Olympic Trials: Prologue

The sign says it all. Track and field's best will call Eugene home for the next 10 days in the quest to represent the United States at the Olympic Games.

The citizens of Track Town USA are trying to knock the socks off of those who are competing, coaching and coming to simply watch. It starts right along Interstate 5, where billboards just outside of Eugene welcome all comers to "Track Town USA, Home Of The Hardest Team To Make."

It ends at Hayward Field, the Mecca of track and field in the U.S., and a place that some local fans may not recognize. The field went through a $8 million remodel leading up to the trials, which included a new track surface and a revised infield that allows fans to see all events from the stands with the exception of the hammer (they will throw just south of Hayward).

The centerpiece of the renovations, and the most visable, is the large video board on the stadium's south end. Five stories high and donated by Nike, the board is a vast change from the old matrix board that stood at the same place.

What makes Hayward look different, though, is the temporary stands on all sides of the field. Rising nearly as high as the west grandstands (about six stories), the stands bring Hayward's capacity to around 14,000 people. And, yes, all tickets are sold out unless you want to sit behind a pole.

As I look out the window of my lodging in the Learning Living Center, right across from Hayward (thank you Dave Williford), preparations continue on the Eugene 08 Festival, a street fair that surrounds the field. Free to the community, the festival will include music, food booths and lots of merchandise. Also...a number of Jumbotron-style televisions to stream events to those who weren't lucky enough to get tickets. Organizers say this is a first for the Trials.

My experience began on Wednesday, when I drove down to pick up credentials (a 40-minute wait), followed by a three-hour volunteer orientation. The session spent two hours of volunteer particulars, such as information on what to do in the area, transit and how to treat people. The final hour was sensitity training aimed at providing "stellar customer service" to everyone who comes to the Trials.

Today was more orientation than anything else. I arrived at Hayward at 4 p.m. to follow along for a photographer's orientation session. Over 50 photographers showed up to hear that they could shoot from along the fence near the finish line and not much else. From there it was a short meeting with the rest of the media relations staff working under Dave Williford.

One other volunteer SID...Matt Hoover from Texas Christian. Two others are former colleagues of Dave's from Nevada and three more are student workers in the Oregon media services office. Greg Walker (who bragged that year at the CoSIDA Convention that he was going to rent his house out and get the heck out of Dodge), will help oversee the media tent and the mixed zone. Greg is now the cross country/track and field SID at Oregon...hence the change in heart.

I will spend most of my working time up in the press tribune in Hayward's west grandstands. I will work on one of three "race and report" teams. Specifically, we will write up short narrative, play-by-play summaries of each race for the media's use. So...I will get to watch most of the events. Not a bad deal.

FRIDAY'S ACTION: Events begin at 1:00 p.m., with the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles. The meet begins in earnest at 5:30 p.m., when the women's 100 meters preliminaries starts. Don't expect many upsets with the two favorites, Allyson Felix and Torri Edwards, breezing through the heats. Men's qualifying heats will take place on Saturday.

I will be paying particular attention to the semifinals for the men's 5,000 meters, which begin at 8:40 p.m. Former Klamath Union HS standout Ian Dobson will run. He enters the Trials with the seventh fastest seed time. Friday will be the only day without television coverage.