Tag Archives: Dave Glasgow

HOME EQUIPMENT (THE BEGINNINGS)

BY DAVE GLASGOW

“MY IRONING BOARD!!”, YELLED MY MOM.  “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY IRONING BOARD??!!  DAVID!!  YOU GET DOWN HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!”  EVEN THOUGH I WAS IN MY UPSTAIRS BEDROOM, DOOR SHUT TIGHTLY, I COULD HEAR HER AS THOUGH I HAD ON HEAD PHONES.  SIGHING HEAVILY, I STARTED DOWN THE STAIRS TO MEET MY FATE.  AFTER FIFTY YEARS, A LOT OF WHAT I WAS THINKING HAS LONG SINCE BEEN ERASED FROM MY MEMORY.  WHAT I DO RECALL, HOWEVER, WAS IMPENDING DOOM AND A SUDDEN HOPE THAT I COULD BE TRANSPORTED, INSTANTLY, TO AN ISLAND OF LEPROSY INFECTED CANNIBALS; ANY THING WOULD BE BETTER THAN HAVING TO FACE THE WRATH OF MY, SOMEWHAT, FIREY TEMPERED MOM.

THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THIS SITUATION OCCURRED SOME WEEKS PRIOR.  MY BROTHER, FOURTEEN AT THE TIME, CAME HOME WITH A COPY OF A BODY BUILDING MAGAZINE.  STRIDING THROUGH THE DOOR WITH FIXED PURPOSE, HE SLUNG HIMSELF ON THE COUCH IN OUR FRONT ROOM AND STARTED TO PERUSE THE ARTICLES.  BEING IN CONSTANT AWE OF MY BROTHER, I GRABBED A SEAT NEXT TO HIM.  ALTHOUGH I WAS GREETED WITH A LOOK OF DISGUST, IT DIDN’T DISSUADE MY INTEREST IN WHAT HE WAS LOOKING AT.

MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS, “WHY ARE THE GUYS SO SHINY??”  MY NEXT THOUGHT WAS, “HOLY COW!!  HOW DID THEY GET SO BIG!!”  I KNOW THAT MY BROTHER WAS EQUALLY IMPRESSED AND WE BOTH WERE ‘WOW’ING ALMOST EVER TURNED PAGE.  YOU’D OF THOUGH IT WAS A GIRLY MAGAZINE!!  LITTLE DID I KNOW THAT THIS WAS MY INTRODUCTION INTO A WORLD THAT, UP UNTIL THEN, I NEVER KNEW EXISTED!  A WORLD THAT WOULD BECOME A VERY LARGE PART OF MY LIFE.

AFTER A LITTLE WHILE, I COULD SEE IN MY BROTHERS EYES THAT THE WHEELS WERE TURNING.  HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID.  “I BET I CAN MAKE A LOT OF THIS STUFF TO WORKOUT WITH.  THEN, WE CAN START WORKING OUT.”  WE??  DID HE SAY WE???  WAS HE GOING TO INCLUDE ME??  WELL, HELL, YEAH!!  LET’S DO IT!!

NOW, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, MY BROTHER WAS THE TYPE PERSON WHO COULD MAKE THINGS FROM SCRATCH, AS HE DID JUST THAT YEAR WHEN HE MADE A BEAUTIFUL CHEST OF DRAWERS IN JUNIOR HIGH.  AS FOR ME, I COULDN’T THEN, AND STILL CAN’T, DRAW A STRAIGHT LINE WITH A RULER.  HOWEVER, I WAS SURE GAME FOR ANY TYPE PROJECT I COULD BE INVOLVED WITH IF IT MEANT SPENDING TIME WITH MY BROTHER!

