Josh Cox: Promising Proposals (Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #4)
Posted March 5th, 2008 at 6:10 PM by Josh Cox
Section: Motivation, Famous Quotes, Elite Athlete Blogs, Josh Cox
Welcome to the official blog of U.S. marathon runner Josh Cox. Every other Wednesday visit http://joshcox.thefinalsprint.com for Cox’s latest blog entry and for more information, also please visit: www.joshcox.com
Promising Proposals: An arbitrary assortment of creative concepts, propitious projects and thoroughly awesome ideas.
“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
- George Bernard Shaw, world famous Irish Playwright
“If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”
- Albert Einstein, German-born American Physicist
For a change, I’ll actually start with the sport of choice around here - Track & Field. Running is the largest participatory sport in America. In other words: more people lace up their shoes and head out the door than any other activity. Yes, more than the big three: football, baseball, and basketball.
According to Running USA there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 million runners in the US. Sadly, the vast majority of said 75 million couldn’t tell you the world record holder at any distance, much less a single top US runner. Why the gap between the people and the pros? The kid tossing the pigskin could tell you that Brett Favre just hung up his cleats, the guy shooting hoops knows LeBron James is averaging over 30 points a game, the kid in the batting cage could tell you that Barry Bonds is a Giant… drug user. Sorry, couldn’t resist. So what’s the problem with our sport? No, it’s not that it’s boring to watch. If NASCAR and golf can have fans, so can we. Our sport is great; people just don’t know it… yet.
I say, if people won’t come to the races let’s bring the races to the people.
Have you checked out airmutts.com lately? How about frisbeedogstars.com?
Yeah, me neither, but these dogs are getting prime-time viewers and performing in front of packed coliseums. If Benji and Lassie are getting airtime then why aren’t we, the track stars?
Enter Promising Proposal Number One:
Two races at halftime of a primetime NFL Football game.
The first race: the 100 yard dash, on the turf. Halftime begins, brief athlete highlight videos begin playing on the Jumbotron, tape is rolled out for the lanes, Michael Buffer gives his standard “let’s get ready to rumble” intro, and the world’s top sprinters line up and duke it out, end zone to end zone. Of course, one false start gives the whole field a caution – otherwise we would never see the second half. The crowd would love it – it would be a fabulous showcase.
Second race: the mile. Set the course around the outside of the field - I actually saw the Special Olympics pull this off back in the 90’s at a Raider/Charger game, so it can be done. Not to mention how easy this would be to facilitate at college and pro games where an eight-lane track already encompasses the gridiron.
We could gather the top US milers: Rankin, Webb, Lagat, Symmonds, et al. and have them give the crowd four minutes of mile mayhem. It would be amazing, prime time track programming. This halftime format would work because the network could cut away and show only the races. Well, the full 100 yard race and the final 15 seconds of the mile but think of the viewership and exposure to the new audience.
My proposal could be implemented at the high school level. Imagine, bitter rivals facing off on the field, half time arrives and the schools send out their best cross country runners to go head to head in the mile. The NCAA could do the same thing. It would be an awesome exhibition, like Apollo and Drago, minus the steroids and killing, of course. Perhaps if we actually gave the kids some exposure and glory our best athletes wouldn’t opt for the other sports.
This now takes us to Promising Proposal Number Two:
Do something for someone else. Support a charity.
There are a host of options. Find something you’re passionate about and offer your time and resources.
Ryan and Sara Hall have chosen Team World Vision.
I have been a long time supporter of the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
My good friends Jason Jenkins and Senyo Adjibolosoo have founded The Human Factor Leadership Academy in Ghana.
This past Sunday, at the LA Marathon, I had the opportunity to lend a hand at the Our House Run for Hope.
Our House, founded in 1993 by Jo-Ann Lautman, was the culmination of her dream for an independent, nonsectarian place where children and adults could come to seek comfort and support after the death of a spouse, a parent, a sibling, or a child.
Sunday’s Run for Hope saw 150 kids, between the ages of five and fifteen, run 1½ miles on the LA Marathon course in honor of a parent they had lost this past year. Runners wore a shirt with a photo of their passed parent. Friends and family were there supporting their efforts and actor Chad Lowe was on hand as the charity’s spokesperson. Chad is a great guy, very down to earth. He introduced himself, asked about the running, how I got involved with the charity, and even offered to get us some food from the In-N-Out truck.
