Penn State Track is Everywhere

Although she says she shouldn't be credited with the find, Elaine LaFramboise Pino alerted me to a snippet of video showing how widespread we are becoming. As a boxer in his youth, Nelson Mandela would have fit right in with any of us involved with the team.

So it is fitting that someone representing us was there for his funeral. And didn't shake any dictator's hands. (I threw that in just to renew the top description of our group which relates occasional "oblique" political reference.)  I'm not actually sure that shaking Raul's hands means anything at all.  Check out the video at 1:55!

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And don't forget to vote in the Semi-Finals of the Performance of the Year.  You must go to the full web site to see the poll on the left side-bar.  Vote for three.  The next Semi-Final will be next week and the Finals will be between Christmas and New Year.  So bookmark the site and return often!

The Rocky Balboa 50K

Via The Wall Street Journal

"PHILADELPHIA—An enduring image of American film is Rocky Balboa triumphantly mounting the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art after failing his first attempt in the 1976 Oscar-winning "Rocky."

By "Rocky II," when the underdog boxer repeats the feat surrounded by cheering children, he hardly seems winded.

But astute locals have long noticed something amiss about that run in the 1979 sequel. The montage shows Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone, starting from his South Philly home, then quickly cuts to him running along train tracks—roughly 7 miles to the northeast. Then, he is back in South Philly's open-air Italian Market, and before you know it he is miles away along the Schuylkill River.

The run through distal parts of the city seems almost impossible, even for someone as tough as Rocky.

Enter the ultra-running movement to show it is possible. Nearly four decades after the first Rocky movie, a group of runners set out Saturday to re-create Rocky's training run—all 31 miles of it, the equivalent of 50 kilometers.

"If you actually look at where he runs, he's all over the city," said Rebecca Schaefer, a 25-year-old ultramarathoner living in Philadelphia's Center City. "That's a lot for someone to undertake without serious training........."

As mentioned earlier on this blog, the illogical route taken during Sylvester Stallone's training run in Rocky II came out to 30.6 miles (approximatley 50 kilometers).  Go figure a boxing movie has done more to inspire long distance running efforts than any running movie.

A Roundup of PSU Track Alumni News, Plus A Physics Board Game!

As a catch-up for plenty of submissions from astute readers of the blog, lurkers and other assorted miscreants, here is a mish mash of items.

First up is from Brian Mount, our William and Mary Roving Coorespondent, who "ran into" some Fuller Brothers in a race in Chambersburg.  As he put it, "The Glass was 2/3 Fuller" with Brian placing third in 31:31 and Kevin 8th in 34:07 for the 10K race.  Alas, no Alumni Singlet sightings as they are apparently sponsored now by an underwater treadmill company or stole some uniforms. Hee hee hee

Next, Phil Caraher has opened a new Fitness Enterprise in the Wonderland that is North Carolina.  I wish him the best of luck. Triangle Sports Performance Center is in good hands.

Speaking of North Carolina, Alan Scharsu recently moved from San Diego to North Carolina.  Those of you nearby need to get a hold of him and let him know he's welcome! And he promises it's close enough to make it to the Coach Groves Golf Tourney!

Tyler McCandless recently was interviewed for a Podcast about his eccentric pro running career.  Check it out here.

And as promised, here's Physics in a Board Game!  Although for most of us, it's probably just a bored game.

And don't forget to vote in the Semi-Finals of the Performance of the Year.  You must go to the full web site to see the poll on the left side-bar.  Vote for three.  The next Semi-Final will be next week and the Finals will be between Christmas and New Year.  So bookmark the site and return often!

Running in the Snow

One of my greatest runs ever was a 10 miler in a foot of snow in 1980 with Rob Whiteside, the Official Muse of the Blog.  I don't remember why it was just the two of us and he may not even remember it as well as I do.  We ran the 10 miler out to Swatsworth Road and then up the rocky hill to the airport before cutting back through the Pine Forests and past the Observatory and the Deer Pens.

It was a tough run in tough conditions, but we had our usual good time doing it. It was so easy in those days...

Other snowy runs weren't as much fun, but there were quite a few of them.  My first ever run in the snow in State College occurred on October 12, 1977.  I have that in my log, so I'm pretty sure of that one.  I didn't know it was in snow until I had gone a while, slipped and fell in the darkness at 5:30AM.  (I swear Coach, I was really religious about the morning runs until Senior year!)

Yesterday's football games in Baltimore and Philadelphia certainly favored those who could run in the snow.  Still, Lesean McCoy took nearly 3 hours to run just over 200 yards.  Anyone on any PSU team over the years ran a lot more than that! (But we didn't have anyone chasing us wishing to remove our heads from our shoulders. Most of us anyway...)

I didn't bother to run any outside yesterday.  I continued with my usual indoor treadmill "fitness" regimen and shuffled for 5 miles in balmy glory, watching Lesean run his 200 yards in the snows of Philly.

And don't forget to vote in the Semi-Finals of the Performance of the Year.  You must go to the full web site to see the poll on the left side-bar.  Vote for three.  The next Semi-Final will be next week and the Finals will be between Christmas and New Year.  So bookmark the site and return often!

Performance of the Year Semi-Finals

We've had 17 submissions via the right side-bar for our Performance of the Year.  (All you people that only lurk on the site via mobile means need to occasionally visit the full web site to see all the extras on the side-bars!)

Remember, anything at all is eligible for submission.  A cure for cancer would certainly count as much as a 2 minute-mile in my book.  You may submit anything at any time.

