My Web site Guestbook

Submitted by
Name: Larry Owen
From: Pismo Beach ca
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
I met Sim Iness when I was 6 years old. He had not been in Porterville to long yet and he bought our house. My mother babysat his daughters Marleen and Marilyn for awhile after we moved and he use to come and pick them up at night. Man that guy was big to a 6 or 7 year old. Some years later he was one of my track coaches at PUHS and then my football coach at at PC. I was 6'3" myself by then but he still towered over me. He was a gentle giant for sure but I can tell you he could get pretty worked up during half-time or if you missed a blocking assignment..

Added: August 18, 2011

Submitted by
Name: John Ellis
From: New York
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
I threw the discus back in the 50's and met Sim many times! A great guy and like they say: "A gentle giant". I also read about Bob Mathias' passing and I wish I had kept up with both of them! The top oncologists buy my machines (watercuresanything.com). They BOTH will be missed...Jack

Added: March 8, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Jim Huey
From: Gilbert AZ
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
He was something of a gentle giant, an imposing man but very soft spoken. I knew Sim as a teacher and coach between 1956 and 1959 when I attended Porterville High School and Porterville College.
He was my PE teacher in 1956 and was the Line Coach for the 1957 Panthers. He was the track coach at the Jr College. Only two of us qualified for the state meet but he took his time to make sure that we could attend.

Added: March 1, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Charles L. Harrington
From: Lincoln, CA.
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
In the late '40's, I ran on my track team at Wasco High School near Bakersfield in Kern County. Wasco is a town even smaller than Tulare. For a three year period, we often competed in track meets where Tulare was also competing. Tulare always won with Sim Innes and Bob Mathias fighting it out for first and second in the shot and discus and Mathias winning hurdle races and high jumping. Those two were unbeatable always and we wondered if we were really that bad. When they proved themselves the best on earth, we all stood taller.

Added: February 18, 2011

Submitted by
Name: Roy Breiman
From: California
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Just came to discover that Sim Iness was my uncle. My father is Roy Iness Sims brother. my mother remaried and as a result my last name changed. It so great to discover this interesting heritage of mine. he was qute an accomplished athlete. To bad I never got to know him personally.

Added: December 21, 2010

Submitted by
Name: Lefty Olguin
From: Compton Educational Center (Ol
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
This web page is amazing, as is Mr. Innes. I am the athletic director at Compton and we are putting together the hall-of fame. I would like to have him as a candidate for the hall-of-fame. His career was awesome, but it seems like he was much more then just an athlete and a coach. If someone would contact me I would like to discuss the process.

Added: October 14, 2010

Submitted by
Name: mike laughlin
From: grass valley ca
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Back in 1967, I was a shy kid from Missouri just moved to California Hot Springs to live with my sister and attend Porterville College. I'll always remember the warmth and kindness shown to me by Sim Iness, Al Melcer, Fred Bridges, and Burl Cuffman of the college faculty. Exactly true; Mr Iness was so down to earth; wasn't till years later I learned of his remarkable accomplishments. Thanks for this interesting site.

Added: August 9, 2010

Submitted by
Name: Chuck Nelson
From: Hanford CA
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Great website and video of the all time Sim Innes. I was fortunate to grow up in the same area influenced by Innes and others who made the Central San Joaquin Valley a hotbed for track and field. Innes' technique looks modern when compared to more current champions of the discus.

Added: July 30, 2010

Submitted by
Name: Janet Altaffer-Lowry
From: Tulare, California
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Thanks for putting together such a wonderful and comprehensive website for Sim, Cousin Chris! You did a magnificent job for a magnificent human being!

Sim and Robert Mathias were friends of my brother, Swede Altaffer. As a few-years-younger "little sister", they were among the heroes that I certainly looked up to...in addition to Richard Sturgeon and Richard Bramer who were also close friends of my brother. I do remember being "in awe" of them while they simply maintained the "low key" and "family-friendly personalities" that were so them. Sim wasn't as frequent a visitor to our home in Tulare as were the others, but he certainly was well known to our family and throughout our community.

My memories of the athletic accomplishments of Sim and Bob and also the celebrations are still vivid no matter where the competitions occurred. I was privileged to be a part of one of them!

Tulare is and has a right to be proud of heroes such as Sim and others. I am grateful to you for such a positive site.

Added: April 1, 2010

Submitted by
Name: Sharon Hansen (Iness)
From: Caruthers, CA
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Thank you for the many facts about my father's first cousin. My father was Alfred Iness, and always in touch with Sim. I am also a huge fan of Sim's life and his contribution to the Helsinki Games, which so many of those fine athletes have been set aside. The honors given Sim are surely rewarding and deserved. Thanks for the time and years, of gathering so much, for all to enjoy. One of America's history makers.

Added: March 28, 2010