...when I come home from work and open the garage door to the sounds and coos of my baby girl upstairs.
...when I walk up those stairs and see my oldest anxiously greet me with a hug and plenty of excitement.
...when my wife makes sure I don't proceed without giving her a kiss.
...that my wife looks as beautiful as she does.
...that my wife can carry and contribute to a conversation about anything I have on my mind and initiates conversations that intrigue me.
...when I play night softball games under the lights. I fondly remember when I did it for the first time in high school and was struck by the feeling that rushed over me as I trotted out to the outfield. Now, almost twenty years later, I still enjoy that experience.
...that I get to pitch at some of my games. There is something to the control and constant involvement in the game that I enjoy. It is really fun when I am pitching well. I love the satisfaction of contributing to the win.
...when I meet friends to watch any particular team I support. The more the merrier.
...when the leaves begin to change colors and air cools. This time of year is easily my favorite. It means something when it trumps the time of year when I didn't have to work. But once the shock of returning to school wears and I get into the routine, this time of year is great. Even cloudy cool days are nice. Football is in full swing. Playoff baseball is going on. The basketball and hockey seasons are about to commence. There is a feel in the air that I love. Holidays are right around the corner and the traditions that come with them are a joy. Trick or treating with the girls. Lots of turkey and football on Thanksgiving. The Michigan game. Christmas and all that comes with it. Ahh yeah.
...that I have numerous positive relationships with coworkers. As difficult as my job is day in and day out, enjoying the people I work with make it more tolerable.
...that Shaq is a Cavalier. I am eager to watch a season with LeBron and O'Neal playing together nightly.
...that Braylon Edwards is no longer a Brown.
...that I genuinely enjoy the company of my in-laws and even my brother's in-laws.
...that my nephews are very cool. Being "uncle Beau" is nothing but fun and watching them bond with their cousins is awesome to watch.
...that I have so many good friends. I also love that I have such a diverse set of friends. The diversity has added plenty of spice to my life.
...that I do not have any long standing grudges or estrangements with family members or loved ones.
...that I am paying off my debt....slowly but surely.
...that I have all girls this year. I am enjoying it as much of a roller coaster ride that it is.
...that I have so many fond memories of several periods of my life.
...that I got to be a part of 85. And that every time we are together we all acknowledge it and mark it with pictures. It is a tradition and an experience that I cherish to this day and always will.
...that I got to throw the tire.
...that I know what glasshouse party means to a select group of people. And I got to experience it multiple time.
...that at least Ohio State has won a a championship in my lifetime and it was a football one at that.
...that Cleveland was able to get back our football team and its essence unlike every other city out there.
...that I have been able to go to a Rose Bowl. And it was an epic game.
...that I can turn the channel when I see Ann Coulter is on CNN.
...that I can rake at "Beer Money" on STO.
...when All Bets Are Off is on TV and I can enjoy Bruce rant about things I care about just like the old days on the radio before he was in trouble with the law.
...that I got to witness Bernie Kosar play for the Browns.
...that I was around for the birth of the Dawg Pound and sat in it during its glory days.
...that I was able to attend games in the Grand Old Lady on the Lake before it was demolished for the new Cleveland Browns Stadium.
...that the Browns stadium is named just that and not some sponsor like Progressive Field.
...that I was able to enjoy the Indians in the mid-90s.
...that know what it is to be loyal and die hard no matter what, to something.
Showing posts with label Accomplishments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Accomplishments. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The One Block Rule: A Tribute To My Brother
Next week I will fly to Chicago to celebrate my brother's graduation from Kellogg, one of the most prestigious business schools in the U.S. It should be a great weekend for him and our family as we all share our pride with him and witness the finality of this accomplishment.
It is a well deserved honor for him. My brother is one of the most driven, hard working, intelligent people I know. You don't graduate from The Ohio State University with honors and then work in Sweden for two years only to follow up with two years in Evanston, earning an MBA with newborn twins to boot without having some drive and intelligence.
