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Track deserves better coverage
March 14, 2006

I would first like to start off with a question; why is the LSU basketball team on the front page? Should it not be the LSU track team who this weekend placed second in the nation? Well I believe it should be and you guys should be ashamed that you put a team that is not even ranked in the top 10 on the front page when there is another team that just got second in the nation.

Nobody at LSU even knows that the track team was ranked first, but they sure know that basketball team was ranked 21st. Who cares about a 21st ranked team? I would just like to thank you guys for down playing how good the track team is.

I mean, for God’s sake, we have olympic athletes on the team and not to mention the best athlete in the country on our team. We win national titles every year and won several this weekend in individual events. You guys sure do know how to pick the headlines and when LSU loses their opening game please make sure that’s on the cover the following day.

It is a known fact that no other sport, even football, can compare to the success of the track program.



Edwin Billot

General Studies

Senior



Editor’s Note: Edwin Billot is a member of LSU’s track and field team.

Track gets no love, and its not just at LSU.

I think most of us can relate to his words. I know at our school, which isnt even a big sports school, track is pushed aside quite a bit. We'll get the occasional 2 inch report of who did great at the meet, but thats about it.

Our coaches put out a great deal of effort to get the school media to follow us and it has helped. GEtting your school to notice you is HUGE, and the AD and athletics staff appreciate it because any positive attention that athletics get is big...

I think I would have gone a different route than this guy did, but props to him for using his voice.....

At least your schools have newspapers... the president of my school is very anti-free speech.

CENSORSHIP!!!!

I give props to that guy for speaking out.....most students are so blind to any sport besides basketball and football....and untill the school papers stop making those athletes seem like gods, smaller sport athletes, who work just as hard, won't get the respect they deserve.

For the record I think, well actually I know, that track athletes work harder than basketball and football athletes. I played basketball for a number of years and have watched a few of VT's bball parctices, and not a single member of either team could make it through half of one of our workouts. Granted, football players get the crap kicked out of them, which I probably couldnt do, but you dont have to really work to get slammed on the ground every day.

I saw a track shirt once that said "Our sport is your sport's punishment"....so true

This is so true across the nation. Big schools little schools. Track athletes work and compete probably harder than any athlete out there and get little notice. Unless it is an Olympic year or steroids are mentioned. I have had to deal with the disinterested media so many times here in Austin after local kids have set national records or won championships and have had most media outlets decide it is not newsworthy, I don't even try anymore. Basically, if it doesn't sell adds for liquor, cars or strip clubs, it doesn't belong in the newspaper. So, we all need to hug, thank and support Becca for keeping this webpage up and running and being so cool. Thanks Becca, don't stop jumping high and please, never, ever stop running this site. You're cute as a button and have THE BEST WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET.

Aww thanks

While I agree that track definately needs and deserves much more coverage than it gets, I don't buy the whole track athletes work harder than any other sport. I play football and pole vault on the D3 level and both practices are tough in their own respects. College track practices are the only time I've ever felt like I was going to puke and nearly did after a workout. We got run to death early in the season. But not a single runner/jumper on our track team would rather take the physical beating you do in football (both in practice and come game time). practicing indoors is a cakewalk compared to 90+ degree two-a-day practices, but then again 16 60's plus hills followed by an ab workout is worse than running through some drills and plaing 7 on 7 at football practice. This doesn't even include other sports like wrestling, soccer, rugby, etc (sorry baseball, you guys don't count). Track is tough, but to say its by far worse than any other sport their is, is a load of crap. Let's see Steve Prefontaine put on some pads and take a few hits from an NFL linebacker, or have Ray Lewis run the two mile under 9 minutes. You get my point yet? And this all has come from experience.

Coverage for our sport has been an issue for a long time. People Like Coach Bob Fraley and Becca have been huge in promoting the sport through this website, the Pole Vault Summit, and teaching others how to gain media support. The way that we get our school paper to give us good coverage is by having one of our athletes on the newspaper staff. He covers all the meets and we get a half page article most weeks (the same as other sports). All I can say is that you need to make someone on the staff of your school paper to become interested in the sport and get them to help push the issue from within the newspaper office. I would suggest getting a communications major to travel with the team (you probably have an athlete on the team that is one). If they are there every week then they can see the outstanding performances and write about them.

Sports like swimming, tennis, and volleyball face the same issue. Equality for all sports is something we should strive for, but sadly at most institutions this is just not the case.

Another way to promote the sport is to try and publish something on your own. there is a website and book published every year call Writers Market that has a lot of options for magazine articles that you could submit a proposal. If the media will not do it on their own it is up to those of us that are in the less covered sports to take it upon ourselves to get the word out and create the interest.