The Toni & Matt Show #14
Gearing up, the world comes tumbling down. With the Olympic Trials and the Games in sight, the athletes have stepped fully into the spotlight. Okay world, try harnessing Usain Bolt, who electrified NY, Jamaica, and even ESPN with a 9.72 WR in the 100m. In California teen sensations German Fernandez and Christine Babcock continue to re-write history. We’ll talk with Dyestat.com’s Rich Gonzalez, and USATF President Bill Roe joins us live for a penetrating interview about the sport and the search for a new CEO. It’s all on this episode of the Toni & Matt Show.
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The Big Story - USATF President Bill Roe joins us in the studio. We find out where USATF is in the CEO selection process (hoping for an announcement before the Trials), what types of candidates are still in the hunt (ones from the running industry and ones from outside the industry), and whether Hilary Clinton is a candidate (he never really answered, did he?). Bill also talks about the current challenges facing USATF (attendance, drugs, non-profit vs for-profit) and gives us his ideal TV deal.
Fernandez and Babcock on Fire - DyeStat.com’s Rich Gonzales joins us in studio to discuss the historical performances by German Fernandez and Christine Babcock. We get the inside scoop on their training and what races are up next.
Usain Bolt is the World’s Fastest Man - With his blistering 9.72, Usain Bolt becomes the world’s fastest man at the age of 21. A phenom at age 15, Bolt has finally reached what many saw coming. A new breed of sprinter for sure. But more importantly — one with a personality. Matt goes on a rant about the drug suspicions.
What do you think? Call us at 206-888-0346 or email to comments (at) runnerville (dot) com.
[Music is “Jammin’” by Bob Marley.]
Last 5 posts by Matt Taylor- The Toni & Matt Show #17 - Vin Lananna - July 9th, 2008
- LetsRun.com Eugene '08 - June 30th, 2008
- The Toni & Matt Show #16 - June 17th, 2008
- USOC to USATF: Change Now! - June 14th, 2008
- The Toni & Matt Show #15 - June 11th, 2008
June 5th, 2008 at 2:15 pm |
Best show yet! Mostly positive. Well spoken guests and a lot to ponder.
I just felt sorry at the end that Usain’s performance got buried under the discussion of drug use. It isn’t a bad topic for discussion, but I would have liked to hear more about Usains’s dramastic performance, including his feelings both before and after. Maybe he could be a guest on the show and the topic kept to training and racing.
Can’t wait to follow the upcoming “chasing” series!
June 7th, 2008 at 9:13 pm |
I think it’s interesting that on one hand you mention that our sport should focus on competition (i.e. having a racing series where people might not run as fast, but they compete head to head), then on the other hand you mention that people don’t want to see sprinters running 10.2. Wouldn’t 5-6 guys crossing the line in 10.2 be more exciting than one in 9.72?
If competition is more than a fast time, at least for getting the casual observer interested in our sport, maybe they should stop showing the Meet Record, American Record and World Record before each event because unless the winner gets close to those times, the casual observer is going to think they’re “slow”. If a record is broken, then they can show the previous record and compare the two.
June 7th, 2008 at 9:51 pm |
One more thing, the end of this episode made me feel like I was sitting through a meeting at work - everyone sitting around brainstorming ideas to improve things. The only difference is here we generate ideas and then nothing happens. There aren’t any managers, directors, VPs, etc. delegating tasks to get things done. Is progress being made? Who’s working on all these great ideas?
I’m just worried that 25 years from now, Matt will be replaying the interview he did with Teg or Jenkins and then go on to talk about how nothing has changed - like the interview Toni did with Fred.
June 7th, 2008 at 10:36 pm |
Chad, this is reality, the way it is. Unfortunate, I agree, but at least these days there are outlets like Runnerville to try to stimulate change. And the new generation, in understanding the long-standing nature of the problems that exist, have the perspective to make a new go of turning things around. Is it better to throw up our hands in resignation, or continue trying to generate ideas?
June 8th, 2008 at 1:54 am |
I think Chad’s implicit challenge is a valuable one: how do we bridge the gap between what goes on here to what goes on in the offices of the USATF, race management companies, Nike, NBC and so on?
I think there are two (feasible) routes — 1. mobilize the masses… to write letters (en masse) to NBC and ESPN telling them we don’t want to see the false-starts when it’s a tape delay (and while they’re at it, to can Carol Lewis)… to vote with their feet by avoiding poorly managed-slash-imagined road races… to make a conscious effort to support those people and companies doing things right in the sport.
Route 2 is — as I mentioned in one of the previous Toni & Matt shows — to do these things ourselves, through Runnerville: to stage a meet or road race, run a marketing firm. And so on. The reality is, in many cases, bending the ear of a big-wig or two in a position of influence will probably not make a difference alone, since those people still need to answer to a Board of Trustees or something similar.
And that’s where Toni’s response comes in — many of those people are also unlikely to shake the tree because, Duh! they’ve ascended to power/influence through the current system and it’s on that system that they can continue to fatten up. Why would they change things? It’s working out well enough for them, right? Well, hopefully, even if the Runnerville Marathon never comes to pass, the younger generation to which Toni refers can still be educated through this site and will not settle for the status quo.
Unfortunately, that’s still a fairly “passive” course of “action” but it IS better than the alternative.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:13 am |
Everyone can and should do something if they want change. Runnerville does their part to put issues out to a larger audience.
