Author: admin

It feels like a weight lifted from my shoulders to be done with the flag football season. 3 teams means 5 or more practices a week, 3 separate game plans and personalities a plenty. The expectations for this season were mixed. For the 8-9 Giants nothing short of a perfect season would do. The 6-7 Ravens were filled with kids who never played the game before, and the 4-5 Cardinals were too young for expectation. In the end, the results were as varied as the expectations, and hardly anything went according to plan.

My Giants started the season a perfect 5-0, but on the 5th game our top receiver broke his arm. From that point forward we went to producing 45 points a game to 11. We couldn’t stretch the field, so the opposing D could key in on our running backs and force our other receivers to step up. They didn’t. We dropped 2 of our last 3 and recorded more drops in those games than we had the entire season prior. It goes to show that one player really can make all the difference.

The Ravens weren’t very good from the start. We knew this was a learning year where the kids were largely playing together for the first time–playing football at all for the first time–and adjusting to an older and more competitive age bracket. I blogged about the rough start and decided then to Belichick the thing–focusing on designing a playbook that would take advantage of their skills and particular nuances of the game. The problem there was that the Belichick way requires players that listen and follow precise instruction. That isn’t a thing 6-7 yr olds typically do. Still, it worked well enough to earn us 4 wins in 7 games. The three we lost were to older, bigger, and more experienced teams. What I learned most of all from that experience is that I have my own weakness as a coach–Once team morale breaks down, I’m not terribly good at bringing it back up–at least not as fast as needed. When we lost, the kids got down on themselves and never got back up. That happened at the 8-9 level as well.

The Cardinals were outstanding, winning all of their games–most in convincing fashion. What stood out to me was how a lot of these 4 yr old players developed over the course of the season. With this young group we have a solid core of kids who can move up together through the years, staying friends and becoming wonderful athletes.

I enjoyed the season, but the end represents a chance to refocus on writing and personal growth. My basketball season is over (for me) as well, so now I can give my time to other important things.

I believe in freedom, I just don’t believe in the interpretation of freedom as many western and southern states interpret it. I live in Arizona, a state that is at the center of the ‘freedom’ question. The state legislature recently passed a bill that allows businesses to refuse service to homosexuals on the grounds that it is against their religion. In other words, the bill legalizes discrimination as religious freedom.

I wonder if people realize the weapon they wield in religion. Since its inception, the concept of faith has been used to wage war and design restrictions around the way we live our lives. The truth and beauty of religion, in my humble opinion, is that we all speak to our higher power in our own way and those who choose not to follow our way are not a threat, but instead an opportunity to see faith from a different angle and to learn new ways of seeing reality or, at the very least, deepen our resolve that what we believe to be true is in fact true.

I’m terrified by this new development because it weaponizes religion in a way it hasn’t been in quite a long time. In the cause of freedom we are suddenly prepared to justify homosexual discrimination. What next? Racism?

I think I’m at the point in my life where I finally understand that what I put into my body as fuel impacts the way I look and the production I get in all aspects of my life. I was Chad Ochocinco. Back in college I would order Cyclone Fries, which is basically one of those kids meal-sized bags that is filled with french fries. I could devour the entire thing and run a full court basketball game afterwards. These days I can’t think right after a Big Mac. I have to balance my massive desire for junk food with my massive desire to not die.

The other day I overheard one of the little girls I coach talking about how she hates McDonalds and it makes her stomach feel funny. I feel ya, girl. Certain foods do not appeal to me. The grease slides down my throat and speaks to me, saying, “I’m about to jack you up, fool.” It doesn’t feel nice.

Being out of shape also does not feel nice. Lets move past my own kids poking fun at my belly and towards the more meaningful issue of not being dead. I certainly cannot keep the engine running as it used to, which is a reflection of my quickly advancing age, but also points to the fact that I need to be out there working on my body and getting it where I want to be.

“I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind. There was something so pleasant about that place. Even your emotions had an echo In so much space”

– Gnarls Barkley

I don’t think people really go crazy. I believe the seeds for detatchment are already there and circumstance can cause one to blossom into unacceptable behaviors. Even the term crazy is a misnomer. ‘Crazy’ suggests that you are behaving in a fashion that is deeply unnaceptable in relation to societal norms. Yet it doesnt neccesarily mean that you are behaving in a fashion that makes no sense to yourself. Even those who commit suicide do so because it makes sense to them at the time they do it. It isn’t crazy persay, it is a matter of self control, cost-benefit analysis, and value.

