Patrick Swayze died today

[2-15-46]

JUST SAW THE NEWS ON TV...HE WAS A 14 FOOT HS VAULTER...57 YRS OLD.SAD!

[souleman]

Bubba knew Buddy (Patrick) Swayze personally and jumped on the same high school team. Hopefully he will jump in on this conversation. Later............Mike

[rainbowgirl28]

From Bubba: http://pvoztrip.blogspot.com/

My First Vault Hero Dies - Buddy Swayze

I didn't know that Buddy's name was Patrick until I saw him in his first movie. Yep, THAT Patrick "Buddy" Swayze is the guy I learned how to pole vault with at Frank M. Black Jr. High School. I ran into him in Hollywood many years later by chance on the Paramount lot where I was with some friends who were actors in the Dynasty/Colby's series as they were taping the wedding show. I also saw Eddie Murphy and got to meet the nicest actor in Charlton Heston. But talking to Buddy about pole vaulting and our beginnings was pretty cool, since he was my first vault hero. Here is what I wrote on my website in 2000 about Buddy - http://www.bubbapv.com/Pages/DoYouLovetoPV.htm. He will be missed.

I began vaulting at the age of 12 with the stud of our Jr. High School team, a future movie star, the one and only, Patrick (Buddy) Swayze. Of course we didn't know that at the time. We just knew that his mom ran "Patsy Swayze's School of Dance", that he was MUCH more developed than us, and that he pointed his toes going over the bar. He was our HERO! I mean this guy could vault like we could only dream, and looked great doing it. I remember that he had a bit of a temper when things didn't go exactly as he hoped. At first I was mystified but then I realized that was why he was truly better than we were. I tried to be like Buddy and promised that no matter what, I would never give up and that I would not accept failure as a permanent destination.

[2-15-46]

From Bubba: http://pvoztrip.blogspot.com/I WAS A BIG FAN OF HIS WORK, FELT LIKE HE WAS A NICE GUY...HEARD RUMORS TO THE SAME...NEVER KNEW BUBBA WAS A FRIEND.......NO WONDER HE COULD DANCE. ONE OF MY FAVORITE SKITS HE DID WAS WITH CHRIS FARLEY ON THE CHIPPENDALE SPOOF ON SNL.......

My First Vault Hero Dies - Buddy Swayze

I didn't know that Buddy's name was Patrick until I saw him in his first movie. Yep, THAT Patrick "Buddy" Swayze is the guy I learned how to pole vault with at Frank M. Black Jr. High School. I ran into him in Hollywood many years later by chance on the Paramount lot where I was with some friends who were actors in the Dynasty/Colby's series as they were taping the wedding show. I also saw Eddie Murphy and got to meet the nicest actor in Charlton Heston. But talking to Buddy about pole vaulting and our beginnings was pretty cool, since he was my first vault hero. Here is what I wrote on my website in 2000 about Buddy - http://www.bubbapv.com/Pages/DoYouLovetoPV.htm. He will be missed.

I began vaulting at the age of 12 with the stud of our Jr. High School team, a future movie star, the one and only, Patrick (Buddy) Swayze. Of course we didn't know that at the time. We just knew that his mom ran "Patsy Swayze's School of Dance", that he was MUCH more developed than us, and that he pointed his toes going over the bar. He was our HERO! I mean this guy could vault like we could only dream, and looked great doing it. I remember that he had a bit of a temper when things didn't go exactly as he hoped. At first I was mystified but then I realized that was why he was truly better than we were. I tried to be like Buddy and promised that no matter what, I would never give up and that I would not accept failure as a permanent destination.

[Bubba PV]

This just in from the great sports scribe, Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on cleveland.com. If Bill's name sounds familiar it's because he wrote the outstanding book, "Above and Beyond" about Tim Mack and rise from a kid in Cleveland to the Olympic Gold Medal. Outstanding read and two great people in Bill and Timmy! Bubba

http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/ind ... to_so.html

Book excerpt here - http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/ind ... ovebeyond/

Patrick Swayze vaulted into some track fans' memories, too: Between The Lines blog
by Bill Livingston/Plain Dealer Reporter
Wednesday September 16, 2009, 4:50 PM

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
Patrick Swayze brought a dancing/acrobatic grace to his teenage years in the pole vault.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When actor Patrick Swayze died Tuesday after a courageous fight against pancreatic cancer, movie fans, Hollywood co-workers and family friends mourned him.
So did the track and field community.

Swayze was one of several celebrities drawn to the daring sport of pole vaulting as young men. Among them were astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin; actor Robert Culp; the inventor of basketball's "triangle" offense, Tex Winter; and rock star Shannon Hoon.

"Buddy," as Swayze was called in high school in Houston, was an accomplished pole vaulter. He also ice skated, took ballet classes, and was a gymnast. All the physical grace that Swayze showed in "Ghost" and "Dirty Dancing" translated readily to sports. He was a fine athlete.

Doug "Bubba" Sparks, an elite Masters age-group competitor, was a five-time All American at Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) and a three-time national champion in the pole vault. He was also a junior high teammate of Swayze's in Houston. He wrote this tribute to the actor upon his death:

"I began vaulting at the age of 12 with the stud of our junior high school team, a future movie star, the one and only, Patrick (Buddy) Swayze. Of course we didn't know that at the time. We just knew that his mom ran "Patsy Swayze's School of Dance," that he was much more developed than us, and that he pointed his toes going over the bar. He was our hero! I mean this guy could vault like we could only dream, and looked great doing it.

"I remember that he had a bit of a temper when things didn't go exactly as he hoped. At first I was mystified but then I realized that was why he was truly better than we were. I tried to be like Buddy and promised that no matter what, I would never give up and that I would not accept failure as a permanent destination."

[KirkB]

... Book excerpt here - http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/ind ... ovebeyond/

... He was a fine athlete. ...

Watched a documentary about him tonight on A&E. Disappointed that they never mentioned anything about PV, but I got a kick out of one thing his mom said ...

She said that in Jr. High, he was being made fun of by three of the Waltrip HS jocks, as he was going from orchestra practice to ballet practice. Just not very macho, they thought. He complained to a teacher (football coach?), who had him put the gloves on in the gym and go up against each of the 3 ... apparently holding his own ... proving that he was every bit as macho as them!

Played quite a few macho roles as an actor too ... he was quite diversified in his talents, so it's perhaps understandable that they would leave out his HS PV success. There was a bit about him getting injured in football ... and they mentioned something about T&F ... about him being on a relay team.

Totally unrelated to PV, but Dirty Dancing is one of my all-time favorite movies ... his performance in that was superb!

Kirk