Life’s Horizon Has Widened for the Eagle

On the takeoff ramp, his thick spectacles steamed up, clouding his sense of direction. His equipment was in such poor shape, rival teams lent him theirs.

England’s Eddie (the Eagle) Edwards, who finished a distant last in the ski-jumping competition at the 1988 Winter Olympics, became the Games’ offbeat hero.

Robert Kitson of Reuters wrote recently: “The (nearsighted) Briton known by Australians as ‘Eddie the Emu’--because they don’t fly, either--is out to prove his mishaps in Calgary were just an illusion.”

The Eagle told Kitson he will soar to new heights--and lengths--during the 1992 Games at Albertville, France.

Said Edwards: “My jumping’s going very, very well now. I’m training hard and I’m doing a lot of psychological training, too. I go and lie down in a dark room, close my eyes and visualize myself soaring through the air. It has made me jump eight to 10 meters further than I ever did before.”

Add Eagle: Edwards could have difficulty with a new International Ski Federation rule that states a jumper must perform within 15% of a winning World Cup distance to compete in the world championships or the Olympics.

He told Kitson he jumped farther than 95 meters--in training. If he went that far in competition, he would qualify.

Said Edwards: “The trouble is, training and doing it in competition are really different things.”

Last add Eagle: He told Kitson he hopes to avoid mishaps such as the one he suffered during a competition in Austria in January of 1989.

Said Edwards: “I broke my collarbone, damaged my ribs, my kidneys and my head. They did a brain-scan but couldn’t find one.”

Trivia time: Name the only boxer who fought both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali.

The real thing: Pity the marketing geniuses responsible for Joe Montana’s credibility and salability when ESPN cameras at Texas Stadium Sunday night showed close-ups of the 49er quarterback, a well-known Diet Pepsi guy, sipping from a cup bearing a familiar red and white logo . . . Coca-Cola.

One race at a time: Robert Neumayer, who won the wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon for the second consecutive time last week, told the Associated Press that competition “was something to work (out) all the anger I had in me.”

Neumayer became a paraplegic in 1976. He blacked out behind the wheel of his car and slammed into a pole. The car split in half. It was his 10th car accident related to alcohol.

Neumayer, who stopped drinking six years ago and took up wheelchair sports, chose an appropriate affiliation. He competes for the Achilles Track Club.

Commitment to nostalgia: After Seattle’s last-second 17-16 victory over Kansas City Sunday, former Raider safety Vann McElroy, now with the Seahawks, said: “It just tells you the kind of team that we have here. These were the type of games the Raiders won.”

Let’s see the replay: Columnist Joe Gergen of Newsday noted that in the closing seconds of Miami’s 17-3 victory over the New York Jets Sunday, Dolphin wide receiver Mark Duper made one of his best moves.

Gergen wrote: “ . . . when referee Dick Hantak’s white cap was separated from his white hair by a gust of wind and threatened to sail the length of the field, Duper jogged from the sideline, intercepted the haberdashery and, at the conclusion of the game, returned it to the official.”

Trivia answer: Archie Moore.

Quotebook: Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, on the rash of upsets in college football this season: “It’s like getting up in the morning and reading the obituary column. You’re glad you’re not in it.”