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What to Watch in 2016
Olympic years are always exciting for sports fans because that global showcase will take place this summer. That means we will see the best that track and field (among other sports) has to offer – the best athletes competing head to head. Sad that I can’t say that in any other year, but unfortunately we don’t get this type of competition in any other year with any regularity. One would have hoped that the World Championships would have become THAT meet by now – having been around since 1983. But alas, though we get some scattered excellence around Worlds, it’s still "The Games" that the world aims for and "EVERYONE"…
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Welcome 2016
2015 was a crazy year. I started it in the hospital at the end of January having had an aneurism and losing my speech – literally unable to talk. I ended it a few days ago in the hospital having my thyroid removed. In between, to the chagrin of many, I’ve taught myself how to speak again; rebooted myself professionally and personally; and watched one of the most interesting track seasons in recent memory. Track, like me, seemed to be getting rid of its illnesses in 2015 – or at least they most certainly came to the surface and begged to be dealt with! Drugs, corruption, misperceptions, finger pointing, name…
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Beijing Review
The Beijing World Championships are over and if you’re a fan of the sport you were pleased with the competition. When Worlds first began back in 1983 it was all about a handful of nations – Britain, Germany, Soviet Union, and United States, with everyone else as filler. Now we see gold medal performances from Kenya, Ethiopia, China, Jamaica, Netherlands, South Africa, and Eritrea among others winning medals all over the globe! That’s great for the global brand of track and field. If you’re a fan of the sport here in the United States, there’s little to be happy about. Only 18 medals. Only one individual gold from the men.…
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Bolt v Gatlin – Who Will Win Beijing?
Beijing is going to bear witness to one of the greatest sprinting showdowns in history when Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin take to the track – first in the 100, then hopefully again in the 200. It’s the thing that makes this sport great when it happens – a great head to head matchup of two of the best of all time. The question, who will emerge victorious. I’m going to give my two cents on who I think that might be. Before I do that however, let me debunk what has become a mainstream media attempt to devalue both Justin Gatlin and by default the matchup itself. The word…
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It’s Beijing Time
How times flies when you’re having fun! One minute I’m watching Prefontaine, NCAA’s and US Nationals and suddenly it’s almost time for the World Championships. In between there have been a slew of meets streamed online. So many that I’ve literally had little time to just sit and absorb and comment. Youth Championships, Jr Championships, Pan Ams, European Championships (Jr & Sr). Literally a smorgasbord of track and field. For the first time I feel like the internet has truly paid homage to the sport! This is what I’ve dreamed of my whole life. It’s been a wonderful summer in that regard. Now the general news coming out of the…
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US International Team is Changing
In today’s society age has become relative. Someone 60, used to be considered "old" – and 70 year olds were ready for the "old folks" home. Now of course, thanks to advances in medicine it’s not uncommon to have 80 year olds still driving cars and running marathons. Similarly athletics is undergoing an aging population. A couple of decades ago athletes in their late 20’s were looking to retire – while the early 30’s were inhabited by athletes that had stayed too long while trying to remain relevant. Recent advances in nutrition, training methods, and more money in the sport have allowed athletes to compete well into their 30’s approaching…
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NCAA Championships – All About the Format
This year there were two things to talk about when looking at the NCAA Championships. One was the competition – and this year’s competition was as stellar as ever! The other was the format as the powers that be thought it was a good idea to split the meet into TWO separate meets – a men’s meet and a woman’s meet. Personally I would prefer to focus on the competition, but spending the week attempting to enjoy the meet I have to give my two cents on the format. For my money the format sucked. The announcers kept making reference to the fact that the athletes got a full day…
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NCAA Regionals?
The NCAA Regional "meets" were held this past weekend in Austin TX (West) and Jacksonville FL (East). Did anyone notice? They were overshadowed by what was an AWESOME Prefontaine Classic. Hard to gain attention when there’s a mini world championships going on! But I have to feel that they also suffered from their own format. Note that they were "meets" and not "Championships". And I somewhat question if they were even "meets" given that ultimately there were no "winners" – just a bunch of "qualifiers". What the NCAA had done is split it’s Championships into three separate meets. There are the two Regional meets which basically serve as the Trials…
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Prefontaine was HOT!
Once again Pre was as good a meet as any on the planet. Which begs the question, why can’t we do this more often? It’s a rhetorical question of course, because the simple answer is MONEY! It takes a boat load of money to put on a quality meet these days, and who has that kind of money laying around? Yes, Eugene touts itself as "Track Town USA", but let’s be real – it’s in Nike’s back yard! Nuff said. I’ve said for years that the answer to track and field’s "issues" with attendance is not tied to street races, concerts, or pole vaulting in the parking lot. The answer…
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Better Track Reporting
2014 was an off season in the world of track and field. There was no major championship of any kind at the elite level, and that translated into rest and time off for many of the sports major stars. It also translated into time off from writing for me, as I focused more on coaching my high school athletes (state runner up in the 300H); watching the sport and keeping my opinions to myself; and dealing with a major health issue (had an aneurysm in January). So, after about a year away from writing I’ve decided a) I love coaching and the sport needs good coaches filling the pipeline of…