“Terrible Boston TV” was the title for a COMMENTARY section in the The Bible of the Sport, Track & Field News. And only recently discovered on page six of the June, 1981 edition. Book worthy? I don’t know. But I do know in the forty-five years since, television broadcasts of major marathons too often remain cringey. And irritating. Involving the wrong people.
COMMENTARY: Terrible Boston TV
My beloved arthritic mother, now retired to Florida, used to tell me – over and over again – that if I didn’t have something nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything.
Let me say this nicely: I’d rather watch a running event on television than B.J and The Bear, Charlie’s Angels, or, dare I say it?, Dallas. Yes, I would rather see a telecast of a marathon than find out who winged J.R.
But my patience is rapidly wearing thin.
Consider the media coverage of the Boston Marathon. I don’t really mind not getting on the press vehicle. I watched most of the race for the laurel wreath in Room 1256 of the Sheraton. Two other journalists sat in that plastic room with me, watching between three television stations and one radio. Both of the other writers were much more renowned than me.
My regret was totally eliminated the day after the race, when I read the coverage in the Boston Globe by Jerry Nason, the dean of Boston Marathon scribes:
I truly wish I could tell you more… about what happened yesterday, but, of the forty-eight (48) Boston Marathons your agent has reported, this was the first in which the press bus was so effectively sealed off, far in front of the action, by a state police motorcycle convoy, that the only time Seko, Virgin and Rodgers were plain to the naked eye was at the Prudential press conference two hours and twenty minutes later.
Mr. Nason was on the press bus and still didn’t see anything.
Back in the Sheraton, coverage was easier, but not much better. The fourteen (14) helicopters at the start in Hopkinton seemed, understandably, more concerned with crash-avoidance than filming the marathon.
There is no such excuse for the commentators.
Gary Fanelli was identified as “Ron” by one broadcaster, and as “a member of the 1980 Olympic Trials team.”
Another announcer said that Jack Fultz’s hot weather win was “one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time.” Okay, it was very hot in 1976, but let’s be serious. Perhaps the fact that Fultz was the station’s expert analyst….
Another expert confided that the marathon was a race which would eventually “go to the swift.”
Surprisingly, M.L. Carr of basketball’s Celtics did an admirable – well, maybe not that good – job. But why was he commentating at all? Carr is an extraordinary basketball player, but what does he know about running a marathon?
And who was the obsequious twit who continually described Bill Rodgers as “Mr. Downhill?” Was that supposed to be a comment on Rodgers’ tactics, or on his career?
Finally, the inevitable: “These people aren’t jogging. They are running hard.” Golly, that’s insightful.
But the worst had to have occurred when Toshiko Seko and Craig Virgin were dueling at the crest of Heartbreak Hill. “Greg Meyers [sic] is apparently running with Seko,” one ‘expert’ told his viewers. Jeez! The man is in plain sight, wearing adidas shoes and a yellow singlet with “Frontrunner” on the chest. He’s the American Record holder at 10K, two-time World Cross Country Champion, and no one recognizes Craig Virgin.
Ignorance? Hardly. Virgin is wearing a number visible from a hundred yards away. The least the ‘experts’ could have done is check the entry list.
Hey, I am not picking on nits here. We are going professional very soon, and television will be important to the sport. Certainly the logistics of a twenty-six-mile point-to-point competition are cumbersome, but there is no excuse for haphazard, ignorant, and incompetent broadcast journalism.
The Boston Marathon deserves better So, too, does running.
How IS J.R. doing?
Thanks again to Neal’s Running Store at https://www.ebay.com/str/runningmagazinesbooksmemorabilia for providing the resource. And ace photog Leo Kulinski.