Track push revisited

By Ed Piper

There has been further discussion on U.S.A. Track's push to make their sport the fifth most popular sport in America. (See previous post.)

Last week, a wag on a local sports talk show allowed as how "the (baseball) All-Star Game was just background noise" at a family event he attended. (This year's All-Star Game was played last Tues., July 19, at Dodger Stadium.)

I thought the ASG was an entertaining, fun event. (I watched the game all the way through, something I don't do normally.) The beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

For track, hurdler/sprinter superstar Sydney McLaughlin posted more great times as the World Championships--held for the first time in the U.S.--concluded Sun., July 24. The event was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Bring us more elite events like the World Championships, and I don't see why track can't regain the foothold it held years ago in our country. As I mentioned, back in the day I attended the L.A. Times Indoor Games at the Forum in Inglewood. There was another top event in the 70's that was held in Southern California.

I'm not even a track person, knowing the in's and the out's of the sport. But I enjoy it enough to pay to attend meets.

The sheer athleticism and grace that runners, jumpers, and vaulters exhibit are drawing-points for me. There are many other fans much more knowledgeable about track and field who continue to be enthusiasts who will be drawn into this renewed promotion of the sport.

USATF's schedule includes five top meets held around the U.S. next year. I say bring 'em on. The media will comply, and promote the athletes who stand out. Carl Lewis was a big name in the glory days of track. Usain Bolt is legendary for his 100-meter times. There are newer athletes waiting for their time in the limelight.

Push to make track the fifth most popular sport in the U.S.

La Jolla High's Payton Smith, then a

sophomore, runs in the LJ-Hoover dual

meet April 14, 2022. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

USA Track and Field, which has relied for the last several decades on the popularity of its sport on Eugene, Oregon and Hayward Field located in that hallowed city, is initiating a series of five major track meets in five different U.S. cities next summer.

Phil Knight and Nike have bankrolled most of track's thrust and operating costs over that period (including a rebuilding and improvement of Hayward Field). I've written before about Knight's manipulation of the University of Oregon's athletics through the vast sums of money his company invests in collegiate sports there.

But Eugene is also a "shrine" to Steve Prefontaine, a dedicated runner who excelled but eventually died too young. That's a positive association for me.

In any case, USATF wants to push to make track the fifth most popular sport in our country by the time the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics come to town. Right now, according to a Nielsen study in 2019, the number-one most followed sport is football (66 percent of 1,000+ respondents); second is baseball (56 percent); third is basketball (55 percent); coming in fourth is soccer (47 percent).

Track stands at eighth in popularity. It would have to leapfrog over swimming, tennis, and motor racing to move up to fifth.

I love track. One point the report this week (in the L.A. Times) makes is that full stadiums for high school track meets doesn't automatically translate to sellouts at major college and pro meets.

One feature of track is the varied events that showcase skills ranging from sprinting and long-distance running, to leaping and throwing. You can't get such a variety in one sport too many times.

In my halcyon days, I attended the L.A. Times Indoor Games, in the 70's. Jim Ryun, the top mile runner, plodded the bouncy wooden track. There were other meets that I sought out and went to, including watching British decathlete Daley Carmichael compete in the 1984 Olympics in L.A.

As a kid growing up playing, first, baseball, then, basketball, I knew the skill and challenges of running because I did a lot of running to train for the latter of my two favorite sports. Not being an athlete gifted to run or jump in track, I admired those who were. In high school, that meant Jeff Ropes, who combined football and basketball with track, his spring sport. That's the name that pops to mind.

At La Jolla High presently, rising junior Payton Smith alone is worth the price of admission. She runs the 100 and 200 meters. In long distance, someone who is going to set tons of LJHS records is Kirra Fisk.

Let's way and see if track can regain its former foothold on the U.S. viewing public.

