Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Affirming weekend, and then....

It was a pretty exciting weekend, all things being considered. Over the past few days, I felt very challenged about my coaching, my teaching, and just who I am spiritually, as a child of God. And then, over the weekend, God just gave me feelings of affirmation in all of those areas. He gave me confidence and a sense of being with Him, and it was cool.

And then I saw one of my closest friends almost wreck her car no more than 30 yards in front me. It was icy and snowy in Yorktown after church, and she and I were heading to Indy to play some basketball. There was a slick spot on the road (I started to slide right after she did, but I caught my car quickly--maybe I have more practice in snow?), and she started to fishtail. And then fishtail. And then spin around. And then somehow, miraculously, avoids things in the yard to my right. And then slides (facing me) across the road before coming to a stop. Again, all of this happened right in front of me, after I was able to (slowly) bring my car to a halt. It's a weird thing to see develop in front of you...

And, of course, a new change of course. Had a rought moment at school today that I did not handle well. So, prayers for tomorrow as I try to make amends...can't really say more than that.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Couldn't get more exciting

Ok, this "C" thing is getting a little old...

But, last night couldn't get more exciting. We played a Northview team which is the biggest team in our conference, has defeated Terre Haute South, and lost by 3 to Bloomington North, and played Terre Haute North very tough twice.

We busted out to a big early lead (to the tune of 15 points), thanks to our press. They made an adjustment, though, and we got a little lazy, only taking a 3 point lead into halftime. Oh, and our point guard had a bloody nose, too. The third quarter was tight the whole way, and we entered the fourth quarter tied at 51.

The fourth quarter was crazy, as we started losing their best shooter for some wide open shots. However, we had an answer for most of the quarter. With under two minutes left, they had a 6 point lead. We whittled our way down, though, finishing the game on an 11-2 run. We got a couple big stops, hit a few key free throws, then missed a few key free throws that would have iced the game. But, a 79-76 victory was the result, which was a great win for our team.

It was also exciting for me because I felt more a part of the coaching staff then before. I felt confident to make some suggestions during the game, and we actually did some of them. Probably needless to say, the game ended well before 10pm (not the needless part), but I didn't get to sleep until midnight. Too much adrenaline from a truly amazing basketball game. Or, as Christine would say, a great Indiana High School basketball game (note the capitalization).

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Cruelty to the extreme

Congratulations to the John Glenn High School (my alma mater) basketball team, winner of their fourth straight Bi-County Tournament. It lead to a dialogue on Hickory Husker, a favorite website of mine on Indiana high school basketball, praising that program and Coach Mosson. Along the discussion line, their sectional was mentioned. Now, I knew this is one of the toughest sectionals in the state, but I wanted to investigate.

First of all, this year, there are two really really bad teams in there, so we throw those teams out, leaving four teams: Glenn, Jimtown, Fairfield, and Westview. So, I checked the ever popular Sagarin ratings for Indiana HS basketball. As it turns out, John Glenn is the 8th best 2A team in the state. And yet, they are the fourth best team in their sectional. Are you kidding me?!? How is it possible that of the nearly 100 2A teams in the state, 4 of the top 8 exist in a two-county section of very northern Indiana? I feel sorry for three of those teams, who in most regions would easily make the regional level, if not semi-state, and yet may not win their first game. Welcome to Indiana basketball. :)

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Cold and white


Winter is finally here. Last night we got 2-4 inches of snow, which means a few things. First, I got to spend 30+ minutes shovelling this morning. Secondly, it gives me things to ponder while I avoid grading algebra II quizzes. For example, how can it be cold enough to snow the aforementioned 2-4 inches, and yet the ice that covered the lake to the right actually melts?

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Can't think of a "C" title

Can't think of much to write about, either. Things have been crazy busy with basketball and coach needing me to referee a lot of middle school games for him. That means lots of getting home at 9 or 9:30, which is a late time to be getting some kind of dinner prepared. I've also had a hard time getting motivated into doing a lot of lesson plans during the weekend, which means the weeks getting a little more stressful as I have to keep up to date on those. In an ideal world, I would always have a tentative plan a week in advance, but right now it's more like I know what I'm doing tomorrow...and that's not always planned, more I just know what I'm doing. I've never had to ad-lib or wing it yet, although I probably could, but I'm organized enough that it's a little disconcerting. Maybe God is teaching me a little on trust or something...

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Cussing

Is it good to get people to cuss at your boss on your behalf? That was my experience tonight. I was officiating the Sullivan freshman basketball game (as an emergency replacement), and apparently the visiting coach did not appreciate the way the game was called. We were supposed to play six quarters, but after the main four, the visiting coach called it off--no more. Then, while his team was getting ready to leave, he went to our AD (who was keeping the scoreboard) and asked, "Is this skinny SOB (this is the edited version) on staff or something?" So our AD responded, "Actually, he is." Now, I would have preferred that not be known. In fact, I think I try to error the other direction, because I don't want any conflict of interest or anything... Plus, I thought we called a pretty good game. The AD claimed it was the first time he got cussed at all year. So, well played by me!

