Paris TV coverage

[trackstar]

I'm sure glad they limited the Paris broadcast to only one hour -- I would have hated for it to infringe upon the CHEERLEADING championships beforehand! Gawd, if my daughter wants to be a cheerleader instead of competing in a real sport I will slide into a permanent depression. Seriously, does anyone other than cheerleaders' parents and dirty old men watch those things?

[tafnut]

Re: Paris TV coverage

Once again we're getting old news, but it was a very compact show. More real stuff than usual. Better than nothing . . . sigh.

[Trackshark]

Re: Paris TV coverage

>I'm sure glad they limited the Paris broadcast to
>only one hour -- I would have hated for it to
>infringe upon the CHEERLEADING championships
>beforehand! Gawd, if my daughter wants to be a
>cheerleader instead of competing in a real sport
>I will slide into a permanent depression.
>Seriously, does anyone other than cheerleaders'
>parents and dirty old men watch those things?

I can see your point, but we always have to look at things from their point of view as well.

"Who wants to watch a bunch of people run around and chase each other?"

Ever hear people say that? I've heard plenty. It's too easy for us trackheads to put down other sports and events that we don't like or seem to understand.

There is a reason programming like that (along with the Great Outdoor Games, fishing, billiards, etc.) is on ESPN five times a week. There is an interest out there from a certain audience which we may not understand.

These same people may not understand, as well, why they are showing track on TV that might be "boring" or "just running laps" in their mind.

But believe me, I feel your pain on this issue

[Guest]

Re: Paris TV coverage

Probably the real reason ESPN is so hot on cheerleading, darts, bowling, poker, billiards, etc, is that it's so damn cheap to produce and they have 24/7 to fill. The track feed is Europe's or we wouldn't even get that.

[athlete72125]

Re: Paris TV coverage

if people say they dont want to see other people chase each other around then why do they watch nascar? at least in track their people and not just peices of metal going around in circles. its far more entertaining to watch people 'die' on the track then a car to run out of gas. some people are just plain wierd

[Guest]

Re: Paris TV coverage

I did not see any gosh darn throws. I am so mad I could spit.

[trackstar]

Re: Paris TV coverage

>I did not see any gosh darn throws. I am so mad
>I could spit.

Going to Europe was so fantastic. I went to visit a friend in Oslo (and to see the Bislett Games, natch), and they had Eurosport on TV. There were several track shows, including LIVE coverage of a Grand Prix meet from Greece. Live! Track & field! Seriously! And THEY SHOWED FIELD EVENTS! They also showed ESPN and NBC's USATF coverage, and mini-documentaries on the HSI sprint crew and El Gerrouj.

Combine that with beautiful blondes everywhere (including at the Bislett Games) and I thought it was just an ideal society. Or maybe heaven. (Okay, the beer -- and everything else -- is too expensive there. But it was still pretty damned amazing. I'm thinking of moving. I'm not kidding.)

[Guest]

Re: Paris TV coverage

true not too bad good to see dwight back giving us some analysis and insight instead of rawson's monotonous commentary or comparisons (if you go to our high school track etc etc)

[vaulter83]

Re: Paris TV coverage

Does anyone know if its possible to get Eurosport or anything in the US? Satellite maybe?

[Jim Rorick]

Golden League II - The French Connection

The Paris coverage was much superior to the Bislett coverage. Again, they showed quite a bit of a 5000 (men, this time, including Chebii's awesome kick - brought back memories of Aouita and Yifter). Also, the way they set up W3000 was quite good, even if they didn't show the whole race.
Mainly, the show was better because Dwight was in the studio with Rawson. And Rawson is far better (more animated and less reliant on his stupid analogies to other sports) with Dwight playing off him. Please, ESPN, don't ever let Rawson work alone again! Didn't miss Carol Lewis for the 2nd straight week.
As for the the above criticism about "no throws", I'd swear they showed Makarov and Zelezny in the javelin.
The main quibble, ignoring the fact that everything was televised 9 days after the fact, was that several graphics were totally screwed up. #1: they showed times for W100H as the results of W400H, although names of 400H placers were correct. and Muriel Hurtis' 2nd place 200m time was shown as 22.82 (shoulda been 22.62), with Allyson Felix 3rd @ 22.66. With a live show, or a couple hours tape delay, I overlook that. With 9 days preparation, all the graphics should be perfect. Sorry; I and most people on this thread can do better.
Jim Rorick