Vol. 3 No. 4 January, 1963, as Promised

January 1963

Alert readers may remember that 1963 had gone missing. How can January 1963 suddenly show up? Good question. The person responsible is Leif Bugge in Denmark, a faithful follower of the sport. Lief scanned and emailed his copy. Thank you, Lief. We owe you one. And now....(drum roll).....January 1963.

York Volunteers

The Canadians are coming! The Canadians are coming! 
At least +Bruce Kidd and +Bill Crothers have come to New Orleans, Boston and Los Angeles and they are kicking butt. Six races and the University of Toronto duo haven't been seriously challenged.

Bruce Kidd

Bill Crothers and Harry Jerome

On Dec. 31 in the Sugar Bowl meet Kidd erases Greg Rice's 22 year old three mile meet record by 25 seconds, racing to an unpressed 13:37.9. Crothers demonstrates his versatility by taking on +Tom O'Hara in the mile. After 3:08.6 at the bell, they run together before Crothers' 46.2 400 speed gives him the edge at the finish in 4:06.4 with O'Hara two tenths back.

Two weeks later, January 12, and a little closer to home, the Canucks show they can dominate indoors as well. In the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus meet, held in the Boston Garden, the 19 year old Kidd leaves the field far behind in running the third fastest indoor two mile, 8:43.2. The only superior clockings belong to Olympic champion +Murray Halberg and Kidd himself. Crothers is hardly challenged at 1000 yards as he breezes to a nearly two second victory over a comebacking Ernie Cunliffe in 2:08.6.

Interview with Bill Crothers can be seen at the site below.

http://www.conacher-rosenfeld.ca/videos/bill_crothers-eng.html

Next up is the LA Invitational held in the Sports Arena Jan 19. It may be a different coast, but the results are virtually identical. Kidd runs 8:43.8 to better Charlie Clark's 8:51.5. Crothers trots the 1000 in 2:08.9 once again at the expense of Ernie Cunliffe who runs 2:11.5.

Ernie C. is not the only international class runner making a comeback. +Eddie Southern takes the 500 in 59.3 with Olympic champ +Otis Davis third in 59.9.

The shot sees Parry being Parry. O'Brien wins at 61-1 with long time rivals +Jay Silvester and +Dave Davis trailing at 60-2 and 58-6½. +Ralph Boston complains about the runway, but the Olympic champ wins at 25-7½, 16 inches ahead of +Darrell Horn.

T&FN makes an initial effort at gender equality, including women's results in the story on the LA meet by reporting Marilyn White's 6.9 win in the 60 over +Wilma Rudolph (7.1) among others.

Pennti Nikula

The fiberglass pole is creating a rush on the world record. On January 19, outdoor WR holder +Pentti Nikula vaults 16-1¾ to add the indoor record to his resume. Doesn't last long. In the January 25 Maple Leaf Games in Toronto, +Dave Tork overshadows Bruce Kidd's 13:34.6 three mile (second fastest ever) by taking the record with a 16-2½ leap.

His reign lasts only until the next night, when, in Portland at the Oregon Invitational, 
+C.K. Yang grabs the record with a vault of 16-3¼. Yang, considered a good vaulter for a decathlete, has an affinity for the fiberglass pole. In a year he has gone from just another guy in the open vault to the world record holder. There may be more of this in his future as he has a close miss at 16-5. Crothers and Kidd are not the only Canadians having a bang up winter. In this meet +Dave Steen upsets Parry O'Brien by three inches with a PR of 61-5½.

Remember that four mile relay between New Zealand and the University of Oregon last month? We'll they are at it again. On January 5 the same eight guys line up and produce the same result. +Vic Reeve, who fell the last time, keeps his feet and finishes the lead off leg only a couple yards behind +Bill Ballie. +Archie San Romani Jr. opens up couple yards on Murray Halberg. Now it is +Dyrol Burleson's job to open up enough cushion on John Davies to give +Keith Forman a chance against +Peter Snell on the anchor leg. Doesn't happen, not even close. Burleson opens with a 64.0 and then slows to a 2:12.3 half. Surely something has to happen now. Nope, a 65.8 puts him at 3:18.3. Foreman has to be grinding his teeth. Sure enough Burley cranks out a 53.7 final go around, for a 4:11.8, but it is too little, too late. Davies is good for a 54.6 and 4:12.1. Given only a five yard advantage against the finest miler the world has ever seen, Forman shows what he is made of, going out in 58.4 then splitting 2:01.8 and 3:04.3. One has to admire his courage, but there can be only one outcome. Forman runs 58.4, but Snell pounces. His 57.7 last lap, outstanding for anyone else, but pedestrian for the Olympic champion, produces a 4:01.5 and a Kiwi victory 16:29.2 to 16:29.8. Wonder if Forman spoke to Burleson the rest of the tour.

