Another reason to go metric

[trackstar]

Because fractions in results always get screwed up when converted to HTML, and end up looking like this on the Web:

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BOSTON (AP) _ James Parker pulled off a big surprise in the weight throw to open the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday.

Parker, who specializes in the hammer, won the event with a personal-record throw of 76 feet, } inches. A.G. Kruger, the defending indoor champion, finished second with a throw of 74-\.

Erin Gilreath won the women's event, tossing the 20-pound weight 77-{.
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Obviously, that would not happen if we were simply printing decimalized metric results.

[gh]

Re: Another reason to go metric

You think the average American understands more what 23.18m is than 76 feet, } inches? I don't.

[Jefferson Buffalo]

Re: Another reason to go metric

>You think the average American understands more what 23.18m is than 76 feet, }inches? I don't.<


If you showed the average American an indoor weight implement, do you think he would be able to tell you what it is? I don't.

So what difference does it make if the aA understands how far it's been thrown?

[madsci]

Re: Another reason to go metric

I've been buffaloed. I mean I agree with jefferson. I think the argument that metric measure has contributed significantly to the decline in track's popularity in the USA is overstated. The problem goes much deeper than that, and the metric system just makes so much sense.

[Conor Dary]

Re: Another reason to go metric

Telling the average (or for that matter just about everyone here) American 23.18 meters is as relevant as cubits.

Or maybe cubits are back. Does Mel Gibson's movie use cubits?

[Asterix]

Re: Another reason to go metric

How many aAs could tell you how far 76 feet is? Ask them to point out something 76 feet away, would they come at all close?

Anyone (such as GH I'm sure) who is familiar with the sport and somewhat numerically inclined, even if they aren't bilingual, will know some basic approximations: 5 miles is about 8km, 10 feet is about 3 meters, and be able to extrapolate accordingly.

[Conor Dary]

Re: Another reason to go metric

We have been down this road several times already and I have contributed to that discussion and made my points before, so I am reluctant to get into this again. However, I have thought about this and have one point to make.

The problem with using metric in track, in this country, is that it sounds like jargon. Having spent most of my career in mathematics I know how easy it is to turn off the average person with terms that they don't use everyday. Sure most people have no more clue what 76 feet is, but feet is something people use in this country, and when they hear it they won't feel automatically excluded.

However, if I say I ran 15 kilometers a day to the average joe at the local rec center, they won't try to convert the distance, but they will thing I am being pretentious. And they would be right.

As has been mentioned before it has nothing to do with intellegence but what people are use to.