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. 2 No. 26 January , 1961

JANUARY 1961

You want indoor meets? We got 'em, but first, let us tell you about two previous outdoor meets.
The first is the Sugar Bowl meet, held appropriately enough in New Orleans on the first day of the year in 50 degree weather. Aubrey Dooley, the former Oklahoma State star, is the unanimous selection as the meet's outstanding performer on the basis of his 15-4¾ vault which breaks the 20 year old meet record of 15-1 set by Cornelius Warmerdam. Ernie Cunliffe has the best mark on the track with his 3:49.0 1500, “a tremendous effort given the poor condition of the track”. He leaves Archie San Romani, George Larson and Barry Almond well behind.
Now a week has passed and we are at Stanford for an all-comers meet. This is not just any old all-comers as evidenced by the setting of two American records. Olympic 5000 champion Murray Halberg is running the two mile for a tune up for next week's Oregon Invitational. There is no significant competition and the New Zealander is on his own. He puts miles of 4:19.5 and 4:21.3 together to win by over half a minute in an American all-comers record of 8:40.8.
Not to be outdone, in the very next race Ernie Cunliffe establishes an American record for 1000 yards with a 2:07.3, the fastest time ever recorded, but there is no recognized world record for this distance, so the American record will have to do. He splits 55.0, 1:51.3 and finishes with a strong 26.2 final 200.
The first of the indoor meets is the inaugural Oregon Invitational held January 14 in Portland. The track, built in Eugene to Bill Bowerman's specifications, is made of ½ inch plywood with tongue-in-groove fitting and 44 inch banking on the curves at a cost of $15,000. Athletes who have run the Eastern indoor tracks say it is the best they have seen. The only complaint is from Bowerman who says that it is too well made. “We could have put it together for $5000 (without tongue-in-groove) and still had a quality surface. It will last forever.”
Murray Halberg sure loves it. He breaks Al Lawrence's indoor 2 mile world record by 11.7 seconds in an oddly paced race. After passing the mile in 4:16.0, he runs the next 880 in 2:20 before going to the afterburners to complete the last half mile in 1:58.3 for a time of 8:34.3. The band breaks into “God Save the Queen” and the crowd of 7111 gives him a two minute standing ovation. Halberg, a laboratory technician in an Auckland brewery, responds with the understated, “It's all in a day's work”. Though left far behind, Lazlo Tabori's 8:47.6 is his best ever on the boards.
Jim Beatty is over the foot injury that kept him from performing his best in the Olympics. He demonstrates his fitness in the mile or at least the last half of the mile. The 880 is reached in a plodding 2:09. Dyrol Burleson then throws down a 61.0, but it is nowhere near enough to keep Beatty at bay. With only half a lap to go, the former North Carolina star separates the men from the boys with a burst that gives him a 15 yard victory in 4:07.4. A discouraged Burleson who is about to undertake a three week tour of New Zealand says, “Maybe somebody who deserves it should take the trip”. The future would not be served without a mention of the fourth place finisher, Bob Schul, who clocks 4:19.5.
Roscoe Cook takes the measure of Darrell Horn and Harry Jerome with a world record equaling 6.0 60. Horn returns to take the broad jump by nearly a foot and a half with a 25-6¼.
Contrary to his remarks after the Olympics, Parry O'Brien is back in the shot put ring. He throws 61-11¾ to leave Dallas Long's 59-3 far behind. Ron Morris gets the better of Don Bragg who can't match Morris' 15-0 vault.
The only faux pas of the evening comes in the 500 where Bowerman has the race run in lanes all the way in an attempt to provide a world record. Obviously the staggers are enormous and apparently confusing. The race should be a dual between Otis Davis and Eddie Southern, but isn't. Both are confounded by the stagger and lose count of the laps to the benefit of Washington State's Rick Harder who wins in 59.5, the same time as Davis and a tenth ahead of Southern.
Murray Halberg may be the present king of the two mile, but the future belongs to 17 year old Bruce Kidd of Canada as measured by his performance in the Boston Knights of Columbus meet this day. Running against 31 year old Pete McArdle and 39 year old Fred Norris, the teen prodigy follows through half mile splits of 2:11, 4:25 and 6:40, before jumping the veteran foreigners with 4¼ laps of the 160 yard track remaining. His move startles the competition and delights the crowd. He opens a 15 yard lead on McArdle who closes only to have the kid open ground again. McArdle makes one more gallant effort, closing within two yards on the final lap, but the Kidd holds him off for an 8:49.2 – 8:49.6 victory. Former Harvard hurdler Bob Rittenburg writes, “Boston Garden was in danger of collapsing from the vibration of the cheering that the fans sustained during the last four laps of the race and the two extra laps that Bruce jogged with the spotlight on him.”