HAVING SPENT THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF OUR LIVES ON A FARM , WE HAD A VURTUAL CORNECOPIA OF ODDS AND ENDS TO START OUR EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS WITH.  AGAIN, THE YEARS CLOUD THE PICTURE BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE DRILLING RIG WAS A PART OF IT.  AS I RECALL, ONE OF THE STAKES FOR THE GUY WIRES WEIGHTED 40 POUNDS.  THE FIRST TIME I PUT THAT OVERHEAD, I CAME AWAY FEELING AS THOUGH I WERE KING KONG AND ONE BAAAD DUDE!

IT WAS DECIDED WE NEEDED A DUMBBELL (THAT’S WHAT THE BIG BOYS HAD, AFTER ALL!).  LONG STORY SHORT, WE GATHERED UP ENOUGH LEAD TO MAKE A 20 POUND DUMBBELL, ‘ACQUIRED’ A PIECE OF HALF INCH ROD AND WE WERE IN BUSINESS.  FORGET THE FACT THAT WE USED MOM’S STOVE AS THE FORGE AND A COFFEE CAN FOR THE FORM.  YOU ALL ARE NOT STRANGERS TO THIS PROCESS, ARE YOU?! ( I AM QUITE POSITIVE IF OUR FOLKS HAD FOUND OUT THAT LITTLE FACT, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN SANCTIONS FORTHCOMING.)  I WAS GIVEN THE JOB OF ‘EYE-BALLING” THE ROD FOR PLUMB.  WE COOLED THE HOT LEAD WITH A COLD WASH RAG APPLIED  TO THE SIDES OF THE CAN.  IT WAS’NT LONG BEFORE THE FINISHED PRODUCT LAY IN FRONT OF US, AWAITING OUR EAGER ATTENTION.

WELL, I AM QUITE CERTAIN IT WAS MY BROTHER’S IDEA.  SURELY,  I WAS NOTHING MORE THAN AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER, ONE OF THE NAMELESS RABBLE THAT GETS CAUGHT UP IN THIS SORT OF THING.  I DO KNOW THAT, IN THE END, JUST AS MANY INNOCENTS FIND OUT, SOMETIMES THE HANGERS ON SUFFER WITH THE PERPETRATORS.  REGARDLESS, ACCORDING TO THE MAGAZINE, EVERY GOOD GYM HAD AN INCLINE BOARD FOR DOING SITUPS.  YEAH, YOU GUESSED IT.  OUT CAME MOM’S IRONING BOARD.

MOM’S BOARD, WHICH SHE RECEIVED AS A WEDDING PRESENT IN 1947, HAD BEEN A LOYAL AND PROVEN FRIEND UNTIL THIS ONE FAITHFUL DAY IN 1962.  I AM ALSO CONFIDENT THAT THE MANUFACTURERS HAD NOT FACTORED INTO THE DESIGN THEIR BOARD BEING USED AS A PLATOFRM FOR SERIOUS EXERCISE.  OBVIOUSLY, THIS SMALL FACTOR HAD BEEN OVERLOOKED BY THE HEROES OF THIS STORY.

PLACING ONE END OF THE BOARD ON THE COUCH, WE HAD THE PROPER INCLINE.   I WAS GIVEN THE ‘HONOR’ OF BEING THE FIRST TO TRY IT.  NOW, IN 1962, I DOUBT I WEIGHTED 60 POUNDS.  I COMPLETED THE TEST PHASE OF OUR ENDEAVOR WITHOUT INCIDENT.  NOW, IT WAS MY BROTHER’S TURN.  REMEMBER, MY BROTHER WAS FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN ME, AND, WELL, A LOT HEAVIER.  HE MOUNTED THE BOARD, LAID BACK AND BEGAN TO EXERCISE.  HE NO MORE THAN REACHED A POINT WHERE HIS BODY WAS PERPENDICULAR TO THE FLOOR WHEN WE HEARD A LOUD C-R-A-C-K!!  HE IMMEDIATELY LOST SOME ATTITUDE AND I LOOKED IN HORROR AT THE BOARD.  IT WAS NOW BROKEN IN THE MIDDLE, SHOWING ABOUT A THIRTY DEGREE INCLINE OF IT’S OWN!!   OH, MY SWEET JESUS!!!!  GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT MY BROTHER SAID, OR THOUGHT!!

