Two Sprinting Posts In One Week!

" I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here" 

-Captain Louis Renault

My post about the recent sub-40 second 4 X 100M Relay by PSU, brought a sprinting story out from an unexpected source.  Ex-PSU (and ASU) Shot Putter Gary Williky has a unique notch on his belt.  He actually took out a top-US runner in a foot race!  And won a $100 bet in the process.   I'll let him tell the whole story...

Back in 1983, I was lucky enough that Steve Scott had invited me to a track and field tour. It was called The Pan Am Series. His friend John Walker had recruited him and there were some great athletes. I was fortunate to travel with Ray Flynn, John Walker, David Moorcroft, Chandra Cheeseborough, Tom Petranoff and James Robinson. It was unbelievable to so have many great throwers, runners and jumpers. We had the greatest time and I was so lucky to have set, at the time, the Australian soil record in the Shot Put of just over 66 feet.

But that spring I was in pretty damn good shape and when we got back from the trip somewhere in March Steve Scott had challenged me to a running race and I accepted. But what Steve didn't know is I had been training with 40 yard and 60 yards sprints.  My friends and I took this pretty seriously because he was kind of teasing and calling me out.  And at Arizona State, there was nobody was going to call me out!

I was a grad assistant /coach and had a big mouth so I trained hard for it.  Ray Wicksel and Steve Tully as race judges who was there and Arizona State coach Len Miller was there. Actually there was a lot of people there! We came out of the blocks with a gunshot and I blew him away so hard that when I finished I stopped at the Finish Line turned around and watched them finish. He turned over the hundred bucks and took me out to dinner a couple days later and we recently had a chance to talk about it at Coach Miller’s retirement party at UC Irvine. (You can reach out to him he'll tell you the same story though I get to blow it up a bit I think.)  I think I blew him away then stopped about 10 to 15 yards back but I did turn around I was laughing and giggling and pointing them out and we hugged.

… and that's the Steve Scott story.  He kept his mouth shut after that one. I tease him each time I can.

Gary Williky

My Dog Spott Is Likely Better Than You At Bracket Picking: And A Wonderful Vintage Pic Of All-Time Greats

Ken Cooper's PSU Track March Madness Pool has gotten pretty interesting.  My dog Spott Moskowitz moved up nicely in the last two rounds and is tied for 35th place (out of 149).  He has nowhere to go but down now, however, but as long as he gets his "brown things" from a bag for breakfast, he is OK with that.

Things are coming together.  Only 3 times since 1979 has a #1 seed not advanced to the Final Four.  Thanks to UNC, there is not a 4^th time this year.

Congrats to Emily Oliver (bride of Penn State steepler Steve Oliver), Buddy Ancharski (dad of Penn State grad Frank Ancharski), Doug Walter (1989 All-American in 1500) and ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt who were the 4 with 3 of the Final Four.  Very impressive.

No one had Syracuse in the Great 8 or the Final 4.  And remember, only 4 people had them in the Sweet 16.

Emily Oliver is your new leader, followed by Buddy Ancharski, me and Todd Kletter.  I can’t believe my hopes ride with 10^th seeded Syracuse.

Congrats to 5 yr old Avery Cooper who locked in her second DFL title in 3 years.  However, her 39 points is better than average (35) and the highest since 2009 when her dad (me) had 49 for the DFL title.  I am very proud.

The avg. of 1.15 is down slightly from the average over the past 17 years of 1.31 proving this was a tricky Final Four.

Of the Final Four – 88 had Carolina, 61 had Oklahoma, 23 had Villanova and 0 had the Orangemen.