Of course, let's make sure credit is given where credit is due here. He married a very special woman who played an important role in all of this as well. She uprooted her life to move across the ocean and travel the world with him as a newlywed. She also carried the majority of the load with those boys while he was hard at work studying and working. As much as I respect and admire my brother, my sister-in-law deserves and has a great deal of respect, admiration and love from me as well.
I've watched my brother grow up from the day he was brought home from the hospital. We shared a room growing up and I have many memories wanting him out. I managed to convince him to move into the walk-in closet we had so I could have the whole room. Later, we put up a blanket in that same closet to divide it into our own personal, "private" spaces.
Despite these efforts, we spent a good bit of time together growing up. We shared a number of similar interests and friends. Only two years apart in age, we also attended high school and college at the same time.
When I left to attend Ohio State, he joined my Dad to help me move. I knew my roommate from high school and was aware that he wouldn't move in until the day after I did, so my brother even spent my first night in the dorm with me.
If this wasn't enough, when it was his turn to leave for college he chose Ohio State as well, following in my steps......or so I'd like to think. My brother more than made footsteps of his own.
After he and his roommate decided they were done living in the dorms after their freshman year, they moved in with me. All those years of trying to get away from one another and here we were choosing to live together. Granted, this time around we had our own rooms, but my point is still valid.
I have had first hand experience watching my brother bust his rear end studying and working and attaining high marks in school. I have witnessed how he interacted with people and situations. I saw his mistakes and accomplishments. I observed him grow up and mature and become who he is today.
The whole time I watched with awe. I was the older brother, but all too often I was learning from him. That has been hard to take sometimes. It is humbling to be the apprentice when you are traditionally supposed to be the master. But I would like to think that is more of a testament to him than a strike against me.
Long gone are the days of the "One Block Rule." I always reference this story because it is a perfect example of the changing of the guard that took place between us. There once was a day, believe it or not, that I would dominate our one-on-one basketball games in the driveway. This was about the time I hit my growth spurt and he still had a couple of years before he would hit his own.
My advantage in height allowed me to block so many of his shots that it became pointless for us to play. So we agreed to the "one block rule" that limited me to one block per game. This way he could get shots off and our games were much more competitive.
Today there is no need for that rule. He has surpassed me in athletic ability. I couldn't block his shot if my life depended on it. But the chemistry that developed from those hours in our driveway playing hotly contested basketball games, working the give and go to perfection versus our neighbors and creating football routes like P2 in the bushes in which no defender north of I-90 could stop, led to a relationship and a host of memories that I'll take over athletic superiority.
I also like to use this story to grab some credit in my brother's development and success. I would like to think that this rule ignited a fire in him that burns to this day. I'd like to think this need to beat his brother in basketball translated into other aspects of his life.
It may be stretch but I'll openly admit I am grasping for some of his coat tails.
I have a ton of respect for my brother. He and I have a good bit in common but we are very different in the way we approach and handle things.
While he continues to downplay this achievement, I and the rest of his family are excited to celebrate a major accomplishment in his life. He may be humble about it but I have no problem picking up the slack and bragging about my brother and his MBA from the Kellogg School Of Business at Northwestern University.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Professional Inventory
You can tell it is that time of year again. The beginning of the school has officially taken place as I blog about education over and over.
Today, in an effort to strengthen myself emotionally and mentally and I suppose to prep myself for the upcoming school year even though my bitter, apathetic attitude sometimes takes me elsewhere, I repeat an exercise I did in an earlier post listing my proud "achievements." You may call these affirmations if you so choose. I do. This time I focus on education. The following are things I am proud to say I do. Teacher friends of mine, you can take pride in the fact that some of these are taken from you. Like that old commercial in the 80s with the kid whose Dad found his drug stash, "You! I learned it from watching you!"
First and foremost, I have made it through a decade of urban schools. I keep hearing myself say I have taught a decade or ten years because I am proud of that. I feel like that is a long time. Enough to have its own word: decade.
I choose to take this as a positive: I have taught the same grade at the same school for 9 of those years. This is a good thing because I have wanted to bolt many times and have not. I have continued to fight the good fight. It may be a testament to my good luck more than ability but I have avoided cuts and layoffs throughout the decade. Many have taken place.
I know my curriculum. Having taught the same grade in the same district means I have taught the curriculum enough to "know it cold" as my dad would say. So I can anticipate what to present to the students and I can spend more time focusing on how instead of what.
I have a good relationship with fellow teachers and staff. Through the years at my school I have worked with numerous people who have come and gone. I'd like to think I have had positive relationships with the majority of them. I like 90% of them and can get along with the other 10%. The proof is in the pudding as I maintain close friendships to numerous teachers who have not only left the school, but left the state as well. Comoprozac, a frequent flyer of this blog, is a prime example. He is also an example of a teacher who I have learned a good bit from. I have tried to copy his effort to introduce diverse groups of influential people to his students that they would not read about in their textbooks.
I have been able to develop effective strategies of classroom management and academic instruction on my own to solve problems in my classroom that no one taught me how to deal with in graduate school. Despite being shot down in my graduate classes, my idea of implementing a behavior wall to chart good days for individual students publicly, this strategy has been effective for me and copied by fellow teachers and complimented by parents of my students numerous times. It may not be "theoretically" kosher but it works.
In addition to this management tool, I have developed methods to figure out math problems beyond the tradition algorithms that have worked for numerous students. Again, they have not been by the book, but more than one student have taken it and used it well.
I also have created different chants and slogans on my own that have stuck with former students in later grades (or so they say when they come back to visit). J.E.L to remember the branches of government. SYW to stand for Show Your Work. Those are just two of my standbys.
I teach with passion. My frustration may make it look like I don't care. At times I don't. But in my heart I have a passion for this. You can see it when I become Pastor Huey. The students (and more so the teachers) come alive when I start singing to the mountaintops John 3:16 (that's my room number) and giving my students the power!!! It's a rounding strategy I came up with. A long winded explanation that I will pass on since typed words don't do it justice, but trust me 3-5 fellow teachers and my former principal almost lost their minds when I whipped it out one Saturday morning as we tutored our kids for the test.
I can relate to the kids. I am not 10 anymore. I don't listen to hip hop. I never grew up in the inner city. But I can talk to the kids on the kids' level. I can thank another friend of mine that I teach with for reinforcing this. I blogged before about the football games at recess. He and I have used this and other opportunities to build good relationships with our students and other kids in our school. We have built trust. This goes a LONG way when we are enforcing discipline.
I go the extra mile. I stay after school, I come in early, I come in on Saturdays to do the extra things to help our kids pass the tests. I have done it without getting paid, I have done it with compensation. The bottom line is: I have done more than the basic line of duty.
I created and run a Math tournament at the end of every year. It helps keep the last day meaningful and motivates kids to learn their math facts. It also provides a structure in which to teach fairness and sportsmanship as well as class and dignity in defeat or success.
I am open to changes and I am not afraid to use other people's ideas or share my own. I always peak in my neighbor's window to see what she is teaching and how she teaches it because I think this woman is the greatest teacher that ever walked the planet. I "steal" ideas from her all the time and she loves to copy me. She still holds my "Less is More" motto as a guiding light to this day.
For the record, when I entered my school our percentage of passing scores on the 4th grade Ohio Reading Proficiency Test were in the 10%-25% range. Now they are in the 40%-50% range. I have taught 4th grade this whole time. That means I have played a major role as the scores have doubled.
I believe I could go on. I am still proud that I was invited to a graduation this year. That means a former student progressed through high school successfully. For my ego, it means he had 8 more years of teachers after me and I was the one he invited back to his graduation. ME. That feels damn good.
Today, in an effort to strengthen myself emotionally and mentally and I suppose to prep myself for the upcoming school year even though my bitter, apathetic attitude sometimes takes me elsewhere, I repeat an exercise I did in an earlier post listing my proud "achievements." You may call these affirmations if you so choose. I do. This time I focus on education. The following are things I am proud to say I do. Teacher friends of mine, you can take pride in the fact that some of these are taken from you. Like that old commercial in the 80s with the kid whose Dad found his drug stash, "You! I learned it from watching you!"
