Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Coach Perry

One of the things that I'm looking forward to this spring is the opportunity to once again reprise my role as assistant coach to John Perry; only this time in track. Coach Perry was the head coach that I first worked with when I first came to Powell. I helped him coach football, and we struck up a friendship right from the start. He was very instrumental in me getting the head basketball job the following year, and he's been someone who's always gone out of his way to make me feel a part of the coaching fraternity in Jackson. Whether it be introducing me to other high school football coaches in JPS or taking the time to ask for my advice on what type of defense we need to run, he always made me feel like I was a real coach and not just someone who was trying it out for two years.

I think one of the best compliments he ever gave me was asking me if I'd be interested in being on his staff if he received the head coaching job at Callaway for football. He ended up not getting it, but I was so honored that he thought enough of me to even ask.

But one of the things that I love the most about being around him is that he's one of the most effective teachers of the game I've ever seen to inner-city kids. He's a Jackson native that played football and baseball at Callaway and then at Jackson State, so kids see him as quite the role model. He's also a very down-to-earth person. He never puts himself on a pedastal, and he's always cracking jokes with other kids. His humor is so dead-on with the students that he's definitely the most popular coach at our school. He also is the offensive coordinator for Callaway HS's football team, so he does a great job of giving kids a welcoming, familiar hand when they come to high school.

I also think back to Dr. Mullins' class on Leadership where we talked about what makes a leader effective, and one of the things that I've really noticed is that Coach Perry has a ridiculously high social intelligence. He not only can relate to a kid that grew up near Grove Park in Jackson, but he can also relate to a first year white teacher from Texas. He's also incredibly organized, and he's always trying to learn more. He's been a great role model in the coaching profession and an even better friend. He's definitely going to be someone that I make it a point to stay in touch with for a very long time.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Spring Break

I just got back two days ago from Spring Break vacation, and I'll go ahead and say this was one of the better vacations that I've ever been on. First of all, I've got to preface my account by saying that the older I get the more important time with my family is to me; especially, since I live so far apart from them. Now, normally we always plan our vacations around certain baseball stadiums that my dad and I have always wanted to go to. I think we're just really fortunate that my mom has developed into quite the sports fan, so she actually enjoys going to these things as well.

Well, a couple of years ago in college, I went with 15 of my friends to Florida for spring training baseball in the Grapefruit League and a few days at the beach. A lot of my roommates and friends were from the Houston area, so our primary focus was on the Houston Astros and getting the chance to see players like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell up close in the warm Kissimme (I think that's how you spell that city) weather. The trip proved to be a blast, and serves as a trip that gets referenced to quite often when I get around my old pals. Well, I think my dad always kind of book-marked the idea of attending this spectacle in the back of his head.

Well, one of the reasons we almost never do anything as a family over spring break is because our schedules never coincide. My parents are also in the school business, so their spring break was always different from mine when I was in college and even the past two years in Colorado and Mississippi. But as luck would have it, this year happened to be a year where our spring breaks were happening simultaneously. My parents quickly schemed up a plan to attend spring training; except, this time it would be in the Cactus League, which takes place in the Phoenix area.

With a trip as epic as my last spring training outing, I didn't know if a new setting and a new party would be able to reach the high expectations that spring training demands. Thankfully, it turned out to be a blast. First of all, Phoenix is ricidulous. I love the feeling you get when you really explore a city, and it just completely captivates your interest. I can definitely see why people want to live there; especially when they retire. The weather was a consistent 80-85 degrees with NO HUMIDITY!! It was phenomenal. Then we got a chance to see three great games and three great stadiums.

We opened with the Cubs and the Rockies; two of the more dominant teams in the NL that have high expectations for the upcoming year. I've always been intrigued with the Cubs, and now even more so after one year with Lou Piniella. Anyways, the stadium was great, the Cubs fans were second to none, and hey, I even got my picture taken with Ronnie Woo-Woo. He's a legendary Cubs fan. (Elias is googling it right now to check my references.)

The second game we got to see was shared by the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals. It was a night game, so the weather was especially great. Plus, I was having a conversation last night with Landon about how great their addition of centerfielder Josh Hamilton is. The guy put on a show. Plus, he just has a great story.

The last game was probably the best. It was a sellout day game between the Angels and the Dodgers. It was a Los Angeles-fan fiesta. It was like a massive combination of In-N-Out t-shirts, OC chopper tatoos, and Nomah Garciaparra jerseys. It's actually Nomar for those who don't watch baseball, but I've got to pay homage to his Boston stint. That was for you Elias. "Thanks beautiful." What made things even better was that Tommy Lasorda made an appearance in full Dodger uniform. He's looking rather plump these days if you haven't seen him in a while. Regardless, the L.A. faithful went nuts every time he stepped out of the dugout. Plus, it was by far the best game played of the week. The Angels won 3-1, but not before Derek Lowe put on a pitching exhibition for the Dodgers for the first 5 innings.

All in all, it was also a time where I got to have some good conversation with my Dad. He's not much of a phone talker, so when I make my weekly calls it's normally just to talk to my mom. Plus, we even threw on the old gloves and played pitch in the parking lot for a bit. It was probably the first time since my senior year of high school baseball that we actually threw the ball together. I will be honest and say that it only lasted for about 5 minutes until fatigue set in for someone over the age of 50 who will remain namesless, but it was still fun.

So in conclusion, the trip was great, Josh Hamilton is nasty, Tommy Lasorda is heavy, I picked Davidson to make the Sweet 16 (it's true), and I had a great time reloading before the last nine weeks of teaching/coaching.