When they cut from a race to feild event- I hate it!

We all need a little love. Especially pole vaulters and shot putters.

Kid running after Kipchoge wrote:

Don't you hate it when the director of the broadcast cuts from a long distance race to a stupid field event as though the beginning of a 10k or 5k isn't interesting, and then when they come back you see that many things have changed- different leader some dropped back etc-

I hate it!!

Give us the whole race from A to Z!

No, as a true track AND field fan for many years, I hate it when that idiot Todd Harris begins a few seconds of field event coverage by calling it an "update." When did they ever have a 5 or 10-minute segment in which they stuck with a field event competition, and then break away to a race and characterize it as an "update" on the, say 5000? In other words, field events are just filler between races, and TV spends far more time showing sprinters sashaying around behind their blocks before the start or scratching their butts after the finish than they ever spend on field events.

TV presents the field events in 15-second snippets. Harris has invented his own phrase, "gone final," which sometimes means that the final has begun, but more often he means that the event is already over, and he might proceed to tell you who won before showing any video of some throws or jumps. Sort of kills any possibility of suspense, eh?

TV viewers rarely see more than a couple of competitors. There is no possible way to follow the vertical jump progressions and standings, the way TV presents it. Even in the throws, we usually have no idea who the other competitors are. It sucks big, and has been that way for many decades, and will never, ever, change.

Kid running after Kipchoge wrote:

Don't you hate it when the director of the broadcast cuts from a long distance race to a stupid field event as though the beginning of a 10k or 5k isn't interesting, and then when they come back you see that many things have changed- different leader some dropped back etc-

I hate it!!

Give us the whole race from A to Z!

Get out your wallet and buy tickets to go watch the event live.

Split screen.

Don't you hate it when they only show 2 or 3 throws/jumps throughout the competition? It would almost be like just showing the last lap of a 10k cause its the most exciting part. Don't blame the field events, blame the coverage. BBC coverage with live coverage going back and forth almost seemingly does it just as well as anyone can hope for. NBC's coverage literally only showed the winning throw for the Hammer and Javelin throws on TV during the US Champs. I mean really? There has to be a better way to please all Track and Field Fans

Javrun wrote:

Don't you hate it when they only show 2 or 3 throws/jumps throughout the competition? It would almost be like just showing the last lap of a 10k cause its the most exciting part. Don't blame the field events, blame the coverage. BBC coverage with live coverage going back and forth almost seemingly does it just as well as anyone can hope for. NBC's coverage literally only showed the winning throw for the Hammer and Javelin throws on TV during the US Champs. I mean really? There has to be a better way to please all Track and Field Fans

Agree with this guy here. BBC does a great job allowing you to follow a field event, whether it's jumps, shot, or even something like the heptathalon. You get to see early jumps, see someone marks progression, and know who the contenders are. And I would say they are fairly judicious in when to cut away from a track race. field events are different too because someone could put one out there early and that's all they need to win. NBC has perhaps the worst possible coverage. BBC track coverage strikes me as equivalent to how you'd see the NFL, pro golf, or MLB covered.

here's an idea... what if channels did something during an ongoing race where there's a small box in the screen showing whatever field event is going on and if it's a particular star polevaulting/jumping/throwing it switches full screen to the event and then switches back to the race + small box

ultra hi-tech wrote:

Split screen.

Yeah, I shake my head that they don't use a split screen when they cut away from a distance race.

Very annoying.

If eyes are the TV, odds are they are watching that race, not wanting to see a field event.

At least split the screen.

In the golf majors they even split screen the commercials to show continual golf coverage.

I think a split screen would be more valuable to advertisers than cutting away.

If I am watching on DVR, I will fast forward the commercials.

If the commercials were shown with a screen shot of a continuing race, I'll notice the advertiser.

And the field event coverage is worse.

They should show every attempt in a finals at least on a small screen, but also show a box score of current standing with every attempt, which they really don't do.

Star wrote:

ultra hi-tech wrote:

Split screen.

Yeah, I shake my head that they don't use a split screen when they cut away from a distance race.

Very annoying.

If eyes are the TV, odds are they are watching that race, not wanting to see a field event.

At least split the screen.

