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Lead Stories: Saturday, September 6, 2008

What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted August 28th, 2008 at 7:46 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: Columns, What To Watch

Here are the track & running-related events coming your way for the next week. As always, all times are EDT; if you know of anything I’ve missed, please add it in the comments section.

A brief programming note: Olympic sprint champion Maurice Greene will be among the contestants on the seventh season of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars”. The season premiers on September 22.

AF Golden League: Weltklasse Zurich
ESPN Classic, 4-6 p.m. Friday (replays at 7 a.m. Saturday)
CBC, 4-6 p.m. Saturday (replays Monday at 12:30 a.m.)
Trackshark.com, 2 p.m. (live)
The penultimate event in the IAAF’s Golden League series is nicknamed “The Olympics in One Night” as it is the deepest invitational in the world. Pamela Jelimo (800 meters) and Blanka Vlasic (high jump) are the two athletes remaining in the hunt for the $1 million jackpot. Others slated to run include double Olympic champions Usain Bolt and Kenenisa Bekele.
Meet Website

Aviva British Grand Prix
Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com, 9:55 a.m. Sunday (live)
The IAAF’s World Athletics Tour comes to Gateshead, England. Top Americans slated to compete include Tyson Gay, Shannon Rowbury and Bernard Lagat.
Meet Website
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SoundOFF: NBC, Track & Beijing

Posted August 7th, 2008 at 9:00 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

The Associated Press published an article a few weeks ago headlined No longer exalted, track slouches toward Beijing:

Track and field is slouching toward Beijing. To climb back on its pedestal, the sport needs the world to pay attention to the compelling story lines at these Summer Games, highlighted by what could be the greatest men’s 100-meter race in history and a Chinese megastar named Liu Xiang.

The story touches on a number of issues that have been discussed recently. Most telling is NBC’s treatment of track compared to other sports.

With the recent U.S. track trials and the swimming trials running concurrently, NBC chose to place Bob Costas, the face of its Olympics coverage, by the pool in Omaha, Neb., rather than trackside in Eugene, Ore.

That pecking order will be evident in China, too. During the Aug. 8-24 Olympics, swimming and gymnastics will be broadcast as they happen in prime time in the United States, even though that meant switching the start times to morning in Beijing. Track and field will be shown in the evening, but on tape — the suspense of the results gone in this wired world.

The trials in those three sports were illustrative. The overnight ratings on NBC averaged 3.9 for swimming, 3.3 for gymnastics and 3.2 for track and field.

It is a major reworking of priorities on US television that swimming and gymnastics are being made the top draw over track & field. NBC is of course tight-lipped about their reasons, leaving the rest of us to speculate, and inevitably the reason most often cited is the abundance of doping scandals in track. I’m not sure I buy it.
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What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted July 31st, 2008 at 3:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Olympics, What To Watch

There is little new on the air this week, as things are wrapping up before the Olympics. Times listed are EDT; as always, check your local listings.

A Shot at Glory
MOJO HD, 9-9:30 p.m. Wednesday, midnight-12:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-noon, 5:30-6 p.m. and 8:30-9 p.m. Thursday, 10-10:30 a.m. and 6-6:30 p.m. Saturday, 1-1:30 p.m. Sunday
“Three years ago at the University of Arkansas, 23-year-old Wallace Spearmon Jr. was the yin to Tyson Gay’s yang, the gregarious personality to Gay’s quiet demeanor. Now these two are rivals seeking the same international glory.”

Olympic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies
NBC, 1:30-3 p.m. Sunday
The Class of 2008 includes pioneering marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson.
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What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted July 25th, 2008 at 9:30 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Columns, What To Watch

Here are the upcoming running and track & field events on television and the internet. All times EDT; as always, check your local listings. If I’ve missed anything, put it in the comments section.

Aviva London Grand Prix
Universal Sports and WCSN.com, 1-4 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday
The IAAF World Athletics Tour comes to London’s Crystal Palace for a Super Grand Prix meeting. Headliners include a long-awaited matchup between sprinters Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell.

