Friday, February 27, 2009

What To Do!?!?

Spring Break is coming up in a couple of weeks. I would like to take the kids and go somewhere out of town and do something. Anyone have any ideas?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

My Gift To Me When I Get The News I Beat Cancer



This has already been given the approval of the wife. My car will be paid off in a year. This gives me two years to save for my down payment. Will probably keep the Camry for going to work.

450 horse power....not going for fuel economy. THIS WILL BE MY TOY!!!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

QT- A little bit of greatness

Within the last 6 months we have had a brand new RACE TRAC and QT open up with a mile of my home. I have always been a fan of RACE TRAC because mainly their fountain drink selection. In addition to their wonderful drink selections they have pretty good options for “food units” if you are hungry. You can go with the junk food if you want but when you search they also have some pretty healthy choices as well. I feel QT is right there with RACE TRAC. They are like ONE and ONE (A).
Well today I was on my way to work and I was hungry for breakfast but I did not want to go to McDonalds or a fast food place because honestly for quite some time now their food just sits like a rock in my system. So I got the bright idea to go to either RT or QT and get something to drink and maybe a power bar or something.
I have a good friend “THE MAN CLUB” who is a HUGE fan of QT. The QT just opened about 3 weeks ago and I had not been yet so I decided to check them out. I went in and was scoping out the drinks and I found SWEET TEA! SCORE!!! That is 32 oz. of heaven there. I don’t recall RACE TRAC having that. At least not the one by me. Now food units. I found a huge refrigerated compartment of fruit. RT has this but not like this. QT had these HUGE oranges and granny smith apples and they were COLD. My immediate thought was…probably should not go there…who knows who has touched that and I am getting over ECOLI.
Then right across from the fruit was a sink for you to wash your FRUIT. WOW! Off I went with an orange and apple and my sweet tea. Happy Camper in deed!!
Edge- QT

Monday, February 23, 2009

SMACK!! WAKE UP

It seems Tracey is getting grilled at work about pre-testing scores. I don't have the whole story but I am going to have her sit and vent as long as she wants. From what I have seen looking in the higher ups are finding out you can't wait until mid february to start being involved in instructional leadership. Seriously, Tracey has been in this school for two years and there is no initiatives going on. Oh, Tribes...lets all sit around and hug. WTFE....That is not the issue. Expectations set for students and parents is the issue. And yes I can say this because I did the job for 6 years and did just fine thank you! The sad part is I know of at least six administrators who could walk in and have that school Exemplary with no problem. The school was exemplary by one kid last year. The kids come on the first day of school with 70% passing. With the right leadership and support of the teachers this school could be something special.

Didn't The Oil Light Come On?

I have been getting emails from folks about Tracey's car. YES we have been following the maintenance schedule. All of our stuff has been done at the dealership. What I did find out were there some maintenance items that the previous owner never did. I got the car all caught up on "it's shots" and we are good to go. Now I KNOW the car is up to date and it will definately stay that way.

Factoid- Did you know that on the Cadillac SRX you rotate the tires from side to side and not front to back? Seems the tires on the back are wider than the ones on the front. Has something to do with "performance handling" Whatever....I just want the thing to turn when I need it. I don't need to turn at 50.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Now THAT is S-E-R-V-I-C-E

