Memoir of a College Track Writer
I went to Abilene Christian University.
Running enthusiasts will recognize the name of the Division II Texas school immediately because it is one of — if not the – most storied track and field programs in America, regardless of division. A combined 55 men’s and women’s Division II National Titles. Texas Monthly’s “Sports Dynasty of the Century.” Training ground for Olympians. You get the picture.
But in my six years — four undergraduate and two graduate — as a student reporter covering Wildcat running, I only recall one home meet at which I wasn’t more or less alone in the stands. (the 2005 National Championship meet) The rest of them were downright lonely. Roughly 5,000 students were walking around our West Texas campus with only a vague knowledge of the existence of a track and field team, and no first-hand experience thereof.
As time passed, I began to realize why. The same problems that plague the sport of running nationally plagued the sport at my school. There was an underlying assumption that students and locals wouldn’t be interested in ACU running, so they didn’t even try to make it interesting. Meets were long, arduous affairs, narrated sprint-by-sprint and jump-by-jump by a man who was in his 80s or 90s and gurgled the start lists and finishing times with the emotion of a cinder block. Track and cross country results were reported — if at all — in a passing announcement in chapel. Most of the time, though, nobody knew that the weekend before, ACU senior Nicodemus Naimadu had beaten Ryan Hall in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational. (how could they, in the euphoria that ensued following a Wildcat victory over Angelo State in baseball!)
Basketball and football games were different: they catered to the fans. You could count on quirky promotions and bumpin’ tunes between quarters, as well as a general feeling that “they want me to come back to the next game.”
What does all this mean for United States Track & Field?
I’m not sure, to be honest. I’m not sure the sport of running stands a chance against the NFL, NBA, and MLB, or that it needs to make equality with those juggernauts its goal. I’m convinced that’s OK. But I do know that our sport is amazing, inspirational, and unique, and that it deserves a wider and more diverse following.
I went to a sports bar Friday night with a friend of mine to have a few beers and watch the Maria Sharapova-Ana Ivanovic championship match of the women’s Australian Open. I asked him, “Do you follow women’s tennis?”
He said, “Yeah, I really follow pretty much all sports.”
“What about track and field?” I asked my friend.
“How would I do that?” he asked me. “I’m not sure there really is a way to follow track and field.”
And that, friends, is the problem. Sports fans not knowing how they would follow our beloved sport. Not having a clue where they’d even start. We hope this site is the beginning of a long conversation on how a new generation of Americans can finally fall in love with the sport of running.
But first, they must be wooed.
Last 5 posts by Steve Holt- Who's the most exciting athlete on the planet? - September 6th, 2008
- Olympics Hangover - August 26th, 2008
- Yes We Can! - August 7th, 2008
- Gilbert - July 24th, 2008
- Now I can Sleep - April 23rd, 2008