Where is the Track and Field Reporting?
I've spent the last week shuffling through old 1950's film reels of the now defunct, Pittsburgh Courier. Old newspapers are fantastic for many reasons - great writing, foreign correspondants, various historical insight, etc. But there is one thing that I love best about old newspapers...the Sports Section.
I have become accustomed to opening the paper each morning (my local paper, your local paper, the NY Times...it doesn't matter) and reading all about football, baseball and basktball. That's why I've been taken aback by the Courier's overwhelming coverage of Track and Field. Stat sheets, features, results, notes on rivalries - old newspapers covered Track the way it was meant to be covered. The only Track articles in today's papers have to do with Steroids or a double amputee appealing a court decision.
One solution- call or email the Sports editor of your local paper and tell them that you would like to see more coverage of Track and Field. This Friday ask your paper's editor if they could print the Millrose Games' results. This Saturday, ask your paper's editor why they did not print the results of one of the biggest indoor track meets in the U.S. Newspapers are in trouble- if they think there's a demand for Track and Field coverage, they'll at least add some results to appease their readers.
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yeah!
12:21 AM, February 1, 2008
.. Posted by scubasteve
seriously! where is all the coverage these days. track is way exciting.
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE
1:28 AM, February 3, 2008
.. Posted by GTRACK
I agree 100%.I live in New York and this week their was no coverage leading up to the Millrose Games. In years past their was always an article about a featured performer or a story line on something to waych out for.
The meet format leaves a lot to be desired and the people who own the meet now have gotten away from the tradition of the very important indoor classic.
In addition to the Wanamaker Mile their use to be heats of the mens and womens sprints in addition to a series of relays 4 x 400 and 4 x800 slowest to fastest. This format was stil in place when I attended my first Meet in th late seventies.As the years went by this format was done way with.The only thing that keeps the meet alive is the Wanamaker Mile.The attendance last night was 12,000 and that was probably very generous
I agree
10:38 PM, February 3, 2008
.. Posted by hmurphy
I really wish that one of the NY papers had run a decent preview of the meet. The Mile still means something in the U.S. - people like to watch it, but most Americans have no idea who the top U.S. 1500m/miler is.
I will write an entry on meet format and publicity later this week, but I think a series of smaller, streamlined meets are a great idea for the sport. You can fit a 10-15 event meet into a 1-2 hour t.v. time slot. The Millrose games and the Reebok Games in Boston are good examples of this.
We need to start using symbols to promote our sport - the 100m dash showcases the world's fastest humans, the shotput is the most powerful movement in sports(more so than a homerun, a dunk, or a tackle if you compare the horsepower generated by each), the decathlon is won by the world's greatest athlete, etc. It's terrible, but many American consumers/fans need to be spoon-fed a symbol or a headline...this is why politicians live on slogans rather than actual policy.
Alright, I feel myself getting off on a tangent.
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