Things that have annoy me the last few times I've been out in public:
Parents who let their friggin’ 2 year old order food. We get it, OK. You’re trying to teach your kid socialization skills and how to be independent and all that jazz. Well, you know what? It’s stupid. Your kid and his limited vocabulary will have plenty of time to practice ordering food in his lifetime. Let’s save the lesson for another time. You’re annoying the person at the register and the 8 people behind you in line.
Guy with the hat who doesn’t remove the sticker. Take that stupid ass gold sticker off your hat. You look ridiculous. There’s nothing cool about wearing clothes that still have tags or stickers on them. I’ve heard these losers do this in order to steal hats from stores. This makes you an even bigger loser. Whoever started this ridiculous trend should be smacked.
Companies with facebook pages. I don’t get facebook in the first place but why on earth would you want to join Pizza Hut’s facebook page? I mean really. What’s the point? Are you going to connect with other people who eat at Pizza Hut or something? Hey, you like Pizza Hut? Me too! That’s amazing!
Visit us on Facebook. No thanks! So stupid.
8-9 year old kids on cell phones. My kid will not have a cell phone until he’s at least in high school. I see 8-9 year old kids texting and talking on cell phones all the time! Who is an 8 year old texting? Why does an 8 year old need a phone? How many people does an 8 year old kid really know? What important calls does an 8 year kid have to make? What moron of a parent is paying for this?
Movies and TV shows created/written by Tyler Perry. It’s insulting to black people that Tyler Perry assumes that black people would like the crap he puts out. That’s all I have to say about that. Bad movies. Bad TV. Obviously catered towards black people. But it’s awful. Nothing funny or endearing about any of his stuff. I’ve tried watching to see how this guy got so popular and I just can’t watch it. And I honestly don’t think black people can either.
The “I don’t eat the crust” pizza eater. Why? Why don’t you eat the crust? It’s the best part of the greatest food invention in all of mankind. And if you don’t find it to be the best part then go fly a kite. If you don’t like the crust then why not just put melted cheese, marinara sauce and pepperonis in a cup and eat them with a spoon? The crust is the same thing as the bread which is holding your pizza together. It’s the Essence of your pizza! God, this really annoys me. Eat the whole slice for goodness sakes!
What annoys you?
The 80's- What a Decade!!!
The 80's!-- What a Decade
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Pride...
Very rarely do I blog about my job. But the other day I witnessed something that gave me great pride. It really encompassed all the reasons why I love education and coaching. It didn't happen inside the classroom; it happened on the athletic field. It was truly inspiring and probably something I'll remember for a very long time.
Right now we are in the middle of intramurals. Practice basically. It's not mandatory but it is mandatory. We have about 35-40 kids that come out and we practice them altogether- 9th-12th graders. All talent levels. We go over all the things the kids need to know in the game of baseball. Although it's tough to recognize on a daily basis, the kids that come out and make the COMMITMENT get better over the course of the winter leading up to the season.
My coachig staff is exceptional. I'm very lucky. When I took over the program in '04 I was nervous. I didn't have one single assistant and I was young and didn't know much about running an athletic program. Trial by fire. Well, I survived, the kids survived, we've had some success, some fun, some ups and downs, and lo and behold I now have a really good, solid coaching staff. There's 6 of us. We're a team. And I consider all of them good friends of mine.
We don't always agree on everything, and sometimes we fight about stupid stuff, but one philosophy we all agree on is- a strong work ethic and commitment. We are constantly preaching to the kids to work hard, put the time and effort in, make yourself better, make the commitment to the team and yourself, discipline in and out of the classroom, etc.
Really, we're preaching life lessons more so than anything else but the kids usually don't realize it until years later when they're in the real world. If these kids (and people in general) want to find success in this world, really, there's no shortcuts. You have to work hard, be disciplined, be committed, and so on. Most successful people in this world got to where they are through hard work, showing up to work, persistance and perservance. It's the same thing we preach to the kids.
I am constantly saying: make the commitment, come to baseball every day, be on time, work hard, don't make excuses, and good things will happpen. If they make this committment, guess what? They usually make the team. I take pride in rewarding kids that work hard and put the time in. There's always a spot on the roster for a kid that busts his butt day in and day out, regardless of his talent level.
Well, in a perfect world 100% of your student-athletes would show this type of dedication every single day. Well, it's not a perfect world. Most of our kids make the commitment and come to school and baseball every single day and what do you know? They're baseball skills improve. And usually they do better in school too. Go figure. But often you get the excuses as to why a kid can't make it to baseball. They're all terrible excuses and honestly I don't like them. And being as I only missed one day of school in 4 years of high school and zero days of baseball, I can't relate.
Well, every once in a while something will happen on the ball field which serves as a perfect example of what you've been preaching for years...
We were doing a routine fly ball drill and one of our kids got absolutely drilled in the face by a fly ball. Basically, he caught the ball with his face. He went down hard and there was blood and spit and crap everywhere. It was gross and scared me to death. I rushed out to the kid, took him to the trainer and hoped for the best. He was going to need stitches as his right nostril was split completely open. This happened on a Monday. I figured I'd see the kid in a few days while he recuperated. This actually would have been a pretty reasonable excuse to miss a day or two of baseball.
