Just heard on the radio that former Olympian discus thrower Al Oerter passed away today at 71 years old. Why on earth would this be noteworthy to me?
Well, first off, because I have met him. I would have been somewhere between 3 and 6 years old. Our neighbors across the street had a farm and the oldest boy Al Hall was an Olympic medal winning Hammer thrower and a friend of Al Oerters. Occassionally, the two Al's would practice together in a field on the farm.
(see also http://30phillipsst.blogspot.com/2007/02/playing-in-fields-or-halls-farm.html )
Secondly, as I was looking to see what info I could find about Mr. Oerter, I discovered a fascinating (to me anyway) comparison between him and my daughter Julie. They both started out as runners in high school, at 15 years old they both switched to discus, they both compete(d) for fun as a hobby (OK, a very serious hobby for Al) and competed with the simple goal of just throwing as far as they could (Al claimed to not understand why throwers started having rivalries because in his day they were all friends, during and after competition - and I see Julie having the same philisophical outlook). After retirement, Al took to painting as a professional artist - which is of course Julie's ultimate goal in life.
Who knows, maybe Julie will make the Olympics some day - just to complete the comparison.
(read article about Al Oerter at
http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=21022.html )
2 comments:
I wanted to leave a comment since my dad is Al Hall from Hanson. Thank you for your remembrances of my dad and Al Oerter. It was quite a shock when our friend left us so early. I spent a lot of time when I was young down at the farm across from the Ocean Spray plant. Still remember being told to stay away from those train tracks!
Shawn Hall
I'm very sorry to report that my father, Al Hall, passed away October 9th due to Alzheimers.
Shawn Hall
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