polevaultpower wrote:..... Being in Tacoma doesn't quite have the appeal of being in Seattle, but it's not terribly far away and the airport sits between the two cities. Traffic between Seattle and Tacoma can be bad. Overall good location to draw fans from Oregon and BC, and there are ample hotels in the region. Dorms would be an option at the colleges, though I don't think there are many (any?) hotels within walking distance. ...
Dorms are not an option if you're talking about housing the athletes: they get good-quality hotels.
And the number of tourists who are willing to stay in dorms is insignificant (trust me on this, I'm in the business).
One of the hugest hurdles any Eugene bid would face. The stadium issue is almost secondary.
Like pigs flying, this whole scenario is unlikely unless some billionaire simply decides it must be done. Then, viola, the skies will be dark with pork-on-the-wing.
kuha wrote:Like pigs flying, this whole scenario is unlikely unless some billionaire simply decides it must be done. Then, viola, the skies will be dark with pork-on-the-wing.
Yea, that is the problem. With Lannana and Knight, doing their Alexander the Great routine, and no more worlds to conquer, wrecking Hayward Field.
polevaultpower wrote:..... Being in Tacoma doesn't quite have the appeal of being in Seattle, but it's not terribly far away and the airport sits between the two cities. Traffic between Seattle and Tacoma can be bad. Overall good location to draw fans from Oregon and BC, and there are ample hotels in the region. Dorms would be an option at the colleges, though I don't think there are many (any?) hotels within walking distance. ...
Dorms are not an option if you're talking about housing the athletes: they get good-quality hotels.
And the number of tourists who are willing to stay in dorms is insignificant (trust me on this, I'm in the business).
One of the hugest hurdles any Eugene bid would face. The stadium issue is almost secondary.
Not sure why so much of the focus is on the stadium. Doesn't most of the revenue from these types of events come from advertising and TV rights? As far as reconfiguring Hayward Field, the only thing I'd add would be some luxury boxes to bribe the IAAF, corporate sponsors, and local officials with. Garry has is right, guest housing is the biggest issue Eugene would face. It's time to look up how many people came into town for the Eugene trials and compare that to how many came into someplace like Daegu, and then count how many rooms are/were available.
Vince wrote: Doesn't most of the revenue from these types of events come from advertising and TV rights?
Revenue? The WC usually loses tens of millions of dollars and the local government picks up the tab. That ain't happening in the US. Somebody with deep pockets has to be willing to take that loss.
Don't laugh. It's empty and just begging to be repurposed. And a track would fit.
Not a bad idea. Houston was interested enough to host the Trials marathon, so maybe they want to take it a step further. They should have a lot of maneuver room inside since all sorts of events besides football and baseball were held there and Rick Perry kept telling us how great the economy was in TX. Hotel space no problem and I keep my motor home about 100 miles away
Here's a link to the Astrodome floor plan. If the dimensions posted above are correct, an IAAF track won't fit with existing lower level seating. If you redid the lower level seating, it could work. You'd need a warm up track built in the parking lot.
Just watching the Swimming Olympic Trials right now, and I'm struck that the swimming association has done just what we we've been talking about here, and what we have been told over and over again isn't realistically possible.
They've built a temporary pool in the Centurylink Center, a basketball/hockey arena in Omaha Nebraska. The place normally seats around 19,000, and even with the first several rows of seats removed to fit the pool, has much greater spectator capacity than any actual purpose-built facility in U.S. But, for this special occasion they have, believe it or not, actually done something special so that more people can see, and learn about, their sport. And, from what I can tell on TV, the place is full or nearly full, and rockin'
The FINA World Aquatic Championships have never been held in the US. Swimmers have the same problem, they have to get the federal government behind them. Good Luck.
I know to many the idea of a WC in Eugene sounds feasible, but it really isn't. I think the IOC learned that lesson on 1980. The winter Olympics in Lake Placid was a complete cluster f%#k! Like Eugene it has an enthusiastic fanbase but lacks infrastructure. HUGE traffic jams, not nearly enough hotel rooms or even enough...space for that many people. I am sure the IAAF knows this.
It is true that currently there isn't a real big city option for a WC. I just keep thinking that there must be some CEO's other than Phil Knight that could be interested in stroking their ego and step up to support track in the US.
