It's the coach's fault. Really.

Yes, the lost skeg today was my fault. I saw that log when I was going up the channel to get on the finish line. My launch slave of the day even suggested that we get it out of the way. I didn't stop.

I didn't stop because I knew the first piece would start soon. I didn't stop because I assumed the coxswains would see the log and steer around. I didn't even warn the boats about it, because I was too far away.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. After putting the guys through torture yesterday moving a 500lb water soaked tree out of the channel, I didn't bother with a six foot stick. Therefore, Murphy's law swam up from the channel and bit me in the well, you know.

All things considered, I should be happy. The damage to the Vixen is minimal, and Dr. B and I will take some time to repair it back to pristine condition. If this were a race situation, we could have rowed the boat, but we're not in that situation yet. It should be fixed by Tuesday.

So go easy on the cox. I didn't honor my own responsibility and now I've got to help fix the boat.

(Sort of ) Lightweight 8+ this morning. Great row, guys. As you can see, the river is very high. By the way, if anyone wants these pics in a higher quality, give me a shout. The site doesn't support that many pixels for memory reasons.

Flyweight 4+. Look how high the hands have to be, even with the boat set. Next time, lighter, smaller hull. 

Coming back upstream yesterday. 

RANTS and RAVES (not political)

Ok, time to get old again.

I've already yelled at some of you about your driving. You know who you are. Cutting off the tanker truck isn't a great idea. Volvo's aren't high-performance cars and aren't designed to out-accelerate such a vehicle, especially downhill. Clean up your driving before your parents take your cars away or worse, you get hurt and can't row.

Flooding sucks. Really sucks. It happens every year, and we still just deal with it. When you think about when we get on the water, then deal with spring floods, we really don't get a lot of time. The flow just went over 40k, so get the fanny packs back out.

Guys, it is always fun to watch you go to buffets. Even nasty ones like Quaker Steak. That food looked like cheap wedding food today. There seems to be several levels of buffet food: hotels and country clubs, then things like the old country buffet. After that, there's Eat 'n Park's breakfast buffet and the like. It's really hard to screw up sausage, after all. At the bottom, there's the China Buffet and what you all consumed today. I've suggested to Emily that we could fry up dog food, add some salt and seasonings and you would eat it. Rowers are fun that way, they eat anything.

TRRA needs to get the act together. Meetings to organize the Scholastic Sprints should have happened during the TRRA erg race. That would get parents involved earlier, before people have started making plans. We've got parents that work their tails off for you guys, and now they're working for a regatta our club has to pay to attend. We've pulled out of the Jewell Cups altogether; those weekends will now be practice weekends.

Guys: even if we don't get on the water at all the rest of the week, your reaction to my plea to stick around this spring break has really made me very happy. Thank you all so much, it means a lot to me to see you taking the season so seriously. Parents, thank you for giving up your plans for an idiot who can't predict the river flooding. With such a late spring break, sticking will have a great effect on our season.

Wow, March has been great this year. Considering how miserable everyone was after March last season, I'm in a great place this time around. We've gotten some great rowing in, selection is really coming along and everyone is in a better mood. I know that you all are under some stress and think there's a lot of interpersonal stuff flying around. Trust me, this is better. At least we're not miserable, still on the erg and watching a 80k flow shoot down the channel.

If the river is cresting, we're on the water again on Thursday, I hope. Come prepared for anything tomorrow. At least the weather will be nice.

The Top Ten Reasons Why High School is better than College

Something I wrote after I got back to School

10. You will never have a teacher who says “Ok, if you look at you syllabus you will see you have only two tests, a Midterm and a Final, each will count as 50% of your final grade.

9. Your mom still does your laundry.

8. High School doesn’t cost $30,000 a year.

7. You don’t have to wear sandals in your shower at home.

6. You never have to buy your text books unless you set them on fire.

5. Now when a teacher says “This will impact the rest of your life” they're not lying.

4. As much as you siblings bug you at least they're not your roommate.

3. You will never meet a college student who has money.

2. A home cooked meal consists of anything cooked in your microwave.

1. The Food

Lunch Tomorrow

For tomorrow's double practice, I'm told the guys would like to go out as a team for lunch and dinner. Suggestions have included Quizno's for lunch and Quaker Steak and Lube for dinner.

