[legendsport]

New York, NY: June 11, 1924:

"I'm always surprised when I find a green spot here," Rufus Barrell told his wife as they walked arm and arm across the lawn beneath stately oak trees on the campus of Henry Hudson University. The University was hosting the 1924 United States Olympic Trials and the Barrell clan had come to the nation's largest city to cheer on Danny Barrell as he attempted to make the U.S. Track and Field team as a decathlete.

Alice, no stranger herself to the large and bustling metropolis (although she did admit it had been a while since she had been in New York), patted Rufus' arm and said, "I know you're just a country boy at heart, Rufus, but even those of us raised in big cities like a bit of greenery, you know."

Rufus chuckled softly, but didn't reply. Beside him, Claudia Slocum walked with her son.

"It was very nice of you to come, Claudia," Rufus told his former daughter-in-law.

"It is good to get out of the house," she replied. "We've only been in Brooklyn for three months and James is still adjusting also," she explained. Rufus knew, of course, that the Kings were on a road trip and Claudia's husband, Powell Slocum, having recently been traded from Baltimore to Brooklyn, was therefore away. In a small bit of irony, the house Powell had purchased for his family was located just three doors down from the former Barrell residence (that Rufus had sold back in 1919).

Rufus shot a look at his grandson. James, now Slocum instead of Barrell, after the adoption had become official in May, was a quiet boy. He reminded Rufus of Jimmy, who had also been a quiet boy who was often lost in his thoughts. Of all Rufus and Alice's children, it was Jimmy who had been the most thoughtful. He had also been a bit of a rebel and daredevil. Rufus hoped that James hadn't also inherited those qualities from his deceased father.

Behind his parents, Rollie Barrell walked with his wife. Francie was pushing a pram where their daughter, Martha, was staring out at the world with the wonder typical of a one-year child. Behind Rollie and Francie were Jack and Marie. Jack held Agnes' hand while Marie pushed a pram of her own, with the couple's other child, Jean, riding happily therein. Jean, just 17 days younger than her cousin Martha, was also openly gazing around in wonder.

"Francine, the children are certainly enjoying the scenery, no?" Marie called out to her sister-in-law. Francine gazed over her shoulder and nodded, saying, "Yes, this is all so new to them."

Joe Barrell was traveling solo on this trip; he was walking with his youngest siblings. Fred and Tom flanked him, with Bobby and Harry just ahead of them. Betsy was beside Tom, but continually craning her neck to speak around him to Joe.

"Why didn't Edna come? I wanted to see Deuce and Gloria!" Betsy said.

Joe sighed. "Edna's busy," he said with a weary tone.

Tom gave his sister a look, "Leave it be, Betsy," he said quietly.

Betsy stuck her tongue out at Tommy, then skipped ahead to walk beside Agnes. She grasped her niece by the hand and asked Jack if they could skip. Jack shrugged and agreed. Agnes was five now, she could probably skip... he thought. Marie didn't object and the two girls began skipping down the path.

They approached the stadium. A modest crowd was milling outside the main gate.

"Not much of a crowd, eh Pop?" Fred called out to his father.

"Not too surprised, Freddy," Rufus said, adding, "this isn't the kind of event that brings out a big crowd."

Joe perked up to add his thoughts, saying, "You should go to a college football game, Fred. Then you'll see a crowd!"

Jack laughed and said, "Yeah, too bad the same can't be said for pro football."

Now Rollie joined in as well: "We'll get there, Jack. You wait and see."

Beside her husband, Francie Barrell, muttered, "It better... you've tied up all our money in it, Roland."

Rollie nodded and whispered, "Trust me, Francie."

The large and boisterous clan entered the stadium. The younger members of the family were impressed by the size of the stadium. Betsy pointed at the various pieces of apparatus strewn about the field.

"Hey! We have one of those at the farm!" she exclaimed as she pointed to the high jump.

"Well... of course we do," Bobby pointed out. "Danny uses it for training, you dope."

