Message text written by INTERNET:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >I have relatively decent footage of Bob Beamon's record jump in Mexico, complete with officials bringing the traditional tape measure when they discovered that the optical device wasn't set up to handle a 29-2 1/2(8.90) jump.I still remember looking in my "Little Red Book" to see what 8.90 converted to and being afraid to say to those around me "29-2 1/2", since that couldn't possibly be right!<
I could be wrong, but I don't think the Little Red Book existed back then, because I remember that the conversion table that I was using was event-specific, and the long jump table stopped at something like 28 feet. I recall sitting there in the stadium, finding that the table was inadequate, and then thinking "OK, I'll go into the shot put table, look up 17.80 (2 x 8.90) and then divide that by two." So I did that, got 58-4 3/4, divided by two to get 29-2+, and immediately concluded that in my haste, I had made a mistake in my arithmetic. My reasoning was the same reason as Walter's -- that couldn't possibly right. Bob H
