So many of the posters on here hate Oregon but I am not going to lie. I am a little envious because that crowd at Hayward Field is awesome and I would love to be in that atmosphere. If I had ever been good enough I would have chosen that school because of the atmosphere at the meets.
I've heard many track fans who aren't UO fans say they really love watching track at Hayward because there's so much enthusiasm and energy. Even if most of the crowd's not rooting for you, or for the athlete you're rooting for, it's still fun to be in the middle of all that.
At the Pac-10's this weekend, all of the winners took victory laps and were honored by the Hayward fans. Cheers for the Huskies. Cheers for the Bruins. Cheers for the Cardinal. Didn't matter. Truly the House of Track and Field.
That is awesome news. I hope this continues for USATF nationals. Last year it was very uncomfortable for Non Nike sponsored athletes and their families. My dad doesn't want to return.
What does that mean..."last year it was very uncomfortable for non Nike..."? Where did this take place? Expand, please?
You know, torture devices and fire pits in the non-local spectator section.
continue the trend wrote:
That is awesome news. I hope this continues for USATF nationals. Last year it was very uncomfortable for Non Nike sponsored athletes and their families. My dad doesn't want to return.
yes I distincly remember the entire place booing Tyson Gay.
yes that was sarcasm.
Unless you can be much more specific, I call BS.
I've heard many descriptions of the "great Hayward crowd" from fans and athletes from all over, and until now I'd never heard a single mention of the "hostile Hayward crowd" anywhere.
"Continue the trend" is likely a poster who comes here ad nauseum, trying to spread his hatred of life. Never, never have I observed an athlete, not associated with Nike, be treated any differently at Hayward Field. If this poster's father felt that way, he is someone to avoid because he is mentally screwed up.
great place wrote:
So many of the posters on here hate Oregon but I am not going to lie. I am a little envious because that crowd at Hayward Field is awesome and I would love to be in that atmosphere. If I had ever been good enough I would have chosen that school because of the atmosphere at the meets.
No, they don't "hate" Oregon, they are jealous. They express it in immature and low class ways.
And, it isn't "so many... posters." It is probably 3-4 jealous immature folk who post repeatedly under new handles. You can rest assured, almost immediately after Oregon accomplishes something good, the first thread posted here will likley be negative, or be commented on negatively by the one or two jealous unsupervised children out there. IF they were true track fans that had ever watched a big meet at Oregon... They'd have to be really sick to come and post negatives here.
Watching a track meet at Hayward field, if you are a true track and field fan, is like going to a 5 star restaurant. It is the most informed and supportive track and field crowd in the nation, bar none.
What other posters have said is true, ALL competitors are cheered for great performances... This tradition goes back...forever. Eugene has always been a class act. As a kid going on 35 years ago, I saw 3 Oregon runners get beat, and then saw the stands give the victor from a rival school a standing ovation.
To truly understand Oregon-Hayward-Eugene, one needs to understand that it is a small city in the middle of nowhere essentially, and they appreciate having this special heritage for track and field, for having given birth to the running boom, for having given birth (along with Stanford, Portland and Beaverton) to Nike etc.
In Texas we pack stadiums with 50,000 for high school football. Tyler is where I came up. I lived in Midland for 10 years. That doesn't translate into HS football being prime time in rural Texas at all. For prime time NFL football you have to be in Dallas or Houston.
The same goes for T&F. Eugene is a rural town. You have to be in Los Angeles or New York to be prime time.
So you are saying they pack track and field stadiums in LA and New York? I didn't realize that... Hey, thanks for stopping by to fill us in on the whole prime time thing.
In Texas wrote:
In Texas we pack stadiums with 50,000 for high school football. Tyler is where I came up. I lived in Midland for 10 years. That doesn't translate into HS football being prime time in rural Texas at all. For prime time NFL football you have to be in Dallas or Houston.
The same goes for T&F. Eugene is a rural town. You have to be in Los Angeles or New York to be prime time.
I agree! However Eugene does a great job with getting the locals out but the truth is if Track & Field wants to make the big Stage they need to focus on LA and NY.
There's no TV audience for rural sports. TV is where it's at. Before the internet it was TV and it's still TV that makes the most money and funds elites. Without TV there's no Puma, no Adidas, no Strands, no Nike.
The appearance fees and prize money they paid at Home Depot on saturday is more than they will pay this year at all of the elite meets in the U.S.A. combined. TV paid for that. It was the best payday for elite T&F ever in the U.S.A.
No TV audience wrote:
There's no TV audience for rural sports. TV is where it's at. Before the internet it was TV and it's still TV that makes the most money and funds elites. Without TV there's no Puma, no Adidas, no Strands, no Nike.
The appearance fees and prize money they paid at Home Depot on saturday is more than they will pay this year at all of the elite meets in the U.S.A. combined. TV paid for that. It was the best payday for elite T&F ever in the U.S.A.
well said! I hope he USATF listens
Eugene is a small town with nothing to offer in terms of outside exposure. Instead of helping Track & Field Eugene is actually hurting USA track as we know it.
NY-LA is the way to go wrote:
I agree! However Eugene does a great job with getting the locals out but the truth is if Track & Field wants to make the big Stage they need to focus on LA and NY.
Right. And that's why every year at the Prefontaine Classic they get some of the best international runners around? That's why the Pre is a Golden League meet? I'm sure El G, Bekele, Defar, Mottram, Lagat, Ramzi, or Korir see Eugene as a place to be avoided?
The PC never was GL meet. It has been an IAAF Grand Prix meet, and will become an IAAF Diamond League meet. The IAAF Golden League was ended last year. The Diamond League is dumbed down with half the minimum prize money as the old GL, but twice the meets.
You sir are of the arrogant sort that we Euros have to laugh at. Eugene is really the only track and field venue in America that has any significance. The payouts at Pre likely exceed whatever was paid out at the Adidas meet. You sir, are also of the ignorant sort if you see LA or NYC as "prime time" for track and field. Were you a wee bit older and around Olin Cassell, you would understand that your attitude is that of Olin's--an attitude that nearly killed track and field in America. I fear that the new USATF Pres. is likely to follow Cassell's blueprint and finish off American T&F for good. By the way, I have no problem with Craig Masback's leadership of American track. He actually brought USATF back from the graveyard and saved it from bankruptcy, clearing the boards of their huge debt. Now it appears America is headed back down the track that Cassell took (remember your New Orleans Olympic Trials debacle?).