Your humble coach feels this is a great opportunity for team building. However, I have two concerns that I would like addressed:

1) Why don't you guys go to Quaker for lunch? South Hills traffic after 5pm is miserable. Trust one who deals with it daily.

2) Let's make sure we're safe about this. One person to a seat belt and no more. I'll have my van tomorrow to help car pool.

Is this reasonable? I don't want to interfere with teenage spring break plans, nor do I want to sound like an old fogey, but I don't want anybody to get a ticket.

Chapter 1

A year Ago the Men’s team of the Fox Chapel Crew Club underwent a drastic change, the addition of a new coach, a novice who would go on to beat the varsity, and a new vitality was awakened with in the rowers. Throughout that season those men went on to accomplish feats that had never been dreamed of in seasons prior to that. Not only did they win the first point trophy ever won by the men, in club history, they won two. Not only did the novices put a beat down on every one else’s novices, but beat their Junior Varsity too. Not only did they sent the first ever men’s boat to the finals at The Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championships, they sent three. And after they had accomplished all of that, they still sent the first ever boat from Fox Chapel to the National Championships and placed in the top 10 in the nation.
This is only a taste of what you all can achieve; Each one of you has endured physical pain and triumphed. You have been pushed to you mental limits and prevailed. The work you have done over the winter is harder than any other team that you will face. Do not let that work go for not. As this season begins, remember where this team has come from. A coach once told me “Fox Chapel will be the fastest crew in Pittsburgh” that time has come and gone, I say “Fox Chapel will be one of the fastest crews in the Nation” Last year was only Chapter 1. You have begun Chapter 2, how will it end?

Now for something completely different

Now that I've dropped all the heavy stuff.....

I used to be good at chess. Not great, but not terrible. Last night, I got on the msn chess site. After half an hour of downloads, I got my clock cleaned in the beginner room. After a little thinking, I have not gotten much better.

Anyone for a game? Give me a call or an email. It would give you all the opportunity to beat the coach.

.34 seconds and a question

The previous post was written rather quickly. I really didn't think too much about what I wanted to say. I simply wanted to communicate to the guys not to be afraid out on the water. Because rowing is such a mental sport, an oarsman is competing against himself and his own limits as much as another team.

Last year at Midwest, the varsity 8 missed the finals by .34 seconds. Unfortunately, that happens in this sport. A bowball plus a few inches. A bitter loss. The guys were very upset. I was miserable.

.34 seconds is such a small margin that the coach starts looking at himself. Did I check all the rigging? Did we practice the racing start enough? What about the sprint? Finally, what was I thinking putting out a varsity 8 that year?

There were 4 lightweights in that boat. One was a novice. Looking at the other crews, I was sending small boys out to race much larger ones. I started questioning my decisions. I started wondering if that was the right way to go this year.

With a crew of mostly lightweights, why not concentrate on lightweight events, develop the novices slower and put only my heavies in a JV 4+? It seemed like an easy question. I would go with events that my crew seemed best suited for on paper and wait until next year, with a lot of seniors. In short, I got scared.

I got scared of sending my team out with a disadvantage. I didn't want to put them or me through that .34 seconds again. So I went against my better nature and moved away from a varsity 8. I figured we would enter that in a few regattas but forget about it at Midwest this year.

Then I re-read my own post and thought about what I meant. If the guys had put all this trust in me, were showing all this courage with the workouts, why should I take a chance at glory from them? Everyone loves the 8. The 8 is the ultimate expression of "team."

Then the heavyweights in the 4 were struggling. It wasn't anything a particular oarsman was doing, it just wasn't matching together, and the boat was getting slower rather than faster. The guys were frustrated and worried. I was also. I thought about the best 4s I had ever seen, and they all rowed together very well, with four oarsmen matched very closely. That wasn't my 4.

Finally, I was asked a question. If I put together a varsity 8 this year, would it be faster, slower or the same as last year? There's an easy question. A bunch of guys with a second year of the winter training program? It had to be faster, without question. If it was faster, wasn't it worth a shot again at the varsity 8?

