I remember as a teenager this guy in my group who was awesome. I distinctly remember one session - him and his partner were doing 300s. He was hitting 36s but it just looked effortless he was so balanced and fluent. Only when I looked at the poor guy chasing him did I get an idea of how fast they were moving - he was rocking and rollin’, straining and still falling metres behind.
Well Guy won the English schools whilst in his first year as a senior age. Then he met this girl and litterally disappeared. Last time I saw him he was working in HMV…
Yes, what happen to Obey Moore? This guy could have had it all. He was going to be the next MJ if not better. Then after the 96 Olympic trials he vanished.
was never the same after he got rid of the “curl”…hmmmm, the greatest athlete that never was…Bo Jackson… great college athletes that didnt make it…or something like that…there are too many heisman trophy winners to name…gino toretta (sp), rashaam salam (sp), 's 88 rookie of the year from the chicago cubs…jerome walton…Barry Bonds talents werent wasted, but what if they had pitched to him with he hit 73 HR’s…whatyouknowabouthitting80homers?
good thread! i dont think anyone can deny bo would have been awesome at anything! but for a short time in the 80s and early 90s he was the badest man in the land. tyson VS jackson? what if bo had met cus dematto as a teenager?
as for deion, i agree with you bo about how he played, i was always more of a rod woodson guy anyway, but if you can, download the sanders greatest plays video off kazaa. its about 5 mintues long and no one could break a game open like prime time. everytime the guy got the ball everyone in the place would hold their breath. you had offenses avoiding him, not only because he was such a great cover guy, but they were scared stiff of what would happen if he got a pick.
Does anyone have any info about Paul Nash (approx late 1960’s). Although he did not waste his talent, arthritis wasted it for him (or atleast some of it). What age was he when arthritis set in and was he black or white? The late Mel Siff felt he could have run well under 10s if synthetic tracks had been available.
I worked out w/ a guy last year who could jump 25ft plus from a short approach (and that is his weak event believe it or not) but he does not care for the event. He also ran faster flying 20s (fat) from a 10m approach than sub 10.4 sprinters who had much longer build-ups. He also humbled me in the gym and I’m no weenie.
He still has time to train seriously for next year so his talent is not exactly wasted yet but if he doesn’t start very soon it may be wasted.
Originally posted by Justin
I knew a guy back in high school years who at the time was 15. He won Aussie nationals 200/400 and second in 100m. Times were:
100m - 10.80
200m - 22.23 (NR)
400m - 50.01 (NR)
Now I’m not saying this guy was going to break world records but, the 200m record had stood for 23years before he broke it AND he broke it by .53sec!!!
Also, what was more amazing, this guy barely trained!! I trained with him for the last six weeks of his training leading into the nationals and i could barely get him to complete a 400m jog in the warm up!!
Reason for walking away from the sport “Its too easy, I’m going to play footy with my mates”.
Unbelievable, I would kill for half as much natural ability as this guy had in one finger!!!
No doubt the panel would also know of stories similar to this one.
cheers,
Justin:karate:
Are you talking about Dane? He was 14 when he ran those times - I ran second to him in the 400m. I think that most of his advantage came from being so developed for his age! He tried to make a comeback a few years ago in Brisbane but nothing came of it…
I ran 48.78 (and 47.1 in a relay) at 15 so I guess I nominate myself for this thread too (dubious award though it is…)
What I was really wondering is, can they do it with the kind of muscle mass they normally have on them? The majority of guys that go sub 10 are not that big and the three guys with the highest top speed are either lanky or bench way over twice their bodyweight(unbelievable strength:weight ratio)
For example, Bo Jackson was 6’1" 225lb but we do not see any top sprinters with this size.
I knew a guy back in high school years who at the time was 15. He won Aussie nationals 200/400 and second in 100m. Times were:
100m - 10.80
200m - 22.23 (NR)
400m - 50.01 (NR)
Now I’m not saying this guy was going to break world records but, the 200m record had stood for 23years before he broke it AND he broke it by .53sec!!!
Also, what was more amazing, this guy barely trained!! I trained with him for the last six weeks of his training leading into the nationals and i could barely get him to complete a 400m jog in the warm up!!
Reason for walking away from the sport “Its too easy, I’m going to play footy with my mates”.
Unbelievable, I would kill for half as much natural ability as this guy had in one finger!!!
No doubt the panel would also know of stories similar to this one.
cheers,
Justin:karate:
Charlie, do you think guys like Bo Jackson & Hershell Walker had a chance at breaking 10sec, considering their weight? Do you think that type of mass would have hurt their chances of hitting a high max velocity?
Early to mid 70’s…a guy named Jessie Williams…all american at my high school…as a freshman in college would ‘do a ben’ in 50-60 meter races…that is, slow down a wee bit, and still win by a meter or two and be a red frog hair from world records…used to infuriate coaches and fans alike…short, muscular, all white fiber, standing still he looked like he was doing just sub mach…as a tailback he simply made other players look silly…had he been born 10 years later, we would all know his name well…
There’s a lot of good talent out there that gets wasted and it’s not just because of girlfriend/boyfriend distractions. Heaps of factors. I would guess financial would be one of the main ones.
I bet there are guys walking the streets right now who could potentially be the 100m champion of the world. These same guys have probably never put on a pair of spikes.
Great idea for a post. Lots of wasted talent over the years…I personally would give my leftmost to see what would have happened had Charlie gotten ahold of H. Walker or B. Jackson when they were 18. Two freaky talents who were taken from track by other more financially lucrative sports.
Another great point bohersch -
Some athletes are lost to girls, some to life, some to crime and what about the great talents/athletes lost to other (more lucrative or attractive sports - Sanders etc.)
I would say that Sanders, Jackson and Walker were lost to track - but wasted talents? Many baseball and football fans would strongly disagree. Their accountants and/or agents would probably also disagree. Bo Jackson´s battle with femoral head osteonecrosis certainly cut his careers short.
Perhaps ‘wasted talent’ is the wrong term…but the “what if” factor is still there. What if Bo had gone straight to football instead of baseball? What if
Walker had not “wasted” 3 years in the USFL? Emmitt would have (in my opinion) been chasing him instead of Walter…no disrespect to Walter who, (again in my opinion) was 10 times the athlete that Emmitt is/was. But Bo and Herschel were blowing sub 6.2’s in the 60 yard dash as teenagers. Walker did a 10.10 at 20. These guys were 220-230 pounds. The potential that was there was never really tapped COMPLETELY. Neither really had any strength training to speak of, in the modern sense. As for Bo’s hip, that was a time bomb waiting to go off. As for Sanders (Deion), I will not say anything since I can’t say anything nice.
