Why track is better than soccer?

I'm enjoying the World Cup as much as anyone, well, not as much as anyone, but we'll say I'm enjoying it at an average rate.  However, at least in track we don't deal with this.

There was an unusual match between Barbados and Grenada.

Grenada went into the match with a superior goal difference, meaning that Barbados needed to win by two goals to progress to the finals. The trouble was caused by two things. First, unlike most group stages in football competitions, the organizers had deemed that all games must have a winner. All games drawn over 90 minutes would go to sudden death extra time. Secondly and most importantly, there was an unusual rule which stated that in the event of a game going to sudden death extra time the goal would count double, meaning that the winner would be awarded a two goal victory.

Barbados was leading 2-0 until the 83rd minute, when Grenada scored, making it 2-1. Approaching the dying moments, the Barbadians realized they had no chance of scoring past Grenada's mass defense, so they deliberately scored an own goal to tie the game at 2-2. This would send the game into extra time and give them another half hour to break down the defense. The Grenadians realized what was happening and attempted to score an own goal as well, which would put Barbados back in front by one goal and would eliminate Barbados from the competition.

However, the Barbados players started defending their opposition's goal to prevent them from doing this, and during the game's last five minutes, the fans were treated to the incredible sight of Grenada trying to score in either goal. Barbados also defended both ends of the pitch, and held off Grenada for the final five minutes, sending the game into extra time. In extra time, Barbados notched the game-winner, and, according to the rules, was awarded a 4-2 victory, which put them through to the next round.

Here's a video summary:



Cool story, but still is evidence of track's superiority to soccer. Thanks to this guy and this guy for the story.

Nack

GPP = General Physical Preparedness

 Decathletes: geniuses of GPP

Off season athletes (of any sport) should do training that is non-specific to the sport they play. The training should be more generalized, other wise stated, the workouts you do should prepare you for any athletic event set before you. So your training should be such that you could run a 5k if someone asked in a decent time, or you could run a 100m in a decent time. You could do a horizontal athletic movement (front to back), or do a lateral athletic movement (side to side) just as well. Basically you are looking to do well at any number of events, and you will not run record times, throw record throws, or jump record height/distances.


Great sites that help with GPP are below. I'm sure there are many many more, and if anyone has any please put them in the comments.
www.crossfit.com
www.crossfitfootball.com
www.gymjones.com
www.crossfitendurance.com/
http://coachrut.blogspot.com/
http://www.cathletics.com

Most of these are Crossfit based. I am a big fan of Crossfit for GPP (not so much for specific training), although there are many other ways to achieve GPP. I would speak to a qualified trainer for more GPP training, or simply do a Google search for "General Physical Preparedness" and see what you come up with. Also, many of the sites above serve specific purposes, so I would recommend a mish mash of them--do one workout from one, the next day choose another (the first three choices on the list already do a nice job of mixing activities, so you could stick to the workouts posted on those sites).

Nack

Remember her?

This is Lolo Jones of the United States during the Beijing Olympics.

Just after this shot was taken during the 100m hurdle finals, Lolo hit the 9th hurdle and quickly went from first to worst (feeling in the world).

You know what she is about to say: FLIBBITTY--FLOO

Well, today at the National Championships Lolo Jones showed what perseverance will do--she is now the national champion in the 100m hurdles.  Hopefully she plans to compete all the way through 2012 to get another chance at gold in London.

I thought this was a very cool story, because I clearly remember watching that 100m race in Beijing and being absolutely blown away by her losing that race. What a confidence killer! It takes a lot of toughness to even compete after something as embarrassing as that. Profound embarrassment is something that athletes don't often come back from. Good, errrrr, great for Lolo Jones. Her smile after winning today's race, below, says it all.

Nack

Track on TV

The big sports story these days seems to be the FIFA World Cup. I have been tuning in, I know. I am more of a football (American) guy, but there is a lot to like about soccer. It is, after all, the world's game.

With all that excitement, don't forget that there is plenty of track on this weekend. DVR the track and watch the World Cup live--track meets are much better when on DVR. Here is a schedule for the national championships (all times Eastern, so subtract 2 hours):

6/26/10	1:00 PM	ESPN	USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
6/26/10	3:00 PM	NBC	USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
6/27/10	1:00 PM	ESPN	USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
6/27/10	3:00 PM	NBC	USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Something I'd like you to think about: in your opinion are there more people at the Colorado State Track Meet than there are at our country's national championship? I've never been there so I probably don't have the perspective of just how many people are there, but it doesn't seem like many.  How could the USATF market the sport better?


This guy frequenty posts about this topic.http://track-superfan.blogspot.com/  Pretty interesting.

Coach Nack