Great expectations lie upon Mike Wallace, whose interview of Roger Clemens that airs Sunday night on "60 Minutes" could be another defining moment of the steroid era. Similar to Bud Selig's approach in selecting George Mitchell to lead his steroid investigation, the Clemens camp is hoping Wallace's career as an uncompromising newsman will provide a degree of legitimacy to the pitcher's predictable yet largely implausible denials that his longtime personal trainer injected him with performance-enhancing drugs.
On the other side, Wallace will be judged on his ability to do what Clemens hasn't done on his own: begin the dialogue that will explain why Brian McNamee might be telling the truth about everyone except his biggest client, the man without whom he wouldn't ever have entered the New York Yankees' clubhouse in the first place.
In his '60 Minutes' interview on Sunday, Roger Clemens likely will try to convince the public that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.Wallace, who turns 90 on May 9, is every bit the legend in his field that Clemens is on the pitching mound, but it isn't as if "60 Minutes" is throwing a particularly intimidating fastball these days. If the Clemens interview is anything resembling the program's recent soft-toss profiles of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Clemens will be seated for just another celebrity, woe-is-me interview -- more Barcalounger than hot seat. Thomas was portrayed sympathetically, allowed to attack his enemies and tout his new book while his unimaginative and dogmatic record as a justice went unchallenged; Rodriguez denied using performance-enhancing drugs with a short "no" without even the most basic follow-up by Katie Couric, never the most dogged of inquisitors.
Clemens has two major issues on Sunday night: Wallace and history, and not necessarily in that order. History has shown during the early years of steroid fallout that no player who has famously resisted the allegations has ever come out clean on the other side. Jason Giambi denied and fell; five years ago, he was being discussed as a Hall of Fame-track player. Mark McGwire hit 583 home runs, 70 in a season, yet received just 23.5 percent of the vote in his first year as a Hall of Fame candidate and isn't likely to be elected in his second year when the votes are released Tuesday. Sammy Sosa, once the sport's greatest populist, is now the most uninspiring 600-home run hitter in history.
Rafael Palmeiro, Eddie Murray, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron are the only players in the history of the sport with at least 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, and Palmeiro has disappeared from the game, a pariah on a scale with McGwire. Barry Bonds is currently jobless, alone with his record, awaiting trial.
The only person claiming vindication is Jose Canseco, but it should be recalled that Canseco's original message from his best-selling book, "Juiced," was that steroids, if used properly, are good for the body. Though not as high-profile as Mark McGwire in his disgrace or Rafael Palmeiro in his empty defiance, Canseco employed an impressive backpedal during the seminal March 17, 2005, congressional hearings when he told the House Government Reform Committee that the enormity of the moment made him see steroids in a different light.
Mike Wallace's interview with Clemens will be judged in part on Wallace's ability to examine the accuracy of Brian McNamee's allegations about other players, too. The Mitchell report has belonged to the public for nearly a month now, and yet the conflict remains between its unequivocal allegations of player use and the ensuing public denials by players. For two years, Andy Pettitte said he never used growth hormone, only to admit after he was named in the report to using it as a recovery tool from injury. Brian Roberts said he never used steroids, only to admit the day after the report was released that, yes, he did, but for only one day. Fernando Vina said essentially the same, admitting after countless denials that he used growth hormone but not steroids.
In the fiercest of defenses, David Justice appeared on ESPN Radio to express his anger that he was named in the report. Justice claimed he never met steroid dealer Kirk Radomski and wasn't given the opportunity by Mitchell investigators to respond to allegations that he had purchased growth hormone from Radomski. Justice might not have ever used growth hormone, but in his animated public defense, he left out his verbal commitment to speak to Mitchell about the Radomski-McNamee allegations that appear on pages 181 and 182 in the report, along with the several phone calls Mitchell's investigators made to him to reschedule and the certified letter sent to his Poway, Calif., home. Justice signed for that letter; Mitchell's investigators provided ESPN.com with a copy of its receipt that contains Justice's signature.
Each of the denials has come with a commonsense counter that has not yet been answered by the players, their union or the Mitchell investigators: Why didn't Pettitte or Roberts or Vina or Justice or anyone else simply tell Mitchell what each has told the public since the report was released?
