SoundOFF: Images, Media, and the State of Our Sport
Posted June 9th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jesse Squire
Section: News & Results, Motivation, Success Stories, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns, High School
This past weekend I went the Ohio High School Track & Field Championships, a meet I’ve missed only once since I first attended as a high school sophomore in 1987. I like it for a number of reasons; the competition is fierce, the meet is well-organized, the athletes cannot hide their love of the sport, and I get to see a lot of old friends. This year’s meet wasn’t much different from all the rest–some great marks, kids having the time of their life, battles that go right to the finish line. But I took away something from this meet I’ve never experienced before.
I love to run and compete, but I’ve always thought my only talent is hard-headedness. I suppose all distance runners downplay their inherent physical abilities, but I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever beaten another male runner of a similar age who takes running more seriously than I do. My best high school 1600-meter time was 4:56, and that after several years of very hard work. I simply have always believed that I had few if any physical abilities, mostly because I see my body is all wrong for distance running.
But yesterday I saw myself win a state championship. More accurately, I saw my double win. I first noticed Galen Dills because of his giant red beard, the size and thickness of which I haven’t seen on a high schooler since I myself had one at eighteen. Then after he took off his sweats I was astonished to see the exact same too-long-torso for his very short body, the same overly-thick thighs and calves, the same wide pelvis. My old college buddies said he even ran with my same form. He ran like the best me I could be; going to the front after three laps and hammering away for the next five until no one could stay with him, winning in 9:22. I have never in my life seen someone whose body was built so much like mine–not even my brothers–right down to the low-arched feet. I was mesmerized.
Seeing someone just like yourself have success can be a transformative experience. As a college-educated upper-middle-class white Protestant male, I can’t say I’ve lacked for media images with which I can identify–except in running, where all the good ones look like Tolkien’s elves instead of my hobbitish build. During this morning’s long run I realized that my entire running career has been based on the plan of putting in superhuman training loads in order to transcend my perceived limitations. You can get away with that when you’re 20 years old, but in my 30s the same approach has repeatedly lead to depression and/or injury.
Limitations, of course, can not be transcended. Even Kenenisa Bekele has limitations. The immediate effect of Dills’ success on my self-image is that I no longer see my body as fundamentally flawed. The lasting effect on my training will (hopefully) be that I take a more measured and balanced approach with an eye towards long-term success…which is an approach I’ve always known was the right one, but had a hard time following because I believed there was something wrong with me. Now I think my limitations are OK.
If someone like me needs role models, then imagine the needs of our whole country, possibly the world’s most diverse nation. Professional athletes can have a profound impact on who even decides to become a runner. People like, say, Adam Goucher and Deena Kastor are great, but getting the images of runners such as Hazel Clark or German Fernandez out in the media are even more important if the pool of America’s serious runners is to broaden.
All this underscores a point made by Tony Reavis in a recent edition of Runnerville’s “Tony & Matt Show”, after an interview with Cathy Griffin. USA Track & Field is not particularly good at promoting the professional end of the sport first and foremost because it is not part of their mandate under the 1978 Amateur Sports Act. Their mandate at the highest levels of track is to produce medalists at the Olympics and similar international championship meets. So the self-promotion that every real professional sport takes incredibly seriously simply does not exist in track and road running. This is short-sighted.
This afternoon I wanted to watch the Prefontaine Classic on NBC. After all, I spent three days writing previews for it. My local affiliate pre-empted it, as did the Detroit affiliate my cable system also carries. I was disappointed. Then I began to think about the youth of the area who might have seen it and been excited enough to decide they’d like to do the same thing for their middle school or high school team. USATF’s lack of leadership is directly responsible for programming directors thinking that two hours of QVC is a better choice than the Pre Classic, which has a direct impact on the number of athletes who choose track and cross country over baseball and soccer. There is simply no way this cannot eventually have an affect on America’s medal count.
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Tags: 1978 Amateur Sports Act, cathy griffin, galen dills, high school running, media, NBC, ohio high school track & field championships, Pre Classic, Prefontaine Classic, runnerville, running, television, television broadcast, tony reavis, track and field, track on tv, TV, tv broadcast, usatf
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The Final Sprint
I was at that meet as well. Another great two mile occurred later on as in typical male fashion, the division one two miles ambled through a 4:45 first mile. Thankfully a freshman had the guts to race and ran away from the field with a 4:30 second mile to win. As a mildly competitive runner, it was great to see someone run to run fast and not fall into the “sit and kick” trap that far too many championship races turn into.
I also echo your sentiments on lack of participation. I get from your post that you are also from the Toledo area and I called the local affiliate, buckeye, and the detroit affiliate to complain and have yet to get a response. Not that I’m terribly surprised. Thank you NBC for making the races available online. But shame on the local affiliates. I said forget TV and watched the triathlon world championships online instead.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:21 pmI grew up watching the typical team sports on the networks, unitl my son experienced the joy and succes in cross country and track. I was sold on the sport as my favorite sport. I too would love to see more on the networks, but the realities of advertising money and ratings influence the networks. I too focus on the net to watch, especially college and particularly cross country.
Thanks for the opportunity to express myself. I still love college football & basketball but well behind distance running.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:48 pmcorrected e-mail as jlittle21@aol.com
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June 21st, 2008 at 11:48 am