This is a giveaway of my short print book In Remembrance of Me. My pole vaulting friend, Jack, made a comment while we were in high school. That was my senior year 60 years ago. Jack was in one class behind me. I still laugh about his comment after all these years. Jack is still living but is in poor health. He would say about these two photos that I looked like a champ in one and a chump in the other. To enter the giveaway of my print book you merely identify which photo I look like a champ and the other I look like a chump. These photos were taken by my roommate in the fall of 1960 at Purdue. No, I wasn't on Purdue's track team. This is during a track meet between residence halls. I tied for first place with three other guys. The height was ten feet. Comment between September 7 and September 21. Yes it took me nine semesters to graduate which took me to January 1961. The previous post tells of the book.
12 comments:
Hi Larry,
I'm no pole vaulter, but I'm going to say chump in the top one and champ in the bottom.
Congratulations on your new book!
You are right. Jack always said if you clear the bar you look like a champ, but if you knock the bar off you look like a chump. He is right. When you knock the bar off your form is horrible as you fall to the ground. If you clear the bar you look like a champ because it doesn't matter what your form looks like you cleared the bar and people are awed by that. Jack was an excellent athlete. He ruined his knees from so much basketball and baseball. Coy, Jack and I were the pole vaulters for our small school and we won every track meet in Lawrence County in pole vault my senior year against the other county schools. Coy, now deceased, was tops and Jack was second and I was third in ability. thanks for spreading the word about my book.
I agree with Gail. Although they both look good to me. Shows how much I know about Pole Vaulting.
Congratulations on a new release.
Laurie: It is always good to see you on my blog and others. I have many pole vaulting stories but I'll spare you except our high school principal who stood in for our coach told me on my third try at the regional in Bloomington, IN to "take off like a Chevrolet" and I guess it worked because I cleared 10 feet and 6 inches on my third try. That was my best effort.
Thanks for your interest in my self published book In Remembrance of Me.
Haha My guess is Top 1st Pic = Chump, Bottom 2nd Pic + Champ Thanks for the chance to win and Congratulations
Hi Linda: Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Have I met you before? I appreciate you visiting my lonely blog. When in track in high school I really enjoyed pole vaulting. It was quite a challenge. I didn't do any pole vaulting again until the residence hall track meet at Purdue when I was in my final semester so I was surprised I could still do it. Yes, knocking the bar off makes you look like a chump as my friend, Jack, classified it. I still laugh about that after sixty years.
No I don't believe we've met before. I never tried Pole Vaulting Looks Fun and Easy. But I know better, I imagine it would be very hard.
Linda: It is difficult to pole vault. To do it right you should have good strength in your arms and legs, neither of which I had a good supply of. I watched the women pole vaulting in the Olympics and I think they got up to sixteen feet. When I vaulted 56-60 years ago we used a solid pole. Nowadays they use a fiberglass pole which bends and catapults you over. That's why the heights are greater nowadays. Drop by anytime and I think I remember your name from other blogs commenting.
I guessed champ in the second one (lower) because your legs were closer together. Good jump--or vault--by the way! Glad to see you promoting your work, Larry. :)
Hi Linore: Thanks for checking in. Yes, these photos were taken 56 years ago by my roommate while we were at Purdue. The bar went flying off in that top photo. I surprised myself by clearing the bar in the lower photo after being away from pole vaulting in high school some four years earlier. Another photo I didn't show was set six inches lower than the champ photo and I didn't clear the bar on that lower height.
I appreciate you coming by, really. It is an encouragement since recently I've received yet another rejection on a submitted novel.
I'm so sorry about that rejection. It's definitely part of the writing life, though.
I pray the Lord helps you find the right "home" for that work.
Linore: Thanks for your well wishes on the rejected novel. It took me nine months to hear back from that publisher when they said twelve weeks would be the reply.
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