Peter Taylor, our grandmaster meet announcer, writes: “I was glad to see the comments from various readers about the Boston experience and my role in it, and I do believe I had a pretty good meet. Without Larry Libow (my assistant) I could have done very little, as he did a very good job of keeping me together. The issue with upset stomach was not quite as serious as indicated. Main problem was that I slept very poorly on all three nights.”

Peter continues:

Everyone knows Bill Collins, Phil Raschker, and Nolan Shaheed (not known as widely as Tiger Woods, but we are working on it), but surely I can reach back to recall a few names that deserve some mention.
Off the top, as they say, I recall Sharon Warren (W55) and Ed Winslow (M35), both of them very hard-hitting sprinters who came up big. I was surprised (should have known) that Kathy Bergen (W65) has such an excellent style in the high jump, very compact and effective. Bruce McBarnette (M50) is without peer in this event, as he has the longest run-up, most resembles a star in carriage and deportment, and always gets good results.
In the M55 800, Horace Grant has become a worthy challenger to Nolan Shaheed — very nice to see someone go from very good to absolute world class in one season. Frank Condon (M65), the ex-Villanovan with an unusual but very strong style, comes to mind immediately. Frank will not need any lessons on how to talk to strangers or to make effective presentations in public, and that’s a good thing.
In the throws, “Big Jim Wetenhall” of Ohio (M50) made an impression. I looked at him and said something like, “He looks like a thrower.” Shows how much I know about the weights that I did not recognize him immediately.
In W45, Liz Palmer (California) and Kathy Shook (Indiana) continue to impress. Palmer has terrific power, which is always nice. Orville Rogers (M90), whose son was there to watch him, turned out the lights with his 4:19.97 in the 800 meters. Yes, age 90. The Rev. Champion Goldy, also in M90, showed once again that he is a very versatile performer (sprints and throws).
There were hundreds of other good ones, but these athletes jump out immediately. Oh, one more thing, I still refuse to believe how good Rod Jett, Dexter McCloud, and David Ashford looked. I don’t have time to watch college track (George Mason) back in Fairfax (Virginia), so I might as well see some of it through these three hurdlers.
Spokane
Hard to believe, but the outdoor championships begin in just about four months (August 7 in Spokane). The city has a very dry climate, evidenced by the range of its August records (all-time low of 35 and record high of 108). Its average low-high is 55 and 83, very nice. Compare that with Orlando (Florida), where the averages are 73 and 92 and the records are 64 and 100 — a much tighter range (and with much higher humidity).
I will be the primary announcer in Spokane, but as Larry Libow’s commentary suggests, handling everything will be hard. To simultaneously announce the track events, the throws, the horizontal jumps, and the vertical jumps is no mean feat, but to add the announcement of various calls (first, second call, etc.), various results or records, trips to the hotel or airport (if offered), announcements about photo opportunities, possibilities for refreshment, clothing sales on the premises, details on where the restrooms are, and 32 other things is rather challenging.
Most important thing is for me to have some assistants (not so much to announce as to obtain information, keep me sane, etc.). Historically I have given much less attention to field than track, but we will see what we can do. Send recommendations to the meet director if you have ideas. See you there.