tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78962048755584109172024-03-13T11:49:10.467-07:00craw's cornerhttps//crawscorner.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08171501561092110677noreply@blogger.comBlogger995125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-8390049389804500812024-03-03T16:57:00.000-08:002024-03-05T09:26:58.240-08:00The 'Politics of Movement' 2024<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9iXS4PJuJCMuKXwDU-xuGv7GDCWLp-T4_fK6Vq0ew0tbmIIDtO4OSxTpyT9SvLqjuxW8UvtNVbc1aeCy9ZcRokuHAuVIzRMAQHS8DIg09EM1Z9D6tEe-RAFQA3zmp_BpSD0thHt5E68QiXtuThG4zlHriabOVQ5vzzpzL1GokBfE_eWHrl0loX9lmn14/s1747/Archie-Moore-1997%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1747" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9iXS4PJuJCMuKXwDU-xuGv7GDCWLp-T4_fK6Vq0ew0tbmIIDtO4OSxTpyT9SvLqjuxW8UvtNVbc1aeCy9ZcRokuHAuVIzRMAQHS8DIg09EM1Z9D6tEe-RAFQA3zmp_BpSD0thHt5E68QiXtuThG4zlHriabOVQ5vzzpzL1GokBfE_eWHrl0loX9lmn14/w268-h400/Archie-Moore-1997%20(1).jpg" width="268" /></a></div> <p></p><p><br /></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p><p>Nearly 40 years ago, working on a profile for <u>Boxing Scene</u> magazine, I sat down with the celebrated prize fighter Archie Moore in his hotel suite and asked the knockout king of all-time to peer into his crystal ball and fortell the future of the human race.</p><p> His brief response remains one of the more prophetic utterances I have ever heard, reanimated and remembered daily after all these years.</p><p>When asked in 1986 what he viewed as the most pressing problem worldwide he responded: " I am very concerned with the plight of the homeless," replied the former Light Heavyweight Champion of the world. </p><p>"Right now I'm working with HUD to find suitable low cost housing for the disadvantaged. Thru poverty and wars, the world has evolved into what I describe as the<b> </b><i><b>politics of movement</b>. </i>It is<i> a</i> problem that I fear won't go away soon."</p><p>Archie Moore died 12 years later in 1998 at the age of 84.</p><p>We all remain on this world's Jericho Road... reminded of Archie's unabated divination while still deciding who is our neighbor. </p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><br /></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-76350661362038325862024-01-08T11:22:00.000-08:002024-01-08T11:30:31.890-08:00Final Stop On Road to 5,000<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnGLI9LisECKJfktsp_cTqYnioJ9yRcxMf8sMPZKed95XmRd2Z7x_dlEharYWM5xrFnooAEnIXqJAj2jXmoz0-6DJwIiAjwyBDhN41TWogYlD5KB2ukwOMR0Funrfr1zEZGq2FWKoe_85Uf1gxf8sWvYR7ivsqPrrJsREGlBAugiMlwg5mFp5pMufDXo/s5000/W_Huskies_logo_violet.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5000" data-original-width="5000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnGLI9LisECKJfktsp_cTqYnioJ9yRcxMf8sMPZKed95XmRd2Z7x_dlEharYWM5xrFnooAEnIXqJAj2jXmoz0-6DJwIiAjwyBDhN41TWogYlD5KB2ukwOMR0Funrfr1zEZGq2FWKoe_85Uf1gxf8sWvYR7ivsqPrrJsREGlBAugiMlwg5mFp5pMufDXo/w400-h400/W_Huskies_logo_violet.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p> Washington Huskies QB Michael Penix Jr needs 352 passing yards tonight in the much anticipated National Championship matchup vs. Michigan to reach the rare milestone of 5,000 passing yards in a single season.</p><p> Will he get it?</p><p> Over or under?</p><p> </p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-61371069326419095112024-01-07T18:12:00.000-08:002024-01-07T18:12:42.641-08:00New Year, New Car, New Contributions<p>After barely contributing in 2023 (I don't think I did), I thought I'd let you know what's going on with me. </p><p>I'm still living in Eugene, married to my sweet wife for almost eight years and together for close to 23 years, still with locally-owned and operated KKNX, Eugene's ONLY Classic Hits radio station (Beavers and Eugene Challengers American Legion baseball station, too) and KEED, Eugene's ONLY Classic Country radio station and KORE Fox Sports Eugene, Eugene's #1 sports station and the Blazers and Chargers radio affiliates in the area.</p><p>I'm still doing freelance radio sports play-by-play and am the Public Address Announcer for my high school alma mater, Churchill High School in Eugene. I’m doing football, volleyball, girls and boys basketball plus some baseball if I'm not at work running a Beavers game.</p><p>This summer will mark my ninth season as the Eugene Challengers play-by-play radio voice and will continue my role as the Public Address Announcer at home games unless I'm broadcasting a game. Games can be heard on KKNX in Eugene (FM 105.1/AM 840) and radio84.com. It will be the 14th season of games on KKNX, one of just a handful of radio stations in Oregon that carry local American Legion baseball games (Eugene, Roseburg, The Dalles and Florence). </p><p>Also this summer, it's my 50-year class reunion. I'm planning on attending the Churchill class reunion and the Class of 1974 reunion for Crater High School in Central Point, near Medford. Before moving to Eugene originally in 1970, I attended Central Point schools from the first through eighth grade and stay in touch with many of the people I grew up with, some since the first grade back in 1962. Basically, it's anybody and everybody I grew up with. It's going to be a fun summer. </p><p>On the subject of people NOT using turn signals while driving, my wife and I drove to Roseburg to eat at the closest In 'n' Out restaurant to Eugene in our new car, a 2024 Volkswagen Tiguan that we've had since Friday (yep, two days). Our previous car, an '18 Hyundai Tucson, decided not to be as dependable as it used to be. Anyway, it must be an epidemic that A) people need to learn to use those turn signals. There is a law that says you have to use those when turning right or left. B) Please quit leaving car-length gaps behind cars when you're waiting at a stop sign, traffic signal or at your favorite coffee stand. I've never been able to figure out why people do this nowadays. C) The speed limit on most Oregon freeways is 65 mph. Some locations it's 60 and on some other sections it's 55. Quit going 85 in a 65 mph zone. There are reasons speed limits are established, mostly for safety reasons. </p><p>I welcome your comments also. I don't go off on rants very often so please excuse me if I came off as complaining. I'm a pretty friendly person who really wants to stay that way. </p><p>Thanks for your friendship. I'll do my best to contribute more in 2024. Have a great week. Happy New Year!</p><p><br /></p>Bill Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02463764894531875035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-15703425742961291782024-01-07T11:23:00.000-08:002024-01-07T11:23:22.890-08:00<p> By Gregory Crawford, Founder of Craw's Corner</p><p><br /></p><p>CLIMATE CHANGE: I personally am in no way the Denier of climate change. However after living in the Portland, Oregon area for 8 decades, I can verify and sustain the fact, out summers might be a little warmer, but our winters at least in the past 50 years, along with fall and spring have pretty much remained the same.</p><p>While each season might be a little different over time, the consistency remains the same. Does this tell us anything scientifically, I will let others tell us and weigh in.</p><p>OVERTIME---Speaking of overtime, I do like the idea that the icon Jon Spoelstra talks about when it comes to basketball overtimes. If not the first overtime, the second if needed for sure, (first team to 5 points wins.) Benefits of this change, much more exciting, defense really comes into play and if you really study overtimes, they are poorly played and at times very poorly officiated. Shorten them and you have a better product.