…Continued from the previous post.

Even the best of Sports Fans struggle at times. We can’t always bring our “A” spectating game, and when presented with a complex multi-faceted event like the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships…well let’s just say I wasn’t proud of my Day One performance.  

Over breakfast the next day, I called a Sports Fans-only meeting with myself to hash it out. After some clearing of the air, I/we embraced the difficult realization that no matter how hard one tries, it’s impossible to see everything at a track and field meet. The entire “It’s Game Time Somewhere” Tour crew agreed to put the previous day behind us, and to arrive at the Albuquerque Convention Center committed to a New Plan.

The New Plan had two key components. One, my reserved seat ticket had to be traded in for what I like to call a Custom VIP SRO Package. This essentially meant that I would spend the day pretty much anywhere in the venue other than in the reserved seat I had purchased in advance. And if that meant loitering in areas otherwise designated for coaches, friends and families, well so be it. I was willing to make that sacrifice. 

The second component was a sincere vow to not get distracted. I would immerse myself in a select group of particularly compelling, accessible events, and intersperse drive-by’s or look-ins at other events only when opportunities presented themselves.

The New Plan was easy at first. One of the first fans to arrive, I staked out a comfortable, if not exactly sanctioned position along the far rail of the track. This afforded me a great view of the Men’s Long Jump competition. While unfortunately most of the country’s top male long jumpers, including LSU’s Damar Forbes (of the as-yet-undiscovered Jamaican branch of the Sports Fan family tree), were not present at the Indoor Nationals, the event did have one undeniable spectating advantage – it was the only one going on at the time.

And in all seriousness, I find the long jump compelling for the almost mystical place that it occupies in sports history. I had vague recollections as a kid of the utter amazement that accompanied delivery of the news that Bob Beamon had long-jumped 29’ 2 ½” at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

In a sport of inches, he had shattered the world record by nearly two feet, out jumping even the limits of the optical measurement device in place at the Games. One of my earliest enduring memories of the Olympics is the replay of Beamon collapsing to his knees when an official translated meters to feet for him and he realized the enormity of his achievement. That memory ran through my head as I gazed out to the landing pit and realized just how far 29’ 2 ½” is.

I became hypnotized by the rhythm of the long jump competition, as I often do at track and field events. Watching one superbly trained athlete after another effortlessly do things that would put me in traction is fascinating by itself, but what is mesmerizing is watching them in turn strain for that extra inch or two that becomes the difference between winning and losing. It’s a little like watching successive waves crest on the beach.

JaRod Tobler was the first wave to break, at 24’ 8”, followed by Chaz Thomas at 24’ 9”. No sooner did that wave recede, then Jeremy Hicks set a new high-water mark of 24’ 9 ¾”. Into the fifth round we went, where Tobler became the first to jump 25’, only to see that distance eclipsed again by Hicks’ winning jump of 25’ 2”.

Throughout all of this I had remained rooted to my quasi-legal viewing spot, even though action had started to pick up all over the venue. “This is The New Plan,” I had reminded myself. “You’re enjoying this immensely, so why get distracted?”

Then of course, came word came over the P.A. system that Jillian Camarena-Williams had just broken a 24-year old American record in the Women’s Shot Put. This slice of history happened just 100 yards from me, but out of my line of sight. Doh! Stupid “New Plan”.

Despite that disappointment, I reminded myself that my current position offered a double bonus – an unobstructed view of the entire runway and pit for the Women’s Pole Vault event. This was important because in crafting The New Plan, I had vowed to see as much as possible of track and field’s marquee names. And warming up less than 20 feet away from me was American record-holder and undisputed pole vault queen, Jenn Suhr.

Of all of the sports that I’ve witnessed that I couldn’t possibly succeed at, pole-vaulting is way up there on the list. The more you watch, the more you realize how many individual discrete actions there are in the performance of a vault – and how easily the whole thing can come apart in the absence of perfect execution of each. But the payoff! That feeling of knowing that you just pulled off a successful vault has got to be one of the big adrenaline rushes in sports.

Early in the competition, there were no adrenaline rushes for Jenn Suhr. Because to get the thrill of clearing the bar, she would’ve had to have taken off her warm-ups and given it a try.

The first height of the competition was 13’ 7 ¼”. Like several others, Suhr passed at that level. No use wasting your efforts at a height you know you’ll clear with ease. She liked that strategy so much, she used it when the bar was set at 13’ 11 ¼”. And 14’ 3 ¼”. And 14’ 5 ¼”. Etc, etc, etc.

By the time Suhr made her first attempt, half the field had been eliminated. She took her first vault at 14’ 11”, and cleared it easily. The warm-ups went back on. Her next jump was at 15’ 3”, which she made look easy. And in doing so, she won the event. Every other competitor had failed to clear that height in their allotted three attempts. In sum, Suhr’s day to that point consisted of two vaults, two easy clears and a victory – over an elite American field that included 2010 champion Lacy Janson.

But now the fun was just getting started.

Suhr requested that the bar be nudged up to 15’ 7”. And at that height the unthinkable happened. She actually knocked the bar down. Twice. I think she was just toying with us at that point though, because on her third and final attempt at that height, it looked like there was a whole lot of air between her and the bar. What do you think?

The next height increment was 15’ 9”. Suhr passed. She was thinking about her own American record of 15’ 10”. She asked for the bar to be set at 15’ 11 ¼”, which appeared to cause the meet officials some considerable indigestion. They talked it over. They set the bar. They talked it over again. And finally they cleared Suhr to jump…and miss.

At this point in the story another unthinkable likelihood was beginning to emerge – namely, that I was going to miss my plane. The drama of this competition had gone on for quite some time. Enough time in fact, for me to have wandered around and grazed a bit on other events.

From the one small section of bleachers which was actually well-oriented for bird’s eye viewing, I saw Kellie Wells run the year’s 8^th fastest Women’s 60 Meter Hurdles time in the world – much to her own amazement and delight.

I witnessed at ground level the blazing speed of the Men’s 60 Meter Dash and the effortless grace of the runners in the Women’s 400 Meter Run as they glided by.

Unfortunately, I also witnessed my watch, telling me that I had to go – because Southwest Airlines doesn’t care much if you’re enthralled by track and field. They were going wheels-up in just about an hour, and I was still inside the Albuquerque Convention Center, unable to pull myself away from Suhr’s drama.

I shouldn’t have even stayed to see her first attempt and miss, but now I was contemplating hanging around for another try. The officials were convening again, and I really, really had to get going. But this I had to see.

By the time the bar hit the pit on Suhr’s second attempt, I was already jogging toward the exit. I turned that into a full sprint up the street to my car. Fortunately I’d picked up some tips on maximizing automotive speed at the NHRA Winternationals, which I employed on the way to the airport. No time to gas up the rental…I paid Budget’s quite reasonable $78.94 per gallon refueling charge. I made my flight.

And wouldn’t you know it…after I had waited as long as I possibly could, sometime shortly after I left the building, Jenn Suhr cleared 5’11 ¼”, setting a new American record and winning the event by over a foot. Which pretty well sums up my relationship with track and field – no matter what I get a chance to see, I’m always left wanting more.

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