Who knows how many people actually read this thing, but I wanted to let everyone know that I did not forget about my faithful followers! This fall semester at Bates has been incredibly time consuming, which consequently leaves me with little time to write blogs. But, there is hope...
This semester is almost over (three more weeks, three more weeks, three more weeks...), and after December 11th, I will have so much free time that I will be forced to write frequent blog posts.
The 11th marks the due date of my senior thesis, leaving me with one paper and one final exam before the conclusion of the semester. At 4:30 on Friday, Decemeber 18th, I can safely assume that I will be 7/8ths (semesters) of the way through my college career.
Wow. Time flies.
On that note, time is flying so fast that I need to use as much of it as I can between now and the 11th to ensure that I will in fact reach the 7/8th mark (and hopefully 8/8 by May).
Stay tuned, because I will post frequently throughout the Holidays and will attempt to pick up the pace next semester and post more than just my weekly newspaper column.
I'll leave you with this quote that I find particularly striking:
"The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making any excuses, that's the day you start to the top. " -O.J. Simpson
This is a quote that, while spoken by a horrible person, speaks volumes to what we do as collegiate student-athletes. My coaches posted this outside of our locker room, and it carries a lot of meaning as we attempt to reach our goals in both the short and long term.
Until next time...
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
As Good as Gold
I am not speaking from experience, but I can imagine that it is difficult to be a wife, a friend, a sister and a mother of two incredibly gifted children, yet still find time to speak and present throughout the country, run every day, set an age group record in the New York Marathon, and act as the host of one of the country’s most prestigious 10k road races.
There is only one woman I know who can accomplish all of these things, and I had the incredible opportunity to go for a run with her last Friday morning.
Celebrity athletes amaze me, and even though she is a good family friend and the mother of one of my best friends, Abby Samuelson ’10, Joan Benoit-Samuelson still fits that description. She is like a combination of wonder-woman and Michael Jordan, except she is utterly and uniquely her own superstar.
There is a life-size poster of her in the Freeport Nike factory store, a statue in front of the Cape Elizabeth, ME, town library and an entire building dedicated to her on the Nike campus in Beaverton, OR. Samuelson is the greatest athlete to hail from the state of Maine and if you want to include athletes that have attended a Maine college or university, she still wins with Paul Kariya, a former NHL superstar, a distant second.
Some of you might have had the pleasure to meet her at some point in your lives and some of you might know who she is because of her sparkling career as one of the best marathon runners in the history of the sport. However, running is a sport that gets little attention in our society, and I am confident that many of you do not know Joan Benoit-Samuelson and why she is important.
For starters, she won the gold medal in the first women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles in 1984, set the marathon world record in Chicago the following years (it was broken 18 years later in 2003) and is the founder and host of one of the country’s biggest 10k road races – the Beach to Beacon, held in her hometown of Cape Elizabeth.
Take out the gold medals and world records and I might still write this column about her for all she has done for the sport of running and the state of Maine. She has been a tremendous ambassador for both sport and state throughout her exceptional career, and I wanted to share the story of a woman that has impacted all of us whether we know it or not.
While the gold medals and world records are our standard measurements for greatness, they only tell a part of the story with Samuelson and, as a close family friend and friend of her daughter, I wanted to learn more.
I took it into my own hands to get the true story behind Samuelson’s career as a marathon runner, Nike ambassador, and one of the most inspiring athletes of the 1980s.
While I know Samuelson quite well, I can honestly admit that I felt like a child leading up to my morning run. She is a hero of American running, an idol for male and female runners all across the globe, and I, Harry Poole, was the lucky soul that got to go for a one-on-one morning run with her? It did not add up, and I viewed the day as if I was going to play h-o-r-s-e with Michael Jordan, hit some balls at the driving range with Tiger Woods or play home run derby with Albert Pujols.
It had been almost two weeks since her record-breaking New York City Marathon when we met up on Friday morning. Samuelson set a new course record for women over the age of 50 when she ran a blistering 2:49:09 over 26.2 miles.