Scenario Analysis

Nova over UNC (Overall = Buddy Ancharski; Pay-In = Marshall Cannon)

Nova over Syracuse (Overall = Buddy Ancharski; Pay-In = Marshall Cannon)

Oklahoma over UNC (Overall = Missie Stewart; Pay-In = Matt Bisko)

Oklahoma over Syracuse (Overall = Missie Stewart; Pay-In = Matt Bisko)

UNC over Nova (Overall = Anne Walter; Pay-In = Mike Castillo)

UNC over Oklahoma (Overall = Scott Van Pelt; Pay-In = Mike Castillo)

Syracuse over Nova  (Overall = Emily Oliver; Pay-In = Ken Cooper/Todd Kletter)

Syracuse over Oklahoma (Overall = Missie Stewart; Pay-In = Ken Cooper/Todd Kletter)

Division Leaders

Celebrity – Scott Van Pelt

Hoops – Mike Morse

Kid (8^th grade & Younger) – Ryan Oliver

Kid (High School) – Ryan Caldwell

Non-Penn Staters – Buddy Ancharski

Penn State (non T&F) – Emily Oliver

Penn State Spouse – Missie Stewart

PSU T & F (Distance) – Ken Cooper

PSU T & F (Mid-Dist) – Todd Kletter

PSU T & F (Sprint) – Nick Verhoeven

PSU T & F (Field/Multi) – JudyLynn Weaver

T & F Alum (non PSU) – Michelle Lilienthal (Wisconsin)

Worse Than Rented Bowling Shoes!

Our Official Physicist and European Liaison Brian Boyer has sent us another submission sure to garner interest among the rabble.  He brings us this pic of an Adidas running shoe rental kiosk in Vienna.

He relates that the kilt-wearing KK O'Brien can testify that it may not be a great idea to "borrow" shoes worn by someone else.  The STD he contracted (that's shoe-contracted-disease) from a fellow Nittany Lion was a site to behold!

Join us in the inevitable Facebook comments section to learn more!

Airship 800U Continues Testing

I have several submissions from members I hope to get to soon, but work (a four-letter word ending in K) is crazy this week.  Rest assured, exclusive content is coming soon.  And I think the Interns have stayed in Cancun past their allotted time.  I'm cutting off their credit just in case.

But I did have a little time yesterday to further test drone functions on the Group's flagship Airship 800U.  This time it was the "Follow Me" mode.  Works well, at least if you want to watch me walk around at the start area of the County XC course!  This will work great for the Alumni "Run" and possibly the actual Mountain View Golf Course at the Coach Groves Golf Tourney. (Sign up now!)

And if that bores you too much, here's a group favorite discussing Karma and other things...

I Can't Remember The Last Time A Post Highlighted Sprinting!

It is rather exciting to be able to write this post. Penn State Men have a sprinting corps worthy of more than just one post.  And I'm sure that I will be bringing more of them later in the season. A great start to the season at the Big Ten/PAC-12 Challenge.

For the first time since 1975, 41 years for the recent practitioners of Common Core Math, the Nittany Lions broke 40 seconds in the 4 X 100M Relay.  That goes back to the days of Mike Shine and Mike Sands.

For the men, 39.92 is the first sub-40 second performance since 1975. The quartet of Chisena, Moffett, Porter and Smith raced their way to the No. 13 time in the nation thus far this season. The time also ranks as the No. 7 time in the east region at the moment.

In the sprints, Xavier Smith (10.59), Dan Chisena (10.72), and Anton Porter (10.74) finished 4-5-6 in the 100-meters collecting 12 points.

And there is still time to vote in the poll on the left sidebar for your favorite hot dog condiment. Here's Brian Boyer's favorite hot dog establishment in Vienna.

Kasekrainer with mustard and bread

The Muse On The Trail

Rob Whiteside, our Roaming Corespondent and Muse, is currently somewhere on the Appalachian Trail.  (Much of what is written here on the blog with it all is for his amusement.)
 He is three weeks into his Through Hike from Georgia to Maine.  This has been planned for quite awhile, and he is accompanied by his Daughter the Elder.

He relates this is the hardest thing he has ever done, and I believe him.  He has already experienced 18 degrees on several nights in the Smoky Mountains along with some heavy storms.  And the whole time he is accompanied by hikers much younger than he is.

He relates that he is eating like he did at age 15 and has still lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks.  His feet and knees hurt, but states you "must embrace the pain and suffering".  Even though only 1 in 4 hikers attempting the Through Hike actually makes it, I'm betting on him.