My entry at Midwest is going to be structured for one purpose: I want to be back in Cincinnati in June with more than 2 rowers this year. Why should we not enter the categories that bring an invitation to nationals for the most rowers? That's the V8, light 8, light (or fly) 4, and 2x. There will also be a JV8, JV4 and a novice 4.

I asked you why should you be afraid to go harder than ever on the water. Why then should I be afraid to challenge you? The respect, glory and big trophies go to the big boat. Let's go take a shot at it all.

Remember where you've been, conquer where you're going. It's revenge time.

Remember the winter

Remember the work. Remember the time put in. Remember the distance you rowed. Remember the hours on the machine with your teammates. Remember the time on the slides.

Remember the 500s. Remember the reserves you called on to get through the 5th one. Remember the grim determination you felt starting the 3rd. Remember the savage joy you felt at the end of the first and you realized, yeah, you could do this.

Remember the weights you've lifted. Remember how much more you lift now than when you started. Remember how much faster you recover from lifting now than when you started.

Remember your best 2000m erg test. Remember the feeling as you passed 750m to go and realized you were going a personal best. Remember that unstoppable feeling. Remember the feeling going through 4000m of a 6k and realizing you were still aerobic.

Remember the first time you went out on the water. Remember the first strokes you ever pulled when the boat set up. Remember the first time you rowed in a boat with the rating over 30. Remember the first time that felt good. Remember the first racing start.

In any of these instances, do you remember fear? Were you afraid of what you were about to attempt? What's the worst that could have happened in any of those instances? Failure? There is no failure when you sit on the erg and give your best effort. There was no fear then.

If there was no fear when you faced the individual misery of the erg, why should you be afraid at any time now? I can't come up with a worse workout on the water than what you've already conquered on the erg. If you don't believe me, remember this one fact:

Every workout you do on the water, you do with your teammates around you. Even if you're in a single, you're not out there alone.

Remember that you've gone through worse than anything I can do now. So row like I know you can: with no fear. It's a trite phrase, but that describes the feeling I want you to have out there. Don't fear the distance, the pain, the wind, water or anyone you're racing. You have the fitness to conquer anything I give you. Don't EVER fear the workout.

Remember where you've been. Conquer where you're going.

Meet the parents, part II

Here's another reason crew parents rock. They don't pester the coach.

If you've read any sort of news over the last few years, you know what I mean. Some of you may have seen these sort of parents at other events. You know what I'm talking about: the parent overinvolved with their kid's sporting experience, shouting pointers from the stands and in the coach's ear about more playing time, different position or why junior's future scholarship and million-dollar contract is being put in jepardy by that idiot on the sideline. No, not his kid, the coach.

You just don't hear about this in rowing. It's great. Parents trust the coach completly. Heck, I have to beg the parents of my guys to contact me. At this point, I sometimes think I don't hear from them enough. I want to know how the boys are dealing with the physical pressures at home, if they're eating enough or getting homework done. I want to know if the parents are concerned about anything.

I suppose parents aren't as "enthusiastic" because few have ever rowed. We've been talking about a parent's rowing camp over the summer for awhile now, but few parents have ever pulled on an oar, much less raced a boat.

Selection for various boats is really an art form. Erg scores do matter, but other less measureable skills are also in consideration. Attendance, attitute, technique and ability to improve all go into my pot to be stirred and considered for selection. Add in the multiple events that we can enter, and you've got some thinking and experimenting to do. Where parents might see the process as subjective, there usually is some science to my methods.

That's why we seat race. I have to know who's moving boat and who can battle for the long term.

Wow, this post is wandering. What the devil am I trying to say?

--I would love to hear from the parents more. I know you all have questions that aren't being answered by your boys. Contact me, I'd love to enlighten you.

--If there is enough interest, I'd be willing to coach a "parent's tank session" for those who would like a better idea of what thier kids are doing.

--Selection is an inexact art that a coach tries to inject science into. However, I'm constantly thinking about it (ask Emily) and I'm always looking for the fastest boat.

Finally, I welcome a limited amount of input from the rowers, once I decide what boats we will concentrate on. That should be in the next week. Shameless lobbying on your own behalf won't be appreciated. However, if there's something you think I've missed, please bring it up. Remember, we're looking for speed for the whole team.