Herculis Super Grand Prix
Universal Sports and WCSN.com, Tuesday (time TBA)
The IAAF World Athletics Tour comes to London’s Crystal Palace for a Super Grand Prix meeting.
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What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted July 17th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Columns, What To Watch

Here are the upcoming running and track & field events on television and the internet. All times EDT; as always, check your local listings. If I’ve missed anything, put it in the comments section.

Meeting Gaz de France Paris
ESPN2, 4-6 p.m. Friday
CBC, 2-3 p.m. Saturday
Trackshark.com, live Friday (time TBA)
replays at 11 p.m. Saturday on ESPN Classic and 1:30 a.m. Monday on CBC
The fourth stop on the IAAF’s Golden League circuit takes place in Paris. Still alive in the jackpot hunt are Pamela Jelimo (800m) and Blanka Vlasic (HJ). Great matchups include Jeremy Wariner versus LaShawn Merritt in the men’s 400, Yelena Isibayeva versus Jenn Stuczynski in the women’s pole vault, and Dayron Robles versus David Oliver in the men’s 110m hurdles.
Meet website
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What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted July 10th, 2008 at 10:23 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: Columns, What To Watch

Here are the upcoming running and track & field events on television and the internet. All times EDT; as always, check your local listings. If I’ve missed anything, put it in the comments section.

Golden Gala
ESPN Classic, 3-5 p.m. Friday
CBC, Noon-1 p.m. Saturday
USATF.org, Friday (time TBA)
replays 7-9 p.m. Saturday on ESPN Classic and midnight-2 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2
The Golden League series of meets goes to Rome. Still alive in the jackpot hunt are Bershawn Jackson (400H), Hussein Al-Sabee (LJ), Pamela Jelimo (800m), Josephine Onyia (100H) and Blanka Vlasic (HJ).
Meet website

IAAF World Junior Championships
WCSN.com, Sunday (time TBA)
This is on their schedule, but they have not always lived up to promises.
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U.S. Olympic Track Trials:
Day 1 Preview

Posted June 27th, 2008 at 3:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

TV coverage:
USA, midnight-1 a.m. Friday night / Saturday morning (available in HD format)

USA Today preview

Only two finals are on Friday; the women’s heptathlon (first day) leads off the entire meet, and the women’s 10k caps the day’s events.

I cannot say that I’ve followed the heptathlon as closely as other events, so I will have to defer to Track & Field News. They pick Hyleas Fountain to win, followed by 4time NCAA champ Jacquelyn Johnson and then Diana Pickler. Fountain, the defending national champion, has not competed in a multi this year and has only the third-best qualifying mark. But she took the dreaded fourth spot at the ’04 trials and has been waiting for this moment ever since. Johnson has had a full collegiate season, capped by winning the NCAA in Des Moines just two weeks ago, and cannot possibly be as rested and ready as Fountain.

In the women’s 10k, everyone’s favorite is Shalane Flanagan. She didn’t even consider running this event at the Trials until breaking the American Record in May. Her qualifying time is nearly a minute faster than anyone else’s, and she’s a proven ace both in cross country and shorter track distances. In other words, saving illness or injury, she’s essentially unbeatable.
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NBC Sports & WCSN Partner to Launch Universal Sports

Posted June 17th, 2008 at 8:30 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics

Press Release: NBC Sports, a division of NBC Universal, and World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) have joined forces to create Universal Sports. Universal Sports will combine NBCU’s programming and production expertise and promotional power with WCSN’s leading online destination for Olympic sports plus its growing television network to create the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic sports programming.

The announcement was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and Leo Hindery, Jr., Managing Partner of InterMedia Partners, the controlling shareholder of WCSN. Universal Sports will include both a television network and a robust online platform UniversalSports.com.
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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.
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What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted May 29th, 2008 at 4:30 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Columns, Olympics, What To Watch, High School

Here are the running and track & field events coming your way on TV and/or through online webcasts. All times EDT. If I’ve missed anything, put it in the comments section. Check your local listings and enjoy!

NCAA Midwest Regional Track & Field Championships
Huskers.com, Friday and Saturday
Free live coverage of the national championships qualifier from Lincoln, Nebraska.
Meet Website

California High School Track & Field Championships
Fox College Sports Pacific, 7-10:30 p.m. Saturday
replays Sunday at 2 p.m.
The best high school track meet in the country gets richly-deserved regional coverage.
Meet Website
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