So in reading the Baltimore Sun, it appears to me that they have a group of individuals working for them that believe there are 175 other Maryland affiliated athletes that have achieved more athletic success than I have? Appalled and disrespected I am to the utmost.
I dont think I need to run down my athletic achievements, but for those that may have forgotten, let me remind some of you of some things you do know and some you may not know...
As a freshman in high school, I took 4th place at states in the 400m
Sophomore year I was .4 seconds away from winning the 400m and took 2nd to a teammate. Ran on the 2nd place finishing 4x100 team at Penn Relays (which was 1st american team) and 3rd place 4x400 team
My junior year my relay team once again made the Penn Relay finals and was first american team (so that's two Penn watches I had won)
At states, I won the 400m, won the TJ (which is still the 5th best jump in state history) anchored the winning 4x400 relay and took 3rd in the 200m. I was also Gatorade T&F athlete of the year by the way...
Senior year I took 2nd in both the 200m and 400m at states. Had PR's of 20.8 & 46.6. Ranked 3rd best 400m runner in the country by T&F News. Gatorade T&F athlete of the years again! All-Metro athlete of the year indoor and outdoor as well.
...and that was just high school
In college at Hampton University...
I set the school record, which still stands in the triple jump indoor as well as breaking the conference record for most points indoor and outdoor which also still stands today. I competed in 5 events indoor and 6 events outdoor and placed top 3 in every event I did. I was named conference athlete of the meet indoor and outdoor in 1999
Not once but twice I went to the NCAA nationals and was an all-american both times (1998, 1999)
Won Penn relays (1999) So thats 3 Penn Relays watches I won.
Ranked in the USA top 10 (1999)
FYI - I also ran cross country and had a mile PR of 4:51 & 8K PR of 28:50
Well, now lets get to the good stuff, shall we?
As a professional this is what I did...
3 USA national championships (2002, 2004, 2007)
8 times placed top 3 at the USA national championships
2 time Olympic team member and finalist (2000, 2004)
World championship silver medalist (2005)
World Cup champions (2002)
USA indoor runner-up at 400m (2004)
Ranked top 10 in the USA 8 times of the 10 years I competed
Ranked top 8 in the world 7 times of the 10 years I competed
13th fastest all time in the world at 400 hurdles ...Let me type that again...ALL TIME IN THE WORLD!
Anyone know how fast 48.50 is in the 400 hurdles...Well I ran faster than that 36 times in my career
So, just why in the flim flam frick did I NOT make this list?
5 comments:
On the scale of interest, track falls below law darts in Maryland. They may have a clue every 4 years but that is about it.
I can think of one reason: neither Paul McMullen nor Phil Jackman writes for The Baltimore Sun any more. All of the track and field expertise left when they did.
Looking over the complete list of 175 -- there were other track and field stars selected by the Sun, but James Carter was grossly overlooked for his outstanding local, national and international record setting accomplishments. Evidently Carter was just too fast for the Sun to pick up on! BTW...There were other athletic sports that were completely overlooked by Klingaman. He completely blew motorsports --NASCAR's Sportsman and Modified series and the late Baltimorean, Johnny Roberts who won several NASCAR championships...and Parkton's late Bruce Jennings, who won multiple SCCA/IMSA National driving championships in Porsche Speedsters. Ohhh...and what about Cockeysville's AMA National two-wheel champion, the late Gary Nixon? Picking 175 Maryland athletes should be completely subjective, but it certainly appeared to be more of a Herculean task for the light weight Mike Klingaman and his editors to accurately complete.
BD,
What makes Klingaman a lightweight, exactly? He's the longest-tenured sports writer at the paper and a native of the area. He's built relationships with players and coaches in the area for decades. He's one of the very best sports writers in the country, as well (his story on Fred Miller and his wife placed third in a national contest.) Who, exactly, should have compiled this list if not him? Just because you disagree a little bit, somebody is a lightweight? You would have done better? If I came upon a project you developed and didn't like it, I might say as much. But to call you a lightweight, to insult your abilities in a profession I suppose you've dedicated your life to? That's a little flippant, don't you think? Is this really how you live your life?
This has nothing to do with anyone else in any other sport. My question about me being left off is all that matters to me. If he has been there longer than anyone else then he should know who I am and what I have done. He and whoever else did that list messed up.
What he should have done was leave it up to the public just as much as he did him and his team. Have a contest and let the public write in about who. That way he may not have missed people because he would have been reminded of many people. He might be one of the best at what he does but he messed up big time not putting me on there.
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