First and foremost, I have made it through a decade of urban schools. I keep hearing myself say I have taught a decade or ten years because I am proud of that. I feel like that is a long time. Enough to have its own word: decade.
I choose to take this as a positive: I have taught the same grade at the same school for 9 of those years. This is a good thing because I have wanted to bolt many times and have not. I have continued to fight the good fight. It may be a testament to my good luck more than ability but I have avoided cuts and layoffs throughout the decade. Many have taken place.
I know my curriculum. Having taught the same grade in the same district means I have taught the curriculum enough to "know it cold" as my dad would say. So I can anticipate what to present to the students and I can spend more time focusing on how instead of what.
I have a good relationship with fellow teachers and staff. Through the years at my school I have worked with numerous people who have come and gone. I'd like to think I have had positive relationships with the majority of them. I like 90% of them and can get along with the other 10%. The proof is in the pudding as I maintain close friendships to numerous teachers who have not only left the school, but left the state as well. Comoprozac, a frequent flyer of this blog, is a prime example. He is also an example of a teacher who I have learned a good bit from. I have tried to copy his effort to introduce diverse groups of influential people to his students that they would not read about in their textbooks.
I have been able to develop effective strategies of classroom management and academic instruction on my own to solve problems in my classroom that no one taught me how to deal with in graduate school. Despite being shot down in my graduate classes, my idea of implementing a behavior wall to chart good days for individual students publicly, this strategy has been effective for me and copied by fellow teachers and complimented by parents of my students numerous times. It may not be "theoretically" kosher but it works.
In addition to this management tool, I have developed methods to figure out math problems beyond the tradition algorithms that have worked for numerous students. Again, they have not been by the book, but more than one student have taken it and used it well.
I also have created different chants and slogans on my own that have stuck with former students in later grades (or so they say when they come back to visit). J.E.L to remember the branches of government. SYW to stand for Show Your Work. Those are just two of my standbys.
I teach with passion. My frustration may make it look like I don't care. At times I don't. But in my heart I have a passion for this. You can see it when I become Pastor Huey. The students (and more so the teachers) come alive when I start singing to the mountaintops John 3:16 (that's my room number) and giving my students the power!!! It's a rounding strategy I came up with. A long winded explanation that I will pass on since typed words don't do it justice, but trust me 3-5 fellow teachers and my former principal almost lost their minds when I whipped it out one Saturday morning as we tutored our kids for the test.
I can relate to the kids. I am not 10 anymore. I don't listen to hip hop. I never grew up in the inner city. But I can talk to the kids on the kids' level. I can thank another friend of mine that I teach with for reinforcing this. I blogged before about the football games at recess. He and I have used this and other opportunities to build good relationships with our students and other kids in our school. We have built trust. This goes a LONG way when we are enforcing discipline.
I go the extra mile. I stay after school, I come in early, I come in on Saturdays to do the extra things to help our kids pass the tests. I have done it without getting paid, I have done it with compensation. The bottom line is: I have done more than the basic line of duty.
I created and run a Math tournament at the end of every year. It helps keep the last day meaningful and motivates kids to learn their math facts. It also provides a structure in which to teach fairness and sportsmanship as well as class and dignity in defeat or success.
I am open to changes and I am not afraid to use other people's ideas or share my own. I always peak in my neighbor's window to see what she is teaching and how she teaches it because I think this woman is the greatest teacher that ever walked the planet. I "steal" ideas from her all the time and she loves to copy me. She still holds my "Less is More" motto as a guiding light to this day.
For the record, when I entered my school our percentage of passing scores on the 4th grade Ohio Reading Proficiency Test were in the 10%-25% range. Now they are in the 40%-50% range. I have taught 4th grade this whole time. That means I have played a major role as the scores have doubled.