Now it is Clemens who wants America to believe that he, and only he, deserves, in his words "the benefit of the doubt." Just before Christmas, Clemens posted a video on his Web site that contains the following quote: "Let me be clear: The answer is no, I did not use steroids, human growth hormone, and I've never done so. I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body."
Now, according to a partial transcript of the "60 Minutes" interview, Clemens is playing word games with that last sentence. Instead of "any drugs" by McNamee, Clemens is now saying McNamee injected him with only lidocaine and vitamin B-12. Already, the denial has softened, perhaps giving Clemens plausible deniability, Bonds-style, that he didn't know what McNamee was injecting. It is a strategy already being discredited by McNamee's attorneys.
Brian McNamee and his legal team appear ready to counter any attacks from Clemens on the credibility of his allegations."Brian has a master's degree in sports medicine," McNamee attorney Earl Ward told ESPN The Magazine's Shaun Assael. "He knows the difference between lidocaine, B-12 and testosterone. What he injected into Roger Clemens wasn't lidocaine or B-12. It was testosterone."
Vitamin B-12 is an old, not particularly clever, defense. Clemens should remember that when Palmeiro was investigated for perjury by the House Government Reform Committee in 2005, he said the substance he took was vitamin B-12. The House committee report said that in Palmeiro's case, team doctors refused to administer B-12 shots on medical grounds.
Clemens should also know that -- outside of an experimental approach to combat chronic fatigue syndrome -- many doctors universally reject the efficacy of B-12 shots for healthy people who don't suffer from vitamin deficiencies.
When Miguel Tejada was stopped for possessing syringes during a routine airport security check as a member of the Oakland A's, he said the syringes were for, yes, vitamin B-12 injections. Tejada had shipments of B-12 sent to both the Oakland and Baltimore clubhouses. When the medical staffs for both teams refused to provide the shots to Tejada, he administered them himself.
And certainly, Clemens should know that insiders from the bodybuilding community believe vitamin B-12 is an effective masking agent for urine tests.
Clemens will make for interesting television on Sunday, but history and the strength of McNamee's claims are against him. In these tired days of forceful denials that have nothing behind them -- Clemens can still make his case under oath in front of Congress on Jan. 16 -- the odds that he'll be vindicated are about as good as a 42-year-old's posting a 1.87 ERA through clean living and exercise.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=3181042
Friday, January 04, 2008
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Crosby scores shootout winner as Penguins nip Sabres in Winter Classic
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Sidney Crosby can expect chilly receptions every time he returns to Buffalo.
Some snow, a shootout and Sid the Kid's winning goal added up to a perfect hockey day outside that will forever be frozen in time.
The Penguins captain somehow saw space between Ryan Miller's pads as he shuffled through driving snow and gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres at the outdoor Winter Classic in front of an NHL-record 71,217 fans on Tuesday.
"Growing up, I played a lot outside," said Crosby, a Nova Scotia native. "When you see 70,000 people jammed into a stadium to watch hockey, it's a good sign. The atmosphere and environment, I don't think you can beat that."
In elements more suited for football than hockey, Crosby won the NHL's second outdoor game -- and first in the United States -- in the most dramatic fashion at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home to the Buffalo Bills.
Crosby skated down the middle, eluded a pokecheck by Miller and put a shot between the goalie's pads in the final round.
"I like facing Sidney. I really want to stop him, obviously," Miller said. "I thought I made a good play to stay with him. I didn't think he made quite the play he wanted, but it worked out for him."
It gave the Penguins a sweep of the home-and-home series with the Sabres that started with Pittsburgh's 2-0 win on Saturday. The Penguins have won four straight, while Buffalo fell to 0-2-2 in that span.
"I'd love to do it again. I thought it was awesome," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It was good for the game. It may not be the best hockey game because of the situation, because of the weather, because of the snow, but the atmosphere was incredible.
"The hell with the cynics," he said.
Ty Conklin allowed Ales Kotalik's goal to open the tiebreaker before stopping Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov.
Kris Letang also scored for the Penguins, pushing his shootout record to 4-for-4 with a shifty, multi-move rush through accumulating snow that finished with a high shot.