</p><p>TURN SIGNALS---I would like two introduce you all to a new concept in driving cars, Turn Signals. If you turn right, push upward, if you turn left push downward. I know this is new to most of you, but like everything else, go out in the driveway and practice. </p><p>INVENTIONS----- What is the greatest invention in the last 200 years? Love to hear your answers and thank you for reading,</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGmLkP4bPbDP1npXyKxF9wUpK7ATHeNAhw4pQbOzfACuetzjHLbRxNTVI9nzhxqYMzNklX8D7gG6gC8rHhWIwnVP3D7RFBSES1XVdZnR_zvVztaxyFSX8nXCClI1erpD00UI8uSgq9jUr3c_BNjGkABAWhGfriXFqxugfJwBpKt4YulPQ-ZC4PJCn5_w/s1029/E7BA0ACF-AD02-4E1F-B108-8A6E8EC60E75.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="1029" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGmLkP4bPbDP1npXyKxF9wUpK7ATHeNAhw4pQbOzfACuetzjHLbRxNTVI9nzhxqYMzNklX8D7gG6gC8rHhWIwnVP3D7RFBSES1XVdZnR_zvVztaxyFSX8nXCClI1erpD00UI8uSgq9jUr3c_BNjGkABAWhGfriXFqxugfJwBpKt4YulPQ-ZC4PJCn5_w/s320/E7BA0ACF-AD02-4E1F-B108-8A6E8EC60E75.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>https//crawscorner.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08171501561092110677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-74095913382230111282024-01-06T17:35:00.000-08:002024-01-06T17:35:48.197-08:00So Long Dr. Smooth<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtvFnjQgBTncrlxhNjS8Cfm8va9FuYYXJv8JMCJDs-B-d0pWa0QUOfmTj9LWXsxf6F3ujHggwlGEzv2_a4RuLclLO812XprJThGOGPrxqF0UvavlX-5J5WeftlQI9DNpe2sMECD091RJgeiwYCVdsoRLMl70qa-hmvBZFs6Bof821QEQ9Utb8qUkQnNTM/s4000/20240106_165655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtvFnjQgBTncrlxhNjS8Cfm8va9FuYYXJv8JMCJDs-B-d0pWa0QUOfmTj9LWXsxf6F3ujHggwlGEzv2_a4RuLclLO812XprJThGOGPrxqF0UvavlX-5J5WeftlQI9DNpe2sMECD091RJgeiwYCVdsoRLMl70qa-hmvBZFs6Bof821QEQ9Utb8qUkQnNTM/w300-h400/20240106_165655.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p><p> After 15 seasons and 1,445 games, sweet swinging Michael Brantley has decided to call it quits this week.</p><p> Playing for Cleveland and Houston, Brantley was a 5 time All Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner in 2014. With 1,656 hits he ended his career with a .298 batting average. Rare air.</p><p> Brantley probably will never make it to Cooperstown, but his picture book swing will endure in the minds of his many fans. His quiet manner stamped him as one of baseball's most respected players. </p><p> His coveted power-speed combo likely anchored many a fantasy baseball teams lineup as well. </p><p> Including mine. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-62767149316687819362024-01-06T11:09:00.000-08:002024-01-06T11:09:52.389-08:00The Defense Rests!!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-NlcyFGQ98ljTiciMINbnRwTz_Vd0XOJDIU4wh134g7SgEVPastBJL0rXRPTXWJeQeDsZBv3FQd7u_COwluEBUwnRhmrTI8t5XIITAwqJ3QvJ-AZshDjyqX3R3-xwhMX3p_hUio6Rk57mRQfoLkG7Q7oclvHbfDNsMLkbF6sa-nPCVoNYO5Oq2Y44f0/s1079/20240106_085506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1079" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-NlcyFGQ98ljTiciMINbnRwTz_Vd0XOJDIU4wh134g7SgEVPastBJL0rXRPTXWJeQeDsZBv3FQd7u_COwluEBUwnRhmrTI8t5XIITAwqJ3QvJ-AZshDjyqX3R3-xwhMX3p_hUio6Rk57mRQfoLkG7Q7oclvHbfDNsMLkbF6sa-nPCVoNYO5Oq2Y44f0/s320/20240106_085506.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p><p>As evidence, here are just a few NBA winning team point totals from the last 3 days:</p><p>Pacers 142</p><p>Cavs 140</p><p>Hawks 141</p><p>Pacers 150</p><p>Mavs 139</p><p>Jazz 154 OT</p><p><br /></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-84498036887772335152024-01-06T10:57:00.000-08:002024-01-06T10:57:08.058-08:00Shadows From The Shoreline - Bird Rock 1950<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-8P-ZX5AhAzYH4IN-WMPeo71lo0qJi-Z90UvE8Epg4b-15zh2Pfd5HyWn5a_gzTqHeymTaJc31Qgm19B1QCRvA07jk42V9I8U3WIp4I-nVPzX03Pzcprpor3tZhzJs9ij74WK693jnwugoozTcJgHhgbq9MbeMLGah9Hg47-6yAYdaO6tYJGoCozQKQ/s4032/20210107_120002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-8P-ZX5AhAzYH4IN-WMPeo71lo0qJi-Z90UvE8Epg4b-15zh2Pfd5HyWn5a_gzTqHeymTaJc31Qgm19B1QCRvA07jk42V9I8U3WIp4I-nVPzX03Pzcprpor3tZhzJs9ij74WK693jnwugoozTcJgHhgbq9MbeMLGah9Hg47-6yAYdaO6tYJGoCozQKQ/s320/20210107_120002.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p><p> When I was 7 years old, I lived with my mother in a blissful place called Bird Rock By-the Sea.</p><p> My life then, the part I now choose to remember, consisted of collecting ladybugs in canning jars filled with blades of grass. In the afternoons my mother and I would walk the short, steep hill cascading to the sea where my mother would sun herself on a smooth rock, her watchful eyes always fixed on me near the shoreline.</p><p> In the 73 years that have passed, my mother has died. Our clapboard beach cottage was sacrificed long ago to Southern California sprawl. I, in the name of becoming settled, have wandered from one address to another.</p><p> Reflecting on all this, from shores many times washed over, I can still trace where overriding stability first began. Glancing back up the beach at my mother, my anchor, day-dreaming on her rock, I could safely sense the rush of a wider world lapping at my tiny feet.</p><p> In those moments, then and now, life was simply everything I saw and imagined. I guessed the same was true for my mother on her rock of refuge.</p><p> Bird Rock, it turns out, is a moveable fortress.</p><p><br /></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-39576101437323681672024-01-02T16:45:00.000-08:002024-01-02T16:45:30.247-08:00A Hall of Fame Half Inning <p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLa-zRZX5lp3p-gLuru-YxF7z723PW-dR_RoufFOkKtcu7s7c_qdwMayUSsewvNJ3dLUMcl7vdlgoz7_JnLt97eprff8IFoPDVVjaz_ZuIwaBydyuvP3BUN-gx6UxY5sB4OTeR6NES28eURABVjpAolbQGNWH7jNeKzmmukOhs6zXvR3Wdto2Ev6Ebrc/s700/20231231_112212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="700" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLa-zRZX5lp3p-gLuru-YxF7z723PW-dR_RoufFOkKtcu7s7c_qdwMayUSsewvNJ3dLUMcl7vdlgoz7_JnLt97eprff8IFoPDVVjaz_ZuIwaBydyuvP3BUN-gx6UxY5sB4OTeR6NES28eURABVjpAolbQGNWH7jNeKzmmukOhs6zXvR3Wdto2Ev6Ebrc/w400-h288/20231231_112212.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For one day in 1961..the greatest outfield baseball has ever seen!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p> Among the substantial number of baseball memories I have stashed away over a lifetime, seen either from wooden grandstands or perched in a press box, a brief 4-batter half inning played 63 years ago still lingers at the top of the list.</p><p> It was the summer of '61 and baseball fans had not yet realized that Babe Ruth's season homerun record would fall later that season and Billy Crystal would one day make a movie about it. The American League, with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the lineup, met the National League in the 1961 All-Star Game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.</p><p> In the top of the 10th, the American League took a 4-3 lead and sent famed knuckleball artist Hoyt Wilhelm to the mound to face a gauntlet of the game's greatest hitters. Hank Aaron led off the inning with a single, went to second on a passed ball and rode home on a Willie Mays' double to tie the game. Wilhelm then plunked Frank Robinson, putting runners on first and second. Roberto Clemente then won the game for the National League with a line drive opposite field hit.