The "salvation and rebirth" of track & field in North
America "might find its genesis this weekend ... in an event
whose trappings more resemble a heavyweight championship
than a traditional track meet," writes Mike O'Hara in the
DETROIT NEWS, on Sunday's race between Michael Johnson and
Donovan Bailey at Toronto's SkyDome. Runner's World Senior
Writer Amby Burfoot: "I think it's terrific for the sport.
What the hell else good is going on in the sport?" (DETROIT
NEWS, 5/30). In Chicago, the TRIBUNE's Philip Hersh wrote
that the race's TV audience is "supposed to include viewers
who otherwise have ignored a sport crying for notice in the
U.S." Turner Sports' Goodwill Games VP David Raith: "I
don't think it's the future of the sport. I think it's a
great attempt to bring electricity to a sport going through
a difficult time" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/29). In Toronto,
Stephen Brunt writes under the header "Track Needs Glitz,
Flash, Don King." Brunt: "What we are witnessing is a bold,
probably ill-advised attempt to turn what is a moribund
sport into an event-driven attraction" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/30).
MONEY TALK: Bailey's agent, Ray Flynn, denied
"whispers" that the race organizer, the Magellan Group,
yesterday was "scrambling" to secure an extra $1M to pay the
bills for the event (Steve Buffery, CALGARY SUN, 5/30). In
Toronto, the GLOBE & MAIL's Stephen Brunt notes that when
the TV revenue "was made public this week -- when was the
last time a U.S. network paid as little as $50,000 for any
kind of programming? -- it became crystal clear that before
the final accounting is done, someone is going to take a
bath" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/30). The CALGARY SUN's Koshan &
Buffery note reports that one of the meet's main sponsors, a
shoe manufacturer, is "footing the bill" for a number of
European writers to attend (CALGARY SUN, 5/30).
