Jesse Owens

[bkochmc]

Discussion thread for Jesse Owens. If you would like to add a comment, click the Post Reply button.

EDIT: Work in progress. Just some starter info for now.

[bkochmc]

Sushi - I see you've added a bunch of links to dates, places, etc. in this article. Is there some sort of guideline on what should or should not be linked? This is the first time I've done a wiki.

Thanks!

[OSUsushichic]

Originally Posted by bkochmc

Sushi - I see you've added a bunch of links to dates, places, etc. in this article. Is there some sort of guideline on what should or should not be linked? This is the first time I've done a wiki.

Thanks!

Not really. It's good to create a link for anything that could potentially be a page in the future.

I hope you don't mind that I added the links.

[bkochmc]

Originally Posted by OSUsushichic

Not really. It's good to create a link for anything that could potentially be a page in the future.

I hope you don't mind that I added the links.

Nope, didn't mind at all.

[cincibuck]

I had Larry Snyder, long time track coach for the Buckeyes, for a coaching class. His best story was about the 1935 Big 10 championships at Ann Arbor. Owens had fallen down a flight of stairs and injured his back on Friday morning. Snyder wasn't sure he'd be able to compete. The Depression meant slim budgets for all sports so Snyder took off for Ann Arbor with high jumper Dave Albritton, half miler Charlie Beetham and Jesse Owens. They taped a hot water bottle to Owens' back, wrapped him in blankets and stuffed him into the rumble seat for the long ride.

In just 20 minutes Jesse set the track world spinning. He equaled his world record of 9.4 in the 100 yd. dash, long jumped 26'8, setting the world record, won the 220 dash in 20.3 another world record and then winning the 220 lows in 22.6 also a world record. Tieing one world record and establish three others! And look at the times and distance... on cinders, before starting blocks, leather spikes...

Beetham won the half mile and Albrittion the high jump giving the Buckeyes a Big 10 championship with only three athletes competing!

Snyder claimed that he walked up to Jesse after the 220 lows and said, "Maybe we should have you fall down the steps again."

On the dark side, Owens was not on scholarship, could not live in Baker Hall (the men's dormitory) and had to eat his meals in restaurants that served "blacks only." When the team traveled, Owens and Albritton had to stay in "black" hotels.. and this is in the North, not Jim Crow Dixie.

I was in Ohio Stadium for the 1960 Homecoming. Jesse's daughter, Marleen, was in the Homecoming court. Jesse, still looking ready to run, put on his OSU singlet and shorts and made a triumphal run around the track prior to the start of the game, the fans standing and cheering as if the Buckeyes had just beaten Michigan. At half time he was honored and asked to crown the queen, his daughter. Setting aside what had to be bitter memories, he looked at her and said, "Remember, Marleen, this could only happen in America."

Thanks to BB73 for corrections... 1960 and Marleen, not Maureen. I stand by the rest of the story.

[bkochmc]

Thanks for sharing that story cinci!

I was talking to an acquaintance over the weekend and we got on the topic of track and that led to Jesse... back in the early 70's he was invited to come to the yearly track banquet the year after he graduated from high school (since he was captain the year before and his brother the captain that year). So he shows up at the banquet and Jesse Owens is there... obviously he was excited to see the legend himself. Everyone was then asked to sit down at their assigned spots and he had a seat next to Jesse at the head table. He had a very nice conversation with Jesse that he'll never forget!

Unfortunately I am too young to remember Jesse being alive. I was only a year old when he passed away.

[scarletngray]

I just recently read a book on Jesse Owens. Truly an amazing athlete. There are many who justifiably talk about Jackie Robinson as being the most influential person is sports history due to his breaking the color barrier. However, with what Jesse Owens accomplished at the Olympics wth a rain soaked track, on a world scene, right in the face of Hitler, Nazi Germany, and it's Final Solution, imo, ranks as high or higher than what Jackie Robinson accomplished.

Thoughts?

[cincibuck]

Thoughts?

1) And we wonder why blacks are still angry.

2) Someone posted a "could you whip 19 year old you" thread last week. 19 year old Jesse, running on cinders, without blocks and in leather shoes would still kick the ass of all but the super track athletes of today. Look how long his long jump record stood and how few times it has been surpassed since.

3) Greatest Buckeye of all time, hands down. Greatest Olympic athlete of all time. If anyone "paved the way" for the future black athlete, and therefore for Jackie Robinson, it had to be Jesse Owens. His accomplishments were at such a level beyond what others could achieve that he had to be acknowledged thus opening the door...

[bkochmc]

Added YouTube videos of the 1936 Olympics 100 and 200 meter finals

[MililaniBuckeye]

The more you sit down and objectively look at his acomplishments, and his talent for his time, the more you just shake your head and think, "Holy [censored]...".