Praise for the Olympic Trials Webcast

Now that is how you cover a marathon.

If you didn't get up early to watch the live webcast of the Men's Olympic marathon trials yesterday, you missed something special.

Yes, the video was tiny, and it was interrupted from time to time, but that was about the only technical glitch. Making up for that was the on-the-road front and side views of the runners, the from-the-air pictures and the split screen coverage to show gaps between the leader(s) and the chasing pack, and the well-informed, intelligent commentary that never became trite or annoying. The announcers knew their stuff. Toni Reavis, one of the most experienced and knowledgeable commentators on road racing, provided the "play-by-play." He was ably assisted by three-time World XC champion Lynn Jennings, who was a revelation, consistently providing insightful comments from the athlete's perspective. Late in the race, noting Brian Sell's charge into third, ahead of better known, more accomplished runners, Jennings offered this: "It is the beauty of the marathon and the curse of the marathon -- it is the great equalizer." Al Trautwig was also on hand, but he was left in the dust, so to speak, by Reavis and Jennings. He did have his moments, though. When Sell passed Dan Browne late in the race to move into third and move into the final qualifying spot, Trautwig sighed, "Oh this is a cruel event."

The only odd note for me was having former Olympian Ed Eyestone providing commentary from a truck or a motorcycle or something. It should have been terrific, since Eyestone was the only one to have competed in a trials marathon, but he seemed not to know whether to comment on what he was seeing at that moment or what he thought about the race. His observations frequently stated things that were obvious to anyone viewing the picture.

And there were no commercials!

And there were no extended breaks from the action to fill us in on the up-close-and-personal lives of the favorites. Instead, Reavis smoothly provided the background information in a steady stream of information that meshed with his race commentary. By the end of the race, we knew who had been training with whom, what injuries or illnesses they had had to overcome, what their previous experience in the event had been, and so on.

Are you paying attention, you major networks? If you focus on the event itself and its intrinsic drama, use knowledgeable and expert commentators, provide the data we need to tell what's happening, the result is a terrific viewing experience.