USA Indoor Track and Field Championships were a DISGRACE - Agree or Disagree??

I didn't watch the meet, but based on the results I wouldn't make a point of trying to watch a tape delay and I certainly wouldn't make any plans to go see the meet live in the future.

I think indoor track has the potential to be a bigger fan draw than outdoor track where the weather can be iffy and great facilities can be so big that it's hard to fill the stands. You solution seems reasonable to me. Something needs to change.

For the last 20 or more years, maybe longer, it's been a farce. USATF can't be too proud of that product. Some here have complained about a lack of coverage or promotion. It's pretty obvious they don't care.

Many collegiate indoor meets are way better in terms of depth of talent and more spectator friendly with scored meets which seem to be happening more these days outside of the conference and national championships.

Indoor track in the US just isn't a meaningful time on the professional competitive schedule. Those that can, go to Europe and compete even indoors. The money season is July/August. Most athletes these days are training for that time and might use a few indoor meets to check for fitness. Post-Olympics and Pre-WC is going to have the worse indoor turnout for the pros en-mass. Great opportunity for guys like Sowinski to grab a title and have it to add to his resume but most know what it means. A stepping stone into the pro ranks. Even the upcoming outdoor USATF championship will be without a lot of the top athletes that have wild cards for the WC. I think there is around 12 US wild cards this time around.

The meet is sad. But not having it would be sadder.

Better to figure out how to make the meet work better.

For starters, put it on the East Coast - that's where the interest in indoor track is. Have it on a quality track and incorporate a lot of the top collegians into it.

That would lift performances, interest, and excitement.

It's terrible.

wake up and coffee the smell wrote:

The meet is sad. But not having it would be sadder.

Better to figure out how to make the meet work better.

For starters, put it on the East Coast - that's where the interest in indoor track is. Have it on a quality track and incorporate a lot of the top collegians into it.

That would lift performances, interest, and excitement.

Yep, put it on the East Coast.

Jesse Squire reported that no one else offered to host it other than ALBQ.

(Spire Academy did, but their track is over sized.)

Don't the athletes have to take much of the blame for this? It's your national championship and you can't be bothered to show up?

Far too many are quite eager to whine about lack of exposure and sponsorship opportunities, yet when presented with a chance to give their sponsor time on national televison they decide to skip it. How about come to the meet, win the race, then thank your sponsor in the post race interview. If you are low keying indoors then come to the meet, race in something other than your primary event, and show up at a sponsor event the day before and sign autographs.

How many athletes were making noise at the USATF convention? How many of them were here? Start acting like you are responsible for your sport's success.

The only thing that was a disgrace was Will Leer's hipster mustache look. Dude that look might have been cool a few years ago (t really wasn't back then) Now you just look like a doofus...Oh yeah and if the real competition had shown up.

Leer would be toast

mr peabody smith wrote:

The only thing that was a disgrace was Will Leer's hipster mustache look.

says a peachy-faced boy. Facial hair rules. Grow it or look prepubescent.

I 100% disagree with the original poster. Going in, I was focused on the negative - small field sizes - and thought it was going to be awful.

Instead, I think it was really, really good.

The meet was on national tv. The portion I watched (only today on tv - only today) was a pretty darn good tv product in my book. Cain's win was great. Leer's as well. Sowinski in the 800 vs Andrews, Centro and Mulder was fantastic. Ajee Wilson winning the women's 800.

A world record in the women's pole vault, a world leader in the men's shot put.

Yes the fields were barely acceptable, but if you watched it, it was great.

Track doesn't need a lot of bodies to be popular - it just needs one or two compelling story lines per race and the events today had that. There was cherry in the 60 and wariner. Good, entertaining stuff.

-Rojo

PS. USATF's #1 problem is they don't have the money to force athletes to do anything but since a slew of them will run for free at an oversized track at UW or at the Armrory in the 5k, you'd think being on national tv and winning a US title would mean something.

PPS. I do think they should get creative. If the NYRR is willing to pay guys to run at the Armory,how about sweetening the USA purse?

PPS. Maybe we should start our own LetsRun rankings where indoors are given at least 1/3rd ranking. Tie that into the contracts. Then it gets interesting. Or just raise a LetsRUn slush fund.

From what I can tell, the top runners mainly care about running fast times indoors. They were successful too - 3 American records this year, 2 last year... USA's obviously isn't conducive to that at all, being at altitude and a championship.

For this reason, I'm not sure holding it at the Armory would fix it. It's still a championship race so it's still too hard to chase the times they want.

This is also a big reason the Millrose Games ended up at the Armory, I think. We seem to care more about times nowadays.

Sorry, Rojo, if that's what passes for a "really, really good meet,"

the sport is in real trouble.

I was at the ECAC meet at BU and watched a recording of the USATF meet. The ECAC meet was a much better meet. Hell, a girl from U. Albany ran 4:43 wire to wire in the mile. She certainly showed more guts than anyone in the women's mile in New Mexico, Cain included. Lots of close races at BU, so much higher on the entertainment scale.

I think both the USATF and the athletes have some culpability.

They have a prelim in the women's 800 to get rid of one athlete!

Really? Come on.

I agree with Rojo, for what the meet was working with, it delivered. WR in the pole vault, fast men's mile, and world leading marks. Cain's first US win. People keep pointing to the slow time in the women's mile, but fail to look at Cain's finish. 1:31 last 600 and 58.6 last 400 show great promise for blazing fast times ahead.

3:58.79 is a fast men's mile?

Altitude adjustment wrote:

3:58.79 is a fast men's mile?

At altitude, yes.

I thought I'd end up skipping through most of it on DVR and ended up watching the whole thing. It was a good, exciting meet, and the television coverage was surprisingly competent. The Hutchings/Bolden/Dan O'Brien grouping is so much better than the Tom Hammond/Dwight Stones/Carol Lewis mess they were throwing out last year.

Did it feel like a true "national championship"? Not really, but it was two good hours of track on TV on a crappy weather Sunday. Tough to complain about that.

rojo wrote:

If the NYRR is willing to pay guys to run at the Armory,how about sweetening the USA purse?

Because the NYRR do not owe USATF anything.

The people that are doing good things in our sport has nothing to do with USATF. They are doing things in spite of USATF. Ask anyone that has hosted a US Marathon Trials if USATF is supporting our sport? Ask any of the training groups how much help USATF has been.

NYRR is much better served to ignore USATF

Someone has to say it wrote:

wake up and coffee the smell wrote:

The meet is sad. But not having it would be sadder.

Better to figure out how to make the meet work better.

For starters, put it on the East Coast - that's where the interest in indoor track is. Have it on a quality track and incorporate a lot of the top collegians into it.

That would lift performances, interest, and excitement.

Yep, put it on the East Coast.

Jesse Squire reported that no one else offered to host it other than ALBQ.

(Spire Academy did, but their track is over sized.)

therein lies the problem. usatf passively sits there and gets 1 call to host the meet and accepts it. how about someone from usatf gets off his/her a$$ and proactively calls a few venues. did usatf even place a call to the armory? i doubt it because the armory would be more than willing to host nationals.

This. Any of the big 3 eastern tracks(RL,PG,Armory) would do it in a second. I remember the year we went to see Haile run in Boston at RL- place was standing room only, loud throughout the whole meet,music,ethiopians,masters,hsers,lots of fast races- absolutely worth 7 hour drive. Sorry but how many people live in albuquerque? Have it at the armory or PG is even better for spectators.

One other thing- I believe that Boston meet for example was actually pro-mo-ted. That prob helps.