Colby Armstrong gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead just 21 seconds after the opening faceoff, and Brian Campbell tied it 1:25 into the second.
Despite both teams dressed in retro-style jerseys, this game was decided by the most modern of methods. Surprisingly, Zambonis didn't clean the ice as they would for a regular NHL shootout even after they made appearances midway through all three regulation periods.
Given the choice of goals to defend, Miller and Conklin picked the west end to avoid the heavy snow that swirled and poured in toward the right.
Blowing winds and dropping temperatures worked against everyone inside the vast stadium that easily housed the hockey rink between the 16-yard lines. No one seemed to mind the typical January weather in western New York.
With the success of this event, the NHL is already eager to host more, perhaps even on an annual basis. New Year's Day traditionally belonged to college football, but there might be room now for the "Ice Bowl."
"Based on the response, on our ability to execute and the inquiries we're getting from other clubs for similar activities, this obviously is something we're going to look at again," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
The record crowd, which topped the NHL's other outdoor game in Edmonton four years earlier, dotted the stadium with flashing cameras for each shootout attempt through lake-effect snow.
When Crosby saw the puck cross the goal line, he spun toward the jubilant Penguins bench and jumped with his hands raised.
Fans in the lower bowl stood throughout to get a better view as they looked out over the height of the rink's boards and the NBC and CBC television broadcast platforms behind the penalty boxes.
One enthusiastic patron held a poster that read: "Look Mom, no roof."
That was most clear in the final five minutes of regulation when snow fell at its heaviest clip and continued through the finish.
Miller and Conklin both had limited experience playing outside, but neither owned a victory. Miller earned a 3-3 tie for Michigan State against Michigan in the 2001 "Cold War" game in front of 74,554 fans.
Conklin took the loss in host Edmonton's 4-3 defeat to Montreal on Nov. 22, 2003, with 57,167 in attendance.
Miller donned a cap, fashioned out of a hockey sock, on top of his mask. Conklin went with an uncovered mask featuring snowflakes.
Sabres forward Thomas Vanek was the last to wear the full head sleeve that stretched over his mouth in warmups but was pulled down to his chin by the third period. Penguins defenseman Darryl Sydor shed his visor.
When the scheduled buzzer sounded to divide the third period in half, it didn't stop a rush. The Penguins peeled back and essentially took a knee where Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly did many times in the glory days of the Bills, letting the final seconds tick off before the teams switched sides at the 10-minute mark.
The final mid-period Zamboni run took longer than the others as the second cleaning machine was blocked in the tunnel by a chunk of ice. The wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the players skated and stretched to try to keep warm.
Momentum changed with the weather that featured snow through the first 10 minutes, benign cloud cover through the opening intermission and a wintery mix during the second. The stadium lights took effect as the sky darkened and provided a unique brightness.
As though they were trudging from home to the frozen pond, each team plodded down mats from the tunnel to the ice -- stopping first to peel off their skate guards. Moms weren't there to call these grown kids back inside, and Bettman didn't do it, either.
The only thing that got in their way was a buildup of snow that held up the movement of pucks and skates.
Armstrong provided lightning with his quick goal, with help from the snow. The puck came to a stop in the neutral zone near center ice, and Crosby carried it into the Sabres' end.
He got off a shot that Miller stopped, before the snow put another hold on the puck in front. It sat there for Armstrong to punch in his sixth goal and Pittsburgh's quickest of the season.
Three trouble spots cropped up along the wall in front of the players' benches, two in the zone Buffalo defended in the first period. Before the Penguins' third power play of the frame, with 7:43 remaining, the ice crew did patch work that caused a delay for several minutes.
Game notesArmstrong's goal was the quickest scored against Miller in his NHL career, topping Joe Nieuwendyk's tally 32 seconds into Buffalo's 2-1 loss to Florida on New Year's Day 2005. ... Campbell's goal was his second in four games and fourth overall. Armstrong has scored in three straight.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280101002
Some snow, a shootout and Sid the Kid's winning goal added up to a perfect hockey day outside that will forever be frozen in time.
The Penguins captain somehow saw space between Ryan Miller's pads as he shuffled through driving snow and gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres at the outdoor Winter Classic in front of an NHL-record 71,217 fans on Tuesday.