Do the math. That is 6:27 per mile. That is fast. Faster than a majority of the Bates student body can run one mile. And she is 52.
Even more impressive is that Samuelson has slowed down only 28 minutes since her then world-record time of 2:21:21 set in Chicago in 1985. She has lost just about one minute per mile over the last 24 years – a statistic that defies much of what we learn about human physiology.
So, how does she do it?
The answer is simple, and it has everything to do with her passion for running, her family, and her desire to spread her important messages about life longevity, environmental awareness, and the strength of women in society (prior to her gold medal run in 1984, women were considered too weak to run the marathon distance).
Despite feeling slow and tight on Friday morning, Samuelson mustered the strength to take me on an eight and a half mile loop. We conversed the entire time, and within 20 minutes I learned two important things about her.
First, she does not take shortcuts when she runs. Whether it is literally cutting distance off of a run by taking the shorter of two roads home, or just simply cutting a corner while turning onto a new street, Samuelson does not take shortcuts. If you cannot pick up on the significance of this, then I will tell you that it is also a metaphor for how she has run (pun intended) her life.
Whether it is raising her children to be the best possible kids, being the best possible wife or simply running a loop, shortcuts are not part of her program.
I found this out the hard way.
At every turn, Samuelson would run to the outside of the apex before running across and making her way onto the new street. Like a true champion, I either cut the corner or ran past the turn because I could not tell if she was turning or not.
Second, I learned that she is the most modest athlete that I have ever met. While my list of connections with great athletes is short, Samuelson continually impresses me with her humbleness and interest in matters unrelated to her.
My proof of this statement is that her gold medal is not hung in her bedroom or displayed in a trophy case.
“It is in a junk drawer,” said her daughter Abby, a senior, JA, and two-sport captain at Bates. “If you had asked her to show you, she might not have found it because that drawer is so full of stuff.”
Samuelson dodged many of my questions about her only to ask questions about what was happening in my life. She wanted to know about my thesis, the ski team and my plans for next year (Abby, you lied when you told her that you were the only senior who had no plans).
I eventually got her to talk me through her career, and after listening without interrupting once, I told her that it was an honor for me to run with her.
Samuelson ran the Boston Marathon in the spring of her senior year at Bowdoin College in 1979. She came in as a highly successful collegiate cross-country and track athlete but had no marathon experience.
No one expected her to win the race and take eight minutes off of the women’s course record, but she did. It was here that Samuelson realized her dream as a professional runner.
Similarly, after getting arthroscopic knee surgery 17 days before the Olympic Trials in 1984, no one expected Samuelson to return healthy enough to win the race, but she did.
Nor was she picked as the favorite in the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles later that year, but she beat all of her rivals by over a minute.
I am running the Boston Marathon this spring, which precisely puts me on the same path as the start of Samuelson’s unforgettable marathon career.
The only difference? Well, I will let you figure that out.
There is only one woman I know who can accomplish all of these things, and I had the incredible opportunity to go for a run with her last Friday morning.
Celebrity athletes amaze me, and even though she is a good family friend and the mother of one of my best friends, Abby Samuelson ’10, Joan Benoit-Samuelson still fits that description. She is like a combination of wonder-woman and Michael Jordan, except she is utterly and uniquely her own superstar.
There is a life-size poster of her in the Freeport Nike factory store, a statue in front of the Cape Elizabeth, ME, town library and an entire building dedicated to her on the Nike campus in Beaverton, OR. Samuelson is the greatest athlete to hail from the state of Maine and if you want to include athletes that have attended a Maine college or university, she still wins with Paul Kariya, a former NHL superstar, a distant second.
Some of you might have had the pleasure to meet her at some point in your lives and some of you might know who she is because of her sparkling career as one of the best marathon runners in the history of the sport. However, running is a sport that gets little attention in our society, and I am confident that many of you do not know Joan Benoit-Samuelson and why she is important.