Tracey went to run a small errand the other night and when she comes into the house she says this:
Honey, would you please come listen to my car?
My thought was oh man. This can’t be good. Sure enough when she accelerates up the drive way and into the garage the car starts knocking like it is a diesel engine. The car is a Cadillac SRX. We bought it used almost a year ago and we absolutely love it. We knew that the factory warranty was out on it but we bought an extended warranty when we bought the vehicle.
My sister also has a Cadillac and she has all her stuff done at Massey Cadillac in Garland off of Jupiter and LBJ. She game me the name and number of service guy because he does take care of her. So I call the guy and he is with another customer but I leave my information for him to contact me. I never got a call yesterday. In addition to that my wife comes home and says now the car is hesitating of start up and braking in addition to knocking. This is getting serious. So I contacted the dealership this morning and I got a hold of the gentleman my sister uses. I was telling him what was happening and he starts telling about they will have to look at my extended warranty and call the company to see what all they cover. My thought was oh here we go. I am going to walk out of here with a bill around 800 dollars. He assured me that everything they could do would be done and for me to relax.
So I got Tracey’s car and off to the dealership I go. I drive in and it is knocking like a MACK TRUCK. The service guy I have talking with came out and said, “You must be Mr. JDHTEACH.” How could you tell? He said, I bet this thing is low on oil. My thought was that there was no oil light? My sister in law drove the car to Austin last weekend and had no problems. What the heck? Sure enough he dips the dip stick 3 times and no oil is registering on the dip stick. So he takes it into the service area puts about 2 quarts of oil into the engine and off we go. NO KNOCKING! He does however notice about 7 things that the car is doing that I would have no clue about but that he knows because he lives with those cars. I thought oh boy here we go. 900 bucks down the drain. We go into the his little work area and I have my paperwork out ready to go. He tells me to put that stuff away. He then takes the key chain off of my key and he told me to go pick out a key chain I like. I picked it he took it out and put in on my keys. He now your keys look good. He lays out all of these items he is going to do to Tracey’s car… including inspection and oil change. Then he lays this on me.
PUT YOUR PAPERWORK AWAY. I AM DOING ALL THIS MAINTENANCE STUFF TO TAKE CARE OF YOU. IF I RUN INTO ANY MAJOR I WILL CALL YOU AND WE DEAL WITH THE WARRANTY STUFF.
HOT DAM!! Was my response.
Their inspection of the body found 6 minor dents in the body that they want to pop out and repaint if needed for $125. DONE! I get my bill and as of right now I am having all of this stuff done for $206 dollars. That’s with the 125 dollar dent repair.
He told me they were bringing up my loner now and that my car will be ready MAYBE tomorrow but definitely some time MONDAY. As the loner car was being pulled up I saw it and he asked me if a fully loaded 2009 CTS would be okay. My jaw hit the floor. I just looked him and said TAKE YOUR TIME! MONDAY works for me.
So if you are in the market for a new or used Cadillac or if you are looking for a place for maintenance my suggestion would be to go to MASSEY CADILLAC in Garland. My next Cadillac will definitely come from here.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Reality Check

I have now been in my new position for about 3 months. During this time I have been asked more than once “Do you miss being a campus principal?” There are parts of the job that I do miss. I guess in the stance of leadership perhaps in that this is YOUR building and your responsibility. As I look back I am extremely proud of the fact that under my leadership the campus reached some very nice academic recognition that has never before been done in my district.

In my new position I get a chance to talk to many of the principals and they appreciate that I have their perspective in mind when I am working with teachers and guiding them instructionally. In other words I have street cred.

In talking with the principals I hear what they are dealing with and I am reminded of how thin you are spread sometimes as a campus administrator.

The crap and yes it is crap that you deal with some of the students and their sense of entitlement to the world and how their parents just give in to their kids wants and needs because they just don’t want to deal with their kid being upset drives me crazy.

These parents do not realize what an unbelievably distorted person this is going to be when they grow up. Trust me I know someone like this. They are now in their mid 40’s and their sense of what is right and wrong and fair is totally screwed up. Because of their sense of entitlement they are getting ready to lose everything because they did not act responsibly? And they honestly do not understand how legally this is happening to them. You try to explain it to them but they just don’t get it? And why should they? Their entire life people have catered to them? Now this person is facing a very scary probability today. They are in their mid 40’s…..they stand to lose everything and I mean EVERYTHING. Even though a JUDGE is telling them this is the LAW they act like if they just stick their fingers in their ears, shut their eyes, and scream…CAN’T HEAR YOU. It will all go away.

So parents I ask you….would rather your kid understand how things really work at the age of 8 and deal with your child being upset or do you want them coming to live with you at the age of 45 because they nowhere to go?

Being married is easy but raising kids is hard!

There is no greater truth told. Trust me there are nights that Jack gets into one of his moods and I swear if you told him to go outside and have fun he would argue about it. We had a “family meeting” just last night with him about some choices he is making in dealing with some difficulties he is having with some of his friends. When we got to the part about his role in the problem he put his fingers in his ears and said, “I don’t want to talk about this” and he tried to leave our bedroom. I stopped him and told him we are not going anywhere until we talk this out. He did not like it and he was mad about it. He wanted to go watch a movie which he got to do when we were done.

It would have been a hell of a lot easier to just let him go. But I would rather him be upset now but learn something for the future. In the end he came to me and thanked me for talking to him and we have a deal set between him and me about what we are going to do in the future. It took right at 45 minutes out of my evening working with him.

Better that than him wanting to move back in when he is 45.

