Is ours a Year-round Sport?

Yes---and no.
But more on this in a second.

Yes, this is my "full" report on todays Diamond League meet just ended in Birmingham, England.
Luvo Manyonga's 28-0 LJ gave him the Meet Record.
Malaika Mihambo's LJ of 22-10 gave her the Meet Record.
Emmanuel Korir's 1:42.79 win in the 800 also got a Meet Record.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo won the 200 in the MR time of 22.15.

Other "highlights"---
Andreas Hofmann's 294-8 led the JT.
Sifan Hassan won the 1500 in 4:00.60.
Agnes Tirop's 8:32.21 beat Helen Obiri (who ended 3rd) in the 3000.
Orlando Ortega won the 110H in 13.08.
Christian Coleman edged Reece Prescod in the last event--the 100--both getting 9.94's.
The Mile went to an Aussie--Stew McSwewn-- (who beat his fellow Aussie, Ryan Gregson!)--time of 3:54.60.
Notable was that Paul Chelimo's 3:55.96 in 3rd was his initial sub-4.
And Laura Muir won the 1000 in 2:33.93.
Colleen Quigley's 2:36.53 in 6th makes her 10th A-T US!!

Following are the marks from B'ham that motivated me to write this post!
(No names--just the "winning" marks!!)
MEN: 45.54--7-7.75--8:14.33
WOMEN--12.84--15-1.75--59-8.50 (That's feet & inches, NOT metric!!), and 54.86.

So why--despite those RARE good marks--was Birmingham's not just the worst DL of 2018, but one of the worst MEETS of the year??
Is the DL concept worth continuing?
What might replace it?
And what about the entire year's schedule?
I hope to answer these questions below.

The weather was said to be okay--close to 70, no rain, little wind.
The Euros had just ended, but that should have been a PLUS---at least for Europeans!
As for the Americans, they were coming off a long break--and had to travel.
The Down Under crowd are in their "winter" season!!
(Tell that to Mr Manyonga!  See above!)
The fields were--for the most part--weak, vis a vis other DL's.

But it was still a DL--and should have produced DL-worthy marks--across the board!!
Sure, other DL's are--more or less--good or not so good.
But that's not my point!

Sorry, but the DL idea is BAD!!
For the most part--there are just 7 meets (NOT 14!!) in which X athlete has a chance to produce!
Those 7 meets do NOT have a majority of the events available to choose from!!
(Ditto with the other 7.)

To "win" the DL, X athlete needs to score points--to win an event!
Yet many athletes do NOT compete in all 7 meets!
If their point total--say, after 3 or 4 of those 7 meets--is enough to get him or her to the "finals" (Brussels & Zurich)---then they can choose to compete--or not!!--in the other meets!
Or, as in the Multi's final events (1500 & 800), they don't HAVE to win that event--to win the overall Dec of Hept!!
Same with the DL's!
Given enough early points, X athlete can finish 2nd or 3rd (or worse!) in their event---or even not compete at all---and STILL win the overall DL title!!

And what about those events NOT on the DL schedule??
Is it fair to EXclude athletes from competing for DL points?

Let's look at the schedule--for the entire year!
But we must begin here by asking WHEN does the "year" begin!!

As everyone knows, I separate the seasons--OUTdoor from INdoor.
So let's make this question about the OUTdoor schedule only!!

While different areas of the world have different schedule problems, the sport as a whole must consider the year's schedule as a WHOLE!
And that creates an imbalance not easily realigned!

For example, how to reconcile the opposite seasons the Down Unders live by with the rest of the world?
You can NOT!!
Thus, individual athletes must make choices--on where to compete--and when!
But in many cases, it's not the athletes who CAN create their own solution.
They must leave that to their "local" federations--Australia's, USATF, etc.

And what about this idea of calling 2018 an "off" year?
We know the reason!
In "off" years, there are no OG's or WC's!
Yet we have Regionals in those years.
But Regionals EXclude more than INclude--a fair share of the World's athletes!
So they aren't the solution either!