Sometimes, when the boys look at the launch like that, I begin to wonder what they're using for motivation. Notice good rowing here. From the angle of the oar, we know he's connected to the water. The shins are verticle, outside arm straight, body tall and forward. He's in a good, connected pulling position.

Seat racing began yesterday. 

Dude.......Shut up

A little story from my checkered past. Some have heard it, some will be shocked.

The setting: a Thursday afternoon practice in spring, 1996. Housatonic river, where Yale University practices. The first freshman 8+, your humble correspondent in 5, is racing the varsity and JV over 2000m.

We would get a head start on the other boats, but remember our purpose out there was to be the rabbit. They were supposed to catch us.

With 500m to go, the varsity has come even and we're struggling to hold them off. I've been killing myself and the rest of the guys are as well. However, my oar is cutting through water on the recovery. As the blade would swing back, it's hitting water falling from above. That water is from the 3 seat's miserable finish. He's pulling the blade out before he's gotten to the body and feathering in the water. This throws water in the air and isn't the best way to row. I don't care all that much, because I know he's doing well otherwise.

Until, that is, he starts shouting in the middle of the race: "Finishes!"

Now, I can deal with a little chatter in a boat. I would growl and mutter a few words to Hans in front of me every once in awhile when things were flying. Nothing specific, just "yeah Hans. Here we go, you and me" just before a flutter or on the settle.

But listening to another rower mention finishes when his own sucked rankled me a little. I was willing to forget the whole thing until he started repeating. Every 15 strokes or so. Just enough to get the hair on the back of my neck to stand up.

Really, where was he getting all this wind to shout? I could rarely raise my voice above a mutter. I needed all the breath I could get to feed my starving legs that were rapidly filling with lactic acid.

The varsity passed us, of course. We managed to hold contact and lose by about 8 seats. The JV was 3 lengths back. All in all, a good piece. We then turned for the dock.

At Yale, the finish line is at the dock. Turn around with port side and you're lined up. So, it's not uncommon to land less than a minute after the end of the race. So, we were still gasping and my blood was still up. As soon as we touched, I released my feet and stalked back two seats. I threw my shirt in 3s face and tried to push him into the water. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP YOU MISERABLE &$*#@@(#!"

Insert a lot of swearing and a gang tackle by 2 and 4. By now, the coach is on the dock and drags us into the repair bay to have it out. After listening to me rant and 3 reply in a hurt tone, he laid down the law:

Neither of you know enough about rowing to fill a pimple on the ass of the body of knowledge of the sport. Don't begin to think you have any idea about your own technique, much less other's. So don't correct your teammates that way.

And don't attack your teammates around the boathouse. You're supposed to be fighting the other crews, not each other.

A good set of rules, don't you all think?

Notes on next week

Just a few thoughts to give you guys more information on what to expect.

Monday will not have seat racing. You will go out in the lineups I sent via Email to get used to the 4+. Coxswains: launch, go to the bridge and go straight downstream, A2, 24 strokes per minute. Turn around and return at the first of the three sisters. Rowers, get the boats racked quickly and start your lifting in the Millvale house immediately. Legs and arms. As you can see, time will be at a premium, so get everything moving quickly. If you're standing around talking, you're not doing something you're supposed to.

Tuesday will start the beginning of seat racing, focusing on selection for the lightweight 8+ and 4+. That does not mean that all races will be lightweight only. Everyone should be prepared to be switched at any moment, including those in the 8+ that day. Pull your hardest on every piece, because you don't know who will be switched. I don't follow a set switching pattern for that specific reason.

Don't ask me the results of your seat races. If you need to know, I'll tell you. Remember, I try to replicate every race, so don't think that you only get one shot.

We're looking for the fastest possible boats. This is a team sport. Remember that.

Bring plenty of gear, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday. Weather is calling for rain and cooler temps on those days.

The water temperature is rising and I hope it continues to. Flow remains at a reasonable level, so we're looking good for spring so far.

Finally, Jesse Foglia will be joining us for a few practices this week. He is coming to observe and offer his suggestions. Give him the respect he primarily deserves as a coach, not primarily as your friend.

