If a track & field national championship gets cancelled, does anybody make a noise?
We often expect to be “the last word” on the various topics we opine about, but we rarely think we’ll have the actual last word about anything. Yet it appears our article from 10 days ago about USATF cancelling the indoor track & field national championships was the last word until today’s Lane9 podcast and this quick blog.
As far as we can tell, that article was the only one out there offering any sort of context or consequences for another national championship being removed from the calendar. Looking through athletes’ and coaches’ social media, none of them seem all that bothered by it. None of the news sites, blogs, podcasts or other hot take factories around the sport had much of a reaction. Certainly no one in the broader sports world was ever going to care. And as we talk about in the podcast below, no one on the event side has any incentive, that is, reason to care.
If the athletes and coaches don’t even mention the loss of another national championship event, what possible demand signal could there be for anybody to do anything in the sport?
IN THE PODCAST: TRACK & FIELD AND ROAD RACING NEED SPORTS BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS
Please prove us wrong by showing us some negative reaction from athletes or coaches, some combination of anger or regret that they won’t get to compete or - better yet, for the B-tier athletes - recognition that this could have been their season, the chance to take advantage of the disarray and poach a podium finish. Otherwise, it’s hard to see how anyone (ourselves included) will be able to muster any interest for anything in athletics.
First, listen to the podcast.
Listen to “Indoor T&F nationals cancelled: Crickets ensue” on Spreaker.
