What the heck is this blog about anyway?

Yes, I know. Pictures of young Will, the Steeler's fight song and chocolate chips. Not that much about rowing, huh? Allow a short explanation. This makes no sense whatsoever, but I hope some will understand.

There are sports fans, when watching their favorite team on television, will not move from their favorite chair. They will wear the same nasty t-shirt/sweatshirt/jersey long after the smell drives polite company to another location. If the team scores just as they get up for a beer, they might stand in the same spot for the rest of the season. If anyone needs more examples, read Bill Simmons. He may cheer for the Patriots, but he's a great writer who really explains the craziness of die-hard sports fans.

Anyway, the last few weeks, I've been like that with my crews. Both teams have found the perfect winter training rhythm of rolling in, practicing hard and heading home to take care of business. Not too intense, heading for a burn-out, not too casual, just going through the motions. As a coach, I get two thoughts: either I actually know what I'm doing, or they've found this great rhythm despite my stupidity and I need to keep my mouth shut before I screw this up. There's the reason for little crew-related postings on the blog these days. I'll shut up now.

Categories: Blogging, Coaching, Misc, Training

Up at dawn with a sick baby

Having Will sick these past few days reminded me of other times he's been under the weather. He's old enough now that he can communicate when he's feeling bad and when he's feeling better. He told us this afternoon that he wanted come orange juice. When Emily and I worried that he might throw up again he said "I not throw up. Orange juice plllleeaaassee?" Sure enough, 5 cups later, he didn't throw up. He's on the mend, though I will stay home tomorrow with him due to his fever earlier today.

The picture above was taken in the summer of '03, before I started coaching. My grandmother brought the family together for a vacation in Charleston, South Carolina. She rented a huge beach house and we stayed for a week. Will was just starting to crawl and had been very difficult to get to sleep all week. He had been a fitful sleeper to begin with, and we decided he was in a new environment and was a little "off."

The picture was taken at dawn, which is very early in June. You can see the bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep. Will had woken us up very early so we went to the beach, and Emily brought her camera. It turned out later that Will had a screaming ear infection that whole week, and slept like a stone upon getting the first dose of anti-biotic. Emily turned the shot into a great scrapbook page and framed one of my favorite pictures of Will and I together.

Categories: Personal, Will

Barf

A few rules of parenting:
1) Children will always seek out their parents when they are about to throw up. They feel bad and are scared. They need comfort.
2) Children are unable to vocalize they are about to get sick. They don't have the experience to understand what is about to happen.
3) Children always get sick in the middle of the night. Therefore, they are going to get sick when you are asleep, usually on you, which means usually on your bed.
4) Children get sick without any warning in behavior, usually following a big dinner or lots to drink, guaranteeing a spectacular BARF! when the moment comes.


Between the cats, potty training Will and the previous times he's been sick, we've been sleeping on waterproof mattress pads for the last year. If layered properly under a regular mattress pad, I never notice. Heck, it's been pointed out that I can sleep on concrete. Any possible discomfort from such bedding is paid for in spades when evenings like tonight come about.

I don't remember Will coming in our room or getting in bed with us. I simple woke up when he threw up on me. We're well drilled. Emily came around the bed and picked him up. I went to the bathroom, removed my soaked, chunky shirt and got a washcloth ready. After wiping myself down, I cleaned the washcloth and gave it to Emily, who had stripped Will by now. I then stripped the bed, noting what now needed to be washed and thankful he missed dry-clean-only items like feather pillows or our duvet.

Ten minutes after the "eruption," we are settled back down. The mattress has once again been saved and the only problem remaining is some extra laundry tomorrow (today). One of us snuggles down with Will, surrounded with towels and a bucket on the couch downstairs. Emily drew that duty this time around. I'll be asleep again very soon, and I'll need it because a sick toddler really has a way of wiping out any parental sleep as well. I simply was impressed enough with us that I felt our wider audience would love a post at 3:45 in the morning. Vegas has set the over/under until the next time at 2 1/2 hours, so I'll need the sleep. I'm taking the under.

