He Puts The Labor In Labor Day

I learned a new thing today when I took Daughter the Younger to Gettysburg College for a prospective college student visit.  Turns out Private colleges like Gettysburg are in session as the rest of us contemplate hot dogs and hamburgers after sleeping in.

Among the bustling activities on this non-holiday for the Gettysburg inhabitants, was the activities of the Gettysburg College Admissions Staff, with Senior Director Darryl Jones in charge.  Getting a teammate hug at the beginning of the day from Darryl helped take the sting out of the tuition/room board numbers for next year.

All of you know I am prone to hyperbole at times, but I must say that Darryl is as good at his job as anyone I know on this planet.  His speech was a thing of beauty.  Honest, straight-forward and devoid of anything that could be called political correctness.  And I came out of there knowing that my daughter would be in the best of hands during the application process.

I have said before that PSU Track Alumni (Golfers) are the most interesting, intelligent and accomplished people I have ever met.  Darryl Jones is all of that, and more.  And even better, if my daughter decides to matriculate at Gettysburg, I know her hurdles coach!

Darryl Jones

Extinct Eating Establishments in State College

It has been more than 30 years since college, and the average lifespan of restaurants is around 4 or 5 years.  So many have come and gone since the good ole days.

Some of my favorites are long gone:

• Wuv's - Where a Taco Bell now resides on College Avenue.  They had the first ever unpeeled fries and pretty good milkshakes. (Lets not talk about their Wuv Juice!)
• The Hot Dog Hut (or Weiner World?) Actually Weiner King- Located where Baby's is now.  They once had a 25 cent special which included a hot dog and knit cap (various styles) on a pre-meet Thursday.  We traveled back and forth from the locker room at Rec Hall with quarters to buy as many as possible.  Everybody had a selection of caps that year, which delighted everyone.  Friend of the Group Martha White (Collins) actually worked there, and did not eat hot dogs at all.  Must have been a miserable job!  Maybe she can fill us in? Martha has chimed in that it was indeed a tough job for her!  Which will stimulate another blog post on bad jobs I have had, with a few good ones thrown in...
• Pedro's - Also located at the current location of Baby's when the Hot Dog Hut closed down (They ran out of hats or something?)  This was also a prominent Thursday meal, sometimes both lunch and dinner.  Thirsty Thursday gave any size drink with a $1 purchase. Taco, chili and chips x2 with a large Mountain Dew was a great meal.  
• Roy Rogers - Where a Chipotle's (or something like that) is on College Avenue.  A holster of fries at 1:00AM was a staple.
• The Cattle Car - Where a Jimmy John's (formerly CC Peppers) is now on College Avenue. (This post was stimulated by Darryl Jones' memory of the best sandwich shop of all.)  Introduced me to "The Cosmo", a heated sandwich like in Europe, "cosmopolitan style".  Usually I got the Club with turkey, roast beef and ham with Swiss.
• The HUB Cafeteria Training Table The Terrace Room - The team at one time could eat here if they were late for the dorms, which happened often when we had our locker room at the Stadium.  They gave free glasses with the Nittany Lion performing various sports during one term.  I'm sure there are a few of you that still have some of them.  The privilege was rescinded for non-scholarship peons and walk-ons once Coach Groves caught heck for our actions.  From then on we hustled to the dorms which were kept open for us and they invariably served us fried perch because the good stuff was gone! (From an anonymous source - Track athletes were allowed $8 less per meal than the football team and $6.50 less than the soccer team.)
• Arbys - At the corner of Atherton and College. Nothing special but the scene of an everyday dinner by my brother when he lived across the street.
• Hardees - On Atherton where a dry cleaners is now located.  They had a $2 special of 2 roast beef sandwiches, fries and a drink.  When 2 of them were combined, it was a glorious feast.
• Hooters - At the current Irish Tavern on College Avenue near University Drive. Formerly Greek Pizza.  This was the scene of an impromptu Awards Dinner in the early years of the Coach Groves Golf Tourney!  We actually had one of the waitresses drive Coach in the Drink Cart at one of the Tournaments also.  I'll hunt for the photo again...
• The Olde Original Diner - Still there but a mere shell of its former self.  Long lines and late night dinners of Road Kill (omelet with everything) and a pound of fries...
• The Eutaw House - Just off 322 near Seven Mountains (Potters Mill). My HS Coach treated me to a steak dinner there after the State XC Meet in 1977.  I was still burping that steak early in the Harrisburg Marathon the next day! Edgar Allan Poe actually ate and stayed there one time. Or maybe not. (Check the link.)
  
• Train Station Restaurant - The Herlocher keystone restaurant above the Cattle Car.  Introduced the world to Herlochers Dipping Mustard. I don't think I ever ate there. The Herlochers actually closed down all of their restaurants suddenly and moved to Florida.  It was a major shock to the State College community.
  
  

I'm Still Working On the Photos and Stories From the Reunion

I actually have the day off and will eventually get to the photos from this weekend.  That is, after I pay all my late bills, feed the animals, water the plants and take a nap!

So until then, let's put up a list of people that couldn't make it and had a good reason:

1. Steve Shisler and Beth Shisler were at the Big Ten Championships watching their son Alex Shisler score points for the Nittany Lions.  Excuse Accepted.
2. Brian Boyer had business requiring knowledge of Physics in New Mexico.  Excuse Accepted.
3. Steve Balkey had a son graduating from College.  Excuse Accepted.
4. Paul Mundy had a daughter being married. Excuse Accepted.
5. Bill Kvashay and Mark Haywood were coaching at Districts.  Excuses Accepted.
6. Gary Black had business requiring extensive travel. Excuse (reluctantly) Accepted.
7. Darryl Jones had Graduation duties at Gettysburg College. Excuse Accepted.
8. And last, but certainly not least, Phil Passen was in Israel and even supplied proof with a Wrist Band pic at the Dead Sea Scroll Museum! Excuse Accepted.

