A lot of you checking us out on the contact us pages are curious as to who we are and what we bring to the Sportscience team. We've all got things in common--a love of sport-sportscience, a passion for applied research. So here's a little more background on what I do, what I've done and where I'm coming from.

We all wish we could make a living by doing what we love to do in life. Unless you're a professional football or basketball player, not much chance of striking it rich! Economics fueled my vocation choice, although my very first job before a formal college education was with the team of Ernie Rangazas and a great bunch in Health, Physical Education and Recreation at SUNY at Plattsburgh, NY. I've come full circle now and am back with another great team at www.sportsci.org.

One of the most important things that anyone graduating from college can learn is the importance of transferability of skills. Learn a skill and how to apply it to other areas. What can a person with an academic and management background possibly have in common with sport scientists?

• auditing--an eye for detail, professional skepticism, a sixth sense of something not being right.
• finance--use of scarce resources wisely, an emphasis on return on capital.
• marketing--focusing on what will attract readership.
• strategy of the firm--steering an organization/project successfully toward the direction it wants.
• business psychology--organizational behavior, motivation, the "halo" effect, placebos.
• research--importance of a well-controlled and well-designed study, interpretation of results that make sense.
• information systems--use of computers and decision aids, the logic of transmission and flow, understanding ouputs.
• competitiveness--to succeed, to do one's best.

That's some of what I try to bring to Sportscience, but not all. I believe in physical education for a lifetime. That no matter what one's age, what one's physical condition, there's something to be gained from being active physically. I wasn't active as an athlete during my college years, although I probably always had the love of sports in me. It's never too late to start as we see from Jim Ward, an 80-year old Ironman competitor who first took up sports in his 60's.

My accomplishments are zilch compared to elite athletes, but the majority of athletes are recreational age-group athletes. So competing at Empire State Games (Albany, NY 1991) and World Veteran Games (WAVA, 1995) in 400-meter track were important events in my life. Fast-twitch muscles, I suppose. Too bad I love the endurance events, and Ironman Hawaii in 1994 only made me crave more. I bring to Sportscience the experiences of an athlete, combined with the researcher's quest for more knowledge and a desire to generate enthusiasm in others for sports and sport science.

One of the greatest articles I've read recently was by Tim Noakes, in "Challenging Beliefs: ex Africa semper aliquid novi", Med.Sci.Sports Exer., Vol.29, No. 5, pp.571-590, 1997. It legitimized my own self-acquired knowledge in sport science. Whether knowledge is acquired formally or informally, it is knowledge that counts. May I, too, avoid an attitude of mindset and stay open to new ideas and be able to consider and evaluate them fairly.

Check out my article in the July-August '97 issue of Sportscience, ACSM: A Peak Experience, highlighting some of the proceedings at the American College of Sport Medicine's annual meeting in Denver, Colorado.

P.O. Box 5270
Snowmass Village, Colorado 81615
Email: wallace=AT=rof.net

485 Spinnaker Court
Naples, Florida 34102
Email: wallace=AT=naples.net

For more information about my Professional Experience or my Relevant Sports Background, please follow the appropriate links.