Olympic legend Ed Temple still basks in Tigerbelle glory
The Tigerbelles like to be around their coach every chance they get.
Derica Dunn-Moody joined legendary Tennessee State University and Olympic track coach Ed Temple at New Hope Academy in Franklin, where students, teachers and a host of VIPs, including former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist and singer Sheryl Crow, gathered to mark Temple's 87th birthday.
Others, including Olympic gold medalists Wyomia Tyus and Edith McGuire-Duvall, traveled to Nashville for TSU's homecoming, which included a 50th anniversary celebration of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, when Temple's Tigerbelles were at the height of their glory.
The former track stars basked in Temple's presence at both events, and he in theirs. A legend not just as their coach but also as a storyteller, Temple laughed and bantered with the women he led to greatness long ago. He told new stories and re-told familiar ones, and the women seemed to hang on every word.
"I lost my father in like my second year, or in the summer between my first and second year," said McGuire-Duvall, who won the 200 meters in Tokyo and remembers meeting Temple when she was 16. "He's just been like a father figure. Since we stopped running we just have such a great time being with him."
As tough as he was as a coach, Temple now has become a man everybody loves.
On Tuesday, Mayor Karl Dean and other community leaders will announce plans to honor Temple with a statue on the plaza of the new Nashville Sounds baseball stadium. But another effort to honor the legendary coach, a plan to rename the portion of Ed Temple Boulevard from TSU's campus all the way to West End Avenue, foundered on the rocks of politics last week.
The proposal came from Metro Councilman Jerry Maynard, who is elected by voters citywide. It ran into trouble after Councilwoman Edith Langster opposed it, and she made clear in her remarks to the Metro Planning Commission that politics had something to do with it. Langster represents the 21st council district, which includes the street in question.
"I was not informed about this proposal — not until the legislation had been prepared," Langster said. "So I was unable to call my constituents together to consult with them before the ordinance was filed. I didn't have that opportunity. I wasn't presented that respect."
It's probably fortunate that the man who took 40 athletes from TSU (Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State University until 1968) to the Olympic Games and helped them win 23 medals — more than 157 countries in the world have ever won — has all the respect he needs. He will accept the honor if it happens but probably doesn't care whether it does or not.
Happy among his former athletes, Temple said he appreciate the statue but isn't so sure about the timing.
"I thought statues are supposed to be for people after they're dead," he said with a smile at his birthday party. "I'm not dead yet. Maybe they're trying to tell me something."
Nashville has a spotty record of honoring its African-American heroes. There's a Rosa Parks Boulevard but no street named after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — leaving Nashville as one of the few American cities that doesn't have one.
That lack of recognition is something city officials should change.
It's changing for Temple, and that makes all the sense in the world. The effort to erect a statue in his honor has been led by Bo Roberts, who is working toward a goal of raising $60,000 for the project. The statue, by renowned sports sculptor Brian Hanlon, shows the coach kneeling on a pedestal, with images of his runners on the base.
Until it's in place, though, the only monument we'll have is the man himself — still laughing and telling stories, basking in the love of his Tigerbelles, reliving Olympic glory.
Scott Stroud is the politics and government editor. He can be reached at 615-726-8930.