Runnerville

INDIANAPOLIS - The USA Track & Field Board of Directors on Thursday approved top sports executive Doug Logan, the former Commissioner, President and CEO of Major League Soccer, as its next CEO. A bilingual sports and entertainment leader with a proven track record of generating long-term sponsor partnerships, television outreach and high fan attendance, Logan and MLS in 1996 were named Sports Industrialist of the Year by Sports Business Daily. Read more…

Toni as host of and Matt as featured presenter at the first annual Running Film Festival.

(hat tip to Katie at RunningTimes.com)

Matt will be presenting this subject matter (but not this video)…

I don’t normally read ESPN Magazine, in fact I detest ESPN for only covering the drug aspect of our sport, but I found myself reading it as I waited at the local Jiffy Lube for my car to get an oil change. On the cover was the face of Kimbo Slice, the newest MMA star. The article went into depth on Slice’s life and how he’s become such a big star in the sport despite accomplishing so little.

While the article was entertaining, it also got me thinking that one of the reasons MMA has become so big is because UFC and the other organizations in the sport have done a phenomenal job at putting a face on their sport.

In the article the author stated, “Truth is, a star and some buzz are good for any sport; MMA should welcome Kimbo’s charisma, personality and ability to attract the uninitiated.” What Kimbo seems to be doing is a smaller version of what Lance Armstrong did for cycling and what Tiger Woods has done for golf. Those sports found their one poster boy, the one guy who could take their sport to the next level in terms of popularity and marketed that person to the extreme.

I truly believe every sport has a Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods. That one person that has a story, shares their personality with the world a bit and comes out on top 9 times out of ten. But who are the athletes in our sport that have that charisma and personality, who win a bunch and can attract both old and new fans alike? I’d love to hear all of your thoughts on this.

Two of my favorite things are video games and running. (There, I said it.) Actually, that’s not entirely true; sometimes I loathe running and, despite a recent attempt to re-ignite my love affair with the gaming world, I haven’t played video games “seriously” since college. But boy did I have an obsession for both a decade ago. True story: in college I developed tendentious in both thumbs from playing video games. I had to wear splints. But the rewards were well worth the consequences - I beat Mike Tyson, I completed GoldenEye 007 on all three levels in two weeks, I ran Bo Jackson for 894 yards in one game of Tecmo Bowl, and I absolutely killed it on Parappa the Rappa. My running accomplishments weren’t as exceptional nor rewarding, but as a sub-9:00 steeplechaser I wasn’t a slouch. So it was with both lust and dismay that I read Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii Fit. Read more…

In last week’s Runnerville Weekly podcast, Matt Taylor discussed his conversation with Chris Lukezic about the lack of interest sponsors seem to have about getting their athletes out in the public eye.  Chris told Matt that if asked to do a public promotion he would gladly do it.  The conversation carried on to conclude that if Chris went out and met 100-200 new people, that the interaction with those people would create 100-200 new fans of Chris, as they would have a personal connection with him since they interacted with him.

While this sounds great, there is one piece missing from this puzzle.  Once Chris has 100-200 new fans, where does he send them to follow his racing?  Luckily for Chris he has a blog that he can send people to, where he provides commentary on his training and racing.  However, for the majority of professional athletes, blogging is not an interest they have or their sponsors have.  So where do fans get their news?

For the majority of die-hard fans out there, including me, we know where to look to find our running news.  We check LetsRun, FloTrack, EliteRunning, etc. on an obsessive basis to see if there just might be a piece of news we missed after rolling out of bed and turning on the computer in the morning.  However, do new fans know where to go to find professional running news? Read more…

Chris Lukezic is a good friend. He’s someone I admire and respect, not for his 3:33 PR and 2006 US Championship, but for his ability to 1) see running through a broader lens and 2) define himself as more than a runner. When I was an assistant coach at Georgetown (while Chris was a student) Chris and I spent many hours discussing the sport, most often at his favorite coffee joint - Murky Coffee, situated across the river in Arlington, VA. The most frequently discussed, and lamented, topic of conversation was the failure of our sport to market itself and its athletes in a already-crowded marketplace. Well, in June 2007 Chris started a blog. And last week he wrote one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking posts I’ve ever read from an athlete. I strongly urge you to read his words below. Chris, welcome to the conversation… Read more…

2008 is Yankee Stadium’s curtain call.

