Salon.com > Sean Callahan

What makes Supergran run?

Wed, 31 Jul 2002 19:00:00 +0000

Three years ago, at an international meet in England, 56-year-old American sprinter Kathy Jager ran 100 meters in 13.55 seconds, obliterating her competition by nearly a half second. Jager followed that by running the 200 meters in 28.34 seconds, breaking the existing age-group world record. Her glory, however, was brief. Jager, a grandmother of four from Phoenix, tested positive for anabolic steroids at the meet.

Jager has always insisted that she was innocent, that she wasn't shooting steroid-filled syringes into her veins, that her only crime was following doctor's orders and taking a little green hormone replacement pill that quelled her post-menopausal hot flashes. Nevertheless, as a result of testing positive, her times were expunged. Sports Illustrated mocked her in its "This Week's Sign That the Apocalypse Is Upon Us" section. And she was banned from sanctioned track competitions for two years, an exile that ended on Aug. 1, 2001. This year Jager, now 59, will compete in her most important meet since her reinstatement, the USA Track & Field National Masters Outdoor Championship, to be held Aug. 8-11 in Orono, Maine.

Little Head

Fri, 09 Jul 1999 19:00:00 +0000

Even if John Hiatt's mug weren't on the cover of his new album, it wouldn't take Lt. Columbo to figure out that this 10-song collection is the Indianapolis-born singer-songwriter's handiwork. On "Little Head," Hiatt shows once again that he's as American as pickup trucks and Cal Ripken Jr. -- and just as predictable. The problem is, predictable can be pretty boring.

Hiatt's 14th album, "Little Head" was recorded live in the studio with an all-star lineup calling themselves the Nashville Queens (David Immergluck on guitar, Davey Faragher on bass, Gary Ferguson on drums and Peter Holsapple on organ and piano). It's still Hiatt whose fingerprints are all over this album, but his heart is hard to find.

Since his brilliant trilogy of albums about addiction recovery and the joys of discovering family life -- 1987's "Bring the Family," 1988's "Slow Turning" and 1990's "Stolen Moments" -- Hiatt has struggled for a new direction. In 1992, he joined Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner to form Little Village, a power combo that lasted through only one self-titled album. In 1993, Hiatt played garage grunge on the guitar-powered hit "Perfectly Good Guitar." But he has yet to find that direction, and on "Little Head" he's fumbling for new ways to repackage old ideas.

Sharps and Flats: John Hiatt

Thu, 10 Jul 1997 17:43:00 +0000

even if John Hiatt's mug weren't on the cover of his new album, it wouldn't take Lt. Columbo to figure out that this 10-song collection is the Indianapolis-born singer-songwriter's handiwork. On "Little Head," Hiatt shows once again that he's as American as pickup trucks and Cal Ripken Jr. -- and just as predictable. The problem is, predictable can be pretty boring.