The event was near and dear to my heart, as this July will mark the two-year anniversary of my father’s death. It was great not only to be able to offer inspiration as an elite athlete but also as someone who has been through the valley and reached the other side. When you’re passionate about something, volunteering isn’t work. I stood at the finish line, handed out medals, spoke to the runners, and signed shirts and race numbers. The kids and I connected, we were part of a special fraternity; we were family. When I shared my personal story of loss at the post race party you could have heard a pin drop. They knew just what I was talking about. I suppose it all comes back to the difference between sympathy and empathy. On this side of eternity those kids will never see their lost parent again. I knew how they felt and they knew how I felt. How some days are okay and others just suck… quite literally. When you lose a loved one there’s this vacuum left in their place, some days you manage to avoid it, other days you get sucked in and think you’ll never escape.
I think Jack (C.S.) Lewis wrote it best as he ushered us into his book of bereavement, “A Grief Observed.” A book written after his wife, Joy, died of bone cancer:
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.
At other times it feels like being mildly drunk, or concussed. There is a sort of invisible blanket between the world and me. I find it hard to take in what anyone says. Or perhaps, hard to want to take it in. It is so uninteresting.”
It’s groups like Our House that make this time bearable. I am blessed to have been a part and the city of Los Angeles is fortunate to have such a charity.
Other great charities:
The Invisible Children Network
Compassion International
The One Campaign
Blood:Water Mission (Yes, I like Africa)
Or, if you are too busy for charities, take some time out of your day to improve your vocabulary and donate food at the same time. For every word definition you get correct The UN World Food Program donates 20 grains of rice to hungry people! Check it out: FreeRice.com.
Post your best vocab score in the comments below.
Last, but certainly not least: My final Promising Proposal… Drum roll please:
The Ok Go Here It Goes Again, running commercial.
Watch the Ok Go video then come back to the blog.
Cool huh? Naturally this would have to be a PowerBar promotion.
So, PowerBar, please consider this my official submission to your marketing team.
Get six treadmills, four athletes, and let the commercial shoot commence. The athletes would look and do the same moves as the guys in this video – minus the pink shirts, vests and ties.
At the beginning, when they do the arm pointing, the athletes will all take a synchronized bite of a Performance Bar. They perform the same treadmill choreography as Ok Go but after one complete loop they all start running 5 minute pace on their respective treadmills. Their speeds, heart rates, and sweat rates are all shown. While hammering away, someone off set tosses the athletes a PowerGel. They rip it, squeeze it, swallow it, toss it, hop a few treadmills, and do some more cool rock star band moves before starting to run again. The off set guy tosses the athletes a bottle of Endurance Beverage, all synchronized of course; synchronization is vital to the public’s perception of this treadmill, music, athlete-fueling thing. The athletes hop a few more belts; do some more choreographed moves, and the song starts to wind down. The treadmills stop, the athletes dismount, some of them drink a Recovery Beverage, some a Ready-To-Drink Recovery Shake, while others eat a Protein Plus Bar.
The song ends.
Then a graphic slams on the screen like a hammer:
PowerBar - Energize - Refuel – Rebuild
The treadmills start back up, the athletes look at each other, concerned. The song, Here it Goes Again starts back up and commercial ends.
You will incur some cost purchasing the rights to the song, and the athletes might ruin their careers with an ankle injury but in the end the commercial will be a smashing success and worth every last penny.
Written while listening to: OK GO’s “Here it Goes Again,” Phil Wickham’s “Cannons,” Leeland’s “Opposite Way,” The Myriad’s “EP,” Tom Curren’s self titled album and John Mayer’s “The Village Sessions.”
Check back on Wednesday, March 19 for Josh’s latest entry at: http://joshcox.thefinalsprint.com/
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Tags: albert einstein, elite athlete blog, elite athlete blog series, elite athlete nutrition, George Bernard Shaw, josh cox, participatory sports, professional running blog, runners charities, running, running charities, Ryan Hall, sara hall, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog series, track and field, track and field promotion
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