Word: parker
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When it was over, actually over, an impish grin slowly spread across the intense visage of Harry Parker. He kicked his foot in the air and with a wide smile looked heavenward. And chuckled, as if he'd known it all along...
...Parker's hairline probably diminished five year's worth in the space of ten minutes Sunday, owing to the suspense of this year's Eastern Spring. First came the early stages of the race, with four or five boats jockeying for the lead. By the 1000-meter mark, the halfway point, Harvard had established a slim lead, but it was still anybody's race...
...Parker, meanwhile, paced back and forth, alone, atop a roof near the finish, listening to the progression of the race being broadcast over the intercom. Several times he reached down and picked up loose pebbles, running them through his fingers. But most of all he just waited, take the 4100 other spectators...
...coach, Harry Parker can only sit and watch and wait, helpless on the sidelines. For the individual oarsmen, they can only grip their oar a little tighter, push their pain tolerance a little higher, and cock their ear a little closer to the cox screaming signals in front of them. And hope, hope that somehow all their training and hard work will help them jell together as a unit, enough to outdistance the other crews...
...Harry Parker the rewards of coaching come in races like Sunday's. The eight Crimson oarsmen in that boat started as novices in lower boats and worked their way up. On Sunday last they achieved peak form, and they'll have a chance to do it again for the Sexton Cup in three weeks against Yale, which finished a distant fourth in the Sprints...