I just found out today that the erg race we're attending this weekend has changed format just a little. Where there was no longer a points trophy, there now will be one. Funny that I don't find that information in the entry packet that was sent out.
Do I really care? Not really. There would only be a few changes in my entry, moving a two guys up one level so we would be in all events. However, it is annoying. Anybody want to put some money down on where the points trophy will end up going?
Monday, February 28, 2005
After all, it is just an erg race
Talk about sending mixed messages.
I'll spend all this week getting the team tapered and psyched up for a great performance at an erg race. Why?
After all, it is just an erg race. Doesn't mean all that much in the long term scheme of things. I'd trade a great performance at an erg race for a great performance at the Midwest championships any time, if I had to make that choice.
What I'm trying to say is this: It's a great opportunity to put up a fast number right before we go on the water to boost confidence. For most guys, this will show a great deal of improvement from the beginning of winter. That's something that can really boost your mental picture going into the cold and wet of early spring.
I don't want to give the impression that I'm too overly interested in the erg scores. I know it's easy to think that given the time I spend on my laptop, analyzing scores and looking for trends. Just remember, that laptop log doesn't get looked at more than twice once we hit the water. I'm much more interested in seat racing and 500m times over the measuered course.
So, here's what I want the guys to take from this week and weekend. Have a great piece, try your best and set a personal record. If you do, you've won the erg race. If you don't or can't attend, don't worry.
After all, it is just an erg race.
I'll spend all this week getting the team tapered and psyched up for a great performance at an erg race. Why?
After all, it is just an erg race. Doesn't mean all that much in the long term scheme of things. I'd trade a great performance at an erg race for a great performance at the Midwest championships any time, if I had to make that choice.
What I'm trying to say is this: It's a great opportunity to put up a fast number right before we go on the water to boost confidence. For most guys, this will show a great deal of improvement from the beginning of winter. That's something that can really boost your mental picture going into the cold and wet of early spring.
I don't want to give the impression that I'm too overly interested in the erg scores. I know it's easy to think that given the time I spend on my laptop, analyzing scores and looking for trends. Just remember, that laptop log doesn't get looked at more than twice once we hit the water. I'm much more interested in seat racing and 500m times over the measuered course.
So, here's what I want the guys to take from this week and weekend. Have a great piece, try your best and set a personal record. If you do, you've won the erg race. If you don't or can't attend, don't worry.
After all, it is just an erg race.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
To ski or not to ski, is that even a question?
My guys can tell when I get annoyed. I'll shout, curse, glare and start ranting. When I get really mad is when I get quiet. I'll stomp around, wanting to tear something (someone) apart and usually end up sitting near some water, throwing rocks. They usually stay away when I get like that.
I'm still just annoyed, but I'm rapidly working up to really pissed. The ski club has gotten to my guys again.
Somebody tell me if this sounds like a good idea:
Take 40 to 60 high school kids out of school early on a bus to a nearby ski area. Add three or four chaperones from that school, who then go off on their own to ski. The kids are let loose on the slopes until it's time to meet the bus on the way back.
You couldn't pay me enough to be responsible in that situation.
Are you kidding? What is to stop them from running off with their sweet thing and getting into the kind of trouble that makes me dread ever having a daughter? (Thank God I've got a son!) What about smuggled alcohol, always a favorite high school pastime? Finally (and most important to me) what about injuries? Apparantly, not a thought has gone into any of this.
For the second time this winter, I've had a team member injured on one of these trips. Last year, a boy separated his shoulder and was out of training for a month and a half. One of the boys had a concussion two years ago. One of the girls on the rowing team broke (shattered) her leg.
Now, I understand that skiing and snowboarding are a little dangerous. It is also an enjoyable pasttime here in Pennsylvania. But let me ask a hypothetical question:
When would high school kids be most prone to doing someting stupid on the ski slopes (Hey, watch this!):
1-When they're in a large, unsupervised group off from school?
2-When they're in a small, unsupervised group of friends on the weekend?
3-When they're in a family group on the weekend?
The answer seems a little easy, doesn't it?
The rate of injury I've noted from this ski club seems a little high. I believe there's been too much watching of the X Games and too little thinking. When a kid mentions that he hurt his shoulder taking a fall but "You should have seen the rails I was riding," I get frustrated.
It's not a matter of missing one of my practices, though that always gets a coach's ire up. What gets me so frustrated is their willingness to put their position on the team in jepardy. With all the work I put them through, all the pain and misery they share with their teammates, why risk hurtling downhill, trying to out do the other jerk who isn't ever going to compete on a city level in any sport, much less national?
I'm not advocating that my boys not do anything other than row. They shouldn't give up any other pasttime just because of the concerns of one over-intense coach. I just want them to consider ditching this ski club. Ski on the weekends, with smaller groups. There have been too many injuries.
I'm considering some sort of sanction next year to put an end to this. I'm that irritated. Hell, why don't they just take up cross-country skiing? That's a pasttime a rowing coach could love.
I'm still just annoyed, but I'm rapidly working up to really pissed. The ski club has gotten to my guys again.
Somebody tell me if this sounds like a good idea:
Take 40 to 60 high school kids out of school early on a bus to a nearby ski area. Add three or four chaperones from that school, who then go off on their own to ski. The kids are let loose on the slopes until it's time to meet the bus on the way back.
You couldn't pay me enough to be responsible in that situation.
Are you kidding? What is to stop them from running off with their sweet thing and getting into the kind of trouble that makes me dread ever having a daughter? (Thank God I've got a son!) What about smuggled alcohol, always a favorite high school pastime? Finally (and most important to me) what about injuries? Apparantly, not a thought has gone into any of this.
For the second time this winter, I've had a team member injured on one of these trips. Last year, a boy separated his shoulder and was out of training for a month and a half. One of the boys had a concussion two years ago. One of the girls on the rowing team broke (shattered) her leg.
Now, I understand that skiing and snowboarding are a little dangerous. It is also an enjoyable pasttime here in Pennsylvania. But let me ask a hypothetical question:
When would high school kids be most prone to doing someting stupid on the ski slopes (Hey, watch this!):
1-When they're in a large, unsupervised group off from school?
2-When they're in a small, unsupervised group of friends on the weekend?
3-When they're in a family group on the weekend?
The answer seems a little easy, doesn't it?
The rate of injury I've noted from this ski club seems a little high. I believe there's been too much watching of the X Games and too little thinking. When a kid mentions that he hurt his shoulder taking a fall but "You should have seen the rails I was riding," I get frustrated.
It's not a matter of missing one of my practices, though that always gets a coach's ire up. What gets me so frustrated is their willingness to put their position on the team in jepardy. With all the work I put them through, all the pain and misery they share with their teammates, why risk hurtling downhill, trying to out do the other jerk who isn't ever going to compete on a city level in any sport, much less national?
I'm not advocating that my boys not do anything other than row. They shouldn't give up any other pasttime just because of the concerns of one over-intense coach. I just want them to consider ditching this ski club. Ski on the weekends, with smaller groups. There have been too many injuries.
I'm considering some sort of sanction next year to put an end to this. I'm that irritated. Hell, why don't they just take up cross-country skiing? That's a pasttime a rowing coach could love.
Would anyone really want to read this?
Why spend the time doing a blog about my experiences coaching rowing? Why spend the time doing a blog about my experiences? Why spend the time doing a blog?
Well, if somebody makes the space available on their server and my team gets some kind of use from this I suppose it's worth it. One of the few useful items I learned from my USRowing training was the importance of communication to my team. Another method can't hurt.
Besides, I know some of them can't download my lengthy, boring and incomprehensible word documents. I'm talking about 5 to 10 pages at a time, written over weeks. Of those who claim not to be able to download, I suspect they just don't want to read something that long.
My editing will be poor, my entries themeless and wandering and sometimes won't have a thing to do with rowing. I'm sure that some coarse language will slide in here as well. If a parent sees this, I'll either lose my job or they'll understand better why their kids seem to like me.
I've been known to talk long enough to put my hyperactive two-year-old to sleep. My wife asks me to tell her stories to knock her out. Why not vent some of this onto the web and inflict it on anyone bored enough to look at this? I just might put a dent in the sleeping pill industry.
Since all of my guys spend too much time sending IMs, this might be a better way to communicate. I hope they add some comments as time goes on. This also is a little quicker than sending news to the team website, run by another coach.
So, enjoy. Or fall asleep. I have no idea how often I'll post and there won't be a set schedule. I'm not a professional writer and I've got a slow dialup connection. My computer is in the same half-finished basement as the washing machines and the cat box, right next to the furnace. You can make all the assumptions you need from there.
Well, if somebody makes the space available on their server and my team gets some kind of use from this I suppose it's worth it. One of the few useful items I learned from my USRowing training was the importance of communication to my team. Another method can't hurt.
Besides, I know some of them can't download my lengthy, boring and incomprehensible word documents. I'm talking about 5 to 10 pages at a time, written over weeks. Of those who claim not to be able to download, I suspect they just don't want to read something that long.
My editing will be poor, my entries themeless and wandering and sometimes won't have a thing to do with rowing. I'm sure that some coarse language will slide in here as well. If a parent sees this, I'll either lose my job or they'll understand better why their kids seem to like me.
I've been known to talk long enough to put my hyperactive two-year-old to sleep. My wife asks me to tell her stories to knock her out. Why not vent some of this onto the web and inflict it on anyone bored enough to look at this? I just might put a dent in the sleeping pill industry.
Since all of my guys spend too much time sending IMs, this might be a better way to communicate. I hope they add some comments as time goes on. This also is a little quicker than sending news to the team website, run by another coach.
So, enjoy. Or fall asleep. I have no idea how often I'll post and there won't be a set schedule. I'm not a professional writer and I've got a slow dialup connection. My computer is in the same half-finished basement as the washing machines and the cat box, right next to the furnace. You can make all the assumptions you need from there.
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