Talking with a number of Eugenians today and ALL said they'd be 100% behind a WC bid. They'd MAKE it work despite all the obstacles. If Knight says 'bid', I see it happening.
folks keep coming back to the question of whether Eugene could host the WCs.
that's not the point. the point is that for sake of elevating the sport of track & field in the United States, Eugene would be a wasted/lost opportunity.
as wonderful as Eugene is for track, it's a really bad location for hosting the World Championships.
it goes above and beyond the questions of infrastructure, logistics, basic feasibility, it's just a really bad idea.
if the United States is ever going to host a World Championship it needs to be in a major city, in a major media market, etc.
and, again, the stadium question is not just about numbers and capacity. it's also about aesthetics and creating an extraordinary experience for athletes and spectators alike. this is really important for marketing the sport and compelling people to come out.
stadium aesthetics and acoustics matter - a lot. Eugene is loud. it's not just the fans, it's also the acoustics of the place.
yes, the idea of hosting a World Championship is lofty pie in the sky stuff, but it seems crucial to USA track and field to work towards this type of goal in order to push the sport back out of its Eugene niche/cult bubble.
Marlow wrote:Talking with a number of Eugenians today and ALL said they'd be 100% behind a WC bid. They'd MAKE it work despite all the obstacles. If Knight says 'bid', I see it happening.
I emailed a few Eugenians today and they think a Super Bowl at South Eugene High School would be great. Build it and they will come....
110hedgeNYC wrote: Eugene is loud. it's not just the fans, it's also the acoustics of the place. .
The acoustics of the place really don't contribute to loudness, since there are open areas all over the place to allow sound to escape and very little concrete in this configuration to further bounce the sound. Hayward is not a bowl like Autzen is a bowl. The fans are what make it loud.
sorry, but not true in my long experience of being on the Hayward infield: the shape of the two main grandstands act like megaphones, and bounce the sound back and forth across the field. It's an amazing effect. And one that was lessened when they moved the East stands back 50 feet or so a couple of decades back. I think (at least from the standpoint of being on the infield) that the old setup was louder, even with fewer people.
During the 1976 Trials I was about 20 rows up on the finish line in the West Grandstand and it was incredibly loud. And when I would sit in the East stands in other meets the noise bouncing back from the West was something, in the late 70's and early 80's, before they moved the stands back towards Agate. It would be like a tidal wave as the runners neared the finish line.
OK, Naysayers, what do you make of the fact that lananna will no longer be UO Head coach, so . . .
late-breakling news wrote:Without daily coaching duties, Lananna could be freed up to spend more time on some of his visionary ideas for the future, including a complete makeover of Hayward Field into a 20,000-seat stadium with the capacity to meet IAAF standards as a host site for the 2019 World Championships.
Obviously the NY Times (story now on front page) knows something we don't:
<<Des Moines and Drake, which will host the U.S. track and field championships next year, have shown interest in hosting the trials in 2016, and appear to be Eugene’s leading rival. Sacramento, which hosted the trials in 2000 and 2004, may bid again. The city has a top competition site at Sacramento State University.....>>
I'm kind of shocked no one has mentioned Husky Stadium in Seattle, WA! Guaranteed perfect weather in August. Best weather anywhere in the United States in August! Practically zero chance of rain (I'm not kidding), temperatures in the upper 70's, occasionally into the 80's.
Big world-class city, great infrastructure. Housing would not be a problem. Airport is easy to get to from international points of origin. With the Husky football team, the Sounders FC, the Seahawks, and the Mariners, the city is used to handling big crowds. The city is also one of the most scenic in the world, with outdoor adventure amenities that draw significant
Perfect stadium! (recently renovated). Hold's 70,000 people. Lauded as the nicest stadium in the PAC-12 conference. Noted as one of the loudest stadiums in the country due to 70% of the seating located on the straightaways and due to the cantilevered partial roof over the seating. A loud crowd is good for track and field events, a source of extra motivation for the athletes.
The only costs I could imagine would be to install real grass in the infield (the turf is one of the finest, but must be grass for the throws), and possibly build or re-configure some support facilities to accommodate so many athletes.
Too bad San Diego doesn't have a good stadium with a track. Other than that San Diego would be a great location. Maybe they can include a track (even if temporary) when they build a new stadium for the Chargers in a few years.
I'll bite my tongue at your perfect-weather comment on Seattle.
But Husky Stadium is a dead issue. They're in the process of ripping out the track, lowering the field and filling it in with seats so everybody is closer to the action. There will never be another meet there again.
gh wrote:I'll bite my tongue at your perfect-weather comment on Seattle.
But Husky Stadium is a dead issue. They're in the process of ripping out the track, lowering the field and filling it in with seats so everybody is closer to the action. There will never be another meet there again.
I didn't know about Husky Stadium ripping out the track. That's terrible! Oh well, it would have been a great place for the World Championships!
