Word: hammering
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Lenz started out playing football at Providence's Classical High School in the only state in the nation where the hammer throw is a high school event. Eventually his coach, one of the country's few high school hammer coaches, introduced him to throwing. "He influenced a lot of people to start throwing things," Lenz recalls with a smile...
...pounds, the Leverett House resident cuts a formidable figure, but not among the breed of hammer throwers, who average between 225 and 250 pounds. Lenz relies on his speed and excellent technique to overcome strength or size deficits, and often defeats much larger opponents...
While some envision the sport as monotonous and ungainly, Lenz believes the hammer as a strong aesthetic appeal: "It's a beautiful thing to see someone throw the hammer well. A good thrower is fast, strong, and graceful. It's explosive...
Lenz also sees some negative aspects about the sport. "You have to put up with being isolated to be a hammer thrower," he complains, referring to the event's being held outside the stadium during meets. "In the NCAAs, where he finished 7th overall and 3rd for Americans in 1979, "we had only 200 spectators, compared to the 15,000 watching the running...
Lenz contrasts he United States' neglect of the hammer throw with its popularity in Europe and Russia, where the hammer is a "glamorous event, "Lenz says. "In Russia everybody wants to be a hammer thrower," he adds. "Imagine if all our Mean Joe Greens decided to throw hammers instead of footballs...