"Growing up, I played a lot outside," said Crosby, a Nova Scotia native. "When you see 70,000 people jammed into a stadium to watch hockey, it's a good sign. The atmosphere and environment, I don't think you can beat that."
In elements more suited for football than hockey, Crosby won the NHL's second outdoor game -- and first in the United States -- in the most dramatic fashion at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home to the Buffalo Bills.
Crosby skated down the middle, eluded a pokecheck by Miller and put a shot between the goalie's pads in the final round.
"I like facing Sidney. I really want to stop him, obviously," Miller said. "I thought I made a good play to stay with him. I didn't think he made quite the play he wanted, but it worked out for him."
It gave the Penguins a sweep of the home-and-home series with the Sabres that started with Pittsburgh's 2-0 win on Saturday. The Penguins have won four straight, while Buffalo fell to 0-2-2 in that span.
"I'd love to do it again. I thought it was awesome," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It was good for the game. It may not be the best hockey game because of the situation, because of the weather, because of the snow, but the atmosphere was incredible.
"The hell with the cynics," he said.
Ty Conklin allowed Ales Kotalik's goal to open the tiebreaker before stopping Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov.
Kris Letang also scored for the Penguins, pushing his shootout record to 4-for-4 with a shifty, multi-move rush through accumulating snow that finished with a high shot.
Colby Armstrong gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead just 21 seconds after the opening faceoff, and Brian Campbell tied it 1:25 into the second.
Despite both teams dressed in retro-style jerseys, this game was decided by the most modern of methods. Surprisingly, Zambonis didn't clean the ice as they would for a regular NHL shootout even after they made appearances midway through all three regulation periods.
Given the choice of goals to defend, Miller and Conklin picked the west end to avoid the heavy snow that swirled and poured in toward the right.
Blowing winds and dropping temperatures worked against everyone inside the vast stadium that easily housed the hockey rink between the 16-yard lines. No one seemed to mind the typical January weather in western New York.
With the success of this event, the NHL is already eager to host more, perhaps even on an annual basis. New Year's Day traditionally belonged to college football, but there might be room now for the "Ice Bowl."
"Based on the response, on our ability to execute and the inquiries we're getting from other clubs for similar activities, this obviously is something we're going to look at again," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
The record crowd, which topped the NHL's other outdoor game in Edmonton four years earlier, dotted the stadium with flashing cameras for each shootout attempt through lake-effect snow.
When Crosby saw the puck cross the goal line, he spun toward the jubilant Penguins bench and jumped with his hands raised.
Fans in the lower bowl stood throughout to get a better view as they looked out over the height of the rink's boards and the NBC and CBC television broadcast platforms behind the penalty boxes.
One enthusiastic patron held a poster that read: "Look Mom, no roof."
That was most clear in the final five minutes of regulation when snow fell at its heaviest clip and continued through the finish.
Miller and Conklin both had limited experience playing outside, but neither owned a victory. Miller earned a 3-3 tie for Michigan State against Michigan in the 2001 "Cold War" game in front of 74,554 fans.
Conklin took the loss in host Edmonton's 4-3 defeat to Montreal on Nov. 22, 2003, with 57,167 in attendance.
Miller donned a cap, fashioned out of a hockey sock, on top of his mask. Conklin went with an uncovered mask featuring snowflakes.
Sabres forward Thomas Vanek was the last to wear the full head sleeve that stretched over his mouth in warmups but was pulled down to his chin by the third period. Penguins defenseman Darryl Sydor shed his visor.
When the scheduled buzzer sounded to divide the third period in half, it didn't stop a rush. The Penguins peeled back and essentially took a knee where Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly did many times in the glory days of the Bills, letting the final seconds tick off before the teams switched sides at the 10-minute mark.
The final mid-period Zamboni run took longer than the others as the second cleaning machine was blocked in the tunnel by a chunk of ice. The wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the players skated and stretched to try to keep warm.
Momentum changed with the weather that featured snow through the first 10 minutes, benign cloud cover through the opening intermission and a wintery mix during the second. The stadium lights took effect as the sky darkened and provided a unique brightness.
