Newspaper Page Text
4B
SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2005
i* S
/ JjJglfihi ••• j 4 %: •
* 7 ,JHH 9f M
■ -pE**
4 y
Chronicle Kal Wade
Cal gymnastics coach Barry Weiner might be telling stu
dent Bromley Palamountain the intricacies of a sponge
plunge.
It's a circus
in here
Gymnasts don't grow old, they
set themselves on fire ... literally
By JOHN CRUMPACKER
San Francisco Chronicle
BERKELEY, Calif. -
To hear Barry Weiner
tell it, you haven’t
lived until you’ve set
yourself on fire and dived
into the ocean.
Or ridden a bicycle on a
high wire.
Or bailed out of a trapeze
act because your hands were
greasy from eating popcorn.
Or jumped head-first from
40 feet onto a giant airbag
- the “sponge plunge” - sur
rounded by girls in bikinis
brandishing spears.
Or performed a double
front dive with a half twist
from 85 feet ... for the first
time.
To postpone the grim real
ity of finding a real job for as
long as he could after college,
this future Cal men’s gym
nastics coach did what lots of
kids dream of doing: He ran
away and joined the circus.
“I wasn’t ready to get a job
and go to work yet,” Weiner
said. “I met this guy who saw
me tumbling and he offered
me a position in a diving
show. I took a couple weeks
to learn dives and next thing
you know, I’m diving on the
Steel Pier.”
The Steel Pier was in
Atlantic City, N.J., not far
from Weiner’s home in
Philadelphia, where he
attended Temple University
and competed in gymnastics.
He performed circus acts
in New Jersey for seven
years and traveled to such
places as Greece and Japan,
where he said 100,000 people
outside Tokyo once saw the
show. The fire dive required
the biggest setup of his circus
career.
“You’d put on a soaking
wet sweat suit with a hood,”
Weiner said. “You’d drape a
gasoline-soaked towel over
your shoulders. We had a
torch on a pulley. They’d
pull it up the pulley. I’d wait
until I heard a ‘poof (of fire)
because you couldn’t look
back.
“Then they’d throw gaso
line on the water. Usually the
splash would put the fire out.
I can remember sometimes
when I was under water, I
was still lit, so I had to go
under again.”
Listening to him describe
those high-diving years,
scorched eyebrows seem a
small price to pay for such
rich memories.
“I got into gymnastics
because I kept getting hurt
as a little kid,” Weiner said.
“My mom brought me to the
gym because it was padded
and safe and I really liked it.
I remember as a little kid I’d
tell my mom, ‘Gymnastics
is my life.’ I’ve yet to have a
real job.”
Years later, Weiner joined
another circus act when he
was lured to the human car
nival that is Berkeley. After
years of distinguished coach
ing on the junior level, he
was hired in 1992 to revive
a Cal men’s gymnastics pro
•gram that was in shambles.
The Bears had been 1-18 the
year before he arrived.
“I love it here,” he said.
“It’s meant so much for me
to come here. It’s such a
terrific place. It cuts across
all cultures, all ethnicities,
all religions. It’s why we are
who we are. It’s what makes
Berkeley special. There are
places on campus where you
have to have won the Nobel
Prize to park your car.”
Fourteen years later,
Weiner, 55, has won some
cherished prizes of his own,
namely, NCAA team champi
onships from 1997 and ‘9B.
In a sport that flies so low
under the radar the belly of
the plane practically skims
the water, Weiner is one of
Cal’s most accomplished
coaches; he’s one of seven
active Cal coaches (out of
28) to have won an NCAA
or national college cham
pionship. Weiner’s record
in Berkeley is 197-48-1.
Internationally, he was an
assistant on the 2000 U.S.
Olympic team.
Though it’s a bit early in
the season to take results too
seriously, this year’s Bears
and Stanford look to be
national contenders.
