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Yes, sounds like a book I need to write, don't?
Let me be among one of the few who dares to debunk the athletic prowess of our founding father. (Hell, even some are saying the founding father title is a myth. The book needs to be written!)
Here are a few oddities - Manley's best times are 11s and 23s, for the 100m and 200m. What, he only ran in round numbers? Let me guess - he won the high jump at Champs clearing the bar at 6ft, right?
Give me a frikkin break!
Then they say both times were close to world records of the time. Recall, they only had 3 Olympics prior to Manley's Champs debut. A hand-timed event can be close to anything you want it to be, especially when conveniently rounded down!
Then, his amazing record stood for 41 years, and guess who broke it? None other than his son, Douglas! What a story for the ages! Never mind that Frank Hall may have done it before Douglas that year, that detail is trying only to spoil a good story. I guess Hall had beaten Douglas, the favourite. Hard to give Douglas the record when he came second! WOooiieee!
Hey, let's get serious. In tennis a distinction is made between the Open era and the pre-Open era, because at one time professionals were not allowed to enter the tournaments. In T&F we need to make a distinction between the hand-timed and the electronic-timed era, the Open era and pre-Open. This T&F Open era is when all high schools, like William Knibb and BB Coke were able to attend, not the days when 8 schools, including my alma mater, were invited to Champs because of their perceived prestige. Yes, a case.could be made for private high schools like Belair, all schools have their own championships where athletes can set all the records they want. They can even hand-time them if they want!
I'm suggesting Norman Manley was a good athlete whose Champs achievements and longevity must be taken with a few grains of salt.
Let me be among one of the few who dares to debunk the athletic prowess of our founding father. (Hell, even some are saying the founding father title is a myth. The book needs to be written!)
Here are a few oddities - Manley's best times are 11s and 23s, for the 100m and 200m. What, he only ran in round numbers? Let me guess - he won the high jump at Champs clearing the bar at 6ft, right?
Give me a frikkin break!
Then they say both times were close to world records of the time. Recall, they only had 3 Olympics prior to Manley's Champs debut. A hand-timed event can be close to anything you want it to be, especially when conveniently rounded down!
Then, his amazing record stood for 41 years, and guess who broke it? None other than his son, Douglas! What a story for the ages! Never mind that Frank Hall may have done it before Douglas that year, that detail is trying only to spoil a good story. I guess Hall had beaten Douglas, the favourite. Hard to give Douglas the record when he came second! WOooiieee!
Hey, let's get serious. In tennis a distinction is made between the Open era and the pre-Open era, because at one time professionals were not allowed to enter the tournaments. In T&F we need to make a distinction between the hand-timed and the electronic-timed era, the Open era and pre-Open. This T&F Open era is when all high schools, like William Knibb and BB Coke were able to attend, not the days when 8 schools, including my alma mater, were invited to Champs because of their perceived prestige. Yes, a case.could be made for private high schools like Belair, all schools have their own championships where athletes can set all the records they want. They can even hand-time them if they want!
I'm suggesting Norman Manley was a good athlete whose Champs achievements and longevity must be taken with a few grains of salt.
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