Are 55's necessary? and other indoor questions

First, a bulletin...of sorts.
This happened Saturday (Dec 21), but it's "record news"-worthy.
A (now former) 42 foot SP'er has jumped (or spun!!) all the way to...53-8!!

Raven Saunders (Raven is a POE-etic name!  HaHa!), a senior at Burke HS in SC, has thrown the shot an amazing 53-8!!
All of a sudden, she is All Time # 4 indoors!
She'd thrown 52-3 last Wednesday, according to reports.
If a change of style, from glide to spin, adds over 11 feet to your PR, what MORE will it bring the rest of her senior year?
Stay tuned!!

So, are the 55 meter flat and 55 meter hurdles races indoors necessary?
I say they can both be done away with, and indoor track will be the better for it.

Indoor sprints have ranged (since metrics became commonplace) from 50 to 200 meters.
The shortest sprints have also included the 55 and 60 meters. (Same distances for the hurdles!)
Yet if you look at most meet results, you'll see the 60 is BY FAR the most popular.

The main source of 55's are HS and Collegiate meets, and then mainly in non-championship meets.

They are so close in distance that it's really silly to have BOTH!!
Maybe it's an unfair (and questionable) comparison, but it reminds me of when we first switched from yards to meters.
Back in the day (For me, that means the 60's--meaning the 60's DECADE, not distance!), we had both the 100 yards and 100 meters, the 110 meter hurdles and the 120 yard hurdles (& the 400-440, 800-880!).
Eventually, the yard distances went the way of the Edsel and the dial telephone!

Back to Earth!
Sprinters would be able to focus on the one distance--60 meters--instead of trying to compare his/her times at the 50-55-60!
The 50 meters isn't run anymore.....or it's extremely rare!
Let's make the 60 meters THE sprint indoors!

Now for some "quickies".

Let's eliminate the 300 and the 500 too.

We have the 200 and 400.
Why do we need the 300?
That's like having the 800 and the mile, but also having the 1200!
Or the 5000 and 10000, but having the 7500 too!
Just so much detritus....with all due respect to all the GREAT 300 races over the years!!

Basically the same goes for the 500.
We have the 400, 500, 600, and 800.
Do we need all 4?
NO!!

Save the 400 and 800 for sure!
The 600 is an interesting distance, and there have been several record attempts of late, so keep it.
Besides, as an INdoor race (on a 200 meter track), it's perfect.
Three really quick laps!

Now for a SUPER quickie...or two.
(Though these deserve a full blog post....or 17.....at least!)

Do away with Oversize Tracks (OT's) indoors!
Seattle, Notre Dame et al.
Maybe you can't remove them completely, but at least don't use them for "big time" track meets.
Marks made on those tracks are NOT record-allowable!
An athlete can SAY he/she ran X time there, but it won't make the year-end list.
It will get listed UNDER the list with the stigmatized "OT" as the label!
Same as with wind-aided marks!
They're not included in REAL lists--only in separate "wind-aided" lists!

One more!
Disclaimer: I LOVE Track and Field News Magazine!!
I've read every word of every issue from 1957 forward!!
57 years!!
But they do something with their lists that irritates me no end!
When outdoor season starts, they include INdoor marks on those lists....if it's better than X athlete's OUTdoor mark.
That does, to my mind, two things.

1. It tells me there is no distinction between indoor and outdoor seasons!
2. It confuses me, because if an outdoor mark is a bit lesser than an indoor mark, the reader won't know of X athlete's OUTdoor mark...because all the reader sees is X athlete's INdoor mark!!

In my T&F Record Book, I TOTALLY SEPARATE indoor from outdoor!
On my lists, you will find indoor marks ONLY on indoor lists...and outdoor marks ONLY on outdoor lists.

Baseball doesn't combine stats made during the Exhibition season with stats made during the regular season...or post-season!!
Unless you take to the premise that INdoor track and field doesn't exist, then why would you not keep completely separate stats and records for indoor and outdoor?
We have separate World Championships for indoor and outdoor,
Also separate USATF and NCAA championships indoors and outdoors.

Until they actually become ONE homogenous season, let's keep them separate!!!
I do!

(Wait until the politicos start labeling it "trackism"....as in racism, sexism et al!  LOL)

This will be my last post before Christmas, so......

Merry Christmas to all track and field people and their families....and to their fans and friends!