Last pic for awhile, it crowds out the rest of the blog. This was taken last Midwest by Emily. That's our V 8+ heading to the start. 

Will is talking smack already. He won the flyweight under-2 division at last year's NA erg race. Look out Dave. 

Out today, look at that smooth water! Stroke seat is a little big to be a leperchaun. 

Coach Jay and son William 

First "spring" days

Usually, the first few days on the water in spring are frustrating. The wind (or water) is up, it's cold, it might be raining and your crew is slow to launch. Every other team is trying to launch as well, coxswains are steering for the first time in four months, your launch won't start or doesn't have gas and you've forgotten to pack up your cold weather gear. After a few days of these conditions, coach and crew are usually wondering why we don't compete on the damn ergs after all.

With that background being said, I have to comment on the great way the last two days have gone. Everyone seems to be ahead of where we were this time last year, organization nightmares that should be making me crazy (docks) aren't even blips on the screen and no boat has done anything exceedingly stupid yet. Except for Phil. But he'll get his later.

I've had a great time. It's been liberating. The sun is even out, so I get to wear my "Damn it feels good to be a gansta" sunglasses. That's right, I got it going on, and I ain't front'n.

I am disappointed in the lack of entertainment on the water. I mean, I miss the other crews getting in my damn way so I get to wake them out. I miss the exploding speed boats. My "launch slaves" so far this year have even been quiet and polite. No "ballballballballballball" or "can I drive the launch now.....how about now.......I'll be your best friend......pleeeeeeeeeease?" Even the guy's choices in clothing have been tastful. Nobody has caught a boat-stopper yet, there's only been once close collision call and the coxswains have even been on the correct side of the river.

Hell, it's been boring. I suppose this is how other crews operate. Perhaps this is what I'm supposed to expect? If so, keep it up, guys. I guess I'll just have to find some way to entertain myself, like coaching.

Fun in the mud

Watching the guys digging the mud off the ramp leading to the docks was great fun. Sometimes, it's important to step off a little. While it wasn't anyone's idea of a picnic, a dirty job got done and we can look forward to better things.

At least it will be warmer tomorrow. Anyone ready to get wet?

WARNING: OLD FOGEY POLITICAL RANT

Here's your last chance; if you read this, you'll be exposing yourself to some of my political views. I'll also sound really old. Here goes:

Spending the last few days in Atlanta, I had a closer view than most when the courthouse shootings exploded into the news cycle. Having married into a family that works in the federal courthouse, this event caused a little panic in the first few minutes. Thinking about this idiot for the last few days, I'm struck by the recent violence against judges in this country.

It is easy to find the source: there is an anti-intellectual streak currently running through the political discourse in this country. Anyone with a college education seems suspect of being an "ivy-tower liberal" who doesn't care about or share the viewpoint of the common man. Add in a masters degree of any sort and the right wing is sharpening its poisoned pen, ready to tear you apart. Anyone with a doctorate is automatically discounted as out of touch with reality.

When did this start? When did it become so liberal to be educated? Perhaps when people on the right noticed those with higher education seemed to lean further to the left it was decided to elevate the stupid in this country. Suddenly, it isn't desirable to have the smartest person possible in the White House. It was important to give the job to a guy that "stayed the course" and was "consistent" even if that meant consistently wrong. People didn't want to vote for someone who was smarter than they were, they wanted someone who was dumb like they were.

Let me tell you: If I'm sick, I want a someone who's got a doctorate working on me, not "Larry the cable guy." Why are the people of this country holding the White House to a lower standard than themselves?

You can see the pattern from the mid-1990s. Anti-Abortion demogogary of "baby killers" ran at its height. "Wanted" posters could be downloaded off the fledgling internet listing the home address and children's names of OB-GYNs. The result? Idiots on the fringe of the movement started killing doctors. Clinic bombings filtered into the news. It became normal for OB-GYNs to have bodyguards and flack jackets. Does any of this sound familiar? Iraq today writ small perhaps?

It's called terrorism folks, and if Saudi Arabia is wrong for supporting the "terrorist infrastructure" than domestic political movements are as well.

