gplusa wrote:
National kits should not be worn at DL events. The athletes have not been selected to represent their country at the meet.
You don't need to be selected to be from a country.
I already said the idea would be national colors, not National Kit(tm).
You are kind of missing the point.
make it better - LetsHelp them wrote:
The point is nobody cares about what's happening when they can't tell the athletes apart.
In cycling you can instantly spot the major protagonists in a TV shot. Can you do that in distance track? No.
People like you are why the sport is dying. FormerD1 lol.
You seem to be missing the point by a whole lot.
There were a bunch of Nike logos plastered on some human hangers and that image was broadcast to a tiny international audience. It was much cheaper than a commercial. Mission accomplished.
Nike brings you skinny athletes wearing their clothes, not Track and Field. Get it right.
The DL should make it a rule that no more than four athletes in the same race(1500m and over) to be allowed to race in the same uniform(color). Nike and Adidas and any other sponsor companies will then have to figure out for themselves how they want to do it. The top "dog" will have to wear a distinct color, preferably gold or yellow. In addition to this, all athletes to wear their last names on the front with prints that are large enough to be read easily by the fans. Where two athletes share a similar last name, they should use first names or first Initial (Large) followed by the last name. like G. Mutai and E. Mutai just to give an example as they do for the marathons.
KBXC wrote:
I like the idea, but what would happen with runners who overlap in some of your categories? For example, let's say Kiprop theoretically gets the WR in the 1500 and is the Diamond League leader. Now he is a WR holder, Diamond League leader, and the reigning World Champ. How would that work? Would you give him a black singlet with gold and yellow accents? Just curious about the logistics of this plan.
You are absolutely right, can Nike really afford hiring the top rocket scientists needed for solving these problems?
Keep the brainstorming going.
make it better - LetsHelp them wrote:
In cycling you can instantly spot the major protagonists in a TV shot. Can you do that in distance track? No.
People like you are why the sport is dying. FormerD1 lol.
Lol what? Do you even watch the Tour? Good luck picking out Nibali or Sagan out of the peleton.
Keep the identical singlets, but give each of them an appropriate funny hat. Kiprop for example will wear a police hat.
Prior to the '90s many athletes had different singlets. Starting in the '90s singlets became more homogenized. I'll also add that I think most modern singlets look worse. The simpler the better.
Their strips were so dull It looked like they were running the dark in Doha
No clever system is required. Simply allow runners to wear their own vests of choice with whatever personal sponsors they want and for all those Nike athletes who have no other vests, force the billion dollar sports clothing company to provide 5+ colour vests for their athletes.
make it better - LetsHelp them wrote:
Hublot wrote:Easy to solve this...Nike needs to put their last name on the singlet like a soccer jersey.
Nice idea!
Should have been done years ago.
It was. Puma did it for years.
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/stephen-cherono-of-kenya-in-action-in-the-3000-metres-news-photo/2568542pop_pop!_v2.2.1 wrote:
make it better - LetsHelp them wrote:The point is nobody cares about what's happening when they can't tell the athletes apart.
In cycling you can instantly spot the major protagonists in a TV shot. Can you do that in distance track? No.
People like you are why the sport is dying. FormerD1 lol.
You seem to be missing the point by a whole lot.
There were a bunch of Nike logos plastered on some human hangers and that image was broadcast to a tiny international audience. It was much cheaper than a commercial. Mission accomplished.
Nike brings you skinny athletes wearing their clothes, not Track and Field. Get it right.
Small thinkers like you are exactly the problem.
Is it possible for Nike to set up a wall of identical logo singlets in every race? Yes. Is that decent free advertising to a tiny niche audience? Yes.
The problem is people like you and these clowns settling for the sport being a pathetic amateur exhibition, somewhere below darts and billiards in the TV viewing landscape.
Impressionism wrote:
The DL should make it a rule that no more than four athletes in the same race(1500m and over) to be allowed to race in the same uniform(color). Nike and Adidas and any other sponsor companies will then have to figure out for themselves how they want to do it. The top "dog" will have to wear a distinct color, preferably gold or yellow. In addition to this, all athletes to wear their last names on the front with prints that are large enough to be read easily by the fans. Where two athletes share a similar last name, they should use first names or first Initial (Large) followed by the last name. like G. Mutai and E. Mutai just to give an example as they do for the marathons.
