Posted on December 24, 2008 by johnkcoyle
Marc Affholter:
Childhood bullies, if never conquered, never shrink, never quite die. Childhood heroes have that same lasting power for the same reasons. It is a benefit of timing really – if someone you grow up with retires from the fray before you are able to beat them, then they are stronger or better than you [...]
Filed under: People I owe... | Tagged: john coyle, john k coyle, Marc Affholter, michigan coaches, michigan speedskating, People I owe..., speedskating training, training tips | 4 Comments »
Posted on October 16, 2008 by johnkcoyle
In July of 1977, I was just 8 years old, and I was already a ‘bike rider,’ I just didn’t know what that meant yet.
I had a black, red, and yellow Raleigh ten speed with 24 inch chrome wheels and relatively narrow tires (at least as compared with my BMX bike) that I began riding [...]
Filed under: People I owe... | Tagged: bike racing, Clair Young, cycling, Dorothy Young, Mike Walden, pay it forward, Wolverine Sports Club | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 26, 2008 by johnkcoyle
Stan Klotkowski:
Stan Klotkowski was my coach back in the early 90’s. Stan is a polyglot from Poland who speaks Polish, German, Hungarian, English and probably several other languages. He became a regional coach for the United States International Speed Skating Association (USISSA) and found himself with the misfortune of being my coach in the 1990 [...]
Filed under: People I owe... | Tagged: great coaches, john coyle, john k coyle, long track, short track, Speedskating, stan klotkowski | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 25, 2008 by johnkcoyle
Whenever I think of the Dohnals, I always think of the movie Parenthood. In particular, I think of the woman whose daughter was dating Keanu Reeves and whose son (Joaquim Phoenix) is in a bit of trouble. So much drama in that household in the movie – now multiply that into 2 daughters, and 3 [...]
Filed under: People I owe... | Tagged: darcie dohnal, david dohnal, john coyle, john k coyle, short track, Speedskating, the dohnal family | 8 Comments »
Posted on March 20, 2008 by johnkcoyle
Eric Heiden
In 1980 Eric Heiden won an unprecedented 5 gold medals in the Winter Olympic Games held in Lake Placid, New York. Paling only in comparison to the underdog achievements of the “Miracle on Ice” hockey team of the same Olympiad, Eric’s successes were even more notable because… they were expected. In the previous years, [...]
Filed under: People I owe... | Tagged: 5 gold medals, Chris Carmichael, eric heiden, Joe Montana, john coyle, john k coyle, storing a gold medal in a sock | Leave a Comment »
Posted on February 9, 2008 by johnkcoyle
Eric Flaim
My first memories of Eric were at the first national speedskating championships I ever attended – in 1981 – in Butte Montana. I was terrible but managed to get one 4th place in one final.
True to form, Eric wasn’t shy at all and on a touristy trip to visit the local copper mine – an [...]
Filed under: People I owe... | Tagged: 1994 Olympics, andy gabel, eric flaim, friendship in sports, Hamar, john coyle, john k coyle, Lillehammer, Norway, randy bartz, Speedskating Journals | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 8, 2008 by johnkcoyle
Jeanne Omelenchuk – Olympian 1960, 1968, 1972
Detroit Michigan, 1981 – 1984.
It was always frigid on those Tuesday and Thursday nights. Twirling in the black hole of grasping darkness, speedskaters from across southeast Michigan would gravitate to this forsaken twilight world – a world artificially created in a forlorn city park settled in the middle of the urban blight of the [...]
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