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Coaching etiquette

So, a couple quick comments from the weekend. First of all, Katie came to my basketball game on Friday and brought me pufuleti!!!



Pufuleti (pronounced poof-a-letz, and there's a comma under the t, but I don't know how to do that) are a Romanian treat that cost about 35 cents for a bag, or something like that. It's basically salted cheese puffs without the cheese. We loved them over the summer, and she brought me home some when she went back over Christmas break. The bag is gone...

Secondly, what exactly is the coaching etiquette when players challenge you to a game of 1-on-1? Before Friday's game, one of our guys challenged me. So, in dress shoes and a sweater, I played him in a game to 10. After taking an 8-4 lead, though, I began to think a little about what I was doing. We're trying to get this guy to play stronger and more aggressive and smarter, and will losing to a coach (whose admittedly is not very good 1-on-1...I'm much more of a team guy--rebounds, assists, help-side defense) in his dress shoes help or hurt that cause? As it turns out, I started resorting to jump-shots with less than 100% effort, so he won 10-8, but I could have scored just about whenever I wanted to if I so desired. So, are they just testing me to see if I have any idea what I'm talking about (even though a game of 1-on-1 wouldn't show that at all)? Or just trying to be macho? Surely high school guys would be above that...

More on etiquette, I picked up an assist yesterday. At least, everyone thinks I did. In the JV game, with the score 0-0, our defense was trying to steal the ball. It got deflected and was heading to the bench. Just as a reaction, our coach batted it, redirecting it onto the court, where our player took it to the hole to score the first bucket of the game. This, of course, is not allowed, and should have been out of bounds to North Knox. Now, for whatever reason, everyone in attendance seem to think it was me and not our coach who did it, and I got all kinds of accollades/harassment through the rest of the night. Quite possibly the first coach to literally help out on a fast break!

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Creepy

Ok, I decided to try to be creepy after all. As it turns out, it's not easy to take a picture of your own eye and keep it in focus. At least, it is if you have grading to do, and want to get some sleep tonight. So, you get somewhat blurry images of my eye.





It's pretty obvious where the piece of chalk hit, and the rest of the eye isn't very red at all. The eyeball has felt swollen all day, and was getting pretty sore on the drive home, but is feeling better now that I'm actually home. Maybe the dark with the carlights was annoying? We'll see what it feels like tomorrow...

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Casualty of war

Who knew coaching was hazardous to your health?

Tonight we hosted the Terre Haute South JV squad. I would say we played them, but that very much was not the case. We laid an egg. And by an egg, I mean an egg the size of Wyoming. Don't ask why I picked Wyoming, it just seemed nice and....square. Ish. Anyway, coach was ranting during halftime, and at the end of his speech threw the chalk at the chalkboard. Which, of course, is not a problem, because I was a good six feet from the chalkboard. Except that when the chalk hit the chalkboard, it shattered, and one piece flew right at me, hitting me directly in the left eye. Which was open.

I have a nice red mark on my eye. It feels a little swollen, but that's all. I thought about taking a picture of my eye, but a blown up pic of my eye staring at me seemed a little creepy. And by a little, I mean mucho grande. I wish I had an eye patch so I could wear it to practice tomorrow, but I don't, and that might be a little mean. Instead, I'll suffer silently...and by silently, I mean I'll broadcast it to the world to anyone who wants to read my blog.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Weird New Year's Eve

Sunday was a pretty cool day, and there were a few weird things that you don't normally see on a New Year's Eve. First of all, God really showed up at worship. One of the main themes revolved around the idea of God not just loving us (think annoying relative), but actually likes us (think good friend you like to hang with). I feel like this is a lesson we've heard before, but it's not a natural one for us, I think, and apparently it's something we need to keep learning.

Anyway, at the end of the service, God sealed the lesson in an amazing way. At one point, while dinner was cooking, it was simulatenously sunny, rainy, windy (probably gusting to 20+ mph), warm (probably upper 50s), there was a rainbow of which we could literally see the entire thing (from one horizon to the other), and the sun was setting to some amazing reds and blues. Oh yeah, and all this was taking place on December 31. How crazy/amazing/weird is that?

I was reminded again of something one of the bum's friends said a long time ago while we were at Taylor: if God will put so much energy into making a beautiful moment like this, that's gone in just a few seconds, how much more effort and beauty does He put into us, who are made to live forever and are designed for eternal communion with Him? See first paragraph...