AS HINTED PRIOR, MY BROTHER WAS A PRETY HANDY GUY.  HOWEVER, TRY AS HE MAY, HE COULD NOT GET THAT BOARD BACK TO ANYTHING RESEMBLING FLAT.  AFTER REPEATED TRIES AND NUMEROUS IDEAS, HE (WE) OPTED TO GET IT AS CLOSE TO ORIGINAL AS POSSIBLE, MAKE SURE THE COVER WAS AS SMOOTH AS WE COULD GET IT AND HOPE FOR THE BEST.

WHICH BRINGS US BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY. AGAIN, I HAVE TO DEFER TO THE FRAILTY OF AGE AS I DON’T REMEMBER WHAT WAS SAID, WHAT DIRE PUNISHMENT WAS DOLED OUT OR EVEN HOW  I MANAGED TO IMPLICATE MY BROTHER.  THE ONE THING THAT I DO KNOW, FOR SURE, WAS THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY NEVER LIED TO MOM AND DAD.  THIS WAS A LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY, BUT ONLY HAD TO BE TAUGHT ONCE.  I SPILLED THE BEANS ABOUT MY PART AND STOOD TO RECEIVE SENTENCE.  I HAD NO CHOICE BUT IMPLICATE MY BROTHER IN THE MISDEED.

FINALLY, THREE THINGS CAME OUT OF THIS INCIDENT.  ONE, WE NEVER DID SIT UPS ON MOM’S BOARD AGAIN.  TWO, DAD GOT MOM A NEW, METAL IRONING BOARD, WHICH, SMOOTHED THE FUR OF MY STLLL, FURIOUS MOM.  THREE, YOURS TRULY GOT HIS ASS BEAT BY AN IRATE BROTHER WHO REFUSED TO ACCEPT OR UNDERSTAND WHY I COULDN’T KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT AND KEEP HIM OUT OF DUTCH!!!

THUS, BEGAN MY FORAY INTO THE WORLD OF IRON, ONE OF THE MORE PRECARIOUS BEGINNINGS ANYWHERE, I AM SURE! 

I HAVE NOT DONE AN INCLINE SIT UP TO THIS DAY…….

LESSONS LEARNED FROM ‘THE PINES’

BY DAVE GLASGOW

WHEN I WAS A KID, MY FRIENDS AND I HAD A NAME FOR BEING SECOND STRING ON ANY TEAM WE PLAYED ON. WE CALLED IT “RIDING THE PINES”. I WAS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THAT TERM AS I HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH THAT PARTICULAR VIEW OF MOST SPORTING EVENTS I ‘PARTICIPATED’ IN. IT STARTED FROM A YOUNG AGE.

I DISTINCLY REMEMBER MY FORAY INTO THE ATHLETIC WORLD. I WAS 5 YEARS OLD. MY AUNT AND UNCLE GOT ME A PLASTIC BALL AND BAT FOR MY BIRTHDAY. THE FIRST TIME I HIT THAT SPHERE IN THE ‘SWEET SPOT’, I WAS HOOKED. FROM THAT MOMENT ON, I WOULD PLAY ANY SPORT THAT CAME MY WAY. THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS, MY EAGERNESS TO PLAY FAR OUTSTRETCHED MY ABILITIES.

AS A ADOLESCENT AND TEENAGER, ESPECIALLY IN THE ERA I GREW UP, NO ONE (OR DAMN FEW) KNEW ABOUT ‘GENETICS’ OR NATURAL ABILITY. SURE, NATURAL ABILITY WAS TALKED ABOUT, BUT MOST OF US THOUGHT WE COULD OVERCOME THAT WITH HARD WORK AND PERSISTANCE. THIS WAS, TO A POINT, TRUE. HOWEVER, LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF US DID’NT HAVE THAT ‘X’ FACTOR AND OUR EFFORTS WERE, MOSTLY, SELF FLAGELLATION. AS FOR ME, ‘THE PINES’ WERE MY CONSTANT COMPANIONS.