Great ideas.
formerD1 wrote:
make it better - LetsHelp them wrote:In cycling you can instantly spot the major protagonists in a TV shot. Can you do that in distance track? No.
People like you are why the sport is dying. FormerD1 lol.
Lol what? Do you even watch the Tour? Good luck picking out Nibali or Sagan out of the peleton.
Actually pretty easy, with each team having a distinct kit. Much easier that picking out Kipruto vs Birech vs other Kipruto in an identical pack within a DL race.
The greatest innovation in T&F was when they put the name of the athlete on the bib..............you know I am right on this one.
make it better - LetsHelp them wrote:
LetsRun makes a great point about Nike dressing every single athlete in the same singlet, as in the Doha 1500 when 10 athletes had the same uniform. Pathetic of Nike and terrible for the sport. (Adidas does the same, but with a bit more variety.)
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/05/day-distance-dominance-asbel-kiprop-conseslus-kipruto-almaz-ayana-caster-semenya-earn-big-wins-track-fields-opening-day/Let's give them some ideas. If a group of fans, the people who actually watch the sport, can come up with something better, surely Nike can.
- White singlets for runners in their first pro season.
- Yellow for current DL leader. (Obviously borrowing from cycling a bit here.)
- Gold for reigning Olympic or World Champions.
- Black for a world record holder.
- National jerseys (or at least national colors) for everyone else.
No. You might not have a single runner in the field with the first 4 color jerseys, especially world record holders who are mostly retired. The shoe sponsors of track clubs would not go for the national jerseys. Shoe companies also sponsor national teams so what if an athlete sponsored by Nike has to wear a National jersey sponsored by adidas? Ok for championships but not for regular meets.
Who determines who the "top dog" is and what if it changes throughout the season? Yellow jerseys are fine for a single race with a running total time like the Tour de France but not for an entire track season. Or even a cycling season for that matter.
Les wrote:
Who determines who the "top dog" is and what if it changes throughout the season? Yellow jerseys are fine for a single race with a running total time like the Tour de France but not for an entire track season. Or even a cycling season for that matter.
Pretty simple for the DL: yellow jersey is DL leader.
How is that confusing for you?
Les wrote:
No. You might not have a single runner in the field with the first 4 color jerseys, especially world record holders who are mostly retired. The shoe sponsors of track clubs would not go for the national jerseys. Shoe companies also sponsor national teams so what if an athlete sponsored by Nike has to wear a National jersey sponsored by adidas? Ok for championships but not for regular meets.
Your points are weak.
There's no reason every possible color has to be in every single race.
The national jersey/sponsorship issue has already been discussed: the idea is national colours, not the actual current national kit. I am pretty sure that Nike and Adidas can make a jersey in whatever colors they want.
LetsHelp wrote:
Les wrote:Who determines who the "top dog" is and what if it changes throughout the season? Yellow jerseys are fine for a single race with a running total time like the Tour de France but not for an entire track season. Or even a cycling season for that matter.
Pretty simple for the DL: yellow jersey is DL leader.
How is that confusing for you?
OP said nothing about DL points leader -- that is your inference. In any case there are often ties in DL points, what then, the same situation we have now -- multiple athletes in the same race with the same color jersey. Also, DL points really only have meaning for the athletes in the running for year-end prizes. Spectators I don't think really care.
LetsHelp wrote:
Les wrote:No. You might not have a single runner in the field with the first 4 color jerseys, especially world record holders who are mostly retired. The shoe sponsors of track clubs would not go for the national jerseys. Shoe companies also sponsor national teams so what if an athlete sponsored by Nike has to wear a National jersey sponsored by adidas? Ok for championships but not for regular meets.
Your points are weak.
There's no reason every possible color has to be in every single race.
The national jersey/sponsorship issue has already been discussed: the idea is national colours, not the actual current national kit. I am pretty sure that Nike and Adidas can make a jersey in whatever colors they want.
They can, but the problem is this: the IAAF and the national federations are beholden to the shoe companies who sponsor them with millions of dollars. The IAAF is not going to tell their sponsor (is it adidas?) how to brand their athletes. USATF is not going to tell Nike you MUST do x, y and z with their uniforms. The shoe companies are running the sport, not the world and national federations.