Josh Hirsch: Get used to the racket, because the Relays aren't going anywhere

As a freshman living in Hill, I remember waking up at about 8 a.m. one Friday morning in April to a sound that I cannot really describe. It was noise, and a lot of it.

I looked out my window onto Walnut Street, and it was like I was in another country (probably Jamaica), with food carts, souvenir stands, people dressed up in all sorts of outfits and track uniforms and a general atmosphere that was a bit alien to Penn.

This was my introduction to the Penn Relays, a campus tradition dating back over 100 years.

For those of you who have not been to the Relays, it's a great experience.

But, in an age where track and field is constantly beset by rumors of the use of performance-enhancing drugs, I have begun to wonder if the Penn Relays are still relevant.

Last year, the Relays were televised on NBC for the final time. But they aired on Sunday, a day late, and were pushed back because of an overtime hockey game and then aired for only 30 minutes, with about five minutes of actual Relays action.

This year, they have moved to ESPN2, after NBC offered them the same time slot as last year. The Relays declined in an effort to avoid that debacle.

On campus, I don't get a real buzz from most Penn students about the event, either. Maybe that has to do with the fact that students are charged full price for tickets on Saturday, the most popular day of the Relays. Maybe it's just the general apathy towards sports on the campus that exists among a good number of students.

But I also think I have underestimated the Relays' importance.

First of all, the Relays aren't a hurt to Penn; they're pretty much a wash financially for the athletic department.

According to Dave Johnson, director of the Relays, the weather is a big factor in the financial success of the event.

"It certainly helps the department's bottom line," Johnson said, although he admitted that the help is not very significant.

And Johnson said that there has never been any thoughts of discontinuing the event.

"It's a public trust that we hold," he said. "The outcry from the public [if the Relays stop] would be enormous."

Indeed, last year saw a new three-day attendance record, at 114,194, including 49,771 on Saturday.

So people are still going to Franklin Field, even if they're not Penn students.

Then what about the downgrading from a major broadcast network to ESPN2 during the Worldwide Leader's NFL Draft coverage?

This year's Relays broadcast will be live, from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Jill Geer, marketing director of USA Track and Field, which organizes the professional part of the Relays, said that for track fans, this is actually a good thing. Two hours of live coverage is better than 30 minutes of day-old coverage, she said.

This year, the broadcast networks are covering the World Championships, the USATF Outdoor Championships, the Prefontaine Classic and the Millrose games, among a busy schedule in a non-Olympic year.

"This year track is on TV more than it has ever been," Geer said.

Just by the way the schedules worked out, Geer said, the Relays got moved to ESPN2.

And while I don't necessarily want to drink her Kool-Aid regarding ESPN2 over NBC, the live coverage and more of it is better, on a network that has done a great deal of track and is fairly well-watched anyway.

So maybe the demise of the Relays is a little exaggerated.

It is still well-attended and is still considered an important event in track and field.

The Relays may not be a mainstream attraction, and maybe they never were, but it's still a good time at Franklin Field.

And at least one or two more of you will get woken up nice and early this weekend.

Josh Hirsch is a senior urban studies major from Roslyn, N.Y., and is former Senior Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is jjhirsch@sas.upenn.edu.

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