Blood Mountain

Georgia/North Carolina border.

A Jog On The Beach Before Outdoor Track Begins

The first real meets start next week, with some team members heading to the San Fran suburbs for the Stanford Invite.  (This weekend has the Lions in the PAC-12/Big Ten Challenge in Arizona.)  There they can reunite with our Energizer Lion Emeritus Jess Riden in her new position at Stanford.  (Blue is her real best color BTW)

We miss you Jess. And your parking info for the Penn Relays.

And just who is this dude jogging on the beach to get ready for the Outdoor Season?

His job never allowed him to grow a beard.

It's Hot Dog Season

Baseball season is upon us.  And that means hot dogs are back in season too.  I always have a hot dog at a Baseball game no matter what else I'm eating. Go to the left sidebar and let me know your favorite hot dog condiments.

Pittsburgh's Original Hot Dog

The best MLB hot dog I have ever had was at Opening Day Yankee Stadium in 1983, when Billy Martin started his last stint as Manager and Joe DiMaggio threw out the first pitch.

The worst hot dog I ever had at a MLB game is a tie between Toronto and Boston.  Both were flavorless, limp,lifeless and gray, like biting into a piece of tofu that was nastier than usual.  Otherwise, Boston was splendid, the way a Ball Park should be.  The Stadium at Toronto is an afront to all that is Holy about the game (see Ken Burns videos and Field of Dreams).  Baseball should never be played indoor or even in a stadium that CAN be indoor. The fans at Toronto were equally horrible.  A noisy bunch next to me were taunting Raul Ibanez the whole game with racist and filthy chants.  I became a fan of his when he hit a towering Center Field home run in the ninth inning to win the game.  The blast hit the hotel in Center Field.  That's the famous one where the couple were engaging in intimacy on world wide television without realizing their window wasn't one-way!

Recently, my hot dog of choice was threatened with extinction.  Jimmy's in Easton PA was undergoing a long-standing battle between the 2 long-time owning families.  One of the families actually goes back to the founding in 1908.  The place was auctioned off recently and bought outright by one of the families and will continue operation as it always has.

Jimmy's, Easton PA

Why Jimmy's has the best hot dog in America!

 

The secret is the dill pickle spear, never relish.

And another dog of choice has been on my mind recently. The Original ("Dirty O") at Pitt has a terrific red hot we have discussed before.  It turns out that our Chief Laundry Officer has never had one despite being a burgh native!   I will have to take him there for a treat and be sure to make him NOT order a large order of fries in the back!

The Dirty O near University of Pittsburgh
.

Small order of fries with cheese and brown gravy. You must buy these in a separate area.

Most People Who Discover A Bump Are Afraid: A Physics Post Prior To The Outdoor Season

But Physicists are elated and electrified!

There could be a new massive particle that make Higgs jealous.  The new power of the CERN Super-Collider has opened up a new horizon.  Physicists are almost peeing their pants.

Adam Sandler is not actually a Physicist.

 My name for the new particle will be Party Cul McParticlesaurus.

Sweet 16!

My dog Spott Moskowitz always makes my picks for the NCAA Basketball pools, just as his predecessor Spot Moskowitz did before him.  The original Spot was pretty darn good at it, but the new one just doesn't care as much.  He did move up 3 spots in the standings, however. 

"Always Nappin"

Spott, doing what he does best.

Ken Cooper's comments on things so-far: (and the top 25)

Did anyone else feel absolutely sick for Northern Iowa?  Man, up by 12 with 31 seconds to go, then up by 5 with 12 seconds.  That one will hurt for a long, long time.  Same for Stephen F. Austin and Xavier.  Crushing losses, but the epitome of March Madness. 

I find it hilarious folks are talking about the “6 teams from the ACC” in the Sweet 16.  A decade ago, those 6 teams represented ACC (Duke, UNC, Virginia), the Big East (Syracuse, Miami) and independent (Notre Dame).  I just can’t consider Syracuse an ACC team or Texas A & M an SEC team.

