Sport Today

                                                                - Bret Jensen

On Mon, 2 Jun 1997 23:30:38 -0700, Bret Jensen

The problem is that sedentary forms of entertainment (Video Games,
Television, Computers, ...) are getting to be so entertaining that
they beat games of capture the flag, freeze tag and bike riding.

This has been a long trend ever since TV began.  This does not mean
that our best atheletes aren't as good (training methods are better
and there are many more total people), but there's no question that
students are less interested % wise in playing sports than they were
in the 1940s and 1950s.

The 4 minute mile was not broken by a group of people... it was broken
by one man.  Maybe the next 3:20 capable miler is watching MTV right
now instead of training, and as a result... it will never be broken!

Daisy Fuentes and Jenny McCarthy are ruining Track and Field!!! 8-)

-+-+-+-+-
Mark W. Lind

It is interesting that throughout this thread, Bret, who is a young runner
consistantly maintains that there is nothing wrong with h.s. runners
today, that they are just as fast and dedicated today as 20 years ago,
while those of us who have been around running for 20 years or more can
see the difference.

Obviously no one is going to change anyones minds about this, but I would
offer one item as proof. Talk to ANY division 1 track or cross country
coach who has been coaching for any length of time. They will tell you
that they are frustrated today in their recruiting.
High school athletes today, who would not have qualified for any
scholarship 20 years ago (because there were too many faster athletes
ahead of them) are now expecting full rides (or at least significant
financial aid).  
Coaches I have talked to are amazed at how totally unprepared for college
training these h.s. athletes are.  The coach is faced with the problem of
either giving them the scholarships (there simply aren't enough quality
runners to go around) or to recruit outside the U.S.
Unfortunately, that is what many of the major programs have decided to do.
So, the college coaches are *** their scholarship money on a kid that
they hope will develop into a decent college runner by the time he is a
junior or senior.
Hey, college coaches have always been doing this, taking marginal athletes
in the hope that they will develop (that's what my college coach did with
me.)  But in the past, the coach also had some top talent that he spent
his money on, that he knew he could count on to do him some good right
away.  
Unfortunately that talent today is few and far between.
No Bret, I am not saying there are NO talented h.s. runners today, and I
am not saying there are not hard working h.s. runners today, but they are
harder and harder to find. And the college coaches out there will back me
up on this.

DAH