Sometimes, Doing Things "Wrong" Is Best

Track and field is a sport with many unique characters.  With many different events, it is easy to see why many different personalities emerge.  But when it comes to techniques and training methods, there is rampant conservatism in track and field.

Once a triple jumper or long jumper wins a world title or Olympic competition after getting the crowd to clap before each of his jumps, you will find junior high athletes doing the same thing.  Rarely will someone blaze their own trail on the track or on the field.

Two such athletes are former world record holders Al Cantello and Dick Fosbury.  Al had one of the most unique styles of throwing and was small in size for the event.  Luckily his delivery maximized the Physics involved and propelled him to the top of the field.  I was fortunate to meet him at his XC camp in the 70s. Old School Coaches like him and Coach Groves are a disappearing breed.

Al Cantello, left.

Dick Fosbury couldn't make the required height of 5 feet to make his high school team as a Freshman, so he experimented on his own and ended up revolutionizing the whole event.  When was the last time you saw a Western Roll or Scissors or Eastern Cut-Off or Straddle?

Dick Fosbury, 1968.

I Still Sorta, Kinda Have the T-Shirt

Our West Coast Friend and author of Cross Country 101, Dan Martinez sent us another great photo from "The Past" in honor of my observation that a big part of me still lives there.  It's the 1975 AAU Cross-Country Championships in Annapolis.  That's Greg Fredericks winning the race with a time of  28:57!

I actually had a t-shirt from the race because I subsequently went to the Blue Mountain Running Camp held by Navy Coach Al Cantello.  They must have had a boatload of extras that weren't sold, so us skinny runners were the beneficiaries. I loved that t-shirt and subsequently wore it out.  Luckily, my sister was able to stitch it together enough and it now resides in the middle of my 1970's T-Shirt Quilt she made for me.

Coach Groves Going Strong

In a wide-ranging conversation on Sunday, it became obvious to me that Coach Groves is still going strong. In an effort to have Coach invite more attendees to our Golf Outing, I asked him to write a brief note that I can disseminate to all via electronic means. At first, he was on a walk, and he had to call me back later. He is in good form, and is looking forward to our tournament "as long as nothing else better comes up".

Our conversation drifted onto many topics, including bathrooms around the word (ask me about China sometime!), football, other alums, knee problems and hundreds more. He even divulged that he tried to recruit Al Cantello out of Norristown High, in the 1950's, despite his terrible form (and world record!)! Al has been Coach at Navy since time began, so that's saying something. He told me how he got Frank Zarnowski into Track announcing which led to his second career as the world's decathlon expert. (Frank is actually an economy professor at Mount St. Mary's in Maryland.) He also related that Paul Stemmer has been an assistant Coach at South Alabama the past several years.

Coach has his short irons and putter (or he'll use Clark Haley's second set again) ready for the tourney. He also has the updated Queensbury Rules book available for that tricky par 5 hole with the bird house. Bribes and under-the-table payments are being accepted to be included in Coach's foursome this year. I have taken myself out of the running since I shared a cart with him last year. So I might as well make money off it, right?

I'll email a copy of Coach's screed soon, and I'll encourage everyone to spread it around like the viruses we got in college after leaving the window open.

Ahoy There Mates!

Ran into Rob Baker last weekend, a 1991 Navy Track and XC alum from Plymouth NY. The only other coach in America who has more tenure and (almost) as many bona fides as Coach Groves is Al Cantello of Navy. A 1960 Olympian, Coach Cantello once held the world record for the javelin despite having less than stellar technique. He would essentially run up to the line, throw, and crumple into a heap, hoping to not cross the line (I'm barely exaggerating!) I attended his and decathlon expert Frank Zarnowski's running camp two straight years (along with Alberto Salazar one year, who had just beaten the Soviets at the Junior USA-USSR meet.) I bet Coach has a few stories he can tell about Coach Cantello at next year's outing. Rob says he still wears his Olympic uniform for practice one day a year!

Rob was a member of the 1991 XC team that lost 5 members in an horrific car accident at training camp in York County. Rob just missed getting to the camp in time to jump in the car for a trip to the grocery. They too have reunions (better attended than ours!) and still invite the parents of the five to attend. His high school times were almost identical to mine. Rob has restored a one-of-a-kind 1958 Airstream 30-footer. A beauty beyond belief! He has just a couple of months until he joins us poor schlubs in the civilian world. I forgot to ask if he golfs. Visit his blog by clicking on this post's title.