What's Your Excuse (Part 3)

The IAAF has reported that Takashi Shimokawara, aged 104, the reigning world record holder in the over 100 year-old class in three different events (Shot Put, Discus and Javelin), died in the tsunami following the earthquakes in Japan.  Mr. Shimokawara took up track and field when in his nineties.  RIP

Nuclear Update with Young Einsteins Thrown In

"The Dragon is still loose" pretty much sums up the Japanese conundrum at the moment.  Meltdown through the containment vessel has been speculated about, and seems likely.  Still not as bad as The Russian disaster as that was a fire spewing the radiation over broad areas in the ash and smoke as there was no containment vessel at all!  What would a Russian Godzilla look like?
Here's how Japan explains what happened to its schoolchildren!
It's one helluva belly ache!

Which brings up the point of the safety of newer reactors (the Japanese plant was 30 years old).  Reactors that are 100% meltdown-proof are already under development.

And for Green Activists, nuclear energy is still the best way to lower CO2 emissions enough to make any difference at all, while maintaining energy production at suitable levels.

And here's a 12 year old snot-nosed kid * (beware, link to Glenn Beck's Blaze Web Site although right wing propaganda is absent) challenging Einstein's Theory of Relativity, The Big Bang Theory, and teaching college courses.  Show-off! 

*The photo is of a youthful Albert Einstein, however.

PSU Trackster Enjoys Birds Nest Soup!

I'm not really sure that Jeff Sanden actually got to sample the Chinese delicacy of Bird Nest Soup.  And yeah, it's as disgusting as it sounds.  The gelatinous texture of the soup is from the swallow's saliva used to hold the nest together.  It's supposed to be delicious, just like the scorpions and rats on a stick I saw for sale at push carts all over China.  (They did smell good anyway!)  I've eaten a lot of Chinese food, but have never partaken of the avian home base.

But, he did get us this great photo of the "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium complete with PSU Track Alumni Wrist Band, for which I'm grateful.  His expertise with the cell phone camera is extraordinary.

Underdogs Defeat Spot Moskowitz

Despite being the ultimate underdog, Spot Moskowitz has faltered in the PSU Track Alumni NCAA Basketball Bracket Pool.  Spot spent years on the street before I lured him to our house with a chicken carcass.  In spite of having only 5 pounds of heft and a cerebral cortex the size of the tip of your thumb, Spot was poised with 3 of 4 favorites to win in the quarterfinal round.    BUT...All three lost, leaving him bereft of semi-finalists and potential points.  It seems that the Underdogs of the NCAA have defeated the ultimate underdog after all.....

Here's the latest update from Ken Cooper, showing Tyler McCandless can do more than run fast:

Finally, Obama is out of the top spot as Kansas gets smoked by VCU.  That gets a “yeah, baby.”  VCA and Butler have crushed the brackets. 

1.       David Strandberg in driver seat with UConn.

2.       Tyler McCandless in driver seat with Kentucky.

3.       Ian McCann – congrats on your 2^nd time in the cellar.  Joined a very exclusive group of 2-time cellar dwellars (Wim, Mike Morse, your’s truly)

4.       3 picked Kentucky (McCandless, Scott Munro, Zeb Stewart).  0 picked Butler and VCU.  13 picked UConn.

5.       Average of Final 4 at 0.17 is the lowest in the history of this pool.  Go upsets.

Current			Total
Place	Move	Name	Points
1	1	McCandless, Tyler	72
2	1	Strandberg, David	69
3	(2)	Obama, Barack	65
4	12	Cooper, Kevin	64
5	15	Gross, Michael	63
6	23	Boyer, Brian	61
7	25	Dimitrova, Katya	61
8	(4)	Walter, Anne	60
9	26	Smith, Holden	60
10	26	Anderson, Mark	60
11	27	Caldwell, Ryan	60
12	31	Lincoln, Matt	59
13	(8)	Pruitt, Christopher	59
14	(8)	Hamer, Bob	59
15	(8)	Hamer, Allison	59
16	(8)	Kunetz, Dan	58
17	31	Cole, Jason	58
18	(9)	Wintersteen, Kyle	58
19	(9)	Moskowitz, Spot	58
20	(9)	Licari, Danielle	57
21	(9)	Berseth, Kyle	57
22	(9)	Gough, Rob	57
23	(9)	Noballs, Uhaff	57
24	(9)	Jones, Darryl	56
25	(8)	Matechak, Kelly	56
26	(8)	Mangan, Larry 2	56
27	(8)	Verhoeven, Nick	55
28	(7)	Carney, James	55
29	(7)	Angelo, Peter	55
30	39	Munro, Scott	55
31	(8)	Bisko, Matthew	55
32	41	Wimmer, Mark	55
33	(9)	Mangan, Larry	54
34	(9)	Riter, Christie	54
35	41	Clelland, Jim	54
36	(10)	Weaver, JudyLynn	54
37	(10)	Chadwick, Walt	54
38	(10)	Cooper, Ken	54
39	(9)	Wood, Kyle	53
40	(9)	Bisko, Tom	53
41	(8)	Novak, Jay	53
42	(8)	Whittaker, Bill	52
43	(6)	Cooper, Kyle	52
44	41	Stewart, Zeb	52
45	(6)	Cooper, Kyle 2	52
46	(6)	Rupe, Mark	52
47	(6)	Cooper, Kevin 2	52
48	(6)	Tate, Andy	51
49	(5)	Morse, Karen	51
50	(5)	Kletter, Todd	51
51	(5)	Bisko, Tommy	51
52	(5)	O'Reilly, Aidan	51
53	(4)	Lee, Luis	50
54	(4)	Radzwich, Maddi	50
55	(4)	Ancharski, Frank	50
56	(4)	Dogg, Snoop	50
57	(4)	Cannon, Marshall	49
58	(4)	Murphy, Patrick	49
59	(3)	Ross, Tom	49
60	(3)	Konzal, Sean	49
61	(3)	Smith, Harry	48
62	(3)	Roth, Andy	48
63	30	Oppenheimer, Hank	48
64	(4)	Heitzmann, Colin	48
65	(3)	Crash, Mike	48
66	(3)	Walter, Doug	47
67	(3)	Clinton, Joe	47
68	(3)	Gifford, Bob	47
69	(3)	Morse, Willie	47
70	(3)	Morse, Hallie	47
71	(3)	Smyth, Steph	47
72	(2)	Brescia, Gina	47
73	(2)	Bodine, Jethro	47
74	(2)	Sabel, Douglas	47
75	(1)	Hall, Ricardo	46
76	(1)	Adkins, Jeff	46
77	0	Morse, Mike	45
78	0	Bettis, Lena	45
79	0	Dubya, G	45
80	0	Riter, Tony	45
81	0	Vitale, Dick	45
82	0	Hoover,Douglas	44
83	0	Hutz, Matt	44
84	0	Jackson,Jayson	44
85	1	Illustrated, Sports	44
86	1	Whittaker, Marty	43
87	1	McCarthy, Dennis	42
88	1	Oliver, Precious	42
89	1	Will, Sean	42
90	1	Radzwich, Bob	42
91	1	Caldwell, R.B.	41
92	2	McCann, Ian	37

