Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-Country Team

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Running With The Buffaloes

Wonderful book!

Makes me wish I had run in college

Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-Countr

A Year Of Triumph, Tragedy and Learning

Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-Country Team
Chris Lear
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Running & Jogging | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1585748048

Book Description

In RUNNING WITH THE BUFFALOES, writer Chris Lear follows the University of Colorado cross-country team through an unforgettable NCAA season. Allowed unparalleled access to team practices, private moments, and the mind of Mark Wetmore--one of the country's most renowned and controversial coaches--Lear provides a riveting look inside the triumphs and heartaches of a perennial national contender and the men who will stop at nothing to achieve excellence. The Buffaloes' 1998 season held great promise, with Olympic hopeful Adam Goucher poised for his first-ever NCAA cross-country title, and the University of Colorado shooting for its first-ever national team title. But in the rigorous world of top-level collegiate sports, blind misfortune can sabotage the dreams of individuals and teams alike. In a season plagued by injury and the tragic loss of a teammate, the Buffaloes were tested as never before. What these men managed to achieve in the face of such adversity is the stuff of legend and glory.
With passion and suspense, Lear captures the lives of these young men and offers a glimpse of what drives a gifted runner like Adam Goucher and a great coach like Mark Wetmore. Like Lance Armstrong's It's Not About the Bike, RUNNING WITH THE BUFFALOES is at once a glowing celebration of a sport and an inspiration to anyone who has ever had the courage to beat the odds and follow a dream.

Customer Reviews:

Running With The Buffaloes.......2007-09-21

In the summer of 1998 in Boulder, Colorado, expectations could not be any higher for the University of Colorado's cross country team. The Buffaloes finished third in 1997 and the returning team in 1998 only lost one runner. Running with the Buffaloes is written by Chris Lear who gives a firsthand account of one of the most emotional and physically trying seasons a college team has ever faced, all to achieve collegiate supremacy. Chris Lear was New Jersey's fastest high school miler in the 1990s; he attended Princeton University where he was awarded many honors. He now lives in Boulder, Colorado where he was inspired to document a season of a collegiate cross country team. The book is written in journal fashion and each chapter represents a new entry; a few chapters have pictures of the activities the team does. Each entry takes you through the day of training and Coach Mark Wetmore's philosophies.
As you read the book you get a feel for the average life of a cross country runner: the pain yet subtle enjoyment you get from running an "easy" ten miler, the feel of the dirt giving way to your spikes, and the shot of adrenaline that the starting gun releases in a human being that makes them feel free. You feel the raw emotions through each trial the team has to face, from injuries to the death of an important teammate.
Mark Wetmore, the fiery exuberant coach, constantly tells his runners that, "It takes 100 days to impress me, not just one." As with any sport, this means a lot. One good day doesn't equal a season of mediocre days. All his runners give their best every day, without an inch of mediocrity in their step.
Mark Wetmore's team consists of the varsity runners Adam Goucher, Mike Friedberg, Ron Roybal, Tom Reese, Adam Batliner, Jay Johnson, Oscar Ponce and Chris Severy. Adam Goucher is a runner who has high expectations to be near the very top at the NCAA Championships. Everyone on the team wants to be at his level, but fellow runner Oscar says you, "can't get greedy. Bad things happen when you get greedy." Adam finished second his freshman year and fourth his junior year at the NCAA Championships. As a senior he is even hungrier for the prize of being the top collegiate cross country athlete and most likely move on to the professional elites.
This book is a must have for any runner, competitive or non-serious. Although any sports enthusiast will enjoy the story and the trials that the team must overcome, a runner will enjoy the book the most. The book is used to not only inspire you, but it defines the sport of cross country itself.

Wonderful book!.......2007-07-15

This book is a great book about running. It is very interesting and motivating.

Makes me wish I had run in college.......2007-04-18

This book is awesome. I don't know how to describe it that well. It pretty much documents every day of the CU xc team during a season that culminates with the NCAA national meet. It has ups and downs, and a little bit of comedy. Some of the "language" in the book are direct quotes, but it would have been nice if they were left out. This book would be a good book to read if you are a HS cross country runner planning on running in college at any division. It could get you mentally prepared for a season of running at the college level.

Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-Countr.......2007-01-05

A running aficionado would very much enjoy this book. If you never ran track & field in college and wondered what it would be like, the Buffs' story offers some great insights. I especially enjoyed reading about coach Wetmore: every word of his mouth was filled with humor, wisdom and an incredible exuberance.
What I found really annoying about the book was Mr. Lear's consistent misuse of the apostrophy and poor punctuation. His publisher could definitely use a good editor.

A Year Of Triumph, Tragedy and Learning.......2006-09-11

Running with the Buffaloes is an outstanding diary of a year in the life of a coach and his harriers, with a focus on - and it is a pair of shoes that has yet to be filled - the "next Pre," Adam Goucher, then a 2000 Olympic hopeful.

Author Chris Lear pens A Season On The Brink for the pressure-cooker that is Division I cross-country.

All the angst and bitterness of so many good racers challenging for so few top spots is featured, along with the powerful highs and extreme lows of training and racing. The death of team member Chris Severy places a perspective away from college life that one wishes each young person didn't have to face. There are enough years for such tragedies, but Lear captures the variety of feelings of those interviewed.

Coach Mark Wetmore stresses competition on a daily basis and there are few races leading to the 1998 NCAA championships. Though his controversial training schedule yields major results, it also contributes to some serious injuries. Should a coach push young runners to the brink? That is for the reader to decide.

Lear has an advantage over other scribes who keep a "diary" of a season because he was an oustanding high-school and collegiate runner. His journey to cover the season and to get the work published could be a book itself. It was a labor of love and put Lear on "the brink;" of financial meltdown, that is.

Whether you competed on a college team, run for fun or are interested in sports books, there are enough human-interest angles in Running with the Buffaloes to have you hoping for more once the season hits the finish tape.

BUFFALOES OVER SINGAPORE: RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch Brewster Fighters in Action Over Malaya and the East Indies 1941-1942

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Day-by-day account of a hopeless fight
Thank God for People Like Cull
Cull's latest

BUFFALOES OVER SINGAPORE: RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch Brewster Fighters in Action Over Malaya and the East Indies 1941-1942
Brian Cull
Manufacturer: Grub Street
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1904010326

Book Description

The Brewster B-339 Buffalo received much criticism during its brief service with the RAF, some justified, some not. Some of the pilots who eventually flew it in combat were happy with their mounts, others hated it as an operational fighter.

Rightly considered below par for service in the UK, the vast majority of the 170 aircraft acquired by the RAF Purchasing Commission from the United States was diverted for use in the Far East, where it was believed they would be superior to any Japanese aircraft encountered should hostilities break out there.

This assessment was to prove tragically very incorrect. When war did erupt, the Japanese Army Air Force - with its highly maneuverable Ki-27 and Ki-43 fighters - and the Japanese Navy Air Force equipped with the mighty A6M Zero, proved vastly superior in just about all aspects, and many of the Japanese fighter pilots were veterans of the war against China.

By contrast, the majority of the young British, New Zealand, and Australian pilots who flew the Buffalo on operations in Malaya and at Singapore were little more than trainees, and many flew into battle with only the basic training of their trade.

Nonetheless, these fledgling fighter pilots achieved much greater success than could have been anticipated, although many paid with their lives.

This is their story, complete with appendices and previously unpublished source material and photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Day-by-day account of a hopeless fight.......2005-09-10

Written after delving directly into the Squadrons' archives, this book is made up of the reports and recollections of the RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and ML-KNIL pilots who flew the Buffalo against the Japanese in the early stages of the Second World War. Air operations by other units are only mentioned in relation to them. There is not much in the way of analysis or comments (in fact, there is little actually written by the authors), but you get first-hand, day-by-day accounts of the flying operations undertaken by the men within the 243, 453, 488 RNZAF and 21 RAAF, and some from the Dutch pilots from 1-, 2- and 3-V1G-V. Written in the almost casual, careless style so typical of fighting soldiers and airmen, they convey a sensation of approaching disaster which is hard to match. There is a very interesting photo section made up of the very few period pictures existing. Appendices show the complete Buffalo victory claims, the casualties, the fate of every single airframe, some useful maps as well as some individual recollections. Probably the most detailed look on the operations undertaken by Allied Buffalo operators, and an indispensable component of any book collection dedicated to the Pacific war.

