The Toni & Matt Show #15
Abdi, Ed Eyestone, your comments, and the Pre Classic. It’s all on this episode of the Toni & Matt Show.
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The Big Story - The Prefontaine Classic:Brad Walker gets the American Record in the pole vault. Bekele, running at 9:30 in the morning, goes after, but misses, his own World Record at 10,000m. The fans are back in Eugene, but the TV coverage hasn’t changed.
Abdi Abdirahman joins us in the “studio” from Tucson, Arizona. On his 27:16, just 3 seconds off the American Recrod: “I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t thinking about the record.” Is he willing to push the pace at the Trials? Will he go after the American Record there? GMC Denali’s and XM Satellite radio - it’s all here.
You Talk. We Respond. Joe from South Jersey thanks Tegenkamp for responding personally. He also points out that we need a winner and more team-based events on the track. Brett wants team scoring at the Olympic Games. We couldn’t agree more. Imagine the interest in a tight battle for 8th place in the 5,000m if it meant the difference between team gold and team silver. Besides, who cares about total medals? Billy from Portland calls in with his thoughts of the Pre Classic…and high praise for the Toni & Matt Show: “Your show is my favorite.” And Ben Olson writes in: I am an 8 year old runner from Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Alan Webb is my sports hero. My buddies that I play hockey, baseball and golf with don’t know who he is, but they will this summer. Everyone will know who he is with his olympic gold medal. He will dominate in August.
Ed Eyestone joins us in the “studio” after his appearance in the NBC studio at Hayward Field. Ed talks candidly about his opinions of the Pre broadcast (his first with NBC), explains why the 5,000m and 10,000m races weren’t shown, describes his preparation for calling a meet, and tries to give an answer to Matt’s question: What the hell happened in the men’s 800m?
Bislett Games in Oslo: The baby-faced assassin reigns supreme and Andrew Baddeley gives Brits another great white hope.
What do you think? Call us at 206-888-0346 or email to comments (at) runnerville (dot) com.
[Music is “Super Duper Love” by Joss Stone.]
Last 5 posts by Matt Taylor- The Toni & Matt Show #17 - Vin Lananna - July 9th, 2008
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- The Toni & Matt Show #16 - June 17th, 2008
- USOC to USATF: Change Now! - June 14th, 2008
- Toni & Matt at the Running Film Festival - June 11th, 2008
June 12th, 2008 at 12:24 am |
Hey Toni,
After we finished our conversation I realized I may not have given proper recognition to Walt Murphy who provides us (on NBC)with a ton of information on each and every runner
in the field. Walt has been to every Olympics since 1960, and witnessed firsthand the come-from-behind victory of Billy Mills in the 1964 10,000 meters, the event which he still considers his most memorable Olympic moment. Walt is a behind the scenes guru, with encyclopedia-like knowledge of the sport. He makes our job easier.
Ed Eyestone
June 12th, 2008 at 12:27 am |
Thanx for reminding us all how valuable Walt is, Ed. And thanx for coming on the show.
Toni
June 13th, 2008 at 12:52 pm |
On the subject of team competitions, what about extending that to some of our post collegiate track meets. Imagine a track meet or road race where you bring in all the post collegiate clubs popping up to compete for some sort of team championship. Having Hansons, McMillan, Zap, Indiana elite, etc. all competing against each other with their distinct uniforms and representing their part of the country would be entertaining for the fans. It would bring a little bit of the college team atmosphere to the pro scene.
June 14th, 2008 at 12:42 pm |
Steve, the USATF already offers Club Championships in Cross Country and Outdoor Track. (Maybe Indoor, too - I don’t know for sure on that one.) Unfortunately, I suspect that because the mission of most “serious” clubs is to get their athletes in position to qualify to World and Olympic team, those sort of races take a back seat to the needs and training schedules of the individuals in each club.
I wonder, though, if there would be a way to attract funding such that the prize money is more substantial and much deeper. In 2007, the money only went 5 teams deep ranging from $1,000 up to $3,600 for the team champions. When you factor in travel, food, and accommodations for no fewer than 5 athletes, there’s not a whole lot leftover, even if you win.
But, it’s a great idea, Steve. I wonder how the necessary money to go TEN deep from $10,000 down to $2,500 could be generated.
June 15th, 2008 at 7:46 am |
2 more great guests!!! Having Ed Eyestone in the booth, er, catwalk, is a great addition.
One of my complaints about cutting away during the 2 mile for a brief field report is that they did it right before the mile. Since most American’s can relate to a mile and time it takes to run one, why didn’t they cut away earlier or just after the mile was passed?
And I agree that there has to be some way to know approximately how long a false start takes to reset and then have a pre-recorded segment ready to go when they occur.
Finally, I believe it was a caller that mentioned the Pre Classic tickets were like $14.50. Are you kidding me? What a great deal. You can’t even PARK for that much at other major sporting events.