"A date which will live in infamy!"
~Judy Lynn Weaver '87 (mgr.)
My plea for submissions from my horde of faithful readers again bore fruit. (Keep them coming!) Judy Lynn Weaver sent me this great article from the Summer Collegian in 1968. That's almost one year before the moon landings. (Yes, they really did go to the moon with a computer the equivalent of the original Palm Pilot!) It's also notable that racial tensions were about the same as they are today on page 1 of the Collegian. That makes me extremely sad.
Turns out that Coach Groves was hired as the new PSU Track and Cross Country Coach on 7/24/1968. Coach John Lucas stepped down to devote full-time to his professorship duties. Word of the hire was reported exactly 47 years ago today (with the appropriate conversions from Rec Hall's square track to a banked Mondo-surfaced 200 meter indoor facility. Or was that from Imperial to Metric?) Thanks Judy Lynn!
Nice. Great program.
ReplyDeleteI had Coach Groves for Phys Ed during his first year at PSU. The class, believe it or not, was Golf Instruction. How fitting! It was during the winter, so the entire class was held indoors behind the stands in Rec Hall. We hit balls into nets under the watchful eye of Coach Groves. Even though he had some rather unflattering comments about my swing, I really enjoyed the class. Needless to say, there were lots of great track & field stories. I recall one about a sprinter from the Eastern Shore whose 100 yd. dash times were quite remarkable. It turns out he was timed with a running start!
ReplyDeleteI did not run for PSU, but have been a fitness/recreational runner ever since. I enjoy following PSU's program which is what led me to this blog. Really good site; keep up the good work!
Welcome to the Group, Bud. Everyone is a member in good standing in our group.
ReplyDeleteI had Coach Groves twice for gym class (Fitness and Games!), which was against the rules. He stipulated that if you tapped on his window prior to 9:00AM during your morning run you didn't need to go to class. But I always went when we played floor hockey. I dominated in that and would catch Coach smiling and giggling when I strutted around after a goal. He knew I wasn't seriously one-upping the others, I was just trying to make him laugh.
You certainly got your money's worth in that class just by hearing him tell stories. Coach has influenced so many people in this world. Yours is a good example of that. He will be quite pleased when he gets wind of this comment. I'll make sure he sees it.