day 2

After 3 failed attempts to get online yesterday, today (Monday) I finally made it. So here is:
(06-28-08) Day Two of Track and Field.
Hayward Field has a really great history. And, that that history was made even richer today when Tyson Gay broke the American Record in the 100 meter dash. After misjudging his lead on the rest of the field, Gay turned off the jets and thought he could easy up the last 20 meters or so and still win his prelimanary heat. In a race where hundreds of a second can make the difference between winning and not advancing to the next round, Gay’s strategy proved to be risky business (did you ever see that movie?). Behind Gay were some of the fastest creatures on two legs and sensing a great opportunity, three of these sprinters took advantage of Gay’s mistake and went past him at the tape relegating Tyson to 4th place and the last automatic qualifying spot for the next round. This close call is what probably motivated him to run like the wind and clock his 9.77 AR in the quarterfinals. With 7 guys at 9.9 or faster day, I can’t wait to see what happens in tomorrow’s semifinal and final. I know for sure that I don’t want to blink or I’ll miss the race. I think I really need to remember to bring my ear plugs on Monday, the day of the men’s 800 final, or I could suffer some serious hearing lose. This thinking is based on what happened in the 800 semis today. Eugene fans make plenty of racket when even outsiders perform well but when three locals cruised into the 800 final, the noise coming out of the spectator stands caused the noise decimal meter reader to sore right off the scale. If either Oregon Track Club member Nick Symmonds, who came out of the second heat as the fastest overall qualifier in 1:45.61, or University of Oregon sophomore, Andrew Wheating, who finished second in his heat, or Oregon Track Club member, Christian Smith, who finished 3rd in the heat won by Symmons, race will enough to punch a ticket to Beijing, (finish in the top 3) Hayward Field is going to erupt—thus my need for ear plugs. I didn’t occupy my seat at the meet until about 2:30 PM today so that gave me time to ride my rent a bike about 3 miles over to Anncon Coffee Co where I could connect my iBook to their WiFi signal and post day 2 of my blog. That accomplished, I biked over to the U of O bookstore and purchased 2 souvenir t-shirts. One has a big red stop sight on it with the words “Stop Pre”. I don’t know the significance of that slogan but I’m told that is the same kind of t-shirt Prefontaine use to wear so I guess if it was good enough for him, it’s more than good enough for me. Matt Holman sent me an e-mail saying that it would be cool if I could interview Jeshua Anderson and put that on the blog but getting access to the athletes is nearly impossible unless you have press credentials. So, imagine my surprise as I’m walking back to my room after the meet to run into Anderson and some other Washington State athletes outside the security fence of the stadium grounds. I didn’t get an interview but I did talk to him for a few minutes. He wasn’t happy about his performance in the semi-finals of the 400H especially after leading all qualifiers that came out for the quarterfinals. He said that he’s just really tired after all the racing and traveling that he’s been doing and looks forward to coming back home for a while to rest up and see some of his friends. Then it will be back to Washington State where he says he will have to make a decision about playing football or putting all his energy and training into track where he might have a chance to earn a good living. So, some more food for thought. What do you think he should do? Continue with football and track or focus on his track career?

minus 1 day and counting

You would think that a University Town like Eugene would have a zillion wifi spots to let me post my daily blog but not so. I tried Starbucks yesterday (Friday) but I found out the hard way that they don’t support Apple’s Safari browser (and yet they work with Apple to let you down load iTunes on your iPhone). I finally found a place that has wifi but it’s far from U of O so I don’t know how often I’ll get over here: Here’s what I had hoped to post yesterday, Friday, as my blog will always be at least one day behind the current date:

Compared to getting to LAX from the Valley, getting to Ontario from Beaumont is a breeze. From checking in, checking baggage, and getting checked out at security, the benefits of a smaller airport are readily evident. But one thing a small airport has in common with a big airport is delayed flights. Because it seems that half of California is on fire, my 9:46 AM flight to the Bay Area didn’t materialize until 11:13. Thankfully I made my connecting flight from San Francisco to Eugene with 40 minutes to spare. At SFO I meet up with three track and field friends that I have share many track meets with. Our 90 minute sky ride put us into Eugene, the Track Capital of the World, a little after 3 P.M. The Eugene airport was very festive with welcoming committees, banners, and poster celebrating the Olympic Trials evident everywhere. Our short but $35.00 taxi ride dumped us off on the campus of the University of Oregon (Go Ducks) where we checked into the residence halls at the Hamilton complex, which will be our home (when we aren’t at the track) for the next 11 nights. Sure, it is student housing but how can you pass up a deal that includes room and board for $65 dollars a day. Motel 6 might leave the light on for you but they won’t fill you up with food 3 times a day for that price. It has been a long time since I’ve spent any time in a student dorm but from the minute I walked into my room here I realized that not much has changed since the 60s. The room is small, equipped with two beds (no Sleep # Mattress on these beds), two closets fit only for people that don’t have much to wear, two student desks, and one light in the ceiling. Oh yeah, each desk has a chair, not as comfortable as an electric chair but safer to sit in. Now, what do you think of when you think of student cafeterias, which is where we eat? Well, my memories make me think of the word, “Yuck” so when I got up here I thought I’d be on a starvation diet. Now, I worried about packing on 10 extra pounds. The food in the all you can eat buffet is nothing short of delicious. There are a wide variety of fresh fruits, salads, pastas, vegetables, and assorted meats. My first meal today was dinner and it included fresh salmon. I’m sure a meal like I had would have been $18 or more back home. If you asked students why they chose the U of O they would probably say, “It’s the food, stupid.” Speaking of food, here is a little food for thought. Do you think anyone can beat American Record Holder, Shalane Flanagan, (she is Chinese of course) in tomorrow’s only final, the 10,000 meter run? For the uninitiated, that is about 6.2 miles.

two days and counting down

After two years of planning, the big event is almost here. I fly out of Ontario at 9:46. Transfer at San Fransico and get into Eugene about 3:30. I know a lot of cities claim to be the track capital of the world but Eugene gets my vote. I've been there for NCAA Championships, Olympic Trials, and a few other similar rinky-dink meets (:> and I can tell you that electricity is in the air whenever you are inside Hayward Field. The fans are so knowledgeable. I think they teeth them on stopwatches when they are very young. When the racing, throwing, or jumping gets hot, the stands are rockin. The stamping, clapping, and cow bell ringing are thunderous. (There's a story that goes around about the fans up there. They use to say that Prefontaine was so popular that the fans started clapping for him even if he just bent over to tie his shoe laces) Then the setting of the meet is phonominal. Talk about Green. That is all you see up there - trees, grass, and flowers flurish in that climate. The Willemett River runs through the town and the Steve Prefontaine running trail makes a loop that follows the river. The Olympic Trials might not produce the exact top times that win Olympic Gold but for pure excitement it can't be beat. The drama of watching elite athletes giving 110 % to make the top 3 and go on to Bejing is unmatched in any theater that I know of. The heartbreak of watching the 4th place finisher deal with his/her frustrations and disappontments is also very dramatic and painful. I'm not sure how this blog will work out. My goal to recount the highlights of each day but whether or not I'll have internet access and the time to accomplish this remains to be seen. Be sure to follow this great show on TV. (disclaimer: any and all spelling errors are purely fictional)