After 84 years of tireless service to the New York faithful, the “House that Ruth Built” will give way to a brand-spankin’-new stadium, set to begin its tenure in 2009. Most people don’t know that the old Yankee Stadium, as it will soon be called, was intended to be a multi-sport stadium. The field was initially surrounded by a quarter-mile running track, which effectively also served as a warning track for outfielders, a feature now standard on all major league fields. The left and right field bleacher sections were laid out at right angles to each other and to the third base stands, to be properly positioned for both track and field events and football.

That’s right, the men who built Yankee Stadium anticipated the venue playing host to rousing athletics exhibitions.

Why couldn’t it be this way again? I mean, who better than the City of New York to promote and carry out a huge outdoor invitational track and field meet in Yankee Stadium? You could get the who’s-who of the City that Never Sleeps to attend, big-name musical acts to perform during down times, “main event” head-to-head competitions between the world’s best in each event, and even the “Pros vs. Joes” exhibitions discussed so much on this site. Shoot, lots of folks would come just to sit inside the Stadium. They’ll definitely leave having had a good time, and who knows — maybe they leave a track fan forever.

This would never happen, of course. Steinbrenner and the Yankees organization are too single-focused to think outside of baseball. They’d have the logistical issues of playing host to a world-class track meet during baseball season (easily solved — do it during a road series). Plus, as we’ve all observed and fumed about, running just isn’t the automatic moneymaker or crowd-attracter it could be. And “potential” doesn’t sell real well at Yankee Stadium.

So I guess that’s why we’re all here … to begin the conversation about how running can re-emerge as a good fit for the big stadiums — like Yankee Stadium — again.

We have often suggested the PGA TOUR as the model for professional running, but here’s a model that USATF or Running USA should consider for banding together the millions of runners who race across the USA.

What a difference one day makes. Before Sunday’s men’s 800m dash, the rivalry between Nick Symmonds and Khadevis Robinson was nearly not existent. While a few knowledgeable individuals may have labeled the duo a quality tandem that could really make an impact on the world stage, few were pitting the two against each other.

Now, in less than four news cycles, Symmonds and Robinson are being touted as the greatest rivalry in our sport. Whether or not you agree with these two being matched up, I completely agree with the idea of creating rivalry in our sport. Any type of sport, anywhere in the world, thrives off of rivalry. Duke v. North Carolina in basketball, Boston v. New York in baseball, Chicago v. Green Bay in football. Match ups between rivals get the most media exposure each time they face off because of the great battles between these groups in the past and what fans hope to see the next time they face off. Read more…

…on Nintendo.

And I’m not impressed.

Konami recently announced a reincarnation of its wildly famous track and field game from the original Nintendo system. The game — called  New International Track and Field* — will be released in North America this summer for the Nintendo DS system, and will feature 15 classic Nintendo characters competing in over 20 standard track events.

I have a couple questions:

1. Will there be a Power Pad?  C’mon … the Pad was Wii 20 years before its time — a workout and entertainment all rolled into one. Nintendo Track & Field without the Power Pad is like Bonnie without Clyde … Bush without Cheney … Bershawn Jackson without headband…

2. Why not use actual track & field athletes? As much as I want to see Frogger break a world record in the javelin throw…  Why weren’t the IAAF or USATF banging down Konami’s door to get its athletes plastered all over this new game?  What if millions of kids could pick up a game with Powell or Wariner’s mugs on the cover in the same way they can with Manning or Wade?  Imagine what that would do for face recognition and new fan creation within the sport of track & field.  Seems like no-brainer marketing to me.

I’m not a video game nut, and I’m sorry, but New International Track & Field for Nintendo DS is certainly not going to make me a convert.

*is this name the best Konami could do?