JDHTEACH

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Comfort Food and Other Observations

Well I am back at work today. It could be that I am only here for part of the day. I have a follow up visit with the doctors today after getting out of the hospital Saturday.
My observations so far!
Good Things So Far? No fevers for 48 hours and stability is good.
Things That Are Coming Back S-L-O-W-L-Y ENERGY LEVEL!
I walked from the parking lot to my desk this morning and was wended. Same thing happen when I got up and walked to the front office. I think the energy level is going to take a while to get back. Good news is on my plate this week is a lot of paperwork or desk duty so I don’t have to get up and move a whole lot.
I did get out and drive yesterday just to get out of the house. I noticed this morning however that my freeway driving needs to be brought to par. Clearly while I was out they raised the speed limits on the toll ways to 75mph. I say that because that is what I had to run to keep people from running up on my car and changing lanes aggressively. I guess people are just going to play the odds. Texas Highway Patrol pull people over all the time. I see probably at least two a day not to mention all of DO RIGHT BOYS you see just sitting there. I know they are looking for big fish because I have passed them doing 70+ and they never moved. Just my observation but it seems if you drive a LEXUS anything or a BMW anything you clearly are following a different speed limit than the rest of us on the toll way. I am still looking for the speed MINIMUM sign that says 80MPH.
Thank God For My Mothers Cooking- Tracey of course has been doing everything so cooking (which is largely my responsibility ) is just too much to put on Tracey’s plate. My parents know that I don’t eat much while I am in the hospital. To get better I have to eat so mom pulled out two of her BIG GUNS on me to entice me to eat.
1. Chicken Spaghetti- Spaghetti, chicken, cream of mushroom soup, onions, green chili’s , and green bell pepper finely chopped. This is my favorite recipe of my mothers. I honestly can eat that till I am about to bust. Mom made a huge dish of it for dinner for the family for Sunday night. Tracey and the kids went to go have dinner with some friends. Just in case she made me a small dish and wrapped it up. I can’t believe it but just knowing that was in the fridge got me out of bed and with a CANE I made it to the kitchen and warmed up the dish. I ATE THE WHOLE BOWL. It was the most food that I had eaten in five days at one sitting and the most food I had eaten total in about 3 days.
2. Cherokee Casserole- Ground Hamburger meat, macaroni, Velveeta cheese, onion and oregano. This is a little part of heaven. It is not expensive to make at all and it can feed a lot of people. In college this was on the regular rotation of home cooking that I would bring back to the dorm and the apartment. (I do need to mention that other favorites that fell into this category were my grandfathers deer chili and MJP’s mothers version of PIZZA)
Best thing about it is my kids like it as well so they usually eat well.
3. Other dishes that some of my favorites from mom? Lasagna, Cheesy Potato soup, Corn Chowder, Deep dish pizza.
Edit Note- I made Lasagna for the first time a few weeks ago using my mom’s recipe and my dad said- There are now two forms of this I love. Your mothers and yours ain’t shabby at all.
What are some of your comfort foods?

Monday, February 16, 2009

Nobody's Hero



Beautiful Song....Beautiful Message

My hero is my wife.

Who is your hero?

RESPECT THE E-COLI

Well I think I have definately turned a corner today. I get tired easily BUT my stability has returned to 100% and I feel pretty good. I definately can see how this virus has killed people in underdeveloped countries. This stuff makes the flu look like a stopped up nose.

Advice- Prepare you meat well.... wash your hands

JDHTEACH--- OUT

Sunday, February 15, 2009

I AM HOME

Well I got home yesterday from the hospital. The E COLI virus is under control but I am still dealing with the collateral damage. Walk with cane right now. I am not driving at all. I will be on a strong antibiotic for 10 days. I can definately understand how this kills people in underdeveloped countries.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

The best of JDHTeach and a few well I can explain.

I want to start this off by acknowledging I think I have the best care and would not be here today if it were not for the people I am about to talk about. HOWEVER, with my third stay here at the big house and everyone on this floor knowing me I feel I have a bit of clout to speak up. I also want to speak up for those that are on TOP of their game and go over and beyond.

*Angela- This person serves as my doctors right hand gall at the clinic. As I was driving home early Tuesday due to intense back pain it got to the point that I did not know if I could make it. I learned that they wanted me to come straight over. When it became apparent. That I was going to have to admitted to the hospital and that by this time was in no condition to drive at all Angela drove my car and took me over to the hospital. Trying to be funny I asked her if she taxied all of her patients for extra money. She said well actually we need to keep this pretty quiet because I am pretty sure there are some rules I am breaking but Tracey is at least 2 hours away and for her to fight this traffic and the worry about the kids....this is easiest. If I get in trouble I can just ask for forgiveness.

*It was nice seeing nurses who literally brought me near death back to where I am. Some are still here and worked on me for a 2nd or 3rd time. Some of the nurses are no longer working on my floor but when they heard through the grapevine that I was here they came up on their breaks to visit. What was AMAZING was how many of them would start the conversation of with HELLO---So tell me--how are Jack and Caroline...Has that girl won any beauty pageants yet? or How big is the son of yours by now.