Ralph Boston at Rome

Reading the columns, we learn that Ralph Boston is working as a research technician at a Los Angeles hospital, but still has found time to hit 26-9 twice in practice......   +Don Bowden, the US's first four minute miler, is now an assistant coach at the +Santa Clara Valley Youth Village.…

Dave Tork

...Dave Tork, when not vaulting, does public relations work for the state of West Virginia, employment which the AAU is investigating as violating amateur regulations......Speaking of that august group, the AAU has followed the lead of the NCAA in eliminating the 200/220 low hurdles as a championship event......

Who is the best discus thrower – shot putter as judged by the Portuguese Tables? In a list on page 21 we find that to be Parry O'Brien whose 63-5 and 193-2 are worth 1960 points, edging Jay Silvester's 61-5½ and 199-7½ by a point. Surprisingly, Bob Humphries (58-8 & 203-5) is third at 1942.

Peter Snell and Arthur Lydiard

Six pages are devoted to the 1962 world list, interesting reading, but reporting, not so much. Still, let's give it a crack. Not surprisingly, our sprinters and hurdlers dominate the lists, but they don't stand alone. The US has 12 of the top 15 pole vaulters and our broad jumpers have the number 2-3-4-5-6 marks. Peter Snell reigns supreme in the 800, but Americans have the next four best marks. How dominate is Snell? His 1:44.3 world record is two full seconds ahead of the next best mark by +Jerry Siebert. Following Siebert in the next 1.9 seconds there are 23 guys. Yes, in 1962 dominance is spelled P-e-t-e-r-S-n-e-l-l.

As good as the US is in some events, there is work to be done in others. The triple jump, hammer and javelin come readily to mind. Bill Sharpe is the only American to rank in the top 25 in the European dominated triple jump, barely making it at number 25. Our javelin throwers rank 14^thand 23^rd. +Hal Connolly's WR 231-10 is an enigma. He and Al Hall, ninth at 219-3, are the only Americans in the top 25. Yes, there is room for improvement in these events.

Carmel River Inn

If you are planning on attending next month's Golden Gate Invitational, you could stay at the Cabana Motor Hotel of Palo Alto, only thirty minutes away so says a full page ad. Alas for those of us living in the 21^st century, the Cabana is no more. However the prudent +Carmel River Inn which popped for a more economical quarter page ad is still going strong and looks like a great spot for a romantic weekend. Check it out on the internet.

It was clearly not all work and no play for Percy

Had the “Got Milk” ad existed in 1963, it is unlikely that one would have seen +Percy Cerrutty's smiling face with a milk mustache. Says the iconic Australian coach, “Milk has a psychologically terrible effect on males and should be banned early in life. Addiction to milk makes a boy mother-drawn. Deep parts of his consciousness retain a link with his mother. Once he has the taste for milk he will never develop properly as an individual. We are approaching something like a matriarchal society.

The Queen circa 1955

 The fact that the Commonwealth can accept a queen as its head is evidence of this.” This may also explain Percy's failure to be knighted.

Editor's note       

Our lead writer on this blog, Roy Mason,  to whom all libel, defamation and anti-trust suits should be addressed, will shortly be undergoing total knee replacement surgery.  We wish him well and hope that he will be able to continue his output for "Once Upon a Time in the Vest" as he goes through the post-op and rehabilitation process.  If there are some delays in output from Roy's end of the continent, please be understanding.  I have a few projects on the sideboard that I will try to revive while Roy is recovering.  George Brose

Vol. 1 No. 44 July, 1958

JULY, 1958

And a very good issue it is with reports on the NCAA meet in Berkeley and the AAU in Bakersfield.

Glenn Davis might turn out to be pretty good. In the NCAA meet he sets the WR around two turns, running 45.7 to crush Eddie Southern’s 46.5. Jack Yerman is third at 46.6. Eight days later Davis breaks Josh Culbreath’s 50.5 WR in the 440 hurdles with a 49.9. Admittedly the metric times in both these races are superior: Lou Jones 45.2 and Davis 49.5, but, hey, a WR is a WR.