Congrats to me for leading the pool through the Sweet 16.  But, as mentioned in the last results update, I am a dead man walking with Michigan State as my champ.  Go Gonzaga.  They are now my team and only hope.

Nice work to Tyler McCandless, Jay Novak, and Darryl Jones who hit 13 of the Sweet 16 and made significant jumps in the standings. 

The avg. of 9.53 was above average.  8.99 was the avg. over the past 17 years.

The clear upset pick of the Sweet 16 was Syracuse.  Only 4 people (Courtney Roth, Alyssa Verhoeven, Jason Fraysier and Hartranft Hall had that nailed).  19 people had Gonzaga into Sweet 16.

Division Leaders

Celebrity – Mike Greenberg

Hoops – Will Morse

Kid (8^th grade & Younger) – Noah Crescenzi

Kid (High School) – Tom Bisko III

Non-Penn Staters – Corey Cain (Brown alum)

Penn State (non T&F) – Emily Oliver

Penn State Spouse – Missie Stewart

PSU T & F (Distance) – Ken Cooper

PSU T & F (Mid-Dist) – Crash

PSU T & F (Sprint) – Tom Bisko

PSU T & F (Field/Multi) – Darryl Jones

T & F Alum (non PSU) – Mark Rupe (Cincinnati)

Current Standings:

Current		Total
Place	Name	Points
1	Cooper, Ken	51
2	Bisko, Tom	49
3	Crescenzi, Noah	49
4	McCandless, Tyler	48
5	Novak, Jay	48
6	Oliver, Emily	48
7	Crash	47
8	Mangan, Larry	47
9	Scholarship, Harry Groves	47
10	Will, Sean	47
11	Sailer, Aaron	47
12	Kletter, Todd	47
13	Jones, Darryl-Jumper II	47
14	Greenberg, Mike	47
15	Verhoeven, Nick	46
16	Dadagian , Jen	46
17	Anderson, Mark	46
18	Hamer, Bob	46
19	Cain, Corey	46
20	Lilienthal, Michelle	45
21	Fraysier, Jason	45
22	Whittaker, Bill	45
23	McCarthy, Dennis	45
24	Konzal, Sean	45
25	Stewart, Missie	45

Alumni Singlets Are Everywhere

Another 25 Alumni Singlets are making their way to Penn State Track and Field Alumni (Golfers), making the total number more than 200 spread out across the globe.

Thanks for this goes to our Le faucon d'orange Mark Hawkins.  He does all the legwork, purchasing, arranging for the screenings, shipping etc.  He gets paid slightly less than I do, which is nothing.  So when you see him at the Alumni Reunion and Coach Groves Golf Tourney, be sure to say "thanks".  Be sure to wear yours to the Alumni "Run" on Saturday Morning at the Reunion.  And realize that your teammates from years past, and from every other era of PSU Track, are the finest people this world makes.

Bill Malchano previously wore a borrowed Alumni Singlet for a marathon, and I think today may be his first with his very own!  Bill is one of the very first Alumni Golfers, lured to State College by Founder Clark Haley in May of 2002.

Forget About Your Broken Brackets, The Alumni Reunion Is Only Two Months Away!

My dog Spott Moskowitz is just about at the mean of everyone's broken brackets in the PSU Track NCAA Basketball Pool.  Pitiful, just pitiful.  By which I mean the performance of the Michigan State Spartans...

First Round Standings:

