In a message dated Thu, 22 Feb 2001 8:01:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, Ed & Dana
Parrot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
<< How about, that for the mark to be legal for IAAF qualifying purposes,
technically it must be measured in metric? Therefore, announcing the
performance in metric for high level meets or even USATF juniors has some
value.>>
Why? Virtually every meet (every one of consequence) is measured in metric, and all
the athletes and coaches (the ones who worry about Q purposes) know that already, so
they're not worried about how it's measured. And for the general fan, who knows
nothing about that rule, and couldn't care less, why start speaking a foreign language
to him? If you feel compelled to mention Qs (a practice which has rendered collegiate
meets almost unwatchable), say the jumped 7-4 and he got his Q, period.
Fans don't need or want chapter and verse on the intricacies of the legitimacy of
marks. They want our sport to be like baseball; ball goes over fence, is home run.
They don't want to know if the wind was legal, what the metric measure is for the
330-foot mark on the left-field fence, who surveyed the field and what he had for
breakfast.
Keep the sport simple!
gh