I’m crazy. I’d have to be to have 3 boys and to coach all three in all sports they play. I was considered crazy for commuting an hour and a half to and from work each day for over half a decade. Crazy, in this sense was committing acts that the majority of others found to be foolish, untenable, or unthinkable and to do so without any of the stress or disappointment that those calling me crazy would feel given the same circumstances. This is obviously a different level of crazy than is associated with a man like Dahmer who killed and ate people so they would never ever leave him. Even there I can see that there is a level of reasoning that exists. Dahmer, who grew up without hope of real emotional attachments, found a way to get the emotional attachments we all crave and devised a way to ensure he would never have to deal with those he loved abandoning him. It is crazy, but it is only crazy because a significant number of people in the world also believe it is crazy. The idea of being crazy is a sliding scale of relativity determined in whole by the socio-psychological climate of the world.

I’ve begun to look at ‘Crazy’ as a measure of your unwillingness to follow societal norms. Being crazy then is a form of freedom or rebellion against the code of man; a way to decide for yourself how to live and behave as a human being regardless of what society expects from you.

There is true ‘crazy’ in the world and it goes by a different name. My uncle returned from ‘Nam with mental disorders brought on by military experimentation with chemicals. He developed (or the gasses uncovered/awakened) mental disorders. These brain-related problems are evidence of true crazy and should forever be separated from the casual mention of the term. You can be crazy in the sense of doing what one should not do in accordance with societal norms and mores and you can be crazy in the sense of actual guano-level infection and mental derangement. One is about choice, the other is about health.

Recently a man was killed in a Chandler, AZ Walmart following a fist fight near a checkout line. The shooter claimed he felt his life was in danger and in order to save himself he pulled the trigger. I don’t believe it for one second. It is impossible to determine the specific state of mind of an individual, but the laws, especially those in wild-west psychological climes like AZ and FL, are geared to give the armed respondent every go ahead to end a person’s life at the moment they feel their own life is in jeopardy. In fact, given the unlikelihood of proving ones specific state of mind, it is equally likely that the moment a person gets scared they have the will and right to pull a weapon and end a life.

Here is what I know about the Chandler shooting: The two men got into a fight and when one felt he was not winning the fight he pulled a firearm and ended his opponent’s life. This presupposes that these two men were fighting to the death in the middle of a crowded Walmart store. I don’t believe that to be true–especially given that the only armed man in the fight was the shooter.

I go to Walmart too often. In fact, I’ve been to the Walmart in question. I always see men carrying weapons. I’ve blogged about it before and always tell people it is an unnatural and untenable situation. What happens if the armed man is the aggressor? We don’t know the intentions of any individual, but we do know that if someone defends themselves against an armed man, the armed man has a right to fear for his life. That other person can get the gun away from him, a defense we saw used expertly in the Zimmerman case. What this tells me is that people today have the same license to kill that they did in the wild west. This is only confirmed by the fact that the shooter in this particular case is not in custody as of this posting.

Suddenly Beirut doesn’t seem all that dangerous in comparison. At least Phoenix has better bowling.

Some Thoughts:

1. Watch a few episodes of Castle and you’ll start to notice that the titular character has a penchant for flights of fantasy and conspiracy theories. His partner (in work and in bed), the hard-nosed investigator Kate Beckett has no time for fantasy or conspiracy. She seeks the logical answer in all things. Should you be as old or as versed in FOX TV as me, you may recall a similar pairing. In my time there was Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

Watching the commercial for the 300 prequel got me thinking about the idea of war again. Our recovery from the great depression is tied to a world war. This newest depression is tied to a war on terror–one that can never be one or even end. It occurs to me that war seems to be a prerequisite of human civilization. I cannot name a significant part of the world that isn’t in some state of conflict. It seems that we are a people drawn from the divisions between us and try as we might we tend to line up in some form of an us vs. them dichotomy.

In terms of America, us vs. them is supposed to boil down to good vs. evil, with us always being the side of good. Within the nation there are those same lines, though good and bad line up as tradition vs. progress. We call it Republican vs. Democrat round these parts. Its anyone’s guess as to who is actually good. I like to think that the true good are the ones who don’t buy into the dichotomy and recognize the futility of war.

Some Thoughts:

1. Started watching Being Human again. Many say the Vampire/Werewolf thing is old hat, and they’d be right, but this show constantly finds ways to make the interactions between the characters incredibly compelling.
2. One thing I’m looking forward to more than the 2014-15 NFL season is the 2013 season (5) of the League coming to Netflix.

Call it a weekend defrag. Coherent thoughts are a rarity at this point. I seem to be at the precipice of a creative burst, but as always the edge of such things is a jagged line tied to a short fuse and limited ability to reason. Once I hit the zone I’m good, but the process of getting there is quite difficult for the people around me.

