Day: September 28, 2015

I was scanning the audible.com website when I came across yet another Elizabeth Gilbert (eat, pray, love) novel that strained the boundary between personal narrative and self-help. In truth, this latest effort feels a lot more like self-help than anything else. It set me to thinking about the genre in general and about how some people feel qualified to ‘preach’ about how to do things the right way whereas others don’t feel like they have the ethical or moral lungs to do so. Then I recognized something fundamental: All these people are really doing is talking about what worked for them and about how they were able to navigate the common difficulties of life and emerge intact. It set me to thinking about my own life and trials and learned experiences. This isn’t me saying I am going to write a self-help novel or even blog (unless that is in fact what I have been doing all along). This is me saying that all writing is in essence a form of that. We are always expressing experiences and trying to make sense of those experiences and our own choices. Every so often we figure out a routine that works and then, if we are very lucky, we get to share it with someone who it might affect in some small way.

1. Some Thoughts:
   This weekend marked my first win of the year in both leagues I am in. It also marked the first loss of the year for the Jets, first win for the Giants, and first win for my boys’ Jr. Pumas. That last bit is the most meaningful to me, because I got a chance to see the smile on their faces as a result of the victory.
2. That’s the good news. The bad is that a kid was carried out on a stretcher. A player from the Casa Grande JPW Rattlers suffered what appeared to be a head injury late in the 4th quarter. It is not clear how he was injured but since it was a head related injury, local authorities erred on the side of caution. I hope the kid is okay.
3. The disappointing part is the way the kids are being used in the games. On the one hand I am disappointed as a dad to see my eldest go from 6 tds in 7 touches to being the kid who doesn’t get to touch the ball at all and in truth is shoved on the offensive line as a ‘We gotta play him somewhere’ sort of play. The program he is a part of is starting to trouble me in general. The coaching style focuses on whole team activity vs. breaking kids up into groups and allowing them to move through stations for the 1:15 of practice they get twice a week. I have to defer to the coach, because he played college ball successfully a lot longer than I did, so has a sustained experience that level of coaching and also coaches a successful high school program—his second such program. On the other hand, high school kids come pre-loaded with a set of skills, which are usually learned at this level. I worry those fundamentals are being ignored in exchange for adherence to an offensive and defensive philosophy. Still, no helicoptering. They’ll learn this thing one way or another. In the end, I might just wind up teaching them myself.

I want to talk–nay, rant–about football and the state of the universe.

Let me start by saying this rant is powered by a bad Jets loss and, more fully, me having four kittens bent on destroying my home. I am someone who has claimed to be a ‘cat person’ for years, but four kittens and a momma who wants things just how she wants things for her kittens spells bad news, especially when there is a wimpy Yorkie involved. I don’t want to recount how many times I had to pull his whimpering butt out of a corner after being dominated by a kitten. It just isn’t cool, man. Not cool at all.

Also not cool: My lack of rhythm in fantasy football. I long labored under the impression that I was a fantasy impresario, a real candidate for fantasy consigliere to the stars. Maybe some of that would be true if I just figured out which of my instincts apply to this week or next week or the week after. Case and point: I saw something in Hankerson last week, enough to recognize the budding chemistry between him and Matty Ice. I did not, however realize the pitch count Roddy White has been on until just today. This in turn caused me to drop Rishard Matthews as a result of streaming receivers (poorly I might add) the week he scores 2 TDs to the tune of 100+ yards. Yeah, that isn’t happening next week, so hopefully I can snag him again in free agency, but the problem is I needed him this week. That or I need Manning to put up less than 30 fantasy points to record my first win of the year–that with Weeden and McCown (Luke at least) as my starters.

The fact is, I’m not putting in the necessary time to be truly great at breaking down football match ups. Sure, there are experts who do put in the time and still suck worse than me, but they ain’t me. I come pre-loaded with the belief that I can do anything I put my mind to. I haven’t ben proven wrong yet–yet I haven’t put my full energies to much of anything over the past decade. Perhaps that is a larger conversation to be shared. It seems like being good enough is good enough for most people.

Not sure it is good enough anymore for me.