Tuesday. Less than 24 hours after this incident occured...
I got out to the field and was taking roll. My usual routine. I got to this kid's spot on the roll sheet and called his name. As I was about to mark him absent I heard- "here". I was shocked. I looked up and there he was. His nose was all bandaged up and his glasses didn't even fit right because of the bandages. I talked to him after warm ups and he had 7 stitches in his nose. He had been at the doctor's office pretty much all night.
If that's not dedication, committment, and desire then I don't know what is. I had never felt so proud in all my life for a kid. It serves as the perfect example for all the things we are constantly preaching about to all of the kids that come out to baseball.
Committment...Dedication...Hard Work....Desire...
What else is there?
Right now we are in the middle of intramurals. Practice basically. It's not mandatory but it is mandatory. We have about 35-40 kids that come out and we practice them altogether- 9th-12th graders. All talent levels. We go over all the things the kids need to know in the game of baseball. Although it's tough to recognize on a daily basis, the kids that come out and make the COMMITMENT get better over the course of the winter leading up to the season.
My coachig staff is exceptional. I'm very lucky. When I took over the program in '04 I was nervous. I didn't have one single assistant and I was young and didn't know much about running an athletic program. Trial by fire. Well, I survived, the kids survived, we've had some success, some fun, some ups and downs, and lo and behold I now have a really good, solid coaching staff. There's 6 of us. We're a team. And I consider all of them good friends of mine.
We don't always agree on everything, and sometimes we fight about stupid stuff, but one philosophy we all agree on is- a strong work ethic and commitment. We are constantly preaching to the kids to work hard, put the time and effort in, make yourself better, make the commitment to the team and yourself, discipline in and out of the classroom, etc.
Really, we're preaching life lessons more so than anything else but the kids usually don't realize it until years later when they're in the real world. If these kids (and people in general) want to find success in this world, really, there's no shortcuts. You have to work hard, be disciplined, be committed, and so on. Most successful people in this world got to where they are through hard work, showing up to work, persistance and perservance. It's the same thing we preach to the kids.
I am constantly saying: make the commitment, come to baseball every day, be on time, work hard, don't make excuses, and good things will happpen. If they make this committment, guess what? They usually make the team. I take pride in rewarding kids that work hard and put the time in. There's always a spot on the roster for a kid that busts his butt day in and day out, regardless of his talent level.
Well, in a perfect world 100% of your student-athletes would show this type of dedication every single day. Well, it's not a perfect world. Most of our kids make the commitment and come to school and baseball every single day and what do you know? They're baseball skills improve. And usually they do better in school too. Go figure. But often you get the excuses as to why a kid can't make it to baseball. They're all terrible excuses and honestly I don't like them. And being as I only missed one day of school in 4 years of high school and zero days of baseball, I can't relate.
Well, every once in a while something will happen on the ball field which serves as a perfect example of what you've been preaching for years...
We were doing a routine fly ball drill and one of our kids got absolutely drilled in the face by a fly ball. Basically, he caught the ball with his face. He went down hard and there was blood and spit and crap everywhere. It was gross and scared me to death. I rushed out to the kid, took him to the trainer and hoped for the best. He was going to need stitches as his right nostril was split completely open. This happened on a Monday. I figured I'd see the kid in a few days while he recuperated. This actually would have been a pretty reasonable excuse to miss a day or two of baseball.
Tuesday. Less than 24 hours after this incident occured...
I got out to the field and was taking roll. My usual routine. I got to this kid's spot on the roll sheet and called his name. As I was about to mark him absent I heard- "here". I was shocked. I looked up and there he was. His nose was all bandaged up and his glasses didn't even fit right because of the bandages. I talked to him after warm ups and he had 7 stitches in his nose. He had been at the doctor's office pretty much all night.
If that's not dedication, committment, and desire then I don't know what is. I had never felt so proud in all my life for a kid. It serves as the perfect example for all the things we are constantly preaching about to all of the kids that come out to baseball.
Committment...Dedication...Hard Work....Desire...
What else is there?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Adult Truths...
I got this in an email the other day from a friend of mine, Lauren Huseman. Although most of my blog is original work written by yours truly I cannot take credit for this. However, it's awesome and that's why I'm posting it:
ADULT TRUTHS
1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.
2. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.
3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
4. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
5. Was learning cursive really necessary?
6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure
I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
9. Bad decisions make good stories.
10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the
rest of the day.
11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't
want to have to restart my collection...again.
12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I
did not make any changes to.
13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
14. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
15. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
16. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
17. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
18. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and
sisters!
19. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
20. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.
21. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away,
in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
22. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and
the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men
to realize that their brain is also important.
Until Next Time...
ADULT TRUTHS
1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.
2. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.
3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
4. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
5. Was learning cursive really necessary?
6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure
I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
9. Bad decisions make good stories.
10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the
rest of the day.
11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't
want to have to restart my collection...again.
12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I
did not make any changes to.
13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
14. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
15. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
16. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
17. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
18. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and
sisters!
19. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
20. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.
21. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away,
in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
22. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and
the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men
to realize that their brain is also important.
Until Next Time...
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