Categories: Personal, Will

The wonders of the internet

I got an email yesterday responding to Pitt's ad selling an 8. There hadn't been a lot of action from this, so I was very excited about any inquiry. Just a short little note asking for a price on "the item." I shot off a quick, helpful reply and hoped for some interest. What I got back this afternoon was laughable.

Basically, I got a scam attempt back. Reading the email, it's obvious that whoever put this together has no idea what a racing shell looks like or what the process is like for buying one. I also don't think English is his (her?) first language, given the several spelling errors. See below.

Jay,

Thanks for your email and update on the bottom price($13,000). Finally, it was accepted by my client and he has directed us to issue payment to you. I would need your assurance that the property whose payment we would start processing is in a good condition as the only view our client had of the boat was on the internet and this purchase is hinged on his personal judgement of what the property's state and output would be like,in comparison to models of its category.

Meanwhile,he made out a certified cashiers check of($20,000) before he travelled for a conference, for a previous boat and its shipment charges etc,but it was unfortunately sold. The amount on the check he deposited for the boat is bigger than what should be paid to you now, so the check is now meant for the total expenses which includes the purchase of your boat, its pick up from its present location and the shipping charges/other necessary shipping arrangement.

However he has instructed us to carry on with this transaction. So when payment gets to you, you're required to deduct the cost of your boat ($12,000) and send the balance of ($8,000) to my client shipping agent to enable him offsett shipping charges/arrangements. once the transaction is concluded. My client shipping agent will be coming for the pick up of the boat from its present location, on an access to a prepaid shipper for shipment and also conclude other necessary shipping arrangement. So you dont have to bother yourself about the pick up and shipping of boat,while title papers and other necessary documets will be sent by you via fedex courier . Please Confirm this and provide your,
(1) Name
(2) Contact address
(3)and contact phone number(s)
for check payment to be delivered to you via regular mail. I hope that everything is clear to you.

Kind Regards

John Stead.

Andy Anderson wrote about this in a previous issue of Rowing News and his article was a real scream, as always. I'm wondering if I should just send back a picture of my a**. The simple fact that people fall for this only reinforces my low view of most of the human race.

Also, my mother thoughtfully forwarded this very troubling email about a wave of animal cruelty sweeping westward across the country the last three weeks.

A wave of animal cruelty has the World Wildlife Federation
up in arms.  On Christmas Eve, a hound dog was found bleeding
and in critical condition.  It later died of its wounds.
On the first day of this new year a Lion was
found viciously mauled. A week later, a Bengal tiger was
discovered horribly beaten. While the lion only had fresh
wounds, the tiger appears to have been suffering regular
beatings for years. Just seven days after that a horse,
a colt, was found battered. People at the scene said it
kept muttering something about not getting enough protection.
Hours ago Denver authorities found another horse,
a bronco, wandering the streets.  The horse was not
physically injured, but quite dazed and confused. When asked
about the incident, the hapless horse said "I was at home
and everything was fine. I was about to feed my pet snake
and he started choking and screaming about some sort of
terrible towel following it around. " Rumor is that the
next victim will be some sort of bird. A Seahawk. All of
the victims report trying to peek behind a giant steel
curtain shortly before their incidents.

I give this warning to all animals out there. Peek behind
a steel curtain, get hit by THE BUS.

Categories: Boats, Coaching, Rowing,

Mercurial

mer·cu·ri·al (mr-kyr-l)

adj.

1. often Mercurial

a. Roman Mythology Of or relating to the god Mercury.

b. Astronomy Of or relating to the planet Mercury.

2. Having the characteristics of eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, and thievishness attributed to the god Mercury.

3. Containing or caused by the action of the element mercury.

4. Quick and changeable in temperament; volatile: a mercurial nature.

Coaches are supposed to be calm, objective and steady. The ups and downs of their athletes are not supposed to have a great impact on the coach. Athletes are supposed to be excitable, uncontrollable and require the soothing nature of a coach.