For starters, she won the gold medal in the first women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles in 1984, set the marathon world record in Chicago the following years (it was broken 18 years later in 2003) and is the founder and host of one of the country’s biggest 10k road races – the Beach to Beacon, held in her hometown of Cape Elizabeth.
Take out the gold medals and world records and I might still write this column about her for all she has done for the sport of running and the state of Maine. She has been a tremendous ambassador for both sport and state throughout her exceptional career, and I wanted to share the story of a woman that has impacted all of us whether we know it or not.
While the gold medals and world records are our standard measurements for greatness, they only tell a part of the story with Samuelson and, as a close family friend and friend of her daughter, I wanted to learn more.
I took it into my own hands to get the true story behind Samuelson’s career as a marathon runner, Nike ambassador, and one of the most inspiring athletes of the 1980s.
While I know Samuelson quite well, I can honestly admit that I felt like a child leading up to my morning run. She is a hero of American running, an idol for male and female runners all across the globe, and I, Harry Poole, was the lucky soul that got to go for a one-on-one morning run with her? It did not add up, and I viewed the day as if I was going to play h-o-r-s-e with Michael Jordan, hit some balls at the driving range with Tiger Woods or play home run derby with Albert Pujols.
It had been almost two weeks since her record-breaking New York City Marathon when we met up on Friday morning. Samuelson set a new course record for women over the age of 50 when she ran a blistering 2:49:09 over 26.2 miles.
Do the math. That is 6:27 per mile. That is fast. Faster than a majority of the Bates student body can run one mile. And she is 52.
Even more impressive is that Samuelson has slowed down only 28 minutes since her then world-record time of 2:21:21 set in Chicago in 1985. She has lost just about one minute per mile over the last 24 years – a statistic that defies much of what we learn about human physiology.
So, how does she do it?
The answer is simple, and it has everything to do with her passion for running, her family, and her desire to spread her important messages about life longevity, environmental awareness, and the strength of women in society (prior to her gold medal run in 1984, women were considered too weak to run the marathon distance).
Despite feeling slow and tight on Friday morning, Samuelson mustered the strength to take me on an eight and a half mile loop. We conversed the entire time, and within 20 minutes I learned two important things about her.
First, she does not take shortcuts when she runs. Whether it is literally cutting distance off of a run by taking the shorter of two roads home, or just simply cutting a corner while turning onto a new street, Samuelson does not take shortcuts. If you cannot pick up on the significance of this, then I will tell you that it is also a metaphor for how she has run (pun intended) her life.
Whether it is raising her children to be the best possible kids, being the best possible wife or simply running a loop, shortcuts are not part of her program.
I found this out the hard way.
At every turn, Samuelson would run to the outside of the apex before running across and making her way onto the new street. Like a true champion, I either cut the corner or ran past the turn because I could not tell if she was turning or not.
Second, I learned that she is the most modest athlete that I have ever met. While my list of connections with great athletes is short, Samuelson continually impresses me with her humbleness and interest in matters unrelated to her.
My proof of this statement is that her gold medal is not hung in her bedroom or displayed in a trophy case.
“It is in a junk drawer,” said her daughter Abby, a senior, JA, and two-sport captain at Bates. “If you had asked her to show you, she might not have found it because that drawer is so full of stuff.”
Samuelson dodged many of my questions about her only to ask questions about what was happening in my life. She wanted to know about my thesis, the ski team and my plans for next year (Abby, you lied when you told her that you were the only senior who had no plans).
I eventually got her to talk me through her career, and after listening without interrupting once, I told her that it was an honor for me to run with her.
Samuelson ran the Boston Marathon in the spring of her senior year at Bowdoin College in 1979. She came in as a highly successful collegiate cross-country and track athlete but had no marathon experience.
No one expected her to win the race and take eight minutes off of the women’s course record, but she did. It was here that Samuelson realized her dream as a professional runner.
Similarly, after getting arthroscopic knee surgery 17 days before the Olympic Trials in 1984, no one expected Samuelson to return healthy enough to win the race, but she did.