Alice shot her son a look. Harry elbowed Bobby in the ribs and said, "Hey, maybe someone will fall over the hurdles. Wouldn't that be hilarious?"

"You two better behave," Alice warned, memories of their various shenanigans (a memorable hot foot, for one) going through her mind.

Harry did his best to appear nonchalant and asked, "Hey, Pop, can we buy some peanuts?"

Fred shook his head and told Joe, "That Harry is a master of changing the subject."

Joe gave a rueful laugh and replied, "I think Mom's just plain worn out. She's too tired to ride Bobby and Harry the way she did us older kids." Now Rollie laughed too and said, "That's right. We wore her down to a nub!"

For most of the family, this was their first exposure to a track and field competition. Rufus, Fred, and Tom had seen Danny compete in high school (as had Claudia). But for Alice, aside from seeing Dan practice at home, this was her first experience. Joe could have seen his brother compete collegiately this past spring, but had been too distracted by his disintegrating marriage to do so. Jack had gone straight back to Toronto to his own family, and his off-season job working for the Connelly Brothers Mining Company.

Bobby and Harry were enraptured by the track events. Both boys were outstanding athletes - as good as his older boys were athletically, Rufus privately thought his two youngest were the best of the bunch. Time would tell, but he was secretly pleased to see them visibly thrilled by the country's top runners as they competed.

Most of the family cheered loudly when Danny made his appearance. Eight decathletes had been invited to the competition - four of them would make the team that would travel to Paris in August for the Olympic Games. Danny was the youngest, but U.S. Track and Field Coach John Thomas Wesley (also Dan's coach at Chicago Poly in both football and track & field) had invited him, noting to Rufus that "Daniel earned this. I play no favorites, Mr. Barrell." The coach was so earnest that Rufus completely believed this to be true.

The first event was the 100 meters. Danny was fast - faster in fact than any of his brothers (time would tell for the younger boys), and did very well, placing third. The long jump was the second event - here he was even better, finishing second. In the shot put he was fourth. The high jump - his best event - was a showcase for Danny and he won... barely. After finishing fourth in the 400 meters, he was solidly in second place overall and things looked good for him.

"He's really quite good," Alice noted.

Rufus raised an eyebrow and retorted, "You sound surprised."

With a sheepish look, Alice replied, "Well... he's been moping so much," she paused and shot a sidelong glance at Claudia who was pointing at the field and explaining something to young James. Alice finished, "About... you know. I didn't think he'd be at his best, to be honest."

Rufus had harbored his own doubts, but didn't voice them. He simply nodded in reply and squeezed his wife's hand.

The hurdles were next. Danny was middling, finishing sixth. Much to Harry and Bobby's dismay, no one fell, though one runner did stumble after knocking one of the hurdles down.

With four events left, Danny was tied for second. The remaining events were those in which he was probably weakest: discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1500.

Danny's lean frame didn't lend itself particularly well to the discus (or shot put) and like the shot put, he placed fourth in discus. Alice nodded as the man at the scoreboard updated the standings: Danny was third.

"Pole vault... he has trouble with this," Jack told Marie. Marie uttered a brief prayer in French that made Jack smile. He bounced Jean on his leg. Beside him Agnes was listening to Betsy about... horses? Jack found his sister amusing, but also bewildering.

Danny flubbed his first attempt badly. "He's too nervous," Joe told Rollie. Alice put a hand to her mouth, her nerves at the breaking point.

Down on the field, Danny looked into the stands. He could see his family, all their eyes turned on him (except Betsy who was chattering away at Agnes). He saw his father calmly raise his right hand and make a fist. Danny set his lips and gripped the pole. He took a deep breath and began his run, focusing his mind on the simple mechanics of the event as they had been drilled into him first at Capital and then at Chicago Poly. He dipped the pole, felt it hit squarely and began to use physics to his advantage. He didn't fully understand Newton's Second Law (Coach Wesley had explained why it was important for vaulting, but Danny hadn't quite gotten it) but he knew he had it working in his favor. Keeping a tight grip on the end of the pole, he swung his body up and as he reached the apex, pushed himself over the bar, successfully completing the vault. Ultimately, he finished fifth - and that was good enough to stay in the top four.

