Harold Ambler: What makes rowing unique
01:00 AM EST on Monday, January 21, 2008
HAROLD AMBLER
AUSTIN
I HAVE HAD CAUSE to ask myself why anyone other than rowers and former rowers should find the sport interesting. What follows is a list of things that separate rowing, the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States, from every other sport.
Here are the top 20 reasons that crew is unique
• Seldom can you determine which member of a crew won a race; but it is frequently possible to tell which member of a crew lost a race, when that person took a bad stroke, dislodged his or her sliding seat from its tracks, or ran catastrophically out of energy at the end of a race.
• Rowing is the only sport whose participants travel backward.
• It is the only sport whose participants’ survival depends upon the intelligence and focus of a teammate, the coxswain.
• Rowers like to say that they are in the greatest cardiovascular shape of all college athletes, and it is a reasonable claim. Cross-country skiers and runners are their principal rivals for the honor.
• Rowing is the only sport in which novices have become Olympians in as little as two to three years, and that is not because it is easier than other sports or because there is less competition for spots. The competition for spots on the Olympic team is fierce.
• While runners and other endurance athletes also push themselves, they do so with the knowledge that they can quit at any time, even in the middle of a workout. Rowers cannot stop rowing in the middle of a practice or race, or else an oar handle will jab their spine, their ribs, or one of their kidneys. The pain of this is probably discouragement enough from the very reasonable idea of quitting in the middle of a piece, but the social component is stronger. To stop rowing, when one’s teammates are exerting themselves no less than oneself, is truly beyond the pale.
• Rowing is unique in that the athletes are not allowed to speak while participating (even if they had the wind to do so). This means, among other things, that a lot of strong feelings are running just beneath the surface of the average crew, which is palpable as soon as one approaches a working college boathouse.
• Water polo looks taxing, and it is. Football looks dangerous and exhilarating, and it is both of those things. Rowing looks poetic, relaxing even, but the sport is internally violent. The level of exertion required is so immense that death seems a real possibility on a regular basis, which is among the reasons that rowers are notoriously insular — they are in the process of having near-death experiences, psychologically, every day. For a group of rowers to depart from the subject of rowing in a conversation is not necessarily easy in such a context.
• There is no analog for seat-racing in any other sport. There is no intra-squad competition that is as intense, as personal, and as visible.
• No other coaches ply their trade at the helm of a boat; no other coaches burn gasoline to keep up with their athletes; no other coaches have to perform as much plane geometry and calculus in their heads to keep themselves and their athletes safe.
• No other sport involves a public-address system with speakers beneath the athletes’ bodies.
• No other sport involves tying oneself into shoes that other athletes have worn.
• No other sport involves tying oneself into shoes that are fixed to a craft that can sink.
• No other college sport has to concern itself with icebergs. (Both my father and I were in boats that struck icebergs at Dartmouth; Dad’s boat sank as they rowed it to shore. He and his boatmates had to run in socks, across the snow, three miles back to the boathouse. The boat I was in was an expensive Vespoli that the varsity had taken out for its maiden row at dusk; we started a power twenty and the next thing I knew I was sitting about two feet higher than before in the bow seat, looking down at a car-sized iceberg on either side of me.)
• No other college sport makes such extensive use of machines, principally Concept2 ergometers, or requires that athletes spend so much time physically attached to them.
• No other college sport involves the betting of an item of clothing to be delivered to or received from one’s opponent as soon as the contest has ended.
• No other sport uses a single piece of equipment that is nearly 60 feet long.
• Few other sports suffer an occasional drowning.
• No other sport requires such complex traffic control: At the end of practices, shells line up waiting to come into the dock like passenger jets waiting to land at a major airport.
• No other sport’s athletes carry the dead weight of a teammate, i.e., the coxswain, on the playing field; no other sport’s athletes are spoken to throughout their races by that same player-coach; no other sport’s athletes “reward” their victorious player-coach by hurling the individual into water that is frequently both frigid and polluted.
Harold Ambler is an Austin-based writer, editor and musician. He rows recreationally on Austin’s Town Lake and is the editor of the forthcoming Ever True: The History of Brown Crew

Get back to the gym!

One man answers the call

While everyone else in our program was sitting at home enjoying vacation, Rick McCusker made his way to The Agganis Arena to compete against the world's best in the CRASH-B world championships.

Although Rick came a little short of the world record that was set for his age category, he gave it his all.

We are very lucky to have had Rick rowing and setting an example for all of us. Next year he has asked that everyone in our program join him.

Thank you Rick.

