Did you know this sad Dave Patrick story?

That shows you what a fvckhead Bowerman really was. His runners didn't make it after the real trials so he proposed that the Tahoe Trials would pick the team.

[quote]Super Nova wrote:

That shows you what a fvckhead Bowerman really was.

I would have loved to see you say that to Bowerman's face.

On top of that, the article states that Bowerman proposed the OPTION.

tonya harding wrote:

Bowerman proposed the OPTION.

Yes, he dangled that carrot when he never should have done such a thing.

Fvck Bowerman. After reading this, I think he is a douche.

And another thing... can someone link to the video that was taken down by YouTube...?

That selection was F'd up, but nothing would have made me more determined to make the '72 squad, rather than quitting. I'm sure he had his reasons, including disillusionment with the process, but life isn't fair in many ways. How many of us would kill to have the talent to get to that level, and then do whatever it takes....

Liquori was a stud, coming off a sub-4:00 in HS to make the team "twice"!

Crazy selection process.

Patrick was a well beaten 4th in the final final and would have been on the team if he raced better that day.

How did this system effect the other events?

Did Jim Hines, Tommy Smith, Lee Evans and Bob Beamon compete in and place top three in both trials?

How did Jim Ryun not compete in the first Trials and then be allowed to run in the second one? (I know, he was Jim Ryun)

toro wrote:

Crazy selection process.

Patrick was a well beaten 4th in the final final and would have been on the team if he raced better that day.

How did this system effect the other events?

Did Jim Hines, Tommy Smith, Lee Evans and Bob Beamon compete in and place top three in both trials?

How did Jim Ryun not compete in the first Trials and then be allowed to run in the second one? (I know, he was Jim Ryun)

Ryun DID compete in the first trials in NY... I was there ! I think he was 6th, just beating out Weisiger for the final spot in the FOT.

The article said the first trials were in L.A. and that Ryun did not run there.

Were AAU nationals in NY? That wasn't considered the first trials.

re my earlier posting about Ryun, I completely misspoke ! I got 1964 mixed up with 1968. Sorry !

Thread discussing the 1968 Olympic Trials 5000 where Billy Mills was not allowed to run, lacking a qualifier:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2043963

From Bowerman and the Men of Oregon:

"But before [the Tahoe Olympic Trials] could begin, there was a terrible meeting...the distance runners at the LA trials might not be able to place in the top six at altitude, let alone the top three. If we wanted the most competitive team, we'd send the top three from Tahoe, but if we wanted to be fair we'd honor the promise made to the winners of the LA Trials and take them no matter what. It was an awful bind and it was only settled when LA 1500-meter champion Dave Patrick rose and said, 'If I can't make the top three here I don't deserve to go.'"

It's a tough break, for sure, but don't jump on Bowerman or the USOC for trying to send the best possible team to Mexico City.

Aside from being at altitude, the Tahoe trials were ran on the same schedule as the Olympic games, so 3 heats for the 1500 rather than two at L.A. Who cares who runs the fastest time in a prelim? World Championships are races, not time

trials.

It is a pity that the exact nature of the qualifying was not laid out earlier, but in the end the Tahoe trials were a much better qualifier for Mexico City.

Why does Bowerman always have to win???

Ryun came down with mono at the start of 1968 ans wasn't healthy for the LA trials.

Bill Clark had essentially the same thing happen to him in the 10,000 as Patrick did in the 800.

1968 was an usual situation. Logically, they needed to have a trials at altitude to see who actually could run well under the conditions that would exist in Mexico so the Tahoe Trials made sense.

But the track trials have always been a big cash cow for USOC so they's want to have trials at a facility where you could sell a lot of tickets and there was nowhere in the US at 7,000 plus feet that had a stadium of the size they wanted. So you have a "Show" trials in LA and a "real" trials at Tahoe.

I don't see anything wrong with that. What was wrong was telling the LA winners that they were definitely in as long as they "showed fitness" without defining how you had to do that and then basically redfining showing fitness as coming in the top three at Tahoe.

Bill Clark might have gotten an even worse deal than Patrick. I think he ran in the OT Maraton--and had to come back and race again a few weeks later.

This is what I think I know--can anyone confirm it for accuracy--that may know his story a little better?

I'm not aware of Clark running the Trials Marathon. That was at Alamosa at a separate time. He won the 10,000 trial in LA and was told he was in. As I recall, he arranged his training to peak at MExico City only to be told he needed to come in the top three at Tahoe which he just missed doing.

The "quote" above attributed to Patrick according to Bowerman is an outright lie to cover his butt and his sneaky decision to get Oregon track members on the 1968 Olympic team. Several of his runners were favorites to win in LA. How many of them won???? Zero

So, throwing out the first trial at the 11th hour gave "his boys" one more spot to qualify for. Guaranteed if any of them had won in LA this Never would have happened. He should have been ashamed of himself but of course wasn't because to screw a Villanova runner was a win for him.

Peyton Jordan couldn't live with himself any longer and had to right this injustice. He was quoted as saying it was the biggest travesty he had ever been associated with and has eaten at him for 40 years!

Peyton Jordan passed away not to long after he righted Bill Bowerman's wrong!

Super Nova wrote:

That shows you what a fvckhead Bowerman really was. His runners didn't make it after the real trials so he proposed that the Tahoe Trials would pick the team.

A true champion caliber athlete would have still made the team.

No whiners need apply.

I love how In his book Liquori called the Oregon boys whiners and crybabies.

Bowerman would lie, cheat and steal to give any advantage to his kids. He was the evil foreshadow to AW and NOP.

I thought Dan Patrick played small time college basketball. ????