'20 DL schedule released [and event distribution]

[Conor Dary]

Reading between the lines, it seems that if an athlete is too dominant in an event, there is a high risk that the event will be dropped. IAAF says people want to see head to head competition.

Unless his name is Usain Bolt...

[Conor Dary]

Average Game Time

NFL 3h 12m
NBA 2h 16m
MLB 3h 10m
NHL 2h 20m
MLS 1h 52m

Comparing team sports to an individual thing like track is pointless...

If you only came to a meet to watch Bolt you certainly don't care who wins the mile...

[thedoorknobbroke]

Don't look for any new Emma Coburns coming out of the NCAAs for the next 20 years or so.

[donley2]

Don't look for any new Emma Coburns coming out of the NCAAs for the next 20 years or so.

Why do you say that? Steeplechase was reduced from 7 meets to 5 correct?

[player]

Why do you say that? Steeplechase was reduced from 7 meets to 5 correct?

And eliminated as a DL event, which means no participation in the DL final and its prize money.

Also could have consequences for prize money at the meetings at which the steeple is held. Looking at the rules for last year's DL qualification meetings, there is only specification of the prize money for the DL disciplines, not for non-DL events also held at those meetings.

[donley2]

And eliminated as a DL event, which means no participation in the DL final and its prize money.

Also could have consequences for prize money at the meetings at which the steeple is held. Looking at the rules for last year's DL qualification meetings, there is only specification of the prize money for the DL disciplines, not for non-DL events also held at those meetings.

I get all that, but the Coburn example doesn't make sense to me, because I seriously doubt more than 0.01% of college track and field athletes put that much thought into there choice of event, that it would be affected by this sort of thing happening.

[ATK]

Did they release the full popularity rank of the events outside of the top 6 mentioned? Maybe I need to be a casual fan to understand how HJ or JT are more popular than the TJ right now...

Also, someone remind me why the 3000m, a non OG/WC event, is included in the program? Was it included in the popularity vote and ranked higher than the TJ, Discus and Steeple?

[Atticus]

Did they release the full popularity rank of the events outside of the top 6 mentioned? Maybe I need to be a casual fan to understand how HJ or JT are more popular than the TJ right now...

Concur. The only events that are hard to muster broad appeal for are the 10000 and HT. Everything else should be in play on a rotating basis, across every calendar year.

The 3k is, pardon my French, a bastard event. Yes, the time to run it fits in better to the TV window, but my solution is to start the 5K five minutes before the broadcast, so we are in medias res when the show begins. Same with the Vert jumps. Get thru the lower bars off-pgm (we nutzoids can watch them on NBCG). Keep the Horizes at 4 attempts, but no more of this elimination crap!

T&F . . . the IAAF, oh, sorry, the WTF, needs to cater to the core-fans. Everyone else will find something interesting. We live in the DVR age, where few watch things live any more, so you have to please the people that brung ya.

[Conor Dary]

Did they release the full popularity rank of the events outside of the top 6 mentioned? Maybe I need to be a casual fan to understand how HJ or JT are more popular than the TJ right now...

Also, someone remind me why the 3000m, a non OG/WC event, is included in the program? Was it included in the popularity vote and ranked higher than the TJ, Discus and Steeple?

The Africans in the men's dominate the 5 and steeple....having the 3000 gives the European runners, what few they have, a chance I suppose...

[tandfman]

my solution is to start the 5K five minutes before the broadcast, so we are in medias res when the show begins.

The typical DL telecast begins with one of the hurdles events--often the 400H. That allows time to set up the hurdles without creating dead time in the telecast.