I woke up at 7:45 this morning, two whole hours later than I usually am out of bed. Sick. It was obvious from the pounding in my head to the tightness of my throat. When I was a kid I used to love sick days. It was the one chance to sit at home and just chill without fear of retribution. For me retribution usually meant my mom forcing readings down my throat or being asked to do all kinds of chores that generally didn’t get done by me or anyone else. Sidenote: I think the ‘honey-do’ list is a less draconian form of that.
Nowadays sick time is a thing to be absolutely avoided. I don’t want to waste those hours and wind up in a position where I don’t have them when I need them. Moreover, I want to go to work most days. I love what I do. There are times in every compartment of my life (sports, friends, family, work) where I want to escape because the drama quotient feels too high.
I am really sick though. That is a problem, because I don’t actually know how to be sick. I don’t think I can just sit at home. I’m going to work. If it be from the house than so be it.
Some Thoughts:
- Rough moment on the sidelines this weekend. There was a dad who I thought I was absolutely cool with who absolutely went off on me after I called out his kid on a bad play. He was angry because he feels because I am a dad and a coach I should not be coaching. He put his kid on the team to get away from such things. The reality seems to be a little more complex. I can tell you he doesn’t respect me as a coach (as he doesn’t know me and he has seen me verbally call out his son on multiple occasions), he doesn’t want to see his son called out publicly, and he is pissed that there are dads who are coaching. I get his frustration because I want my kids to succeed and get the best treatment as well. Still, that is not the way to go about it.
- I won’t coach up his kid anymore. It is not worth the hassle. The kid is not going to get what I have to offer and the ones around him will. I’ve noticed already that the kid looks at me sideways and it makes me wonder what the dad says at home about our staff. I feel that way about a number of dads and a few coaches I work with.
- It bugged me. It made me think about how I am as a coach among other coaches and to my players specifically. I’ll be better about the call outs as a result, so something positive came out of this.