Writer's note: Since joining Bleacher Report a few months back, I have come to the realization that not all of us are going to see eye to eye, and that is a good thing. A little bit of butting heads is going to occur in the comment section at times, which is something I have come to accept, although I am not always crazy about some people’s tact...or lack thereof.
My friend Leroy Watson has had his share of tussles, but before you think that this is an ALWT (Another Leroy Watson Tribute), I can ensure you it is not, nor is it a B/R chatter piece on the dissension (at times) in our community.
It is simply my next article that I am dedicating to my friend.
Why?
Back on July 25, Leroy was the victim of a hate crime. The assailant first attacked him on a comment thread on an article written by Southern Man, and then proceeded to leave vulgarities on Leroy’s bulletin board. I will not repeat what this person said, but suffice it to say, it was some of the most crude, vulgar, and hateful things a person can say to another.
The perpetrator has sinced been removed from B/R.
What did Leroy do to prompt such an attack?
He was born a black man and expressed his opinion.
So, pal, this one is for you!
Perhaps you have heard of Jesse Owens. Back in 1936, he won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, becoming the first American to do so.
Not only did he become the first American to accomplish this feat, he also sent a loud message to Adolph Hitler and his ideology.
Hitler was convinced that the white race (Aryan) was superior to all others. This became all too evident in the horrifying discoveries of concentration camps near the end of the war.
In what sounds almost like a cliché, James Cleveland Owens was born on Sept. 12, 1913 to a poor sharecropping family, the grandson of slaves.
In trying to do what was best for the family, Owens’ parents (Henry and Emma) moved the family from Oakville, Alabama, to Cleveland, Ohio, when Owens was just nine years old.
Two things that would shape Owens’ life occurred from the move to Ohio.
The first being how he arrived at his moniker. As a young boy growing up in the South, everyone simply called James by his first two initials, “J.C.”
Upon his arrival to the Cleveland public school system, his name quickly changed.
Apparently, when one of his teachers asked him what he preferred to be called, Owens replied, “J.C.” His teacher mistakenly thought he had said, “Jesse” and James Cleveland Owens from that day forward became known as Jessie Owens.
The second thing that would forever shape Owens’ life is that he began to run.
Owens was a bit sickly as a child and was diagnosed with asthma. He was encouraged by doctors to run to build up his lung capacity. And run he did!
Owens first achieved national acclaim as a junior high school student.
Owens' talents were first recognized by his physical education teacher, Charles Riley, at Fairmont Junior High in Cleveland.
Under Riley’s tutelage, Owens set two junior high school world records. The first was in the long jump, and the second in the high jump.
Owens achieved his first world record while in high school by running a blistering 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard dash.
At the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships, held in Chicago, Owens won three events in leading his high school to victory.
Later that year, Owens turned down many scholarship offers and instead chose to enroll in Ohio State University and work his way through school as Ohio State, at the time, had no scholarship to offer him.
On May 25, 1935, Owens, in a single day, broke three world records and tied another at a Big Ten track meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He achieved all this from 3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. that day. Three world records broken in roughly 45 minutes!
Over half a century later, this achievement prompted renowned sportscaster Bob Costas to choose it as one of the best individual sports achievements in history.
One thing that gets lost in the grandeur of Owens's accomplishments is the significance of his world record in the running broad jump (now known simply as the long jump). Owens’ mark of 26', 8-1/4" stood for 25 years, and he made only one attempt!
Not until Ralph Boston started shattering long jump records in 1960 would the world see this mark eclipsed.
Not even Bob Beamon’s freakish jump (29', 2 1/2") at the Mexico City Olympics stood longer than Owens’ mark.
Beamon had bested Boston’s mark by an incredible 2' and 1-3/4", a mark which stood for 23 years until Mike Powell sailed into the books with a leap of 29', 4-3/8".
Then came the 1936 Olympics.
It should be noted that Owens came quite close to not even medaling in one event and not participating in another.
On Aug. 3, Owens beat fellow African-American, Ralph Metcalfe, in the 100-yard dash finals for his first Gold Medal.
On Aug. 4, the running broad jump (now known as the long jump) almost derailed Owens’ quest for Olympic history.
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