Month: February 2014

Imagine if everything you learned led to the job you wanted. Imagine now that the job you wanted were no longer available or became obsolete. What would your hard fought education be worth then?

More and more I am seeing commercials for schools like University of Phoenix that advise students to only take courses that lead directly to the job they want. Perhaps I’m from another generation (or even planet), one that believes in a well-rounded education and learning that promotes understanding of what you want to do and what you are capable of as a human being. The system is geared less and less for that sort of person anymore.

The majority of college systems and legislation–especially in the community college sector–are geared towards degree completion in a field that will lead to immediate employment. I’m not troubled by this, but I am troubled by the limited criteria of those tracks. More and more the track system guides us to take only the courses some entity deems absolutely necessary to a specific job line. Wanna be a secretary? There’s a degree for that. Wanna be an HR Specialist? There’s a degree for that too. However, where in all of these degree paths is the idea of becoming a strong learner and critical thinker?

The difficulty I have with track programs is that they train us to do one thing. These programs fail to recognize that society is ever-evolving and that evolution requires critical thinking and a varied skillset. It isn’t about learning the specific set of skills required to do a job so much as it is learning how to be a learner, a team player, and a critical thinker.

Been giving renewed thought to the end of the football season. There is clearly a lot I could have done better and there are lessons I can take from that in order to improve as a coach for the upcoming soccer season. Here are some takeaways:

• More fun
• Focus on having fortitude and courage
• Greater focus on team work
• Greater focus on timing
• Use players to their strengths

The last one is especially important. We lost 2 out of our last 3 because we didn’t–I didn’t have kids who can step up and perform different roles that build off their strengths. We also lost because when the going got tough, we got despondent. I should’ve rethought the starters and began to run more plays with two halfbacks, because I had 2 and I had 1 every down wideout left. I didn’t, because I stubbornly believed all the others would step up and emerge as stars. Becoming a trusted wideout takes time and takes forming a relationship with the QBs. We didn’t have any of that at the end and it showed.

So, in order to improve I need to work on being a better teacher of what is listed above. Teamwork is the starting point. My players didn’t believe they could fill certain roles and I didn’t teach them the timing to be effective in the long run. This is also something I can improve on next year.

A way to build camaraderie is team specific high fives, chants, and other team building rituals. That is something I’ve always been poor at and need to really improve on for soccer. When it comes to soccer we are already going into the season with two underaged  kids, so we are already looking at being an undersized team. We gotta believe and we gotta play smarter than anyone else in the league in order to be successful. With any luck we can pull together some of the players from last year and continue to grow together.

What is lost in this debate over SB 1062 is how far reaching this bill actually is. The bill serves to redefine the individual as a paper corporation and it extends all the protections and freedoms of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States to non-carbon based lifeforms.

I kid you not.

The material capitalized is marked in blue–indicating amendment or other significant change to the existing 1999 law on the books. “”Exercise of religion” means the PRACTICE OR OBSERVANCE OF RELIGION, INCLUDING THE ability to act or refusal to act in a manner substantially motivated by a religious belief, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.”The bill goes on to add, “”Person” includes a religious assembly or institution ANY INDIVIDUAL, ASSOCIATION, PARTNERSHIP, CORPORATION, CHURCH, RELIGIOUS ASSEMBLY OR INSTITUTION OR OTHER BUSINESS ORGANIZATION.”

While the media storm focuses on the idea of this being a Gay Rights bill, the facts as they are laid out above are far more sinister. This is a bill that enhances religious freedom or, in a sense, enables people to impose their religion on others in a significant way. It allows individuals to use their corporations as a tool to advance their ideology. I could, for example, decide to purchase a mall and then decide that allowing persons of a faith not aligned with my own are to be excluded from that mall. I can do that same thing with land, or schools, etc.

Here is the key: anything deemed to be “practice or observation of religion” would be protected–not just for individuals but for companies as well. It does what several other laws as of late have done: It confers humanity on corporations. Yep, here in 2014 we are just a few steps from turning into a full blown Shadowrun society, minus the magic (maybe).

I love that I am free to have any faith I choose, however, I don’t agree that I should be free to segregate others as it serves my faith. In truth, faith should be a deeply personal thing that you impose/embrace yourself as opposed to imposing on others. In a state where the majority of people are part of a highly organized and powerful (and somewhat secretive) religious group, a law that makes any business they control reflective of the religious individual is scary. This particular group had restrictive racial policies until 1978 and still has very restrictive gender policies, as most religions do. So while we are concerned about the sexual rights of some, we should also be concerned about the rights of women who, largely repressed by religion, may quickly discover that businesses now have the right to treat them as the bible sometimes does: Badly.

I’ve had to take a step back and evaluate my life and my responsibilities. Having the flu (or symptoms thereof) leaves one in a vulnerable and reflective state. Been considering different patterns of organization–ways in which to rationalize the workload that doesn’t overwhelm me. I’ve yet to find that magic bullet. I’m still talking about it here…

When I’m not trying to be a better person, I’m thinking about this fundamental difference in my life–the fact that I have kids. I think that having kids is much like growing another limb. Driving past their school today I realized that I am always thinking about them in some ‘background process’ way. My boys are of me and I want to make sure their experiences in life are the best they can possibly encounter.

Another short blog is what I’m encountering now… being sick is hell.

Late at night when the house is quiet is when I miss my cat the most. She’d skulk out of the near darkness and climb into my lap or unto my shoulder in hopes I would settle soon, so she could curl up on me and go back to sleep. I would listen to her purr and my mind would relax to the point I could harvest new ideas. Part of the change–this shift away from coaching–is a recognition of how much has really changed in my late night routine.

Without kitty I’ve begun to fill that uncomfortable silence with the chomp chomp of potato chips. It is grief eating more than stress eating. By any name it is a behavior that is likely to hurt my health.

 

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.