Georgia accountant Phil Raschker is probably chin-deep in tax work this week, but she still found time to send me a report on her recent trip to New York City and the AAU Sullivan Awards ceremony at the NYAC. She betrays a little disappointment in not winning the big prize in her second shot as a finalist. Phil is quoted in a news release: “I was especially pleased that after the ceremony a number of people told me they thought I should have won, saying that my accomplishments were more impressive and that senior athletes deserve recognition as well.”

Last week, when I shared the news of Tebow winning with a sportswriter friend of mine, he replied:

(AAU) screwed up several years ago when, in an attempt to boost the award’s flagging interest, they handed out ballots to anyone with a pulse and took them away from folks who knew what was up. The result is Tim Tebow winning the award. Give me a break.
Part of the idea behind the award is to illuminating the accomplishments of “amateur” athletes in more anonymous sports. How in the world is Tim Tebow’s accomplishments in COLLEGE football better than what, say, Michael Phelps did at a WORLD championships?

Here’s the report Phil sent me:

AAU Fetes Raschker as Finalist at 78th Annual Sullivan Award Ceremony
The historic New York Athletic Club hosted the 78th Annual Sullivan Award Ceremony to honor the top amateur athletes in the United States on April 1, 2008. One of the five finalists for the Sullivan Award was Philippa “Phil” Raschker, whom the National Senior Games Association had nominated. Phil is the world’s most accomplished senior track and field athlete, and well known to NSGA members as the 2005 NSGA Hall of Fame inductee who established one world record (400 meters), two U.S. records (long jump and triple jump), and seven meet records at the 2007 National Senior Games in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Amateur Athletic Union prepared a gala evening for the athletes, guests, and media in the hallowed halls of the venerable New York Athletic Club overlooking Central Park in midtown Manhattan. As visitors registered on the 9th floor, the AAU distributed dated silver pins depicting the Sullivan Award trophy. Ties and jackets were de rigueur at the affair, deprecating the old notion of the tramp athlete.
To introduce the five Sullivan Award finalists to guests, the AAU organized individual autograph tables where attendees could talk one-on-one with the athletes. Following an hour of autograph signing, the AAU treated the five honorees to a private dinner while guests enjoyed a buffet dinner featuring salmon, roast beef, and an open bar. At 7:15, ushers invited guests into the adjoining auditorium for the presentation of awards. Large video screens highlighted the names of previous winners, including other track and field legends Rafer Johnson (1960), John Pennel (1963), Frank Shorter (1972), Mary Decker (1982), and Edwin Moses (1983).
Ann Liguori, sports radio and television broadcaster, served as emcee for the ceremony. She described the Sullivan Award as the “Oscar” of sports awards, which honors the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. It has been presented annually by the AAU since 1930 as a salute to founder and past president of the Amateur Athletic Union, and a pioneer in amateur sports, James E. Sullivan. Based on the qualities of leadership, character, and sportsmanship, the AAU Sullivan Award goes far beyond athletic accomplishments to honor those who have shown strong moral character.
Kevin Earls, Captain of the New York Athletic Club, welcomed the AAU and guests to the club, which has hosted the Sullivan Award Ceremony for several years. He noted that the NYAC, founded in 1868, has a longer history than the AAU, formed in 1888. The NYAC boasts a history of outstanding athletes, who have won over 200 Olympic medals. Mr. Earls introduced Cecilia Hall, from the Julliard School of Music, who stirred the crowd with her operatic rendition of the national anthem.
Making the program a multimedia presentation, Ann Ligouri introduced a video highlighting the accomplishments of the eleven finalists for the Sullivan Award. Based on Internet voting and selection by the Sullivan Committee, the AAU had invited five finalists to New York for the final award ceremony. Mr. Louis Stout, Chairman of the AAU Sullivan Committee, presented engraved gold medals to the five finalists. Dr. Bobby Dodd, President of the AAU, spoke about the significance of the amateur athletes being honored. This group epitomizes the amateur athlete in the United States, transcending age in pursuit of excellence.
Lou Stout expanded on this theme, entertaining the crowd with a reciting of the poem “Builders and Wreckers:”
I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a ho, heave, ho, and a lusty yell