*Nursing- It seems you are really awesome at it or you suck. No in between.
*Hospital Food- Look I know it's looks good and it smells okay I guess but I probably am either not going to eat it or I might peck off just enough for the hunger pains. GET OFF MY BACK ABOUT EATING...do I look like I am going to waste away anytime soon? You park an ON THE BOARDER or a CHILI's TO GO in the house then we will talk.
*Nurse Call Button- Okay when these boxes on wheels go off the loud pitch beeping is annoying as hell. There is a silencer on it but it only last for 2 minutes then the beep starts up.

When I beep in and I get the response- I will send your nurse right it.

Now I have to ask you people what does this lead you to believe? That in the next few minutes the nurse will be coming to fix the machine right?

This scenario took place one morning and I was stuck with my beeping machine. It had been 35 minutes and I had not seen one nurse. THAT IS A LOT OF BEEPING. I finally unplugged the thing and walked to the main desk. I asked the girl at the front desk where the nurses were. She answered that they were in a staff meeting.
Oh, was my response.
I walked over from the main desk and found a place to sit on a bench. So there I was in the main entrance ....JUST ME AND MY BEEPING MACHINE. The next thing I know after about 1 minute of them having to listen to that machine a nurse magic appeared and she got my machine to stop beeping by punching a 5 letter code.

*Nurse call button #2- My maching is beeping again. "Air in line" those machines are picky like that. So hit the ol' Nurse call button and I get.." I will send your nurse right in" Again I realize the nurses are not the ones to blame here. They are working like crazy to meet the needs of their sick. But hear again don't make me have to push this button 4 times. Well, they did. This time I went to the front desk with my beeping maching and I unhooked myself from it. I told them my name and room number and when they got the machine to be quiet they could roll it back down to my room. And I left them with the beeping machine. I mean come on people when are you going to learn?

I am ready to go home. I miss the kids and Tracey horribly. And I could use some good texmex.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Deff Leppard- Very Strong for 1 Album'THIS ALL OF THEIR B SIDE STUFF OFF THAT APBULM















I don't think any songs that I am posting were the A listers/ Hystortia came put durring a very important time of my life and I love so many of their songs.I know in todays music youth you dont undetstand what a B SIDE is. This are songs that were not relased on the radio. Back in the day to earn quick money bands released their hit and they put one of the lesser knowns on the other side of the record or cdl

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Apathy sets In

I have been thinking this over and I am going to a little less “into” the Dallas Cowboys for a while. I have just grown so frustrated with their organization and their lack or guts to do what needs to be done that apathy has set in for me towards the team. Please don’t get me wrong. I am still going to cheer for the team and I will watch them when they are playing but I am done with putting all of my eggs in their basket. As I have blogged late last week this team lacks an identity. They need to grab their QB by the neck and tell him what he is going to do in the off-season and ANYONE who is not a team FIRST person needs to be dropped from the team. PACMAN which is a no brainer but TO you gone! And the fines for being late to meetings need to be meaningful and HIT WHERE IT FREEKING HURTS. 100 dollars for being late…Please that is a buck to you and me. This coaching staff is a joke because they have no power.
I pointed out how to fix all of this. But until JJ gets on the page none of this is going to happen. So nothing is going to change on the field. So why should I expect anything different then what I am seeing on the field. Week after week it is the same thing. A bunch of talented players that will beat some teams just based on talent. But when they hit a team that has similar to equal talent and THEY ARE A TEAM…they get exposed. And get your butt off of reality TV and into the film room. Do you not realize how much people resent seeing you get so much publicity for doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!! You have not won a playoff game in 12 YEARS!!! This is a freaking embarrassment.
And the owner refuses to bring in ANYONE for GM. So I am done with it. If they won’t fix the problem nothing is going to change. So you can expect 9-7 or 8-8 next year. Go ahead…knock yourself out. I will cheer and hope for a miracle but sure as heck am not expecting anything.
So what am I going to do? Well I remember back in the late 80’s and early 90’s Cowboy teams that you knew where going to lose (1-15) but you could see there was a plan. You see that here was a group of players that would do anything to WIN. There was no question of who the boss was. He left his star wide receiver in Dallas because he was not at the airport when he was supposed to be. When that player did get to where the team was he fined heavily and benched for part of the game. In another instance the team played poorly and the coach was pissed. So he did not let the players eat or drink anything on the plane ride home. Even when the team got good the star qb who just won his second straight super bowl had to ride back to the hotel with the media guys because he missed the team bus. Never mind that he missed the bus because he was being nice and answering reporters question. When the bus is supposed to leave it leaves. If you are not on it your butt gets left behind. No matter who you are. But even those super bowl teams you knew they were doing whatever they needed to do to win games. PERIOD.
So I am going to spend my offseason looking at a second team to cheer for. I might even go out and buy a jersey for that team after I make my choice. I do have criteria this team must meet.
1. Must show that they are willing to do what it takes to win. CUT THE FAT!
2. Record is not an issue. If you were a playoff team for the 08 season fine it does not matter.
3. This team cannot be in the NFC East. Sorry- Cowboys are still my #1 team
4. I know the team will NOT be New England or Pittsburg. I am just not a fan of either of their coaches. Sorry
5. Must be a team that is a TEAM-No individuals who either do or have a history of whining about their situation. You get paid handsomely to have the privilege to do what you do. Shut the hell up and be thankful for all that you have.
Teams off the top of my head that might meet these requirements are as follows: Order does not indicate rank.
New Orleans Saints- Love the coach and the organization but Jeremy Shockey just might knock them out due to criteria #5.
Miami Dolphins- I like the head coach. He was my choice to replace Parcells but we went with Big Chief Tablet carrying Phillips. Definitely an organization that is TEAM first. (On a side note this may be an ideal situation because they are in the AFC and I will have a team to cheer for in each conference)
Houston Texans- I like the coach and the team plays hard. Definitely a team first organization and they are in the AFC.
Cleveland Browns- Definitely interesting team. Have made some commitments and done some things that needed to be done. I will definitely be reading up on this organization. Perhaps one day this team could knock SOME of the cockiness off of Tomlin.
Seattle Seahawks- Interesting team. They have shown to be a team first organization. They don’t fall in love with players. When players need to be moved on (aka Alexander) they get moved on. I am not a fan of their new coach. I think he is a bit of a mental midget (situation that got him fired in Atlanta) but he is a good coach. I am going to have to read up on them.
Indianapolis Colts- Class organization (my opinion) I need to read up on their new coach. I don’t know a whole lot about him. If he has the same temperament as Tony Dungy I am IN!!! Love the attitude of the quarterback. Reminds me of Aikman a lot.

