Statue on the Healdsburg, Calif., town square

[trackstar]

Hey all: I was recently vacationing in Sonoma, and came across this funky old statue on the Healdsburg town square: http://tinyurl.com/nzw82e

Anyone else seen it? It's devoted to four different sports heroes from Sonoma, two of which were famous track athletes. I thought I'd never heard of either of them, but Wikipedia reminded that I had heard of Rose — he's the guy who refused to dip the flag to the king at the first London Olympics.

[gh]

Does Wiki say Rose? It was Martin Sheridan ("this flag dips to no earthly king")

[lonewolf]

When I visit my brother in Santa Rosa, we always go to Healdsburg for dinner at a restuarant whose name (short name, starts with A) I cannot recall but it has the best marinated steak I have ever tasted.. at small town prices..but I never notice the statue.

[Double R Bar]

Ralph Rose did carry the American flag in London in 1908. He was born in Healdsburg and won the shot put gold medal in 1904 (St. Louis) and in 1908 (London). He was the first man to put the shot over 50 feet. He is famous for his gold medal in the "Tug-a-War" competition and he was very good at the left and right hand combination shot put (total distance of each hand). I believe he went to the University of Michigan or Michigan State. Ralph was a big guy.

[tandfman]

He is famous for his gold medal in the "Tug-a-War" competition . . .

I think it was called Tug-of-War.

[trackstar]

Does Wiki say Rose? It was Martin Sheridan ("this flag dips to no earthly king")

According to Wikipedia's entry on Sheridan:

It is often claimed that Sheridan fueled a controversy in London in 1908, when flagbearer Ralph Rose refused to dip the flag to King Edward VII. Sheridan is supposed to have supported Rose by explaining "This flag dips to no earthly king," and it is claimed that his statement exemplified both Irish and American defiance of the British monarchy. However, careful research has shown that this was first reported in 1952. Sheridan himself made no mention of it in his published reports on the Games and neither did his obituary.

[bambam]

Does Wiki say Rose? It was Martin Sheridan ("this flag dips to no earthly king")

No, no, no. It was Rose who carried the flag, but Sheridan who made the famous statement. I've got pictures of the ceremony and it is definitely Rose.

[bf]

It was at Healdsburg, in 1909, that Rose put the shot 54'4 in an exhibition
event. His WR was 51'0. About the same % improvement as Beamon's!

[imaginative]

I would view exhibition marks in the throws with considerable
skepticism, unless backed by very similar regular marks.

[trackstar]

I would view exhibition marks in the throws with considerable
skepticism, unless backed by very similar regular marks.

You should view a lot of marks from that era with skepticism, even at the Olympic level. Standards weren't quite as uniform as now.

[gh]

Does Wiki say Rose? It was Martin Sheridan ("this flag dips to no earthly king")

No, no, no. It was Rose who carried the flag, but Sheridan who made the famous statement. I've got pictures of the ceremony and it is definitely Rose.

geez, how embarrassing ops: ops: ops:

All these years, because I knew the quote (apocryphal or not) was Sheridan's, I assumed he was packing the flag. Dang.

[Bruce Kritzler]

So, who's the other guy (statue)? High jumper, but couldn't make out his name in the photo?

[trackstar]

So, who's the other guy (statue)? High jumper, but couldn't make out his name in the photo?

Edward I. Beeson. And according to Quercetani's book, he was indeed a WR-setter.

[dj]

Does Wiki say Rose? It was Martin Sheridan ("this flag dips to no earthly king")

No, no, no. It was Rose who carried the flag, but Sheridan who made the famous statement. I've got pictures of the ceremony and it is definitely Rose.

Bambam is overly modest with this terse description of the 1908 happenings. Here's a slightly more detailed account: http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLib ... Hv7n3i.pdf

[AS]

Damn, I walked through said square only 3 weeks ago... but didn't spy the statue. Did have a fine meal at a place called Ravenous. And picked up some feisty beers from Bear Republic. Certainly a town worth visiting...

Ok, off to fly home to Oz now