They swung a beam and a wall fell.
I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled?
Like the men you’d hire if you had to build?”
He laughed as he replied, “No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need.
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken years to do.”
I asked myself as I went away
Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by rule and square?
Or am I a wrecker who walks the town
Content with the labor of tearing down?
Consider, he asked members of the audience, whether you will be a builder or a wrecker.
With the preliminaries complete, it was time to hear from the athletes. Ann Liguori described the accomplishments of each athlete, as they were projected onto the large video screens, and invited each to make a few comments:
1. Jonathan Horton, University of Oklahoma gymnast, described his goal of representing the U.S.A. in the Olympic Games.
2. Jeff Lerg, Michigan State University hockey goalie and the smallest player in Division I hockey, ascribed his success to his years of hard work in hockey, starting at age 3.
3. Philippa Raschker, the Female World Masters Track and Field Athlete of the Year, thanked the National Senior Games Association for her nomination, and spoke of her goal of standing as an example that we never need to lose our competitive spirit and that we can achieve lifetime fitness through participation in sports. In response to a question from Ann Liguori about how she attains success, Phil said that setting goals for health and fitness provides her motivation year after year.
4. Tim Tebow, University of Florida quarterback, spoke of the value of this award as it goes beyond a single sport, yet comprehends more than athletic achievements alone.
5. Angela Tincher, Virginia Tech softball pitcher, said she wanted to compete as long as Phil Raschker.
To culminate the ceremony, Lou Stout opened the envelope and announced Tim Tebow as the Sullivan Award winner. The evening concluded with photos and congratulations to the finalists.
For Raschker, the end of the ceremony provided some time for relaxation after a whirlwind week. Just a week earlier, Raschker had returned to her home in Atlanta from the World Indoor Championship Track and Field Meet in Clermont, France, where she won six gold medals and set a world record in the high jump. Raschker had flown to New York Thursday, where she met Becky Wesley, Director of Association Relations at the National Senior Games Association. Wesley had produced a great video “Phil Raschker – Track and Field’s Grand Master” highlighting Raschker’s 2007 accomplishments. (That video is available online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mk-fLu1lzA) The video provided footage for several media interviews that had been arranged for Raschker by the NSGA office, including the TV shows “Good Day New York” and “Fox Business Happy Hour.” (These videos were also available online at http://media.vmsnews.com/MR.pl?id=032808-863650-F001365260 and http://media.vmsnews.com/MR.pl?id=032808-863650-B001365629). Following the last TV interview Friday evening, Raschker rushed to Penn Station where she caught a train to Boston to compete in the USATF National Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships. On Saturday, Raschker not only won gold medals in the 60 meter hurdles and the long jump, she thrilled the crowd with a new world record in the 400 meter dash, where her time of 1:08.34 broke the existing record by almost two seconds. At the Athletes Meeting Saturday evening, Raschker received the USATF Female Masters Track and Field Athlete of the Year Award. On Sunday, she returned to the track to win the 200 meter dash, the triple jump, and the high jump, before traveling back to New York City for the Sullivan Award Ceremony.
Interviewed after the ceremony, Raschker said “It was an honor to be nominated by the National Senior Games Association for the award, and to be selected as one of the five finalists invited to the Sullivan Award Dinner and Ceremony at the New York Athletic Club. It was not a great surprise that Tim Tebow won the award; he is a fine athlete, and college football garners a great deal of publicity. Still, I was especially pleased that after the ceremony a number of people told me they thought I should have won, saying that my accomplishments were more impressive and that senior athletes deserve recognition as well. Although I was nervous speaking in front of a crowd of people, I trust that I effectively represented the lifetime fitness ideals of the National Senior Games Association and the competitive spirit of senior athletes.”

Here’s a shot of Phil with her fellow Sullivan Award finalists (from left): Angela Tincher, Phil, Tim Tebow, Jeff Lerg and Jonathan Horton.