Football Post Season Review 2012

Things learned:

1. Negativity on the sidelines is not okay.
2. Yelling at referees is also not okay. 
3. Taking good care of coaches/players with gear is a very good thing.
4. Kids will be extra excited about playoff games, and will lose focus on their job.
5. Special Teams is 1/3 of the game, field position is a big deal.
6. Turnovers are a necessity on defense and never need to happen on offense.
7. Mixing odd/even man fronts confuses offensive lines. 
8. Coaches are a tight knit group. 
9. Clean locker rooms and strict stretch routines are good for discipline. 
10. I have the best job a man could ever ask for.

Irresponsibility

Part of dedicating my life to the education and service of teens is teaching them to be responsible. So far this week, both the football team I coach and the students I teach have shown me the incredible depth of their irresponsibility. Tough love is tough on all parties involved, and neither group is going to be happy with the consequences for their actions.

This can be very frustrating. But then God reminds me that I treat him the exact same way, and change my tune from frustration to patience. Sure there were 33 freshman failing at least 1 class as of 10:37 Wednesday morning. And there might only be 5 groups present their projects to the class today out of 27 total groups. Excuses will fly. Blame will be tossed to and fro. Grades will suffer. Students will learn responsibility.

It is easy to slack off and reward people for doing what is expected of them because doing what is expected is so rare these days. Have a higher standard than that. Don't reward just doing right, reward doing above and beyond right. And do not let less than right be okay.

And hope some day some of them figure it out.

Homework Tradition

Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid. 

Nobody ever likes to do it, some people refuse to do it/don't have time for it, and even the people assigning it have to deal with extra work from it. I had my fare (pun intended) share of homework when I was in school. I didn't enjoy any of it, but I completed it because I had a situation at home that was conducive towards homework completion. Many of my students today do not. So I do not give homework if at all possible. I know there are circumstances (especially in math) when students need extra practice and must get a little work done outside of class in order to master content. But I believe homework should be the anomaly, not the norm.


As a teacher, I am trying to mold the minds of students to become better people. I am much more concerned with their well-being than their content mastery. I am not convinced this is completely right, but it is what I am most passionate about. Part of this teaching I think includes leaving school work at school and home things at home. My students need to understand their responsibility in their family is just as important as school. I want them to be able to leave work at work some day and come home and enjoy their spouse and children and leave the worries of work where they belong, at work.


I don't want to be the type of husband and father who is always working and having to bring his wife and kids to the office to enjoy time with them. So I am doing what I can now to make sure I set myself up for that sort of lifestyle. I want the same thing for the students I teach, so I will design my instruction accordingly.


The analogy from this 11 year old may be a little bit extreme, but I am thinking a little more like him than some teachers think is proper or plausible.

No Time to Breathe

Wow I am busy. Barely keeping my teaching head above water and trying to finagle my finances to last for 13 more days. It sure is fun when life is rough though and God placed a great group of friends, family, mentors, and an amazing best friend and girlfriend to help me through. No more time to type, sorry.

Free Agency

72 hours ago, I had no idea what my future was going to be or if I would have a high school coaching job by August 1st. But apparently last Friday morning was the beginning of the Coach free agency period, and things have been moving fast and furious since then. The Springtown Porcupines happened to have an opening, so I called their principal Friday morning (who happens to be a lifelong family friend, distant relative, and my Geography teacher) to investigate. In a span of about 15 minutes, I went from no serious job prospects, to one very interested athletic director.

I met and talked with him Friday, and the prospect of working there so close to family and girlfriend, for a family friend, living decently cheap, and coaching with good people is looking really hard to pass up.

9:00 Saturday night rolls around and a coach from a bigger school in my favorite area of Texas calls and further complicates matters. Georgetown is the place. More money and a bigger school and the most beautiful part of the best country in the world is the intrigue. I will go there Wednesday for an interview.

Now all the other people who have given me some "we may have to move some people around" or "maybe we can find you a spot" are telling me to stall and take it easy and give them time to put together an offer. No wonder LeBron made his "The Decision" a 2 hour ESPN special, it is a great feeling to know so many different people want you.

In the last 48 hours I have been in contact in some way with coaches/principals from the following schools:

Springtown
Georgetown
Hallsville
Decatur
Jim Ned
Midlothian
Abilene Christian

Insanity. I am just so glad God made me wash dirty laundry and eat humble pie almost daily for 5 years before he gave me this kind of an opportunity. Because now instead of singing my own praises of my own awesomeness, I am pointing it straight to the source: My parents and my God.

It is a great feeling to be wanted by all these different schools full of great people and great opportunity. But it is an even greater feeling that I know Someone that loved me before I was even born, and has plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future.