As though they were trudging from home to the frozen pond, each team plodded down mats from the tunnel to the ice -- stopping first to peel off their skate guards. Moms weren't there to call these grown kids back inside, and Bettman didn't do it, either.
The only thing that got in their way was a buildup of snow that held up the movement of pucks and skates.
Armstrong provided lightning with his quick goal, with help from the snow. The puck came to a stop in the neutral zone near center ice, and Crosby carried it into the Sabres' end.
He got off a shot that Miller stopped, before the snow put another hold on the puck in front. It sat there for Armstrong to punch in his sixth goal and Pittsburgh's quickest of the season.
Three trouble spots cropped up along the wall in front of the players' benches, two in the zone Buffalo defended in the first period. Before the Penguins' third power play of the frame, with 7:43 remaining, the ice crew did patch work that caused a delay for several minutes.
Game notesArmstrong's goal was the quickest scored against Miller in his NHL career, topping Joe Nieuwendyk's tally 32 seconds into Buffalo's 2-1 loss to Florida on New Year's Day 2005. ... Campbell's goal was his second in four games and fourth overall. Armstrong has scored in three straight.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280101002
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Amazing Race
A self-described ‘‘redneck from the Cove that likes to run’’ someday will apply to dentistry school and fulfill his longtime goal.
In the meantime, Brian Sell will settle for being an Olympian.
Sell qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, by finishing third in the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in New York City on Nov. 3.
‘‘The last six or seven years, I’ve been saying, ‘If I don’t do this, I’m going to quit and go to dental school,’’’ the Woodbury native said. ‘‘I’ve been running well enough to keep doing it.’’
Sell, a Northern Bedford and St. Francis graduate, is only the second Olympian ever from the Mirror’s coverage area.
He has the adulation of the first, Maureen (Latterner) Brown, a member of the U.S. handball team in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
‘‘I always have serious respect for those marathoners,’’ said Brown, formerly of Carrolltown and now living in Colorado Springs, Col. ‘‘Even me running three miles, it’s like, ‘wow!’ Those guys blow my mind.’’
The feeling isn’t one Sell always gave people.
‘‘Nobody knew he had this kind of potential,’’ former St. Francis teammate Art Remilliard said.
Sell never even knew, until the 2004 U.S. Trials in Birmingham, Ala. An unknown on the national stage at the time, Sell began establishing his pedigree by leading the 26.2-mile race through the first 21 miles before hitting a wall. He finished 13th that day.
‘‘Ever since then, I’ve seen the Olympics as a possibility,’’ Sell said.
His crowning achievement came on a bittersweet day in the country’s largest city.
The marathon through New York City began at 7:30 a.m. No more than 15 minutes after finishing the race and qualifying for the Olympics, Sell learned of the death of Ryan Shay, another American vying for a spot on the team.
Shay had collapsed about 5 1/2 miles into the race and was pronounced dead at 8:46 a.m., according to New York City Police.
Sell learned of the tragedy from Dathan Ritzenhein, who finished second in the marathon, as he made his way to his first of many press conferences.
‘‘It definitely makes you think it could happen to anybody,’’ said Sell, who considered himself an acquaintance of Shay’s. ‘‘At the same time, it’s a small chance that would happen. ... His death has been on my mind a lot because of who he was. You could go at any time.’’
Sell continued to be whisked away to press conferences and other ceremonies well into the afternoon. At 2:45, he made an appearance at a party that his sponsor, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, threw on his behalf.
The Olympian walked into a room of nearly 400 people with his wife, Sarah, 15 minutes before the bash was scheduled to end.
‘‘He was late to his own party,’’ Kevin Doyle said, ‘‘but we’re not going to hold that against him.’’
Doyle, a groomsman at Sell’s wedding and former Red Flash teammate, caravanned to New York City with several of Sell’s college buddies. Teammates from Canada, Oklahoma and Alaska all converged to watch Sell, whom Doyle called the fan favorite.
‘‘In the middle of New York City, there were Brian Sell fans everywhere,’’ Doyle said. ‘‘I think part of his appeal is how average he was in high school.’’
Sell presented his friends with VIP passes for his sponsor’s party.
