Legendary Track Promoter Al Franken - RIP

Legend.

Ha!!! Banned 3 times by the AAU for life but always got off. Giving money to athletes before professionalism came into the sport. Classic.

I just finished the front page and put up two other great articles on the man.

the LA Times:

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-12-08/appreciation-al-franken-ucla-track-field-promoter-dies-obit

and Sports Examiner:

https://www.thesportsexaminer.com/lane-two-an-under-appreciated-legend-in-his-own-time-remembering-track-promoter-al-franken/

I wish I had met him. I loved reading about another era of track and field. I mean the dude had weekly luncheons with the Southern California track writers at famed Taix French Restaurant. Can you imagine if someone tried to do that in 2021? They'd have to fly Jonathan Gault in from Boston to get almost the only track writer left in the country.

I was fortunate to run in a couple of his Sunkist Indoor meets at the Sports Arena. But the highlight was having relay teams and individuals run in that meet as their coach. The warm up area was unique in that world class athletes were sharing the area with high schoolers. My athletes were star struck on so many occasions.

Not my reel name wrote:

Legend.

Ha!!! Banned 3 times by the AAU for life but always got off. Giving money to athletes before professionalism came into the sport. Classic.

Are you seriously throwing shade on a guy who helped THOUSANDS of American track athletes earn a little money so they could train and race? Not to mention that many of these athletes had to compete against athletes from around the world who were sponsored by their home countries. The AAU anti-professional rule was a complete joke, and by the way, the money wasn't much. Just a few bucks to offset travel expenses and food. Most if not all these athletes had full-time jobs. Every penny helped!

Know your history your freakin' idiot!

Asker of questions wrote:

We need another Al Franken

Erm, ever heard of the former Senator of Minnesota?

buddy, I'm pretty sure he's throwing shade at the AAU and their ridiculous attempts to enforce the shamateurism rules of the

era...and/or

he's celebrating Al's ability to still take care of the athletes, despite the best efforts of the AAU.

I consider myself fortunate to be one of the beneficiaries of Al/Don's generosity, and will always consider it an honor to have played a small part in the LA meet history - always one of my best memories, as my buddy had just got engaged the night before and went on to win the Mile that night at the LA Indoor.

For those in the LA area, there will be a memorial service at 1p on sunday, I think at Don's house. Feel free to post an email and I'd be happy to pass along the address/details.

finally, to the second poster, love your posting name, haha!

Aouita 84 wrote:

Not my reel name wrote:

Legend.

Ha!!! Banned 3 times by the AAU for life but always got off. Giving money to athletes before professionalism came into the sport. Classic.

Are you seriously throwing shade on a guy who helped THOUSANDS of American track athletes earn a little money so they could train and race? Not to mention that many of these athletes had to compete against athletes from around the world who were sponsored by their home countries. The AAU anti-professional rule was a complete joke, and by the way, the money wasn't much. Just a few bucks to offset travel expenses and food. Most if not all these athletes had full-time jobs. Every penny helped!

Know your history your freakin' idiot!

Is English not your first language? Al Franken was the leader for all athletes being paid when shamateurism was the rule.

I knew Al, I profited from Al and was a huge supporter of Al. I said in rooms without when he demanded Ollan Cassel show the books on what TAC/USATF was doing with all the money. I personally saw this history that you don't seem to understand.

I'll think of you at his service on Sunday. Not.

Was the LA Times Indoor Games for most of its history. Franken used the LA Sports Arena for most stagings. That was where the Clippers played. Lakers played at Inglewood Forum where Sunkist meet was held. Al Franken was generous about staging high school events in the main programme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdal3ITG8-o

Don't know if Al also staged the Sunkist meet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPMVSe_n-yQ

"Legend. Ha!!!" could easily be interpreted as implying you thought he wasn't a legend.

"I said in rooms without when he demanded..." What's that supposed to mean?

Maybe you should tone down the criticism of others until you learn to write coherently.

Those indoor meets were the thing back in the day and it was amazing how they were supported. I believe that there was another big one in San Diego too. So sad that the west coast meets just fizzled out. You used to see photos from these meets plastered on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Yes, we have Boston and still have New York but the elite class indoor meets sure are thin these days.

Maybe one of the resident LR writers or historians can give us some more insight into what happened. I'm sure it comes down to money. The movers and shakers seem to be all gone along with many of the more popular athletes like Eamonn Coghlan, Mary Slaney, and others. I also believe that the television presentation today is so inferior to what we had back in the 70's and 80's that it has made the sport boring.

Yes, definitely not the SNL politician. This guy was a true T&F legend!

Asker of questions wrote:

We need another Al Franken, not a Max Siegel.

Lots of good anecdotes about Franken in the cited newspaper articles. Neal Bascomb (The Perfect Mile) has a nice story about Franken hosting Wes Santee at the Compton Invitational in June, 1953. That year, Santee, Bannister and Landy were all chasing the first 4-minute mile. Franken made the most of the public’s fascination with this goal and did everything he could to make that milestone fall at his meet by the American contender. Begging Bascomb’s permission, here are a few highlights:

Under the direct rule of Avery Brundage, the AAU forbade using a rabbit in the one mile race, and it looked like Santee was going to be on his own. So Franken invited one of the world’s top 1500 meter runners – Denis Johansson of Finland – to race Santee and guarantee a fast pace.

Franken flew Santee and his coach Bill Easton to Los Angeles in style: First class on a TWA Super Constellation, “the Waldorf Astoria of comfort travel at the time.”

The pilot came back to the First Class section to welcome Santee on board.

Dinner was a gourmet meal. Santee was finding out that, “when he competed in a meet promoted by Al Franken, everything was first-class.”

Franken picked up Santee and Easton at LAX in his convertible and checked them into the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Then Franken escorted Santee around Los Angeles for a series of television appearances. He drove Santee to movie sets, where he met Hollywood stars. There was even a brief encounter with Marilyn Monroe.

When Santee went out to train, Franken arranged for a large press contingent to watch the workout.

And Santee didn’t disappoint. After the training session he met with reporters and told them with confidence that a four-minute mile was definitely a possibility at Compton.

Of course, the four-minute barrier was not broken in Los Angeles that year. Or in Lawrence, Kansas, or in London or Oxford, or in Melbourne.

Only having 4 or 5 TV channels helped capture the average viewer. When ABC, CBS, and NBC are all there was everyone was watching the same things. Now with every niche being available online and streaming, it’s great to be able to watch random track and events taking place whenever, but it doesn’t capture a non track junkie.

I wonder how a “rule breaker” like Al would be perceived today?

San Diego was Jack in the Box Indoor Games. Jack has corporate HQ in San Diego. What about all the great Canadian indoor meets - Saskatoon, Toronto Maple Leaf Games, Thunder Bay just a few.

What about: Albuquerque, Cleveland/Richland Knights of Columbus, Louisville Mason-Dixon Games, Chicago by O'Hare, Richmond, Nassau Coliseum out on Long Island just a few.