First Day

Tomorrow is our official work day. Full of meetings and professional stuff that we put off for two months. Tomorrow I will be presenting at our staff meeting about a professional development trip I took to St. Louis. During this trip I sang Karaoke to Vanilla Ice. So naturally, to present our information to the staff we made a music video. It's what all meetings are like, right?

5 Minutes for Michigan

Today I went to watch Ohio State practice with my dad. They are in the middle of two-a-days but today it was just a morning session. We arrived a little early and checked in with a guy that sits at the open gates, just checking in people that are coming to watch OSU practice. He hands you a nametag, a roster, and a smile and you're on your way. Imagine that. What if I had martin standing outside of my classroom door just to check in people that were coming to watch me teach? I'm onto something.

If you aren't familiar with college level practice the oversized guys in pads trot out and go to their respective spots on the two fields. They stretch, fat guys complain about the heat, running backs compare biceps, and quarterbacks pretend they are doing something. Roughly every five minutes the horn goes off and the guys scamper to another portion of the field for a new drill. The funny thing that dad and I noticed today is that no matter what level you're coaching, you pretty much do the same thing. Football is football. Just in this case you have a 6'5 dude that runs a 4.33 40 yard dash.

A few things caught my eye as we watched them today. 1) Coach Tress makes spotting the ball the most envious job on earth. If a grad assistant were spotting it, I would probably laugh at him and say something like "chump". But Tress does it and I think, "man, a second masters might help me get to that spot"

2) Pryor still can't throw. It's terrible. But everything else is amazing, including the running left stiff arm of a defensive end to the ground move he decided to do like it was swatting a fly.

3) Tress is Tress. What I mean by this is that when a DB got into a skirmish with a Wideout and threw him to the ground, Tress kicked him off the field. A few plays later he tried to pop back into the game. Tress noticed this and said "You were ejected from the game for that move, sit out". Later the kid was put back in by the DB coach, Tress before spotting the ball in the coolest way ever said "Did you not hear me? that will get you kicked out on a saturday, get off the field". Needless to say he didn't come back in.

4) Offensive line is terrible.

5) Best moment of the morning. In the middle of Team drills the Michigan fight song kicked on and started blaring over loud speakers. Without missing a beat the players scattered to their corners to a conditioning drill. The entire time the Michigan fight song blaring "Hail to the victors" Meanwhile the coaches just kept pushing the guys through these conditioning drills, for 5 minutes they did this. Everyday, every practice, practice is interrupted by "Hail to the Victors" and they go through their drill called 5 minutes for Michigan. That trumped the spotting of the ball.

Fire Dog

I am sitting inside typing away on a paper that is due this weekend when I hear a dog barking outside. I know that my walking muppet of a dog is out back so I think nothing of it. A few moments pass, I continue to type what turns out to be a great line of graduate level B.S. when I hear a thumping at the sliding door. I pop up to let emmy in and I look at her with a curious expression because her face is all wet. I look outside...nope, it's not raining. I start thinking about what she could have gotten into...nothing comes to mind. So I take a step outside to only hear what sounds like running water. I turn towards the only possible producer, and yup...the faucet is on. Somehow this fluffball turned on the outdoor spicket and proceeded to play in it like it was a summer afternoon in harlem, circa 1955. I couldn't do anything but laugh, and turn off her oasis playground.

Good Morning....morning.

Not a morning person? Are you a personified snooze button with the first cognitive thought going through your mind in the a.m. "I can't wait to get back in bed" ? If this is you, then we do not share the same feeling about the sunrise. You see, I've always been a morning person and I don't drink coffee. I tried the java juice for about a month, I kicked that habit before it started because I don't need it. Some people rely on the coffee jolt, others just fight and kick their way into the afternoon, not this guy. I'm going to change your life by giving you my first hand action plan of making the mornings an anticipated part of your day.

Step 1. This is my most effective step for making the mornings like a trip into the wonka factory. Plan something for the next day to look forward to. I don't care how big or how small, plan something. I find that when I plan something out of the ordinary for the next day I pop out of bed. Examples: A round of golf with buddies, a dinner date w/wife, or something small like a breakfast sandwich at your favorite place.

Step 2. Get dressed, shower, etc... in the morning to music that is unfamiliar to you or an old favorite that you haven't heard in awhile. This can be a large risk, large reward because if you hit a song that is just awful while you're tying your tie, the day could come up short. But, the reward of hearing a new song that plays in your head like a magical jukebox can stimulate your mind for the day. When in doubt crank out an old favorite song. Guys, turn this tune on the next time your shaving in the morning and tell me you didn't have a good time.

Step 3. Go to bed happy. Believe it or not I believe there is a strong correlation between a good night makes a good morning. How can you achieve this? A few suggestions. If you have a wife...sleep with her. If not, read something positive or a story you love...in my case I love to watch an episode of the west wing (a blog to come). Basically spend some time getting your mind right before you sleep, pray, think, meditate, whatever you need to do.

Step 4. If the first three steps don't work. Get a dog. Every morning a dog is waiting tail-a-waggin' for you. Your dog is like your personal sold out crowd each morning. They sit and wait looking at you thinking to themselves..."oh man...oh man....I can't wait....can't wait. I know he's gettin up...OH...he moved....hheeeee mmooooved". You start to get up and the dog's tail is like a pin-wheel, they jump up and down licking your hand, running around in circles happy as can be. All because you got out of bed. beat that.