I believe I could go on. I am still proud that I was invited to a graduation this year. That means a former student progressed through high school successfully. For my ego, it means he had 8 more years of teachers after me and I was the one he invited back to his graduation. ME. That feels damn good.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Another Posiblog
In honor of positive affirmations and some song I just heard on the radio by some group, here is a list of things I can do:
I can blog about stuff that has at least 5-10 people coming back to read more..,
I can maintain friendships for many years with numerous different people from numerous different backgrounds and numerous points of view often different than my own....
I can finally learn when to use lie and lay (and sometimes avoid saying it wrong too!).....
I can work in a high stress work environment for a decade....
I can break up fights and make enemies friends...
I can do the "hard" level of Sudoku....
I can solve logic puzzles...
I can get unmotivated children to learn...
I can develop a strategy to find equivalent fractions for adding and subtracting that works for my students on my own....
I can figure out how to find E.R.A for a pitcher without looking up an equation for it...
I can play two Christmas songs on the piano....
I can give you the starting shortstops for the Cleveland Indians dating back 23 seasons....
I can also do that with starting QBs for the Cleveland Browns....
I can give you the starting lineups for every pro Cleveland sports team (except the Gladiators but I could give you two of the starters)....
I can raise a happy daughter despite a health disorder and learning disability...
I can amaze a woman so much that she can't resist proposing to me....
I can grow grass where there once was an obsessed gardener's garden.....
I can help fix up a house in one summer....
I can apologize....
I can see two sides to a story or problem...
I can figure out how many miles my car got from the last tank of gas....
I can do math in my head...
I can honor my grandmother at her funeral....
I can stand by my wife after a horrible tragedy....
I can get a room full of unruly children to be "ruly".....
I can raise test scores....
I can impress parents enough to invite me to their son's high school graduation...
I can feel the pride that goes with seeing a former student get their diploma...
I can earn a Master's Degree....
I can back up people's claims that I am smart...
I can relate to people....
I can learn to say "Heck No!" to that 10th shot (or so) of Jim Beam....and then never do another one again....
I can be an advisor to friends and colleagues....
I can be patient....
I can change a diaper....
I can fix boo boo's with a kiss....
I can potty train a kid....
I can get a kid to take nasty medicine easily twice a day...
I can change for a woman who makes me better....
I can learn from my mistakes....
I can keep book at my softball games...
I can start a softball team....
I can play shortstop for a team that wins a championship (maybe could would fit better there)....
Believe it or not, I can hit inside the park home runs....yes with an s......
I can swallow my pride and hit singles even though "chicks dig the long ball."....
I can act like I know what a 42 cork ball is (That one's for you Chris).....
I can make it to the championship in fantasy football....
I can help make a couch that is too big fit through a hallway that is too skinny and then in an elevator that is too small in order to get it to the 7th floor of my brother's family's apartment.....
I can start and run several football and basketball pools of varying types and levels of seriousness....
I can hang out with the nerds and jocks....
I can organize weekly tackle football games for those of us not athletic enough to make the team.....
I can compete in intra-murals or city league sports....
I can make people laugh....
I can text message with the best of them....
I can maintain a discussion on existentialism and ethics with a graduate philosophy student...
I can impress two of the most intelligent people I know...(Charles and Kathryn- FIVE college degrees between them)
I can hit a three to the roar of a middle school crowd even though the over-competitive security guards never passed me the ball...
I can earn my nickname: Silent Storm. I may not say alot on the court but when I shoot: I make it rain....
I can earn my "Ghetto Card" (Thanks Joiner)....
I can hustle my way through a Spades game....
I can look good in certain pants my wife picks out...
I can score over 9000 points in "pop pies"...
I can appreciate numerous genres of music and entertainment...
I can read numerous topics with sincere interest...
I can keep 10 year olds on the edge of their seat in suspense by just reading them a book....
I can begin a line of 5 or more people who make a pilgrimage to Columbus to attend The Ohio State University....
I can initiate at least one year of Phantom Band....
I can coordinate a trip to Las Vegas with 13 guys from all across the country for a mutual friend.....
I can draft a fantasy football team....
I can write a 20 page paper on my philosophy of education in one night and ace it...
