<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With the results of the Upper Peninsula Track Finals in the books, let us say \u2018congratulations\u2019 to all of those who toil in the world of Track and Field.\u00a0 No other sport I can think of demands as much personal discipline as being a track athlete.\u00a0 Reading the results a couple of weeks ago sent me down the path of remembering my own less than remarkable track career.\u00a0 My participation didn\u2019t earn a varsity letter, but it was still a great experience.\u00a0 I have always been involved in sports but was never one to join organized teams until I tried out for track.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the spring of my junior year in high school, I developed a nagging case of the shin splints.\u00a0 I kiddingly blame my old buddy Jim Soderberg for this because it was at his suggestion I decided to go out for track.\u00a0 My last involvement with organized sports was elementary school flag football.\u00a0 There was a simple reason for my sudden interest in joining a team sport:\u00a0 it would relieve me of my obligation to take gym class for the rest of the year.\u00a0 Gym class during the last part of the year was mostly softball or track stuff.\u00a0 It seemed to make sense;\u00a0 skipping a third consecutive year of spring gym would give me a free period to hang out in the band room.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I first considered tennis but didn\u2019t think my skills were up to that level.\u00a0 Jim said, \u201cHey, come out for track.\u00a0 You will have more fun than tennis.\u201d\u00a0 For the record, I would end up playing a lot more tennis in my life – throwing the shot put would not occupy nearly as much of my time as fuzzball (tennis).\u00a0 Our first year chemistry teacher threw javelin and shot put at NMU and he added his two cents to the debate:\u00a0 \u201cYou are big kid – try shot put.\u201d\u00a0 Jim can only be blamed for giving me the idea;\u00a0 the shin splints were my own fault because I hadn\u2019t bothered to ask more questions before I started training.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As a newbie, I was given a hoodie and sweats that were less red than the official school colors – not quite pink but getting there.\u00a0 Street training was the rule as we waited for spring to melt the snow on the track.\u00a0 This was after the particularly snow filled winter of 1969-70, so it would take a while.\u00a0 Until then, we would do calisthenics in the gym, then take to the streets to run.\u00a0 I still remember the route:\u00a0 west on Fair Avenue, north on Gray, east on Wright, and then south on West until we got back to Fair.\u00a0 Not knowing a thing about running shoes, I wore my good old canvas Converse All Star basketball shoes.\u00a0 That was mistake number one.\u00a0 Assuming I was in good enough shape from playing pickup basketball games at Northern\u2019s gym, I trotted off with the pack.\u00a0 They had already been running for a couple of weeks when I joined and running with the pack, that was mistake number two.\u00a0 I held up pretty well for the first half of the route but the pain in my side told me I needed to hang back and pace myself.\u00a0 The coach drove by those of us lagging in the back.\u00a0 He reminded us we were supposed to be running before speeding away to catch up to the runners well ahead of us.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We did this routine for a couple of weeks.\u00a0 When we got back to the gym, we went to lift weights for thirty minutes before we worked on the mechanics of shot putting.\u00a0 The assistant track coach had also been a shot putter at NMU and he showed us the proper mechanics.\u00a0 Coach emphasized \u2018speed lifting\u2019 to train our muscles for the quick burst of power needed to properly propel the shot.\u00a0 He also told us to grunt loudly upon releasing the shot to make sure we were getting maximum energy into each toss.\u00a0 After weeks of indoor training (including some \u2018around the gym\u2019 relays to break up the monotony), I was more than ready to get outdoors.\u00a0 It was during one of these indoor races I got my heel clipped rounding the orange cone marking the inside lane.\u00a0 After I went down like a ton of bricks, the coach wandered over and extended a hand to get me off the deck.\u00a0 He asked, \u201cYou okay?\u00a0 You went down kind of hard.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I am alright,\u201d I replied, \u201cbut my lower legs are sore.\u201d\u00a0 He informed me running on the streets without the right shoes had given me a case of shin splints:\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll heal,\u201d he told me.