FROM GOOD OLE UNCLE VIC

June 2006

   The answer to last month's quiz: How many months have 28 days in them? Why, all of them, of course.

   This week's quiz: Where did the expression "I heard it through the grapevine originate?" Email your answer to Vicki, at Vicki.Brick@BrickBodies.com. Please include the name of the club where you are a member or where you are employed.

   On to our story: It is the summer of 1964. Tokyo, Japan. The Games of the XVI Olympics. They have been going at it all day. Now, in the twilight of the Olympic Stadium they are down to the last two competitors in the pole vault competition: Wolfgang Reinhardt of West Germany and Fred Hansen of the United States. Hansen is down to his last attempt at 16 feet 8 ¾ inches, a new Olympic Record. If he makes it, he wins the gold. If he misses, Reinhardt is Olympic Champion. Reinhardt has already missed all three of his attempts at this height but, because Reinhart cleared 16 feet 6 inches on his first jump and Hansen only cleared it on his second, Hansen must clear 16 feet 8 ¾ inches or Reinhardt is the winner.

   As Hansen walks back to the end of the runway, he passes Reinhardt, who is seated on the infield putting on his warm-ups. Reinhardt looks up and says, "I told you I would beat you in Tokyo."

   Just then Hansen puts down his pole and walks over to his gym bag. He takes out a letter that his father had given him just before he left Houston, Texas to travel to the Olympic Games. His father had said, "Fred, when you are down, when your back is against the wall, when you really need it, read this letter."

   Hansen opens the letter and begins to read: "Fred, I just want you to know that your mother and I are very proud of you, We believe in you. Good luck. But, no matter what happens, you are already a champion in our book, son. You are already a champion in our book. Love, DAD."

   Fred finishes the letter, puts it back in his bag, picks up his pole and goes back to the end of the runway.

   Now the call of Chris Shenkel of ABC's Wide World of Sports:

   "Fred Hansen of the United States is down to his last attempt at 16 feet 8 ¾ inches, a new Olympic Record. He readies himself. He sprints down the runway. He plants. He's up! HE'S OVER THE BAR! HE'S OVER THE BAR! FRED HANSEN IS OVER THE BAR! HE'S OVER THE BAR AT 16 FEET 8 3/4 INCHES! FRED HANSEN IS OVER THE BAR!"

   I was an eleven year old boy when I saw Fred Hansen clear that bar on national television and heard Chris Shenkel yelling at the top of his lungs. But it wasn't until years later as an aspiring young high school player at Morgan Wooten's Metropolitan Area Basketball Camp in the bowels of the gym at St John's H.S. on Military Road in Washington, D.C., that I heard Bob Richards tell that story. It has stuck with me ever since.

   Recently Lynne and I took our son, Jon, down to Charleston, South Carolina for his freshman year at the Citadel. If you know anything about the Citadel, you know that it has the reputation for being one of the most physically and emotionally challenging of all the military colleges. When we last saw him, he was in a gym uniform marching in formation with his company through the Quad to the library. And he hadn't even been on campus for more than a few hours!

   When we left him I gave him a letter. Do you know what it said? I related the Fred Hansen story. And then I told him Lynne and I felt the same way. Do you know why I told him that? Because I truly believe all boys want to please their father. (I know I did. And still do! ) And there is pressure enough in college without them thinking they have to do good for dear, old dad. Sometimes a kid just needs to know that your love is unconditional and that he is already good enough in your book. He (or she) needs to know he has nothing to prove to you. He needs to know that you think he is already a champion. And you know what? If he does, the sky's the limit.

   I probably should have told Jon the Fred Hansen story sooner. And I definitely should have told him he was "a champion in my book no matter what" sooner. Well, better late than never. Now, if I can only get the hang of that pole vaulting stuff!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY