This is why I have shifted recently to following sports I never thought I would care about. For example, biathlon is awesome. It's a short season but the top biathletes are in every race. I never have to tune in and worry about Lagreid needing a rest day or Vittozzi's coach finding some phantom injury and she's trying to explain that she's merely a robot who does everything he says.
This is why track ain't too popular. All the most popular sports have a regular season and corresponding playoffs with intriguing head to head matchups the focal point.
Usually I bust your balls, but here you are spot on.
Professional sports wouldn’t exist without the entertainment element.
Track and field would, because it does. Broadcasters could do a much better job of presenting it, but it just needs to be a track meet, which is exciting enough for anyone who likes competition.
This is why track ain't too popular. All the most popular sports have a regular season and corresponding playoffs with intriguing head to head matchups the focal point.
G-d, I hate what has happened to the sport. Do you remember the old days? Steve Scott broke 4 in the mile 137 times, 19 times in a sanctioned mile races in one season! Bill Rodgers was out running a road 10K like every week. The best runners raced ALL the time. Maybe this undermined their ability to have one singular performance, but they all seemed to do ok. WA should abandon time standards all together and only allow point based qualifying that is set up to ensure the best athletes compete regularly with a frequency appropriate for the event. 1500 athletes should need at least 8-10 races in the event during the calendar year to have a shot to qualify for worlds. Will we even see Mu before the trials? Will she even bother with the trials? We may see her on the track less than 6 minutes total in all of 2023. No sport can succeed with that as the competitive model.
This is why I have shifted recently to following sports I never thought I would care about. For example, biathlon is awesome. It's a short season but the top biathletes are in every race. I never have to tune in and worry about Lagreid needing a rest day or Vittozzi's coach finding some phantom injury and she's trying to explain that she's merely a robot who does everything he says.
I think the issue is that there haven't been any other US groups that are as competitive as BTC in years. There was NOP, who raced more, and since Rupp was the best in the country, I think people were satisfied with mainly following him, and a BTC athlete in any race was a pleasant surprise. Once Rupp moved up, and especially once NOP fell apart, all of the best US distance runners were in BTC. That became an issue when people started realizing BTC athletes only run time trials and championships unless they're medal caliber.
I'm hoping that OAC is proving you can race more often and still get world class results, but I can't fault Jerry for focusing on peaking for championships. It's not his fault those are the only meets that actually matter. Instead of being upset with BTC for never racing, we should get upset with World Athletics for creating an incentive for athletes to only focus on a few meets in the summer, and change it so that it's best for athletes to race more.
You can race more without affecting your training. More races doesn’t mean changing the focus away from peaking at championships. Swapping in races here and there instead of a hard workout isn’t going to make or break anything
I think the issue is that there haven't been any other US groups that are as competitive as BTC in years. There was NOP, who raced more, and since Rupp was the best in the country, I think people were satisfied with mainly following him, and a BTC athlete in any race was a pleasant surprise. Once Rupp moved up, and especially once NOP fell apart, all of the best US distance runners were in BTC. That became an issue when people started realizing BTC athletes only run time trials and championships unless they're medal caliber.
I'm hoping that OAC is proving you can race more often and still get world class results, but I can't fault Jerry for focusing on peaking for championships. It's not his fault those are the only meets that actually matter. Instead of being upset with BTC for never racing, we should get upset with World Athletics for creating an incentive for athletes to only focus on a few meets in the summer, and change it so that it's best for athletes to race more.
You can race more without affecting your training. More races doesn’t mean changing the focus away from peaking at championships. Swapping in races here and there instead of a hard workout isn’t going to make or break anything
OAC is better than BTC, but NOBODY races enough. Beamish ran some random steeple this weekend. Why didn’t Olli, Yared and Mario also come to LA and hop in that 1500 with Teare? Only racing when you are at peak performance is definitely bad for the sport, but it’s bad for the athletes too. When you race a lot you perfect your tactics in all sorts of scenarios, you learn to deal with every situation, you learn how to perform well even when you are not 100%. Certainly the pros should get paid to race. Let their sponsors and WA set up the right sort of incentives, both in terms of $ and access to global championships to get them all out their more often.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
It'll always be funny to me that Shelby Houlihan was banned for doping in December 2020 and nobody noticed for 6 months
Yes that says a lot. (She got banned in January 21 though.)
What's even worse is that she got to keep it a secret all the way to the final CAS decision as Nike threw its weight around, and BTC including Jerry and Shalane and her agent lied on her behalf as part of the cover-up.
I think the issue is that there haven't been any other US groups that are as competitive as BTC in years. There was NOP, who raced more, and since Rupp was the best in the country, I think people were satisfied with mainly following him, and a BTC athlete in any race was a pleasant surprise. Once Rupp moved up, and especially once NOP fell apart, all of the best US distance runners were in BTC. That became an issue when people started realizing BTC athletes only run time trials and championships unless they're medal caliber.
I'm hoping that OAC is proving you can race more often and still get world class results, but I can't fault Jerry for focusing on peaking for championships. It's not his fault those are the only meets that actually matter. Instead of being upset with BTC for never racing, we should get upset with World Athletics for creating an incentive for athletes to only focus on a few meets in the summer, and change it so that it's best for athletes to race more.
You can race more without affecting your training. More races doesn’t mean changing the focus away from peaking at championships. Swapping in races here and there instead of a hard workout isn’t going to make or break anything
^This. Rupp would show up to a meet to attempt an American record and then follow it up with 4*1600m an hour later. Jerry lives in a bubble where he's always right.