They’re certainly competi
tive with each other. Cal lost
to Stanford in the season’s
first meet 216.275- 214.200
at Cal, then beat Stanford
in the second meet 215.625-
213.525 at Stanford.
Some of Weiner’s athletes
have put their gymnastics
skills to good use after col
lege, proving there is life
after calluses and classes.
Trent Wells, who was part
of Cal’s NCAA championship
team in ‘97, is a perform
er with Cirque du Soleil’s
“Mystere” show at Treasure
Island in Las Vegas. He’s on
twice a night, five days a
week, negotiating something
called Chinese Poles and an
Aerial High Bar.
“I’m always getting Cirque
du Soleil calls about my grad
uating seniors,” Weiner said.
“Cirque du Soleil is so big
now you can make a pretty
good living at it. They recruit
worldwide.”
Weiner was recruited once,
and it worked out well. Water
trumps fire, at least most of
the time.
Bonis Said he'll get more seat time
By BETH TUSCHAK
NASCAR columnist
There’s a cool breeze
blowing through
the NASCAR ranks
this season, and it doesn’t
come in the form of a twen
ty-something newbie with
a slicked-up ‘do sporting
SIOOO Gucci shoes.
Long ranked among the
nation’s top road racers,
Boris Said after 13 NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup starts the
past several years will drive
at least 10 - and perhaps as
many as 15 - races in 2005,
including at superspeed
ways and on short tracks.
This is a guy who not only
moves to the beat of his own
drummer, he writes whole
new tunes.
Point in fact: Two years
ago, seeing his crew needed
some rest and relaxation,
Said ponied up for his guys
to spend a day at California’s
San Quentin prison, where
he led the group on a tour
which included the execu
tion chamber.
Setting himself comfort
ably where others have
been strapped in, Said upon
exiting got a nod from the
guard who deadpanned:
“You’re the only person
who’s got up and walked
out of here.”
If anyone should con
sider himself on the hot
seat entering the Feb. 20
Daytona 500 it’s Said, who
has yet to test his com
petition skills on a tricky
restrictor-plate track.
But for the laid-back
Said, who hasn’t yet met
a question he isn’t willing
to answer, his foes should
beware: while his super
speedway resume may be
among the shortest, he’s
long on talent.
“In last year’s Budweiser
Shootout (at Daytona
International Speedway) I
opened some eyes out there;
it wasn’t ‘if he’ll wreck’ it
was ‘when will he wreck?’ ”
Said offers.
Drivers to try their hands at poker
Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
Jeff Gordon and
Jimmie Johnson
will be among 12 Nextel Cup
drivers taking part in a char
ity poker tournament Jan.
31 and Feb. 1 at the Palms
in Las Vegas.
The drivers will be com
peting for a SIOO,OOO first
prize that will benefit
the winner’s charity and
Michael Waltrip’s Operation
Marathon, • which provides
support to the Victory
Junction Gang Camp.
Other drivers scheduled
to participate in the tour
nament are Waltrip, Kyle
Petty, Kevin Harvick, Ryan
BATTLE
From page 1B
same situation. They are tied 4-2 in
the region after losing to Lowndes this
past Saturday night.
“We beat them by 15 here,” said
head coach Sid Baxley. “Statistically,
we should have won.”
The Lady Bears shot 33 percent from
the floor against Lowndes in December
and 40 percent this time around.
“Lowndes and Valdosta were 0-3 (in
the region) when they played each
other,” Baxley said. “Valdosta beat
Lowndes, but both have put them-
WARNER ROBINS
SUPPLY
OF PERRY
612 Ball Street
Behind New Perry Hotel
987-2334
SPORTS
—b— mm -
, wLi't' % v sflHk
' Afc*. 'WS ■ 1
■lff
pf Sip
‘ ■ 5 V V ';‘- —.
Sherryl Creekmorc* NASOAR
Boris Said waits the start at Infineon Raceway in 2004. The part-time driver, known
mainly for his road course prowess, he said he will be getting anywhere from 10-15
starts this year.