I can teach my child to say her "please" and "thanks yous" as well as her "sorrys"....
I can carry on a tradition of tire throwing to a new generation of 85...
I can contribute to the common good...
I can do much more....
(For the Record: The song I referred to is called "Handlebars" by a group called Flobots.)
I can blog about stuff that has at least 5-10 people coming back to read more..,
I can maintain friendships for many years with numerous different people from numerous different backgrounds and numerous points of view often different than my own....
I can finally learn when to use lie and lay (and sometimes avoid saying it wrong too!).....
I can work in a high stress work environment for a decade....
I can break up fights and make enemies friends...
I can do the "hard" level of Sudoku....
I can solve logic puzzles...
I can get unmotivated children to learn...
I can develop a strategy to find equivalent fractions for adding and subtracting that works for my students on my own....
I can figure out how to find E.R.A for a pitcher without looking up an equation for it...
I can play two Christmas songs on the piano....
I can give you the starting shortstops for the Cleveland Indians dating back 23 seasons....
I can also do that with starting QBs for the Cleveland Browns....
I can give you the starting lineups for every pro Cleveland sports team (except the Gladiators but I could give you two of the starters)....
I can raise a happy daughter despite a health disorder and learning disability...
I can amaze a woman so much that she can't resist proposing to me....
I can grow grass where there once was an obsessed gardener's garden.....
I can help fix up a house in one summer....
I can apologize....
I can see two sides to a story or problem...
I can figure out how many miles my car got from the last tank of gas....
I can do math in my head...
I can honor my grandmother at her funeral....
I can stand by my wife after a horrible tragedy....
I can get a room full of unruly children to be "ruly".....
I can raise test scores....
I can impress parents enough to invite me to their son's high school graduation...
I can feel the pride that goes with seeing a former student get their diploma...
I can earn a Master's Degree....
I can back up people's claims that I am smart...
I can relate to people....
I can learn to say "Heck No!" to that 10th shot (or so) of Jim Beam....and then never do another one again....
I can be an advisor to friends and colleagues....
I can be patient....
I can change a diaper....
I can fix boo boo's with a kiss....
I can potty train a kid....
I can get a kid to take nasty medicine easily twice a day...
I can change for a woman who makes me better....
I can learn from my mistakes....
I can keep book at my softball games...
I can start a softball team....
I can play shortstop for a team that wins a championship (maybe could would fit better there)....
Believe it or not, I can hit inside the park home runs....yes with an s......
I can swallow my pride and hit singles even though "chicks dig the long ball."....
I can act like I know what a 42 cork ball is (That one's for you Chris).....
I can make it to the championship in fantasy football....
I can help make a couch that is too big fit through a hallway that is too skinny and then in an elevator that is too small in order to get it to the 7th floor of my brother's family's apartment.....
I can start and run several football and basketball pools of varying types and levels of seriousness....
I can hang out with the nerds and jocks....
I can organize weekly tackle football games for those of us not athletic enough to make the team.....
I can compete in intra-murals or city league sports....
I can make people laugh....
I can text message with the best of them....
I can maintain a discussion on existentialism and ethics with a graduate philosophy student...
I can impress two of the most intelligent people I know...(Charles and Kathryn- FIVE college degrees between them)
I can hit a three to the roar of a middle school crowd even though the over-competitive security guards never passed me the ball...
I can earn my nickname: Silent Storm. I may not say alot on the court but when I shoot: I make it rain....
I can earn my "Ghetto Card" (Thanks Joiner)....
I can hustle my way through a Spades game....
I can look good in certain pants my wife picks out...
I can score over 9000 points in "pop pies"...
I can appreciate numerous genres of music and entertainment...
I can read numerous topics with sincere interest...
I can keep 10 year olds on the edge of their seat in suspense by just reading them a book....
I can begin a line of 5 or more people who make a pilgrimage to Columbus to attend The Ohio State University....
I can initiate at least one year of Phantom Band....
I can coordinate a trip to Las Vegas with 13 guys from all across the country for a mutual friend.....
I can draft a fantasy football team....