LOOKING BACK ON THOSE DAYS, I REALIZE, NOW, THAT I THOUGHT I WAS A LOT BETTER THAN I WAS. IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME THAT THE MANY COACHES I HAD SAW MY ABILITIES AND PRESCRIBED THE BEST PLACE FOR MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE TEAM.

HOWEVER, HERE ARE SOME THINGS I LEARNED BY BEING A UNIFORMED SPECTATOR.

PERSISTANCE. NO MATTER WHAT SPORT I WAS PLAYING, I MADE EVERY PRACTICE, EVERY MEETING, CHEERED MY TEAMMATES, WHATEVER WAS ASKED OF ME. THIS PERSISTANCE CAME IN REAL HANDY LATER IN MY LIFE.

DETERMINATION. WHAT MORE CAN I SAY ABOUT THAT. IT IS SELF EVIDENT. TO DO ANYTHING IN LIFE, YOU NEED THIS QUALITY, IN AN ABUNDENT AMOUNT. BELIEVE ME, SITTING ON THE PINES, SOMETIMES, TOOK ALL THE DETERMINATION I COULD MUSTER.

RESILANCE. SITTING ON THE BENCH TAKES A LOT OF THIS. DAILY REJECTION, IN FRONT OF YOUR PEERS, IS NOT SOMETHING I ENJOYED, AT ALL. HOWEVER, I WAS GOING TO BE DAMNED IF I WAS GOING TO GIVE IN AND QUIT. ALL I NEEDED WAS ONE ‘CHANCE’! (THAT ‘CHANCE’ CAME IN A COLLEGE SOCCER GAME. WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT GAME IS STILL PAINFUL, BUT I DID’NT STOP. I SHOWED UP FOR PRACTICE THE NEXT DAY. I HAVE NO EARTHLY IDEA WHY.)

WILL POWER. ANY OF YOU WHO HAVE HAD TO MAKE WEIGHT KNOWS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT HERE. SHOW ME A HIGH SCHOOL KID WHO IS’NT CONSTANTLY HUNGRY AND I’LL SHOW YOU A SICK KID. THIS AUTO-STARVATION WILL TEST THE VERY CORE OF YOUR BEING. AND QUESTION YOUR SANITY.

SELF ESTEEM. YEAH, I KNOW. HOW MUCH SELF ESTEEM CAN YOU GET ON THE PINES?? GOOD QUESTION. I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS A LOT. I HAVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT MY PARTICIPATION MADE ME THINK MORE OF MYSELF, DUE TO THE FACT THAT, BY GOD, I MAY BE ON THE BENCH WITH PRECIOUS LITTLE PLAYING TIME BUT I WAS PART OF A TEAM! SOMETHING BIGGER THAN MYSELF. THE CAMMERADERIE CARRIED OVER TO A SENSE OF SELF WORTH THAT I AM STILL PROUD OF TODAY.

I HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT MY TIME ON ‘THE PINES’ SHAPED ME INTO WHO I AM TODAY. LIFE THROWS A LOT OF CURVE BALLS AND TAKEDOWNS. STANDING IN TOUGH TO ATTEMPT TO HIT A CURVE BALL THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BREAK IS A PARODY OF LIFE THAT IS HARD TO DENY (YEAH, I DID GET TO PLAY. ONCE IN A WHILE!). BEING TAKEN DOWN IN A MATCH IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT CAN AND WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IN THE REAL WORLD. LAY THERE AND GET PINNED OR GET TO YOUR BASE AND WORK OUT OF IT.

FINALLY, THE SPLINTERS IN MY ASS HAVE LEFT ME WITH GREAT MEMORIES AND I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT BEING PART OF A TEAM KEPT ME OUT OF A LOT OF TROUBLE THEN. BESIDES, WHAT BETTER WAY TO GET A RING SIDE SEAT TO THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN!??