\u00a0 He just didn\u2019t happen to mention how long it would take.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After some of the team spent a weekend shoveling snow off the track to speed up the melting process, we moved outdoors.\u00a0 Coach insisted we do some weight training before heading to the track and then he had us run a couple of 440s.\u00a0 Each lap of the track measured 440 yards and four laps equals a mile.\u00a0 At least twice he timed us in our 440s just to make sure we were not just jogging our way around the track.\u00a0 We were pretty rubber legged by the time we went to the shot put pit at the south end of the field.\u00a0 Coach reminded us we were there to work mostly on technique and grunting.\u00a0 \u201cYou won\u2019t have tired legs on the day of a meet, so fresh legs and good technique will help you perform better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another group training exercise the head coach liked was having everyone run dashes against each other.\u00a0 He called us to the straight away near the bleachers and told us to form a line in each lane.\u00a0 When we got to the front, we would take our turn.\u00a0 The first time I did this, I happened to be in a heat with a bunch of freshman sprinters.\u00a0 The smirks told me they were going to enjoy leaving this lumbering old junior shot putter in their dust.\u00a0 At the whistle, I put my head down and dug in without bothering to look left or right.\u00a0 I do not know how far behind the rest of the pack was, but when the coach pointed at me and called out my time, I thought, \u201cHey, that isn\u2019t too shabby.\u201d\u00a0 No, I do not remember the actual time, but I do remember the coach yelling at the freshmen, \u201cYou guys think you are sprinters?\u00a0 You just got beat by a shot putter!\u201d The next time we did the group sprints, I could not help but notice the freshmen made sure they lined up behind the shot putters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0By mid-season, my shin splints were bothering me big time.\u00a0 I asked some of the other athletes and coaches about it and they all said the same thing:\u00a0 \u201cTime is the cure.\u00a0 If you want to improve faster, stop running.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t want to sit out of everything for a year, then make sure you warm up before running or playing ball.\u201d\u00a0 Some days were better than others and the \u2018warming up\u2019 advice helped (some).\u00a0 Six years later, I found myself playing city league basketball in Ontonagon.\u00a0 Even though there had been some improvement in my condition, the old aches and pains in my shins would take several more years to finally go away.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It would be great to tell you I placed in a meet and earned a varsity letter, but I missed my golden opportunity by an inch.\u00a0 A fireplug of a freshman beat me for third place in a triangular meet, but it was my own fault.\u00a0 I made the cardinal mistake of stepping out of the ring to the side on my best throw (one must only enter and leave the ring at the rear).\u00a0 They don\u2019t measure scratched attempts, but it looked to be a good six inches longer than the fireplug\u2019s best toss.\u00a0 My second best was, you guessed it, one inch shorter than his.\u00a0 He got a varsity letter and I got a winged foot to put on the lettermen jacket I didn\u2019t own.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It could have been worse.\u00a0 When a JV meet was scheduled in Negaunee, the roster was posted with my name included.\u00a0 \u201cCoach, I\u2019m a junior, am I supposed to go to this meet?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 \u201cGeez,\u201d he said, \u201cYou are a junior?\u00a0 Good thing you spoke up.\u00a0 That could get us disqualified!\u201d\u00a0 Apparently there isn\u2019t a varsity letter given for not getting the team DQed.\u00a0 It was kind of fun learning a new skill and my shot coach said my technique was pretty good:\u00a0 \u201cPump the weights and next year you will be better yet.\u201d\u00a0 I thought about it, but we already had our eye on playing real gigs for money with my band The Twig.\u00a0 In the end, the band trumped track my senior year.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After all the work the core group of shot putters put in, it was rather disheartening to find out the best guy on the squad never practiced shot putting.\u00a0 He was one of those gifted senior athletes the coach plugged into as many events he thought he could win.\u00a0 Collecting the most points at any one meet was the name of the game.\u00a0 This senior could sprint, high jump, hurdle, and, as we found out, toss the shot.