</p><p> As with most All-Star Games, this one wasn't about the score. There they were. Four immortal names who found themselves hitting in a brief but glorious Murderers' row. Incredibly, Mantle, Mays and Clemente found themselves positioned in the same outfield during one point on this magical afternoon.</p><p> A Midsummer dreamscape for youthful eyes... still undimmed.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoN62dnCyCH8PJoRklZiXS0UksgRgaykgg7jf4e0DvykiTTl06UWLO92zwzYNl7v-nkyPm247GYbGO3w8bOQMZiDKjVX3xodTw3Homr91Cs6oZUvpkyREt90N8h5N-PNMzz-vLFUU-sHNkuZ_GEKgDVe29mAF2utopF6ugqPilqacWxfV6QarxxzLNaLU/s3469/20231231_113112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3469" data-original-width="2703" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoN62dnCyCH8PJoRklZiXS0UksgRgaykgg7jf4e0DvykiTTl06UWLO92zwzYNl7v-nkyPm247GYbGO3w8bOQMZiDKjVX3xodTw3Homr91Cs6oZUvpkyREt90N8h5N-PNMzz-vLFUU-sHNkuZ_GEKgDVe29mAF2utopF6ugqPilqacWxfV6QarxxzLNaLU/s320/20231231_113112.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-91825671940451004562024-01-01T15:39:00.000-08:002024-01-01T15:39:50.505-08:00Big News for Craw's Corner This Week<p> By Gregory Crawford, Founder of Craw's Corner</p><p>After a long absence, way too long, Craw's Corner will be back this week, with lots of new </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYa97xjN35zRI6izhZ3tPBg_H5KFDbUL-SazSN5VXqT7os4yEWpJ21kxviNxwWDyncG_VUJLiK1zsRdUa5Jede0j45TCJiHoewChRwMMCIPPzc58ZP5prSVqii1F6MLRwivF1wBRw-UyPZ-K0TOP1-ci-_k0oWwJRhv4I0rc7-wJPe6x_Hm5aU3ZKuq4/s425/30BC90E4-60D8-4B3C-913E-75997711434B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="243" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYa97xjN35zRI6izhZ3tPBg_H5KFDbUL-SazSN5VXqT7os4yEWpJ21kxviNxwWDyncG_VUJLiK1zsRdUa5Jede0j45TCJiHoewChRwMMCIPPzc58ZP5prSVqii1F6MLRwivF1wBRw-UyPZ-K0TOP1-ci-_k0oWwJRhv4I0rc7-wJPe6x_Hm5aU3ZKuq4/s320/30BC90E4-60D8-4B3C-913E-75997711434B.jpeg" width="183" /></a></div><br />things included and plenty of good reading. You will enjoy. So get ready.<p></p>https//crawscorner.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08171501561092110677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-24534081905038074012023-10-12T14:15:00.070-07:002023-10-30T16:25:35.340-07:00 Transformed Lions Seek Route To Redemption - 2023-24 Season Preview<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOsgAvkhwC8EvPy8XDt_bCa7XKPD9bMIdxNrJNYHazCgEZSTgi5lanyW3fBD9cC8evSHCLXzcmyHFfdmrzap1-1qFPVDwWPn0-udyPsResYxVCHycQ_Y3JmJS2Dc5pD6q0k8wDadZIHCTEJDnNapl4co7ilR1xvDcxKDWeYU7DkwdFHAVFXAb7w3n-VYg/s3125/20230922_110831.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2632" data-original-width="3125" height="541" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOsgAvkhwC8EvPy8XDt_bCa7XKPD9bMIdxNrJNYHazCgEZSTgi5lanyW3fBD9cC8evSHCLXzcmyHFfdmrzap1-1qFPVDwWPn0-udyPsResYxVCHycQ_Y3JmJS2Dc5pD6q0k8wDadZIHCTEJDnNapl4co7ilR1xvDcxKDWeYU7DkwdFHAVFXAb7w3n-VYg/w640-h541/20230922_110831.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>New Look Lions Coming Into Focus</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p><b>By Harry Cummins</b></p><p><br /></p><p> <span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span>he basketball floodwaters of change at Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon have sufficiently receded this Fall, revealing a decidedly altered landscape.</p><p> An off-season metamorphosis now casts an illuminated shadow on all those invested at this small Bible-based NAIA school with an arabesque past. Such a sweeping sea change, whether for good or ill, likely will depend on your point of view and an incognito season yet to reveal itself.</p><p> The Multnomah Lions first influenced the geographical imprint of small college basketball several years ago when a whirlwind descended on this campus of 300 plus students in the form of a diminutive 5'8 guard named Justin Martin. He would go on to capture back-to-back NAIA national scoring titles while posting record-setting 71 and 74 point scoring games in successive seasons. It was a rousing, if not winning, brand of basketball to behold.</p><p> Martin is gone now. So too is 2,000+ point career scorer and all-time 3-point leader Zach Richardson, along with 20 year head coach Curt Bickley who has retired after decades spent strapped for conveyable resources. Their combined legacy was cemented in one particular 2018 game that saw Multnomah sink a still-standing NAIA record 38 3's in a single contest that also saw Martin and Richardson score an incomprehensible 49 points <i>each.</i> </p><p> Multnomah's fitting <i>'3 Point U</i> epithet has now been reconstituted by new head coach <b>Tayo Gem</b> in character with the rallying cry currently fashioned on the wall of the Lions locker room, <i>Sustained Intensity.</i> Gem, it seems, along with his assistant coaches <b>Quinn Curry</b> and<b> Xavier Dupree</b> are at work on a larger canvas, a roll call showcasing an ideally balanced ensemble of players with an increased focus on the defensive side of the ball.</p><p> Gem is not bereft of current offensive weapons however. Seniors <b>Tyrese Taylor</b> and <b>Neyland Block</b> return to form a dynamic presence. Taylor, a 6'8 forward with bull-like strength, averaged a double-double last season, while the 6'5 Block, gifted at creating for others, finished 5th in the nation in assists. Assistant coach Curry unequivocally calls Block "the most underrated player in the country." Both are All-Conference candidates in the rugged Cascade Collegiate Conference that produced last season's national champion in College of Idaho... as well as yet another in a succession of second division finishes for these Lions.</p><p> Lifting the burden from Taylor up front is 7'0 Senior F/C and Nebraska native<b> Javier Turner</b>, who can run the floor, block shots, and was his conference defensive player of the year last season for Point U. Joining Turner at the forward spot is <b>Miles Macadory,</b> a converted 300 pound offensive tackle in football who has transformed his body into a sleeek 6'6, 210 pound shot maker, replete with a 5th year senior's court savvy.</p><p> <b>Chad Napoleon</b>, a 6'6 Jr. forward, brings an infectious energy to the Lion's fortified front court. From Del Ray Beach, Florida, Napoleon played the last 2 seasons at Blue Mountain C.C. where he became the only 1,000 point career scorer in the school's history. Versatile and experienced, he once played summer ball in Spain on an international high school travel team.</p><p> Multnomah's back court is loaded, allowing Coach Gem to deploy his guards like breaking waves. <b>Kadeem</b> <b>Nelson</b> is a 6'5 Junior who took his City College of San Francisco team to the State championship game last year. Long and athletic, he is blessed with great speed and change of direction in blowing by opponents. </p><p> The best contender to propagate the link to the litany of former 3-point snipers at Multnomah is 6'3 Senior guard <b>Taylor Pomeroy</b>. Also a local high school star from Portland, Pomeroy transfers from Bellevue University in Nebraska where he shot a sizzling 44.9% from long distance and led the team in free-throw shooting as well. His companion skill at getting to the basket stamp him a defensive nightmare to defend. <b> Josiah Sewel</b>l is a 6'1 Junior guard from Colorado Springs and Portland Community College who<b> </b>will allow Coach Gem to use his versatility and deft shooting touch to impact games.