Disappointing Attendance at Run for the Dream
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:05 am
http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/story/338116.html
Scratching the surface at Run for the Dream
Meet's return a thrill, but big numbers come only from athletes, not turnstiles.
By Andy Boogaard / The Fresno Bee
01/21/08 23:55:18
The most defining balance of news that developed at Monday's Run for the Dream indoor track and field meet at the Save Mart Center could be seen and heard toward the end of the 10 1/2-hour event, at about 9 p.m.
On one end of the track there was Amy Acuff, a three-time Olympian, leaping toward an American indoor high jump record of 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches with a sprinkling of maybe 2,000 fans watching.
She didn't make it in three attempts, after which she praised the meet's new $9.2 million Tartan polyurethane floor: "Killer surface," she said. "I know, in a matter of time, this track will produce tons of records."
On the other end of the track stood Fresno State coach Bob Fraley, the wisdom behind the second-time meet, who had arms folded and not a smile to be seen.
All-day paid attendance had just been announced at 4,487 -- not that he needed to hear the official number.
Frustration had long settled in by that time.
"I'm very disappointed in the crowd," he said. "Gosh dang it, I'm so disappointed."
The Bulldogs' 28-year coach wanted at least 6,000 fans for the three-session meet that drew 350 college, high school and professional athletes -- some from around the world.
Two years after the first indoor meet here on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Fraley wanted more community leaders and Bulldog Foundation representation.
But he said he saw few.
"All you hear is the negative side of Fresno State athletics," he said. "This [meet] is a positive thing. We had a group of good kids raise money for the Cancer Society and we had someone come back and give us a million dollars.
"This enriches the community, yet the community doesn't support it.
"My whole thing is grow the sport and build back the fan base. But if you don't build the fan base, you're not going anywhere."
Fraley said he couldn't guarantee the future of a meet that was added to the Visa Championship Series this year.
Not to worry, said Fred Arnold, the retired construction company owner from Hollywood, who donated the $1 million that paid for the track and more.
"As long as Bob wants to put it on, I'll back it, so that's all he needs to know," said Arnold, a former track official, who couldn't be missed while sitting near the track in an orange blazer.
Fraley said $52,000 was raised in local sponsorships to complement an unspecified amount of financing from the Visa Championship Series and ticket revenue.
That probably won't cover a $250,000 budget that he said isn't tied to Fresno State's athletic budget.
But, again, Arnold said, no sweat.
"I've accumulated quite a bit [of income]," he said, "and I can't think of anything I'd rather do with it than support this event up here for Bob Fraley.
"I'll keep backing it as long as I'm alive."
He's 86.
"Yeah, but I've got an aunt close to a hundred, and she's still living."
More prep indoors for Fresno?
Regardless of the attendance, momentum has been gathered to begin local indoor high school meets next year prior to the Run for the Dream event, Bullard coach Dan McNamara said.
McNamara, who joined Edison coach Danny Alberty to coach a Central California team Monday against groups from Northern and Southern California, said there's sufficient Valley and statewide interest to transfer the Run for the Dream track to Selland Arena or the adjacent Community Center Valdez Hall, and run elementary through high school meets.
Operating meets at the Save Mart Center would be too expensive, he said. But the idea has been well received because there are no other youth or high school indoor meets in the state.
"Last year, at Bullard, we spent $3,600 to fly 15 kids to compete in an indoor meet at Seattle," he said. "People like Fresno because it's centrally located."
Meet highlights
* Josh Norman (Edison, Fresno City) repeated his 55-yard dash win here of two years ago by clocking 6.20 seconds to hold off Jamaica's Lerone Clark (6.21). The 27-year-old Norman, slowed by hernia surgery last year, predicts he'll make the 2008 and 2012 Olympics at Beijing and London.
* Allen Johnson, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist and a 2000 Olympic fourth-place finisher in the 110 hurdles, won the 55 hurdles in 7.14. He'll turn 37 in March and said he still stacks up among the world's top 10. He's not considering retirement in an event that generally finds physical peak for 25- to 30-year-olds.
* Acuff, who placed fourth in the 2004 Olympics at Athens, won the women's high jump at 6-4 3/4. The American indoor record is 6-7.
* The high school session was topped by a national prep indoor-leading 39-61/2 triple jump by James Logan-San Jose's Briana Stewart. There was also a nation second-best 6.94 55-yard dash by Saint Elizabeth-Oakland sophomore Ashton Purvis and nation Nos. 2-3 season bests of 7.87 and 7.91 in the 55 hurdles by Mt. Pleasant-San Jose's Vashti Thomas and Saint Elizabeth's Julian Purvis -- Ashton's older sister.
* Central Section representation was led by seconds from Clovis sophomore Meghan Marvin in the mile (5:25.31) and Central senior Kenny Phillips in the high jump (6-4 3/4).
