Shay and Goulet

It was the ultimate in bittersweet days for local native Brian Sell on Saturday. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Men's Marathon Team by finishing third in the qualifier held at NYC's Central Park on Saturday morning. Moments after crossing the finish line, he and the other competitors learned of the death of fellow marathoner Ryan Shay. Shay, who was a past U.S. marathon and half-marathon champion, collapsed just over five miles into the run. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital while the race was still going on.

According to an published account, Sell, a friend of Shay's, broke down and cried during his post-race press conference and said: "I'd give up my Olympic spot in a split second to have him back." May Sell and the other two qualifiers carry on Shay's spirit in Beijing next summer.

There was another passing this week and, though he was not an athlete, Bob Goulet's 30-second promos for ESPN's College Basketball in the mid-1990's still rank among my favorite spots. I found 16 of them on YouTube. Check them out: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Robert+Goulet,+ESPN.