So the way I am looking at this is I have TWO teams to really keep up with instead of one. Cowboys are still #1. But instead of investing all of my football passion into them I will now be sharing that passion.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

What Goes Around Comes Around

Last Saturday after Jack's basketball game I was talking to our Youth Sports Coordinator for our church. I told I got involved in this for 4 main reasons.
1. To give back to the church
2. To spend time with Jack. Something he and I could do together.
3. I like working with kids.
4. I care and I want to teach these boys the basics on how to play a sport.

In talking with our coordinator I confessed that I just did not think that Jacks coach did anything when came to teaching the boys. I realize they are young but you can take a concept and teach them that concept. Again, they are young but all you want to see is progression.

I made mention in the conversation that there seems to be quite a progression in the quality of coaches this year. He agreed but very politely told me that there were two that he was not so sure about and would probably look elsewhere next season. I was taken back by that because I promise you. Everyone I have met has been the salt of the earth types. REAL NICE GUYS! I think that was because he was not talking about a guy.

Let me preface this by stating what you are supposed to center on in coaching in UPWARD Basket ball. You get a coaches hand book and in it it tells you that you are teaching the game of basketball but in reality you are teaching the word of the LORD through youth sports. You support the refs the other coaches and teams. And I have been so pleased from what I have seen from other coaches. When one of my players makes a good shot or makes a good pass they yell out...WAY TO GO 44 or AWESOME PASS 13!!I do the same thing. These kids all know one another. We are there to have fun and play a game.

Yesterday before our game starts I go over to the other coach and it is a woman! Wow I thought. I have seen some woman assistants but never the ONE AND ONLY COACH. The kids wear wrist bands so they know who they are supposed to be guarding. I think they do that through 3 grade. You are not aloud to play any zone defense and you cannot call plays.

In our pregame discussion she asked me what colors I was going to put on my two best players. I told her RED and BLUE! In addition to that she told me who her two best players were and I reciprocated. You see you are supposed to match your best kids with their best kids.

ISSUE #1- Mismatching Kids
Well I thought something was odd when the kid who she pointed out to me was her best player was not wearing RED or BLUE. You see that is something that we as coaches are not supposed to do either. Purposefully create mismatches against the kids. The color wrist band she had him wearing was matched up with probably my least skilled player.
I also noticed that with the number of players she had that kid should have sat out two periods using the substitution system the UPWARD league has set up. He sat out one. The last period. And that kid had skills.
I gotta hand it to my boys though they hung in there with defensively. One little guy came up to me and said. "Coach, I am doing the best I can but he is killing me" My response "All I can do is ask for your best and you are doing it so in my book you are doing AWESOME"

