{"id":28461,"date":"2003-09-01T15:11:36","date_gmt":"2003-09-01T22:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/?p=28461"},"modified":"2019-03-27T15:13:19","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T22:13:19","slug":"from-the-editor-august-2003-little-things-can-mean-so-much-in-increasing-spectator-enjoyment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/from-the-editor-august-2003-little-things-can-mean-so-much-in-increasing-spectator-enjoyment\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Editor \u2014 August 2003: Little things can mean so much in increasing spectator enjoyment"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOW THAT YOU\u2019VE FINALLY TURNED<\/span> to the last thing in the issue you actually read (maybe I should just move to the back?), let me ask you a question. Were you struck in this month\u2019s edition by how easy it was to scan the pages and get a quick enjoyment hit? Not due to anything we did\u2014simply because the preponderance of pictures came from the USATF Championships, where the athlete-bibs had the contestants\u2019 names, both first and last, in easy-to-read letters. Instant recognition. What a concept!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Tom Pappas on the cover, there\u2019s Jason Lunn and Bryan Berryhill on the opening spread, there\u2019s Tyree Washington in the middle, etc., etc. And if you were lucky enough to be at the meet, then you surely would have noticed it on-site too. No more wracking your brain trying to put a name to a face, or flipping through your program, or searching the scoreboard for clues or wondering what it was the announcer said just as the crowd roared.<\/p>\n

The bib-name concept isn\u2019t new: I remember first seeing it at the Pac-8 Championships at the LA Coliseum in \u201974. But the number of times I\u2019ve seen it in the quarter-century-plus since can still be counted on my fingers. How could organizers of major meets ignore such a basic information-providing service for their clients for so long?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a little thing, but there are so many little fan-friendly things that too often get ignored as a matter of course even at some of the biggest meets in the U.S. Ever been frustrated by some\/all of these:<\/p>\n

\u2022The lack of even the most rudimentary of indicator boards at each field event so people can see the results of each jump\/throw. (I won\u2019t even cite having an announcing crew competent enough to keep you up-to-date on the majority of the attempts.)<\/p>\n

\u2022The nonexistence of any attempt to show\/announce field-event standings during the course of a competition.<\/p>\n

\u2022No printed program\/heat sheets that gives the entrants in any given event, what number they\u2019re wearing, or what lane they\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the event of the modern electronic scoreboard has in many cases actually led to a decrease in the amount of hard information available to the sporting public. Meet management rationale seems to go like this: why print anything when everything anyone could possibly need will be on the board? Well, maybe. More often than not, scoreboards are hijacked by some Fellini-wannabe who decides that arty views of the stands are of more import than actually showing a lane draw or updating composite field results. Instead of becoming a computer screen providing valuable data, the Jumbotron has become just another big-screen TV, except that you don\u2019t have the remote\u2026 it\u2019s your weird Uncle Bob.<\/p>\n

Or another of my faves: turning the whole million-dollar scoreboard into the world\u2019s largest digital clock during distance races, even if there\u2019s an easy-to-read running clock right at the finish line. In the final straightaway, when somebody\u2019s chasing a time, OK, then the clock has some relevance. But for the rest of the race, what\u2019s the point? I defy anybody on the planet to tell me the significance of seeing what the clock reads at say, 7352m in a 28:00-paced 10K. Or to tell me how far along they are if the clock reads 26:51.5. Since the announcer is undoubtedly tied up with a running commentary on the race at this point and can\u2019t give field updates, why not use the board?<\/p>\n

The real villain in all this? Too many people forget the sport is track and <\/span>field, and have no idea how much better a meet is when the jumps and throws get their due.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOW THAT YOU\u2019VE FINALLY TURNED to the last thing in the issue you actually read (maybe I should just move… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom The Editor \u2014 August 2003: Little things can mean so much in increasing spectator enjoyment - Track & Field News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/from-the-editor-august-2003-little-things-can-mean-so-much-in-increasing-spectator-enjoyment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From The Editor \u2014 August 2003: Little things can mean so much in increasing spectator enjoyment - Track & Field News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NOW THAT YOU\u2019VE FINALLY TURNED to the last thing in the issue you actually read (maybe I should just move... 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