One Happy Family

There is a great article in the current Track and Field News about women who coach Division I men's track and field teams, and their overall great success.  Of course, high on the list is our very own Beth Alford-Sullivan.  I think she is only one of two on the list to have Coach of the Year honors with both men's and women's teams.

When the change came about in 2006, there were many among us who were naysayers, some for good reasons and some for not so good reasons.  Change is always hard, especially for those of us in Central Pennsylvania. I was among the group who thought they had good reasons to oppose the move.  But then I took the time to become informed and watch the functioning of the teams.  I bothered to introduce myself to Coach Sullivan and began to find that things were indeed working very well.  I'm now a true friend of the Program. You too should make a little effort to see what good things are happening in State College.

Larry Mangan alerted me to the significance of the photo included in the article.  It shows Coach Sullivan exhorting a men's relay participant, none other than Matt Groves, son of former coach, Harry Groves.  For those of us from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, this photo should slap us beside the head and cause us to support the Program as never before. None of us from my era could have ever imagined a scenario where a son of Coach Groves would be coached by a woman at PSU.  Seeing Coach Groves and Coach Sullivan together at our event last year (and hopefully with Coach Lucas included this year) represents a turning point of sorts. Make the small effort involved in becoming informed about the good things happening with the Track Program and you too will become a partner in the effort to make it the pre-eminent program in the country.  It isn't an impossible task, and it'll be fun every step of the way.

Distance Runners Open Outdoor Season in Style!

Led by Kara Millhouse's School Record 10,000 M Run, the PSU Quintet all had good starts to their Outdoor 2011 seasons.  Kara shattered the 10 K mark by more than 30 seconds with her 33:31.93 to place 10th in a loaded field.

Caitlin Lane PR'ed (old school abbreviation there!) with a 16:18.14 in the 5,000 M. She was followed by Brooklynne Ridder  16:45.08.  Natalie Bower hurdled and water-jumped to a 10:21.87 for the eighth best Steeplechase in School history.

The lone PSU Mens Team member making the long trip was Tasmanian Ryan Foster, who placed fifth in the 1500 M with a 3:45.56.

I'm looking forward to some great performances from both ranked PSU Teams this season!

Rocking My New License Plate!

Just put my new aluminum license plate onto the Hybrid SUV.  Get yours and much much more at our Group Store.  Dozens of items, including 10 new things are available for purchase at reasonable prices, great quality and quick shipping.  Some items even provide us with a $1.00 or $2.00 credit back to us, which will be used for a future Hole-In-One Car Contest.

Most items have my stylized likenesses of Coach Groves and Hall of Honor member Paul Mundy. We'll even have a banner as a backdrop during our awards ceremony from the store.

AFLAC !

Now that someone at the "insurance" giant finally figured out that Gilbert Gottfried is not politically correct, we are all in the running to be the next voice of the AFLAC duck.  At least all of us but one actual duck in Beijing (Peking to us old-timers).  And that's because that duck volunteered to be Jeff Sanden's dinner while he was visiting the capitol of China.  It looks absolutely splendid. Peking duck in Peking has to be one of the world's best treats.  Jeff's critique of Kung Pao is still pending....

What's Your Excuse (Part 2)

Thanks to Friend of The Group Mike Fanelli for the photo of Ed Whitlock in the middle of his world-record 3000 M race.  Ed ran 12:00.88 at the age of 80!

I honestly hope I can still walk at that age, if I can reach it at all.

Mike is on the verge of running his 100,000th mile soon, if I'm not mistaken.  Go, Mike, go.