Trackshark Insider #1

Welcome to the Trackshark Insider

Here we go!  So what’s the point of the Trackshark Insider? 

This was an idea of mine on Sunday night as I was watching Derek Anderson throw his second interception of the game as the Cleveland Browns were well on their way to losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

As some of you know, I’m a die-hard Cleveland sports fan (yes, I know, we haven’t won squat since 1964 – 12 years before I was even born).  If you do the math right, you’ll know how old I am!

So why was this idea thought of during that time?  I’ve invested so much of my viewing time into the Browns and other sports during the season that it all seems so wasted. 

I might as well dedicate some of my time to something useful. 

Here I was, just putting my daughter to bed and on my way to the TV watching my childhood team.  All those years.  All that losing.  So on that note, I say “thank you, Cleveland” for establishing the first edition of the Trackshark Insider.

The Trackshark Insider will cover the top news, notes, results, opinions and much more from the sport of track & field.  The first edition will cover some questions and what to look forward to after track & field.

Cover 1 - Is our sport confusing?

It’s a simple question with, surprisingly, a simple answer: Yes.

Run, jump, throw and all that jazz is what makes up the sport of track & field.  It’s beauty behind the athletes who compete in it is what makes it worth while.  There is a start and a finish.  There is a high mark to chase.  There is a record to be broken.  There are no judges sitting behind a desk in suits waiting to give you a score.

So why does the average fan still think the sport is too difficult to follow?  It’s much more than just the marks, but how the shape of the sport is molded.

Below are some bullet points and questions regarding this conundrum.

- Field events are marked in meters and feet, for starters, at most U.S. high school, collegiate and professional meets.  If you can’t answer the question of why in less than one sentence, then you know we have a problem with serving to the average fan.
- There is a mile run during the NCAA Indoor Championships – and the 1,500 meters during the NCAA Outdoor Championships. 
- Is there an end (or even a start) to the track & field season?  You mean to tell me it’s not the Olympics?  More on this later.
- What is this wind-assisted/adjusted/altitude list that everyone is talking about?
- Indoor season, where do I begin.  I can go out and run on a 320 meter track right now – and qualify just as fast as a competitor can running on a 200 meter track. Why do you think the Washington Last Chance is so popular? Don’t forget the banked tracks!
- We have cross country, track & field (indoor & outdoor), marathons, road races and much more where a distance runner can compete.  With so many options, are you surprised at the lack of coverage by major media outlets? 
- Perhaps the most popular question, do you know when and where Alan Webb will compete next?
- Do you know the adjustment between a 55m hurdle time to qualify for the 60m hurdle at the NCAA Indoor Championships?  Wait, you can run a 55m race and still qualify for the 60m?
- My wife still thinks that Michael Johnson is competing.

The list could go on and on.  What’s the best way to solve all this?  There is no one, universal answer, but a great start is to stop being so stat-heavy in covering the sport.  Every athlete lines up to compete to defeat the man/woman next to them.  That’s it.

Instead of describing what the performance meant on the all-time world junior list in the month of September (which, by the way, has its own confusing definition), why not just describe the performance what it meant on that particular day? 

Yes, world records and other items of historic integrity should be discussed, but sometimes we in the media dig too deep about a stat that only serves to the few, hardcore fans of the sport.

Our sport has too many events as it is, so why are we working so hard at trying to please the few that follow it?

Cover 2 - Why is there no fitting end to the season?

We’re less than 3 months away from the start of the indoor track & field season (at least at the high school and collegiate level), yet the outdoor track & field season just seems to never end.

With the Beijing Olympic Games concluding just about a month ago, there were still plenty of competitions that the elite had to face.  The IAAF Golden League and Grand Prix events still served as the hotplate for the elite to showcase their talents after Beijing.

It surprises me to see other news services (including some of us in the sport) completely stop covering track & field once Beijing has passed. 

There were still several meets to be held, including the chase for $1 million between Pamela Jelimo and Blanka Vlasic in the Golden League. 

Few, however, seemed interested. 

Perhaps the Olympic Games served as the mental conclusion of the sport for the season. 

Just like in football, trying to watch the second game on Monday night last week was just too much for me.  It was the final game of the weekend, but after watching so much football over the weekend, I was spent. 

I could tell that others in the media were too for track & field after the Olympic Games concluded.  10 straight days (including morning and evening sessions) can put a drain on you, including myself.

With that in mind, can anyone tell me when the outdoor track & field season officially ends?  We just had the IAAF World Athletics Final, but it wasn’t the last meet of the season.

Baseball has the World Series.  Football has the Super Bowl.  Track & Field has…

I know we’re comparing team sports to an individual sport, but there is not one big event that puts a stamp on the track & field season. 

