I walked into Buffalo Wild Wings last Saturday to find a large, face-painted man smashing a folding chair over a guy’s neck. Yes, the restaurant was showing WWE on its main screen.

I didn’t want to strain my eyes, so I looked back to the big screen and watched the man with sweaty ringlets clinging to his neck body slam the fat guy below him. That’s when it hit me. Track and field may be one of the most under-recognized sports out there.

I mean come on, why would WWE be on the big screen? It isn’t even a real sport!

I think most people would agree that track is way better than WWE, but it is still not a top priority to most sports fans. It doesn’t make any sense to me because track and field is awesome.

For starters, it is the most basic form of competition dating back to ancient times. Track covers everything: speed, endurance, jumping and strength. Not everyone can tackle a 300-pound football player or dunk a basketball, but everyone can race.

It is also one of the oldest sports around. It was in the very first Olympics in 776 B.C. 

I just don’t understand. Why is one of the first sports ever so underrated?

Don’t get me wrong, I love watching football, basketball and pretty much any other sport. But I can’t count the number of times I have heard someone say track is boring. Anyone who actually goes to a meet and watches how competitive the events are would disagree. 

There is nothing like the screaming of the crowd when two runners are neck and neck on the final straightaway. The intensity is chilling.

The last track meet I went to was at ISU. We have nationally ranked athletes competing on our campus and yet the only fans in the stands were parents and a few athletes from other sports.

It really is a shame. I don’t think people realize how good our women’s team is and how fun it is to watch them. I may be biased, since I cover the track team, but anyone who follows it would be hooked too. It’s easy to do when you keep getting news of athletes like Brittany Smith, Sade Sealy and the entire distance team breaking records every weekend.

With such a small amount of followers, it is obvious people do not realize how exciting really is to watch track. But, I also think the difficulty of track is underestimated.

Like I said, everyone can run, throw, and jump, but compare your efforts to those of ISU athletes and you will be more than ashamed.

Everyone has run a timed mile in his or her life. But you may gain some more respect for the sport when you see the ISU men’s team running in the low four minutes and the women running in under five minutes. 

Okay, I know they are Division I athletes and it is to be expected, but their times are crazy fast and not recognized enough.

In the few times that I have done interviews with these athletes, they have mentioned running about 15 miles a day in addition to an hour of lifting.

I realize that running is their sport, but I doubt any of the other athletes on campus have done that.

Bottom line is, track is awesome and should be more popular. As the ISU team concludes its indoor season and prepares for outdoor, I encourage more of you to take notice of track and field. You may be surprised by how much you actually like it.