By the time the ninth event - the javelin throw - began, the crowd was nearly as exhausted as the athletes. Normally a two-day event, the decathlon was being shoehorned into one very long day.

In the stands both Jean and Martha were sleeping and Agnes had visibly yawned several times, with Betsy likely the only reason she hadn't fallen asleep. James was leaning on his mother's arm.

Danny felt better about his chances - javelin was his best throwing event. The mechanics were closer to those of throwing a ball, something he had done thousands of times. His arm was strong and he figured he'd do well. Watching from the stands, his family felt the same.

"Wow, they get to throw a spear?" Harry asked.

"It's called a javelin," Tom replied.

"Looks like a spear," Harry shot back.

"Maybe so... but it's called a javelin," Tom said with a smug look on his face.

"I bet I could throw one further than you," Fred told Tom.

Tom spluttered and was about to reply when Rufus turned around and said, "Guys... enough."

Danny made a very strong throw when he needed it, finishing third to keep his fourth-place standing.

"What do all those points mean, anyway, Pop?" Bobby asked his father.

"Well, each event is scored individually. I'm not sure how they calculate it, but at the end they add up all the points and the guy with the most wins," Rufus explained. It was all a bit mysterious to him too.

"So we really have no idea how Danny has to do in this last event to make the Olympic team?" Fred asked as a follow-up.

Rufus shrugged and admitted that he didn't know. "I would suppose if he can finish fourth or better, that would do it," Rufus suggested.

"1500 meters? How far is that, anyway?" Harry asked.

"About a mile," Jack replied. He knew this from Marie who, being French, was a resident expert on the metric system.

"I run that far all the time," Bobby said. Harry rolled his eyes and shot back, "Only when you're trying to get away from Mom!"

The gun sounded and the competitors began running. "They're going kind of slow, aren't they?" Harry asked.

"They have to run almost a mile, dummy," Tommy said. "You can't sprint that far."

"I bet I could," Harry said.

"Not a chance," Tommy scoffed.

"Guys...." Rufus said, his eyes still on the track. The eight runners were bunched together but Rufus and Alice had no problem picking Danny out.

As the race progressed, two runners broke out of the pack. "That's Tom Killington," Jack pointed to the lead runner. "He's going to make the team as a 1500 runner, so he's the guy who should win this."

Danny was still bunched with three others as the race hit the midpoint. Killington now was visibly increasing his lead. The second-place runner had a respectable edge on the trio of which Danny was a part. Three others were strung out behind the middle pack.

"He needs to separate from those other two guys," Rollie said unnecessarily. Everyone watching knew

As they turned into the final stretch, Danny sped up. Unfortunately so did the other two runners. Rufus leaned forward, his lips compressed as he seemingly willed some extra energy to his son. Beside him Alice was biting her knuckles. Even Harry and Bobby had quieted down as they watched.

Danny seemed to put on a little bit extra over the last 50 meters. The three runners crossed the finish line in rapid succession. In the stands, the younger Barrells began arguing over where Danny had finished. Fred and Bobby felt his had been fifth. Harry was certain he had been third - Tom said fourth. Joe smirked and said simply, "He did it. He's in."

The two minutes or so that it took for the scoreboard operator to post the final results were two of the longest of Rufus Barrell's life. Finally the man placed the numeral 10 in the fourth slot. Ten was Danny's number - he had made it to the Olympics.

Rufus stood up and threw his hands into the air. Bobby and Harry were jumping up and down. Both Jean and Martha were crying, the hubbub around them having startled both young girls awake.

"Hey Pop?" Tom asked his father. Rufus looked down expectantly. "How much does it cost to go to Paris?"

Rufus said, "I don't know...." Then he smiled broadly and said, "But we're going to find out!"