Thank God for People Like Cull.......2005-03-10

This book is a real delight. Take and obscure fighter aircraft flown by Commonwealth Air Units in Malaya and Singapore, combine it with an absolutely hopeless battle and you have the makings of a great read.

The Buffalo fighter has won the appelation of "the worst aricraft ever manufactured." Cull proves that although obsolete before it was even delivered to RAAF, RNAF and Netherlands East Indies units in S.E. Asia, it was clearly not a complete washout. Having read numerous works on the fall of Singapore and Malaya I had assumed that the Buffaloes were simply swept from the sky in the one fell swoop. It is amazing to learn that some units actually gave as well as they got from the Japanese.
There are actually some confirmed kills of Japanese Naval Zeros!!!

The fighter leaked oil along the crank seals, was underpowered, slow, and most times the .50 machine guns would not fire most of the time. But on the other side of the equation, the aircaft, because of it weight, was fast in a dive an robust (your chances of coming out of belly landing were good as Cull renumerates in many accounts).

They were largely unloved by their crews, and they could not stand up to even a Japanese dive bomber in aerial combat.

It becomes clear that the fighter may have been capable if it had been better flight tested, uparmed, up-poowered. But even then it would still be outclassed by the Japanese fighters.

Cull recounts numerous aerial combats with great detailed accounts from most of the suviving Australian, British and NZ pilots.

There is a lot here. One is struck by the fact that British were so bamboozled by the Japanese aerial supremacy that they convinced themselves that they were actually fighting Germans and claimed engagements with numerous Me-109s??! The shock that Asians were really much, much better as pilots, had much better equipment was simpley too much for them to believe.

There are also larger issues that Cull does not explore, but these books offer wonderful jumping off points for further study.

Cull's latest.......2004-06-11

This is another in a series of books written by Brian Culls, Christopher Shores, or another of the latest generation of WWII aviation historians from Grub Street who are begetting comprehensive histories of often little explored WWII aerial arenas. The aerial defense of Singapore has been largely neglected by historians. Often, when one of these writers publishes, there is little left to explore on the topic. Cull's research isn't quite up to that standard in this volume. This is due in part to the fact that his subjects lost the battle and, thus, many of their records. (Ever wonder what the battle history of Japan's 68th Sentai at New Guinea was?) Japanese records don't exactly abound either. Nonetheless, he does an excelent job and I recommend this work mightily to anyone interested in the Pacific air war.

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A Fifteen Word Book
Look What I Can Do

Look What I Can Do

Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689712057

Book Description

"Look what I can do!" "I can do it too!" And so begins a lively contest between two water buffalo that ends up being a bigger adventure than either of them had imagined!

This simple, nearly wordless picture book is one that the very youngest children will be eager to "read" all by themselves.

Customer Reviews:

A Fifteen Word Book.......2002-05-04

At the end of the excellent 400-page text/program "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," twenty books are recommended for children who now (according to the text) read at a second-grade level. This is the third book on the list of twenty. The fourth page of this book, "Look What I Can Do," has five words, "Look what I can do!" On page 7, there are five more words, "I can do it too!" The last page has the same five words as the first page, "Look what I can do!" In between, there are a lot of pictures. If you would like your child to read more than 15 words, you might think about getting a different book.

Look What I Can Do.......2000-11-12

Two show-offs compete to come up with a better antic. This creates havoc for the animals in their paths and eventually both of them! Execellent facial expressions and a fun ending make this a book for all ages.

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Applause for Paul Goble
"A legend telling the kinship between man and animal, and of the transfiguring power of love"
Don Imus made my buy this book - I'm glad I did.

Buffalo Woman

Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689711093

Book Description

A young hunter draws his bow against a buffalo cow drinking from a stream. Before he can loose his arrow, there is no buffalo -- instead, there stands a beautiful young woman, whom he knows he must marry.

The hunter's people shun the Buffalo Woman, and so she returns, with their son, Calf Boy, to her people. The hunter's heart compels him to follow. But he has been warned: The Buffalo Nation is angry at the Straight-up-People. And if he cannot find his wife and son among the many buffalo, they will be lost to him forever.

Customer Reviews:

Applause for Paul Goble.......2007-03-29

He is a favorite from many approaches: Native American folklore, attractive art, great read-aloud choices.

