JACK RYAN - Update

I feel compelled to respond to the editorial comments that are appearing occasionally with reference to the size of my arms, the blubbering fest, the bad photo poses, etc., etc… Besides, my wife keeps telling me I have a weak Bio but can I help it if I live a boring life?

First let me say that if you want to defame me, you will have to get in a long line (see newspaper article titled “Buffs side horse star looks for better days”). I quote “Ryan looks like a partially mashed soda straw.” Fortunately, according to the article, “the side horse doesn’t demand tremendous strength.”

Second, let me say that Pat (the gimp) was the only one on the CU team that had legs skinner than mine and I think he is jealous?

And finally, let me put to rest this “blubbering fest” incident. After the finals of the 1968 NCAA tournament which turned out to be my last routine of my life (due to severe tennis elbow) and after spending all of 3 and half minutes on top of a podium, Pat Edwards and I spent an hour or so walking around the parking lot releasing years of frustration and emotion while I kept asking “Is that all there is?” Eight years of my life had been spent in achieving one goal and once I got there, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more to it.

Well, the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say, is that Pat and his wife, Chris, came back into our lives some six years later to tell us that God had the answer to that question. There is more to life than the fleeting moments of fame and glory. Yes, as Ben Blea said, Pat knows God by His first name and he introduced us to that God. Our lives have never been the same. So now that trophy (see photo) which use to sit in a box in the attic, now sits out on the mantle in our home and when people ask what it is for, I tell them that it is there to remind me that the things of this life are temporary and fading but things from God are forever and growing stronger.

“Cracker” Jack