GONE FISHIN’ – THE HARD WAY

BY DAVE GLASGOW

(WEBMASTER NOTE: Recently I issued a writing contest, in which I challenged lifters to write about an unusual training implement/device that they use in their training. The stories were submitted and judged, and I’m going to initially publish the top three stories in the USAWA Daily News as they were the contest award winners. Thank you to everyone who submitted stories for this competition, as they were all excellent. Here’s story RANKED NUMBER ONE:)

THIS IS MY DAD, DOING WHAT I REMEMBER HIM FOR, WORKING.

“DAD!!  WE GOT A FISHIN’ JOB!”, I SAID, OVER THE PAY PHONE.  “CHRIST!!”  WHAT HAPPENED THIS TIME???”, WAS HIS REPLY.  HE KNEW, FROM PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE,  THAT A CALL FROM ME AT SEVEN IN THE EVENING WAS NEVER GOOD NEWS.   AS I EXPLAINED WHAT HAD OCCURRED, I COULD HEAR MUMBLED, MUFFLED WORDS AND CURSES I HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN EXPOSED TO, COMING FROM HIS END OF THE RECEIVER! BEING IN OUR OCCUPATION, THAT WAS SAYING SOMETHING!

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON’T KNOW ME, I WAS BORNE, BAPTISED AND RAISED IN THE ‘OIL PATCH’(DAMN PROUD OF IT!).  I HAVE SPOKEN OF IT PREVIOUSLY IN A COUPLE OF ARTICLES I WROTE ABOUT WHAT WE DID WITH OUR DRILLING BUSINESS.  THIS WAS DIRTY, HARD, HEAVY LABOR, IN ALL SORTS OF WEATHER.  THE DRILLING ASPECT OF THE JOB WAS THE ‘EASY’ PART DUE TO THE FACT THAT, IF ALL WENT WELL, THERE WAS A LOT OF ‘ASS TIME’.  THIS PARTICULAR OCCASION, HOWEVER, WAS NOT GOING TO BE ONE OF THOSE TIMES.

THE “FISHIN’ JOB” I REFERRED TO EARLIER IS IN REFERENCE TO OUR STRING OF TOOLS BEING LOST AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOLE, ABOUT 200’ BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH.  THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT THE ‘ROPE SOCKET’ THAT HELD THE CABLE TO THE REST OF THE ‘TOOLS’ HAD, UNFORTUNATELY, TWISTED OFF (COME UNSCREWED). WHEN THIS EVENT HAPPENS, IT RUINS THE THREADS THAT ARE ON THE INSIDE OF THE ‘ROPE SOCKET’, RENDERING IT USELESS.  WE HAD SEVERAL OTHERS AND THIS PARTICULAR ONE WAS CAST ASIDE UNTIL IT COULD BE RETHREADED AND PUT BACK INTO SERVICE.

FURTHER, TO RETRIEVE THE TOOLS, YOU, LITERALLY, HAD TO ‘FISH’ THEM OUT WITH A DEVICE THAT TOOK A FRICTION HOLD TO THE TOP OF THE TOOLS AND, IF THE DRILLING GODS WERE IN A GOOD  MOOD, PRESTO!, YOU WERE BACK IN BUSINESS. THE FACT THAT THIS HAPPENED ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY WAS ESPECIALLY PROBLEMATIC AS WE WERE BEING PRESSURED TO FINISH THE WELL, IN ORDER FOR THE ‘BIG RIG’ TO COME IN AND GO TO THE TOTAL DEPTH.  THIS WOULD ONLY SET US BACK A WHOLE DAY, IF WE WERE LUCKY.

WELL, THE GODS MUST HAVE BEEN SNOOZING BECAUSE WE SNEAKED BY THEM AND GOT OUR STRING OF TOOLS ON THE FIRST RUN!!