Some may argue the Olympic Games, which is an event not designed around the sport although it provides it at the highest platform.  NASCAR even has a final event (even though it’s most famous race starts out the season with the Daytona 500).

So how can we make this more marketable for people to watch?  For starters, there is not one controlled “league” that can provide all of this. 

Sure, the IAAF may be the governing federation, but by no means is it a “league” where they can manage what and where the athlete competes.  There is no team in track & field.  Without a team, you just have individuals and that’s what is currently running the sport.

There is no real way to fix this, it’s just reality. 

Athletes can compete where they want and more power to them.  It’s just difficult, at times, to cover a sport at the elite level with no fitting conclusion.  Right now, it just seems like looking into a blender filled with things ready to be mixed.

Cover 3 - Dear Track & Field News,

I’m a big fan of the magazine. 

Well, I stopped my subscription a long time ago because of this thing called the internet. 

I think you have some of the best writers in the country and do a great job with your rankings and coverage.  The question that everyone wants to know – and for whatever reason, is afraid to ask – is why haven’t you transcended over to the internet?

My good friend Al Gore once told me, “The path to success for communication in this world is the internet.”  I still, to this day, don’t understand why your coverage continues to be available for print only, 12 times a year at $43.95.

You could rule the internet coverage of the sport right now. 

Instead of linking out to other sources on a daily RSS basis (and to no surprise, they have stopped doing so at Trackshark), why not provide the public some of your best original content? 

As each generation goes on, we want our information now and more than ever.  Imagine picking up your iPhone and being able to read the recap of the final day of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials from all of those at your great staff. 

Instead, you have to pay for it and it may not be available until next month in your mailbox.  This sounds like a bad commercial at 3am, but it’s true. 

Have you done any research into why this hasn’t happened?  Sports Illustrated has done it.  Entertainment Weekly has done it.  Why not Track & Field News?

As the Bible of the Sport since 1948, shouldn’t you use that history and knowledge to your advantage to establish your voice on the internet? 

I wish you all well and the best of luck this season in what many agree is the best that's out there in terms of pure track & field coverage.  It’s just ashame that more people have not been able to enjoy it.

Cover 4 - What's on tap this weekend

Now that the track & field season has ended (or has it?) for many, the focus will now shift to cross country and marathon racing for the rest of the fall.

The collegiate cross country season will enter its fourth weekend of action and it's about to get more competitive.  With many of the big meets not to take place for a few weeks, there is still several meets of note ready to go.  The list can be found below.  (Note: You can always find the most recent list on our schedule page)

- Alabama Crimson Classic
- Arizona Dave Murray Inivitational
- Buffalo Stampede
- Calvin College Knight Invitational
- Cedarville Invitational
- Central Connecticut State Ted Owen Invitational
- Colorado College Invitational
- Darton Invitational
- Delaware Invitational
- Florida Mountain Dew Invitational
- Hawaii Big Wave Invitational
- Illinois Intercollegiates
- Iona Br. Doyle Meet of Champions
- Iowa State Open
- IUP Invitational
- Lagrange Inivtational
- Liberty Big South Preview
- Limestone Invitational
- Mississippi State Invitational
- Missouri Southern Stampede
- Montana State Invitational
- National Catholic Championships (Notre Dame)
- Nebraska Invitational
- New Mexico State Invitational
- New York University Invitational
- North Dakota Ron Pynn Invitational
- Quinnipiac Invitational
- Tennessee Invitational
- Texas Tech Red Raider Invitational
- UMass Dartmouth Invitational
- UW Parkside Midwest Open
- Vanderbilt Commodore Classic
- Virginia Tech Invitational
- Washington Sundodger Invitational
- Western Kentucky Old Timers Classic
- Westmont Invitational
- Willamette Grass Course
- Winthrop Invitational

For the latest in everything college cross country this season, visit The Road to Terre Haute. 

Trackshark will have all the information you need for the NCAA Division I Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana including featured interviews, previews, articles, podcasts, videos, rankings, results and much more.  Stay tuned for more interviews and podcasts this week.

For all you road race junkies, the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile is set to go in Manhattan on Sunday, September 21. Flotrack will be there to provide video coverage.  (Hey Flotrack, we did have video coverage of the IAAF Golden League -- hint, hint).

That's it for the first edition of the Trackshark Insider.  Come back next week as we'll go over all the collegiate cross country action from the weekend. 

We hear there may be a track & field event too, so stay tuned!

haha

02:51, 16 September 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

this was great. The internet is definitely where its at. I do enjoy my monthly running times magazine tho.

Great read

04:31, 18 September 2008 .. Posted by Jossi Fritz-Mauer

Keep doing these--I agreed with so much of this, especially the T&FN section. Thanks for all your hard work, Tom.