Hal Connolly sets a monster WR in the hammer, 225-4, after a Bakersfield blacksmith repairs the ball that had been “flattened” by hitting a wall in practice. Connolly’s wife, “the pretty Olympic discus champion” Olga, apparently makes her husband nervous when she watches so she hides behind some bushes, only to run out at the announcement of the record, “crying with joy” and gives her “embarrassed husband a bruising hug and kiss”. No mention is made of what happened at the motel later that evening.

Olympic champions of past and future win the miles in these meets. In the NCAA Ron Delany runs 4:03.5 to leave Jim Grelle 4:04.8 and Gail Hodgson 4:04.9 in his wake, then doubles back to take the 880 in 1:48.6 over Frank Murphy’s 1:49.4 to complete a great career at Villanova.

The AAU mile is Herb Elliot’s time to shine. Though countryman Merv Lincoln throws down a 54.7 final lap, Elliot covers it with his own 54.1 to finish in 3:57.9, his second best time and maybe a new world record, but actually only tying a previous WR which wasn’t allowed. Confused? I’ll bet. Sit down, listen carefully and I’ll tell you how this worked. Derek Ibbotson’s 3:57.2 and Elliot’s own 3:57.8 may not be approved because they were….are you ready?... “paced”. Imagine someone resorting to that. If they are not approved, then this time would beat John Landy’s record of 3:58.0. But wait, there’s a catch to that too. Landy actually ran 3:57.9, but four years ago in the dark ages of 1954, records in the mile were not recognized in tenths of a second. Bet you can’t wait to run this by the guys at the Dew Drop Inn tonight.

But not to discredit the rest of the AAU field. Lincoln runs a stout 3:58.5. He is followed by Ed Moran of Penn State, who until three weeks ago had never broken 4:10, but this night clocks 4:01.7, the same time as fourth and fifth placers Jim Grelle and Jerome Walters. They are followed by Don Bowden, 4:02.9, and Gail Hodgson, 4:04.5. Oh, and the future of American miling was visible in the heats. High schooler Dyrol Burleson ran a nonqualifying 4:12.2.

The giants of the discus world tangle in both meets. Rink Babka and Al Oerter “tie” at 186-2 in the NCAAs. The rule to break a tie with the second best mark was not yet in place. Babka takes the AAU 187-10 to 181-6.

As far as developing international competitors, the AAU has made the effort by including the intermediates, hammer and hop-step-jump. The NCAA has none of these. What is does have is team scoring. The first person to recognize a major southern school (think current SEC or ACC), raise your hand. USC 48, Kansas 40, Villanova 33, San Jose State 20, Winston-Salem 20, Illinois 17, the Ohio State University 17, Nebraska 14, California 13, Manhattan 12, Texas 12, Western Michigan 12, Indiana 12, Arizona State 11, SMU 10, Pacific Lutheran 10, Occidental 9, Oregon 9. While there were a lot of fractions in those scores (which I am not doing), what there wasn’t were any relays.

And Negroes are still being identified. Ernie Shelby, who wins the BJ in both big meets, is a regular run of the mill Negro, but Hayes Jones is a medium-sized Negro, Ray Nickleberry a short Negro and John Thomas a thin Negro.

The Frosh and JC Marks list contains a triple-double-double. That would be three sets of twins, each making the list in two events. The Styron twins are in the house. Dave has run 9.6 and 21.2. Don has hurdled 14.5 and 22.8 for NE Louisiana State. The McKeever twins are freshmen at USC. Mike has weight marks of 52-6 ½ and 153-3 ½ while Marlin has thrown 52-5 and 156-8. Finally, we have Mel and Mal Spence of Arizona State. Mel has a 47.9 to his credit while Mal is a tenth back. Not sure about the 880. Mel ran 1:52.3 while Mel is credited with 1:53.0. Obviously one of these is supposed to be Mal. I just report ‘em, I don’t ‘splain ‘em.

On the next to last page, sacrilege, a blow has been struck against Clifford Severn and Adidas. Indeed a quarter of a page is devoted to an ad proclaiming the superiority of Rawlings Fleetfoot track shoes, “the shoes built for that ‘fit and feel’ so necessary to track men”. Not to worry. Cliff and Adidas confidently occupy their usual spot on the lower right corner of the last page.