Snapdragon: Interesting

Snapdragon Stadium, viewed over traffic on Friars Road

in eastern Mission Valley, begins to assert its profile as the

2022 SDSU football season approaches.

By Ed Piper

Sitting in my living room watching the pre-derby coverage for the MLB Home Run Derby from Dodger Stadium, I am putzing around doing stuff with my plants, doing some homework for a class I'm taking on Zoom, and contemplating my next article for the La Jolla Village News in two weeks. (It'll be on my travels in the last 45 years taking me to the top deck of Estadio Azteca in Mexico City for the Liga Mayor semifinals in 1984, coverage of the Santa Barbara Spikers pro volleyball team in 1977, and other anecdotes.)

But a recent jaunt to Mission Gorge two days ago yielded my first view ever of the new Snapdragon Stadium, set for San Diego State football and pro soccer, I think. It kind of sneaked up on me as I circled around from Mission Valley to take the I-5 north, exited on Friars Rd. West, and headed down Friars Road to get gas at Costco.

Snapdragon looks modern. I was impressed how close it is built next to Friars Road. "The Snap" is smaller than the old Jack Murphy/Qualcomm. Obviously. It stands out with the light towers sticking up from the stands.

I feel for all the native San Diegans who grew up here--I'm a transplant--and have gut reactions over the Chargers leaving, the Padres' former home being demolished to make room for the new facility, and all the changes one experiences through the years as a sports fan.

Being from another area, I grew up--and still feel this way--believing that sports are meant to fun, that other teams besides my own are worthy rivals and worth watching. So I don't get into the attitude that "My team is great, and other teams suck"; when I wear Padres shorts, I truly enjoy it, as much as I do wearing Yankees, Royals, Nats gear, besides Dodgers.

Basically, I'm a good sport. I exhibit solid sportsmanship. That doesn't mean that I have all my attitudes and views worked out as the "healthiest" sports fan in the world. On the other hand, I've never bought into the taunting, ribbing, putting down of fans from other teams--I think a lot of that is cultivated through social media, which often takes on a negative tone.

My wife was born in St. Louis. I looked forward to going to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium several years ago with her favorite uncle, Uncle Rudy. That wasn't in some way a diminishing of the support I give to the team from the area I grew up.

I hope that my sports coverage for local high school teams reflects a pro-active stance for the value of athletics in general. I don't take a homer stance. That has never rung true to me. Am I making any sense?

So, my first view of Snapdragon was enlightening. I hope to some day attend a sports event at the new facility.

Tom is 'In the House'

Throwing guru Tom House was introduced

to the La Jolla High crowd at the May 17

CIF play-in game the Vikings won.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Checking entries on my blog, you can see that I haven't written anything in three weeks or so. But one guy, talking with him for 14 minutes by phone, can bring a smile to my face--and some knowledge about a sports app that came out recently and should help some young athletes and their parents work on valuable skills for their particular sport.

I'm talking about Tom House, the former Braves pitcher (my co-teacher and I used to tell our students we were "older than dirt"--House is 75, in the same boat) and Rangers coach. He studied biomechanics and throwing from early on, and it has paid off in a huge video database of 973 Major League pitchers (to this date) that House and his team of "Mustard" (the app) "biomechanists, computer programmers" and other experts are culling data from.

His goal: the "democratization" of information available for kids and teens and their parents so that youth can enjoy and progress in sports.

According to House, "Eighty percent of those kids (we were talking about in high school and youth sports) will quit playing their sport."

With the feedback and skill-teaching available for free in the Mustard app (as in "Put a little mustard on it"), a young person throwing a baseball or football can improve their technique, discuss training and diet, and overall get some thrust toward improved skills in throwing. And it only comes from a simple video taken by Mom or Dad on their cellphone and fed into the app. How's that for amazing?

"It's not to create 20 million big leaguers," assures Tom, who has helped La Jolla Viking pitchers and others in the recent past. "The Mustard mission statement says that the goal is to make 20 million young people around the world who will compete" and stay in their chosen sport for enjoyment, discipline, and other values that sports can teach when they are at their best.

Another quote: "Ed, you and I know today's world is a little goofy. Sports are the great equalizer" or common denominator, whatever the socioeconomic status or color or ethnic group (my words).