Best & Worst--2016 INdoors

When promising this post awhile back, I'd overlooked the fact I'd never done this before!
That is, had a Best & Worst post exclusively about the INdoor season!
My last B&W covered the entire 2015 season, INdoors AND OUTdoors!
But after thinking it over for a second, I decided to do it!
After all, my blog separates the seasons--why shouldn't I do it with this too?

Speaking of my blog, that's where I'll begin.
Here's my personal favorite posts from the INdoor season, January 1st through now!
I'll list the titles and dates, in chronological order.

My New Year's Wish List (Jan 1)
Two HS Class Records (& a Book Review) (Jan 4)
NOTE: The last was mostly for the Book Review!
Pole Vault Special--2016 INdoors (Jan 16)
Thoughts & Questions (Jan 25)
February First Feast (Feb 2)
Record-Smashing Weekend (Feb 7)
Olympic Trials Marathon Preview (Feb 12)
Dramatic Close to LA 26.2's (Feb 13)
Millrose Distances rewrite Lists (Feb 20)
Explaining This Blog (Feb 27)
ALL of my Meet Previews!!  NBIN, Men & Women; NCAA, Men & Women; USATF, Men and Women; World Championships, Men & Women.  (Mar 10, 11, 14, 17)
NBIN--The Women (Mar 17)
WC 2016--The Verdict (Mar 21)
2016 INdoors--Season Review (Mar 22)
NOTE: I'd probably include THIS one too!!

Which were the Best Meets?
1. NBIN!!
2. Millrose
3. Stockholm
4. NCAA
5. World Championships
6. SEC
7. Big 12
8. USATF

We all saw the Eaton's kissin' and huggin' at the WC!
But do they have the Best Relationship among T&F athletes?
Let's see!

1. Brianne-Thiesen & Ashton Eaton (Yes, they win!  But come on, guys, GET A ROOM!!)
2. Kara & Adam Goucher (She cries.  A LOT!!  But if I were Adam, I'd love her too!!)
3. Darren & Sarah Brown (He helped her through her pregnancy in a great way!)
4. Carrie Tollefsen & Charlie  (Watch some of her videos!  You'll see a loving Charlie in some of them!)
5. Ben and Stephanie Bruce (Training, Coaching, and Life Partners!  Good team!)
6. Matthew Maton & Alexa Efraimson  (No word of how serious they are, but he's still in her Twitter profile photo!!)
7. Lexi & Tori Weeks (No, they're NOT romantically involved!  But I've never seen siblings--even if twins--as tight-knit a pair as these two!  Totally supportive of each other!)
8. Noah & Josephus Lyles  (Ditto what I said about the Weeks girls--except they aren't twins!!)

Best Elite Racing Groups
In no particular order!

BAA
Oregon Track Club Elite
Brooks Beasts
NJ/NY Track Club
Nike Oregon Project
Oiselle
Mammoth Track Club

Who had the Best Comeback INdoors?

Chaunte Lowe
Meseret Defar
Aries Merritt
Lolo Jones
Francine Niyonsaba
Molly Huddle (Came back strong emotionally, after the WC!!)
Laura Roesler

The past 3 months weren't ALL about INdoor T&F!!
What were the Best NON-T&F Events during the INdoor season?

Olympic Trials Marathon!!
NYRR Half-Marathon (Huddle's recent 1:07:41!)
Garrett Heath beating Mo Farah in the Edinburgh XC race!
Maria Michta-Coffey tying her American Record in the 20K Walk in Japan a couple of days ago!!
Dubai Marathon

Best  FALSE Controversy

Huddle supposedly "preventing" Joyce Chepkurai from beating her at the tape by "intentionally" moving her left arm out to "stop" Chepkurai!!
BULLSHIT!!
If ANYone "interfered", it was Chepkurai for running so CLOSE to Huddle!!

Worst IAAF Decision
(Oh, let me count the ways!)

Banning INNOCENT Russians along with the criminals!!

My Best Sources for INdoors

HS Track 2016 by Jack Shepard!
Tilastopaia (For Top 20 INdoor marks in each event--almost instantaneous!!)
eTN  (Used mostly as a BACK-UP source!!  I usually already HAVE the marks!!)
Athletics Annual 2015  (For complete INdoor lists for the 2015 season!)

And the Worst Sources?

Mile Split  (They charge a fee for the deep lists they USED to provide for free!!)
IAAF  (They changed the method for getting to their lists!  Should have kept it simple!!)
FloTrack (See Mile Split comment!)

Best Livestreams (Webcasts, TV coverage)

The Pole Vaults at the WC!
British portions of the WC webcast!!
And let me comment a bit on this!!

