Today marks one week since the conclusion of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships that were hosted by Lincoln University, which has given me plenty of time to digest my thoughts on it.
And while I don't want to ruin the rest of the column for you, those thoughts are going to be overwhelmingly positive, with a few small exceptions.
But let's start with the good, as there are plenty of people deserving of cheers:
• The organizers of the event.
From meet director Dennis Licklider to Lincoln athletic director Betty Kemna to Tim Abney, the meet coordinator within the Lincoln athletic department, the amount of hours poured into the planning and execution of the event were numerous. And that work paid dividends, as the Championships went off without a hitch.
The main thing you're looking for at events like this one is a sense of professionalism, and this one had it. Everything ran on time, and early on some occasions. There were no glaring errors or missteps, and that's a major accomplishment, especially when you consider the last time Lincoln hosted any kind of track meet, everyone was starting to worry about Y2K, as the calendar said 1999.
But not only did the organizers do all the things they should, they also resisted doing things they shouldn't. A couple examples: It would have been real easy to charge large admission fees, but $5 was all it took to get you in the door. And while they could have hit you up for parking fees, parking was free all three days.
Try getting that type of deal at almost any other sporting event these days.
• The workers at the event.
There were two types of workers at the meet, the officials and the volunteers, and both kinds deserve a pat on the back.
The officials acted exactly how you want people in their position to act - they were professional and they didn't have inflated egos. As someone who's been to numerous events at all levels, the worst thing you can do is have people in charge who want to make sure you know they're in charge. While all the officials at the Championships knew what they were doing, they let their work speak for them.
And just as important, those who volunteered also performed at a high level, which is impressive when you consider they were doing if for free.
Granted, there were some people who offered to help out as volunteers who were nowhere to be found when it came time to act, which is disappointing. That left Abney, as the coordinator of that workforce, scrambling at times to make sure he had bodies where they needed to be. But the overall product never suffered.
• The athletes, the centerpiece of the meet.
This was a refreshing event to cover, and much of it has to do with the type of athletes in attendance. I've always been partial to Division II athletes, because you've got talented performers without inflated egos. Most of the people at this level are dedicated to what they do, but they're mostly doing it for the love of their sport because it's not going to lead to a career down the road.
To a person, the athletes at the event were friendly, energetic people who spent large amounts of their time cheering not only for teammates, but sometimes even for their fellow competitors.
It was one of those examples about why sports can be great, and it made the event pretty great, too.
But while there are plenty who should get cheers, there are also some who deserve jeers. Most importantly, the no-shows.
The main reason I waited a week to write this column was I wanted to have a "cooling-off period" so I could make sure I wanted to do some scolding. A week hasn't tempered this opinion.
In short, the attendance at the event was underwhelming. I expected better from the community, and ended up being disappointed.
The first day, when looking at the small number of spectators, I figured, "It's just the heptathlon and decathlon events. They'll be here for the next two days."
Then came Saturday, and the finals of some field events and the preliminaries of the running events. While the crowd was better, it still wasn't where it should have been. "They're just waiting until the last day, when the running finals will be held," I told myself.
Wrong again.
The final day's attendance was much like the first, not where it should have been.
I will grant you it was a weekend where a lot of things were going on, but name me one weekend where that's not the case. And when something this special comes to town, a special effort should be made to support it.
When's the next time Lincoln could host something of this magnitude? Probably not any time soon. With many conference events being held at neutral sites in bigger cities, there aren't too many chances to host them. And with the MIAA boasting a gigantic number of schools, there will always be plenty of competition for hosting rights.
So when, and if, Lincoln gets to host something like this again, drop everything and get there. It's worth your time and effort.