Runnerville

So, I went to bed Sunday night after the Closing Ceremonies, and just woke up.

Seriously, those late nights were killing my productivity during the day. But as expected, it was all worth it. The action was great, the track and field coverage was decent, and there were some simply amazing moments.

Now that the Games are over, take a few minutes to weigh in on these questions:

How did the Beijing Games stack up against past venues?

How did NBC do with its “no politics” rule?

How was the track and field coverage? Did it do much (or anything) to move our sport forward in the ways we’ve discussed on this blog?

What was your biggest thrill of the Games? Biggest let-down?

Let the opining begin!

From Gallup Poll

With 35% of women naming swimming as their favorite Olympic sport (and only 8% track and field), it is not surprising that the aquatic’s center in Beijing will furnish a greater bulk of live, primetime NBC coverage than track and field.  But with Michael Phelps and Dana Torres leading the way in the Olympic Q-factor ratings, perhaps that isn’t so surprising. 

Along those lines, I was pleased by the tone of USOC CEO Doug Logan’s latest blog on USATF.org which spoke of the need to triple USATF’s annual operating budget ($15 million) to bring track back in line in the business world of modern sport.  The trend lines in Olympic interest point to the ailment.  Now all we need to find are the solutions. Read more…

Well, we’re one day away.  “Four years from now” is almost here, and I’m giddy.

If all goes as planned, my wife and I will be attending an Opening Ceremonies viewing party tomorrow night.  We didn’t plan it; some friends of ours did.  What a great idea to generate some excitement around the Games.  It’s probably not too late to send out some last-minute e-vites® to folks in your area, cook up some finger foods, stock the fridge with beverages, and watch the opening festivities in style.  Who wants to view the triumph of the human spirit alone, anyway?  That’s just depressing…

I just heard that Lopez Lomong (who has a pretty cool Web site … is this the new trend?), the former Sudanese “Lost Boy”-turned-1,500-meter Olympian, will carry the American flag.  Now that’s something I can’t wait to see.

And if tomorrow night is too soon to throw a shindig together, then plan something for another evening or two during the Olympics.  Maybe broadening the reach of our sport (and the Olympic spirit in general) is as much a grassroots movement as it is organizational policy.

Abdi, Ed Eyestone, your comments, and the Pre Classic. It’s all on this episode of the Toni & Matt Show.

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.]

George Vecsey wrote a little something for “that liberal rag” I hear about from time to time up here in New York. In it, he basically nails my sentiments regarding all this Olympic torch hoopla.

These impending - and I choose the word carefully - Summer Games are currently the target of people who rightfully protest policies in Darfur, Tibet, Xinjiang and Chinese labor camps, or laogai.

It frightens me to be in agreement with President Bush on anything, but I have to agree with him that any boycott of the opening ceremony on Aug. 8 would be counterproductive, a slap in the face, for what? Better the president and other world leaders should belatedly learn how to conduct diplomacy and draw attention to Beijing’s poor record in human rights and not use an overblown sports jamboree to cover up for their failures.

These Olympic protesters are like that slightly smelly (but vaguely attractive) girl in HS who would always raise her hand in Science class and then, when called on to explain what a vector quantity is, would stand up and instead launch into a screed about how big business was killing the environment and that we should all come to the Walk-A-Thon the Arbor Club was sponsoring that weekend. One can’t help but think, Hey! If you want to promote your worthy cause, go hang some fliers! But right now, we’re trying to learn about vector quantities! And that’s important, too! Don’t get in the way of that!

Ugh. Don’t be the slightly smelly (but vaguely attractive) neo-hippy girl, protesters. Just don’t.

Assembled in Jamrock, aka Kingston, Jamaica.

In this episode:

Matt Taylor attends the greatest track & field meet in the world (and sips Red Bull and Guinness with Usain Bolt).

Amby Burfoot likes Alan Webb.

Robert Johnson explains why it’s hard to be a fan. And he’s right.

Toni Reavis on an Olympic Boycott: It might be good for the sport; think about it.

Jeremy Mosher dispenses kudos (with mini M&Ms) to the media department at NYRR (aka, “nerr”).

Let us know what you think. Call in your comments to 206-888-0346.

[Music is “Jammin” by reggae legend and Jamaican icon Bob Marley.]

Around this time every four years, I start to get this gnawing pit in my stomach. I experience a growing sense of unease every time I watch a track meet on ESPN. I’ll hear a snatch of a John Williams trumpet fanfare as I flip past a late night showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it’s like an icy finger running down my spine. Then one day it happens; I’m innocently watching Lipstick Jungle (what, you’re not?) and down in the corner of the screen is a five-ringed logo. The rough beast approaches; NBC’s run-up to their Olympic coverage has begun.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I’m the first person on this site to criticize mainstream broadcasting of track and field in this country. Far from it. I am however, the first person to do so using thematic elements from a Yeats poem (unless Mosher’s got a riff on here about “The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner” that I overlooked). Please believe me when I say that I look at the approaching network coverage of the Olympics with a sense of dread. I can’t remember the last time I watched the summer Games without feeling irritated, annoyed and a bit let down. It was probably back when I was ten and was easily distracted by the bright colors. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that I hate watching the Olympics on NBC.

It starts with the network’s endless promotion in the coming months. If they spent a fraction of their Olympic advertising budget on supporting show development maybe we wouldn’t see excellent series like Studio 60, Friday Night Lights and Bionic Woman getting canceled. Ok, maybe not Bionic Woman (how Ron Moore choked so tremendously I’ll never know, but that show blew on an epic scale). Instead, we’re going to be treated to various and endless montages of plucky gymnasts, powerhouse sprinters, Michael Jordan, the American flag, crying plucky gymnasts, and a shirtless Michael Phelps. They’ll be accompanied by stirring orchestral scores and the ubiquitous bird shaped rainbow. You know, in case we forgot what network was showing the Olympics in the 30 seconds since they reminded us last.

Read the rest of Outkicked! Read more…

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…

The AP recently reported that it is unlikely the newly independent nation of Kosovo will be able to send a team of athletes to the Beijing Olympics. Read more…

Ritz + cross country = sunshine and daisies. This past weekend, Dathan Ritzenhein’s strong victory over Ryan Hall et. al. at the USATF Cross Country Championships only fortified my belief that cross country is a distinctly different sport than track (obvious) and road racing (less obvious). While Ritz has turned in solid performances in those other arenas (8:11 2M, 2nd in Olympic Marathon Trials), his star has always shined brightest traversing hill and dale, where he was once 3rd in the World (for his age), and 24th among Senior Men as a 19 year old. I think it’s pretty clear that there are specific skills that lend themselves to cross country and specific people who perform best in that discipline.

I’m not advocating that Ritz abandon the asphalt and Mondo. But, with the Olympics being so regularly on my mind these past months, Dathan’s performance in San Diego prompts me to advocate the following… Read more…