Bag of Randomness for Thursday, September 21, 2017

  • Long before I became a parent there were certain things I claimed I’d never do. Then I became a parent and found some things are beyond my control and learned to compromise on a few a things. Well, it’s about to happen again. I vowed to never coach any of my children’s sports team; however, due to the lack of volunteers and loving encouragement from both kids, I’ll be coaching BoyGeeding’s flag football team.
    • I often complement WifeGeeding when it comes to her patience and understanding with kids and marvel at how she’s able to remain calm with kindergarten and pre-school children. I’ve told her plenty of times I’m not wired like her and simply can’t be in that environment for long. Now, I’m coaching four and five-year-olds. Lord, help me, for I know not what I got myself into.
    • Trying to make the most of it, I decided to call my friend, Jimi, and he agreed to coach the team along with me. As long-time readers know, I’ve been friends with Jimi since kindergarten and roomed with him in college and when we first moved to DFW. Jimi and I were also on the same pee-wee football team. Sometimes we reflect upon that time in our lives and how that was the first team either of us was ever on in any sport. We like to talk about our very first coach and how he taught us a fun little cheer, and now we force that cheer in many conversations. Now, we will be the very first coach for many of these kids and who knows if any of them will keep in touch when they turn into adults.
    • Jimi and I have fond memories of where our games were played, the Optimus Field. All the stickers, hard dry grass and mostly dirt, and holes in the field hurt like hell but made for good memories.
    • If I’m doing this coaching thing, I want to do it right so I’ve been searching online for some of those Bike coaching shorts which leave nothing to the imagination. So far, no luck. Maybe I can pull off the look of the coach in the top picture of this post.
    • Longtime readers also know my oldest child is named after my friend who was going to be the best man at my wedding. Sadly he died a week before the wedding. He was an exceptional coach, and very much like my wife when it comes to kids. He was extremely kind and patient and never raised his voice in anger as a teacher or coach. I maintain a close relationship with his mother. I called her up this week asking if she had one of his old coaching whistles and if I could use it if she was okay with it. I think it will arrive in my mailbox tomorrow.
  • One of you made a great point about how great it is to drive to an out of town football game and eating at a local establishment. It was always neat to experience something different than what’s in your small town and to see who else from your hometown might stop there.
  • While it’s not-NSFW, use some caution – This Mom’s Inspiring Photoshoot Sends A Powerful Message To Women Who Can’t Breastfeed
  • I had some free time in my schedule and decided to eat lunch at BoyGeeding and DaughterGeeding’s school. They told me lunchtime was strict but I thought that was just an exaggeration, but their lunchtime is very strict. For the first 15-minutes they are not allowed to talk, that’s the time for them to get their food out and eat, and they really aren’t lenient. During this time, if they need something, they use one of the hand signals below. Then I think they are allowed five minutes of talk time and then ten minutes of cleanup time.
  • Genius Teacher’s ‘Bread Trick’ Shows Kids Why They Need To Wash Hands, And It’s Disgustingly Brilliant
    • Donna Gill Allen, a Health Occupation teacher at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville, presented her class with 3 slices of bread. They placed one in a plastic baggy using gloves, the other with freshly washed hands, and sealed up the final one after passing it around to every student in the room – therefore making it ‘dirty.’ When the students came back to check on the bread a few days later, the evidence was more than clear.
  • I didn’t know local Gateway Church was the fourth largest church in America. It looks like they are going through some changes:
    • I was first to report that Gateway Church planned to lay off as many as one-third of their staff and that the church was deep in debt. Gateway called this a “pruning” in preparation for growth.
    • Pastor Robert Morris appears to be differentiating himself from Gateway’s brand. He is populating a slick website — pastorrobert.com — and is doing the same with his sermons on a separate Youtube channel. He also has a new radio brand with the Worship & the Word with Pastor Robert Morris product.
  • This story is a little old but the headline cracks me up – Here’s 45 Guys Dressed Like Tom Selleck as “Magnum, P.I.” Getting Kicked Out of a Tigers Game
  • HGTV was the third-most-popular network on cable television in 2016
    • I’m annoyed when an article will throw out such a statistic but won’t provide who the top two are.
  • Ken Burns’ ‘The Vietnam War’ is 18-hours long. Since 95% of all pilots who flew helicopters in Vietnam trained at Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells, I wonder if it gets at least one mention. If y0u are affiliated with Mineral Wells in any way, that link is worth a click if you want to see old Army footage of Fort Wolters.
  • U.S. Navy swapping $38,000 periscope joysticks for $30 Xbox controllers on high-tech submarines
  • A few more thoughts and tidbits from my book about the relationships amongst presidents:
    • I’m surprised but not surprised at how often Billy Graham is referenced with each president. I mean, I’ve read enough about Graham and the presidents to know how close he was to most of them, but not in the detail the book provides.
      • Billy Graham who was in New York at the time when Nixon suffered a stroke, where the former president was residing. He called the White House when he heard the news and got President Clinton on the phone and ask the president which hospital Nixon was in so he could visit. Clinton didn’t immediately know but called Graham back a few minutes later with the details. Graham was at Nixon’s bedside praying with Nixon’s daughters and I believe he was there when Nixon eventually died.
      • Clinton and Graham’s friendship goes back to 1989 when Clinton was Governor of Arkansas. They had a mutual friend who was dying and met in the hospital and carried on a relationship.
      • When Nixon died, Graham and Clinton spoke on the phone. Clinton wanted to attend Nixon’s funeral and asked Graham if he could get Julia and Tricia’s permission, which was granted. Later, the Nixon daughters formally invited Clinton who offered a state funeral. However, Nixon made it clear he just wanted to lie in repose at his library in Yorba Linda.
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6 Responses to Bag of Randomness for Thursday, September 21, 2017

  1. AndreaJN says:

    Love that pic!

