WAKE UP, heavy metalheads. Big news.
No, the members of Judas Priest haven't actually become priests and joined a church choir.
The University of Pennsylvania is dedicating a brand, spanking new, state of the art throwing venue in time for the Penn Relays next week. The digs will be named the Irving "Moon" Mondschein Throwing Complex in honor of the former Penn track coach, who will be there to hold a reunion with a bunch of alums.
Or "all of his humps," as Penn throwing coach Tony Tenisci referred to the athletes Moon coached during 22 years of his life.
"He's 90," Tenisci said about his former mentor. "But timeless."
Moon started at Penn as an assistant coach in 1965, became head coach in 1979, where he remained for 8 years. At 28, he coached Israel's first Olympic team at the 1952 Helsinki Games. At 64, while at Penn, he was a member of the USA coaching staff for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
The new venue is heaven if you like watching flying sticks and spheres and serious grunting.
"Franklin Field is a given, a state of the art stadium," Tenisci said. "Running is the glamor event but now we have something comparable to Franklin Field for those who love the throws.
"Prepare to be blown away. It's organic. We use the natural sloping of the area to form an amphitheatre. There are bleachers originally used for softball where 500 people can look down to see both the javelin and hammer throws at the same time."
Tenisci expects 500 fans for the women's events and 1,000 for the men's. The dedication will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 26.
"Everything is in one area," Tenisci said. "And there's food on sight. So you can eat, relax and enjoy the throws."
And it's a good guess throwing fans can eat.