A stadium with many people on it
Featured High School Opinion Uncategorized

Reflections on Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, and Eugene

louis July 13, 2021


Hayward Field

As the pictures show, Hayward field is a gem.  It is a fantastic stadium that caters entirely to track and field.  Eugene is no doubt Tracktown USA.  While it benefits track and field to rotate championship venues, other places, like Franklin Field, had the same amount of time to move into the 21st century.  At this point, Eugene should be the de facto championship  venue.  No other place in this county can produce the atmosphere Hayward can.  There is no doubt a honeymoon period for Hayward, but for the near future, without being complacent, Hayward should host all championship meets.

Positives

  1.  Beautiful, modern, picturesque stadium
  2. All (almost) the action is inside the stadium.  It showcases track and field.
  3. Video scoreboards around the stadium make it easy to watch races and field events.

Negatives

  1. Lights are very bright and not spectator friendly, especially at 4 or 5 in the afternoon.  There is no need for lights then.  It is light outside in Eugene until 9 p.m. in summer  Turn them on an hour and half before sunset.
  2. Vantage points-It’s worth spending the money for better seats, especially if you like the field events.  The closer to the finish line, the better the seat.
  3. The scoreboard is very nice; however, you can’t really follow the field events.  The scoreboard is large and bright, and it shows the action in real time, but it doesn’t track standings and attempts/misses like the scoreboard at the Alabama crossplex does.
Track and Field/USATF criticisms

Positives

  1.  Track and Field is a popular sport.  This is the tipping point with television coverage, Instagram, and YouTube.  The trials were on tv, there was a livestream on YouTube, and there are several athletes with tens of thousands of followers.  Right now the Gabby Thomas 200 video has 994,000 views, the Sha’Carri Richardson 100 meter video (whoops) has 8.8 million views, and the Sydney McLaughlin WR video has 1.3 million views.  Craig Engels has 86.5k Insta followers, Centro has 99.6 k followers, and Allyson Felix has 831k followers.  People are watching…and they are watching women.
  2. Track and Field now has their own Taj Mahal in the US.  They should not take the gift for granted, but they should use this as a chance to showcase the stadium, the athletes, and their performances.  In a smoke-filled room, the U.S. was gifted World Champs, so it’s now or never for USATF.
  3. The US has world class performers in every single event.  This is a chance to make these athletes household names.  Following that, this is a time to market to the grass roots.

Negatives

  1. USATF is not the organization you want in charge of track and field. Their marketing campaign is run by a high school class in 1985.  Outside of Kevin Hart not being funny, how much money did USATF pay Kevin Hart for lame commercials, when they could have spent that money on prize money or athlete sponsorship?  Even without Kevin Hart, USATF commercials are at worst terrible and at best uninspiring.  USATF needs to better market athletes to grow the sport.  They miss opportunities like doing a cross over promotion with Marquis Goodwin in the long jump.
  2. As beautiful as Hayward is, the stadium is for U of O track and field.  USATF does not own the stadium.  It is courtesy of Uncle Phil and Co.  The tower has all former U of O athletes on it, the glass on the side of the stadium has all U of O standouts on it, and even the seat numbers have duck wings.   On the outside this does not appear to be problematic, but it showcases many structural issues with track and field in the US-you can not rotate track and field in the US.  If there is no U of O and if there is no Phil Knight, there is no track and field.  People don’t go to Indy, Sacramento, and Des Moines for track.  And USATF knows that.  If the All-Star game is in Baltimore, Denver, or San Fran, you will get 45k fans; if the super bowl is in Jacksonville, Detroit, or Dallas, you will get a packed house.  Track and Field has thrown its eggs in one basket-not because they have options, but there is only one basket.
  3. Now that the Oly Trials are over, what do athletes do?  The Olympic Trials are a great event, but if you are 4, 5, or 6 in an event, what do you do?  There are diamond league meets, but realistically, that is not an option for many athletes.  USATF needs to create some sort of team structure or regional competition.  Right now, many athletes train and support themselves or get support from outside organizations like the Oregon Track Club or Brooks Beast.  USATF doesn’t provide much support for athletes or provide avenues for them to be successful.  After a successful OT, USATF really needs to focus on grass roots and athlete development.
  4. The Weather-The forecast was calling for extreme temperatures at least a week out.  As the week went on, it became impossible to ignore the forecast.  And it’s not hindsight is 20/20.  There should have been a contingency plan put in place by Thursday-not Sunday at 3 p.m.

Pizza in EUGENE

Tracktown Pizza is the worst pizza on the planet.  Roaring Rapids is the second worst pizza on the planet.  Eugene as a whole has the worst pizza on the planet.  Why that is, who knows, but here are One Bite Ratings for Eugene Pizza.  If anyone wants a business idea, open up a pizza place in Eugene.  Elios is lit compared to Eugene Pizza.

Dominoes:  4.3/10

Slice-2019 rating:  6.5-7; 2021 rating 4.0

Pizza Hut:  0/10

Roaring Rapids:  -1000/10

Tracktown Pizza:   -2000/10

Abby’s legendary:  4.6/10

Agate Alley: 7.5/10

PLACES TO RUN IN EUGENE
  1. Pre’s trail is very nice.  It is about 4 miles and entirely mulch.
  2. Hendrick’s Park-well-kept; gravel; hills-a couple challenging hills but bearable
  3. Amazon-not that great-mostly paved
  4. Spencer’s Butte-hard to run-like 1,000 foot climb in 1600 meters but still cool