</p><p> Two of the top defenders in Multnomah's 'sustained intensity' model are 6'3 Senior<b> James Sanders</b> and Senior 6'3 returner <b>Amande Uchime</b>. Along with Taylor and Block, Uchime is one of 3 senior holdovers from the wholesale remake of last season's roster. Already one of the top defensive players in the CCC, Uchime is looking to create more disruption this year among Lions opponents. Sanders, meanwhile, is a seasoned D-1 transfer from Denver University with 2-way skills. </p><p>In this forest of tall trees it may be easy to miss Multnomah's newest 5'9 wonderkind, Freshman <b>Marje</b> <b>Windfield</b>, who hardened his game on the rough and tumble courts of the Chicago Public League, once dropping 37 points in a key league match-up. His amazing quickness has dominated Fall workouts.</p><p> The lure of the bright lights at the national tournament in Kansas City each Spring remains the Holy-Grail toward which every NAIA team points. Lions coach Tayo Gem and his staff should be well-served in that pursuit by coalescing this current cluster of talent, motivational psychology, and the growing pains of the past in synthesis with this lock-step poeticism from William Blake:</p><p><i>"I give you the end of a golden string....wind it into a ball. </i></p><p><i> It will let you in at Heavens Gate</i>."</p><p><br /></p><p>The grasp for golden threads begins Nov 4</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqTmkkTlrejEDz2k-3GemanmD9zcy3diNCF17SClr29WtpTUrDkTsOJJeHSpKlQ87QVb52rIvZ8OxSxuS3OIh4AyYg0Cq7pA2Op2HES-z91o5ElSBHIXXmzWJHxQ_gCTLfU9H8TKAtyfWK-VaCvAAhZmqiGRE6DdpfhJF1P8l-Dbe258LaSIEPXBz06E/s2747/20200107_182643.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2214" data-original-width="2747" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqTmkkTlrejEDz2k-3GemanmD9zcy3diNCF17SClr29WtpTUrDkTsOJJeHSpKlQ87QVb52rIvZ8OxSxuS3OIh4AyYg0Cq7pA2Op2HES-z91o5ElSBHIXXmzWJHxQ_gCTLfU9H8TKAtyfWK-VaCvAAhZmqiGRE6DdpfhJF1P8l-Dbe258LaSIEPXBz06E/s320/20200107_182643.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>hcummins@aol.com</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-72406324058992109372023-06-23T11:26:00.024-07:002023-10-17T13:15:03.048-07:00Ills of a Certain Age<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHIPYwo4sBulxR3RRiLfNzPoa3HcysATdWuFkzRFIZnSmQqgC5mohifno8QyaJdWNYoMGay4GvKW0975wbxCJmSH28Jhr3Ij2659vxc4YcRD51DHkPkAPGX28JJVjr3Zu_PaBDE5FqxFUdNy3Z1ETfL-41cSi7bmn7LCJTykwT4u95UxB1w_7e4F1TGk/s4000/20230623_100917.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHIPYwo4sBulxR3RRiLfNzPoa3HcysATdWuFkzRFIZnSmQqgC5mohifno8QyaJdWNYoMGay4GvKW0975wbxCJmSH28Jhr3Ij2659vxc4YcRD51DHkPkAPGX28JJVjr3Zu_PaBDE5FqxFUdNy3Z1ETfL-41cSi7bmn7LCJTykwT4u95UxB1w_7e4F1TGk/w300-h400/20230623_100917.jpg" width="300" /></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i> </i><p></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p><p> "This world has lost its glory, let's start a brand new story" -Bee Gees</p><p><br /></p><p> My recent go-round with modern medicine has sent my mind spinning on the health of our world these days, not to mention my own well-being. What does it mean when a once-sturdy life or society suddenly collapses with advancing age? Is illness merely a metaphor for the wider unraveling present in people and cultures?</p><p> Bereft of answers to these rhetorical questions, some considerations still remain.</p><p> Not every illness we confront, personal or societal, abates or reverses itself. We need a new set of words to challenge our thinking about healing and what constitutes true restoration. In this process ,we need each other's unique voices of experience. We need to hear them for their remarkable ability to balance self with reality, hope with acceptance, fear with affirmation. We need to hear them, especially, for their ability to establish a connection with each other.</p><p> To reconstitute ourselves, as individuals and as a society, in the midst of illness and attack, is to help one another make the attempt to go on...is to bear our histories and infirmities with the highest of human credentials.</p><p> Our old stories are ripe for retelling... but in new ways. Words with the capacity to turn memories into steadfast hope in the midst of cumulative loss. </p><p> I might suggest this should be an overriding agenda, an antidote to our present affliction.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-24243706070281155162023-06-20T15:53:00.020-07:002023-06-20T16:02:38.679-07:00Pieces Of Her Heart<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCfpV97CdhQg6lBszMas1GDo0yL8gaE2jqBhl04hLoR2Zpe_wPzfJKDWUQ3BgaJytsouB65SvpykkJwCA6hghPkN5j8MJw9GxNahUy0sXx5ldgkPdT_ebsrOXRfoBzjummMHNnsVv-M6lOT2tUYq7kQA1Ij5iPkReJqD9viGUlrzNlrhRv34JVDkiPm4/s4000/20230620_152133.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCfpV97CdhQg6lBszMas1GDo0yL8gaE2jqBhl04hLoR2Zpe_wPzfJKDWUQ3BgaJytsouB65SvpykkJwCA6hghPkN5j8MJw9GxNahUy0sXx5ldgkPdT_ebsrOXRfoBzjummMHNnsVv-M6lOT2tUYq7kQA1Ij5iPkReJqD9viGUlrzNlrhRv34JVDkiPm4/w300-h400/20230620_152133.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p><p> Until the day in 1984 when she just collapsed on the kitchen floor and died, I believe my mother had always thought of her life as being hard.</p><p> She was married most of the time, to my father for a short while until his drinking drove her away, then to another man for nearly 30 years. It was sometime early into those 30 years that I grew into the understanding that my mother had given up on her own happiness.</p><p> When I was in the sixth grade, my mother sent me away to live with a Norwegian family near San Francisco. Even then I never doubted her love. Often she would come to visit, putting her powerful arms around me and squeezing so hard I could barely breathe</p><p> "Your happiness means everything to me," she would say.</p><p> As my own life moved ahead, I could feel my uneasiness that hers was not. Love held us close, but we seldom spoke to one another about what really mattered. In the end we got a little better at it.</p><p> I know this now: There is nothing so remarkable as the gifts we freely extend to others in the face of our own unhappiness. It is not just ideal families or undamaged dreams that begat hope and affection. It is the powerful mystery of human love extended one to another.</p><p> The mosaic beauty of broken pieces.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-70429265376590654042023-05-14T08:00:00.000-07:002023-05-14T08:08:11.701-07:00Happy Mother's Day To All!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlkjyiyx51GkS2xVcSa2hTSXr2WcfieiiroCzC1gol7-6KGEwrzfB_sc0JmO0aVCyd4ZblPMnTc0y9Ny2nzm4IUGUc3IRwYIAeTjp2eBaPzrCEn93KcVN351TDi0zEP3GkK0x_ZL2E59Neh4jV8pZLMKulXic1XZIAsvYw453gVfSanyHnnEzBcXZ/s4032/20220508_094318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlkjyiyx51GkS2xVcSa2hTSXr2WcfieiiroCzC1gol7-6KGEwrzfB_sc0JmO0aVCyd4ZblPMnTc0y9Ny2nzm4IUGUc3IRwYIAeTjp2eBaPzrCEn93KcVN351TDi0zEP3GkK0x_ZL2E59Neh4jV8pZLMKulXic1XZIAsvYw453gVfSanyHnnEzBcXZ/s320/20220508_094318.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-68263211014605768062023-05-10T07:35:00.003-07:002023-05-11T20:41:58.745-07:00Home Stretch - A Railbird's Meditations<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsd77Eb5f9BwP69JtlmpMZkJGEQZYyabmpXb5HHeL3cRllDlaTChE3XOzdJi65lBOkehtKl314ZlTl5PQiTBdvKWon_F76PpENl0QaKhoBZZ_UsolcCJQLA-qTvrD-hSZQHLx4bQdjsMSjXDeiKEy7ys4e6HL9yWCecD8ASYkiCHRb-zAScbQonZ81/s4000/20230507_082545.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsd77Eb5f9BwP69JtlmpMZkJGEQZYyabmpXb5HHeL3cRllDlaTChE3XOzdJi65lBOkehtKl314ZlTl5PQiTBdvKWon_F76PpENl0QaKhoBZZ_UsolcCJQLA-qTvrD-hSZQHLx4bQdjsMSjXDeiKEy7ys4e6HL9yWCecD8ASYkiCHRb-zAScbQonZ81/s320/20230507_082545.