Walking On:

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to honor Coach Groves for all the things he did for me and the other walk-ons on the team. Probably no other big-time coach in America has coached more walk-ons than he has. We had at least 3 State Champion distance runners walk on my freshman year. Without the ability to walk on at PSU, I would have become a slightly larger fish at a Division III school, something I did not desire. When I walked into coach's office in the summer of 1977, he welcomed me and told me the straight scoop. I never worked harder and although I never became an All-American, I did contribute points to the team on several occasions. How many walk-ons of Coach Groves' ended up being All-American? I can think of several. Name me another Division One University Coach that allowed (virtually) everyone willing to work hard to participate and run for the team? The same scratchy blues and grays, and almost the same amount of time spent with everyone, regardless of their finishing time. If he helped me grow up a little bit, my bet is he helped many others as well. By kicking my ass (only once for real!) on a weekly basis, I learned how to handle being kicked in the ass by life and overcame many obstacles I otherwise wouldn't have. And, my oh my, what stories we can all tell! I have recieved several good "Coach stories" and hope to post some of them in the coming months. If you have any more, send them in! Get in touch with a fellow walk-on that isn't on our email list and let them know about us.