‘‘I got there late,’’ Sell said. ‘‘Pretty much everyone had left. [The sponsors] extended the party almost an hour so we could make it over for a few minutes. ... It would’ve been nice to hang out with them and talk to them a little more.’’
Sell left the restaurant on 83rd Street and later crashed at his hotel with his wife.
‘‘We had pizza and went to bed,’’ he said. ‘‘We were pretty tired.’’
Sell will begin preparations for ‘‘the biggest marathon in the world’’ by training in Florida for a week or two to adjust to the heat.
First, though, is a 30-kilometer race in Japan in February, followed by a 25-kilometer race in Grand Rapids, Mich., in May.
Sell won’t initiate a training regimen specifically for the 2008 Olympics until June, two months before the Games.
‘‘It’s one thing to be an Olympian,’’ he said. ‘‘The big thing now is to go and run well there. If I do that, I’ll consider myself an Olympian. I don’t want to treat it like a vacation.’’
The concept of relaxing is foreign to Sell. Terry Bennett, St. Francis’ longtime trainer, said asking Sell to cut back was like taking oxygen away from him.
If the coaches wanted Sell to run 80 miles in a week, Sell ran 90. If the coaches asked for 90, Sell would increase the workload to 100.
‘‘Runners think rest is a four-letter word they don’t ever want to hear,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘Brian was the epitome of that.’’
Sell transferred to St. Francis in 1998 after going to Messiah College out of high school and took the Red Flash program to an elite level. The track and field team cracked the Top 25 in the fall of 2000, and another one of Sell’s teams finished third at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, beating programs like Penn State and Princeton.
‘‘He made people around him better,’’ former St. Francis track and field coach Kevin Donner said. ‘‘Because of Brian Sell, St. Francis had some outstanding track and cross country teams. He made other people around him great.’’
Sell remains grounded despite his accomplishments. Following Shay’s death, Sell remarked he’d give up his spot on the Olympic team in a second if it would bring Shay back.
‘‘I guess in a time when we think of pro athletes as showy, Brian is a great counter-voice to that,’’ Remilliard said. ‘‘He’s somebody who’s humble and excellent at the same time.’’
The excellence is something Brown can relate to thanks to her Olympic experience.
‘‘Walking into the opening ceremonies was everything they built it up to be on TV and radio,’’ Brown said. ‘‘You can’t explain the feeling you get.’’
Sell will experience the feeling first hand in August in Beijing. His wife will be there, and it’s likely a few of his college teammates and coaches will make the trip to follow one of the country’s top marathoners.
‘‘It’s something to celebrate, I guess,’’ Sell said of his berth on the Olympic team. ‘‘But it’s kind of like I have a bigger goal now.’’
www.altoonamirror.com
In the meantime, Brian Sell will settle for being an Olympian.
Sell qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, by finishing third in the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in New York City on Nov. 3.
‘‘The last six or seven years, I’ve been saying, ‘If I don’t do this, I’m going to quit and go to dental school,’’’ the Woodbury native said. ‘‘I’ve been running well enough to keep doing it.’’
Sell, a Northern Bedford and St. Francis graduate, is only the second Olympian ever from the Mirror’s coverage area.
He has the adulation of the first, Maureen (Latterner) Brown, a member of the U.S. handball team in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
‘‘I always have serious respect for those marathoners,’’ said Brown, formerly of Carrolltown and now living in Colorado Springs, Col. ‘‘Even me running three miles, it’s like, ‘wow!’ Those guys blow my mind.’’
The feeling isn’t one Sell always gave people.
‘‘Nobody knew he had this kind of potential,’’ former St. Francis teammate Art Remilliard said.
Sell never even knew, until the 2004 U.S. Trials in Birmingham, Ala. An unknown on the national stage at the time, Sell began establishing his pedigree by leading the 26.2-mile race through the first 21 miles before hitting a wall. He finished 13th that day.
‘‘Ever since then, I’ve seen the Olympics as a possibility,’’ Sell said.
His crowning achievement came on a bittersweet day in the country’s largest city.
The marathon through New York City began at 7:30 a.m. No more than 15 minutes after finishing the race and qualifying for the Olympics, Sell learned of the death of Ryan Shay, another American vying for a spot on the team.