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>By Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p><p> There was lunacy in Louisville last week where 7 horses died in the lead- up to the Kentucky Derby and no one seems to know why. Elsewhere, political violence and militarism in this country continues unabated in the wake of endless mass-shootings. Seems we are all stranded somewhere along the spectrum spanning anger and desensitization as our age-old institutions seemingly unravel at an alarming rate.</p><p> Then, out of the blue, something nice happens in our ordinary back-page lives.</p><p> I received a note on social media this week from a woman who once sat next to me 60 years ago in an 11th grade history class. She remembered that I used to carry her text books between classes. Probably not as bent toward generosity as I was back then, her note nevertheless triggered a softness in my current stance, along with the realization of the current play of light and dark in my own life.</p><p> My belief was reinforced that there is an uninterrupted laser-like light source that can guide us thru life... if we don't loose sight of it, obliterated by long stretches of darkness. It operates, I surmise, much like the current pace-setting system using LED lights employed by the sport of track and field in keeping athletes on task.</p><p> This beam of obedience, kindness, forgiveness, or whatever label you attach to it, still radiates in a world coming apart at the seams. </p><p> Like every jockey knows.... hold on tight and look for the light.</p><p> </p><p> hcummins@aol.com </p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-54881493296252856622023-05-09T11:03:00.000-07:002023-05-09T11:03:28.544-07:00Passion and Paradox - Understanding A Lost Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpdgLVy22O3fjXHBsOJzuiJ_fW-cvE9KS5CTytWelKvH2OE7bZDcP0CFmC2hTBbkDuc5_vcTrfmSm2v9iPlABXtop2xkrNw2f4EJkfTBla4GmMA4sxFAjHBNGZ01XKq34qbh6aGH2X2I/s1600/20200506_110619.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpdgLVy22O3fjXHBsOJzuiJ_fW-cvE9KS5CTytWelKvH2OE7bZDcP0CFmC2hTBbkDuc5_vcTrfmSm2v9iPlABXtop2xkrNw2f4EJkfTBla4GmMA4sxFAjHBNGZ01XKq34qbh6aGH2X2I/s640/20200506_110619.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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By Harry Cummins<br />
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The year I turned forty, fit and fanciful, was the same year I fell hopelessly in love.<br />
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My mid-life romance was absorbed into that peculiar juxtaposition of pain and pleasure known as the mile run. As a miler at middle-age, I had suddenly became one of life's more pronounced captives of time.<br />
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Held hostage by hope and the promises on some distant stop-watch, I would dream of moments when the contours and contradictions of my imperfect life would come together on that final, perfect straightaway. A reward for fidelity... for keeping the faith. A garland for the thistled steadfastness of my daily training. A bit of glory, I imagined, for those rubbery-legged repetitions that sought to proportion speed and strength in just the right mix.<br />
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No matter what our ages or our particular passions, are not such moments our fondest hopes? For John Walker, his 1975 crossing of the 3:50 threshold must have been <i>the</i> moment - that fleeting exposure to the outer limits of human experience.<br />
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As I write this, today marks the anniversary of that historic May evening in 1954 on Oxford's Iffley Road track when Roger Banister became the first man to break 4 minutes in the mile. Years later, he describes a paradox he eventually would discover:<br />
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<i> "I was resting on billowing white clouds that would, I thought then, always protect me from the worst of life's buffeting." </i><br />
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<i> </i>As I round the curves of advancing age myself, I have come to understand Bannister's words regarding all athletic achievements in life. Or all achievement for that matter. More often than not, such pursuits of perfection do illuminate our existence and are worthy of pursuit. But the reality is that these self-absorbed moments don't always protect us, and sport, of course, must never be mistaken as finally sufficient in itself. <br />
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Today, carrying the unwanted weight of indulgence and a series of surgical setbacks, I am no longer a runner. For the longest time, my passion for the sport had persisted and shaped who I became. But I am no longer in love.<br />
<br />
I have come to realize that it can be a hostile world, four minutes to a mile and fourscore years to a lifetime. We all need traveling companions other than our own thoughts, to carry us thru. <br />
<br />
So many of our passions in this life dissolve with the passing of time. But there is a kind of love that still endures. A kind of love that "<i>Beareth all things, beliveth all things, hopeth all things</i>."<br />
<br />
It is with memory intact, and what remains from a lifetime of understanding, that I now venture out of my house into this global pandemic aftermath.<div><br />
<br />
In aspiration, perhaps I still remain on a starting line. Torso tipped slightly forward, ready to push off on one foot....... into a new fascination and fury.<br />
<br />
Love is still in the air.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-- In 1983, the author competed in the first ever Invitational 5th Avenue Masters Mile in New York City. He finished 4th in a time of 4:33. He also met John Walker, who ran much faster.<br />
<br />
</div>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-16112396561049958282023-05-02T09:21:00.003-07:002023-05-02T09:42:33.262-07:00Random Notes From MLB's Junior Circuit<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg3sd6g_0Mbc0lFq2K01IoTnH1umkoS828seGVwM_N7Zu6hYBHgYLBE2XWuTN76qjFI898zln0SnK037y3gNU7zBNohr_nrFqoiMRelfd6BE6hhBoVqneaULlXN5w2LHhncQLlnpJe_r-8Lf9RJ_uCJl8hE7dFjhTtJ56p6VMqD4j4oYzPsoUM9j2I/s467/440px-LogoAmericanLeague.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg3sd6g_0Mbc0lFq2K01IoTnH1umkoS828seGVwM_N7Zu6hYBHgYLBE2XWuTN76qjFI898zln0SnK037y3gNU7zBNohr_nrFqoiMRelfd6BE6hhBoVqneaULlXN5w2LHhncQLlnpJe_r-8Lf9RJ_uCJl8hE7dFjhTtJ56p6VMqD4j4oYzPsoUM9j2I/s320/440px-LogoAmericanLeague.gif" width="301" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>BEAVERS SWIMMING UPSTREAM: Baltimore Oriole catche<b>r Adley Rutschman</b> tops the American League in walks with 22. His former Oregon State Beaver teammate <b>Steven Kwan</b> of the Guardians is 6th in the league in stolen bases with 7.</p><p>MILLER TIME: The most intriguing pitching match up Tuesday night occurs in Oakland where a pair of 100 mph rookie flame throwers hook up<b>. Mason Miller</b> of the A's vs. <b>Bryce Miller</b>, making his MLB season debut with the Seattle Mariners. No fewer than 27 pitchers in April have hit 100mph or more. Unfortunately, you can expect most of them to land on the injured list this year. I will leave it to our sports business expert Greg Crawford to sort out the fact the MLB teams paid $486 million last year to 427 pitchers on the injured list.</p><p><b>Mauricio Dubon</b>, filling in at 2nd base in Houston for the injured Jose Altuve, is now hitting .317, good for 5th best in the American League. He is also in the Top 10 in runs scored with 20. Houston, do we have a (nice) problem when Altuve returns?