  2. Jason says:

    I, too, accepted a coaching role several years ago only because no one else stepped up. I've never looked back and often wondered what made me reluctant. It's not for everyone; but I suspect you'll love it, as I do. For anyone who genuinely cares about kids and is confident enough to not attach his/her own ego to the win-loss record of children, it's a rewarding experience.

  3. JayF says:

    Oh boy, you know not what you've gotten yourself into is right!!
    -Remember that you are always being watched and you are an influence, whether good or bad. So be a good one. YOU are their 1st coach and they will always remember you.
    -With that age group after 40 minutes you will lose the kids. You may have them physically there for an hour and fifteen minutes but they are gone after 40-45 minutes.
    – Start and end each practice with a fun activity.
    – Get a TEAM MOM to help with texts about practice, pictures, uniforms and snacks.
    – Also with that age group don't get too cute. You need 3 plays, Sweep Left, Sweep Right and maybe a Dive (run) up the middle. Maybe.. Maybe, a reverse later in the season.
    – I could go on and on and on but you'll get it. There is some decent stuff online but the best teacher is trial and error. Good luck brother!

  4. df of ll says:

    RE: Coaching

    Jay F covered most of what I was going to suggest and he is 100% right on each point. I did soccer for 6 years, it was interesting.

    The whistle, very important. You have that one under control.

    Extra water at practice.

    Come up with a team name and a team cheer.

    Start and end every practice and game with a "all hands in here" and a chant, like….1 2 3….GO "Team name"

    Rotate refreshments for the game among the families.

    Get different colored wrist bands for the kids so they can remember what position they play. Red for QB, Blue for RB, etc.

    Get a small dry erase clipboard so you can draw formations and such during the game.

    Have 1 coach handle the action on the field and the other coach work with the players on the bench, showing them what the players on the field are doing right and wrong.

    If some kids family shows up for the game, like grand parents, aunts and uncles, etc. Make sure they start.

    Every kid going on the field needs to be sent out feeling great. Every kid coming off the field needs to come out feeling great.

    Your biggest issue will be the parents, especially if you have a divorced couple with a kid and they bring their new BF/GF to the games and expect you to be the go between regarding practices, games, etc. Don't get sucked into that.

    My wife graduated with a degree in child development and family studies. She would debrief me after every practice and game. The main point was I was a grown man expecting the kids to do what they were supposed to and pay attention to what they were being told. Her answer was…..they are 4 and 5 years old, they aren't going to get that and they aren't going to understand. They don't have the concept of winning and losing like adults do. Plus, you are asking them to do things, like…touch each other, when they are at school all day being told by teachers NOT to touch each other or they will get in trouble. Children this age can't separate how to behave at school vs. how to behave on the field. The kids with older siblings will get it, because they've learned this concept by playing with their older brothers and sisters. If you get an only child or the oldest of the siblings, they will have the hardest time "breaking the rules" they are learning at school.

    All they want to do is have fun, even if that is kicking at a fire ant mound at mid-field.

    Team Mom or Moms, do it, for sure.

    Every kid gets the same playing time…no matter what. They make practice, they don't make practice, doesn't matter….every kid gets about the same playing time.

    After the game, you, meaning you personally, tell every kid they did a great job, no matter what.

    And when in doubt on what to do, think back to the days when you were 4 or 5, and think about what you remember. You will remember your friends, your coach, if you had fun, if you had some special play where you scored a TD. You won't remember who won, you won't remember your team record, you won't remember if you were Champs, you will just remember, hopefully starting, life long relationships and memories of your leaders(you and coach 2) and if you respected them, were kind to them, lead them, made them feel better when they screwed up, etc.

    When in doubt, refer to this rule……It is about the kids…..nothing else matters.

  5. Bryan says:

    Interesting information about Gateway. My neighbor's wife was on staff there until the spring of this year and I have a feeling she was one of the casualties of the layoffs. For once, the comments on an article are as useful as the article itself.

    The mother of one of my closest friends actually owns one of the old training bases in western Parker county that was connected to Fort Wolters. Her house is the old terminal building and there's an abandoned control tower, 2 still usable runways, and several hangar buildings. I've flown with my friend out of there several times and you can still see the remains of other training bases in the area.

  6. Just Coach says:

    Have fun with the coaching! Me and buddy who did it for several years say there's really one standard by which to evaluate pee wee, little league, youth association coaches… and that is not being the guy who some kid says years later was the coach who made him hate the sport or quit it! 🙂 And there's no way you'll be that guy, so you're good to go!

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