January 21 finds us at the second annual Los Angeles Invitational. The Los Angeles sports fan has the Rams, Lakers, Dodgers, USC and UCLA, yet 13,586 fill the Sports Arena. Would that that be the case now.
The track, “a $12,000 spruce job from Finland, was judged slow and in need of work by some of the runners”. Times were slow in the 500, 600 and 1000 (Ernie Cunliffe, where are you?), but the mile and two were quality races. We will get to them later. Right now the spotlight falls on the rejuvenated Parry O'Brien. The two time Olympic champion once again dominates the shot put. His 63-1½ throw with the bee-bee packed leather shot is a world record. Dave Davis improves a foot from last week's mark at 60-4, but the day belongs to O'Brien.
Ralph Boston's initial indoor indoor effort results in an American indoor record of 25-10, leaving Darrell Horn, last week's 25-6 winner, far behind at 23-9. Bob Avant, a senior at USC, surprises with a 6-ll PR to win the HJ by four inches. Lazlo Tabori edges Max Truex at two miles, 8:53.2 to 8:55.0. Hayes Jones wins the 60 HH in 7.1 and says he will concentrate on the sprints from now on.
Roscoe Cook, who tied the WR in the 60 last week in Oregon, misses replicating that performance by a tenth with a 6.1 victory over a good field. But “One of the best sprint performances of the evening came at the end of the mile when Jim Bailey exploded past a strong running Ernie Cunliffe and left his pursuer by nearly 15 yards in the last 100” to win in 4:06.4.
Under the heading “Late News” there is abbreviated news of happenings on January 28. John Thomas betters his indoor WR (7-2½) with a clearance of 7-3 1/8 in the Boston AA meet. If he had done it the day before it would have been a world record, but earlier this day Valeriy Brummel, still only 18, jumped 7-4½ in Leningrad. Obviously Thomas has some ground to make up.
Who doesn't have ground to make up is Ernie Cunliffe who scorches the Boston track in an American indoor record 2:07.9 1000. Too bad this is not a regulation event as it seems to be EC's best. He is not the only Bay Area middle distance runner heard from this New England evening. Former Cal star Jerry Siebert takes the 600 in 1:11.2. No details are given for either race. Olympic champ, Ralph Boston, does not win the broad jump. This is because he skips the event, instead winning the 45 yard hurdles and takes second in the high jump at 6-6.
Down under on the same day it would appear that Dyrol Burleson's apprehension about competing in New Zealand was unfounded. He wins the invitational mile in Auckland in 4:05.6, edging Peter Snell by inches. Once again no details are given.
Perusal of columns provides the following information. Pro football has taken plucked two more from the rolls of track and field. Bowling Green hurdler Bernie Casey has signed with the 49ers and Olympic intermediate hurdle bronze medalist Dick Howard of New Mexico will wear the blue and white of the Cowboys......Remember the item about Bill Nieder taking a Hollywood screen test? Seems to have worked out. The Olympic shot put champ has just signed a contract to play Jack Dempsey in an upcoming movie........The Helms Athletic Foundation has just announced its' selection for the top athletes for each continent. Livio Berrutti of Italy wins for Europe. Peter Snell is the “Australian” winner. The HAF strikes a blow for gender equity by naming Wilma Rudolph the North American winner.......Speaking of awards, the prestigious Sullivan Award goes to Rafer Johnson. But the balloting reflects the progress women have made as Wilma Rudolph finishes second........Peter Snell writes that the success he and Murray Halberg enjoyed at the Rome Olympics, “really put athletics to the fore here, and we will soon have our first cinder track. There are four tracks planned for completion by '62”. Contrast this with Finland which has 730 cinder tracks.....Herb Elliot says his performances may deteriorate while he attends college in England because Percy Cerutty will remain in Australia. “Any teaching he has got, I have learned, but he does more than teach. He inspires.”........Dan Ferris, secretary of the national AAU says that three to five track men will be picked to compete in South Africa in March or April. He says no question of color or race was raised by the South African AAU, but the team “is expected to contain no Negroes”.......And now a brief visit to our I Am Not Making This Up department. Avery Brundage, the IOC president, has suggested.....are you sitting down?...that gold medal winners be barred from future Olympics in order to give more athletes a chance......Looks like the Nelson brothers made rent this month. There are two one page ads: You can buy high jump and pole vault standards from The John L. Haines company in Galva, Illinois (or “dealers everywhere”) and Ryan Films of Hamden, Connecticut has six 16mm instructional sound films (discus, high jump, hurdles, shot put, pole vault and broad jump) available for purchase in either color or black and white.....Just in case you wondered, the cost of the magazine remains $3 a year and Clifford Severn Sporting Goods still owns the back page.