The reporter can be reached at aboogaard@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6336.
Scratching the surface at Run for the Dream
Meet's return a thrill, but big numbers come only from athletes, not turnstiles.
By Andy Boogaard / The Fresno Bee
01/21/08 23:55:18
The most defining balance of news that developed at Monday's Run for the Dream indoor track and field meet at the Save Mart Center could be seen and heard toward the end of the 10 1/2-hour event, at about 9 p.m.
On one end of the track there was Amy Acuff, a three-time Olympian, leaping toward an American indoor high jump record of 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches with a sprinkling of maybe 2,000 fans watching.
She didn't make it in three attempts, after which she praised the meet's new $9.2 million Tartan polyurethane floor: "Killer surface," she said. "I know, in a matter of time, this track will produce tons of records."
On the other end of the track stood Fresno State coach Bob Fraley, the wisdom behind the second-time meet, who had arms folded and not a smile to be seen.
All-day paid attendance had just been announced at 4,487 -- not that he needed to hear the official number.
Frustration had long settled in by that time.
"I'm very disappointed in the crowd," he said. "Gosh dang it, I'm so disappointed."
The Bulldogs' 28-year coach wanted at least 6,000 fans for the three-session meet that drew 350 college, high school and professional athletes -- some from around the world.
Two years after the first indoor meet here on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Fraley wanted more community leaders and Bulldog Foundation representation.
But he said he saw few.
"All you hear is the negative side of Fresno State athletics," he said. "This [meet] is a positive thing. We had a group of good kids raise money for the Cancer Society and we had someone come back and give us a million dollars.
"This enriches the community, yet the community doesn't support it.
"My whole thing is grow the sport and build back the fan base. But if you don't build the fan base, you're not going anywhere."
Fraley said he couldn't guarantee the future of a meet that was added to the Visa Championship Series this year.
Not to worry, said Fred Arnold, the retired construction company owner from Hollywood, who donated the $1 million that paid for the track and more.
"As long as Bob wants to put it on, I'll back it, so that's all he needs to know," said Arnold, a former track official, who couldn't be missed while sitting near the track in an orange blazer.
Fraley said $52,000 was raised in local sponsorships to complement an unspecified amount of financing from the Visa Championship Series and ticket revenue.
That probably won't cover a $250,000 budget that he said isn't tied to Fresno State's athletic budget.
But, again, Arnold said, no sweat.
"I've accumulated quite a bit [of income]," he said, "and I can't think of anything I'd rather do with it than support this event up here for Bob Fraley.
"I'll keep backing it as long as I'm alive."
He's 86.
"Yeah, but I've got an aunt close to a hundred, and she's still living."
More prep indoors for Fresno?
Regardless of the attendance, momentum has been gathered to begin local indoor high school meets next year prior to the Run for the Dream event, Bullard coach Dan McNamara said.
McNamara, who joined Edison coach Danny Alberty to coach a Central California team Monday against groups from Northern and Southern California, said there's sufficient Valley and statewide interest to transfer the Run for the Dream track to Selland Arena or the adjacent Community Center Valdez Hall, and run elementary through high school meets.
Operating meets at the Save Mart Center would be too expensive, he said. But the idea has been well received because there are no other youth or high school indoor meets in the state.
"Last year, at Bullard, we spent $3,600 to fly 15 kids to compete in an indoor meet at Seattle," he said. "People like Fresno because it's centrally located."
Meet highlights
* Josh Norman (Edison, Fresno City) repeated his 55-yard dash win here of two years ago by clocking 6.20 seconds to hold off Jamaica's Lerone Clark (6.21). The 27-year-old Norman, slowed by hernia surgery last year, predicts he'll make the 2008 and 2012 Olympics at Beijing and London.
* Allen Johnson, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist and a 2000 Olympic fourth-place finisher in the 110 hurdles, won the 55 hurdles in 7.14. He'll turn 37 in March and said he still stacks up among the world's top 10. He's not considering retirement in an event that generally finds physical peak for 25- to 30-year-olds.
* Acuff, who placed fourth in the 2004 Olympics at Athens, won the women's high jump at 6-4 3/4. The American indoor record is 6-7.
* The high school session was topped by a national prep indoor-leading 39-61/2 triple jump by James Logan-San Jose's Briana Stewart. There was also a nation second-best 6.94 55-yard dash by Saint Elizabeth-Oakland sophomore Ashton Purvis and nation Nos. 2-3 season bests of 7.87 and 7.91 in the 55 hurdles by Mt. Pleasant-San Jose's Vashti Thomas and Saint Elizabeth's Julian Purvis -- Ashton's older sister.
* Central Section representation was led by seconds from Clovis sophomore Meghan Marvin in the mile (5:25.31) and Central senior Kenny Phillips in the high jump (6-4 3/4).
The reporter can be reached at aboogaard@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6336.
