Greg Marsden is the Head Coach of the University of Utah gymnastics program. Coach Marsden is entering his 34th season at the helm of the Utes and in his time there he has established himself as the most… + See More +
Greg Marsden is the Head Coach of the University of Utah gymnastics program. Coach Marsden is entering his 34th season at the helm of the Utes and in his time there he has established himself as the most… + See More
- See Less - Greg Marsden is the Head Coach of the University of Utah gymnastics program. Coach Marsden is entering his 34th season at the helm of the Utes and in his time there he has established himself as the most successful coach in collegiate gymnastics.
#3
Ak November 27, 2009 at 12:54pm
As a NCAA athlete in XC i am sad to see they went from 6 to 4 teams. Because being on a team and making finals is always amazing no matter what. But at the same time its not like a xc race where you kinda know whos in the lead due to watching them come in. Going from 6 to 4 will make it so much easier to understand who is in 1st and so on.
Its just sad that two less teams will not be able to say they made it to the final 6.
But i so hope they get a live coverage this year... i will watch it def!!
For the Olympics, gym ends up being a premier event which sells a lot of tickets and fills a lot of air time. "Stretching it out" by having longer events (by reducing the number of events going on at the same time, having more of a playoff, etc.) would probably work fine commercially.
There's an interesting interview by Don whatsisname (84 women's coach) about how darn confusing it is to have multiple events going at same time. He makes the remark that "he's an expert and it's confusing to him...how about the casual fan!". I think getting away from the 4 (or 6!) ring circus would be a big plus.
I don't know exactly HOW to structure things to be most appealing, but I BET there are ways to improve things. Some of the elements of the problem (for discussion):
1. Score delays: is there a practical way to get scores quicker? If not, are there ways to use this time (perhaps for discussion, explanation of the routines, replays of the event, alternating events, etc.)? Also, how about making athletes acknowledge the score with a salute or some such. Having them go off to the side and mess with their clothing and sometimes not even watch the score...loses all the drama. Every other sport (think football, basketball, tennis) is about scoring. Let's make it more of a MATCH.
2. Complexity of the events: better commentating would help here. There should be some technical explanation of the few areas of the event (perhaps during the delays). Also there should be EXQUISITE explanations of skills (with videos, etc.) on line and completely searchable! Having to parse through the FIG explanations and drawings is completely UNSAT or look up a Mostepenovafan Youtube video is unsat. NCAA or FIG should have that online as a resourse. And it should be fan friendly and content rich.
NCAA Format Changes Pt 2 - What If We're Still Not Live?
Its just sad that two less teams will not be able to say they made it to the final 6.
But i so hope they get a live coverage this year... i will watch it def!!
I don't know exactly HOW to structure things to be most appealing, but I BET there are ways to improve things. Some of the elements of the problem (for discussion):
1. Score delays: is there a practical way to get scores quicker? If not, are there ways to use this time (perhaps for discussion, explanation of the routines, replays of the event, alternating events, etc.)? Also, how about making athletes acknowledge the score with a salute or some such. Having them go off to the side and mess with their clothing and sometimes not even watch the score...loses all the drama. Every other sport (think football, basketball, tennis) is about scoring. Let's make it more of a MATCH.
2. Complexity of the events: better commentating would help here. There should be some technical explanation of the few areas of the event (perhaps during the delays). Also there should be EXQUISITE explanations of skills (with videos, etc.) on line and completely searchable! Having to parse through the FIG explanations and drawings is completely UNSAT or look up a Mostepenovafan Youtube video is unsat. NCAA or FIG should have that online as a resourse. And it should be fan friendly and content rich.