Crash-B Feb. 26

If any kids are interested in joining me to watch a part of the Crash-B championships, I will be driving in to the Agganis Center on the 26th after lunch - or possible taking the subway. Please e-mail me dmccaig@comcast.net or call me at 781-254-9700. There will be many student athletes of high school age. It will be a good opportunity to see what the competition is up to and for kids who might want to row in college - a good chance to meet coaches with me. Mr. McCaig

The HHS Devil Frogs... Beelzebufo

Scientists on Monday announced the discovery in northwestern Madagascar of a bulky amphibian dubbed the "devil frog" that lived 65 million to 70 million years ago and was so nasty it may have eaten newborn dinosaurs.
This brute was larger than any frog living today and may be the biggest frog ever to have existed, according to paleontologist David Krause of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, one of the scientists who found the remains.
Its name, Beelzebufo ampinga, came from Beelzebub, the Greek for devil, and bufo -- Latin for toad. Ampinga means "shield," named for an armor-like part of its anatomy.
Beelzebufo (pronounced bee-el-zeh-BOOF-oh) was 16 inches
long and weighed an estimated 10 pounds (4.5 kg).
It was powerfully built and possessed a very wide mouth and powerful jaws. It probably didn't dine daintily.
"It's not outside the realm of possibility that Beelzebufo took down lizards and mammals and smaller frogs, and even -- considering its size -- possibly hatchling dinosaurs," Krause said in a telephone interview.

If we are having any trouble agreeing on a team mascot ... Harbormen, Harborwomen, Harborpeople- this new discovery could be just what we have been looking for ... and we could be the first Devil Frogs in existence. Food for thought

Ryan is the man

We all know that Ryan would rather be playing capture the flag than discovering the cure for cancer - but sacrifices must be made. Unfortunately, Ryan will be leaving us after next week. He should be back as soon as he attempts to make his Boss do wall sits.

Thank you for all your help Ryan.

We wish you the best in your new career.

Merrily We Row Along

On this day, the prospect of a 2000 meter test doesn't seem quite so bad. Particularly for Nick Lippis who seems to be having just a grand old time. The Hingham Crew is rowing right along getting ready for the March 17 start of the season. All participants did a great job on their respective ERG tests. The good news - THERE IS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. What a dismal future would be represented by no prospect for improvement.

Keep chugging, we have about 5 weeks before we are on the water.

To Die or not to Die...

To be, or not to be: that is the question:Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; so make sure that you give it your all on the erg.

The best erg test will come from even splits on each 500 meters - that's the best way for our team to win in the spring. start and finish at the same FAST pace. In other words... Don't Die!!!

This kid needs a boat.

Thomas Kivney says thet "It's time to get back in the boat!"

All athletes currently involved in sports that will be ending up next week, get ready to come back to practice. Please be ready to come to the Ro*Fast Center and begin getting ready fo the spring.

Call me or contact me if you have any questions.

Mr. McCaig

Patriots Win!

The Patriots win 43 - 9 in the first annual Super Bowl of Rowing.

Player/Coach Alex London and the Unstoppable New England Patriots rolled over the New York Giants in an event which was much closer than the score reflects. The Patriots front line of Stanley, Josselyn, Keefe, and McCaig, paved the way for a fast moving backfield which included the unflappable pair of Burbridge and Burbridge led by Coach London.

On the other side of the ball was the power pair McCusker and McCusker who gave it their all as they anchored the team to several close finishes. Player/Coach Sally Dankner exorted fresh recruit Steve Sypek and the rest of the Giants to within 100 meters of a win in the signature 4th quarter relay.

Big match ups between Keefe and Keefe and then between Stanley and Lippis proved to add to the excitement.

Perhaps the biggest upset win, which resulted in the MVP award, came when Alise Burbridge matched up against Katie Hughes in the 500 meter event. After a powerful start, the breeder of the famed Bouvier Bernois, Alise Burbridge was set up for an easy victory, but half way through the competion, began to fade as the ever present Katie Hughes started to pour on the pressure. In the final strokes, it was too close to call. The photos were
developed and Alise Burbridge was announce the victor by less than 1 second.

For this extra effort, Alise was named the MVP and walked away (drove) with a new Cadillac Esplanade. The rest of the team is headed to Disney World.

All in all a great event. Thank you for participating. We'll see many of you at the Pro-Bowl next week.

The SUPER BOWL of Rowing

Please join us for the first annual Super Bowl of rowing at the Ro*Fast Rowing Center.

This event pits the hapless New York Giants against the undefeated New England Patriots.

Time Sunday: 1:00-3:00 PM

Adults and students will compete for honor and prizes. No experience necessary.

4 quarters of competition. Qualifiers between 1-1:30. race at 1:30.