The Skinnies

Early in my freshman year I began looking for a sport at Georgetown where I could become engaged for my four years there. My high school sports had been track and field (high jumping). I stumbled upon the Crew kiosk while touring the organizations' booths soliciting willing victims. I had always been impressed by crew's aesthetics. When I was told that most of the team members had only begun rowing in their college years, and that many of them were not “naturals” in other sports, I thought, yes, there might be hope for me.

My first workout season started right after Christmas break, and there I got to know Don Cadle and his fellow coaches. Don’s workout regimen was based on a Thousand Point Test that he had cadged from intelligence observations of the Soviet army while stationed in Germany in the 1950s. Don adjusted it to meet our rowing needs, so several of the end-of-week testing exercises were keyed to so many strokes per minute.

For instance, the maximum sit-ups score was 360 in 10 minutes-15 seconds, at a rate of 35 per minute. Not all the exercises fit this regimen. In fact, it was probably just the sit-ups. At any rate, our score on the Thousand Point test was used by Cadle to establish our initial boat ranking. Of course, it was easier for the Lightweights to score higher on the test, especially ones like rope-climbing and sprints, but since we were just being rated against other Lightweights, so it was fair enough.

SPECIAL MEMORIES OF “GOOSE” REMUZZI AND DANNY EBERT

During my Freshman year of rowing we endured a lot of tough workouts, made more miserable by a particularly hard-ass assistant coach. I was pretty bushed at one point when this h-a coach sarcastically offered us the chance to quit if we didn't like it. I volunteered: “OK, I quit!”

Later that night I was sitting in my Old North room, feeling terrible about my seemingly irrevocable snap decision. Someone knocked on my door and in walked The Goose. He sat down with me and asked whether or not I really wanted to quit crew. Near tears, I told him that I really wanted to stay on the team. Goose said that I would be welcome back. Subsequently, the other assistant coach was relieved of his duties. I presume it was not solely on my account, since I merely voiced what others were then feeling. I am forever grateful to Goose for allowing me to return to the GURA fold.

Several years later, when we were both in Vietnam (late 1968 or early 1969), I visited Goose at his MACSOG office in downtown Saigon. We caught up about friends who were in-country. I think that was when I learned the awful news that Danny Ebert had been killed.

I considered Danny one of the finest people I had met on crew. Danny and I had both been in Army ROTC, and one year I was awarded the History Prize for my paper. The award even came with a medal for my uniform. I was diffident about the award since it wasn't for some macho accomplishment. But Danny commented that, to the contrary, many of the ribbons given for skills such as army drill weren't even in the same league with military history. Whatever he really believed (and I took him at face value), it was persuasive to hear this from an upperclassman and varsity stroke oar.

Goose and I went our separate ways after that meeting, and I was saddened to hear of his untimely death. The GU Crew reunions are definitely diminished by his absence.