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THE ULTIMATE LETTERMAN JACKET

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Jim Grelle center running for Multnomah Athletic Club. via dyestat.com

You can’t win the ultimate letterman jacket, you earn it with Olympian effort.

The ultimate letterman jacket doesn’t have a letter.

It doesn’t come from a high school or college with a colorful felt vest in school colors, white leather sleeves, and stretch cuffs or collars.

Instead, the ultimate letterman jacket comes in soft black leather, fashioned like either a WWII bomber jacket or biker style, with five relief circles connected on the back.

Olympic circles.

Jack Elder wore the first one I saw. He was a 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympian in the luge. He came to an Oregon Sports News meeting to talk with writers about the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

I had him pegged as another writer until I saw the jacket.

Mr. Elder had the look of a dynamic Al Davis, onetime owner of the Oakland Raiders during their ‘Just Win, Baby’ days. He looked like a winner in his Olympic letterman coat.

I was intrigued by the super hero look.

Black leather makes everyone look tough.

Add the Olympic rings in relief on the back and there’s no question of toughness. Jack’s was the first Olympic letterman jacket I’d see.

The other belonged to Clem Eischen, a 1500 meter runner in the 1948 London Olympics and former Washington State Cougar. Mr. Eischen and his wife sat at a table with Jack and Mrs. Elder, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Grelle, my wife and I, and a woman named Lori Erickson.

We were inside the Multnomah Athletic Club attending the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The great Jim Grelle, a University of Oregon 1500 meter runner in the 1960 Rome Olympics, didn’t wear his Olympic letterman jacket, but he’d look tough in one, too.

You need to be tough if you run a 3:55.4 mile in 1965.

Or 2015.

It’s fitting that former Olympians suit up in black leather letterman jackets when you consider the hardships they competed under in their day. Advanced shoe design? Ergonomic tracks with bounce? Run dry track uniforms? Not yet.

Nutritionally designed food? Calculated rest times? Proper hydration? Just scratching the surface in the 60’s. Yet Jim Grelle still ran under four minutes.

It feels like Mr. Grelle was Prefontaine before ‘Pre,’ before Nike.

After the Olympians at the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame table the only one left is Lori Erickson, Curator. She was there as a sports fan and a representative of the Oregon Historical Society.

The Hall of Fame stored it’s sports collection with OHS during their search for a new building, the sort of partnership both sides enjoy.

The History Museum under Kerry Tymchuk has hosted the Stanley Cup, Seattle’s Super Bowl trophy, and Marcus Mariota’s Heisman. That’s a pretty good trophy case.

Jack Elder is still looking for an ideal HOF space.

Lori listened patiently while I explained the human side of archiving sports history. The three Olympians at the table sat as proof. The entire evening wove in and out of the sort of fabric that makes a stronger society.

The ultimate letterman jacket was the strongest material on display, matching the grit and gristle of the athletes present.

Sports, history, and heroes all joined for an evening together. The Olympians’ wives sat quietly, knowing that none of it is possible without them.

Just like real life.

About David Gillaspie

I am a writer. This is my blog story day by day.

Comments

  1. clem eischen says

    What a nice article. David, it was a pleasure talking to you at the Banquet and I would like to sit down perhaps for a lunch some time with you. Clem

    • David Gillaspie says

      Thank you, Clem. I feel the same. I sat down to send you an email but you beat me to it. Still fast.

      You know, it’s impossible to find a picture of the Ultimate Letterman Jacket. I found a shot of you in the Portland Tribune but not so much the jacket.

      Let’s keep it a secret. Looking forward to seeing you.

      David

      • Clem Eischen says

        Let’s do lunch soon and you can take a pic at that time. Clem

        • David Gillaspie says

          Sounds good, Clem. I like this plan.

          My mother in law is English and watched events at the ’48 Olympics. Then she moved to America and did the same during the ’84 LA Olympics.

          (note to bloggers: When readers and post subjects respond like Clem Eischen and Jack Elder of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, you’re doing something right.)