Nor was she picked as the favorite in the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles later that year, but she beat all of her rivals by over a minute.
I am running the Boston Marathon this spring, which precisely puts me on the same path as the start of Samuelson’s unforgettable marathon career.
The only difference? Well, I will let you figure that out.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
More Important Than the Win
What a game. Down by 10 early in the second quarter, but clawing back to within three at the half. Down by 10 again halfway through the third quarter but within three just 20 seconds later. Down by another ten early in the fourth quarter before storming back to win by four.
This, fellow Bobcats, was only part of the story that unfolded on Saturday at the historic Garcelon Field.
No, Garcelon Field is not where Penn State, Ohio State, Texas, Florida or LSU play. It is not the home of a dynamite college football program and it has seen just 299 victories in the program’s 114 year history.
Garcelon Field is our home football stadium and since it was built in 1899, it has seen great players and fans come and go. After our football team sent Bowdoin back to Brunswick licking their wounds after a 28-24 loss, the stadium said goodbye to another generation of those players and fans.
Wait, what’s that? We won? Yes, we won and that joke is old. Sure, the program’s history is not dazzling. There is no disputing that. We all know that a two-win season is a good season. No one expects to run the table and go an unprecedented 8-0 because that has never happened here (although the 1946 team went 7-0).
But I am not here to talk about wins and losses. The football team showed something on Saturday that I have not seen in many home football games. They showed more resilience, fight and effort than the opponent. They overcame turnovers, missed routes and dropped passes. They showed pride and that pride was, above all, more important than the outcome of the game.
They could have let up at any difficult moment on Saturday, but it was not an option. With 15 seniors playing the final home game of their Bates careers, losing was not a thought in their minds. They could have played Texas, Florida or even the New England Patriots, and I can all but guarantee you that the team would have put forth the same effort (though we know the result would undoubtedly be different).
With an estimated 1,800 people watching the final home game of the season, the Bobcats were out to show everyone that we are not the joke of the NESCAC. These guys were not playing for a spot in any sort of playoff, championship or post-season award ceremony.
But they won, and as the excitement of the game became almost unbearable in the fourth quarter, I saw 1,800 people act like this was the Super Bowl. It was not, but for the first time in my four years at Bates, I can honestly say that I was amazed by the atmosphere at Garcelon Field.
When Bowdoin had their golden opportunity to take the lead 30-28 with 4:06 remaining (all they needed was one measly yard), people in the stands started the universal sports chant of “DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE!” When the Polar Bears got the ball back with 2:16 remaining, the crowd did their best to distract Bowdoin’s offense by stomping its feet on the bleachers to emulate the sound of thunder.
Whether or not the chants or noise making were heard on the field is neither here nor there. What matters is that for once, we as a student body showed some serious support for a team not named men’s basketball (you know you guys hoard the fan support, Chris Wilson ’10).
For a while this fall, it felt like we came to accept mediocrity as a collection of fans. While our fall sports collectively had an extremely disappointing season, I cannot say that we did much on our part to help them out.
I am not a model citizen by any means, and if you need clarification on that you can call my mother at 207-846-6…yeah right.
But I will admit that I tried to support our athletic teams as best I could. My friends and I often discussed our school’s frustrating fall sports records. We did not do so because we enjoyed trash-talking our teams when they lost, but rather because we wanted to see some change. We noted the lack of wins, but also the lack of fan support.
While the former is what we all care about, the latter is directly related. Our support can and will help our teams win games in the future. Still aren’t convinced? Just ask football Tri-Captain Tom Beaton ’10.
“It was awesome to see all of the support that the parents and fans gave,” said Beaton. “To be honest that support truly does make a difference to the players on the field.”
I was not on the field on Saturday, but I was in the stands and it was louder than I have ever heard. When Bates took their first lead of the game with 9:39 remaining following an interception returned for a touchdown by defensive lineman Tyler Kuehl ’12, the stadium exploded. People took out their phones and immediately called their napping friends to force them out of the comfort of their dorm rooms to watch what would be a thrilling end to a hard-fought football game.
