Track on TV

Athlete Development
1

http://www.usatf.org/news/showRelease.asp?article=/news/releases/2003-03-12.xml

Track on TV continues in March
3-12-2003

INDIANAPOLIS - Although USATF’s nationally televised 2003 Indoor Golden Spike Tour concluded earlier this month after five successful broadcasts, track and field will continue to have a strong presence on network television in March. Three exciting events are just ahead that will give fans another chance to see America’s top athletes compete.

ESPN2 is set to televise the World Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 16, the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 17, and the Titan Games on March 29-30.

Broadcasts kick off with the World Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, England, being held March 14-16. Coverage of World Indoors, including Team USA stars Stacy Dragila, Gail Devers, Regina Jacobs, Allen Johnson and John Godina, is scheduled from 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, March 16, on ESPN2.

Next on center stage are the top collegiate athletes in the country as they compete in the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas March 14-15. Broadcast of this event is set for 1:30-3 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, March 17, on ESPN2.

Finally, the USOC’s inaugural Titan Games, held this year on February 13-15 in San Jose, provided USA shot putters with an important step for getting prepared for Athens 2004. The world-class combat sport competition saw John Godina, Adam Nelson, Jamie Beyer and John Davis compete. The broadcast of the event by ESPN2 will be shown with hour-long programs on March 29, from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET and March 30 from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. (ET).

2

After the "up close and personal’ bios and the commentaries by illustrious lights like Carol Lewis (already formatted for 16/9 aspect ratio TV), will there be time left to show any actual events?

3

Is that the same Carol Lewis who raved about a particular Italian athletes’ ability to speak two languages, English and amazingly enough, Italian. She seemed to be truly shocked not that the athlete could speak English but that she could speak Italian. Does anybody else recall this epiphany?

4

Who can keep track. There’ve been so many.

5

Being a Canadian living in Austria, there are definitely things I miss about Canada, or North America.

But yesterday as I watched 6 hours of live track coverage, I remembered conversations I used to have with a Swiss friend living in Calgary who used to bitch about the coverage in Canada, where they would show about 90 seconds of a 5000m race, or just the best jumps from a jump competition.

Seeing the Spaniard Lamela getting his Spanish flag ready for his victory lap after his 8.28m jump on his 6th attempt and then Dwight Phillips jumping 8.29m on HIS 6th attempt was great. The distances were not great, but the drama was there. Fun.

6

Ah yes! This does bring us to the coverage in Canada. The multi-hour moronathons that pass for coverage here are legendary. Never have so many talked so much (and been so wrong) about so few.
“Technical perfection” says Geoff Gowan about a mechanical shambles that I am in the process of analysing- that reveals losses due to technical errors of .26 over the final 60m of a 100m race!.
“We are seeing sprint history” he says, as Mo eases up, running in the 9.80s with an alledged 5.5mps headwind (Oh PLEASE! That would equal a 9.30s with a 2.0 tailwind!).
When the obvious fact that some goof has set up the windmeter backwards is revealed, the results are thrown out, but there is no mention of the issue on TV.
Comparing Canadian to US coverage is like comparing SAT scores between Beevis and Butthead. Europe rules!

7

BBC’s buggin at time s too tho’ -
and I get exhausted watching Roger Blacks eyebrow gymnastics - the more excited he gets the crazier they leap around .
Let’s hope they make Colin Jackson the anchor man now he’s joining the BBC - or better still Michael Johnson .

8

Gloop,

I am with you on that one - Roger Black annoys me.

They should let Michael Johnson anchor the programmes - he definitely knows his stuff.

9

Yeah - it’s weird - if someone interviews him and asks him questions he’s really interesting -
I think he’s not comfortable in that anchoer position - and it really shows with all that grimacing an stuff he does - he must need eyebrow massage to relieve the stress after broadcasts lol
Mind u I was still quite surprised 2 learn he clocked a 10.48 100m in 1996

and he was a great 400m athlete