\u00a0 He was in so many events, he had to ask the official running the shot if he could just take all of his attempts in a row.\u00a0 The other coaches agreed it was okay, so he did just that.\u00a0 He had terrible technique but enough coordination and strength to just muscle it out there.\u00a0 He beat the best shot putter in the first meet by at least a foot and then trotted off to his other events.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I had pretty much forgotten my track and field \u2018career\u2019 by the spring of 1975.\u00a0 During my student teaching stint at Bothwell Middle School, long time teacher Fred Rydhom approached me and said, \u201cI need an assistant track coach.\u00a0 Would you be interested?\u00a0 Were you in track in high school?\u201d \u00a0 \u201cSure, Fred, I would love to help out.\u00a0 I was a shot putter.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cGreat.\u00a0 Come to the\u00a0 locker room after school and I will get you a track suit.\u00a0 I will work with the runners and you can work with the field events.\u201d\u00a0 I dusted off my best technique and training advice.\u00a0 It was a relief to find I could at least throw a shot farther than my Junior High charges.\u00a0 We had one meet in Negaunee and I paid my old friend Jim back.\u00a0 He was home on summer break from college so I invited him to come along.\u00a0 It turned out the host school didn\u2019t have enough helpers so Jim ended up running the high jump and I had to man the shot put event.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As I approached the end of my first year teaching in Ontonagon, the A.D. asked if I would be willing to help out with the track meets.\u00a0 I said, \u201cSure.\u00a0 I was a shot putter in high school.\u00a0 Could I officiate that?\u201d\u00a0 He asked me a couple of questions to make sure I knew the rules and said I was good to go.\u00a0 Remembering the boneheaded move that cost me a letter, I made sure everybody was clear on what they had to do to avoid having a toss DQed.\u00a0 I am glad I did because the second meet I worked, a coach got after me when his star shot putter lost a first place toss for stomping his foot on top of the barrier at the front of the shot put circle.\u00a0 \u201cHow can you not count what was clearly the winning toss?\u201d he fumed.\u00a0 For his part, the kid spoke up and said, \u201cHe told us not to do that (step on the restraining ring) and I forgot.\u201d\u00a0 The coach apparently didn\u2019t know any better because he still went away mad, but at least he went away.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The other thing most casual observers didn\u2019t understand is how the distances were measured.\u00a0 I would have an assistant holding the zero end of a long wind up tape measure.\u00a0 When the shot hit the pit, he would hold the end of the tape at the rim of the hole made by the shot.\u00a0 I would be in the ring with the other end and slowly move the tape back and forth over the inside edge of the barrier.\u00a0 The lowest number that lined up with the barrier ring was the distance recorded.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are you moving that around\u2019\u201d some would ask, \u201chold it steady or you won\u2019t get the right distance.\u201d\u00a0 Just the opposite is true – you have to move the tape around to get the right reading.<\/span><\/p>\n I may not have lettered in high school track, but I did know how to officiate the event.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In high school, those of us who didn\u2019t qualify for an event at the conference championship were pressed into service at the meet.\u00a0 As the host school, we had to move hurdles between races and act as runners between the officials and the scorers table.\u00a0 I would much rather have been working on the shot put but I got stuck with a corner judge.\u00a0 These people watch runners and look for any interference caused during the race.\u00a0 My one and only duty was to stand around and wait for the official to make a call before sending me to report it.\u00a0 Race after race, nothing unusual happened.\u00a0 During one of the distance races, the official I was working with turned and said, \u201cRun and report that Number 18 interfered with Number 23 in turn two.\u201d\u00a0 The official at the scoring table looked up at me like I was crazy:\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure those were the right numbers?\u00a0 They are both on the same team.\u00a0 Why are you telling me this?\u201d\u00a0 The only answer I had was, \u201cBecause he told me to come and tell you that and it isn\u2019t up to me to question what he told me to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That was the biggest reason I much preferred working at the shot putt pit.