Penn State Race Cancelled!!

Skwilli: Where was I complaining? It was you and Malmo making your macho statements with malmo saying the team would revolt if Groves pulled a pansie ass thing like that and you saying we would have "race ourselves". When you write these things you are making bad reflections on todays team who had nothing to do with the meet being cancelled. People who were there have said that it was a no brainer on calling off the meet.Since you are both alumni why don't you get behind the team instead of making snide remarks. Didn't you want the alumni to back you when you ran? I'm sure kids like McNally and Dawson are just as tough and motivated as you guys were. As far as ipods, compression shorts, cell phones etc. they didn't have those things in the 70's and todays kids are used to having these things. What make you so sure you wouldn't have been using those things. Do you usea pay phone when you are out now? You and Malmo had your time it is over. Quit living in the past. It is now 2009. By the way I think I am older than you.

I was there at the meet yesterday, and here is my two cents: the course was in pretty bad shape. The snow was thick and wet, so it would have been rough conditions for a race. However, it is cross country. My team and I were all ready to run in it, no matter what condition the course was in.

The problem was trees. The coaches were worried about one or two spots on the course where the race goes under a few trees, and these spots were just for a quarter mile or so. The word on the course was that the girl's course was fine(they didn't have to run the spots in question), but they didn't want to risk the guys race by making them run through the wooded areas. Why not switch up the course a bit to steer the men out of the wooded areas? It really would not have been that difficult.

As for canceling the meet, it was an executive decision that was made too late. We were aware of how the weather was going to be the whole week beforehand (our coach kept us updated), and we were prepared to run in the snow because we knew it was coming. Were the race officials/PSU coaches that oblivious that they didn't have a back up plan? Also, the majority of the snow that was on the course was there the night before, so why not make the decision to cancel then? I was just completely caught off guard by that.

Thank god for Coach Russell and the Lock Haven team for salvaging a race out of this disaster. I know that in my teams case (and in the case of a lot of the other teams that were supposed to run this meet), this was a plug meet between Paul Short and our respective conference meets which are in 2 weeks. Because of the cancellation, some teams will be going into their conference meet without having run a race in 4 weeks, and that is unfortunate.

The race at Lock Haven was run well.. kudos to them for throwing it together so quickly and allowing any team from PSU who wanted to run to run. The course was torn up and muddy, but isn't that how cross country is supposed to be?

The way the cancellation was handled was fine, I just think it's unacceptable that teams came in from 1000 miles away and they canceled the meet without a back up plan or any alternative for those teams to do.

Penn State has made themselves look bad on a national level now, and next time they plan a meet they better be sure to plan for all situations to avoid an embarrassment like this again.

You don't know what you are talking about! There are few who promote the alumni AND the current team as much as I do. I have put more time and money into all things Penn State Track and Field (and XC) than most, (but not all!). There are truly hundreds of people associated with the program becoming involved. Coach Groves and the current staff are also on the same page. The future is quite bright for the program. The reward will be the largest track and field alumni group in the world.

You need a little sense of humor there. Join our group and enjoy the mirth. The current team and coaches know how much I promote them. Again, you don't know what you are talking about.

http://psutafalumnigolf.blogspot.com

Skwilli: Good.I'm sorry if I took it as a slight on their team but I never made any complains about the meet being cancelled. My gripe is every time PSU is brought up people start talking about what Groves would do. I think you will agree this not fair to the current staff who work their butts off . I felt as if the mens program and staff were getting bashed over this when everything was out of their control. I am really pulling for this team and staff. I've been following a few of these kids thru out high school and feel Penn State is setting itself to be a great team for many years. If I see at the Big 10's I will introduce myself to you. Good Luck.

I'll be the one dressed as a PSU Physics Grad Student at the Alumni get-together. Join our group and golf with us this year in May 2010! No talent required, as is evidenced by my participation. You have earned a wrist band of your choice (even last year's "Harry's Boys" version is still available). The truth is that canceling the meet probably had very little to do with who the coach happened to be. In today's world, the decisions are made for us by others, unfortunately. I am an enthusiastic supporter of Alford-Sullivan and the rest of the current coaches and an unabashed acolyte of Coach Groves. It is quite all right to speculate about "What Would Groves Do". His 38 years at PSU and 64 out of 65 years at the Penn Relays earns that. (And he wouldn't have canceled the meet!, no matter what anyone else says. I'll ask him when I see him in 2 weeks.) Place another smilie here.

I just don't get how all these old timers can say what they would have done when they have never been in the same situation. It is real to easy to sit in your warm homes sipping on some hot chocolate and bash people for not racing in a foot of snow when they had no say in the matter anyways.

We had a time trial in 1979 on a 15 mile course during a snow storm with a temperature of minus-9 degrees and 15 mph winds. The Airport Loop is difficult in normal circumstances. Several of us got frostbite that day, but none of us gave a second thought to not running. Seeing someone racing full tilt with a gray nose was very disconcerting. (Turns out it was from a childhood exposure.) And no one complained afterward. Others in that race hopefully will confirm everything I've said. (Prefan...)

http:psutafalumnigolf.blogspot.com

And to set the record straight on the race cancellation this past week, here's a recap from the two coaches involved:

http://webmail.aol.com/28789/cs_com-1/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=1.26741741&folder=NewMail&partId=4&saveAs=Penn_State-Lock_Haven_2009.cwk_

(WP).pdf

upstateny wrote:

So the Cornell men win with Cortland 2nd. Way to go upstate NY.

My question is do they get the at-large point over Georgetown. They should as georgetown forfeited.

If this was basektball and you didn't show, you forfeit.

Gtown is the stanford of the east and i mean that in the pansiest of ways. A few years back they don't even finish 5 guys at NCAAs and now they can't run on a pancake flat course in half an inch of snow.

1) No they don't get the point because it wasn't a forfeit it was a cancellation.

2) There's no such thing as a "forfeit" in cross country.

3) This isn't basketball e.g. you don't win the race by tossing a ball in a hoop so the same rules don't apply.

4) I know your exaggerating but "half an inch of snow" is the understatement of the century. There were 6 inches on the ground, check the "record freak snowstorm" on weather.com for state college, PA.

5) Go beat off to some more March Madness posters and stay off running websites.

from reading Jessica's note on the conditions, even Harry might just have canceled this one (or been forced to).

but i have no doubt he would have made us run a time-trial on that course anyway - conditions be damned. and called us pussies if the times weren't solid.

Even his mother called him Coach! (He did allow me to put Harry's Boys on the wristbands however, which surprised me.)

Yes, sqwilli, I can confirm. I remember that run. It was cold as hell and I remember one of the twins was the one that got frostbite. Is that specific enough?

Looking forward to the Big Ten CC Championship meet on Nov. 1st, can someone describe what the course is like and where it will be held? Thanks.

Sorry to bring you out of your cave so abruptly! (smilie here). But do you remember what happened to DF? Poor guy was screaming in the shower when I finally made it back to Rec Hall. My parents were actually at the Creamery when we ran past at the finish and they wondered why I had icicles all over me and couldn't speak to them! Must have been a football weekend.