This thing that gets in me is contagious. My kids get really creative as I move closer to ‘the zone’ so much so that they often pick up the pen and do something fantastic. I’m reprinting the following text for the benefit of my 6 yr old. We watched Real Steel yesterday and then spent a few hours playing the Xbox game. He woke up inspired the next day and decided to write a Real Steel fanfic piece. Everyone deserves to be published, so here is his first web publication:

Ram Chip vs. Ida Ten

By (l’il ‘legger)

One day Atom beat so many people that Ida Ten wanted to vs. Ram Chip. So Ida Ten’s owner got so angry he wanted to vs. Ram Chip. So he got a fight. When Ida Ten and his owner got there he noticed all the robots were there except Atom and Zeus. Ida Ten’s owner thought they were fighting, but they had a day off and Ida Ten’s owner didn’t know it was robot day so he had to vs. 1,999 robots to get to Ram Chip.

Kick, Pow, bang, wham!

When he got to the underworld I he vs. Ambush, then Atom, then the Midas touch. Then when he went to Underworld 2 he vs. Six Shooter, Black Top, and the Mighty Metro. When he got the World Robot Boxing I he vs. Noisy Boy and Twin Cities. When he gone to the last stage he vs. Albino, and Zeus. Then he got to Ram Chip. Ida Ten shot a dart at Ram Chip’s head so the spike blew up then it spit oil at Ida Ten’s face. Then he shot him right in his gut. Then he flared. Then Ida Ten became the champion and he got the champion belt.

The End.

Its a first draft, but I’m proud of the kid.

Some Thoughts:

1. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me recorded in Phoenix this week and I didn’t even know it. At points like this I feel like I’m trapped between the worlds of intellectuals, athletes, fools, and children without true knowledge of any.

Truth is I don’t have a whole lot to say right now. This was a pretty good rebound weekend for flag football. After a two game losing streak, my 6-7 team rebounded for a win. The 8-9 also rebounded from last week’s tough loss to earn a big defensive win. 4-5 continues to have fun, running and gunning to win #6. All was not perfect in the football world, however.  I learned that the 8-9 team is vulnerable on office. Some of that comes from not understanding the plays as they are called, and some of it is about not having the right people in the right positions. Two practices left, and we ought to focus one of them on the offensive execution.

I learned from this weekend where I need to improve as a coach and a play caller. This will benefit me in a number of ways and a number of sports. I am excited about the opportunity to coach 8-9 soccer and have two of my boys finally play together. They are both very high energy kids and though the younger one isn’t old enough for the 8-9 grouping, he is aggressive enough to hold his own with a number of the players, and his physical skills can only rise to the challenge.

Some Thoughts:

1. Sometimes you know when someone is doing the right thing. My wife is a nurse and this is the perfect job for her. She loves what she does, and that makes me happy to know she found her happy place.
2. A cop cut me off in the parking lot today. I was driving towards him and as he watched me get closer he decided he was done waiting. I slammed on the breaks and narrowly avoided hitting him.  Since when do cops run insurance hustles?

I’ve often wondered why America doesn’t just implode. Our political climate is so charged that people will openly disrespect the President during the State of the Union address and town hall meetings regularly devolve into shouting matches. We have so many distinct groups within our country each with divergent political ideas. Moving beyond politics, we have a huge tech responsibility as we try to keep these ancient power and water grids functional. The problems I’ve illustrated are different for other countries, and the reason, I think, is the number of Americans per square mile.

 

Japan is a tech giant. They are so far ahead of us in terms of cellular and wireless tech that we sometimes view their everyday tech as science fiction. They can do so much because they are so small. The rollout of new tech is so localized that it can be accomplished so much faster than in a huge nation like the USA.

That space is a double-edged sword. While it makes it difficult to upgrade technology, it makes it easy to maintain social order. Because we are a large country with relatively few people, we have the space to distance ourselves from those who think differently than us. For the now it is a functional situation. I suppose there could come a time when the various sides take up arms and wage war for control of resources, but it seems far-fetched. Our idealist battles are fought on CNN and Fox News.

 

I spent the past hour pouring through Poster Presentation rubrics, looking to create a research/social sciences rubric that is based more around research than experimentation and process/based scientific methodology. The majority of poster presentations I’ve uncovered are rooted in the sciences and are very prescriptive devices that walk the student through precisely what to do. This creates no room, and as importantly, offers no value for creativity. My research led me to the question: What effect do rubrics have on student growth?

As a general rule I find rubrics constricting. On the one hand students are being given clear expectations and understanding as to what a specific type of assignment would generally look like. On the other hand, students spend k-12 being ‘taught to the test’ and are given precious little space to develop and explore creativity. Because they’ve been trained in this fashion, they are likely to do exactly what the rubric says, which puts creative (and affective) control in the hands of the rubric creator.

There needs to be a balance, or at least some categories that reflect the role of creativity. Even so, the idea of a creativity rubric smacks of irony. I know what rubrics are for: they help students understand what you are looking for in terms of grading, but they can stifle the most important part of the process–learning to be an individual.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. Walmart’s new commercial claims to celebrate the heritage of black women, but focuses on black women’s weaves and relaxed hair and the hair product used to maintain a look that is in fact forced upon them. A bit ironic in my book.