The Schedule.
Our sport has a vast variety--in fact, it's TOTAL!!--of events that cover the spectrum--Throws, Jumps, Walks, Distance, Middle Distance, Hurdles, Sprints!
There's also Cross Country--but that falls within the Distance category--even though not run on a track!
Let's take a deeper view--by quarters!!

1st Quarter (Jan, Feb, Mar)
Again, we're talking OUTdoors ONLY here, so let's ignore the fact that these months constitute the CORE of the INdoor season--the world round!!
Okay, so we know that the Southern Hemisphere (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand) is enjoying their Summer.
Their training and competitive schedule are set up to make the most of the best weather, the most meets, etc.
In the US, and throughout Europe and Asia, these months are mostly focused on either winter training, or the INdoor season!

2nd Quarter (Apr, May, June)
This year saw the CG's in April--but that's basically the final meet for those people.
One thing about the Commonwealth--it's geographically inclusive.
They come from many parts of the world, not just a few.
In the US, we have the Collegiate and HS seasons--from early dual meets through to the Nationals!
And since there are many "foreigners" in US Universities, we can say that the NCAA system covers most of the World's Under-23's!!
This Quarter also sees US Relay extravaganzas, early DL's, early US and European Invitationals and other "lesser" meets!
There's also the Spring Marathons, Gotzis, other Road Races!
Add too the meets dedicated to one TYPE of event--Throws, Jumps, Distances, Sprints!!

3rd Quarter (July, Aug, Sept)
The HEART of the OUTdoor season!
Or at least it's SUPPOSED to be!!
That was the PLAN!!
It's where--if they're on the schedule--the WC's & OG's are held--except in rare cases (Tokyo '64, Doha '19).
But this is ALSO the Quarter when we see the longest GAPS in the schedule!!
(Duly noted by T&FN's Garry Hill in several editorials!!)
And it's those gaps that--IMHO--made the Birmingham DL one of the worst-ever!

4th Quarter (Oct, Nov, Dec)
This is mainly for XC and the Roads!
Yes, there are early Down Under meets, as their OUTdoor season is beginning!
And yes--as noted--there's the INdoor season!
Is it good and okay to have this long of an "off" season EVERY year??
Baseball takes off a few months between the World Series and Spring Training.
Ditto with the other "major" sports!
So why not OUR sport?/

And THAT question brings me back to MY final question (See above!)---What about the ENTIRE year's schedule??

While our sport offers meets & races for EVERY group of athletes, it does NOT do so in a way to promote a balanced offering in its schedule!
There are "Spring" and "Fall" Marathons!
But what about Summer & Winter??

The Autumn is time for XC.
Again, as noted, this is for Distance buffs only (despite the fact middle distance types often run XC!)!
Aren't there areas of the world where the weather is conducive to Throwers, Jumpers, and Sprinters?

Of course, everyone knows that athletes don't compete 365 days a year!
Even if you include INdoors, it's the rare athlete who competes in more than 20 meets each year!
And for OUTdoors alone, that number probably falls to TEN!!
Most athletes talk about "peaking".
They peak for certain meets, or for particular Record attempts!

PERSONAL NOTE--
In my "racing" days, I was a RACER!!  Not only actual races, but MANY time trials--and "fast" training runs--often timed!!
That's why I admired Ron Clarke so much!!
But times have changed--Thank you, Bob Dylan!
Just as baseball's pitchers pitch FAR less Innings, T&F's athletes compete in less meets---or races!
Is this due to changes of habit, the need for money, OR because the schedule fails to offer opportunities to compete??

Must Sprinters & Hurdlers be LIMITED to the number of meets they enter---or CAN??
Must Florida and Texas and southern California be their TOTALITY of venues?

