The world of HS track gets pissed off

OK, a guy I know wrote this column which led to a firestorm from high school track people. I suppose it went somewhat viral, because people from 10 states away were screaming for his dismissal.

High school track: It's springtime and the living is (relatively) easy

It got so bad, he wrote an apology for the column. Whether it was his call to write this or his bosses', I do not know.

LNP sports columnist Mike Gross issues apology regarding track and field column

Now, I want some opinions. I don't want to hear if the guy's a good writer, or if the column was well-crafted. That's not the point here. What I want to know is if the original column merited the anger it raised.

 

To a degree, yes. It's not an easy sport, and if a team's top sprinter doesn't show up, it can and does make a big difference. I think it's more of a mental sports than any other, especially in the specialty events like the hurdles, jumps, throws and vault.

 

I have always preferred watching field. But I'm weird.

 

I'm the opposite. Do not like watching many of the field events, but don't mind watching the long, triple or high jumps. Sprints and hurdles are my favorite running events, especially because we've had some pretty good ones come through my area the last few years.

 

I love watching the javelin, but I used to throw it. I appreciate the technical aspect of it, and the unexpected need for speed.

 

The frisbee golf comparison was a dumb one, as he acknowledges in the apology. Take that out and I think the tone comes across as something much closer to what he intended.

 

Agreed.

 

I'm the same way. One of my favorite events to cover every year is the state track meet, and it's a lot more fun (and easier) to shoot the field events than the running events. I also like the drama of it. The limited number of attempts in each event make it like quarters or innings in football or baseball, where you have time to process the situation and build the drama.

 

Yeah, but he's not wrong. Our state has four rounds of postseason meets, including the state meet. Top four in each event advance. So, individually, the entire season boils down to those four meets and the first three are usually pretty easy to get through for the real championship contenders. We had a girl last year who didn't compete in a regular-season meet because she played basketball and was nursing an injury. She wound up winning three state championships.
On the team level, it's all a war of attrition. If you get to the state meet with enough athletes you have a chance. Otherwise there's nothing you can do but focus on your individual events.
There's also the "happy to be there" factor, which the guy touched on in the column. If someone is throwing the shot put 60 feet and your best is 45, you're playing for second place and you know it. Even if you set a PR you're not going to win unless the 60-footer breaks his arm.
It really does lower the intensity a lot, especially in the regular-season meets that mean absolutely nothing.

 

I think the writer had a decent point, but he went about trying to make it in a shitty way.

In some ways, track is less intense than the team sports, and in some ways, it is more intense. One of the commenters remarked on how nervous he got before running. Except in relays, you have NO ONE to bail you out if you suck. (Unless the rest of the runners suck, too.)

Actually, relays might be even worse because you can let down the rest of your team.

Also, I think field events suck, but mainly because I dislike the repetition and the waiting.

 

As someone who competed in both football (which he uses as a contrast) and track in high school and now also covers both for a paper, I'd have to say he deserves some heat.
Both sports and their coverage have their challenges and pressures. His column made it seem as if track was just something to do during the spring, almost like an afterthought, not something requiring hours and hours of practice ranging from getting into shape to fine tuning things like starting out of the blocks and working on relay handoffs; getting strides down for hurdling, long jumping or high jumping; anything involving pole vaulting; combining footwork and body motion in the shot and discus; strategy for distance races; etc.
Maybe it's a difference in how things are done in different states or he just didn't explain it clearly enough, but he wrote his paper devotes three weekends to track. Does that mean they only cover meets for those three weeks or the season only lasts that long? I'd have to guess the former.
In Ohio, high school track this year started March 25 and ends with the state meet June 2-3. That's 11 weekends of invitationals and other big meets, with smaller meets during the week.
Due to page size and manpower issues, we usually don't send a reporter until the league meets, but we do send photogs to at least one meet each weekend. We'll get the results and write up agate and a story for each one.