Rockin the Band!

"PSU is 800 U" and I Just Met a Man I've Known My Entire Life

The last time any single school had 2 runners in the top 3 of the same 800 M at the NCAA Track Championships was 1945.  That was a war year, so it may not be a good comparison since that was also the time when MLB had a one-armed player, there being so few able-bodied men in the ranks due to The War.

Cas Loxsom with a throwback singlet and Brannon Kidder with a newfangled one.

Casimir Loxsom finished second (1:46.88) and Brannon Kidder finished 3rd (1:47.51).  Hat tip to Oregon's Elijah Greer with the win at 1:46.68. It's been one heck of a career for Cas, and Brannon's seems to have started out fairly well too!  Only a true Hater would begrudge Cas the lack of an NCAA Championship in the age of Andrew Wheating, Charles Jock, Robby Andrews and Elijah Greer.  We have been blessed with an abundance of amazing talent in the middle distances, and PSU is holding their own quite well, thank you very much!  Having met Casimir and the rest of them makes me realize that they are even better people than runners, which is saying a lot.

We should all sport our "PSU is 800 U" wrist bands with the pride of a Champion and the humility of a human. If you don't have one yet, let me know.





And yesterday I spent the day in Gettysburg, checking out college options for my daughter.  I had a meeting with group member Darryl Jones at Admissions and I must say it reinforces my conviction that our group's members are some of the finest people on the planet.  Darryl grew up in Central PA just like me and walked onto Coach Groves' team the year after I left for Philadelphia.  Our paths didn't cross that we know of until now, but it's like we have known each other for our entire lives.  Probably 2 dozens of your names came up during our conversation.  PSU Track Alumni (Golfers) are some of the most talented, accomplished and intelligent people I have ever met.  Darryl himself has so many talents, none of us could possibly keep track of all of them.  I especially can't wait to sample some of his cooking.

Ten Questions: Darryl Jones

1.    What song immediately brings back memories of Penn State? –Superfreak by Rick James

2.   Who was the biggest team clown during your track years?  Ron Gulaskey, and it’s not even CLOSE.

3.   What was your best PSU Track or XC performance?  Winning D-Day as a senior with the help of Rob Boulware’s encouragement.

4.   What is your best Coach Groves memory?   Team meeting with a hatchet hidden behind his back, basically saying that a #4 national ranking was making us “cocky”, and he challenged us to place our “manhood” on a desk, which he proceeded to wail on with the business end of the hatchet.  I loved that little room!

5.   What was your favorite haunt/watering hole in State College back in the day?    We NEVER went out-we were varsity athletes!  Mr. C’s on Thursdays, or Café 210 West.      

6.   What was your least favorite workout?   Stadium steps, as in ALL of them, in the fall.  It’s a workout Coach Groves used to make people quit before he cut them in the fall.

7.    Do you get back to State College at all? ( My question to eliminate)

8.   What is your most embarrassing moment while attending Penn State? This happened to a few of us—the good old DUKE jock strap broke during a meet while triple jumping.  Just imagine the discomfort and the SAND.

9.   What exercising do you currently do?  2-3x a week-martial arts.

10.  What was the best home football game you attended?  Any freshman of sophomore game was stupendous; that was when the team was REALLY good.  I was also in the Blue Band at the time.

The Rules for the next bloke (Rob Boulware!) are:  1.  Answer the questions.  2.  Pick a question to eliminate.  3.  Write a new question (pending blog officer approval).  4.  Pick the next victim.

World Domination and Internet Chatter:

Our first hit from South America came in today. Brazil adds to our now world-wide presence. Only Antarctica stands between us and total continental acceptance of our mission statement (if we had one).

There has been much activity lately via every form of communication. The internet is humming with PSU Track Alumni Golf activity. This pleases me beyond measure. Also the phone lines, Facebook, and even good old-fashioned snail mail are "off-the-hook"(thanks to Coach's refusal to use electronic means). Thank goodness we're not Homeland Security; we would have to raise the alert level to red.

Coach's communication touched even the hardened hearts of sprinters and jumpers. We've heard from The Bahama's Own, Mike Sands as well as Ed Roskiewicz from Princeton and Darryl Jones from Gettysburg. They spin tails of workouts gone by. Even three time Olympian Mike Sands has admitted to "misreading" Coach's scrawled workout sheets. I can see how some would read Coach's scribbles as 6 X hill as opposed to 10 X hill as it was originally written. I also note that "warm up to hill" makes no mention of stashing a car near the hill, so "no harm, no foul". Others have called for Mike to assume organization of next year's event IN THE BAHAMAS. Hmmm, sounds interesting.

Ed has enlightened us with what he considers the "worst" of the sprinters/jumpers workouts. Apparently, the "Super D" put the fear of God into all of them like no other. A 600/500/400/300/200 was interspersed with sit-ups, push-ups etc. Points were awarded for fast times and numbers of exercises completed between them. It does sound sort of difficult. Vomiting was mostly the result, although I don't think points were awarded for it.

I will try to defend the distance guys workouts though. I NEVER ran less than Coach had written on the board at Rec Hall (or Beaver Stadium later). My freshman year, Bruce Baden and John Ziegler made every 15 mile run at least 18 miles. I'm not sure I ever puked, but I never ate 7 Reuben sandwiches either (Ed's favorite dorm meal). My favorite dorm meal was the cheesesteaks with the ladeled cheese, (as I was never able to partake in the Chicken Cosmo my sister later bragged about). I do remember eating 12 or 13 bowls of the strawberry/bananas, my favorite dessert. Only Gary could eat more.