Personal Narrative: Spectating The Jesse Owens Classic

Spectating the Jesse Owens Classic
The sporting event I attended was the 33rd annual Jesse Owens Classic track meet at Jesse Owens stadium on Saturday, April 21, 2018. I choose this event mainly because I ran track in high school and I wanted to view a track meet with the newly found psychological perspective I’ve gained in regards to spectating sport. I attended the second day of the overall two-day track meet. The environment of the event was very nostalgic for me. I could taste the competitiveness in the air, and I loved watching athletes that had trained very hard and were showing the evidence of their hard work.
I felt that the presence of commercialism was very subdued. Many of the track uniforms had small logos from their respective manufacturers,

It seemed to be mostly a family crowd and there was no student section. There was cheering from fans in the stands during events, for example, as athletes came close to crossing the finish line. The excitement of fans came in bursts. The conversations around me were not always the most positive. I overhead One family from Kent State saying that they hate Ohio State. They probably felt this way because Ohio State was winning many of the events and perhaps it is a bit of an in-state rivalry. Most of the schools and thus spectors were from in-state schools like, Ohio University, Youngstown State, The University of Akron and The University of Dayton. Because I am from Ohio, I understand that sports are very much a part of our culture and support for collegiate sports and there is tribal identity at work. Often times it is, “us,” versus, “them.” I feel that within track and field there tends to be less arguing among spectators, because the results are very objective and visible. I did not notice that any spectators were more dressed up than another. Most of the spectators were wearing shirts, hats, jackets etc. that designated the school they were