</p><p>New York Yankee ace <b>Gerrit Cole</b> looks to up his season record to a perfect 6-0 when he faces touted Cleveland pitching prospect <b>Tanner Bibee </b>tonight. <b>Harrison Bader</b> has been activated from the injured list and is expected to make his season debut in center field for the Bronx Bombers.</p><p>PICKS TO CLICK TONIGHT: Hitter- <b>Joey Gallo</b>, Minnesota.... Pitcher- <b>Hunter Brown</b> ,Houston.</p><p><i>AL BATTING AVERAGE LEADERS </i>May 2, 2023</p><p>Matt Chapman, Toronto .379 /Bo Bichette Tor .344/ Randy Arozarena TB .327/ Yandy Diaz TB .319</p><p><br /></p><p>The jury is in on the pitch clock this season. Games are decidedly shorter. It would also be interesting to see numbers on the time saved by the new rule that limits BATTERS only one time out in which to step out of the batter's box. </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Harry Cummins</p><p><br /></p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-9577016544770130602023-05-01T15:50:00.000-07:002023-05-01T15:50:59.803-07:00Is Handshake Line Really Necessary<p> By Gregory Crawford. Founder of Craw's Corner.</p><p>Draymond Green is upset, but what is new? Apparently he was snubbed by Sabonis in the handshake line after his Warriors defeated the Kings to win game 7 and the hotly contested playoff series.</p><p>For years I have been saying no handshake lines in basketball on any level, no matter what the circumstances. Too much can go wrong and it often does. And by not doing it, it doesn't show a lack of sportsmanship at all. It shows someone is smart and has figured a handshake line is worthless.</p><p>In this day and age of all kinds of technology. use that instead to congratulate the other team or possibly a friend on the other team. Handshake lines can often be actually dangerous, with developing into physicality. </p><p>Your thoughts are welcome </p>https//crawscorner.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08171501561092110677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-49077873873741664582023-04-30T13:32:00.001-07:002023-04-30T13:32:37.608-07:00<p> By Gregory Crawford: Founder of Craw's Corner</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the best of NBA playoffs you can imagine. So many great stories to follow. I would love to hear your thoughts in comment section, including.</p><p>1. Who is going to win it all?</p><p>2. Who is best player in the playoffs?</p><p>3. Who is the best coach in playoffs?</p><p>4. Who has best uniforms?</p><p>5. Who has best crowd support?</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Starting tomorrow. we will be here every day except Fridays, got to take a day off, with a little sports, politics, a lot of Harry Cummins. weather and some thoughts on energy.</p><p>Plus. all your thoughts in the comment section.</p><p>Thanks for reading.</p>https//crawscorner.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08171501561092110677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-19443285607365116142023-04-24T13:23:00.000-07:002023-04-24T13:23:12.869-07:00We are back<p> By Gregory Crawford, Craw's Corner Founder</p><p>It is a pleasure to bring back Craw's Corner on a regular basis. We will be doing lots of things here, so your comments are always welcome. Lots of variety and much more. I might even bring the icon Harry Cummins out of retirement as well as many other talented writers.</p><p>The main thing, enjoy please.</p><p>Gregory Crawford</p>https//crawscorner.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08171501561092110677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-7332729239019766732023-01-03T20:31:00.007-08:002023-01-04T09:50:32.841-08:00Chasing More Than A Number<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNn28X1lCMbiXnO4DuH53owdZAXxlCZkTrikG5DPPZfTvzpCx5MADyc8UzBPap-qsQad_vHK8qJSNLl5qeLiByaOu3-KVCwCKgG0hqDoZP9a4H7Hve9ygKNP8GglkWgEflV_i1QRt8AVuH5chOyRCwr_E3yh5D0TI3kuDAvV0yqzLTdDqZyr839sI/s1497/20221230_234833.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1497" data-original-width="1075" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNn28X1lCMbiXnO4DuH53owdZAXxlCZkTrikG5DPPZfTvzpCx5MADyc8UzBPap-qsQad_vHK8qJSNLl5qeLiByaOu3-KVCwCKgG0hqDoZP9a4H7Hve9ygKNP8GglkWgEflV_i1QRt8AVuH5chOyRCwr_E3yh5D0TI3kuDAvV0yqzLTdDqZyr839sI/w460-h640/20221230_234833.jpg" width="460" /></a></div> <p></p><div> <b>A Look Back At 2,000 Points...</b></div><div><br /></div><div>By Harry Cummins</div><div><br /></div><div> On the first full weekend of this New Year and with only a smattering of loyalists on hand as witnesses, something significant is about to unfold in Portland, Oregon.</div><div><br /></div><div> Perhaps not the kind of tumult a "Hillary on The Summit of Everest" event would elicit but no less laudable will be the exact moment when <b>Zach Richardson,</b> an unassuming 6'0"small college basketball player from Multnomah University, reaches the rarefied air of <b>2,000</b> career points. At this writing, he is a mere 23 points away. At present, he tops the Cascade Collegiate Conference in scoring at 20.3 ppg and is among the Top 25 sharpshooters in national statistics.</div><div><br /></div><div> Richardson will soon become the first player in Multnomah's NAIA era to ever reach such a coveted (2K) career milestone and only the 3rd Lion all-time to ever do so. Earlier this year, he also became the school's all-time leader in 3 point baskets made. That number, currently at 409, continues to climb and comes at a free-shooting school that once sank a record 38 3's in a single game and produced a back to back national scoring champion in the form of Justin Martin.</div><div><br /></div><div> The rocky ascent to 2K for a modern-day collegiate basketball player is fraught with missteps and the absence of guard rails. COVID-19 outbreaks; debilitating injury; alluring transfer portals; eligibility issues; incongruous teammates, and pro ball opportunities for the elite few, all conspire to form a slippery slope. Over the course of his career at Multnomah, Richardson has been sidelined a portion of every season by injury, capped by major foot surgery following last season. The 2020-21 season saw his team suffer thru the indignities of a calamitous 1-24 season in which Zach still averaged 27.6 ppg to finish runner-up in the national scoring chase. </div><div><br /></div><div> Richardson's head coach at Multnomah, <b>Curt Bickley</b>, has experienced all the ups and downs of his senior leader's lengthy career. The private conversations in Bickley's cramped office, Richardson's mammoth single game scoring explosions of 49, 50, and 51 points, along with shared moments of frustration and disappointment. Ironically, Bickley will exit the sport this year, along with his cornerstone player, after 30 years of coaching, the last two decades spent at Multnomah.</div><div><br /></div><div> It is Bickley, perhaps, who can best explain the true worth of his 2K man armed with both staying power and scoring prowess:</div><div><br /></div><div> "In all my years of coaching, Zach Richardson best personifies what I have found to be the perfect basketball player" states Bickley.</div><div><br /></div><div> "He shows up each and every day with energy and respect. He puts in tons of time on his game on his own and is trustworthy in all things. He will be a lifelong friend and I could not be more proud of a player or his accomplishment."</div><div><br /></div><div> Zach Richardson, a rapidly maturing man of deep spiritual convictions, knows one must also continue to til the soil to bring forth abundance. He already has several career options in place to utilize his advanced degree. He realizes it will always be about the <i>work</i>, a work in progress if you will, in which you never arrive and find no other place to go.