Granted, fans in Texas are somewhat spoiled like Stephen A. Smith is somewhat annoying, but we know what we’re used to seeing and this wasn’t it. This year’s meet was to past meets as Laurel was to Hardy. In fact, had he still been around, Oliver Hardy might have medaled last week in Austin.
The numbers speak for themselves. Most times were higher, most distances were shorter and many heights were anything but high. Case in point: the area contingent racked up a total of five medals. That hardware haul came after local athletes brought home 23 medals last year and 20 the season before.
The athletes certainly turned in valiant efforts, but it is what it is and unless you’re comparing golf scores or earned-run average, 23 always beats five.
It was the same story across the board. For most of the season, competitors just didn’t produce the same times and marks from past years. And there has to be a reason.
It could be passed off as just a dry run of athletes, but that’s preposterous. The competitors were certainly athletic and besides, there’s no precedent for a statewide dry run of athletes.
The results were more likely due to one of several theories or a combination of them - all of which were talked about by numerous coaches at the meet.
- One theory is that we’re now seeing the trickle-down effect of expanded baseball and softball playoffs. More teams in every classification now qualify for the postseason than before, and the best-of-three series that used to be rare is now the norm.
Kids are playing baseball and softball on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, leaving less time to practice on the track or leading them to drop the sport altogether.
- Another theory is that many (not all) track and field coaches are simply assistant coaches of other sports (usually football) who have been given the title of head track coach in order to pay them more money.
In many cases, these people don’t know how to teach the sport. Just take a look at the records that have fallen in recent years (excluding the newest events of girls pole vault and the boys 800-meter relay). In the field events - which require more technical expertise and coaching - two state meet records have been broken since 2006, while 23 records have been set in running events during that same span.
There are many great coaches in this state, but the role of some coaches has to be factored into the declining performances. It’s gotten to the point that two days before a regional meet last month, one area coach listed as that school’s head boys track and field coach wasn’t even sure how many athletes he was sending to regionals.
Apparently, the attempt to veil an assistant coach’s salary by calling him head track coach has become so transparent that there’s no need to even pretend to know about the track team. The aforementioned coach’s lapse in knowledge about his own team could have been due to a work overload in the classroom, except he doesn’t teach a class, either.
Now there’s your hard-earned tax dollars being well spent, huh?
- The final theory deals more with boys teams and has to do with the 800 relay. In the rush to add girls pole vault a few years back - and the resulting need for an equal number of boys events to comply with Title IX - the decision was made to add the 800 relay to boys meets. And it was probably a bad decision.
The result of meets and the success of teams now hinge solely on the relays, which award double points. Coaches across the state are now pulling athletes out of their individual events in full force so they can run on the relays, thereby giving their team a better shot at the team title.
The kid from years past who could garner a few points with a couple of third-place finishes in the field events is now of little consequence. It’s all about the sprinters. Consider this: an athlete could sweep the jumping events by winning the long jump, triple jump and high jump - a remarkable feat - and not accumulate as many points as two second-place relay teams.
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But as was said before, Texas sports fans are spoiled. Even when the performances of our athletes dip, they’re still better than many states.
Based on this year’s 400 relay results, Oklahoma’s Class 6A state champion and Louisiana’s 5A state champion would have had to run in Class A in order to win gold in Austin.
That means Texas’ 5A and 4A athletes could go to those other states and rake up the golds with minimal effort.
That’s not possible here at home, though. Here, you won’t get paid unless you put in the work - unless a certain track job in the area comes open.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