"A legend telling the kinship between man and animal, and of the transfiguring power of love".......2005-07-20

Mr. Goble is to be applauded for his engaging stories and fine, impressive illustrations. All children should own at least one of his books. I think my daughter likes Buffalo Woman best because the child, who is the main character, saves the day.

A young hunter, waiting at a stream, sees his prey, a buffalo, slowly approaching for a drink and tightens his arrow against his bow. To his surprise, now he sees nothing but a beautiful woman and "he knew at once that he loved her."

She tells him she comes from Buffalo Nation and they she was sent because he had always had good feelings for her people being a good and kind man. "My people wish that the love we have for each be an example to both our peoples to follow."

They marry and have a son, Calf Boy, but the hunter's people are cruel to his wife and child. So they run away and turn back into their true form, buffalo. The man loves them more than anything and chases after them. He finally finds them (after they'd escaped him several times) and his son, Calf Boy, gives him some "tips" [this is what makes the story in my opinion] to help save his father from the buffalo and unite, not just his family but the entire herd and the hunters that hunt them. [Another interesting part of the story.]

I think there's a strong underlying message in this story, not just for us to respect and protect animals but to respect and love each other. "Mitakuye oyasin--We are all related." o8E
Soar!

Don Imus made my buy this book - I'm glad I did........2003-06-20

I am a faithful listen of Don Imus' show "Imus In The Morning". One morning he was talking about this book and how much his son Wyatt loved it. He started telling the story, but just stopped short of the end. I was so intrigued I ordered one up!

Book Description

Sacred to the Plains Indians, buffaloes provide almost all the people need to live and flourish on the Great Plains. When the buffalo cannot be found, scouts are sent to look for them...

By telling about a time of hardship, Paul Goble dramatizes the central importance of the buffalo to a vibrantly spiritual and artistic culture. He pictures the vastness of the empty plains, the excitement of discovering the Buffalo Woman, and the thundering return of the herd with superb artistry, bringing us a world that must not be forgotten.

Bluestem Horizon: A Story of a Tallgrass Prairie

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Bluestem Horizon: A Story of a Tallgrass Prairie
Evelyn Lee
Manufacturer: Soundprints
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1568995962

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Underwear by M E Monsell
underwear
Very Funny, Very Good, Your Child will Love this Book
Fun for kids
Inspired Whimsey

Underwear!
Mary Elise Monsell
Manufacturer: Albert Whitman & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0807583081

Customer Reviews:

Underwear by M E Monsell.......2007-08-11

This is a short book that brings laughter to everyone! It is a great book to read aloud to a group or at bedtime. It is also good for beginning readers.

underwear.......2007-02-22

The book, Underwear, captivates the true meaning of underwear. This storyline will keep you reading until the end, and then you'll want to read it again and again. Get lost in the book. And then you will be proud of your tighty whityness.
This book is funnybecause they make animal wear funky underwear.Such as when they said, "Zachary the zebra didn't like buttons or snaps or sleeves or slippers. But he did like underwear". This book also uses many llustrative pictures to help you understand more about the book. Such as when the artist uses alot of colors and illustrations. The author uses rythm and ryme to make reading fun. Such as when they said "snaps or sleeves, or slippers or zippers..."
The writer really captivates the real meaning of underwear. One way of making this book fun to make it funny. He uses great pictures and rythm and ryme to make reading super fun.

Very Funny, Very Good, Your Child will Love this Book.......2007-02-02

How could your child not love a book with characters such as Zachary Zebra, Orfo the Orangutan, Bismark the Buffalo, Igor the Egret and lots of funny underwear. Poor Bismark, he doesn't get to wear any underwear. Or doe he? Lots of alliteration in this very funny little book that your pre-reader will just love for you to read to him. Then later, when he becomes a reader, it'll turn into one of his favorite books. Really, it will.

Fun for kids.......2005-01-12

My son received this as a gift...I probably wouldn't have chosen it off the shelf. But he has loved this book and laughed over it many times. (It works better when my husband reads it to him -- he's better at the silly noises than I am!)

Inspired Whimsey.......2000-03-10

I've read this book to countless kids (and adults) using different voices for each character, and it never fails to get lots of giggles and outright guffaws. This should be on everyone's shelf and ranks right up with Dr. Seuss and A.A. Milne as a classic of children's literature.

Where the Buffaloes Begin (Picture Puffins)

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wonderfully moving tale, good early chapter book
An American-Indian folk tale that stimulates the senses
Beautiful drawings, breath-taking narrative
Story of an Indian boy and how he saves his tribe.

