{"comments":{"905581":{"pb_id":"4","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"905581","comment_id":"905581","member_id":"4","comment":"Curtis Anderson just wrote a blog about this.<br \/>\n<br \/>\nBy Curtis Anderson | TrackTown USA<br \/>\n <br \/>\nEUGENE, Ore. \u0096 More than a half-century ago, a group of University of Oregon alumni raised &#036;21,000 to stage the first indoor track and field meet in Portland\u0092s brand new Memorial Coliseum.<br \/>\n <br \/>\nThey were dubbed the \u0093Nervous Nine,\u0094 according to an article in Sports Illustrated, because only &#036;8,000 in advance ticket sales were generated for the meet, which was held in January of 1961.<br \/>\n <br \/>\nNot to worry.<br \/>\n <br \/>\nWith UO track and field coach Bill Bowerman on board as meet director, the event turned out to be both a financial and artistic success.<br \/>\n <br \/>\nMore than 7,000 fans filled the theatre-style cushioned seats, and they were treated to several outstanding events. The highlight came when New Zealand\u0092s Murray Halberg, the reigning Olympic 5,000-meter champion, crushed the world indoor two-mile record by nearly 12 seconds.<br \/>\n <br \/>\nThe Portland indoor meet continued to be held on a regular basis for nearly four decades. On Monday, USA Track &amp; Field, the national governing body for the sport, reached back to those roots with the official announcement that it would put forth a bid to host the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.<br \/>\n <br \/>\nThe bid will be made in conjunction with TrackTown USA, the local organizing committee, which is looking to expand its reach to a state, national and global audience in an ongoing effort to inspire a new generation of track and field athletes and fans.<br \/>\n <br \/>\n\u0093I think this bid demonstrates that the United States is serious about track and field in this country,\u0094 said TrackTown USA president Vin Lananna. \u0093We want to be a player in the sport. Our athletes do it every year, at every Olympics, and every World Championships.<br \/>\n <br \/>\n\u0093Our organization wants to be a facilitator for Team USA, the No. 1 team in the world, to show their stuff at...  <a href='http:\/\/www.gotracktownusa.com\/News\/Details\/dreaming-big-for-2016-world-indoors\/' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>Read the rest<\/a>","date_added":"Nov 5th 2013, 5:18pm","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":{"wally_id":"31","email_settings":"127","email":"ross@teamxo.com","address":"ross","gender":"m","member_id":"4","member_name":"ross","avatar_location":"av-4.jpg","avatar_type":"upload","avatar":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-4.jpg"},"can_delete":false,"item_id":195406,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-4.jpg","pb_title":"ross","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=4","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/ross.runnerspace.com\/","pb_wally_id":"31"},"905101":{"pb_id":"1111","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"905101","comment_id":"905101","member_id":"1111","comment":"It&#039;ll be interesting see how they intend to lay out the track in the Convention Center. Any chance they&#039;ll post their bid packet online once it&#039;s presented to the IAAF? Hopefully Portland wins. And I agree Kevin...the Eugene fans will definitely travel up to Portland.","date_added":"Nov 4th 2013, 8:22pm","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":[],"can_delete":false,"item_id":195406,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-1111.jpg","pb_title":"Scott Bush","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=1111","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/Scott-Bush.runnerspace.com\/","pb_wally_id":"624"},"904830":{"pb_id":"6","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"904830","comment_id":"904830","member_id":"6","comment":"Vin&#039;s biggest challange was always getting the Portland fans to come to Eugene for the big meets.  I like the idea of hosting meets in Portland, because I have little doubt the Eugene fans would be willing to make the 2 hour trek to see a World Champs in P-town.","date_added":"Nov 4th 2013, 6:09pm","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":[],"can_delete":false,"item_id":195406,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-6.jpg","pb_title":"Kevin","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=6","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/kevin.runnerspace.com\/","pb_wally_id":"25"},"904794":{"pb_id":"44418","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"904794","comment_id":"904794","member_id":"44418","comment":"Oregon Convention Center sounds like a reasonable solution and is centrally located. Too bad the two arenas next door don&#39;t work, but they simply don&#39;t.<br \/>\n<br \/>\nA convention center setting is similar to Albuquerque, but hopefully with more people.","date_added":"Nov 4th 2013, 5:17pm","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":{"wally_id":"1082747","email_settings":"4294967295","email":"dbind4@aol.com","address":"DougB","gender":"u","member_id":"44418","member_name":"DougB","avatar_location":"av-44418.jpg","avatar_type":"upload","avatar":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-44418.jpg"},"can_delete":false,"item_id":195406,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-44418.jpg","pb_title":"DougB","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=44418","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/DougB.runnerspace.com\/","pb_wally_id":"1082747"}},"last_id":"904794","url":"comments.php?item_type=news&item_id=195406&item_url=gprofile.php?mgroup_id=88"}