is track and field dying?

A forum to discuss other track and field events besides the pole vault.

is track and field dying?

yes
13
42%
no
18
58%
 
Total votes: 31

gfilosa
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Unread postby gfilosa » Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:08 pm

I hate how the first thing out of everyone's mouth is the steroid scandals. At least track, and cycling for that respect, has the balls (pardon the expression) to penalize their stars for cheating. They even do not recognize their records, unlike the major sports. If some of the professional leagues in the US had as stringent standards as track or cycling, they'd have an even bigger black eye than track has.

Livininthepast
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Re: is track and field dying?

Unread postby Livininthepast » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:23 pm

You are not kidding!
when I was young, there was in international track meet on tv almost every week, although it might have been on at midnight.
Our country is turning into a big bunch of wusses. We don't have physical education in schools.
Our schools are run by ( as are many other things) lawyers.
I am a pole vault coach and I cannot train my athletes on a high bar because we no longer have gymnastics, we have no ropes, it is near impossible to use the weight room, we can't train in the off season.

What is our country coming to?
Kids no longer look up to track athletes. they don't even know what track and field is!
Must possess ability and desire

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Andy_C
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Re: is track and field dying?

Unread postby Andy_C » Sun Mar 15, 2009 4:46 am

Unfortunately, with the increasing effectiveness of marketing with mainstream sports, track and field is starting to falter in comparison. The media coverage certainly doesn't help, how often does ESPN run anything about track and field? You'll only hear about something if somebody breaks a record. I'm sure just about everybody here finds track and field to be more enjoyable than mainstream sports but unfortunately, our sport isn't as exulted and glamorized in the eyes of the general public as the others.
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KirkB
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Re: is track and field dying?

Unread postby KirkB » Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:02 pm

I might be wrong on this, but don't think being steroid free has much to do with the popularity of Track & Field.

If TV coverage is the key to generating new excitement about our sport ... specifically PV ... I think we need to get on the EXTREME SPORTS bandwagon.

Beach vaults and mall vaults are a good step in this direction ... if we could only get them televised.

The PV circuit that Jeff Hartwig and company are trying to organize is another good step in this direction ... if it can get off the ground. (no pun intended).

We're biased about PV, but think about it ... PV is the most exciting event in a track meet ... but the way it's run, and the way a track meet is run ... specatators have to sit thru hours and hours of BORING STUFF, just to get to the exciting PV stuff at the end!

On TV, this can be sped up by just broadcasting the PV highlights. The problem is that they also speed up all the other events by doing this, so we don't "gain" on the other events in terms of mindspace of the TV producers. As long as we're just one of many T&F events, we'll never get to the forefront of the meet (tho we should). That's why I think the independent, EXTREME SPORT angle is the way to go.

Maybe combine PV with beach volleyball ... not with other T&F events. ;)

Just my 2 cents, which isn't worth much these days ... the Canadian $ is only worth 79 cents. :)

Kirk
Run. Plant. Jump. Stretch. Whip. Extend. Fly. Clear. There is no tuck! THERE IS NO DELAY!


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