Centuries ago, toughness challenged grit to a fight. It was an epic battle. Some say it was a hopeless clash of wills, others say it was a triumph of spirit. Without a doubt, it was a jumble of strength, tenacity, and body hair and it ended in a tangled mess. That tangled mess is known today as NCAA cross country.
College cross country is a sport with a distinct personality. It is an old school, hard hat and lunch-pail type of personality. If this personality had a face, that face would have a full, bushy beard and might answer to the name Brock or Earl or Galen (wait, no). Brock is a personality separate from the world of track and field and professional distance running. It's a weird, beautiful distinction the running world makes every fall.
This upcoming cross country season is going to be a great one. It has everything that makes for an epic battle. It has the evil empire that is insanely favored (Oregon), it has the spunky once-great-but-now-we-got-something-to-prove challengers (Wisconsin), the always looming and mysterious foreign contingent (Alabama), and the country yokels pooling the townsfolk's money to buy shoes and travel to Terre Haute (Oklahoma St.). Like I said, everything.
It is going to be way better than the Stanford domination of '03 (Ryan Hall's first good college race) or the Arkansas late '90's three-peat (Yeah, the Razorbacks used to dominate back then. Days gone by…). We might even have a season on par with the infamous Buffalo Undertow of 2004 (Wisconsin has it, Wisconsin has it! Oh wait, OH WAIT!!!!). Goosebumps.
As for our part in this sure to be great season at trackshark.com, we'll be bringing you the wall-to-wall coverage that, let's face it, trackshark has done better than anyone for about 6 years now. Along with the usual stats and results, your humble narrator will be taking you through the highs and lows of the season, highlighting and lowlighting performances that deserve it, and throwing out rock solid previews so that you know what to expect each weekend. In short, chopping up the huge slab of meat that is cross country results and frying them up for you as a delicious, protein-rich treat. We might even throw in a few features if you're nice. Even if you're not.
Here's an easy to digest, bulleted list of what to expect:
-Thirsty Thursday Weekend XC Preview. It does what it says, previews the upcoming weekend in cross country action in a smooth, slightly hoppy, easy to swallow brew of predictions and tactless jokes. You can find it every Thursday morning, if you didn't figure that one out yet, Einstein.
-Top Results Notable performances posted as they become available. You know the drill.
-Monday Morning Long Run Recap. Lighthearted discussion of the weekend's cross country action, as if we were on a peaceful, exhilarating long run with our mates. Minus the fatigue, dehydration, and general discomfort of running for a long time.
-The 7th Man Periodic editorials and features on all that is college cross country. I'll be chatting with runners, coaches, fans, other media, trainers, equipment managers, message board posters, and that one guy who sells me bootleg DVDs down the street. Everyone you care about.
Although it might feel like it at times, this will not be a sports media revolution. It will simply be coverage of NCAA Cross Country for actual fans and runners and track junkies and shark enthusiasts that do too broad google searches. If you are one of these people, I hope you enjoy yourself in this space as we move through the glorious autumn cross country season together. But, most of all, I hope you join the conversation, add your insight, and let me know how you think I'm doing (because I am extremely vain) and what you want to see in the future via comment and/or email communication.
So, tie those drawstrings extra tight and remember to pack your inhaler, because this season is going to be more intense than that one time you shared an ice bath with half the gymnastics team.
How did all 7 of them fit in there with me?!
/falls off desk chair.