Today, we're seeing judges become targets. Why? Because those "liberal activist judges are planning to take away your guns, make church illegal and brainwash your kids." So words and bile are published. They knock around the blogosphere and talk shows. And the real nuts decide that there is a crusade (jihad) to be taken up with homemade bombs, pistols, late-night phone calls and sniper rifles. And those who have lit the fuse claim no responsibility and wash their bloody fingers and mouths clean. Disgusting.

Ever notice there aren't assassinations carried out on the right side of the spectrum? Don't try the argument that the left is just as bad.

Judges represent the highest ideal of service to this country. Their mission is to protect the common man's rights against the state or against the more powerful. They are considered the greatest minds in the law, usually have decades of experience before the bar and most are lifetime appointments. The writings of these men and women are timeless, because they will be quoted in two hundred years. Our Supreme Court has the ability to turn back the stated will of the people in the form of laws passed by Congress. Yet those who sit on the benches of this country are currently under attack by those who cannot hold an intellectual candle to them.

Are we waiting until the colleges are being audited by the state (or church) or even shut down before people wake up? Once we replace doctors with "healers?"

Education is good, folks. If more education makes you lean farther left than you are now, shouldn't that tell you something? Do I need to draw a map here?

High school rowing, booze and drugs

I warned you all that this was coming, so here it is. Given recent events, I can't think of a better time. This will be a long post, so pull up a chair and a snack.

I know that you guys have been through every kind of anti-drug class, seminar, lecture and scare tactic a middle-aged overzealous teacher can dream up. Add in the usual DARE/Just say no/ONDCP stuff on TV, one would think that the drug problem in this country would be gone by now. I remember the "Just say no" rallies in the 80s, listening to a cop from the local station try to "scare us straight." Then he would lead us through a chant of "just say no" that we would turn into "just say yes."

Frankly, I don't care about the long term risks of various drugs might have on you. I'm sure you've all seen the pictures of the various body parts shriveled up by lots of pot use. The liver destroyed by alcohol is also of no interest to me. That is all years down the road. Who cares? Anyone who knows anything about how teenagers think should understand such demonstrations of long-term future health problems have no impact at all. Just watch the X-Games, the ski trips or you guys drive to know teenagers' mission in their development is to test limits. In this way, they are very much like my 2-year old.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the harder drugs. If you're doing heroin, cocaine or something of the sort, you're not rowing. It's just not possible to do this sport and that sort of habit, at least not that well. These are not my concern.

Ecstasy is the new one. Only emerging into the drug scene when I was in college, X use has spiked from the clubs into colleges and high schools in general. Portrayals as a harmless drug in the movies doesn't help efforts to control what started as a psychotherapy drug in the mid-1980s. This is something I just don't get. How come people aren't abusing Prozac then?

I don't care about the long term brain effects. X releases most of your stored neurotransmitters which take several days to replace. This causes simple actions or thinking to take longer to complete.

The issue I have with ecstasy is the physical effect of raising the heartrate and blood pressure. Doing a hit of X is like doing another workout, without the benefit of increased endurance or muscle mass. All you're doing is tiring yourself out.

Guys, if you want to tire yourselves out more, just ask. I've got ways to tire you out legally, and your parents have already paid for it. Get caught with ecstasy and you're gone from the team.

Pot has been a teenage drug for as long as I can remember. Here's the trouble I have as a coach with pot: you smoke it. If you're smoking anything, you're doing damage to your lungs which are somewhat important to rowing. How are you supposed to improve your performance if you're damaging your lungs on a regular basis? I don't care about the long-term effects, you're putting smoke in your lungs, decreasing capacity and thus decreasing performance.

If you're caught with pot, you're off the team.

Booze is a little different. If teenagers in this country were allowed to drink by law, I would be happy to have this conversation with you over a beer. That is not the case, and the law on this matter colors your actions regarding alcohol. Because you know that you're doing something you shouldn't when you get your hands on some alcohol, you drink a lot of it. Commonly known as binge drinking, teenagers don't stop at one or two. Usually, teen alcohol use always ends up with everyone very drunk.

The physical effects of a drinking binge can sometimes be felt the next morning. Hangovers, if you haven't had one, are not pleasant. Nausea, headache and dizziness usually stick around for most of the next day. Because of the way alcohol is processed through the body, dehydration comes with the hangover.

