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Scott Tinley

Bio

Scott Tinley, a 6th generation Southern Californian, is an accomplished teacher, author, and athlete. He teaches sport humanities courses at San Diego State University and California State University, San Marcos and has authored several books, including Racing the Sunset: An Athlete’s Quest for Life after Sport, a personal and in-depth study of life transition. Tinley has also written for CBS News and Sports Illustrated, among other popular and academic sources. He is a member of the Triathlon Hall of Fame, a two-time Ironman World Champion, and has competed professionally in over 400 triathlons since 1976.

Recent Articles

Ron Smith (Date) - June 29, 2011

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Ron Smith was an important person to both Scott and me. The man was a lion, a guy you could meet once and never forget – a personality as far out there on the edge as a person could go, yet as grounded and centered as a Buddist monk. His passing affected us both deeply, and we were each moved to mark the launch of trihistory.com with a personal essay. Ron would have not liked all the attention, but he would have loved this site. (MP) 

Doing a Sport’s History

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Mike Plant photo 

The history of sport is the history of civilization; an appropriate and focused lens through which to observe, dissect, detail, and discern the ways in which humans interact as social beings. And the short history of triathlon begs for a longer lens on which to scan the landscape that rides beneath our modern feet.  For me, anyway, there are few things more engaging and more revealing than an historical sociology of sport.

The Pen that Launched a Thousand Triathlons

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

At the end of a regular college day in late spring, the threat of final exams and the promise of summer in the air, I opened the mail box. It was May 14 of 1979 and mixed with a utility bill and a “your rent is late again” note from the landlord was a copy of Sports Illustrated Magazine (SI). Hmmm, must belong to the neighbors. I don’t read about team sports. I pondered the mag until seeing the hand-written note clipped to the cover that featured a horse named Spectacular Bid.

Something in the Water: The 1982 United States Triathlon Series, Los Angeles

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The first thing you need to know about the second professional triathlon ever held was that it wasn’t very professional. It was touted as “the Los Angeles stop of the 1982 U.S. Triathlon Series” but it wasn’t   held in Los Angeles. Two weeks after USTS’ inaugural San Diego race (staged at Del Mar’s Torrey Pines Beach), event organizers, Carl A. Thomas and Jim Curl, moved their show north on the SoCal coast to Marine Stadium, a cement and myler-lined drainage ditch on the southern rim of Long Beach, California.

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