</div><div><br /></div><div> After this weekend set of games with Walla Walla University and Lewis Clark State College, Multnomah will still have 13 games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, with high hopes for a few more come post- season. Plenty of opportunity remains in which to experience what every craftsman and seasoned coach already knows:</div><div><br /></div><div> The exclamation point to any game, career, or a life, should only be placed following the finishing touch.</div><div><br /></div><div> <b> 2,000 points</b> ..and more importantly...still counting.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>hcummins@aol.com</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-25065671274229911082022-10-23T14:17:00.015-07:002022-10-23T17:11:01.676-07:00Multnomah U. Basketball 2022-23 Season Preview<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4OdujVM6_dEZ8yJ3jVUfKP7nIHq13tuaM8dbBS2sUZQ-EotdxnT6PlbqLWlhTCKIBsabU4VNChEtBNprJtCBqThqFqD_9qHpX-vTGYxhgg8PG8SmS46VWFckzvrxEFpocufkknNZyHKXJs4_ClMwZqQqZxFYC23Qc7oltvzJIrsFab9G57xBEp47/s539/resize.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="539" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4OdujVM6_dEZ8yJ3jVUfKP7nIHq13tuaM8dbBS2sUZQ-EotdxnT6PlbqLWlhTCKIBsabU4VNChEtBNprJtCBqThqFqD_9qHpX-vTGYxhgg8PG8SmS46VWFckzvrxEFpocufkknNZyHKXJs4_ClMwZqQqZxFYC23Qc7oltvzJIrsFab9G57xBEp47/w400-h231/resize.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> By Harry Cummins<p></p><p><br /></p><p> Seeking to bring order out of the chaotic forces that concern every basketball coach, seasoned mentor Curt Bickley at Multnomah University has experienced a recent metamorphosis in his methodology.</p><p> Bickley arrived at unheralded Multnomah Bible College in 2003, on the wings of a decorated 10-year high school coaching career that netted him nearly 200 wins, 2 Iowa state championships and 4 Coach of the Year honors. </p><p> At Multnomah, Bickley found himself saddled with limited financial resources, few scholarships, and only the promise of playing time at a no-name school in which to attract future players. As a result, Bickley soon adapted an offensive scheme dominated by the 3 point shot and a school identity was soon formed on the feats of undersized practitioners of basketball's most celebrated shot.</p><p> The landscape was altered in 2015 when a renamed Multnomah University joined the NAIA as a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference. In 2018, a 5'9" shooting guard, Justin Martin, catapulted Multnomah into the national spotlight with his whirlwind heroics and back-to-back national scoring crowns. His 70 plus point games became the stuff of legends. Still, the team continued to lack any roster depth to support a starting five.</p><p> One by one, the Lions began enticing taller and more skilled players to their Portland, Oregon campus, culminating in their current 2022-23 roster that now features no less than 8 players ranging from 6'6" to 7 feet. Bickley no longer will live and die with the 3 point shot and can now deploy a deep bench that can be maneuvered in shifts much like an ice hockey coach does with changing lines. The coach also has the 'upward mobility' backing of new university President Eric Anthony Joseph, himself a former triple- jump champion, along with Michael Anderson, a personable VP of Athletics, who comes with impressive power lifting credentials of his own.</p><p> Propelling the Lions into the new season will be returning cornerstone players Zach Richardson and Tyrese Taylor. Richardson is a 5th year graduate senior whose 27.6 ppg scoring average was runner-up in 2020-21 to NAIA National Player of the Year Kyle Mangas. Richardson has registered 50 and 49 pt single-game scoring outbursts in past seasons. Taylor is an all-conference center nightly posting double-double performances.</p><p> Charles Jones, an NAIA pre-season All-American and a former Juco Player of the Year transfers to Multnomah this season from cross-town NCAA D1 Portland State. Quentin Jones is an athletic 6'9" transfer from North Carolina A&T and LSU Shreveport. Containing the Jones boys will be an essential task for Multnomah opponents this year.</p><p> Returning for his senior season, Taylor Peppinger is back as the leading returning 3 point shot maker in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. 6'9" forward Dante Sofia from Liverpool, England looks to collect a cluster of rebounds for the Lions in their journey down the yellow brick road that hopefully will lead to the 2023 NAIA National Basketball Championships in Kansas City come next March. </p><p> Filling up the stat sheet every game along the way will be Jr. guard Neyland Block, whose all-around game resulted in 10 pts, 6 reb's and 5 assists per game last season in a limited capacity. His emergence in pre-season workouts stamp him as a serious breakout candidate</p><p> Key contributions are also expected this season from steadying veteran guard Wallace Ungwiluk discovered in an Alaskan outpost on the edge of the Bering Sea, and from explosive Texan Amande Uchime, while other NCAA transfers 'Squeaky Wilkins and Zen Goodridge bring much more than their colorful names to the party. Mix in Nigerian Michael Okoye and talented Pacific Northwest natives Will Casebolt, Leonel Gallegos, Alex Newkirk and Brady Grier and this team is loaded. </p><p> So much so that rapidly developing 7 foot post Will Kietzmann and heralded San Diego prep star Derrien Carter-Hollinger may be forced to take a red-shirt season when they could well start for most teams.</p><p> Coach Bickley will celebrate 20 years as the Lions head coach this year, poised on the threshold of the journey that is the 2022-23 season. A new basketball theology, so to speak, has evolved at the small college with spiritual beginnings. A new reading of traditional text is emerging and Bickley and assistant coaches Tayo Gem and Quinn Curry will be deeply challenged to unify this treasure- trove of scattered talent.</p><p> Interdependence cannot be an elective study . Sacrificial integration must be quickly cultivated and forged thru the crucible of one game at a time. </p><p> Game 1: October 29 Multnomah University vs Pacific Union College (Calif.)</p><p> P.S. Fallback plan still remains... 22ft, 1 3\4 inches away</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ4I1lX-3i8qiVFfpGqovynpuZwGlacdDAlzVmG3Zpwj8LSk6njxQ1U_Jos44rd_u3r3c_wRb3iMl3gLk4airlRTXE5siHmu7gk_vhxp2OHM4yH1QErcq6AXt4ydrKFObleoGx8_20mOu6WgfzSyOkqpEQTbCnCfWqXBn4hofiq47jPp9isA0c2uNy/s112/secondary_logo_2021.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="90" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ4I1lX-3i8qiVFfpGqovynpuZwGlacdDAlzVmG3Zpwj8LSk6njxQ1U_Jos44rd_u3r3c_wRb3iMl3gLk4airlRTXE5siHmu7gk_vhxp2OHM4yH1QErcq6AXt4ydrKFObleoGx8_20mOu6WgfzSyOkqpEQTbCnCfWqXBn4hofiq47jPp9isA0c2uNy/s1600/secondary_logo_2021.png" width="90" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>hcummins@aol.com</p><p>Nomah Nation</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-11084011416222531092022-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:002022-10-19T20:01:33.513-07:00Hoops 2022-23<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs8B5krzjjH44jFTTJ0ijtcgtyFqfB3zL_Kh2unCWegfvKE5eJkbw4JmuO5I_oV38rt4YP_SkbtJ8VD7BgQh4FQQFlKN-JzHtV7F37ONEGa3CgvD-qAzzwDFQ_M7lE0TWdMry4eNNNwGwJGzwhaqWhHpaojm6taYxIhoXT72rIsTHhlTGZqg4Jecs/s800/16648127776142546572998585243090.