GOATwear

Back in the day – waaaaay back in the day – we had a distance runner on the team who called himself the GOAT (aka, Greatest Of All Time). His name was Arquimedes Jesus DelaCruz (Quimes, to us), and you know what? He was pretty damn good, one of the best we’ve ever had. Greatest of all-time? That’s speculative. Put it this way: Until Ramsey Little’s 14^th place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional, the best finish we’ve had in the past two decades was Quimes, 26^th, in that race. His PRs in all of his events rank up there with the best ever. So, maybe not the GOAT, but pretty darn good. Quimes also had FLAIR. He had charisma. Actually, those who knew him best would just call him downright bizarre – in a great way. A true original. Stylish. He used to wear the same pair of Asics training sneakers but with different color shoes on each of his feet. He did this by design. Now. The photo you see here? Those are Ramsey’s lower legs and feet and – yes, that’s right – mismatched sneakers. By design? For stylish effect? Uh, no. It’s what he can find on a rush to get to practice today (along with, oddly enough, a glove for his right hand but not his left hand). Ramsey has been known to forget his running shoes – when going to meets! He has lost his keys – way more times than he’d care to admit. Matching socks? Practically never! Yeah. So today, when he pointed out his choice footwear, while quickly noting that they both had similar mileage totals on them, I immediately snapped this picture and sent it to Quimes. Side note: The pair not on his feet are for shorter doubles, not his main runs. Anyway … I also let Quimes know that, style points or not, while not the “original GOAT,” a compelling case can be made for Ramsey to be identified with those initials right now.