Spring Athletes-The Unsung Heroes

Track 3-28-67 14

I’ve always felt sorry for the students who play spring sports: golf, track and field, baseball, tennis and the like.

They’re lucky if a handful of spectators show up to cheer them on. Most of their events take place after the yearbooks have gone to press, so they don’t get any recognition there until the next book. If they are seniors, then they probably don’t even make THAT book.

According to the note on the outside of the negative sleeve, I shot these on March 28, 1967. That was after I had graduated, so they must have been taken for The Missourian. Beyond the date, I have no other information about the pictures. It’s up to you folks to leave comments helping to identify these hard-working students.

Gallery of photos

Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the picture to move through the gallery.

12 Replies to “Spring Athletes-The Unsung Heroes”

  1. Ken I was one of those Spring Sport Athletes and was hoping to find a good copy of the track Team that was in the Girardot published in 1957. The one in the 1957 Publication was very poor Quality ,at least in my copy. I was unable to participate in 1957 due to a summer job injury. It was the only sport that I was good enough to earn my only “C” and would love to have a copy of any photos taken of that 1956 team. Thanks for what you are doing in relationship to the Central Alum. It further strengthens my beleif that that was a special time in a special place. Keith Slinkard ’57

  2. Keith,

    I’d love to be able to help you, but that was long before my time. I didn’t even start doing photography until 1959, when my dad handed down the family Kodak Tourist II folding camera for me to take on a vacation trip to Florida.

    Sorry.

  3. Ken, I am a wannabe photographer (my life’s dream) with absolutely NO talent. I love the composition and contrast of your black and white photos. Our sons have told me on more than one occasion that I should take photography lessons so I can take a decent family snapshot!

  4. Margi,

    With today’s digital cameras, ANYONE can be a photographer. Now that most of the technical hangups are taken care of, you can concentrate on shooting good pictures and not have to worry about pesky film speeds, f/stops and focusing.

    Well, that’s not exactly completely true, but close enough for government work.

    I’ve told this story a bunch of times, maybe even here, but that’s the prerogative of the old and forgetful.

    I was working with a writer to illustrate a book when we came upon an old man in an abandoned building. The guy was working it over with a metal detector looking for treasures. After we had talked with the man a bit and I had taken a few pictures, we moved on.

    As we walked down the street, the writer asked, “How do you do that?”

    “Do what?”

    “Take a picture.”

    “Geez,” I said, “I never think about it. I wanted to capture the man in the context of the empty building, so I shot with a 24-mm wideangle lens with him close to me so he was large in the photograph, but you could still see the whole room in the background. He was standing where the light was nice. I really just raised the camera and pushed the button when everything looked right.”

    And, Margi, like Fred’s blog says, it’s all F/8 and be there. There are many formal and informal rules for what makes a good photograph (most of which can and should be broken). You just have to know WHEN to break them.

    Don’t worry about taking lessons. Take pictures. And learn from them.

    If you’re shooting for your OWN enjoyment, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. If YOU like it, then it’s a good picture.

  5. Tim,

    Numbers 9 and 10 ARE Don Riley. I thought he looked familiar.

    He should. He’s my brother-in-law. He married the former Marty Perry (Class of 68).

    (I married her older sister, Lila Perry Class of 66).

    1. Ken, close, but no cigar! Photos 9,10 and 11 are all of Don. Reverse the order, and you have the correct sequence for the Shot Put. (I always wonder why it had such a silly name.)

  6. Marty,

    See, if you’d check this site on a more regular basis, you could catch this kind of stuff.

    As far as the order, the scanning program assigns file numbers as they are scanned and I usually don’t bother stripping them off unless I’m going to write a complete caption. Making more of a pain, it starts with 1 instead of 01, so that messes up the sort if you have more than nine items.

    Plus, I’m lazy.

    And I never like shooting shot put or javelin throwing. I never was sure just how good those guys were. Or if they might be nursing a grudge over something I had done in the past.

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