Well......hell on earth has arrived......

[Chef]

in the form of the Kansas State High School State Track and Field Championships in Wichita, Ks.

As some may remember, this is the largest high school outdoor track meet in the country....Over 3500 Athletes and somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12,000 fans.......Saturday's normally get closer to 15,000 fans.

We started our broadcast at 6:30 this morning, and not signing off until the last event tonight, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:30-8:00.

It is just an excruciating 2 days........Thank God it's not 2000 degrees like it was here last year.

 

[Bubbler]

At least you don't have the MVC baseball tournament down the street this year.

 

[Chi City 81]

At least you don't have the MVC baseball tournament down the street this year.

You trying to say something about Springfield? Well, besides its godawful traffic.

 

[John]

Why is it so late in the school year? Georgia and Alabama had their meets about a month ago.

 

[Chef]

No, but up here in the pressbox, I can see the outfield wall, part of the parking lot.

Great view from here........I would much MUCH rather be at Eck covering 4 or 5 baseball games right now.

 

[Chef]

Tradition......have always had it Memorial Day Weekend.

 

[Chi City 81]

Why is it so late in the school year? Georgia and Alabama had their meets about a month ago.

Might have something to do with the slight weather difference in Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois vs. SEC schools.

 

[spup1122]

Missouri's is this weekend, too. The worst part is that Jefferson City High School has it's graduation on the Friday of the meet right across the street from the stadium where the meet is held. Traffic and parking becomes ridiculous and JCHS graduates have to come in sweaty from the meet if they want to walk.

 

[leo1]

i thought maybe this thread was about my life. i'm studying for the bar exam. it's ****ing awful and i have another two months to go. i'd give anything to be stuck in a press box for four days writing about a bunch of kids running around in circles and jumping and throwing ****.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Why is Kansas' the largest meet? Is it an all-class meet? Becuase I can think of a few states larger than Kansas!

 

[Chef]

Why is Kansas' the largest meet? Is it an all-class meet? Becuase I can think of a few states larger than Kansas!

Yeah......all-class meet.....all 6 classes.......one time.....two days of chaos.

 

[slappy4428]

BROADCAST??

 

[doubledown68]

Why is Kansas' the largest meet? Is it an all-class meet? Becuase I can think of a few states larger than Kansas!

Yeah......all-class meet.....all 6 classes.......one time.....two days of chaos.

That's a cluster.

Illinois does this stuff exceptionally well, and it always helps to have only two classes. The girls meet was last weekend. Prelims on Friday, finals on Saturday. The boys follow the same schedule this weekend. It usually goes like clockwork, and wraps up somewhere around 4 p.m. on Saturday.

 

[farmerjerome]

Ugh track. Is their anything worse than covering events sports (swimming, x-country, wrestling, track). Stories get so bogged down.

I've only seen something amazing once at a track meet, a 4x100 team that absolutely flew around the track. In seven years of reporting. Wasn't even from my coverage area.

You guys have my sympathies.

 

[Double J]

Why is Kansas' the largest meet? Is it an all-class meet? Becuase I can think of a few states larger than Kansas!

Yeah......all-class meet.....all 6 classes.......one time.....two days of chaos.

Six classes?? Holy... here in Ontario, population 12.7 million, we have one class and one championship for high school track and field. It's a three-day meet and this year it's set for Ottawa from June 7 to 9.

 

[Bubbler]

The Indiana meet is one class, like all individual sports (as it should be). Not sure how it's smaller than Kansas' meet.

 

[SportsHack1818]

I'm also at the KSHSAA meet, but unlike Chef, I enjoy it for some strange reason.

Especially strange since I am a baseball guy and never covered track during my first 5-6 years in the biz.

I like the fact there are a million things going on. That means there are a million possible story ideas.

I've filed my stuff and am heading to bed soon so I can be up for tomorrow's 8 a.m. events!

 

[Football_Bat]

Texas has all 5 classifications, and I can see how it could be somewhat smaller than Kansas' because the UIL uses regional meets to winnow down the field and only the top 2 from each region go to Austin. There are no prelims or heats.

 

[Oz]

Why is Kansas' the largest meet? Is it an all-class meet? Becuase I can think of a few states larger than Kansas!

Yeah......all-class meet.....all 6 classes.......one time.....two days of chaos.

I like the chaos, though. I love going through the events by time on Thursday night, highlighting the top athletes so that I might have a guide to know where I ought to be looking for probable winners. Granted, the non-A/C press box in Cesssa Stadium sometimes smells like **** and isn't exactly the cleanest place, but I don't mind state track.

So long as I don't forget to bring sunblock.

 

[Herky_Jerky]

Virginia's public school state track meets aren't until next weekend.

The privates schools were like a week or two ago.