I lived in Seattle for 11 years, grew up in CT, spent many years in MD, FL, and now 10 years in SoCal. Traveled all over the USA. Believe me, Seattle (PacNorWest in general, west of the Cascades) does have the best weather in the country in August. (and the best seafood, I digress).
gh wrote:I'll bite my tongue at your perfect-weather comment on Seattle.
But Husky Stadium is a dead issue. They're in the process of ripping out the track, lowering the field and filling it in with seats so everybody is closer to the action. There will never be another meet there again.
maybe august ain't so bad, i lived in vancouver for many years and while it rains a lot, july and august are usually dry, maybe 8 or 9 years out of 10.
gh wrote:from a friend in the bid business, who was a member of the LA Organizing Committee
<<your posters should know that as regards football stadia, a minimum IAAF configuration for an eight-lane track is 194 yards length by 102 yards wide (a regulation U.S. football field is 120 yards long by 53 yards wide). Even the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona and the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas cannot handle these dimensions without tearing seats out (I checked).>>
The Editor's friend's numbers are absolutely correct, and that's only to the outside of Lane 8. One needs to allow a little bit more, usually no less than half a lane, for officials to stand outside Lane 8, and, if an exterior LJ/TJ, PV, or water jump is used, more space is needed. In some cultures, a moat is also needed between the fans and the field.
Face it, folks, American football stadiums are usually built to put the fans close to the game, and if there isn't already a track around the field, there probably isn't room to put one in without massive renovation.
From a logistical standpoint--Eugene won't make the grade for a WC.
From a cost-effective standpoint, the only venue that seems to have half-of-a-chance appears to be the LA Colliseum (Host of the 84 OG). and, that would take several million USD to reconfigure the stadium--which no one wants to pay for.
NFL stadiums simply don't have the width to put in a track.
Even Euro stadiums are succumbing to the demands of soccer (Stuggart for example).
NCAA facilites currently availabel won't do as well
IN this economy, I doubt a facility will be put up for let's say 600 million USD.
What about potential U.S. bids for the Summer Olympics; isn't that gonna change the whole stadium issue anyway?
And what bids would those be?
At any rate, isn't it obvious that no US Olympic stadium would remain cluttered with a track inside of it? That thing would be ripped out within 48 hours of the closing ceremonies.
rip-it-out would indeed the strategy. What one would hope for in a perfect world is for the new Oly stadium to be finished the year before (ha!), it then be available for a shakedown cruise (for the city as well as the stadium) by hosting the Worlds the year before.
And hopefully the warmup track could be configured so that it would remain a useful mid-use track facility in the following years.
gh wrote:rip-it-out would indeed the strategy. What one would hope for in a perfect world is for the new Oly stadium to be finished the year before (ha!), it then be available for a shakedown cruise (for the city as well as the stadium) by hosting the Worlds the year before.
Yes, the time window would be short, but it wouldn't be impossible. Or what about the year following the Olympics? Might be able to strike a deal early on to keep the track around for one more year.
gh wrote:rip-it-out would indeed the strategy. What one would hope for in a perfect world is for the new Oly stadium to be finished the year before (ha!), it then be available for a shakedown cruise (for the city as well as the stadium) by hosting the Worlds the year before.
And hopefully the warmup track could be configured so that it would remain a useful mid-use track facility in the following years.
We can all dream, can't we?
Yes, it is too bad Chicago lost. I think all of that would have been feasible. In fact the plan was to keep the track with a downsided grandstand.
On the other hand Washington Park, where the Olympic Stadium would have been, and where the 1970 and 72 AAU Cross Country Champs were, is kind of a dodgy area now.
The 20th Ward on the South Side has always had its share of crime and gang trouble, but this year the area has become a flashpoint as Chicago police struggle to control a surge in killings.
While homicide rates in the city's most dangerous areas have been flat this year, nearby neighborhoods like Woodlawn and Washington Park in the 20th Ward have suffered from skyrocketing violence, according to a Tribune review of Chicago Police Department data through June 30.
gh wrote:Yes, your Q's are the exact same ones I raise over and over every time we go down this road.
My personal take on Eugene:
If Nike money is in play big-time, yes they can probably get the stadium/competition infrastructure built.
Can the surrounding community handle the load? I have serious doubts.
Corvallis has approx. 10 hotels and nothing going on after the davincci days festival in mid/late july. 1 hour from my driveway to my seat at Hayward (even with security and parking woes) We'll have a facility soon to accommodate athletes that's right next to the new Hilton Garden Inn. In 10 years there might be a high speed rail to go with our Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor!
