Not too soon to start bashing NBC's marathon OT coverage

For the $30 entry fee? No. Take your free Gatorade and a gel and be happy.

HobbyJ wrote:

Tom Hammond is hosting, joined by Hutchings and Masback. Looks like Lewis Johnson and Carrie Tollefson will be on course.

Why does NBC keep doing this to us year after year? Tom Hammond is terrible and knows nothing about running. Masback knows something about running but is dry, boring and obvious. And I agree with the comment about how the hell a Nike employee is picked to call a race of Nike sponsored athletes. The whole Nike/USATF/NBC thing is incestuous. Hammond and Masback seriously detract from my enjoyment of track when it's on TV.

Hutchings is actually a good announcer. Just have him call the whole race by himself and don't waste money on Hammond and Masback. Or ask Ato Bolden to study up on the marathon. He couldn't know less than Hammond, and he's actually interesting and invested in what is happening.Lewis Johnson and Carrie Tollefson are fine for human interest stuff.

I'm just waiting for NBC to cut away from any moves during the race so that the lead inexplicably changes while we watch the women/men/commercials. It's like they have never heard of a split screen - men on one side, women on the other.

Benoit wrote:

Is there any chance that the men lap slow women runners?

We will find out, might be a slim chance of that happening but I would imagine any one that fell of the pace that badly might end up dropping out.....

If at any time they cut to marriage proposals on the course the odds are good that I'll put a remote/chair/brick through my TV.

Does anyone else remember the USATF coverage of USA's last year when Carrie Tollefson was commentating? I'm pretty sure she misidentified at least 7 athletes in the 1500 heats, and at one point thought Kyle Merber was Ben Blankenship.

I sometimes wonder if these commentators do any prep work at all. I mean, Blankenship probably has the most distinctive look of any pro distance runner in the world. How do you screw that up? The guy who calls hockey for NBC gets all the names right, and those dudes are wearing helmets and skating by at 30 mph.

Bonkers wrote:

The guy who calls hockey for NBC gets all the names right, and those dudes are wearing helmets and skating by at 30 mph.

1.They have giant numbers on their jerseys

2.Their names are on the jerseys

3.There are positions in hockey

Yes the marathon coverage will suck and it absolutely deserves to be trashed even before it begins. Here is what you will get:

1) Hutchings is the best but usually gets replaced by Masback for the most important races.

2) Masback it horrendous. Knows his stuff but is the most boring announcer in any sport at any level. I would much rather have some enthusiastic HS kid with zero experience call the race. He literally ruins the coverage and has been dragging down the sport for decades. I could care less about his conflicts of interest, he sucks that is the bottom line.

4) Boldon is great but obviously won't be part of a marathon we will be stuck with aging Hammond who knows nothing.

5) Rawson won't be there but he is just as bad as Masback, he ruins every race he covers. They (ESPN) love him because he checks one of the affirmative action check blocks and it is a minor sport that ESPN could care less about so they consider Rawson a "perfect fit". Because he checks the Affirmative Action block we are stuck with him until he drops.

6) Of course they will miss the major move and of course there won't be a replay.

7) Lewis is OK for interviews EXCEPT he at 6'6" is way too tall to interview a typical 4'11" women's marathoner, it looks ridiculous and totally detracts from the interview. It is as absurd as having 5'3" Muggsy Bogges interview Labron James. Dan O'Brien is the best at that.

8) Yes they will do a fluff piece on Alanna Hadley and yes they will pretend she is a legitimate contender and yes she will drop out early with an "injury" and yes that "injury" will be cured miraculously 3 days later and she will report on another great workout with a week of the "injury".

9) Then worst of all, you got the whole Cara Goucher thing. Yes the Cara Goucher who like her husband were washed up until they hooked up with ALSAL and suddenly and miraculously on his program they suddenly had spectacular, stunning, unbelievable success which is typical with ALSAL (anyone remember RITZ suddenly going from 13:16 to 12:55 after getting on the program? or Hassay not even getting out of the NCAA West Regional in the 10000 and her career likely over, then shockingly almost winning the Trials 2 weeks after joining ALSal, etc?) Then after going on AlSal's program and reaping the rewards Cara goes on to trash ALSal and effectively saying "they are all cheaters but miraculously I was the only one who wasn't cheating and still got the great results" and worst of all no one has called her out on it until me now. I wish she would just go away but she (and LoLo Jones) will never go away, we will continue to be saddled with their BS fake drama and NBC will jam it down your throat on Saturday until you gag. Expect Lolo to be in the spotlight for the track trials too. They will never go away.

10) Of course they will show you the winner cross the line then will focus on them bent over and you will miss the dramatic race for 2nd and you won't get anything on the 5th and beyond finishers.

Yep the coverage will suck and should be roundly criticized in advance.

I've been a track (distance) fan since the late 70's. Agree that there has been a lot of bad coverage of track, XC, and road racing over the years. Human interest stories dominating big city marathon coverage and way-excessive pre-race coverage of sprints are probably the worst. And there are, of course, better and worse commentators.

But I remember realizing/admitting a few decades into my fandom, "You know, watching an elite marathon is STILL pretty boring most of the time"(!!!). If I could think that, I can't imagine what the average citizen or TV company decision-maker thinks!!

Just suggesting a LITTLE modesty. Large chunks of the average elite marathon can only be made so interesting. Or, more precisely, can't be made interesting at all !!

But I do hope to remember to watch on Sat.....

Admitting Stuff wrote:

I've been a track (distance) fan since the late 70's. Agree that there has been a lot of bad coverage of track, XC, and road racing over the years. Human interest stories dominating big city marathon coverage and way-excessive pre-race coverage of sprints are probably the worst. And there are, of course, better and worse commentators.

But I remember realizing/admitting a few decades into my fandom, "You know, watching an elite marathon is STILL pretty boring most of the time"(!!!). If I could think that, I can't imagine what the average citizen or TV company decision-maker thinks!!

Just suggesting a LITTLE modesty. Large chunks of the average elite marathon can only be made so interesting. Or, more precisely, can't be made interesting at all !!

But I do hope to remember to watch on Sat.....

Agreed, coverage of marathon and T&F in general is challenging. Hard to get the masses to relate.

One of the advantages of the major sports is availability of statistics over and beyond the actual score of the game. Baseball has hitting average, ERA, etc. basketball has PPG, FG%. Football has yards per carry, throwing accuracy etc

With the advent of fitness devices that track everything from HR to cadence, running ought to be able to leverage that into benchmarks that average Joes and Janes can relate and compare too.

What is Runner A's HR at mile 18 vs at mile 6. How quickly is it trending up?

At mile 18, which runner is working hardest?

How many steps have they taken so far.

Who has the longest stride?

How many calories have they burned?

Just a thought