Come On!! Why is the NCAA XC Championships held on a Monday, and in Terre Haute? This is BAD for the sport.

Let me get this clear, Kolhberg, because the NCAA doesn't do what YOU think they should, they don't have a passion for developing the sport?? Arrogant enough are we?

The NCAA gets bids (if any/many) from places to host the meet. The corollary is that they (generally) want the meet in the middle of the country - for the sake of ease of transportation for those who may drive to the meet (from all directions, and including spectators). Weather has nothing to do with it (for those who think it should be in warmer climes - it's XC not beach volleyball or even Track). One must remember that for many years (from an earlier post) it was in Michigan - still in the middle of the country (sort of, if one ignores the South).

The chances of NCCA XC being on either coast are slim. It may move a little farther south (has been in Kansas), but again it will depend on who wants to host the meet. The NCAA would ONLY step in to perhaps arrange a location if there were in fact NO bids. I don't think that is going to happen - they would probably go to a coastal/southern location before that scenario played out.

The NCAA obviously like the way the meet has been run at TH, so going back isn't a problem - again weather will not likely be a factor, it is difficult to predict anyway.

free willy wrote:

Let me get this clear, Kolhberg, because the NCAA doesn't do what YOU think they should, they don't have a passion for developing the sport?? Arrogant enough are we?

Well, I think it's pretty clear that having the meet in cow country doesn't do much to advance the sport. The formula is rather simple; if you want to increase exposure (and subsequently participation rates), bring events to where the people are. That's just basic grassroots marketing. But...its clearly not a NCAA priority.

The NCAA meet has been at Lehigh, in Tuscon, in South Carolina in the past 20 years. Those places don't qualify as "middle of the country."

It's been at Navy (annapolis, MD), Wash St., UVa, William and Mary, and Manhattan in the past, not to mention other "middle of the country" places like Houston or North Texas.

kohlberg wrote:

scotth wrote:

It's fine that many here want the meet 'here or there' but it ain't happening if 'here or there' don't submit a bid.

The complacency in that approach is disappointing but not surprising given the bottom-of-the-barrel priority the NCAA gives to xc. The NCAA is a powerful enough organization that if they really really wanted to have the meet in a particular location, they could do so.

Ah, my friend, in a nutshell; what you think the NCAA can & should do, they can't & won't.

kohlberg wrote:

The formula is rather simple; if you want to increase exposure (and subsequently participation rates), bring events to where the people are.

If you build it, they will come.

I seem to remember a lot of people coming to my little event in corn country.

Hopefully Wisconsin will bid for the championships in the near future. Madison would be a great place to host a race like this, and I think the community would be very supportive. Also, the weather is pretty similar to Terre Haute, Madison has a decent sized airport, and Milwaukee is only an hour an a half a way. With that said, I think it would be difficult for any school to do as good a job hosting as IN state.

One nice aspect of the men at Terre Haute is that it offers a high quality course that most of the players are quite familiar with. There is an infra-structure for the event largely already in place.

I've seen the NCAA go to some colleges and watched the coach of that school go through hell to make the event come off well. You don't just snap your fingers and the event runs itself. It's a ton of work.

Sometimes it takes putting on the meet more than once or twice before you get it right. There have been screw ups in the past due to inexperience with the putting on a national cross country race - that's a very different animal than a conference meet or a large invitational.

Actually as far as the media goes, what little attention they pay to cross country is centered around the top individuals. Most could really care less about the team aspect, That's for the athletes and coaches. When Sports Illustrated used to cover the NCAA meet every year it was only to report the top three individuals. I can clearly remember the article when Bob Kennedy won and there was zero mention of the men's and women's team champions. All they cared about who was the winner of the race, the first man or women across the line.

That's what I like about Footlocker. Its the best of the best. That what makes it unique. You don't have 300 other non-elite runners getting in the way.

The NCAA is happy to keep the meet at Terre Haute because it comes off without a hitch. Terre Haute has a proven record of competency.

That's much the same reason why the NCAA is happy to link up with Direct Athletics - it has shown itself to be capable and reliable over an extended period of time.

The NCAA isn't keen on cross country and track & field, but it also doesn't want a ton of complaints and mess ups. Therefore, when an entity shows itself as being able to do the job without a million problems, the NCAA group gravitates that way. They don't want to spend a lot of time embroiled in hassles, so they reward competency and groups that get the job done without major screw ups.