1	Cooper, Ken
2	Crash
3	Oliver, Steve
4	Hutz, M.
5	Mangan, Larry
6	Smith, Harry
7	Marshall, Colin
8	Munro, Scott
9	Bisko, Tom
10	Crescenzi, Noah
11	Will, Sean
12	Kletter, Todd
13	Smith, Holden
14	Weaver, JudyLynn
15	Golic, Mike
16	McCann, Ian
17	Morse, Mike
18	Pruitt, Kristen
19	Venne, Lisa Anne
20	Lincoln, Matt
21	Cooper, Kyle
22	Mac, T
23	Dadagian , Jen
24	O'Brien, Kevin Kelly
25	Oliver, Ryan
26	Oliver, Emily
27	Van Pelt, Scott
28	Bratt, Steve
29	Arosemena, Che
30	Haywood, Mark
31	Beavis, Dave
32	DiFrancesco,Tom
33	Rupe, Mark
34	Lilienthal, Michelle
35	Scholarship, Harry Groves
36	Kunetz, Daniel
37	Dubya, G
38	Morse, Will
39	Fraysier, Jason
40	Oliver, Abby
41	Whittaker, Bill
42	Bile, Bile
43	Sailer, Aaron
44	Riter, Christie
45	Strandberg, David
46	McCarthy, Dennis
47	O'Reilly, Aidan
48	Konzal, Sean
49	KKOB
50	Greenberg, Mike
51	Obama, Barack
52	Illustrated, Sports
53	Caldwell, R.B.
54	Verhoeven, Nick
55	Angelo, Peter
56	Moskowitz, Spott
57	Clinton, Joe
58	McCandless, Tyler
59	Caldwell, Ryan
60	Miller, Marc
61	Salargo, Ron
62	Novak, Jay
63	Prann, Rich
64	Castillo, Mike (Cap)
65	Ancharski, Frank J.
66	Bisko, Matthew
67	Bisko III, Thomas
68	Licari, Danielle
69	Wimmer, Mark
70	Hoover, Douglas
71	Murphy, Patrick
72	Gifford, Bob
73	Oppenheimer, Hank
74	Anderson, Mark
75	Stewart, Reaghan
76	Morse, Hallie
77	Hamer, Bob
78	Cain, Corey
79	Bilas, Jay
80	Vitale, Dick
81	Cooper, Kathleen
82	Warfel, Kay
83	Walter, Anne
84	Radzwich, Bob
85	Hall, Ricardo
86	Cole, Jason
87	Cole, Scott
88	Hall, Lauren
89	Hall, Brumbaugh
90	Berseth, Kyle
91	Weaver, Jonathan
92	Gross, Michael
93	Jackson,Jayson
94	Stewart, Missie
95	The Clarkster
96	Jones, Darryl-Jumper II
97	Snake
98	Kurina, Lianne
99	Cannon, Marshall 2
100	Pritchard, Jonathan
101	Heitzmann, Colin
102	Robinson, Allen
103	Cooper, Avery
104	Verhoeven, Alyssa
105	Walter, Doug
106	Balkey, Steve
107	Roth, Andy
108	Roth, Courtney
109	Wintersteen, Kyle
110	Cannon, Marshall
111	Ancharski, Buddy
112	Boyer, Brian
113	Watson, Luke
114	Warfel, Kay 2
115	Hawkins, Mark
116	Hall, Dorian
117	Morse, Faither
118	Oliver, Owen
119	Wood, Kyle
120	Clelland, Jim
121	Gough, Rob
122	Kletter, Maxim
123	Miller, Keith
124	Jones, Darryl
125	Stewart, Zeb
126	Cain, Corey 2
127	Walter, Owen
128	Mangan, Larry 2
129	Barbella, John
130	Ancharski, FJD (Buddy)
131	Pruitt, Christopher
132	Bisko, Brooke
133	Stewart, Kerrighan
134	Pritchard, Simon
135	Full of Blarney
136	Bettis, Lena
137	Noballs, Uhaff
138	Miller, Von
139	Brown, Antonio
140	Cooper, Maddie
141	Hall, Hartranft
142	Pritchard, Lucy
143	Johnson, Tim
144	Haushalter, David
145	Morse, Champer
146	Griak, Roy
147	Cooper, Lily
148	Radzwich, Maddi
149	Anderson, Aaron

Everybody Else Is Doing The Throwback Thursday Thing

I generally resist the bandwagon.  But when this pic came along of my roommate Alan Scharsu, I decided to jump on and hold on for dear life.

Here he is at the start of the 1979 Junior Cross Country Championships. Smack dab in the middle of it all!

Everybody get in touch with him and get him to return to the Reunion and Golf Outing this year.