| |
GOHEAVY.COM Olympic Weightlifting Forum
Re: Should be easy, unfortunately
Posted By: Big Bob Madow (ool-44c15f15.dyn.optonline.net)
In Response To: Should be easy, unfortunately *PIC* (Barry Rubenstein)
Date: Sunday, January 7, 2007, @ 10:45 p.m.
Barry Rubinstein you asked for something on Dave Berger:
When, in early September 1972 I heard TV commentator Jim McKay utter "they're all gone now" I was deeply saddened and knew that my friend David Berger had been killed at the Olympics in Munich.
Dave Berger and I became friends at the McBurney Y on 23rd street and 7th ave in nyc in the mid 60's. I didn't realize it but Dave was an honors law school graduate from one of the prestigious NY schools. He was from Shaker Heights in Ohio. I did know that he was a very fine person and a tough 165 lb. competitor having done in front of me on separate days 300 press, 285 snatch and 369 C&J while weighing 165. He back squatted 475 lbs. for 5. I saw Dave squat clean 385 lbs but he lost the jerk forward (his dip was not plumb and he didn't open up in his split enough).
I never attended a workout with Dave Berger in attendance that I didn't enjoy. His intelligence and wit was great and he was always hoping that you would succeed with this or that lift.
Dave my brother Steve and I went to York for a weekend. I brought Dave to Rick Holbrook's apartment and Mr. Bob Hoffman told me to go to the hotel smorgasborg on him for as long as I stayed and also to treat Dave Berger. We ate like pigs. In return Hoffman wanted to see Dave and I do some snatching the next day-a very agreeable situation for us. When Bill Starr's friend Gail Tart walked into the gym Gary Hanson told me that he would not be able to continue the workout due to her extreme good looks. Gary had squatted 396 for 5 that day which was triple bodyweight.
Dave was amazed that Rick Holbrook had all of the captions under all of the weightlifting pictures in all of the Strength and Health magazines memorized. I mean you could go back for years and years and Rick was infallible. Besides being one of the greatest "quick lifter" in US history Holbrook was a real weightlifting fan. I bought about three years worth of very old Iron Man magazines with us in a cardboard box and Dave Berger
couldn't put these down. Berger found an issue of Iron Man with a picture of Paul Anderson and Anderson's mom. Berger thought it very funny that Paul and his mom shared the same face. She looked like Paul with a long black wig.
Dave snatched 281 lbs. for Bob Hoffman the next day with a workout attended by Bob Bednarski, Bill March, Gary Hanson, Rick Holbrook Gary Glenney, Smitty, Bill Starr, Tommy Suggs as well as Mr Terpak and me. Quite an assemblage.
It was amazing to watch the superheavyweight world press record holder Bob Bednarski jump up and down with glee and cheer on my brother Steve's 209 lbs. press.
Bob was very generous with his enthusiasm and very kind to Dave Berger whom he personally welcomed to York. Bednarski was driving
some sort of cheap foreign car and took Dave Berger and I on a drive arounf York, Dover etc. as "Steppenwolf", Bednarski's favorite band, blared.
The workout was productive as well as hilarious. Bednarski, March and Holbrook were very funny individuals and their humor was enhanced by the stiffness of John Terpak.
Dave used to like to accompany me on the 4 hour drive to York in my VW beetle. We had many fun weekends in York. I drove him to a lovely building on the upper east side of Manhattan in 1970. It was very dark when I dropped Dave off. It was the last time I saw Dave Berger.
I have travelled the path of weightlifting as a competitor, coach and fan since 1962. I have never encountered a person who was a finer human being than Dave Berger. He is still sorely missed.I know you would have liked Dave alot Barry.
If you want to hear from me on someone I knew just let me know.
Big Bob
| |
GOHEAVY.COM Olympic Weightlifting Forum is maintained by Administrator with WebBBS 5.12.