My Golfing Hobby and Random Thoughts on Coaching

I got out to play some golf on Monday. It was fun and relaxing as usual. There is something peaceful about golf courses, for the most part. Occasionally you find one that's too close to a major highway or road that takes away from its allure. The other 97 percent are beautiful pieces of land, nicely landscaped and serene. There are some nice ones here in Central Pennsylvania and I've also played a couple in New Jersey and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I have three golf courses on my "To Do" list. The first is Saint Andrews in Scotland. If you have ever had the chance to play links golf, with the deep bunkers and creative shot making, you know how fun it can be. The second is Pebble Beach in Northern California. It hosts a great pro-am event and has breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. If it's good enough for Clint Eastwood, it's good enough for me. The last course is a little more obscure, but still a great course. It's Congressional in Bethesda, Maryland. Besides hosting PGA Tour events, including the US Open, the course has also been played by various Presidents and Heads of State. I can just picture the photo wall at the 19th hole being quite a piece of American history.
Summer classes started for me Tuesday and I have a good size summer course load to do so I can graduate on time, next May. It is also times when schools do their searches for coaching candidates for next season. I've been polishing my resumes and cover letters for various local institutions. I have coached at different levels and each level brings different challenges. College coaches have the challenge of recruiting and managing a budget. High school coaches may have budgetary concerns as well, as well as the socioeconomic factors of the school district they coach in. This is one of the reasons Bob Hurley, Sr. has received a lot of accolades for his work at St. Anthony's in Jersey City, NJ. Youth coaches have other challenges, like the gap between players' abilities. While one player may needs help with basic shooting form, another may be ready for more complex offensive and defensive strategies. The youth coach has to be able to determine the needs of each player and budget their time to teach the inexperienced and experienced players alike. My parents were buying me coaching books when I was in the second grade and I believe I was born to do it. I have the drive, focus and willingness to learn. To me, good coaches are like good musicians. They take things they learn from other musicians and mold it into something of their own. That good foundation is what separates the great ones from the average ones, in music or coaching. Until next week, keep learning.

Me as a Student and Some GOOD Things About the NHL

I wrapped up the spring semester last week but I didn't finish as strong as I would like. I don't test well, particularly tests that involve lists. For example, maybe a History class asks for five reasons the south lost the Civil War. I could give two and then have to improvise the other three. It makes attaining excellent grades difficult, since so much weight is placed on exam scores in most classes. I usually excel at papers and projects. I have a problem with assignments I don't believe in. I wrote a paper in the fall semester on a subject I could not put into word. I viewed it the way some Congressmen view pornography, "I can't put it into words, but I'll know it when I see it." Some assignments are harder to focus on than others. I learned a long time ago that true crime and biographies hold my interest more than other reading materials, the exceptions being textbooks and the Harry Potter series. This is me as a student.
Hockey season ended for my team last week, when the Boston Bruins lost game 7 at home. The loss stings a little because I really believed this was their year. They were great this season and lost to a very hot Carolina team. Despite the gut wrenching game 7 overtime loss, the Bruins have managed to make hockey relevant again in Boston but they stand out in Boston because they are the one of the four pro sports teams there, but the only one who hasn't won a recent championship. Hockey has also made a comeback in Chicago. The Blackhawks have the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL but they are headed in the right direction. They have become important again in the fabric of Chicago sports. As a hockey fan, I love it. It is a good thing for hockey when the Original 6 teams (Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit and the New York Rangers) are good. Hockey has been such a whipping boy for the press, whether its the economics of the sport, the extra long regular season, or a random act of thuggery. The media tends to dwell on the negative side of hockey but the resurgence of a couple of Original 6 teams and the rise of individual superstars have people talking about the sport in a positive light. Just a quick note-the NHL playoffs have been better than the NBA playoffs this year-HANDS DOWN! If you are lucky enough to get Versus on your cable or satellite package, watch some games. The NHL also owns the most exciting player in all of sports, Alex Ovechkin. He is a goal scorer, who's as tough as nails. He brings a youthful exuberance that sports fans haven't seen since Sammy Sosa or Brett Favre in their primes. He probably will win another MVP award for the 2008-09 regular season, to go with being the top goal scorer again. He reminds me of Mark Messier,the great player who played for New York, Edmonton and Vancouver, a little. He can but a team on his back and has a nasty edge to his game, much like "The Captain". The fact he's so young holds well for the NHL also. He has the ability to bring the Stanley Cup to Washington, a thought that has that city buzzing. Washington has always been (the NFL's) Redskins and everybody else. To have another championship caliber team in the nation's capital is exciting for them. Next week I'll probably talk some golf, so to all you duffers out there, stay tuned and keep learning.