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="800" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs8B5krzjjH44jFTTJ0ijtcgtyFqfB3zL_Kh2unCWegfvKE5eJkbw4JmuO5I_oV38rt4YP_SkbtJ8VD7BgQh4FQQFlKN-JzHtV7F37ONEGa3CgvD-qAzzwDFQ_M7lE0TWdMry4eNNNwGwJGzwhaqWhHpaojm6taYxIhoXT72rIsTHhlTGZqg4Jecs/w400-h148/16648127776142546572998585243090.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p> Please support your local high school and college basketball teams this 2022-23 season.</p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-36412381846136154642022-10-04T15:19:00.002-07:002022-10-04T15:24:36.554-07:00Astonished Onlookers Report Local Phenomenon<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87gCE0J1_JS9UYYbX1_Gn5jvlwNbKGhpjfZHiB0giEpUKvEdqvCjAlTaMtI6_bLuMriNWH2A5yufUb30blW4QENPIQFW6ika84YMUg1Ra2jJ1UO5cgihohp0cu9lLuuIOORFk24tRHzih7ijmjWWxCIuLLwO43QQ2y9y8PRnWsk0_D9D6ogm-MyzJ/s4032/20210724_210644.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87gCE0J1_JS9UYYbX1_Gn5jvlwNbKGhpjfZHiB0giEpUKvEdqvCjAlTaMtI6_bLuMriNWH2A5yufUb30blW4QENPIQFW6ika84YMUg1Ra2jJ1UO5cgihohp0cu9lLuuIOORFk24tRHzih7ijmjWWxCIuLLwO43QQ2y9y8PRnWsk0_D9D6ogm-MyzJ/s320/20210724_210644.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p><br /></p><p> Reports keep filtering in from what shall remain, for now, an unidentified Portland, Oregon track. Sources close to the scene have reported seeing a man closely resembling<i><b> Craw's Corner</b></i> founder Greg Crawford circling the cinders at speeds that are simultaneously turning heads and stopping timing devices. </p><p> At present, accounts of this phenomenon are not completely verified. However, late this afternoon I received a phone call from both the National Masters News and the USA Senior Track and Field Federation, both asking for confirmation of the recently reported mile time for Mr.Crawford. They also requested media credentials along with copies of the upcoming workout schedules of Mr. Crawford.</p><p> They also asked for his birth certificate. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>hcummins</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-87456080338828010152022-09-12T23:21:00.000-07:002022-09-12T23:21:08.389-07:00Oregon High School Varsity Girls and Boys Basketball Soon Will Have a Shot ClockOregon high school boys and girls varsity basketball in all classifications will implement a 35-second shot clock starting with the 2023-2024 season.<div><br /></div><div>The vote was unanimous when the Executive Board of the Oregon School Activities Association took action on it during its meeting this morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>In an Oregon Basketball Coaches Association survey, 220 were in favor of the shot clock, while 48 were against it and 28 expressed no preference.</div><div><br /></div><div>Momentum for the shot clock has been building since last year after a rule change by the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS).</div><div><br /></div><div>The state of Oregon isn't along in implementing the shot clock. California and Washington already use it for its high school games.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the next two years, Idaho, Montana and Utah will join Oregon in shot clock usage.</div><div><br /></div><div>OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber stated that cost will be a hurdle for some schools. He noted that athletic directors will find a way to make it happen so that the necessary equipment can be purchased and that people would be recruited to run the new shot clocks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thoughts?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Bill Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02463764894531875035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896204875558410917.post-81224447613507356862022-08-09T12:01:00.031-07:002022-08-10T06:16:19.871-07:00 Non-Podium Performance Deemed 'Best Moment' at World Championships<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="530" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglT_cRvTxluCnmNUOjQqTEnjSHvoCF9Cxg71uNl28B8HSgKyg1xWELQYKpUU6iI9st7rUZuEi-iDMe8cBJdk3t8DBaAmFk6mpKfjb81Q-95a6Zdprtik4pzbtTVYOKDnETcPYGq1QouvOiJgikmvtohwpMHn6yp0iZcSs-L3Oi8Jvq4R_VrLTqbMrG/w311-h400/FYDcYDpVUAAc_1D.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="311" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Lost in the headlines surrounding one of the greatest 1500</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglT_cRvTxluCnmNUOjQqTEnjSHvoCF9Cxg71uNl28B8HSgKyg1xWELQYKpUU6iI9st7rUZuEi-iDMe8cBJdk3t8DBaAmFk6mpKfjb81Q-95a6Zdprtik4pzbtTVYOKDnETcPYGq1QouvOiJgikmvtohwpMHn6yp0iZcSs-L3Oi8Jvq4R_VrLTqbMrG/s680/FYDcYDpVUAAc_1D.jpeg"><b><i></i></b></a></div><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i>meters ever run, was a 4th place finish by a college runner</i></b></div><span style="text-align: left;">from Ole Miss, Mario Garcia Romo</span></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">By Harry Cummins </span></div><p> After spending 10 days lodged in Eugene, Oregon at the recent World Athletics Track and Field Championships, I am now in possession of a dazzling disarray of milliseconds and memories from one of the greatest athletic competitions in history. It was the kind of far-reaching event that both demands yet defies one's summation.</p><p> To attempt to name a best performance of the meet is a fool's errand, of course. Record breaking performances by Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin and Tobi Amusan top most such lists. Instead, I choose here to highlight what persists thru the filter of my own definition of 'awe-inspiring'. </p><p> On Day 5 of these Championships, set in the evening gloam, the world was treated to a scintillating stretch duel in the men's 1500m final. Great Britain's Jake Wightman shocked Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen to grab the gold in a spectacular time of 3:29.23, the fastest time ever run on U.S. soil.</p><p> Closing fast in 4th place, but narrowly missing the podium, was Mario Garcia Romo, a 23 year-old college runner from the University of Mississippi and representing Spain. With 200 meters to go, Romo ran 27.9 for the last 200m and 13.70 seconds for the last 100m to move from 7th place to 4th, just missing the podium by three hundredths of a second to countryman Mohamed Katir. Garcia Romo's final 200m split was identical to that clocked by the hard charging winner, Wightman.</p><p> Converting to a spectacular 3:46.8 mile, Garcia Romo's final clocking of 3:30.20 was the fastest 1500 meters <i>ever</i> run by a collegiate runner and would have won every Olympic Games since the modern Games began, except for the 2021 Games in Tokyo.</p><p> Thru the eyes of this old miler.... I saw nothing quite like it all week. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYi6DfyUxksMkEBlF7Pp_916d5mmDpyPpNStJ3FE4MY9-AgCZlTQHVWFV_saaCwhfZQQjvCAhoywwb9isZEYZF4orVwcgIc95KsfmZ_S0jCNksl0QXYn0VaJNqph8p5Zl1OZAtt7YWNqNI_wKVL0WUN7j37MYFUZ0lo4vBRxGZ_s7WlyF0wiDv8YQ/s3628/20220715_183456.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2984" data-original-width="3628" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYi6DfyUxksMkEBlF7Pp_916d5mmDpyPpNStJ3FE4MY9-AgCZlTQHVWFV_saaCwhfZQQjvCAhoywwb9isZEYZF4orVwcgIc95KsfmZ_S0jCNksl0QXYn0VaJNqph8p5Zl1OZAtt7YWNqNI_wKVL0WUN7j37MYFUZ0lo4vBRxGZ_s7WlyF0wiDv8YQ/s320/20220715_183456.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>hcummins@aol.com</p><p> </p><p> </p>Harry Cumminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00833588404547238966noreply@blogger.com0