you can't move, its too crowded. SF is a better choice then LA.
You Dwarf wrote:
An L.A. IAAF WC or Olympics would be another guaranteed record breaker.
And what record would that be? Worst attended WC? The Olympics would be a good draw, but no way would the IAAF WC be a record breaker in any sense of the word.