\u00a0 The last big meet in Ontonagon my first year here was for the conference title.\u00a0 It was held on a Saturday but I had an appointment in Marquette the day before.\u00a0 The AD was really disappointed when he found out I was going to be out of town.\u00a0 After much pleading on his account, I told him I could leave early Saturday morning and make it back before the official\u2019s meeting at 9 a.m.\u00a0 \u201cIf you want to meet the rest of us for breakfast, we will be at Syl\u2019s,\u201d he said.\u00a0 I thanked him but said I would be there in time for the pre-meet meeting, but not necessarily for breakfast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things worked out just fine time wise, but when I got to the old school gym to get my officials badge, the AD acted surprised to see me.\u00a0 \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t see you at breakfast so I assigned so and so to do the shot.\u201d\u00a0 This was not what I expected. \u00a0 He thought for a minute and said, \u201cI am short a timer for the sprints and distance events.\u00a0 You can do that.\u201d\u00a0 Having never been a timer before, the lead race official gave me a stopwatch and instructions:\u00a0 \u201cWe award points for the top six finishers.\u00a0 You are the timer for sixth place.\u00a0 Keep and eye out and when the sixth runner crosses the line, stop your watch and go out on the track and hold them there until the results are recorded.\u201d\u00a0 It seemed easy enough and as long as I had rearranged my whole weekend to help, it made sense to do something.\u00a0 How hard could punching a stopwatch be?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first couple of races were easy.\u00a0 There was quite a gap between the top finishers and those who placed 4, 5, and 6.\u00a0 Then trouble arrived.\u00a0 In one of the later races, I did my thing and when I got to the sixth place finisher, the fifth place official arrived to claim the same runner saying, \u201cShe was fifth.\u201d\u00a0 The other official pointed to the girl in the next lane and said, \u201cShe was in sixth place.\u201d\u00a0 This was a little confusing because the fifth and sixth place finishers were a good yard apart and I did NOT make a mistake.\u00a0 I protested mildly and the other official (who was a good deal older than yours truly) called over the head scorer and started to make a fuss about it.\u00a0 He raised his eyebrow, looked us both over, and then recorded the result the way the older official called it.\u00a0 This became the second reason officiating track meets went down on my list of priorities (showing up and being told they hadn\u2019t expected me to show up was the first).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After the final results were announced and everyone was packing up, I crossed paths with the head scorer.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI know you weren\u2019t wrong in that race placement.\u00a0 Did you notice the other official happened to switch the finish in favor of a girl from her school\u2019s team?\u00a0 The couple of points involved were not going to change the finishing order so I let it go.\u00a0 Both runners got to place and it didn\u2019t affect the final team scoring order.\u00a0 Thanks for not making a big thing out of it.\u201d\u00a0 The head scorer\u2019s reputation went up several notches in that conversation, but it made me a little angry that someone would stoop so low to try and influence the outcome of a high school track meet.\u00a0 Heaven help us if it had made a difference in the final order of finish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With the advent of electronic timing, such shenanigans wouldn\u2019t pass muster these days.\u00a0 Like the days of the cinder track, stopwatch timing for track meets has gone the way of the dinosaur.\u00a0 Even with that rather sour ending to my officiating career, I still look back and fondly remember my days as a \u2018thin clad\u2019.\u00a0 All these years later, my friend Dan\u2019s \u2018little\u2019 brother Pete (all six foot six of him these days) still reminds me I taught him how to throw the shot put when I was student teaching and he was in seventh grade.<\/span><\/p>\n To Piece Video:\u00a0 Okay, I wasn’t a runner but this seemed to fit, shin splints and all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With the results of the Upper Peninsula Track Finals in the books, let us say \u2018congratulations\u2019 to all of those who toil in the world of Track and Field.\u00a0 No other sport I can think of demands as much personal discipline as being a track athlete.\u00a0 Reading the results a couple of weeks ago 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