Where the Buffaloes Begin (Picture Puffins)
Olaff Baker
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140505601

Customer Reviews:

wonderfully moving tale, good early chapter book.......2005-09-29

I was expecting this to be a children's book but it isn't so much for a young child. Set up as a simple chapter book, the tale is, in fact, complex and drives the action forward through the use of amazing drawings by Stephen Gammell. In the early morning mist, a young boy is drawn to a lake from where, as he has heard from the elders in his tribe, the buffaloes are supposed to come. He indeed sees them rising from the mist and is inspired to cry out to them. They are entranced by him and suddenly move forward, all in a mass; he struggles to leap on his pony and run ahead of their advance but they thunder down upon him until he is running in the midst of their herd. A band of rival Indians, having been about to attack his people, cannot escape the massive buffaloes and so the tale becomes one of legend and the boy is always remembered for saving his people. It's an amazing story and I cannot wait to share it with my children as they learn about the Plains and the Plains Indians.

An American-Indian folk tale that stimulates the senses.......2004-09-15

Originally published in 1915, this story retells a Blackfoot Indian tale. Curious about Nawa, the wise man's story about the origins of the sacred buffaloes from the center of a lake, fearless young Little Wolf sneaks away in the middle of the night to keep watch over the lake. The text conveys visceral, sensory experiences: "Little Wolf felt the blood run along his body. He clutched at the prairie grass, crushing it in his hot hands." The story unfolds slowly with a few wordless spreads scattered throughout. The story is divided into sections adorned with illustrations of artifacts, such as moccasins, hats, and weapons. The action of the story is conveyed in soft and misty pencil sketches, capturing the dreamlike mood of the story.

According to the author bio, Baker is an English author who spent "a great deal of time" with the Blackfoot Indians. The style of the illustrations is reminiscent of anthropological or archaeological drawings. A note at the conclusion of the story offering contextual details about the Blackfoot and the artifacts presented in the story would be a welcome addition, as well as acknowledgement of the fact that this is no longer the way of life for Native Americans.

Beautiful drawings, breath-taking narrative.......2002-09-26

My husband and I love this book -- fortunately our son (age 4 yrs) is finally able to listen to the whole story. He has shown great interest in the story and how it relates to his obsession with the transcon railway. (We call our son Train Brain).

He has been moved to draw after we have shared the book and we think that is wonderful, since it doesn't involve trains.

Seriously, it is a wonderful story and very well illustrated. We will probably donate this book to our son's classroom library later this year. We are grateful to have recieved it as gift from the artist in our family.

Story of an Indian boy and how he saves his tribe........1999-05-07

This book for children is about a young plains Indian boy who hears a folk tale about how buffaloes are formed at the bottom of a lake far to the south of the boy's village. He goes in search of the lake and, in so doing, saves his village from an attack by an enemy tribe. The book was illustrated by Stephen Gammell and it was a 1982 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a book for children. Any child will love to have the story read to them.

The True Story of Nickel: The Baby Buffalo Who Thought He Was A Dog

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The True Story of Nickel: The Baby Buffalo Who Thought He Was A Dog
Nancy Savage
Manufacturer: Savage Parks Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Where the Buffaloes Begin (Picture Puffins)

ASIN: 0966913019

Book Description

True adventures of an orphaned bison calf raised by a park caretaker and his family. Learn how Nickel got his name and why he lost his horns in this hilarious, warm story about the friendly bison. Vivid watercolor illustrations and interactive website with thematic teachers guide make this book perfect for classroom or campfire.

Animal Emergency #10: Lonely Lamb (Animal Emergency)

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Animal Emergency #10: Lonely Lamb (Animal Emergency)
Emily Costello
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0064409767
Release Date: 2001-02-05

Book Description

Stella Sullivan loves to help the sick and wounded animals that turn up at her Aunt Anya's veterinary clinic near her home in Montana. And she loves Aunt Anya, who will drop everything to help an animal, like the kitten that swallows tinsel from a Christmas tree. But her aunt isn't nearby when Stella needs to save a flock of sheep from a storm.

Instead. she must rely on Papa Pete, her grandfather, and Stella and Papa Pete almost never see eye to eye. Can they work together in a crisis?

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