This time next week I will have probably made a decision and accepted a job and taken the next step in my life's journey. Whoa. The coolest thing is, God will bless whichever decision I make.

Times they are a changin'

Bob Dylan wrote a lot of good songs. And most of them sound a little better when someone covers them than we he sang them, but that didn't stop him. I like that. Eddie Vedder did this song well (better if he had a harmonica), but it's fitting for what's been going on this year as changes continue to roll on in left hand land.

I like lists. So I'm gonna make one of my changes I've realized here lately.

• Not many of my friends will be left in Abilene after this weekend. Getting old is change. Tyler, Chance, Cody, Sam, and now Eric, Richard, Cody, and so many more.
• I am looking back into my original plan of coaching high school kids.
• There is a little more to finding a real job than finding a job hauling hay, bailing hay, selling sporting goods, doing laundry, or building fences. 
• There is a new lady that likes me enough to give me the official title of "boyfriend" which is nice. And it's got to be true if ole' facespace says it is true. I am a fan of her. I think she will be around a while. 
• There are more and more professional athletes younger than me every year. Whoa. 
• Finding a "real" job will mean completely taking financial responsibility over myself. Whoa. 
•  I now have 2 brothers who are driving. Whoa. 
• I am spending less weekends at "home" and more weekends at "home" working. Good thing home is where you make it. 
• My dog is a lot bigger now than he was a year ago when he became mine officially. 
• I have had my pickup for almost 83,000 miles. 
• I am less familiar with pop music than I've ever been. I am getting old. 
• Another sign of getting old: when my dad cut my hair he had to buzz the fuzz off my ears. Like father like son, I suppose. 

Times they are a changin'. But that just means we are all that much closer to heaven. Change is good. 

Hudl > DSV

I love things that make my work life more efficient. Hudl is one of those things that will get me home before 1:00am next fall, and I am really excited about that. It has all the perks and benefits of DSV, but I can work from my house, or my phone, or wherever I want. Thank you technology for making man's curse of work a little easier.

March

I like March. It is may favorite month of the year. Here's why:

1. Basketball. The State Tournament is the second weekend of March and the NCAA Tournament begins the weekend after that. I know I coach football, but basketball will probably always be my favorite.

2. Spring. Spring starts March 20thish. I am a fan of the weather and semester of Spring. It is the best season of the year.

3. Birthdays. There are several people I love who have birthdays this month. My dad, my aunt, and my cousin, to name a few.

4. Baseball. I love nothing more than Little Leaguers starting practices and getting ready to play some catch and get sweet uniforms and hats like the MLB guys. Colleges start conference play, high schools start district play, and the Big Leaguers start Spring Training. Baseball ended my athletic career, but it began my coaching Career and I love it.

5. Spring Break. I am glad I chose a career that always guarantees a week off from work. I usually am working during Spring Break also, but it's usually on a tractor or outside. And both of those places are good places. (This year it was indoors, but I was making some little guys from my #4 happy so I accepted my role).

I am grateful God put me in Texas to let me experience this month and all its glory. So enjoy March, there are only 14 days left!

English is there native tongue.

I do not envy English Teachers. They bare the daunting task of teaching hour children grammar; speling, and sentence structure. Math is hard enuff to teach and there are only 9 numbers and some cymbals to deal with. There is alot of words they're minds have trouble comprehending. And it is rare to find allot of motivation for students to learn about homophones and contractions. If yule let me, aisle attempt to explain a few of my favorite word quirks in English.

-There is a difference between there, their, and they're. Learn the difference and your facebook statuses and tweets will look much more English savvy.

There = location. Let's go over there.

They're = they are (contraction). Let's go over there and see what they're doing.

Their = possession. Let's go over there to their house and see what they're doing.

- Please do not insult someone with the word "your". Saying, "Your dumb," shines a brilliant I am rubber you are glue moment right in the face of the English-ignorant speaker.

Your = possession. That is your underwear.

You're = you are (contraction). You're highly intelligent.

There are many more examples of this sort of word confusion phenomenon known as homophones. Read more and learn their ways.

I do not envy those who desire to learn English. Homophones are just the beginning of the confusion. Asking a Texan if they want a coke and their response being, "yeah, get me a Dr. Pepper," are mind-boggling to even native speakers.

This world is funny and people who know how to cleverly play with words amuse me.

