OK, why is distance running not popular in the US but fly fishing gets great ESPN time? Why can't the general public watch a 13 minute 5k, but I have co-workers (in NYC, not down south) getting amped to work half a day so they can sit on their couch and watch machines speed around a track 500 times? Its all about advertising. Television advertising. Now, I tried a few years ago to e-mail Craig Masback about this and all I kept getting in response was: "USATF's budget is only a million dollars, we can't do anything about it."
Well, my first issue is, if USATF's budget is really only a million bucks, Masback and his crew SUCK! I could probably raise a million dollars given a year's time for something much less interesting than the development of America's Track and Field athletes. Come on! Having said that, once someone, ANYONE, raises enough money to air commercials for USATF, I have a great idea to help promote the support. It will help sponsors like Nike, Adidas and Fila, too, because the whole point of the campaign would be to get American Distance runners exposure. The more people who know who Tim Broe is, the more runners who are likely to buy adidas shoes, and the more likely people are to go watch meets on TV, and the more likely people are to pay money to actually go and sit in the stands of a competition. OK... so here is my idea: You take about 7 athletes... Krumenacker Ritz Webb Broe Meb Goucher Kennedy and you have a split screen on the TV. Half of the screen is the person from the chest on up talking, the second half of the screen is a clip of him in his event... preferably a clip of him winning a race, beating an African, setting a record, etc. These are things the general public can relate to. The clip would go something like this: "My name is Bob Kennedy, I'm 32 years old and the American Record Holder in the 3000 and 5000 meters. When I'm hot, I can run with anyone in the world, Kenyans, Moroccans, American's. Some people think I'm too old to continue at this level... well, they have a lot to learn." "My name is Tim Broe, I'm 24 years old and the American Record Holder in the indoor 3000 meters. Bob Kennedy better realize, the torch of American Distance Running has been passed, only this time, I'm bringing home a medal in 2004" "My name is Alan Webb, I'm 19 years old and the High School mile record holder. In 3 years time, I'm going to be chasing gold in Greece." Etc etc etc. I know, perhaps my clips aren't very original or engaging enough, but I'm not an advertising exec... I just think its a good idea to try and get the public to know who these guys are and to build up some rivalries even if they don't really exist. Have Goucher come on and shoot his mouth about being the best until being dethroned (a clip of him beating Kennedy would be a good one). Have them all talk about beating Kenyans and how they have done it (Ritz at 3k Cross for example, or Webb "chasing down" the WR holder El G at Pre) a number of times and how they are closing the gap. Steal one of Nike's advertising geniuses, I'm sure they could put together an exciting and somewhat controversial commercial. Something as small as this, run on a few prime time stations, would stir up National interest immensely. Why has this not happened yet? What is Craig waiting for? And what do you all think about the idea? Mike _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