UNFORTUNATELY FOR US, THE OIL PATCH PETERED OUT IN THE EARLY ‘80s AND I WAS LOOKING FOR WORK.  THE ROPE SOCKET WAS NEVER REPAIRED AND SAT WITH THE OTHER, RUSTING TOOLS AND RELICS OF A DAY GONE BY.  I TOOK A COURSE TO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION, CAREER WISE, AND LEFT THE OIL PATCH FAR BEHIND.

JUMP AHEAD 20 YEARS.  MY FAMILY AND I EXPERIENCED A NUMBER OF ‘CHALLENGES’ IN THE FORM OF ILLNESS, DEATH AND HARDSHIP.  THIS ALL CAME ABOUT IN THE PERIOD OF ABOUT EIGHTEEN MONTHS.  CONSEQUENTLY, I MUST CONFESS, I HAD HAD ABOUT ALL I COULD TAKE.

THE ROPE SOCKET I USE FOR MY 'ALTERNATE' TRAINING.

SIGNIFICANTLY FOR THIS STORY, FOR SOME REASON, THROUGH THE YEARS, I REMEMBERED THAT ROPE SOCKET  AND HOW I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD WAY TO DO SOME ‘ALTERNATE’ TRAINING. SO, THE NIGHT PRIOR TO A HUGE SURGICAL PROCEDURE THAT I WAS TO HAVE,  I FIGURED THIS WAS AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY TO FIND OUT.

 I TOOK THE SHORT DRIVE TO THE FAMILY FARM (LEDAIG, TRUELY, MY ‘SAFE HAVEN/HARBOUR’), FOUND THAT ROPE SOCKET AND PROCEDED TO HAVE ONE, ‘LAST WORKOUT’ BEFORE BEING INCAPACITATED FOR, WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE, A NUMBER OF WEEKS.  THE FACT THAT I JUST BURIED MY BELOVED DAD TWO DAYS BEFORE JUST ADDED TO THE INTENSITY AND EMOTION.  YOU SEE, MY DAD AND I ALWAYS SHARED A LOVE OF THE OIL PATCH(NOT TO MENTION, EACH OTHER) AND I SAW THIS AS A WAY TO ‘CONNECT’ WITH HIM ONE LAST TIME AND PHYSICALLY READY MYSELF FOR WHATEVER WAS TO COME.

NOW, FOLKS, THE ROPE SOCKET IN QUESTION, WEIGHTS, I WOULD GUESS 175 POUNDS.  I HAVE NEVER WEIGHTED IT, AND, TO ME, IT IS NOT IMPORTANT.  IT’S HEAVY FOR ME AND THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

AS I HAVE TOLD MOST OF YOU AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF THAT STRONG OF PERSON.  I CERTAINLY DO NOT DO WELL AT CLEANING THE WEIGHT.  HOWEVER, THAT EVENING, I CLEANED AND PRESSED THAT ROPE SOCKET AT LEAST 30 TIMES IN AN HOUR.  EVERYTIME I WOULD START TO GET TIRED, I JUST HAD TO THINK OF DAD, THE PROCEDURE TO COME, WHAT OUR FAMILY WAS GOING THRU AS A WHOLE AND I WOULD BE INVIGORATED FOR ONE MORE SET.  FINALLY, I WAS TOTALLY EXHAUSTED WHEN I FINALLY DECIDED I HAD HAD ENOUGH.  I WAS SPENT, EMOTIONALLY, AS WELL AS PHYSICALLY.  HOWEVER, MENTALLY, I WAS READY FOR THE CHALLENGES TO COME IN THE NEXT DAYS!

IN THE END, ALL TURNED OUT WELL. IT IS SAID THAT TOUGH TIMES DON’T LAST, BUT TOUGH PEOPLE DO!  I AM PAINFULLY AWARE I AM NOT THE TOUGHEST GUY AROUND; HOWEVER, I CAN NOT SAY THAT FOR MY WIFE AND KIDS, AS THEY WOULD RANK RIGHT AMONG THE TOUGHEST.  HOWEVER, I WEATHERED THE STORM; OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS CLOSED RANKS AROUND US AND WE CAME OUT THE OTHER END, WHOLE.

