A Christmas holiday gift to the readers...

I want to take a little bit of your time to thank all of you for stopping by paulmerca.blogspot.com and using it as a credible source of information on all things track & field in the state of Washington, particularly when it's about the collegiate & post-collegiate scene with a national and international perspective.

Several other web sites do an outstanding job covering the high school scene, so I've let them carry on with their work. On the other hand, I don't pretend that I know anything about masters track & field, even though I'm old enough to compete at that level; therefore, I choose not to cover that angle of our sport. Besides, that would stretch my resources pretty thin.

My interest in track & field has always been with the collegiate and post collegiate athlete trying to get themselves up to the national or international level, or as one of my contemporaries, the late Bill McChesney once said, "I don't want to be the big fish in a small pond, nor do I want to be a small fish in a big pond. I want to be the biggest fish in the biggest pond!"

My journalism teacher at Seattle's Franklin High School, Barbara Nilson, once told me that I should write about something that I feel passionate about, and to write about it with conviction. This blog, my friends, is my way of repaying her. Thank you.

On a lighter note, I'd like to share with you two videos (hopefully they don't get yanked by the owners) as a little holiday gift to you...please enjoy it as you enjoy the last week of this decade with friends, family and loved ones.



May you feel the joy this holiday season that Polish pole vaulter Anna Rogowska (above/photo by Paul Merca) felt after winning the world championship this summer, and may you get to share your joy with friends, or even a dancing bear! :-)

Thanks for following the sport on my blog!