Rest in Peace "Daddy B"- Steve Bartold (my college coach) has died

RIP Daddy-B

Sorry for your loss, Wejo.

Sad,, sad.....I ran for a competing college when Bartold coached at St. John's . His voice alone was enough to either jump out of your skin or at least pay attention. So passionate, clearly loved the sport and his athletes. Easy to see why he was so revered so many years later. Sorry for your loss.

Sorry for your loss, Wejo, RIP. Look forward to your memories about running for him. What's the background on the nickname?

RIP

Sorry to hear about the loss of Coach Bartold. I really enjoyed spending time with him, great guy and coach.

Sorry for your loss, wejo.

But honestly without Daddy Clay there would be no letsrun.

@Weldon, a true loss. I remember a tee shirt with Daddy B sayings which I can't find now. Do you have it? Post if possible....was a pretty good embodiment.....

Condolences

FU 2020.

So sad to hear about Coach B. I loved having him as a coach. He made me a better runner, but what I remember most was after a cross country race that I dropped out of following the separation of my parents, he showed so much compassion and empathy. He gave me the time to collect myself and set my mind right to finish the season with a strong note.

Lots of other memories for sure, but that’s what popped in my head after seeing the news of his passing.

RIP to your coach :(

Walked on to the team at Yale as a Freshman. Coach B was tough on me but supportive. I decided to leave the team after a season of XC, indoors and outdoors. He called me over the summer not to try to convince me to keep running, but to thank me for the hard work.

Tough as nails. Great guy. Tanqueray tonight. RIP.

Coach Bartold let me and other slow runners walk on to the team as freshmen and I give him huge props for that. Once one of us was at the very back of the pack in a race and he yelled: "Yer runnin' with the garbage!"

My condolences, RIP

Wejo, ondolences to your former coach. May he find peace.

In 1957, as a St. John's student, Coach Bartold was given the McSwiney award, given “to the student‐athlete best typifying the St. John's man,” and that he was.

RIP Daddy B

I had an informal tryout for him when he was the Yale coach. I was sick with the flu and bombed it. As it turned out, Brown was about to become a top-10 team in the NCAA, and they still had much lower standards -- so it worked out well for me in the end. But I always wondered if I could have won him over if I had been at my best that day.

I first got to know Steve in the spring of 1965, as his booming voice reverberated across the track and field facility at the old Randall's Island compound. It was clear as a bell as he cheered on his team event after event. I was a naive freshman at Rutgers and frankly, was scared out of my wits the first time I head him. I had never head a coach who could be heard throughout the stadium.

My coach Les Wallack and Steve were good friends and I was the recipient of getting Tom Farrell (two time 880 Olympian) workouts, despite my range stopping around the 600 yd distance. One workout in particular was the 10x440 starting at 60 seconds and working down. Tom would finish up around 53-54, while I maybe could do the final one in 59.

When I came to coach at Columbia Steve and his St. John's teams would come to our "bubble" up at Baker Field to work out after our team was done. They, NYU, Fordham and Manhattan would show up around 5 pm and spend the new few hours hammering the boards.

We were competitive coaches in the Mets, with his teams winning many Met titles and then in the Heps as he moved on to Yale. It was always good fun competing with him and against his teams, as he was fair and honest and his teams were always very competitive.

We continued a good relationship over the years during my Boston U term and then, after his retirement, his running the IC-4A meets. I was able to eventually get the meet to come to the new BU indoor track and he and I worked together, he as the commissioner and I as the Referee, putting on first rate meets.

Steve was so very committed to track and field, to his teams and to the IC-4A's. As track and field objectives changed for coaches, he managed to work on keeping the IC-4A indoor and outdoor meet healthy and competitive.

He is probably one of the last of the old guard that included Tuppeny (Penn), Giegengack (Yale), McCurdy(Harvard), and Groves( W&M and Penn State). These were giants in my day who taught me a lot, not only about the sport, but also the love of the sport and the athletes that make it one of the best sports in the world.