“There will be 42 others
guys scared to death I’ll be
on the track with them.”
Not so according Joe
Nemechek, who insists his
42-year-old MB2/Sutton
Motorsports garage mate
not only will fit in, but also
will have crews roaring with
laughter at what Said quips
and does.
“The last time Boris
called me - one of the ten
times that day he got
four laps in during testing
and said, ‘well, at least we
have a lot of sheet metal for
charity.’ ”
In addition to his com
edy skills, Said brings to
the table an extensive list
of road course accomplish-
Newman, Elliott Sadler,
C NEXTEL I
BOOK
Compiled by Brian
Hilderbrand
Las Vegas Sun
six drivers will move on to
the finals on Tuesday, Feb.
1.
The tournament is open to
the public, but there will be
Casey
Mea r s
and Dale
Jarrett.
The
Texas
hold’em
tourna
me n t
begins
o n
Monday,
Jan. 31.
The top
selves in good positions.”
Coffee leads the 1-AAAAA pack at
5-1, but Houston County beat them
at their gym. They come to Houston
County Friday.
“We win out and we’re in first place,”
Baxley said. “To do that, we have to
start hitting free throws, block out and
protect the ball better.”
Freshman transfer student Tonia
Williams has helped open up the low
post.
“With her inside, we felt we could
score more from (the baseline),” Baxley
wHHP' if -
I" *'•>•••>• i
rH, --Ag
ments, including a Trans Am
Championship, two Rolex
24 runner-up finishes and
a pole position at Le Mans.
His NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
starts include races last sea
son at California Speedway
and Homestead-Miami, as
well as the Shootout and
Infineon Raceway. His best
Cup finish to date is a pair
of sixths though the esses
at Infineon, but he also is
among only a handful of
drivers to win pole positions
in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup,
Busch Series and Craftsman
Truck action.
One of the fastest drivers
in pre-season Thunder tests
at Daytona recently, Said
enters the season-opener
limited space.
GAUGHAN KEEPS EYE ON
NEXTEL: Brendan Gaughan
would neither confirm nor
deny a published report
that he is close to signing a
deal that would have him
running the 2005 NASCAR
Nextel Cup Series season in
a second PPI Motorsports
Chevrolet. PPI, which is
owned by Cal Wells, fields
the No. 32 Chevy for Bobby
Hamilton Jr.
Gaughan only said that he
is committed to running 18
NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series races - including all
that are companion events
on Nextel Cup weekends
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
having traded tips with
defending event champion
and restrictor-plate master
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Regardless of the out
come, Said is young at heart
enough to approach the race
with the enthusiasm of a
rookie and old enough to
appreciate the chance he’s
been given.
“When you spend your
career fighting with 40 mil
lion other guys who want the
chance (to race in NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup) and only 43
get them, when you make it
(here) your odds go up pret
ty well,” notes Said. “Now
I have one-in-43 chances at
Daytona. That’s closer then
I’ve ever been.”
- in the No. 77 Orleans
Racing Dodge. Steve Park
will return to the Las Vegas
based team this season and
drive the No. 62 Dodge in all
25 races.
Gaughan reiterated last
weekend during truck test
ing at Daytona International
Speedway that he had not
ruled out the possibility of
also competing in the Nextel
Cup Series this season.
“I may be looking at a
few things (in Nextel Cup),”
Gaughan said. “There’s talk
about a lot of things. I let
everybody talk. I listen to all
the deals. You never know
what might be there.”
said. “Lindsey Wynn is able to play
more guard.”
Baxley said he thought that at the
start of the season, “We were strong
in guards. We found out you can
never have too many guards. It’s good
to have those versatile players like
Wynn.”
Williams joins sophomore Hannah
Channell with Lauren Campbell join
ing them to give Baxley one of the
tallest rotations he’s had. With height
and quickness, the Lady Bears look to
try and win their region.