ISSUE #2- Play Calling
Now it was not obvious that the other team was calling plays. The coach was not barking out orders and the point guard was not walking up the court holding up 3 fingers or anything. BUUUTTTTTTT
Their movement was too swift and their passing was too crisp. In some cases the kids were passing to a point and then a kid would appear out of nowhere and get the ball and shoot and score before my guys had time to react to anything. These kids were a little to sharp for 2ne and 1sr graders. It was obvious something was fishy. I noticed it and of course I heard it from the parents as well. The parent comments were like this...Was it just me or was that team a little "advanced"

Issue #3 No ZONE defense
Again nothing was obvious here but it was clear that they were NOT playing man to man defense. There were WAY TO MANY times that one of their players would intercept one of our passes. It would be from players who were not where they were supposed to be. If you are guarding who you are supposed to be guarding then you should be nowhere near that pass but LOOKY HERE you just happen to show up and intercept ANOTHER PASS. The other coach did nothing to stop it. If anything I think she enjoys the fact that she has figured out a way to beat the system. Like I said it is not OBVIOUS but something is fishy.

Issue #4 Aggressiveness
The whole game my team was getting knocked to the floor. Some of my guys are very little even for their age. But all of my kids have heart. They get up and get moving. This other team we are playing would run into players to knock the balls loose. You could see elbows flying to help get position. Again, the other coach did nothing about it. The refs you ask? Well they had two high school kids being the ref. These are great kids..giving up their Saturdays to do this. But they turned a blind eye to it for the most part.

Halftime roles around and Assistant Coach Tracey takes the boys out to get some water. Believe it or not our team has caught up and might be up by a bucket. I finally had my two best players on the court for two consecutive periods and we made up ground FAST!! Tracey was out there with the boys when the coach from the other team said to Tracey- WOW...ya ll are by far the best team we have seen. Well we have not lost a game to this point. We have 3 blowouts and one close win. But this one can go either way. Tracey responded with ya ll are the best we have seen. The other coaches response...oh this is the worst they have played all year. They are going to hear it from me I am NOT PLEASED.

Tracey told me this when she got back and my thought was...she does not really understand what we are doing here.

So its halftime and we have our devotional and prayer. Then we have few seconds to talk to our team before we hit the floor. My team (while not shooting the best they ever had) was playing the best defense they had all season. Their arms were up they were moving around good stuff. So Tracey I got them all fired up and off they went.

The kid they that is most aggressive has been on Jack for the whole game. Jack is taller that the other kid so Jack easily out rebounds him and Jack is better than he is. So this kid does what he can to get Jack off of his game. He elbows him when he is taking shots or gets him in the back when he rebounds. Again, for some reason the refs are not doing anything about it.

Then this happens- Jack makes a bucket over little aggressive boy and that is all he can stand so while Jack is running back to the other side of the court the little boy goes out and trips Jack. When Jack hit the floor you could hear it. I did not see this happen but Tracey did. She was pissed. Jacks on the floor trying to be brave but that gym floor burn on his knee hurt. You could see little tears building up. I went out there and got him and brought him over to the bench. I subbed in another player for a portion of the game.

Tracey looked over at me and said I have had enough of this. I knew what she was thinking. I said, it's time go ahead and tell him.

She got eyeball to eyeball with Jack and she said Jack, it is time to use your size boy! You clear the lane with your elbows and shoulders and you give that kid a taste of his own medicine.

He looked at her not really sure how to respond so he just said...um o...kay mom.
After she left I sat next to him and I said, Look Jack it is not right to coach you to hurt someone. That is not what we are doing. We want you to protect yourself out there. The refs are not really helping you so you gotta help yourself. Do you understand. Hey said yeah I know what you want me to do. He asked me, why didn't mom say what you said? Then I got close to him and I said...Because mommy upset right now.

I will say this. The kid realized the error of his ways the last two playing quarters because Jack was all over kid. PAYBACK IS HELL!! Jack even bolled over the kid on the way to make a basket. If it where a foul it would be on that kid because he was not set he would just get in front of Jack.

Once Jack started getting as physical as that kid it was over! That kid had nothing he could do to stop Jack. And Jack kept his eye on him no more sneak attacks from the back. One specif occasion was priceless. The last time he tried to stop Jack and it ended with Jack scoring a bucket and him laying on his back the kid looked up at the ref and the ref did nothing. He then looked over at me. And I couldn't help it. As the kid ran by me I said, You probably need to think of a back up defense besides elbowing.

At the end of each game the boys line up and you do the good game , good game, good game and low fives. Well Tracey is getting our stuff together and I am getting our boys in line for the after game good game bit and I look up and the other team is GONE! What the heck? Everybody does this. Not her she was gone.