The team did not take the field with the idea of proving themselves to anyone. Few of you believed in them anyways.
They played the game to salvage a season marked by close games, blown leads and inconsistent play, but more importantly to honor the leadership provided by those 15 seniors – most notably Tri-Captains Kyle McAllister ’10, Beaton and Matt Sherburne ’10.
If you thought McAllister, Beaton and Sherburne were going to walk away from the final home football game of their careers with a loss, I hope you witnessed them every time they came off of the field.
While Sherburne was out with an injury, he was the emotional leader of the team. He was at every practice and game throughout the season, and his presence was undoubtedly felt on the sidelines on Saturday.
McAllister showed more energy than I have ever seen from one player, delivering big hits and running of the field with tremendous high fives and adrenaline pumping screams.
Beaton played with his usual composure and showed the Polar Bears that height is overhyped in the NESCAC – just ask their defense how he burned them for nine catches, 152 yards and one long touchdown reception.
Although this column speaks to the football team, it is intended to spread throughout Bates athletics. Our combined men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and football NESCAC record stands at an embarrassing 5-39-1 (the fate of another win lies in the hands of the Football team at Hamilton on Saturday). While that is nothing to write home about (at least positively), not one of the athletes on any of those five teams enjoys losing.
Our football team put the silver lining on a fall filled with athletic struggles. I am not sure if it was Midnight Madness or the Powder Puff football games that got this school fired up for our sports, but I do know that Saturday is a day that will stick out to me when I think of the events I attended in my four years at Bates.
Winter sports are up next, and we are starting with a clean slate. We are 0-0-0 in the NESCAC and I am giving you all another shot to show other schools what we can do.
After all, the NCAA rated Alumni Gymnasium as one of the toughest places for opponents to play.
Take that for what it is worth.
This, fellow Bobcats, was only part of the story that unfolded on Saturday at the historic Garcelon Field.
No, Garcelon Field is not where Penn State, Ohio State, Texas, Florida or LSU play. It is not the home of a dynamite college football program and it has seen just 299 victories in the program’s 114 year history.
Garcelon Field is our home football stadium and since it was built in 1899, it has seen great players and fans come and go. After our football team sent Bowdoin back to Brunswick licking their wounds after a 28-24 loss, the stadium said goodbye to another generation of those players and fans.
Wait, what’s that? We won? Yes, we won and that joke is old. Sure, the program’s history is not dazzling. There is no disputing that. We all know that a two-win season is a good season. No one expects to run the table and go an unprecedented 8-0 because that has never happened here (although the 1946 team went 7-0).
But I am not here to talk about wins and losses. The football team showed something on Saturday that I have not seen in many home football games. They showed more resilience, fight and effort than the opponent. They overcame turnovers, missed routes and dropped passes. They showed pride and that pride was, above all, more important than the outcome of the game.
They could have let up at any difficult moment on Saturday, but it was not an option. With 15 seniors playing the final home game of their Bates careers, losing was not a thought in their minds. They could have played Texas, Florida or even the New England Patriots, and I can all but guarantee you that the team would have put forth the same effort (though we know the result would undoubtedly be different).
With an estimated 1,800 people watching the final home game of the season, the Bobcats were out to show everyone that we are not the joke of the NESCAC. These guys were not playing for a spot in any sort of playoff, championship or post-season award ceremony.
But they won, and as the excitement of the game became almost unbearable in the fourth quarter, I saw 1,800 people act like this was the Super Bowl. It was not, but for the first time in my four years at Bates, I can honestly say that I was amazed by the atmosphere at Garcelon Field.
When Bowdoin had their golden opportunity to take the lead 30-28 with 4:06 remaining (all they needed was one measly yard), people in the stands started the universal sports chant of “DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE!” When the Polar Bears got the ball back with 2:16 remaining, the crowd did their best to distract Bowdoin’s offense by stomping its feet on the bleachers to emulate the sound of thunder.