Some of the gaps---at least THIS year--were created by certain circumstances!
The World Relays meet wasn't on the schedule.
The TrackTown Summer Series and the American Track League didn't have any meets this year!
Two Regionals--the CG's in April, and the Euros in August--took many athletes OFF the availibility lists for any OTHER meets during--or even shortly before and after those Regionals!
That MIGHT have been the incentive to allow those gaps to appear!!

But why??
As said, those were Regionals--and thus limited to an inclusive group of Nations!!
What about the rest of the World?
Why couldn't the US schedule, for example, have offered a few meets (TTSS or the ATL) DURING that "Euros gap"??
Why couldn't NON-Commonwealth athletes have their own set of OTHER meets available?
(Of course, the NCAA Spring schedule DOES give many young athletes Spring opportunities!!)

Back to the DL's for a moment!
I'd love to see the ENTIRE Diamond League season erased!!
But NOT the MEETS!!
Just don't call them DL's--and burden them with DL's rules!!
Return them to their former Invitational mode!!
When Pre and Bislett had track 10000's!
When ALL field events were often included in most of these meets!
With the PV so popular nowadays, why not have BOTH sexes compete in EVERY "DL" meet---whether CALLED a DL or not??
The Hammer Throw is an EXCITING event!
Yes, there's the World HT Challenge (or whatever it's called!)!
But why not have SOME of those Invitationals return the HT to its schedule??
Ditto with other events!
In today's B'ham DL, featured events included the Men's 100--and the Women's 200!
But why not have a 100 AND a 200--for Men AND Women--in the SAME meet??
Why must Distance athletes have to run just a 3000 or 5000----or an 800 or 1500?
Why not offer a Two Mile, a One Mile, a 1000 (like at the Birmingham meet!!)--SC's for both sexes, etc etc etc??

Even if just 2 hours of each meet is televised, that doesn't mean the meets can't be longer!!
They ARE!!
So have EVERY meet include EVERY event---even if they must include a "Friday night" session, as Prefontaine does!!
So what if "millions" can't see it!!
So what if athletes aren't seen or written about!
(Are they anyway??  NO!!!!!)

CREATE opportunities for athletes. (If you build it, they will come!)
Each and every week should have meets or races on the schedule--meant for EVERY athlete---Throwers, Jumpers, Sprinters, Hurdlers, Distance people, Walkers!
Shake up the offerings.
Have a 10000 one week, a Two Mile the following week, then a 5000, and maybe even a longer distance--such as that year when Pre had a TRACK 30000 meters race AND a 10000 meters race---on the TRACK during the SAME session!!!

Does every meet need a LOADED field in EVERY event?
NO!!
But surely--if the opportunity is there--many athletes WILL go to an event and compete!
They WANT those PR's, those Records--or just a hard effort in "big meet" conditions!
Large chunks of time dedicated to training is fine--but is it necessary?
And do athletes HAVE to travel 100's or 1000's of miles to train in a particular venue (St Moritz, Kenya, Colorado, Flagstaff)?
If they had a meet available, they could stay where they are--get their training in AND compete!!
(Is a personal time trial any different from a race?)

Money!
Why do most elite athletes compete?
To better themselves--to run faster, jump higher, throw farther, etc!
Do they expect to win prize money--or be provided 1st Class accomodations EVERY time they compete?
(They sure don't when they "time trial"!!)

As for the "peaking", they can still peak for certain VERY important meets or races!
But even when doing training ONLY, athletes like to break up their routine with "competition-type" efforts!
To do so in an organized meet or race is surely less boring than doing so alone--even if in gorgeous idyllic surroundings.

The idea of the DL's being a "Championship" series of meets, with overall prizes and winners--is fine!
But we already HAVE that--even if disguised!!
There's the Collegiate Duals and Conference meets!
The HS Conferences & State HS meets!
The series of Spring Relays meets!
The HT Challenge--and other "challenges".
Even the Multi's have this!

But our sport is "multi-grained"---with many ingredients!
The DL's are limiting!!
They should END!!
(But not the MEETS!!)

Expand the sport!
Fill in those gaps!!
Heaven on Earth!!

See you soon!