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coachd · Water Boy Joined: 09 Sep 2002 Posts: 72 Location: Out west

I just got an email message from E Garry Hill, the editor of Track and Field News...apparently T&FN will cease to exist as a printed publication immediately...it's not April 1st--so I guess this is true. I wonder if this says anything about the state of track inour country? Or is it just that news travels too fast on the internet these days for a magazine that was mainly results oriented cannot survive? I will miss holding a copy of T&FN in my hands.

coachd · Water Boy Joined: 09 Sep 2002 Posts: 72 Location: Out west

Okay...I couldn't beleive that T&FN would just stop publishing...I went back and reread the message. It is Track Newsletter that will cease publication. Track Newsletter is being completely replaced by the online version. Sorry for my confusion.

Dan · Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 7:39 am Post subject:

Ah, that makes more sense! I figured for sure I would have seen something about this already on the t-and-f list, where Hill (gh) is a regular...

Dan
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Conway · Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 8:43 pm Post subject:

Have you read the latest issue ??? If they don't do something soon it will be in danger ... It keeps getting worse and worse each issue .... And their online site is pretty weak as well .. The best thing they have is the online newsletter ....
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Paul · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 5:50 am Post subject:

I had just renewed for another 3 years. I used to get Track Newsletter in my stat crazy days 30+ years ago. It was just an 8 page stat sheet. During the slow season they would come up with stuff like best one day double, etc. It never occurred to me that it would make for a perfect online newsletter in the internet age!!

Paul

Distance_Guru · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 6:02 pm Post subject:

I imagine that T&F News is really having to go through a transition with the ever increasing use of the internet. Any sort of results based magazine has pretty much become obsolete. Why wait for two months to get results when you can get them on the day of the race over the net with much more detail than can be crammed into the pages of a magazine. I also tend to agree with Conway, I've never been all that impressed with their magazine and there internet site is pretty weak as well. I think the thing that is keeping them in business more than anything else is that they're pretty much the only game in town. I wouldn't put it past someone like Dan in terms of skill and interest to put together a online magazine that could knock T&F news off the top. Although I'm not sure anyone out there has both the resources and interest to do just that however it seems to me that it could be done.
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Dan · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 6:10 pm Post subject:

I'm somewhat in the minority in that I respect and appreciate what they've done with the site (a bit gaudy, though). It takes a lot of time to keep something like that up to date, and there's arguably no payoff unless it somehow helps sales of the magazine (doubtful). Two years ago, there was some good money to be made in online advertising. Now, sites are lucky just to cover expenses, Run-Down included. :t-: Take a look at all the big sports sites (ESPN, CNNSI, USA Today, NBA.com, etc.) and at least as many news sites, and see how many of them have resorted to pop-up or pop-under ads. It's a sign of desparate times in the funding of resource intensive web sites.

I wouldn't want to try and keep a statistically minded site like T&FN's going. Lots to stay on top of there. That's why it works well with Justin (who doesn't want to maintain a site) providing stats for me (who doesn't want to maintain stats) to post here. Smile

T&FN has extensive historical data and constantly updating statistics to post to their site, but it still takes a lot of time to ensure some semblance of accuracy and to figure out how best to present it.

Dan
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coachd · Water Boy Joined: 09 Sep 2002 Posts: 72 Location: Out west

I get T&FN for the centerfold...unlike Playboy, which I used to get for the articles.

I thought the Jan centerfold in T&FN was especially nice.

Unfortunately the info that came with the Jan issue was, as most have pointed out, dated for anyone with internet access.The NCAA XC Championships for example--I, like everyone else who cared, had seen the NCAA results the day of the race and within a couple days was able to view a video of the entire race online.

With that said I'm like Dan...I respect the work that T&FN does and has done (both in print and online). In my mind they are a link to the past in terms of stats and stories and bring the perspective of time/history to what is going on in our sport today. My collection of T&FN is a prized posession...but then I still like to "read the paper" everyday and actually hold it in my hands rather than just checking out the website.

Paul · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2003 1:09 pm Post subject:

Two years ago I finally got rid of all my back issues of T&FN, keeping the Olympic and Athletes of the Year issues. They dated clear back to 1966.
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Micah Ward · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2003 2:22 pm Post subject:

I, too, read that newspaper every morning. And even though I can get lots of ultramarathon results online I still prefer holding a copy of Ultrarunning magazine and reading the results. It may be a generational thing and as this generation fades, websites will replace magazines. Who knows?
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Conway · Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2003 7:07 am Post subject:

I too like to read the paper ... But its got to have somethin in it worth while ... I buy USA today and the Wall Street Journal .... I read about everything else online ... I buy TFN out of habit and love for the sport ... But it hasn't had anything in it now since before Atlanta ... I agree with Dan that I respect the hard work that they have ot go through to maintain both the mag and the site ... But if you are going to put all that work in anyway, why not turn it into something special ??? And right now neither of their products is anythign special ...
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Dan · Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:04 am Post subject:

Distance_Guru · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2003 5:47 am Post subject:

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that if I have to pay news then I want to hold it in my hands without having to print it out.
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Paul · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2003 10:15 am Post subject:

It's also hard to line the bird cages with something you read online.

Dan · Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2003 10:52 am Post subject:

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