I can write a 20 page paper on my philosophy of education in one night and ace it...
I can teach my child to say her "please" and "thanks yous" as well as her "sorrys"....
I can carry on a tradition of tire throwing to a new generation of 85...
I can contribute to the common good...
I can do much more....
(For the Record: The song I referred to is called "Handlebars" by a group called Flobots.)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
A Great Analogy for ME!
I was thinking about the upcoming softball season here in Central Ohio. I thought about how I will most likely end up pitching for one of the teams I plan to play with this summer. Apparently one member of the team thinks I "want" to pitch. Not sure how that got in his head since that is not the case but it's cool. I keep saying I'll play anywhere and I will so whatever. I just like playing. Some positions are more fun than others but I try to be a team player (another thing this particular teammate seems to disagree with).
To my point, I do not mind pitching and therefore find myself doing just that...pitching. I don't ask to be the pitcher, I just end up doing it. (Unless of course that is my way on the team) The reason is not because I am any good at it. There are much better pitchers than I. Let's face it, pitching in softball is not a thing of great skill or athleticism. You just lob the ball over the plate. And I have neither of the aforementioned traits.
But I think it is very difficult to be a good softball pitcher. We had a guy, Eddie, who was a good softball pitcher but physical limitations have gotten the best of the poor guy. On the other hand, it is very easy to be a bad pitcher. For example, you cannot strike guys out in softball really, but you sure can walk a ton of guys. There is nothing much worse for a fielder than to sit out there helpless to the endless parade of opponents walking around the diamond scoring run after run with no chance to get an out. Trust me. I have been there. And it is worse when they are bunch of "softball guys" that look like jackasses in the dugout talking about it with their Oakley's on and barbed wire tats and four wristbands up and down their arms.
My point to this post is that I fit right in the middle. Not skillful and tricky like Steady Eddie, the wiley ol' vet, but not the merry-go-round pitcher from my first years in Hilliard. Not the hockey goalie Jeremy from our champion year, but not the boring walk-a-thon that led to mercy after mercy. This seems to mirror me in real life. I can't claim to be good at anything. No trophies, awards, accomplishments or stories to brag about, but for the most part I have been good enough to belong on the field. Or at least in the team picture as they say nowadays.
King of Mediocrity I suppose. Doesn't sound too flattering does it? Well, as long as I get to keep playing, I'm good. People and experiences. That is what it's all about my friends. People and experiences.
To my point, I do not mind pitching and therefore find myself doing just that...pitching. I don't ask to be the pitcher, I just end up doing it. (Unless of course that is my way on the team) The reason is not because I am any good at it. There are much better pitchers than I. Let's face it, pitching in softball is not a thing of great skill or athleticism. You just lob the ball over the plate. And I have neither of the aforementioned traits.
But I think it is very difficult to be a good softball pitcher. We had a guy, Eddie, who was a good softball pitcher but physical limitations have gotten the best of the poor guy. On the other hand, it is very easy to be a bad pitcher. For example, you cannot strike guys out in softball really, but you sure can walk a ton of guys. There is nothing much worse for a fielder than to sit out there helpless to the endless parade of opponents walking around the diamond scoring run after run with no chance to get an out. Trust me. I have been there. And it is worse when they are bunch of "softball guys" that look like jackasses in the dugout talking about it with their Oakley's on and barbed wire tats and four wristbands up and down their arms.
My point to this post is that I fit right in the middle. Not skillful and tricky like Steady Eddie, the wiley ol' vet, but not the merry-go-round pitcher from my first years in Hilliard. Not the hockey goalie Jeremy from our champion year, but not the boring walk-a-thon that led to mercy after mercy. This seems to mirror me in real life. I can't claim to be good at anything. No trophies, awards, accomplishments or stories to brag about, but for the most part I have been good enough to belong on the field. Or at least in the team picture as they say nowadays.
King of Mediocrity I suppose. Doesn't sound too flattering does it? Well, as long as I get to keep playing, I'm good. People and experiences. That is what it's all about my friends. People and experiences.
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