Yeah..this has GOT to be one of the coaches that is not going to be asked back.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Some Used Cars are More USED Than Others


\
SUUURRRREEE it has a few dents...but check out the low miles!!!!

Amateur Fire Fighter


Dude....What the heck are you doing? I mean REALLY

Um...could you clarify please



Well I guess I should say...GOOD FOR TIGER

Friday, February 6, 2009

Mr. Dumbass

If it is not bad enough for our current players to embarrass us now we got ex players.

Enter Terry Glenn- Get’s busted for being heavily intoxicated in a Dallas Hotel. Oh yeah and he happened to have some pot on him.
Good Gosh!

Hard Times For Cowboy Fans

This is getting old. It has got to the point that the Cowboys make the news at least once a week during the off season and for the most part every single one them is embarrassing. It has been hashed out a million times in a million different ways. What was once a model franchise is now just embarrassing .
The one offseason we need to pull close together and focus on the needs at hand what are we doing?
1. We have a player that gets arrested 3 weeks ago. As of today nothing has been said by the player or the organization?
2. We had another player make a rap video that was just NOT A GOOD IDEA. He has sense apologized and was fined one game paycheck. That is a start.
3. We have a former player that wants to start a reality show. From the moment you read the details you see this is not a good idea. No Cowboys need to be on TV hamming it up prior to the season. What good can come from this? Did we not learn from Hardknock’s watching you ham it up?
4. Our QB who needs to learn how to be better prepared for blitzes we can’t seem to keep him out of Hollywood.
5. A second player is doing a reality show. One that in my opinion needs to go. I understand there is a hit on the cap but his presence in the locker room is not a good example. I WANT TO WIN..I AM HERE TO WIN…as long as I get the ball and 1,000 yards receiving.
6. IF he goes then sure we are going to take a hit but I sure did like what I was seeing from some of our young guys.
7. We have got to establish an identity. With our backfield we should be PUNISHING people by running the ball. Does anyone remember in the 90’s when we just FORCED people to try and stop Emmitt. Go ahead…line up see what you can do.
8. We need to get Romo to get COMMAND of this team. Does anyone remember the way Troy handled the huddle…..Even Michael Irvin said…YOU DID NOT SAY A WORD in the huddle when Troy was there.
9. A presence on the sideline… One of my favorite sideline video’s of Aikman was when he walked over the offensive line and said…YOU NEED TO PULL IT TOGETHER OUT THERE…THAT IS A G…D…embarrassment .
10. If you run the ball that will keep our defense fresh…something that has shown they can dominate in that situation.
11. Run, Run some more..play action….Run it some more
12. We have GOT TO GET a back up QB. Release both back -ups now. One is old and the other is smaller than our PUNTER.
Sadly, It has gotten to the point where the owner has no intension of releasing his grip. His son wants to go in a different direction that many of the fans and media are screaming for. But until he is labeled mentally ill we are stuck.`

Thursday, February 5, 2009

80's Video

These where some of my favorites back in the day. Back when MTV played VIDEOS. I remember running home to catch the TOP 10 at 4:00 each day. Good Times..Good Times INDEED.

What were some of your favorites?




This one I thought was just genius back in the day.



I LOVED this song...unfortunately it was hot right when the girl I was dating at time dumped me.


I thought this was a beautiful song. This is a more recent version of the song. Looks like David Coverdale is singing at someones birthday party


The ultimate 80's band..Duran Duran


The introduction of the ROCK BALLAD!!

I went to the concert for the Doctor Feel Good tour. I must say the girls threw themselves on these guys like nothing I had ever seen.



I will be honest with you on this one. I loved the song but ANY video with Tawny in it a teenage boy was a fan of....WOW!!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Michael Phelps

I think Mr. Phelps spent too much time in the pool and not enough time in the real world.

He gets a DUI at 19 - Reason he gives- I am young

He gets his picture taken in a nice 8x10 glossy going down on a bong! - Reason I am young

Dude you are 23- Get over it.

Does he realize how many millions he possibly has lost in endorsements.

I don't think he KNOWS how to behave in a social setting.