The Death of Two Coaches From My Childhood

I apologize for the lateness of this but it's finals week. So I lost a couple of sports figures from my childhood last week, and it starts to make me feel old. Danny Ozark was the Phillies manager when I went to my first game. I was a tee ball player who could rattle off Greg Luzinski's RBI's and Larry Bowa's errors in half a second. I was a Phillies fans until Dallas Green went to Chicago and took all my favorites with him, leaving Steve Carlton in Philly. I've been a Cubs fan ever since. Ozark could never get his team to the top of the mountain. He won a few National League east titles, but came up short in the NLCS. It ultimately cost him his job and Dallas Green got it and won the World Series in 1980. The other was Chuck Daly, the great Detroit Pistons coach and the guy who led the original 'Dream Team' in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics. These guys are among the best who ever played in the NBA and were like rock stars in Spain. Now those of us into sports know Daly battled pancreatic cancer to the end and cancer has touched us all in some way. What's overlooked is what a great coach he was. He had some great players like Dennis Rodman and Isiah Thomas but had great role players too like Vinny Johnson aka The Microwave, who'd come off the bench and knock down 3 pointer after 3 pointer. I believe they beat up the Celtics enough in the '87 playoffs to cost them a title. If it weren't for a Larry Bird steal, the Pistons would have probably won that series. Daly coached the Dream Team also, which is probably the greatest assembling of basketball talent ever to take the court. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan are three of the five greatest basketball players to ever play and they were all on one team. The rest of the world had no chance. Daly was a master at meshing these egos. He will be missed. These were two coaches I took a lot from. Until next week, keep learning.

The Real World, Physical Therapy, and a Train Wreck

So graduations are upon us and I was wondering, 'is it a good time to graduate?' With the economy and unemployment situations right now, is it better to be a junior or below, having more school while the US rights the ship? There are some industries and majors that may be recession proof, but many more that aren't. I couldn't imagine being on the cusp of graduating and going out into 'the real world' as say, a business major. Or imagine being an engineering student from Lehigh or other prestigious engineering school thinking you're going to work for Pontiac. These are some scary implications that college graduating classes haven't seen in some years.
I have come around on physical therapy. I looked at it as a hassle, having to go twice a week to work on my back and right leg problems. While I found the therapists to be really nice people, it seemed to be an unnecessary addition to my already busy schedule. I know I needed it. I couldn't sit down when I was coaching basketball games this season. My team, as well as my grades, have suffered because of back pain and some of the pain medications that go along with it. So I took it upon myself to start stretching back and leg muscles at home. I was really just doing what I was supposed to but didn't believe I had the time or energy to do so. I am feeling better and enjoyed a round of golf on Saturday. Now, I want to keep working to be pain free and beat this disc disease nonsense.
As a sports fan, I try to follow and learn as much as possible about the games, but stuff comes along that really makes me lose interest in a sport or sport star. The latest is the Alex Rodriguez book. It seems to me that this guy's life has turned into a train wreck. He probably has the most expensive divorce proceedings since Michael Jordan and is as big a lightning rod for controversy as Terrell Owens. It fuels sports talk radio but who really cares about this National Enquirer type crap? Even the steroids stuff and 'disgracing' baseball is too much. For some of the time he used roids, it wasn't against Major League Baseball's rules, though illegal in the US. The whole steroids thing kills me. There is a pill that makes you better at your job. Illegal or not, probably fifty percent of us are going to take it. There is someone out there, younger, better or willing to work for less behind us. Right now I'm more interested in the Boston Bruins pursuit of the Stanley Cup and the Cubs trying to end their hundred year championship drought, as far as my sports interests go. I'm even too busy with school work at times, to enjoy those. Until next week, keep learning.