5/4/2011: An Oregonian op-ed from former UO track star Steve Bence. If you’ve ever walked by that plaque on Hayward field and wondered what made a so-so champion runner into a genuine hero, you should read it all.
5/4/2011: An Oregonian op-ed from former UO track star Steve Bence. If you’ve ever walked by that plaque on Hayward field and wondered what made a so-so champion runner into a genuine hero, you should read it all.
“so-so runner”? At the time of his death, Pre held every American distance-running record from 2000 meters to 10,000 meters.
He also won three NCAA cross-country championships and four national titles in outdoor track.
I’m not a member of the cult of Pre, but a cheap shot is a cheap shot.
In defense of UO Matters (not that UO Matter is not capable of defending itself), Pre won on guts, not innate athletic gifts. That is what made him so special.
There are athletes who make it all look so easy. And then there is Prefontaine, for whom nothing was ever easy. Pre’s spirit is quintessentially Oregon’s spirit — the same spirit found in Kesey’s iconic anti-heros.
The Cheshire Cat, still thinking this is indeed Wonderland, recommends that the readers of UOMatters check this article in the WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703937104576303162469213914.html?KEYWORDS=chip+kelly
here are the most intriguing words
” Though Oregon lost to Auburn in the BCS national championship game, it recently received another kind of validation that’s typical of genius teams: that it has done what it has without superior talent. During the NFL’s recent seven-round draft, only one Oregon player was selected.”
I venture the pious prayer that the academic side might be so well led.