Whether or not the chants or noise making were heard on the field is neither here nor there. What matters is that for once, we as a student body showed some serious support for a team not named men’s basketball (you know you guys hoard the fan support, Chris Wilson ’10).
For a while this fall, it felt like we came to accept mediocrity as a collection of fans. While our fall sports collectively had an extremely disappointing season, I cannot say that we did much on our part to help them out.
I am not a model citizen by any means, and if you need clarification on that you can call my mother at 207-846-6…yeah right.
But I will admit that I tried to support our athletic teams as best I could. My friends and I often discussed our school’s frustrating fall sports records. We did not do so because we enjoyed trash-talking our teams when they lost, but rather because we wanted to see some change. We noted the lack of wins, but also the lack of fan support.
While the former is what we all care about, the latter is directly related. Our support can and will help our teams win games in the future. Still aren’t convinced? Just ask football Tri-Captain Tom Beaton ’10.
“It was awesome to see all of the support that the parents and fans gave,” said Beaton. “To be honest that support truly does make a difference to the players on the field.”
I was not on the field on Saturday, but I was in the stands and it was louder than I have ever heard. When Bates took their first lead of the game with 9:39 remaining following an interception returned for a touchdown by defensive lineman Tyler Kuehl ’12, the stadium exploded. People took out their phones and immediately called their napping friends to force them out of the comfort of their dorm rooms to watch what would be a thrilling end to a hard-fought football game.
The team did not take the field with the idea of proving themselves to anyone. Few of you believed in them anyways.
They played the game to salvage a season marked by close games, blown leads and inconsistent play, but more importantly to honor the leadership provided by those 15 seniors – most notably Tri-Captains Kyle McAllister ’10, Beaton and Matt Sherburne ’10.
If you thought McAllister, Beaton and Sherburne were going to walk away from the final home football game of their careers with a loss, I hope you witnessed them every time they came off of the field.
While Sherburne was out with an injury, he was the emotional leader of the team. He was at every practice and game throughout the season, and his presence was undoubtedly felt on the sidelines on Saturday.
McAllister showed more energy than I have ever seen from one player, delivering big hits and running of the field with tremendous high fives and adrenaline pumping screams.
Beaton played with his usual composure and showed the Polar Bears that height is overhyped in the NESCAC – just ask their defense how he burned them for nine catches, 152 yards and one long touchdown reception.
Although this column speaks to the football team, it is intended to spread throughout Bates athletics. Our combined men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and football NESCAC record stands at an embarrassing 5-39-1 (the fate of another win lies in the hands of the Football team at Hamilton on Saturday). While that is nothing to write home about (at least positively), not one of the athletes on any of those five teams enjoys losing.
Our football team put the silver lining on a fall filled with athletic struggles. I am not sure if it was Midnight Madness or the Powder Puff football games that got this school fired up for our sports, but I do know that Saturday is a day that will stick out to me when I think of the events I attended in my four years at Bates.
Winter sports are up next, and we are starting with a clean slate. We are 0-0-0 in the NESCAC and I am giving you all another shot to show other schools what we can do.
After all, the NCAA rated Alumni Gymnasium as one of the toughest places for opponents to play.
Take that for what it is worth.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
An Afternoon With Tony Hawk...Sort Of
How many chances in your life will you get up close and personal with an athlete who played a major role in transcending and globalizing his or her sport? Not many, unless you have unlimited funds and can pay your way through the cracks.
I have never had the chance, and that is precisely why I dropped everything last Monday and drove down to the
I am not a skateboarder, cannot ollie for the life of me and definitely cannot ride in a half pipe, but I am a sports fan and thus know that Tony Hawk is one of the most influential athletes of the last ten years for singlehandedly globalizing the sport of skateboarding. Think I am crazy for saying that? Think twice and buckle up to find out why.
After some short research, I learned that skateboarding was invented in the 1950s when
Simply put, skateboarding was a lost sport from its conception in the ’50s until Tony Hawk burst onto the scene in the early ’90s. Throughout its history, the sport has battled with its identity. It has been a long standing debate between different types of aesthetics.