It's like he is a Social MENTAL MIDGET if you know what I mean.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Scatter Shooting

These are just some thoughts that I have rolling around in my head. They are in no particular order of importance…just items that have popped into head recently!
1. Tracey does more than her share around the house. I try to keep up…does that count?
2. I really enjoy visiting with friends and family.
3. It was nice to get some affirmation from the waitress on Friday night about how polite our kids were. I must admit that did a nice job of asking for their meal and ending it with “please” and when the food came they made sure and said “thank you!”
4. Tracey’s mother is a blast to be around. Two minutes with her and I swear you would think she was YOUR mom! Great person!
5. Tracey’s older sister is a beautiful woman. Not saying I dream about her. I am just stating the obvious.
6. Tracey and her older sister look so much alike.
7. It is really scary to see Tracey, her older sister AND Caroline together. WOW what a gene pool!!
8. I am so happy that Tracey’s younger sister is in a happy place in her life.
9. I think you are an ASS if you honk at me for slowing down from 45 mph to make a 90 degree turn! What the heck man..you expect me to make the turn at 45???
10. I think you are an ASS if you ride your bike on the road DURING rush hour traffic. Saturdays-Sundays and anytime after 8:00pm is fine.
11. You may not like my opinion of #10 but hey that is what BIKE TRAILS ARE FOR!!!
12. If you are still miffed then this Saturday at 9:00AM (what seems to be your peak riding time) be on the lookout for a 2007 Toyota Camry running 45mph on the bike trail at Breckenridge Park! Then let me know how you feel.
13. I think that drivers of large cargo vehicles (large u-hauls or semi trucks) are getting a little lax on their safety when driving in town. I have almost been squashed a couple times in the month of January.
14. I did have one minor fender bump that was a direct result of a clueless truck driver ahead of me.
15. I know I need to get over it but I am still miffed how I got “selected” to put my carry- on bag in the “lets see if it is too big” container. I swear there were 100 people on the plane with bigger bags than me. I THINK I WAS PROFILED!!!
16. We lied and told Jack no one answered the phone when he asked us to call and see if one of his friends could come over and play. The reason? The kid is a complete ASS! The result Jack get’s all wound up around him. I swear you just don’t want to be around this kid.
17. I stay on my kids about cleaning their room. I get upset if I walk in there and step on something! PUT CRAP UP WHERE IT BELONGS!!!
18. Then I see the inside of one of their friends house and I am SHOCKED at how those people live. Crap is everywhere! Beautiful home on the outside…Inside…ehhh not so much!
19. I went to eat lunch with Jack last week. 90% of the kids who bring their lunch eat chips and go buy an ice cream and wash it down with juice. They throw the homemade sand which , fruit cup or soup in the trash! If they do that do you realize how much money the parents are throwing down the toilet?
20. I am so glad that Tracey had a great evaluation score for her observation. She puts too much pressure on herself.
21. I will be glad when Caroline enters kindergarten next year and has some little girlfriends to go play with. She hangs in there with her “brotha” but sometimes she just sits on the curb and watches him. It breaks my heart at times.
22. The kid on the end of the street is another one that bugs the crap out of me. He has a case of “little man” syndrome.
23. I think it is funny that this boy is in 2nd grade and Caroline is 3 years younger than him yet taller than him by a good bit.
24. I REALLY think it is funny that you can tell it bothers him that he is shorter than Caroline.
25. I REALLY, REALLY think it is funny that one day he is going to be drooling over Caroline and she is not going to give him the time of day because he is mean to her at times.
26. I like that when he is mean to her there have been a couple of times that Jack has taken care of the situation for his sister.
27. I like that you can tell from the way Caroline watches Jack that he is her hero!
28. I think the coach of the Steelers is arrogant. (SEE POST BELOW)
29. Even though I stay in their hip pocket I must admit that Jack and Caroline are great kids.
30. I think Tracey is a “Hey Now”

Arrogant ? or Confident?

I am probably the only one who feels this way but I do not care for the Pittsburg Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Please let me clarify. I respect what he has done for Pittsburg. I think he is one heck of a football coach.
What I don’t care for is how he carries himself of the sideline.
To me he is the picture of boy for “cocky.” There are many times that you see him on the sidelines when the camera’s go to him and he does not have his headphones on. What? You don’t need to know what is going on in the game? The look on his face has the “yeah that’s what I am talkin’ about” (use best Napolean Dynamite voice here) look on it.
I just want to slap him! Then there is the chest bump…What the hell? He is chest bumping his players?!?!? I would totally LMAO if he or the player he chest bumps comes down and completely tears his or their MCL and ACL.
My other observation is what exactly does he have to be cocky about? Did he build the team? No.
He inherited a strong team with a bunch of players in their prime.
Does A-N-Y-O-N-E give credit to Barry Switzer for his SB with the Cowboys? Heck no! He let that plane fly itself and they had so much talent they still won.
I give Tomlin credit for his intense demeanor and keeping the team focused week end and week out. He does a lot of things that I like!
Would I like him to be our coach? Heck yes!
I just hate how cocky he comes across.
Consequently, I hate it when they focus on the Cowboys coach after something bad happens and he looks like someone stole his Big Chief tablet with matching pencil. Don’t even get me started about when something good happens and he is running around pumping his fist 5 minutes after the event happened!
Do you go cocky or clueless?