Here's a brief comparison of the British part (with Katharine Merry & Peter Matthews) and NBC's (with Ato Boldon, among others!).
Brits--TOTAL coverage!  ALL of the 3000's shown!  ALL of the field events, NOT just the highlights!)
NBC--3K's broken up by ads & field events during an EIGHT minute race!! Only field event highlights, and some MISSES/FOULS!!

Brits--Intelligent, knowledgeable chatter!
NBC--SEVERAL mistakes in facts!!  Lacked insight into certain events!

Brits--Only "flaw" was Matthews MISpronouncing Brenda MarTEEnez's name as MARTINez!
NBC--Let me count the ways!!  IF I could count that high!!

Worst Livestreams

NBC's WC "coverage"
Flotrack (Two reasons!  They charge $20/month for their livestreams!  And most of those seem to be from meets held on OVERSIZE Tracks!!)

Best Tattoos

Male--Boris Berian
Female--Michelle Lee-Ahye

Best Headband

Sandi Morris!

Best Twitter Sources for Results

PoleVaultPower  (Want PV results, attempt by attempt, for EVERY elite Vaulter?  Becca's your source!!)
TFRSS (For compiled meet results!)
IAAF (During meets!)
Portland2016  (They were good, during the WC!)
Flotrack  (This is FREE!)

Best Self-Promoter on Twitter
Model Aysha Mirza (She's a NYC model/runner who knows EVERYONE!!  Sends selfies & brief vines shown with Shannon Rowbury & many other elites!!  Sort of like a rock and roll groupie, without the sex part---as far as I know!!  LOL)
Shannon Rowbury  (In recent months, has sent MANY short videos (1-5 minutes) of herself from around the world!  Interesting POV--from the inside!!)

Best Events for Teenagers for 2016 INdoors

Pole Vault!!  (Wilma Murto, Eliza McCartney, Lexi Weeks, Mondo Duplantis, Lisa Gunnarson)
200 & 400 (Tyrese Cooper, Brian Herron, Noah Lyles, Chris Taylor, Sydney McLaughlin)
HJ (Vashti Cunningham, for leading the World and winning WC Gold!!)

Worst Performances Against Expectations

Mary Cain's!!
Ryen Frazier (After some great XC races!!)
Mutaz Barshim  (Where's all those 2.40+ HJ's??)
Jordan Hasay (Can't blame it all on her comebacking from injury!!)

Worst Overall Events

Triple Jumps, Men and Women!!  (Part due to absence of SUPERstars Caterine Ibarguen, Christian Taylor, and Pablo Pichardo--but their absence showed how glaringly WEAK these events are right now!!
400, for the Men  (The Women weren't so great either, but the Men were awful!!)
5000, for the Men!  (Most of the fast times were run on OT's, and even THEY weren't really fast!!)
HJ, for the Men!  (With Bogdan Bondarenko's & Ivan Ukhov's absences, and Mutaz Barshim not at his best, a weak event!)

Best Names in T&F
(NOTE: This is from my own opinion, which is solidly based in my lengthy history as a writer of fiction, where character's names are very important!!)

Axumawit Embaye
Boris Berian
Jenn Suhr (For how many JOKES I can tell with that SUHR!!  For SUHR!!  LOL)
Wilma Murto

Worst of the Best Marks
(Because they were all run on OT's!!!)

Kim Conley's 15:09 5000.
Allie Ostrander's 15:21 5K.
Izaic Yorks's and Sean McGorty's 3:53 Miles!
Raevyn Rogers's 1:26.34 600, which would have been a Collegiate Record if run on a LEGAL track!!

Best Pregnancy and Birth Stories

Sarah Brown
Stephanie Bruce
Carrie Tollefsen
Meseret Defar
Nia Ali
(And in absentia, Yelena Isinbayeva!!)

Best New Venue

Ocean Breeze on Staten Island, NY!!

Worst Event Choices

No 200's in WC's!!
No Two Mile races this season!!
No Weight Throw in the WC's, or anywhere outside the US!
No Walks in the WC's!!

And finally, the Best Song Titles for Track and Field

I'm Gonna Take You Higher (Sly and the Family Stone)
Ready to Run  (Dixie Chicks)
Kicks  (Paul Revere and the Raiders)
Runaway (Del Shannon)
Idiot Wind (Bob Dylan)
(NOTE: The last listed is what blows out of IAAF's offices in Monaco!!)
Strange Brew (Cream)
(NOTE: What Russian scientists concoct in their labs!!  LOL)
Forever Young (Bob Dylan)
(NOTE: Dedicated to Bernard Lagat, Kim Collins, Ruth Beitia, Deena Kastor, Meb Keflizighi, Reese Hoffa, Chris Brown, and Kara Goucher!!)

See you soon with my OUTdoor Preview, to be followed by my OUTdoor Age Record Predictions for 2016!!