Shay had collapsed about 5 1/2 miles into the race and was pronounced dead at 8:46 a.m., according to New York City Police.
Sell learned of the tragedy from Dathan Ritzenhein, who finished second in the marathon, as he made his way to his first of many press conferences.
‘‘It definitely makes you think it could happen to anybody,’’ said Sell, who considered himself an acquaintance of Shay’s. ‘‘At the same time, it’s a small chance that would happen. ... His death has been on my mind a lot because of who he was. You could go at any time.’’
Sell continued to be whisked away to press conferences and other ceremonies well into the afternoon. At 2:45, he made an appearance at a party that his sponsor, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, threw on his behalf.
The Olympian walked into a room of nearly 400 people with his wife, Sarah, 15 minutes before the bash was scheduled to end.
‘‘He was late to his own party,’’ Kevin Doyle said, ‘‘but we’re not going to hold that against him.’’
Doyle, a groomsman at Sell’s wedding and former Red Flash teammate, caravanned to New York City with several of Sell’s college buddies. Teammates from Canada, Oklahoma and Alaska all converged to watch Sell, whom Doyle called the fan favorite.
‘‘In the middle of New York City, there were Brian Sell fans everywhere,’’ Doyle said. ‘‘I think part of his appeal is how average he was in high school.’’
Sell presented his friends with VIP passes for his sponsor’s party.
‘‘I got there late,’’ Sell said. ‘‘Pretty much everyone had left. [The sponsors] extended the party almost an hour so we could make it over for a few minutes. ... It would’ve been nice to hang out with them and talk to them a little more.’’
Sell left the restaurant on 83rd Street and later crashed at his hotel with his wife.
‘‘We had pizza and went to bed,’’ he said. ‘‘We were pretty tired.’’
Sell will begin preparations for ‘‘the biggest marathon in the world’’ by training in Florida for a week or two to adjust to the heat.
First, though, is a 30-kilometer race in Japan in February, followed by a 25-kilometer race in Grand Rapids, Mich., in May.
Sell won’t initiate a training regimen specifically for the 2008 Olympics until June, two months before the Games.
‘‘It’s one thing to be an Olympian,’’ he said. ‘‘The big thing now is to go and run well there. If I do that, I’ll consider myself an Olympian. I don’t want to treat it like a vacation.’’
The concept of relaxing is foreign to Sell. Terry Bennett, St. Francis’ longtime trainer, said asking Sell to cut back was like taking oxygen away from him.
If the coaches wanted Sell to run 80 miles in a week, Sell ran 90. If the coaches asked for 90, Sell would increase the workload to 100.
‘‘Runners think rest is a four-letter word they don’t ever want to hear,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘Brian was the epitome of that.’’
Sell transferred to St. Francis in 1998 after going to Messiah College out of high school and took the Red Flash program to an elite level. The track and field team cracked the Top 25 in the fall of 2000, and another one of Sell’s teams finished third at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, beating programs like Penn State and Princeton.
‘‘He made people around him better,’’ former St. Francis track and field coach Kevin Donner said. ‘‘Because of Brian Sell, St. Francis had some outstanding track and cross country teams. He made other people around him great.’’
Sell remains grounded despite his accomplishments. Following Shay’s death, Sell remarked he’d give up his spot on the Olympic team in a second if it would bring Shay back.
‘‘I guess in a time when we think of pro athletes as showy, Brian is a great counter-voice to that,’’ Remilliard said. ‘‘He’s somebody who’s humble and excellent at the same time.’’
The excellence is something Brown can relate to thanks to her Olympic experience.
‘‘Walking into the opening ceremonies was everything they built it up to be on TV and radio,’’ Brown said. ‘‘You can’t explain the feeling you get.’’
Sell will experience the feeling first hand in August in Beijing. His wife will be there, and it’s likely a few of his college teammates and coaches will make the trip to follow one of the country’s top marathoners.
‘‘It’s something to celebrate, I guess,’’ Sell said of his berth on the Olympic team. ‘‘But it’s kind of like I have a bigger goal now.’’
www.altoonamirror.com
Thursday, November 15, 2007
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