What's special about those teams is the fact that they were so large. Coach Groves rarely said "no" to anyone who wanted to run with the Lions and was willing to do the work it entailed. All of us are better for it. We got to run with the Big Dogs, and the Big Dogs were exposed to hard-working, talented, intelligent, funny and special people. And Coach got the opportunity to collect so many more stories than he would have otherwise! I hope to interview Coach again next weekend and I'll ask him about that.
So this is a big hat-tip to every single contributor to those glorious '78, '79 and '80 (4th, 3rd and 3rd!) Cross Country teams. Every single one.
Anyone among my vast "tens of readers" with the team photos from those years could help me out and forward them to dfbaskwill@cs.com
I can't imagine a team working harder and having more fun doing it than we had from fall '77 to spring '81. A very special coach and a very special group of guys, for sure. Thanks for the memories, Dave.
ReplyDelete-RMH (Woodie)
Some were more "special" than others. Hee hee hee
ReplyDeleteWoodie! The more time that goes by, and the more people I meet from all the different aspects of my life, the more I realize just how great a group we were. It's a shame we barely knew that at the time!
ReplyDeleteA good bunch of guys.
ReplyDeleteI hope to see you all in May.
I was on only 2 of the 3 but Harry once said, "You were on the 79 team, Brian, right?" "Yes" "That was our best team." I'd have to give the 80 team some big time credit, too. But that was an awesome group from 78-80.
And we keep in touch a lot.
Boyer
Brian, you may not have actually been on the 80 team, but no one was there for more teams than you. Even Gary Black's "12 years" of eligibility didn't let him stay at PSU longer than you. although he still tried!
ReplyDeleteI think the '80 squad was slightly better scoring 155 points versus 186 for the '79 squad (both in 3rd place). Also had three guys under 30:00 in '80. I'll have to talk to Harry about his criteria!! :) LTM
ReplyDeleteA couple of those guys turned out to be big-time CEOs after leaving PSU!
ReplyDeleteAt least one flew Marine jets in the first Gulf War and another appeared on the cover of a cross county media guide in a drawing that resembled a cro-magnon man!
I thought Brian Boyer was on the squad from '75 - '86? What's this business about not being on the 1980 squad?
ReplyDeleteOnly Stemmer has more credits that Boyer their multi-year stints at PSU. Of course Brian actually accumulated more than a few passing grades!! :)
ReplyDeleteBrian Boyer would have to be on the All-Time PSU Track/XC poster (despite only having a PR better than me in the 5,000 M!). No one knows more fellow team members than he and has grades/job status better than he. There may not be anyone better to represent the true ideals of PSU Track Alumni Golfers than he. He's even on the Cup! Although Stemmer certainly has his share of stories and mystique!
ReplyDelete