’80s skaters lived in a transition period where no one knew what was cool. Marked by florescent colors and tight jeans, skaters were lost.
Then came the ‘90s and skateboarding finally found its identity.
Tight jeans faded out and baggy clothes made their way to the forefront of skate culture (though that has switched again over the last five years). After the ’80s, your clothes, style and hair did not matter as much because skateboarding became about Tony Hawk. Whatever Tony wore was in, whatever Tony did was cool, and whatever Tony said was right.
Skateboarding fluttered on the line of popular and unpopular sports for over forty years, but as soon as Tony Hawk won his first Summer X-Games gold in 1995, the future was made. He became noticed and quickly became the face of a sport in desperate need of a role model.
When I think of skateboarding, I instinctively think of Tony Hawk. How many other modern-day athletes have impacted his or her sport in the same way? I can think of four more with ease, as Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and Kelly Slater are all synonymous with their sports. After that, it becomes ambiguous. Throw in the Williams sisters, Shaun White, Usain Bolt, Wayne Gretzky and Michael Phelps and there you have my list of athletes who have played the biggest role in globalizing sports over the last two decades.
He may not be the best athlete on the list, but in terms of his worldwide influence on skateboarding, Hawk earns his place in the top-ten among the likes of those big-name athletes.
Who cares if he cannot run a sub-10 second 100 meter dash, win seven Tour de France titles or rule the NBA for the rest of time? Not me, because Tony Hawk has solidified his place as a phenomenal athlete and instrumental piece of the history of sport in the
What was his recipe to greatness? For starters, he won nine X-Games gold medals, three silvers and two bronzes between 1995 and 2002, completed the first ever 900 (that’s two and a half rotations) and he started a video game title that produced 15 different games.
If that is not enough, he has taken on the role as an ambassador for The Truth’s tobacco education campaign as it tries to spread awareness for the dangers of cigarettes, smoking and other tobacco products.
The Truth brought its campaign to the Northeast last week and teamed up with Hawk’s Birdhouse Tour to add some flair to their message. While there were speakers and other entertainers on-site at
He is older and, based on a history of serious crashes, probably more frail. But that did not stop him from pleasing the crowd as he gapped a six-foot channel from one side of the hollow bowl to the other (really sick, bro).
Like a true competitor, Hawk tried the trick close to a dozen times before he successfully landed to a loud applause from the crowd of Lewistonians and a few Bobcats. A few small tricks later, and Hawk made his way through the crowds and into the plush Quicksilver RV.
To my surprise, there was little advertising for this event. I did not read about it online, see it on the news or even catch wind of the event until I called one of my friends to see if he wanted to take part in a sport almost as chill as skateboarding – rollerblading.
He declined and told me to hustle down to
Thankfully I listened, and although I am not that chill, cannot do cool tricks and definitely do not have skater style; I soaked in the afternoon as if I had nothing else to do.
Like a true journalist, I had thoughts of exactly how I was going to approach Tony or anyone else in his posse for a quick interview. I planned the whole conversation out in my head, and was ready to pounce as soon as I saw him finish his session.
I would like to say that I was brave and approached Tony for an interview, but I did not. On my way to intercept him before he made it back to the RV, I froze and beelined it straight to my car and back to campus.
That was probably my only chance to ever talk with Tony Hawk, and I dropped the ball. If that was any indication of my life as a journalist beyond The Bates Student, it was a bad omen.
On my way to watch his greatness, I called my mom to tell her that I was going to try to get an interview.
I jumped the gun. On my way back to campus, I dejectedly called her and explained that I was a wimp.
Tony Hawk scared the daylight out of me, but for some reason it was entirely OK. I witnessed one of my top-ten most influential athletes right here in
I am sure he could have made a lengthy list of places he would choose to skate and
Much like his competitive drive that gave him countless bruises and cuts when he tried to gap the channel at
Why? Because he is Tony Hawk and he knows full well that everyone will listen.
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