REGARDLESS, I STILL REMEMBER THAT “PRE-OP WORKOUT”, ON A HOT, STILL SUMMER EVENING. I THINK OF IT OFTEN.  IT WILL GO DOWN AS, PROBABLY, THE MOST MEMORABLE AND PRODUCTIVE WORKOUT OF MY LIFE! 

FINALLY, I WILL SMILE AND REMEMBER, LOVINGLY,  THE MEMORY OF THOSE MUMBLED, MUFFLED WORDS AND CURSES OF MY DAD, WHO, I AM SURE, WAS WATCHING OVER ME (AND MY FAMILY) ALL THE TIME.

Dino Gym Shooting Competition

by Al Myers

Dave Glasgow won the Handgun Division, as well as the Small Bore Rifle Division.

I’m sure everyone is wondering how the shooting competition following the Dino Gym Challenge turned out.   Well, it ended up taking about as long as the meet to complete!  I had several entrants in each shooting division, with some outstanding marksmanship taking place. Luckily, we had a perfect day of weather with very minimal wind.  Four divisions were contested, and each person could enter whichever division they wanted, depending on what their shooting expertise was.  Darren Barnhart was the only one to  enter all four divisions.  The four shooting divisions were:

1.  Shotgun Trap Shot
2.  Small Bore Rifle (.223 caliber and smaller)
3.  Large Bore Rifle (above .223 caliber)
4.  Handgun

Darren Barnhart entered all four divisions, showing his diversity as a shooter. He's indeed an All-Round shooter!

The TOP THREE in each division are as follows:

Shotgun Trap Shot  – 25 blue rock targets were throw from an electric trap thrower, with each shooter getting one shot per target.

1.  Darren Barnhart – 18/25
2. Thom Van Vleck – 16/25
2 (tie). Chad Ullom – 16/25

Small Bore Rifle – 5 shots at 100 yards and 5 shots at 200 yards.

1.  Dave Glasgow – 61 points
2.  Darren Barnhart – 58 points
3.  Chad Ullom – 36 points

Large Bore Rifle – 5 shots at 100 yards and 5 shots at 200 yards.

1.  Thom Van Vleck – 71 points
2.  Darren Barnhart – 16 points
3.  Dan Wagman – 0 points!

Handgun – 5 shots at 3 yards, 5 shots at 7 yards, 5 shots at 10 yards

1.  Dave Glasgow – 176 points
2.  Dan Wagman – 152 points
3.  Chad Ullom – 96 points

World Champ Dan Wagman takes aim - I just don't know at what!!!