The dehydration usually takes two to three days to recover from. Add in the general weakness over the next day and the effect on training should be self-evident. Even if your "hangover" day is a training-free day, you're affecting your progress. Instead of recovering from a week of training, your body is recovering from a binge. Therefore, you're not getting the recovery time the training cycle is designed with.

We're fighting for every inch of forward progress we can get. Spending time recovering from alcohol binges is time not spent getting faster on the water. While you may not think rest days are important, imagine the difference in your erg score on Tuesday if you're hungover on Sunday.

Finally, you're breaking the law. Get caught, and you're putting me and the team in an awkward position. We have to punish you in a substantial way, usually a suspension from the team. In basketball, not that big of a problem. In a team sport like crew, that's f***ing over your entire boat.

For all of these reasons, I'm asking you to halt any drinking by March 16 until the end of the season. I don't know the extent of drinking on the team, if at all. However, I'm young enough to know what high school is like. This post in no way condones any underage drinking, but I'm also a realist.

If you are committed to what the team is doing, this shouldn't be too much to ask. If you feel not drinking from now to June is too big of a sacrifice, examine yourself. You're telling me you're not strong enough to give it up for that short period of time? That should take your thinking in all sort of unpleasant directions.

I know what the level of commitment is on the team. The work you put in over the winter has been fantastic. Now that we're looking toward the water and our first race is less than an month away, I believe the time has come to further that commitment a little more.

Weather Rant

Driving around Atlanta today, where it's cold enough to kill any dreams of spring, I hit the button on my satillite radio to get the Pittsburgh weather report.

Snow. Snow showers and 40 degrees or colder for the rest of the week.

How am I supposed to get any seat racing done when we don't get on the water until April? I'm flipping out. Add in the safety system with water temperature rules, and we may not get on the water until June.

Get in your time in the tanks, boys. I may start switching you between tanks if this keeps up.

I hate being gone

After the end of my summer camp, I needed a vacation. For the first time, I wanted nothing to do with coaching any crew. I was tired of the responsibility, the stress and the travel. I could think of nothing more than going home and sitting in the A/C doing nothing.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I don't feel like that now. I hate being gone from the team while they're practicing. It distracts me. I'm unable to concentrate on whatever conversation I'm involved in. I check my Email incessantly now that my cell phone has the ability. I'm thinking about how the practice is going, who's there and if anyone is goofing off. In short, I act like a parent who's left his kid with a babysitter for the first time.

Emily hates this as well. I'm in the room, but not in the room.

Sometimes I can use this kind of distance between practices to think up a new practice or workout. For example, I've decided to add "lunges" up and down the hallway at Millvale (with the bar only) to the lifting system. Another good leg workout in a system that doesn't have enough.

After awhile, my creativity shuts down and I just daydream about regattas. About as useful as twiddling my thumbs. Then again, I'm sure the guys are daydreaming of regattas as well. There's only so much concentration I can expect out of teenage boys, after all.

I hope tomorrow goes a little better. I'm sure the guys are tired of catching Emails and text messages from me.

Endings and beginnings

This week marks the beginning of the spring season. I know the water isn't rowable yet and we're still waiting for a few new boats, but the water season is here.

No more erg tests, unless the guys do something really stupid.

I'll be away this week and I'm hoping that might be a good thing. I've mentioned before how to imagine a great day on the water with the boat moving under the rowers. I hope these days in the tanks will be profitable in mental and technical preparation. A new voice looking at the guys in the tanks could help quite a bit.

We didn't have access to the tanks last year. I'm hoping this spring will help. Getting as much of the drills and technical work out of the way as we can leaves more time for seat racing. That's a good thing, as some boats (varsity 4+, light 4+) are going to require a process best described as Darwinian.

Guys, if you've got any ideas of drills that you would like to do this week, post here and I'll try to get them included. You'll get bored of the tanks soon enough and anything to liven things up a little always helps a practice go by.

The Taper

Coaches obsess over the taper because it is one of the few things we directly control. Like rigging, a proper taper before a big race can make a difference between victory or failure.

Ever seen a coach who's launched all of his crews? All boats are out, nothing to mess with. It's kind of sad, really. That coach has done everything he can to get the crew ready and now must wait for the results.

