Support

No succesful athlete gained that success on their own. It may not have been their parents, or their family, but someone gave them the support they needed to keep trying. I have been blessed with great family, friends, coaches, and teachers who really want to see me succeed. I've come to realize this more and more as I get older. I realize how much impact people had on me, by realizing how much impact I have on the kids I coach. People have always looked out for me and helped me get back on the path that will lead to my best success. I play on the field with a relentless will. I love the game, and I have had the coaches that have nurtured that passion I have and made me a pretty good athlete. A lot of people have a lot of talent, not all of them have the support, and it's sad that those guys or girls rarely become successful.
If you have any athletes in your life, make sure you give them support. That doesn't mean give them a ton of breaks and let them slide through life. It means give them the love they need, even if it's tough love sometimes. That makes them better at everything they do, when people are honest. It's worked with me so far.

Spring Practice

Spring practices are coming up in April. I like them for the reason that we get the whole together for the first in a while. I hate them because we can't wear equipment, and it's just a tease for the season which is months away. It's always nice to get on the field and practice, I love football. Even of that football is non-contact, which is definitely an oxy-moron.
My focus this spring ball is to be a leader on the field and to push everyone to learn more, and to get better. I firmly believe that everyday, you either get better or you get worse. You will never stay the same.
This is laso my final spring ball in college, sad to think about it like that. I have to make it one to remember. Save the best for last.

City Tournament

Our first tournament game is tomorrow night at 9 PM. I'm overwhelmed with anticipation. We've had such a fun season and I would love nothing more then to make a run with this amazing group of guys I coach. They deserve it, and I hope I can help them succeed in their goals. We started off extremely rusty, not much of a team by any means. We had turnovers, we missed free throws, we gave up easy baskets. We never gave up though, we always had heart. We kept working harder and harder and now it is starting to pay off. As I said before, we have won 7 out of our last 10 games and it's all coming together at the right time, tournament time. After seeing that Slumdog movie, I feel like everything is possible. A lot of practice, a little bit of skill, and a ton of luck, will definitely be needed to get it done. Tip off is at 9PM, Saturday night, at St. Jude. I'll let you know how we do.

Totally Off Topic

If you have been following my blog, you will have read a post titled 212°. It's about the smallest things meaning so much later on in life. I just saw the movie Slumdog Millionare. That movie epitomizes that whole philosophy. Wow, that movie was amazing. If you see a movie this year, make it that one. If you buy a movie this year, make it that one. If you decide to grab a handheld camera and shoot a home movie, try and reenact that one. Such an inspirational movie with so many turns and twists. I think this is possibly the best put together movie since Pulp Fiction, in my opinion. You may be saying to yourself, "Who cares about your opinion?". Well this is my blog and I get to share my opinion all I want! Just kidding, but serioisly, see that movie. You'll be happy you did.
Now that I've turned myblog into a movie review site, feel free to comment your own thoughts on the movie. If you have any other movies that you can suggest to me, please let me know.

Get My Weight Up!

I currently weigh 246 lbs and stand at 6'4". That's a decent weight but I'd like to play next season a little heavier. Preferably I would like to weigh 255 lbs. It's extremely hard for me to put on weight but I work at it and get it done. When I first came to college here I weighed in at a whopping 218 pounds! So there's proof that I've put in work! Anyways, although gainging weight is tough, the real trick is in gaining weight and staying fast. I have to still run and get my agilities in line which means on top of lifting and burning calories, I burn even more running. You know what that means? You guessed it, I have to eat a lot. The average man should take in about 2,000 to 2,5000 calories according to most health and nutrition professionals. When it is time to start bulking up I take in anywhere between 5,000-7-000 calories! Talk about being full. I got some work to do but I know I can get it done. I'll keep you posted.

212°

At 211° water is hot. At 212°, water is boiling! Boiling water creates steam, powerful steam. Steam has the power to run a locomotive. Hot water has a hard time powering a cup of coffee. It's amazing what one degree difference can do. One degree makes all the difference. Pilots have to do this calculation all the time to work out wind drift angles. In basic navigation training they are taught a useful shortcut which enables swift mental arithmetic to be used. It's called the 1 in 60 rule. If you steer 1° off course you will be 1 mile offtrack after 60 miles. So say you are flying from Los Angeles to New York City, those cities are about 3,000 miles a part. And the pilot gets off track by 1°, that plane will end up 50 miles off of it's destination. That tiny single degree is possibly the difference between landing in the Big Apple, and landing in the big blue Atlantic Ocean!
Anyways, the reason I am ranting on about this one tiny degree is this: The small decisions that we make everyday affect our lives greatly later on. Take the time to analyze your track, your effort, your attitude, and see if you are headed in the right direction. Are you headed towards your goal? We each have a our own path, and it's rarely a straight line. Just realize that one small break you take, or that uninportant thing you miss, could mean all the difference.

Inch by Inch

Our new team motto as a defense and as a team is, "Inch by Inch, Return to Dominance!". We are definitely starting off on the right foot. We are having great turn out in the wieght room. People are already buzzing about next season. Last season after a pretty good run of 8 wins per season or more, we went a dismal... 5-5. Now don't get me wrong, things could have been much worse. It's just that a .500 record leaves a sour, bitter, gagging, eye watering, gut wrenching ( I could go on) taste in your mouth. You want to everything you can to get it gone! You analyze where you went off track, and wonder why you ever started "expecting" to win. Wins are earned, not given. No one will give up because your team won conference three years in a row. You will get your best shot from every team and you better be ready for it. Last year, we weren't. This year, we don't care who we play, they better be ready for a fight! I'm getting to amped up right now to keep this post going... so I'll end it the way I started it. I promise, inch by inch we will return to dominance.

Tire Flips

Today for football off-season training, a bunch of us thought it would be fun to flip these 500 pound tires. We were right, it was a blast! It also was a great team building exercise. Guys were throwing this around trying to out do one another and make it look easy. I'm smelling a championship next season, just a hunch. We'll see though, the off season is an enigma. If you work out and train hard then it seems very short. If you don't work to get better, then it is a very LONG time to be doing nothing. You have to find the right balance and work to get better the entire time. September 5th will be here before we know it. Hopefully we can flip some of the opposing teams like we were flipping those tires. Be sure to come out and watch our games, it will definitely be worth it.

Last Practice?

Last night was possibly the last practice for my 7th grade basketball team that I coach. I didn't tell them that though because it's actually city tournament time and I don't want to introduce the idea that we would ever lose. We are playing team that absolutely destroyed us the first team we played them. We met up with them again later in the season after my team under went much improvement. We blew them out of the water. It was a great feeling for my kids, and they have won 7 out of their last ten games since then. We are firing on all cylinders right at the time when it counts the most, tournament time. One loss will grant us our ticket home, and allow me to give me the "Great Season" speech. I'm not ready to do that yet, I want to make a run. I'll let you know how we did.

My Legs Are Killing Me

I'm sore, plain and simple. I realized that I haven't been stretchin as much as I need to do. Yesterday I did heavy squat weight at a high number of reps followed by hang cleans and a half mile run. The half mile doesn't sound like much but I sprinted most of it and it was right after I ripped my legs apart in the weightroom.
That's not all, I also played a basketball game that very same night. I couldn't feel my legs and when I did feel them it was only pain. No pain, no gain, and with no gain, there's no success next year on the field. I'm focused and on the right track.
I want to represent my team, my family, and all those who root for Mount St. Joseph football in the best way possible. So I will continue to work hard so we can make our fans and supporters proud. Go Lions!