Now for a little commentary on the days shooting.  First, I didn’t compete, but instead acted as the official to make sure everything was done on the “up and up”.  I was most surprised by Chad  Ullom.  Chad continues to show everyone that he seems to be a natural at everything.  He doesn’t even own a gun, and very rarely has ever shot one, but wanted to compete so he borrowed a shotgun from Darren to enter the shotgun contest.  He started off miserably – missing his first half dozen shots. At this point – he made a newbie mistake and jammed up Darren’s gun so it wouldn’t work anymore.  I then had to let him borrow one of mine to finish his shoot. At this juncture I gave him a few shooting tips and reminded him of the value of my shotgun, and that I would hold him accountably for it if he broke it.   Well, this motivational talk of mine must have got him focused and he seemed to “get on fire” and started hitting every target!!!  Thom was solid as expected in the Trap Shoot, but still ended up with a tie with Chad for second.  Darren won the event with a very good 18 out of 25.  Next up was the small bore rifle competition.  Again, Chad was up against a couple of seasoned shooters in Darren and Dave, but made a fine showing to get third with again a borrowed rifle, edging out John O’Brien who scored a 27.  Darren had the lead after round 1 at 100 yards, but sharp-shooter Dave eclipsed him in round 2 at 200 yards to win the small bore.  The large bore rifle had three entrants: Thom, Darren, and Dan. A controversy immediately resulted as Dan was going to enter using his 5.56 M4 Colt Carbine.  A discussion ensued that this division was for .223 caliber and above, but after a group consensus, it was determined that the 5.56 caliber was indeed just slightly larger than the .223 caliber, and thus within the rules to be entered.  Thom was one hand with his trusty 6mm Remington rifle.  I could tell by the way he carassed his gun that it was a trusty ole friend of his, and that he had an intimate relationship with it.  I want to mention something here about rifle shooting.  Long distance rifle shooting requires a steady hand and a silent concentration – not exactly the mindset that most  weightlifters have.  Most of us that have been around Dan in the weightroom know that he gets about “as jacked” as any lifter could before an attempt.  I could see his jugular pulse beating away as he set up for his shots.  I thought for a moment that he was going to pull an ammonia cap out of his pocket to give him more of an adrenalin rush.  Add in the fact that he was shooting “open sights” and that the M4 Colt is designed to be shot as “accuracy through volume”, it was not adding up well for him.  I was slightly embarrassed to tell him that not only did he not hit the target once – but that he wasn’t even on the paper!!!  Now Thom was another story.  He destroyed the target with each shot using his bolt-action rifle in systematic fashion, and won by a HUGE MARGIN.  But Thom told me afterwards that his years in the Marines trained him well for distance shooting, and that paid off in his victory in this division.  We finished the day with the handgun division.  We conducted the event under the rules established for qualifying for the Kansas concealed license.  Darren was shooting a ultralight handgun that looked like it would fit in your front pocket without being noticed.  Chad borrowed a .22 pistol from Darren, Dave was shooting a 9mm semiautomatic, and Dan was shooting a huge 45 caliber.  Quite a diverse set of handguns for this competition.  Dave showed his years as a policemen training on the 9mm that he was in a “class of his own”.  His shooting technique was superb and hit the center on practically every shot.   Dan shooting his huge 45 made it about impossible for me to tally his score as he shot the entire center of the target out, and Chad really surprised me by hitting the target on every one of his shots.  Overall, this was a great competition and a fitting ending to a great day at the Dino Gym!!!

Courage Award

by Al Myers

Dave Glasgow being awarded the Runnerup Courage Award at the USAWA Nationals (center). He was presented the award by Al Myers (left) and Denny Habecker (right). Missing from this picture is the USAWA Courage Award winner Dale Friesz.

The USAWA Courage Award goes to a lifter who “shows the courage to overcome an obstacle in order to return to competition.  This may be a comeback from an injury, or just having to deal with difficult personal issues but still shows the courage to compete in the USAWA”.  That is the way it is defined in the awards program information letter.  It might as well just say ” be like DALE FRIESZ” instead.   Dale takes courage to the extreme, and continues to lift weights when most (make that ALL) would have quit if they were in his situation.   I wasn’t “for sure” if Dale would be able to make it to this years Nationals, but he didn’t let me or the USAWA down on this.  Not only did he make the flight to Vegas, but he lifted in the meet and showed tremendous effort in all the days events.  He is a true warrior – and very, very deserving of this award.  It is only appropriate that he has now won it THREE YEARS IN A ROW!! That’s simply amazing, and is the only person to have won the same award every year since the award program has been in place.  The Courage Award winners were:

WINNER – DALE FRIESZ

RUNNERUP – DAVE GLASGOW

Dave Glasgow was a very fitting runner up to Dale.  Dave has had some physical difficulties as well this year (surgery on his arm), but most wouldn’t know about it.  Dave’s not one to make an issue of something like that.  It would have been easy for him to “take some time off” to milk his injury, but it didn’t seem to slow him down at all!  As soon as possible he was back on the lifting platform!! 

CONGRATS to Dale and Dave for winning this year’s COURAGE AWARD!

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