That's kind of the situation I find myself in now. The taper has been planned and executed. There isn't anything I can really do at this point. Everything is in the hands of the oarsmen. All I can do is wait, and bake cookies.

If I've done this right, the boys will have the greatest energy level possible on Saturday morning. If I've "missed" they'll feel ok, but just a little "off" or "rusty." And at this point, there is nothing I can do to change the situation. One day before the event is too late to make any changes in physical preparation.

The only workout remaining is the "swing-pop." Much like the paddle over a race course before a regatta, tomorrow's workout is almost like a pre-game shoot around for a basketball team. They'll warm up, then paddle for twenty minutes, taking power tens every four minutes at their goal pace. Nothing more, nothing less. The idea is to visualize going that fast for 2000 meters and find a comfortable rhythm during those power strokes.

I'm looking forward to Saturday. It will mark the real end to true "winter" training. From there, we'll be doing practices focused on getting to the water. I hope the guys do as well as I think they can, because it will really validate all the hard work they've put in over the last three months and show them exactly how far they've come in their fitness.

One more thing: save that energy, guys. It's the taper. Don't do anything to waste that edge. Drink your water to hydrate, and if you're up this late reading this post, GO TO BED!!!!

Meet the parents

Understand. A high school crew cannot function without its parents. Wouldn't happen, can't happen. It's more than just monetary support they provide. The parents make the entire high school rowing experience possible.

College teams fully supported by their athletic department aren't as fun to row on. True, the equipment is higher quality and it's great having a full-time rigger responsible for the upkeep of the boats.

The college athletic department doesn't supply food or a tent for the rowers. You take your own pocket money and buy what food you can get from whatever the regatta might supply. Sometime in dual races, that's nothing. Need water? Fill your bottle from the taps in the boathouse.

College students don't come out to watch crew races. The races are put on in front of the other teammates and significant others of the rowers on the water. Kind of hard to hear anyone cheering for you when there's only 20 people or so shouting. Want big crouds? Not in college, unless you go to the Royal Henley. In England. High school races are the best attended races in the US, excepting the Head of the Charles. The loudest screams you'll ever hear at a high school race is when it's close between three crews heading into the final 500m, and that noise comes from the parents.

For the college oarsman on a team not fully funded, enjoy your fundraising experiences, because there will be more than a high school program. The support the parents give in adminstration or sales in high school doesn't happen in college.

Parents build and maintain equipment, organize fundraisers and banquets, drive to races, tow trailers and most importantly, feed rowers.

Think about that last one. What's a better training table, your parents home cooking, or a college cafeteria? Need a late-night snack? Choose between a fridge stocked by your parents or a "cube fridge" that might have some week-old take-out. Or there's pizza again, for the fourth time that week.

When we finally got a tent with food brought to races in college, it was the parents who organized it. Local parents, only a handful, took on feeding 75 college rowers.

Finally, consider the time put in by the parents just on the planning and board meetings. Unpaid. Those meetings are usually conducted by paid empolyees at the college level. Travel planning, equipment rental and purchase, funding and staffing are all taken care of by the athletic department.

There's no glamor in all this, nor is there much thanks. The only reward the parents look for is a great experience by their kids. Victories and losses are savored and shared, perhaps with more intensity than the rowers.

Think about all of this. The next time any of you get frustrated with questions from parents asking "how was practice?" realize they only want success for the team. The next time you're wolfing down some chow under the tent out of the rain at a race, thank the parents. This sport is no where as comfortable than at the high school level.

Thanks, parents.

The (freezing) water is calling

Our new 8+ got here over the weekend. A boat designed for very light crews, it will share duty between the girls and guys teams. It was still in the plastic wrapper.

It felt so good to get my hands on my tools again. Not just checking over boats, looking for parts that needed replacement or adjustments to be made, but actually doing a project that required a long time with a boat.

March is here, with below-zero temperatures and snow falling even now.

If anything, I'm even more stir-crazy than the guys are. It's time to get done with the indoor season. While there will still be some short work on the ergs after this weekend, most of our distance work will now be in the tanks. Hopefully, this will help the keep the guys interested while we wait for the weather to break.