In the golf majors they even split screen the commercials to show continual golf coverage.

I think a split screen would be more valuable to advertisers than cutting away.

If I am watching on DVR, I will fast forward the commercials.

If the commercials were shown with a screen shot of a continuing race, I'll notice the advertiser.

And the field event coverage is worse.

They should show every attempt in a finals at least on a small screen, but also show a box score of current standing with every attempt, which they really don't do.

BBC have the red button if you want to stick with one event.

You guys are watching through VPNs and complaining but there are options for the people the coverage is designed for.

At least it's not like the stupid Olympics where NBC cuts away for a feature story on how some athlete likes to garden or has a fetish for small dogs or crap like that. The Olympics are unwatchable.

ultra hi-tech wrote:

Split screen.

The other day they had a split screen with the women's 10000m on the left, and some big fat ugly 400 pound guy on the right, which was one of the most offensive things that I've ever seen on tv, certainly a major offense to all women and to the people supporting them, and the only reason that I see to have a split screen. When they put that split screen up, I taped a poster board on the monitor to cover up the field event side.

More appropriately, separate the events! Big fat men don't care about women's running events, and vice versa, so broadcast then separately. Ideally they could cut out all the walking around and sitting between actually doing something in the field events, have it all in one separate segment, show the women's and men's running events entirely when they happen, and the same thing for sprint events.

Imagine having the finals of a football or basketball championship on tv, and the other half of the screen was a women's marathon. The football fans would be up in arms, and the runner's would not like this either.

Distance running and field events are entirely separate entities, and have absolutely nothing in common.

Why do we even need to have both track and field events happening at the same time? If you want either to ever really feel like a premier event we should hold them separately.

When ABC had the Olympics decades ago they devoted lots of time to field events. Likewise the decathlon. Bruce Jenner never would have become as famous today. Once NBC took over they mostly followed the ABC formula in '88 but then steadily shifted away, unless there was a huge storyline like Powell/Lewis.

Now it's absolutely disgusting. Last year in Rio I had no idea how compelling some of the field events had been until watching the full video on NBC's website.

BBC does a far superior job, as others have mentioned. Olympic Channel shows a 4 hour taped version of the BBC evening session every night during these world championships. I watch the NBCSN version live in the afternoon and then the BBC tape later. The major difference is extra focus on field events, plus obviously a different perspective on the races.

I don't mind the networks cutting away to field events but it burns me to no description when they shift away from a distance race with seemingly no idea that it's a pivotal point in the race. For example, last year in Rio I had a big wager on Ayana to sweep the 10,000 and 5000. I bet it much earlier at very favorable comparative odds. NBC during the 5000 seemed to think Ayana's win was a mere formality as she surged to a big lead. They started showing some ridiculous canned segment on somebody else. Meanwhile I was concerned because Ayana had taken it out too rapidly.

Sure enough, when NBC finally came back to the race Craig Masback is saying..."The unthinkable has happened." Ayana's lead was gone and soon she was devoured.

I wanted to punch everybody in the NBC sports department. At least allow me to watch my money slipping away.

My bigger pet peeve is not zooming out enough to see who's in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. And don't leave the competition without telling us who got silver and bronze. In the case of an NCAA event, we want to know who got 1st through 8th. All-American includes all eight places.

Kid running after Kipchoge wrote:

Don't you hate it when the director of the broadcast cuts from a long distance race to a stupid field event as though the beginning of a 10k or 5k isn't interesting, and then when they come back you see that many things have changed- different leader some dropped back etc-

I hate it!!

Give us the whole race from A to Z!

If you are in the USA, you can pay and support track, and watch every moment of the track races on NBC Sports Gold, and also every moment of the field events. I paid and am glad I did. Sure, I love free, but I can fast forward, watch it call, watch when I want. Some issues, but still a dream come true vs when I was still actually competing and a fan at the same time.

Split screens are bad wrote:

Imagine having the finals of a football or basketball championship on tv, and the other half of the screen was a women's marathon. The football fans would be up in arms, and the runner's would not like this either.

Distance running and field events are entirely separate entities, and have absolutely nothing in common.

Nothing in common others than they both fall under the banner of Athletics. You silly sausage.