Some Observations about NCAAs after the broadcast

I agree, Carrie did a great job and Torres was bad--

very bad. Good coverage from FOX. Look like they were running on a track, great footing, made for fast times.

Could those of you who saw the broadcast elaborate on what you saw? For those of us who didn't get to see it...

Druing the last 1k even though i knew ritz was going to win i could not believe how far he came back from after hall made his initial move. Hall had a good 10m on ritz with 600 to go and to see Dathan come back from that was great. It was also interesting to see the leaders up front in the beginning and hall taking command right from the gun. Ritz ran the smartest race out of everyone and made every step look planned out, well other than the 10m gap hall put on him. All in all great coverage, torres has to get used to commentating though...

* Pre-raceday interviews with:

Coach Mark Wetmore

Dathan Ritzenhein

Shalane Flanagan

Alicia Craig

Coach Andy Gerard

Coach of Providence College

* Post-race interviews with:

Shalane Flanagan

Ryan Hall/Stanford men's team

Dena Evans, Stanford women's coach

* Short tribute to Kimani

* The races

Camera was on the Gator so there were lots of close up shots of the leaders. Few stationary camera shots, most were moving with the leaders. Saw quite a bit of the races. Men's race had a large lead pack so the camera mostly stayed with them. Women's race, Flanagan and Smith broke early, so camera alternated between them and the chase pack (Bei, Craig, Henry, etc.)

May have been other interviews, those were the only ones I could remember.

Torres was bad in demeanor only (demeanor's not really the word i was looking for but oh well)... he was far more knowledgeable than the current annoucer group (rawson, lewis, stones, etc...). Hall looked like he was flying with 600 but still looked sort of easy and like he had another gear, but when ritz went by he just turned and watched him go by without really responding, he tried to rally a little later but it was to no avail. he still didnt look as all out as he should probably look in a kick, it was odd really...

Wow. Was that inspiring. What a great finish by Ritz.

He's seems to do that. Hall looked really smooth and easy and then he just had nothing. He's done that before. I just remember watching the Arcadia mile against Webb. Hall look so easy and was just sitting on webb with 200 to go, almost looking like he was going to just blow by him and then nothing. He ended up getting walked by both Jeffersons. His form is great during the race, no wasted motion. But at the end he doesn't really change at all. It seems like he needs to get hims arms driving or something. He doesn't really open up. But I guess thats just the way he runs.

JOrge's broadcast performace is forgivable since he IS the reigning NCAA champ...I talk on the radio for a living and recognized his shortcoming's BUT I was glad to hear his angles.

Torres' raw and emotional call of the last 400 meters was powerfull. You could feel the excitment as he Ritz', his roomate, not only close the gap on Hall but pass him and put some distance in the homestraight!

Carrie was smooth, but you have to give Jorge, who I believe learned english as a second language, some effort points!

The FSN coverage reinforced my observations (about Hall and Ritz) while at the race and that I posted several days ago on another thread on this bd:

"Ritz was running for the individual title, ran a smart race tucked in behind the bigger Stanford guys in the wind the first half the race, and had enough left to take Hall in the final 400 (with the wind, not against it). Stanford ran for the team title and was simply dominating. Hall was kinda the odd man out, stuck there in no man's land between team and individual. He thought he could have had it all--and he probably could have. Stanford wanted to stay together and control the pace. But it was Hall who really controlled the pace for Stanford (yes, looking around for more help). He did have the team that could've protected him and set him up for the individual win but that obviously was not the plan. The plan was for Stanford to dominate the top 10 and if anyone could steal it in the end, more power to him. Hard to criticize such a great team performance by Stanford, but they still could've won easily while also setting up Hall for the individual win. Bottom lines, 2 races, individual and team--Ritz won one race and Stanford the other."

BTW, I was also even more impressed on tape with Ritz swallowing up that 10 m gap that Hall had with 600m to go. He really dug down and found something special. Hall let him go with 50 m left. Hall's supposed superior leg speed was trumped by his hammering at the front the whole race. Great race Ritz!.

Shalane--what can you say other than total domination. And I still think Craig has lost too much weight. She hasn't been this tiny since she was 14. The windy conditions favored strength over lightness of being.