This is why I have shifted recently to following sports I never thought I would care about. For example, biathlon is awesome. It's a short season but the top biathletes are in every race. I never have to tune in and worry about Lagreid needing a rest day or Vittozzi's coach finding some phantom injury and she's trying to explain that she's merely a robot who does everything he says.
Amen! This is why cycling is amazing. 95% of the top riders fighting it out week in and week out. Every race is different: weeklong stage races, the cobbled classics, glorified kermesse races, the grand tours, etc. With few exceptions, all the top guys race every type of event! Lots of drama, rivalries, momentum, danger...
This is why I have shifted recently to following sports I never thought I would care about. For example, biathlon is awesome. It's a short season but the top biathletes are in every race. I never have to tune in and worry about Lagreid needing a rest day or Vittozzi's coach finding some phantom injury and she's trying to explain that she's merely a robot who does everything he says.
Amen! This is why cycling is amazing. 95% of the top riders fighting it out week in and week out. Every race is different: weeklong stage races, the cobbled classics, glorified kermesse races, the grand tours, etc. With few exceptions, all the top guys race every type of event! Lots of drama, rivalries, momentum, danger...
Cycling is currently in a modern golden age!
Pogacar, Wout van Aert, and MVP among the best ever in the same generation battling it out every week in the classics and year around. Pogacar vs Vingagaard in the TdF is a rivalry between absolute monster grand tour talents. ... reminiscent of LeMond vs Hinault or Lance vs Ulrich. ... imagine watching Kipchoge battling Bekele or Jakob vs Tim 20 or 30 times a year.
This is why track ain't too popular. All the most popular sports have a regular season and corresponding playoffs with intriguing head to head matchups the focal point.
Exactly.
It isn't optimal for Lebron's body to play 82+ games in a year. I am sure Lebron would play a lot better if he could take weeks off to recover between games. But he plays regardless because sport is entertainment and the NBA is a unified league with rules.
If track every wants to grow athletes need to race. Which means fans, coaches, and athletes accepting they won't be at absolutely peak performance. It will require a massive shift in mindset.
I don't see it happening and it is just getting worse if anything.
Personally, I don't want to see athletes complaining about losing contracts or not making any money unless they are racing 15+ times a year
The product would ultimately suffer, though. I like watching athletes performing at their best, even if that requires me to be patient. In high school, the excitement was watching people race at the big invites and championship races, not the dual meets that people would run twice a week. Track is already not the most action-packed and stimulating sport to watch, don't make it more boring by increasing the frequency of races.
The product would ultimately suffer, though. I like watching athletes performing at their best, even if that requires me to be patient. In high school, the excitement was watching people race at the big invites and championship races, not the dual meets that people would run twice a week. Track is already not the most action-packed and stimulating sport to watch, don't make it more boring by increasing the frequency of races.
Imagine racing one indoor meet and a road race between September and April? Do you realize how boring training would be?
Football added a regular season game. They are trying to extend hockey season in North America. The NBA added the play-in series for the playoffs. Many of our pros did xc, indoor, outdoor in the NCAA system just fine. They doubled and tripled often while taking 4-5 classes at a time. I don’t think 2+ races per month over 9 months would be a big ask.
I think the issue is that there haven't been any other US groups that are as competitive as BTC in years. There was NOP, who raced more, and since Rupp was the best in the country, I think people were satisfied with mainly following him, and a BTC athlete in any race was a pleasant surprise. Once Rupp moved up, and especially once NOP fell apart, all of the best US distance runners were in BTC. That became an issue when people started realizing BTC athletes only run time trials and championships unless they're medal caliber.
I'm hoping that OAC is proving you can race more often and still get world class results, but I can't fault Jerry for focusing on peaking for championships. It's not his fault those are the only meets that actually matter. Instead of being upset with BTC for never racing, we should get upset with World Athletics for creating an incentive for athletes to only focus on a few meets in the summer, and change it so that it's best for athletes to race more.
You can race more without affecting your training. More races doesn’t mean changing the focus away from peaking at championships. Swapping in races here and there instead of a hard workout isn’t going to make or break anything
I think coming down from altitude is part of the problem. jerry doesn't like them to leave, hence the flying back to flag for a few days in the middle of USAs between races
This is why track ain't too popular. All the most popular sports have a regular season and corresponding playoffs with intriguing head to head matchups the focal point.
G-d, I hate what has happened to the sport. Do you remember the old days? Steve Scott broke 4 in the mile 137 times, 19 times in a sanctioned mile races in one season! Bill Rodgers was out running a road 10K like every week. The best runners raced ALL the time. Maybe this undermined their ability to have one singular performance, but they all seemed to do ok. WA should abandon time standards all together and only allow point based qualifying that is set up to ensure the best athletes compete regularly with a frequency appropriate for the event. 1500 athletes should need at least 8-10 races in the event during the calendar year to have a shot to qualify for worlds. Will we even see Mu before the trials? Will she even bother with the trials? We may see her on the track less than 6 minutes total in all of 2023. No sport can succeed with that as the competitive model.
Totally agree with this. Qualification for World's and Olympics should be 100% based on rankings. If you don't run during the season, you don't get to come to the big party. Other big individual sports, like tennis and golf, manage to get their stars out beyond the majors because rankings matter