That audience has to decide whether they care enough to lift a finger. Focus on one thing and dig in, whether it is trying to get more media attention, deeper purses at meets, more grass roots programs etc. We have to stimulate, cajole and/or goad those with the capacity to do more.
After realizing that SI hadn’t put a track athlete on a cover since 2000, the first thing I did was sit down a send an e-mail. A small gesture that isn’t meaningless, but much more effective if 99 other people do the same (hint).
Another small gesture is to support local meets. Attend, cheer and support athletes. If something bigger comes to your area, buy a ticket top show your support. If you can’t attend, buy a two tickets and give them to aspiring athletes.
There are endless things that people can do if they care.
Then again, we can just sit around and complain about the state of the sport. Personally, I think we’re on the brink of another wave of enthusiasm for the sport. The depth and quality of young talent coupled with new media (letsrun, runnerville etal.) is giving tremendous exposure - developing a thirst within the next generation of athletes to aspire to the big stage. This year’s Olympic trials should be the best and most competitive in a long time.
Only time will tell whether this new wave will be big enough to get us inside the tube.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:04 pm |
I don’t understand why people think we need “fluff” to attract the casual viewer! Football doesn’t have fluff, golf doesn’t have fluff, soccer, tennis, bowling, no fluff. It just doesn’t make sense, I think it actually detracts from the casual viewer continuing to tune in. If you are Joe Schmo flipping channels and come across a meet and for an entire segment between commercial breaks all they do is show footage of athletes talking to kids at the local grade schools (which is shown during EVERY SINGLE MEET!) are you going to continue to watch, or just keep flipping channels? If he on the other hand, tunes in and hears an exuberant announcer calling the last 100m of an amazing race, say the women’s 800 on Saturday, but with some passion like the European announcers show, I thin he would continue to watch. Just my opinion.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:01 pm |
Jeremy said it right, “How do we bridge the gap between what goes on here to what goes on in the offices of the USATF, race management companies, Nike, NBC and so on?”
I agree that Runnerville is a great place to discuss these issue - but I don’t know about “trying to stimulate change” as Toni put it. If no one is listening, then really we’re just talking. Northrunning said, “Only time will tell”. That makes me think of just sitting around and waiting, hoping something is being done. Again, I don’t want to wake up in 25 years and see that nothing has changed.
It’s great having Bill Rowe and Kathy Griffin on your show. Hopefully that make their peers aware of all of this discussion and actually does stimulate change.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:56 pm |
So, here’s a question for Matt, or, I suppose, any of the better-connected among us: do you get the sense that any of those “powers that be” listen to the podcasts and read the postings? Do folks like Mary Wittenberg or Bill Rowe check in from time to time, or do you get the sense that they appear on the show, and then that’s it for their interaction with our website?
June 11th, 2008 at 8:36 am |
According to Cathy Griffin, head-hunter for USATF CEO, the candidates have listened to the shows. It’s one reason she has been proactive in helping book guests, so there would be a repository for all that is on the minds of the sport for the new CEO to consider.
June 11th, 2008 at 8:51 am |
I’m less optimistic about this. I do think some people listen to the show (or parts of the show) if there’s a topic of interest to them. But do I think Mary Wittenberg and Dwight Stones and Mark Wetmore and John Capriotti listen to the show? Absolutely not. Podcasting is a new medium and I’m not sure we’ve mastered how to present it best. Most people listen to podcasts at their desk, which I find strange. A podcast is more like a radio show, but with time shifting (i.e., the ability to listen whenever and wherever you want). People don’t sit at their desk for an hour and listen to a radio program. They listen to the radio in the car, while cutting the grass, while running, while working in the basement. The beauty of podcasts is that you can listen to them anywhere and on a number of different devices. The hurdle is educating the general public. Most people don’t understand that you can subscribe to a podcast in iTunes and automatically sync it to your iPod. Once podcasting gains more mainstream media attention (it’s starting), I think more people will find a way to listen to the show. The people I mentioned above are all WAY too busy to sit at their desk for 60 minutes and listen intently to the show.
As sort of a follow-up, I love when people say, “Serious runners don’t wear iPods when they run.” First of all, that’s factually incorrect. I know a lot of professional runners who run with an iPod. Second of all, running with an iPod is a great way to digest news. I’m a regular listener of three podcasts (Six Pixels of Separation, Jaffe Juice, and Managing the Gray - all have to do with marketing and new media), and I listen to them while I run. If I didn’t listen to them on the run, I’d never have the time.
So I’m curious: How does everyone here listen to the show?
June 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm |
Matt,
I tried to listen to the show while at my desk eating lunch (and blogging). However, it just became background noise. I never could focus on what was being said. Now I download the show through iTunes and listen while I run. Not only does it make the run go by faster, but I’m able to concentrate on what’s being said - and maybe even develop a comment or two along the way.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:01 am |
Chad - Glad to hear you’ve seen the light! As digital audio becomes more and more prevalent and the devices that play it become more practical and cheaper, I think podcasts will really hit their stride. It won’t be more than a few years before almost everyone has an mp3 player in their car, their phone, and their home stereo. Listening to any audio content will simply be a matter of pressing play.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:22 pm |
[…] a stern letter from Jim Scherr, USOC chief executive, to Bill Roe, USATF President and our guest on The Toni & Matt Show #13, track’s governing body was given an ultimatum: change your structure or else risk sanctions […]