In order to whittle the field down a bit, let's break them up into parcels by date and have a semi-final round to bring the vote to a more manageable 6 or so.  All you mobile lurkers must visit the full web site and vote for the semi-finalists on the Left Side-bar! Vote for your top three.

Temple: More Perspectives From Real Reporters

I am a Temple Alum.  My Podiatry School was affiliated with Temple in the 50's and 60's, became independent when I was there, but became affiliated with Temple again in the 00's. They even sent me a new diploma with real sheepskin.  So I still get a  phone call asking for help every day from "my alma mater".  This is despite having only one experience on their campus in my life.  I took my MCATs there after getting a ride from former roommate Doug Kent from PSU in 1981 Spring of 1980, (Doug even took his Camaro (or was it a Firebird?) over xx* mph during the ride because I told him I had never been.).  I have a soft spot in my heart for Temple because despite the gunshots and sirens going off right outside our building (I'm not making that up!)  I did very well. The police even locked us IN the building during the exam.  Talk about stress.

With the announcement of the dropping of 7 Varsity sports, the opinions are pouring in from all over. Needless to say, Football in combination with Title IX is a Mens Track and Field nightmare.

The last time Temple cut programs was in 1986, when it eliminated eight sports. The move also gets the school back into compliance with Title IX. The Inquirer notes that the school had been out of compliance for years.

Sporting News report.

An anti-football screed from Deadspin.

* actual number omitted because Doug is a lawyer and I'm not a fool. (Well, most of the time!)

Cuts Hit Home, Sorta Kinda

Temple University, alma mater of Coach Groves and Bill Cosby (a smart-a** Freshman when Coach was a Senior) will be dropping Men's Indoor and Outdoor Track after this year.

It will keep happening.

Cas Loxsom. Brooks Beast.

Wanted to share two Flotrack videos of the newly formed Brooks Beast training group featuring Casimir Loxsom. His famous twitter account and even more famous Anekin Boonanakin get shout outs.

Do runners get a baseline concussion test?

It Will Keep Happening

Another Division I Program is jettisoning its Mens Track and Cross Country Programs

Part of our efforts at "the blog with it all" is making people aware that everyone involved with Track and Cross Country are in a precarious position.  Support, both physically and monetarily, happens to be quite essential in these times.  And despite what some "experts" might tell you (you know who you are!), things will not be getter better in our lifetimes.

I do partly blame Title IX, and there are true believers out there who disagree with me, sometimes violently.  But no purpose is served by enhancing the sports prospects of high school females at the expense of high school males. None at all.  Fairness in numbers isn't fairness to individuals. A quota justifies nothing. And with the law, it's extremely difficult to ever cut a Women's Program without first getting rid of the Mens.

But Title IX is only part of the problem.  Higher and higher costs for the Big-Time sports means sometimes cuts have to be made.  And if it's only the pennies of a Cross Country and Track Program, those pennies become the cause celebre for academic bureaucrats.

I don't know the proper course of action to combat this, other than getting involved as much as possible and giving back to the Program however much you are able to.  I'll stop harping again now...

Thanks Brian, my writing skills always need help!

Indoor Season Beckons

I've had a little meme going for a while now.  I preview the next season with some vintage photos of yesteryear.  But I may be running out of vintage photos!  I need new submissions or I'll have to start recycling more than my empty Mountain Dew containers.

Anyway, here's some photos from some indoor races from the 70's.  As always, wonderful prizes will be won by those naming the participants.  Extra credit for the name of the facilities and the exact year.

I'm hoping to entice a large contingent of PSU Track Alumni Golfers to the Penn State National Indoor Meet on January 31/February 1.  Maybe a special edition Wrist Band will be available!

All photos from Group Friend Walt Chadwick.

The World's Best "Loser"

 “I’ve run more miles on more courts in more countries than any other human being,” -Red Klotz.

If you lost 14,000 basketball games during your career, people might call you a loser.  But if the masses then found out that "losing" meant more to the global spread of basketball than any other factor, they might have to reconsider.  If they then were informed that the player continued playing full court basketball into his 80's, they would stir in their chairs. If they then found out that the"loser" was the shortest player ever to win an NBA title, they would perk up and listen to the story.

Well, the story is told by a friend of the group Tim Kelly, who has quite a few interesting things about him also.  Tim's dad named old Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia, giving Tim a front row seat at just about every interesting happening in Philly, including the annual Wing Bowl. And he has run every Sea Isle City Island Runs (2 of the last 3 winners were PSU Track Alumni Golfers!) except one. And he doesn't hold that against his daughter, he just didn't time her birth correctly.

It took Tim a lot longer than he anticipated and he took a lot of heat from people, but he wanted to get it right.  But finally, the book is out!

The Legend of Red Klotz

It details the life and times of Red Klotz, long time owner, coach and player for the Washington Generals, the team that happens to play the Harlem Globetrotters in every game around the world. There's even a foreword from Joe Posnanski, a recognizable figure to PSU fans. Here's an article from the Inquirer about the book.

And here's another article by Tim from South Jersey Magazine.

And there was that time that Red drained the 2-hand set shot to give the team their only victory...  But you'll have to read that for yourself.

The Last of the Turkey Day Posts

Thanksgiving means running, as evidenced by the large number of Alumni Golfers who participate in "Trots" across our land.  But Thanksgiving also means football, for which a large number of us are grateful.  This video was smuggled out from possibly the Fuller Family Compound on Cape Cod, I think.  Their annual touch football game with returning Coach Groves Golf Tourney Champions Mark, Kevin and Brian far surpasses anything John, Bobby and Teddy ever engaged in.



Tell Ohio State, we want a rematch.