Burning the Midnight Oil

• My dog is an excellent snorer, and I am a fan of him and teaching him cool stuff. His newest thing is catching the treats or balls or other random objects I toss his way in his mouth. 
• Ted Mosby and I have a lot in common. And I really am enjoying How I Met Your Mother. 
• I have been going to school since I was 5, and I am 23. I am growing a little weary of jumping through hoops and writing papers. 
• My stomach ain't the iron fortress it used to be. Got to go home from job #2 early today, but I think it was because the pizza I had for breakfast upset my stomach.
• I need to change my diet and start eating healthier, puking sucks. 
• My oldest younger brother knows what he wants to do with his life, and is deciding where to do it. That is really cool.
• My parents came to town last weekend and I shared a couple meals with them and a church service. Also really cool. 
• My other two brothers had their own activities to attend to so I didn't get to spend time with them. Not as cool. 
• My #2 cousin is playing injured. I know the feeling and am proud he's hanging in there. He is a better basketball player than I am, but don't tell him I said that. 
• Great friend and roommate got a cool tattoo tonight, with cool reasoning behind it. Also really cool.
• It rekindled my idea for my tattoo #2, but probably not enough to turn the idea into reality, yet. 
• I miss my friends that moved away after last semester. And am already looking forward to missing the ones who will leave after this semester. 
• The annual trip to Austin and the State Basketball Tournament is a mere month away. This is the third coolest thing in my life each year after church camp and teaching. 
• I am getting my truck back Thursday or Friday. I never knew how much I really liked it until I didn't have it for two months. Funny how absence always makes the heart grow fonder, even if it is just a chunk of metal. 
• I am still grateful that I can have my truck back at all. And my life. And my Grace from my Father. God is also really cool (understatement). 
• I need to "dig" into my other blog again. Soon. This week soon. I will be looking for divine inspiration, and will probably get it in the shower like I usually do. 
• Lists are a good way to organize things. So are spreadsheets. 

Goodnight. And always look for planks in the mirror before you point out specks in another. 

Who needs one job when you can have two?

Along with my ACU Football responsibilities and graduate student responsibilities, I have added another responsibility. Following in the footsteps of my friend and mentor, Cody Farrell, I have taken a position of cronie at Athletic Supply. It is a great job working for great people and I like it. If I ran a small business, this would be the type of business I'd like to run. It also helps that I did a lot of this stuff in high school at Ginger's stores, so I am catching on quickly to the way things work.

I am still excited to see what my first big screw-up is going to be, but so far my record has been relatively clean. I am grateful to Mike Forrester for being the connection to the job and giving me the opportunity and to Wes Davis for hiring me on and letting me jump right in and swim. This could be the beginning of a nice new work place.

And for future referencing, coaches come in and out of there all the time ordering things, so it has become a nice way for me to network and meet some people that I might want to hire me sometime in the near future. Thank you God for continuously blessing me with opportunities to beef up my resume' and learn new skills that will help me later in my career (whatever that ends up being). 

No Matter What The Case May Be

I like to think of my self as a man who lives without worry. That is true about 99% of the time. Today was one of my 1%ers.

2012 is off to an interesting start. It has already been filled to the brim with change, lightly squeezed with a sour taste of consequences, served with a delicious looking plate of opportunity. In this whirlwind of an appetizer course to the year I found myself deep in worry from about 1:30 yesterday til 9:00 tonight.

I was worried about paying for my truck repairs, $3500 expected to be paid by today for exact, on top of rent and the complications with my loan and payroll over Christmas break. Love that money! Woooooo!

I was worried about my career, how well I fit in with a new staff, whether my second degree was worth the trouble, and if college coaching was my right fit right now.

I was worried about my new job, learning how things operated and doing it efficiently and how it'd effect my performance in the job I already held.

I was worried about my relationships, whether or not I should be looking for a girlfriend, missing friends that moved away, and wondering what'll happen in 5 months when more move.

UNTIL...

On my way home after some nice family time and a home cooked meal, The Spirit reminded me of a song my uncle Steve sang in VBS way back when he had a gross mustache and I had no facial hair (or very little). The song goes like this:

I've got confidence.
My LORD is gonna see me through.
No matter what the case may be
My LORD is gonna fix it for me.

And I sang it all the way home from Tuscola and until it morphed from a hopeful prayer to a refurbished foundation of my faith. Matthew 5:48 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it reminds me of my ultimate goal in this life. To be perfect as my Father in Heaven is perfect.

Satan and Selfishness like to tag-team combat my heart into thinking I am the one responsible for the perfection, the completeness in my life. And they when every time I lay down my spiritual armor and show up naked to a nasty, ruthless war on Evil. That and my work ethic make me think I can accomplish things if I know all the answers and work my ass off to get it done. But I can't. And that is perfectly alright because I've got confidence. My LORD is gonna see me through. No matter what the case may be, my LORD is gonna fix it for me.

Thank you to everyone who has ever helped with a Vacation Bible School. You never know what God is doing in the spirit of a 6 year old that he will really need at 1:00 am a little over a week before he turns 23. Truth roots itself deep in our souls. Hold fast to truth.