"You'd Better Watch Out, I Have a Knife."

-Coach Harry Groves upon the presentation of his birthday cake, 5/22/2010.

When Clark Haley started the tournament in 2002, it was a way for several of us to honor Coach Groves' for his influence in our development as athletes and people.  I was only a tag-along with Gary Black and only knew the rest minimally.  Honoring Coach was the main point of the whole event, and Clark did all of the work for 5 years.

Once he conned Harry Smith into helping out, Clark was able to direct his attention to becoming a 4-time winner of the event, yet our numbers languished to the point where only 11 of us were ready to disband the event for lack of enough interest.  I didn't want that to happen and I started the blog/web site then to generate interest for the next year.  It is only a small thing to do what I am doing, but it has had a big influence on a lot of others, for which I am grateful. The number of contributors to the event is now staggering and delightful, and each little thing is certainly every bit as important as anything I have done.  We have now made the second or third stride at the beginning of a very long marathon.

Thank you to everyone involved in this weekend's festivities.  In the coming days and weeks, I'll try to bring everyone up to date on the goings-on and histrionics of the entire event.  It is a pleasure to be associated with so many good people who share a common bond and celebrate it with such mirth and good will.

Remember, the goals of the group are:

1. Honor Coach Groves. (Again, thank you Coach.)
2. Honor the past, present and future PSU Track and Field and Cross-Country Programs. (Coach Alford-Sullivan's and Assistant Coaches' efforts continue a rich tradition that unites us all.)
3. Contribute to the Track/X-C Scholarships and Friends of PSU Track. (All monies left-over after paying our expenses are donated to the program or used directly for the next year's events.)
4. Become the largest and most active Track and Field Alumni Group in the entire world.  (Anyone reading this tripe I call my blog knows I'm entirely serious in this effort!)

Here's over 75 attendees at the Awards Ceremony serenading Coach, despite being threatened with a knife!