The FSN coverage reinforced my observations (about Hall and Ritz) while at the race and that I posted several days ago on another thread on this bd:

"Ritz was running for the individual title, ran a smart race tucked in behind the bigger Stanford guys in the wind the first half the race, and had enough left to take Hall in the final 400 (with the wind, not against it). Stanford ran for the team title and was simply dominating. Hall was kinda the odd man out, stuck there in no man's land between team and individual. He thought he could have had it all--and he probably could have. Stanford wanted to stay together and control the pace. But it was Hall who really controlled the pace for Stanford (yes, looking around for more help). He did have the team that could've protected him and set him up for the individual win but that obviously was not the plan. The plan was for Stanford to dominate the top 10 and if anyone could steal it in the end, more power to him. Hard to criticize such a great team performance by Stanford, but they still could've won easily while also setting up Hall for the individual win. Bottom lines, 2 races, individual and team--Ritz won one race and Stanford the other."

BTW, I was also even more impressed on tape with Ritz swallowing up that 10 m gap that Hall had with 600m to go. He really dug down and found something special. Hall let him go with 50 m left. Hall's supposed superior leg speed was trumped by his hammering at the front the whole race. Great race Ritz!.

Shalane--what can you say other than total domination. And I still think Craig has lost too much weight. She hasn't been this tiny since she was 14. The windy conditions favored strength over lightness of being.

"Was at work and didn't see it. Anyone know when will it be on again? And did Torres and Tollefson broadcast by themselves, or did Fox put one of their people out there with them?"

some people try to stay calm or relaxed in the kick...martu liquori was big on "relaxing and accelerating" to kick well

Jorge Torres was awful. Apparently he went to the Bobcat Goldthwait School of Broadcasting. His voice sounded like a 13 year old kid going through puberty. Carrie Tollefson did a great job (and is very easy on the eyes).Toni Reavis is clown shoes. They need to find somebody who can head things up better than that guy.

All in all, the most solid coverage I've seen of a running event in a long time.Although I already knew who had won, it was still exciting to watch.

give torres a break. at least he showed some excitement for the race and gave insight as to what it is like to run in a national meet. it was obvious he was trying to hide his colorado bias, but i think he did an admirable job. at one point he was asked by reavis who he thought would win if it came down to a final kick. instead of talking about dathan's desire or something along those lines, he simply said that hall's 1500m background would give him the advantage in that situation. also, i couldn't help but smile hearing torres as he called the final strech. all in all i thought fsn did a great job to focus on both the individual and team aspects of the race, and the tribute to kimani was a very nice touch.

Didn't see it but I agree with you runnerb. Give Torres a break! At least it was a runner broadcasting! From what ya'll are saying it was good coverage. Nice to hear that they at least tried something different. I'm so sick of Adrian Carstin, or whatever his name is, bumbling through sport he knows nothing about.

When is it on again? not that I have a T.V. to watch it on.

the acorn hat needs to go.....

Just got a chance to sit down and watch my tape of it. Excellent coverage I thought... hey I'm just excited that an XC race is on TV. Really, we all should be. So with that in mind let's all send e-mail to Fox Sports telling them we appreciate the coverage of our sport. Send to:

Feedback@foxsports.com

, or write to the FOX Internet Privacy Officer at FOX SPORTS ONLINE GROUP, 1440 South Sepulveda Drive, Los Angeles, California 90025,

Jorge was not "smooth" as announcers go but he had good insights and showed a lot of enthusiasm, especially at the end. I liked that.

Ritz was awesome, smart race. But Hall looked great as well. Both ran extremely well.

EH2 wrote:

1. They should make Tollefson the primary announcer

2. Ryan hall let himself get beat and showed no heart in the battle with Dathan. He got out gutted and was probably in better shape than anyone in the field. Also, hall has the most efficient form for an american in a long time.

3. Throwing off the hat was cool.

4. Torres should keep his day job

5. Shalane was floating and made it look easy

6. I didnt mind the human interest pieces and the tribute to kimani was a good thing, but is it not possible to keep them from interrupting the last 2k of the race?!...

I had the same reaction. Winners of the broadcast: Tollefson, Ritz, Shalane. Losers of the broadcast: Ryan and Jorges.

I thought it was funny when Torres got excited in the last 400 when Ritz made his move. He just kept saying Dathan Ritzenhien this and Dathan Ritzenhein that. He said his full name like 4 or 5 times in a row. He just sort of gave up on the not being one sided. You know he didn't want to be biased but couldn't help it.