NYC 2024

 "Hey Dad, this DJ producer guy I've been following is doing a show in Brooklyn this year. Can we go?"

Sure. It's been 5 years since Zoe last destroyed NYC. 

6 hours of delays and 4 flight changes in Salt Lake City moved our arrival from 10pm to 0430. Oh well; at least our hotel room was waiting for us. 

I woke before noon while the kid was still out cold. And I found our first meal destination!

Yes, we split that monster! No way I was eating it solo. 

Incredible pastrami!

Zoe first told me about this new play in 2016, i had no idea. So glad I finally was able to bring her to the show. 

Front row balcony is a really good vantage point!

Friday's main event; subway to East Williamsburg. First, some ridiculous Korean food...

Had time for a stroll thru a nearby park; we should have just eaten there!

The club, 'Elsewhere.' Kid was up front all night. 

I punched out, grabbed a subway, and went to visit buddy (and fellow umpire) Lloyd for a bit. Spent a nice hour meeting his lovely family and watching the Olympics. 

Next day, Zoe again is out for the count. I find out thru bizarre coincidence a day ago that Hayward Field Backstretch Bandit (also two time NCAA champ and professional runner) Claudette is in town visiting her son, who literally lives a block from my hotel. So we hit the Chelsea High Line...

Zoe found another DJ mixer performance thing for Saturday at the Museum of Modern Art, so we put that on the schedule as well. The MOMA Design store is super cool; so many ways to make coffee!

I asked for royalties on the skateboards below, with no luck. 

Zoe wanted a prime spot for the performance...zoom in. 

I called this exhibit 'Chihuly Lite.' Looks like that display at the Space Needle, but cheaper. This literally is recycled stuffed animals. 

Paris 2024? In the words of Ricky Bobby, "that...just....happened!"

No royalties here, either. Can NBC the person sue NBC the station for copyright infringement? 

Sigh. No better reason to visit NYC than to spend an evening in classmate Craig's superlative digs. 

We even got the Captain's Table!

Craig was tied up; his lovely wife Kay and GM Tom took great care of us. 

Lobster ravioli, branzino, and the 'small' plate of carbonara that was anything but. And the tiramisu ended up being breakfast. Incredible food!

Sunday morning, I'm up early...my body rarely sleeps late, time change notwithstanding. So, a WTC walkabout. 

For the life of me, I don't understand how the WTC courtyard sphere wasn't pounded flat into a pancake. 

Three USNA guys in this photo below, one that i knew well (Billy D).

Confirming: AHam is still dead. 

Took the subway to Brooklyn, and found this great pizza place folks told me about years ago. When I tried to visit in 2019, I saw that the health inspector had closed it down! And it's still down. 

Walked the BBridge back into the city...

Chinatown...

Last day was in my Somerville NJ hometown....the train took us past the hometown of 4x Olympic Gold Medalist Sydney. 

Martino's was our favorite restaurant back in the day, exquisite Cuban food. Now they've moved a block or two away. 

Our old neighbors across the street weren't home. Bummer!

Fun trip with my kid!

The Passing of a Hometown Legend

A few years ago, I flew into Mexico City, and had the immense pleasure of seeing the 1968 Olympic Stadium right before landing. That view brought back some memories...

When I moved to Oregon in 2007, Kenny Moore had just published "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon." There were many wonderful pages dedicated to one Charles Wade Bell: UO half miler, Olympian, CPA, and longtime Clerk at Hayward Field. I think he just earned his 50 year volunteer pin!

If you haven't read "Bowerman," it's a treasure trove. Kenny talks at length about Wade's first (only?) sub-4 mile, and there's a bittersweet section about how Wade contracted food poisoning in Mexico and didn't advance. Bowerman was adamant in saying Wade would have passed Ralph Doubell in the homestretch for the 800m win. 

Wade later became Bowerman's accountant, and was clear about never having invested in Nike, nor not once made any recommendations to Bill about endowments. Wade wanted no appearance that he had a conflict of interest....The man had integrity. 

At every home meet, Wade and his clerking partner in crime Jenifer made sure that each event started like clockwork, keeping a steady flow of competitors moving onto the track. He might have been his best during the hundreds of 4x400 relays, juggling the third and fourth leg lineups like a chess master. 

Before the 2016 Prefontaine Classic, OTC invited the first 10 UO sub-runners back to share some stories. Arne, Roscoe, Archie, Jim G, Jim B, Wade et al.....lots of laughter that night

After the new stadium was completed, I asked what he thought Bowerman's impression would have been. Wade chuckled and said, "Bill would have thought it was a big much, and then he would have enjoyed it." 

During the World Championships two years ago, I was leaving the track and happened to see Wade hugging John Carlos. I have to say, my breath caught for a second. Fortunately, I was able to get a few shots of a great moment. 

Rest in peace, sir. You made track meets fun. 

 

Rome 1960

 As a 10 year old, I found a magnificent book in the Bridgewater library called "The Story of the Olympic Games."

And I read that book dozens of times. Yes, had I known that 'Olympics Researcher' was an actual job, I would be NBC working for NBC. 

Many years later, I found the book on Amazon. 

One of my favorite passages involved the 1960 Games in Rome, particularly the 4x400m relay. Oregon's Otis Davis, the open 400m winner, anchored that relay to a world record for his second gold medal. His teammates (I can recite from a 1975 memory) were Berkeley's Jack Yerman, Abilene Christian's Earl Young, and Ohio State's Glenn Davis. 

Around 2009, after I moved to Oregon, I meet Skip, a runner from Cal Berkeley back in the day, and a teammate of Jack Yerman's . I blurted out 'Yerman, Young, and the Davis twins!'

Skip admonished me by saying Glenn and Otis were not related. Yes, I know!!! My tongue was buried in my cheek at the time; sometimes I'm too witty for the rest of the world!

Today, I noticed on Facebook that a friend of a friend is Earl Young, who I immediately recognized as the fourth member of that record setting quartet. 

Being the (not exactly) shy type, I reached out to him and had a lovely exchange. Let me preface the conversation by revealing that his 1960 Olympic teammates Al Cantello, Dave Sime, and Don 'Tarzan' Bragg supposedly stole the Olympic flags from the stadium as the Games closed; that caper is described in the book "Rome 1960" by Davis Maraniss. 

The following is a hodgepodge of conversations that began with an exchange between me and the USATF Rules Chairman, who was following up on a review project. 

Hi Dick, 

I’m in Italy, returning 27 Jan. Will do what I can to provide input. 

One of my goals here was to see the Olympic Stadium. Even more poignant now, given that my alma mater Navy’s longtime head coach Al Cantello died yesterday. He coached my Navy ‘87 classmate Ron Harris to 3rd in the 1996 Olympic Trials 5k behind Bob Kennedy (who I’m sure you know)…..Al also attended the Space Shuttle Columbia launch of Pilot Willie McCool ‘83, who died upon re-entry in 2003. Willie was Navy’s cross country captain his senior year; he had graduated in 1983 and was at the airport to pick up incoming plebe Ron for our Induction Day in July 1983. 

The Navy cross country course now has a memorial to Willie approximately 16 minutes from the finish line; the Columbia disintegrated 16 minutes prior to landing. 

https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2023/february/sixteen-minutes-home-willie-mccools-memorial

A favorite story was of Al, Don (Tarzan) Bragg, and Dave Sime shimmying up the Rome Olympic flagpole during the 1960 Games and pilfering the Olympic flag!

RIP Al, that crusty old Marine (and javelin WR holder turned distance coach). 

Nick

If i can do anything well, it involves nerding out on Olympic Track and Field!!!