Any avid viewer of Pardon the Interruption knows that each host has their favorite niche sports. For Michael Wilbon, one of those is track and field. This past weekend, Tony Kornheiser stepped into Wilbon’s lane and watched the Prefontaine Classic meet.
Monday on The Tony Kornheiser Show, the two hosts debriefed on the meet, which saw Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon break the world record for the women’s 1,500 meter. In the segment that followed, Kornheiser and Wilbon discussed why the sport has faded from the sports world’s imagination and waned in popularity over the years.
“There is a dearth of track and field in the United States and it is the death of a sport,” Kornheiser said.
“I understand why boxing died. I get that. I understand the social implications. I understand why horse racing died. You can bet on anything. And they’re horses. You can’t talk to ’em. There’s no human interest story. But I don’t understand why track and field died.”
Wilbon could not mount an easy explanation, but pointed out that football’s explosion in the 1970s gradually led to the decline in baseball and other sports like track and field.
“Things come and go. Baseball doesn’t have the popularity, the hold on America that it once had. You mention boxing and horse racing. The three biggest things for 75 years were baseball, boxing and horse racing,” Wilbon explained.
“Football, sometimes I have to explain … football became something glamorous in the 1970s. Seventies. And I don’t know, maybe it will hold on for another 75 years, maybe it won’t. I don’t know. So the coolest people are the ones that are celebrated, and right now in America, it’s football and basketball. It doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way forever. Track and field doesn’t seem to have that now.”
As for the present day, the hosts agreed that sports fans are dazzled by track and field every four years at the Olympics. But after that, it dissipates. The last track and field star to break through was Usain Bolt, whose penchant for breaking world records was impossible to ignore.
While a sport like baseball may not excite viewers with shorter attention spans, track and field doesn’t quite match up. It is an electric sport in which athletes compete one on one.
“I love track and field for the same reason you do. Because whoever breaks the tape, there’s no judge, there’s no ambiguity,” Kornheiser said. “You break the tape, you win the race. It’s as simple as that.”
There is no easy answer for what Kornheiser and Wilbon notice. Anyone who loves track and field can still watch it, but it is not a major sport any longer.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.