Most readers will know by now that I'm not that kind of coach. I never have been and I don't think I will be anytime soon. If any of my athletes has a setback or doesn't perform well, I'm a grumpy, sullen "meany bear." On the other hand, a successful practice, erg test or race gets me skipping around like an idiot.

As many of you know, this week didn't start all that well for me. Just read the previous posts and that's apparent. My daily schedule really didn't help. Lack of sleep will get anyone a little edgy. Therefore, I wasn't in the best of moods the second half of this week.

Then came this morning's Pitt 6k. As a crew, they really did well. Kicked ass, to put it bluntly. Everyone found a pace, got comfortable and held that pace through the "dead zone" of 4000 to 1500. Then they all attacked, taking 1 second off their splits until the 1000. Another 2 seconds faster until an all-out sprint at 500. Great courage and determination in facing the toughest standard test in indoor training.

Man, that got me pumped up. Made my weekend. Again, the Steelers could lose tomorrow, and I would be happy with life. They weren't supposed to go that far anyway; playing in Denver is "gravy" on the season. They could get blown out. I don't care. The Pitt kids are really picking stuff up and heading in the right direction. Keep it up, guys!!!

Categories: Coaching, Pitt, Rowing, Training, Ergometers, Football

I'm old

I got my ipod Nano today. What a great little toy. I started putting the software on our computers with great enthusiasm. Most people know my interest in all kinds of music, so I was really looking forward to downloading stuff from all across the various spectrums.

Imagine my irritation when I realized I couldn't get an "unlimited" download off itunes like Napster offers. With a 1000-song ipod, at .99 a song, no wonder Apple has been doing so well of late.

I can't imagine there isn't a way to transfer songs lifted from Napster to my ipod, but I have yet to discover it. Therefore, I admit it: I'm too old. I can't make the new toys work.

I hope my various rowers will have some mercy on me and help me out.

Categories: Personal, Media,

Attendance

Here's the official policy for the FC guys. In blood, from here out. Parents, please pay attention.

There are 6 practice opportunities per week. The guys are required to participate in 5.

Make 4 or less, and that counts as a "missed week."

Have 2 "missed week" and contemplate losing whatever seat you've earned.

Have 3 "missed week" and be ready for suspension from the team.

There are too many other people on the squad that are doing the work necessary to win for Jesse and I to waste time, equipment and attention on those who can't be counted on. This is a team sport. Teams with attendance problems don't go fast.

And frankly, I don't have interest in a team that isn't interested in going fast.

Doctors appointments won't be excused. Vacations won't be excused. School projects won't be excused. Miss a day for school and come in on Saturday. Work with your parents. Parents, understand that your athlete is being counted on by 40 other guys. If he misses, other guys are screwed over as well. I don't think this is too unreasonable, given the large amount of time off that has been granted to the squad, over the last month and over spring break. The obvious detrimental effect of that time off, given today's test results, does not justify any more.

I'll try and work with people. But being told 4 days in advance that people are going on vacation, had to schedule a doctors appointment or didn't get homework done doesn't work for me. People need to take the commitment they have made to their teammates seriously. The fall is over. It's time to get serious about training and winning races. Athletes unable to honor their commitments in January are not able to fully support their teammates in May.

Anybody, parent or athlete, with a problem with this policy needs to contact me directly, now. I'll be far more interest in discussion now, rather than after an athlete has lost a seat.

Natural Selection.

Categories: Coaching, Rowing, Training, FC

Schadenfreude

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, (German) noun: A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.

I love pro football. Always have. I was a die-hard Bengals fan from long ago. I can still remember watching Joe Montana beat Cincinnati in the Super Bowl after the 1988 season. The years after that were not kind to the "Bungles."

I gave up on them when I got to New Haven. I wasn't a fan of one particular team, I was just a fan. There were teams I liked, like Denver, Green Bay, St. Louis and Buffalo. Teams I disliked usually had some loudmouth wideout who spent too much time trying to get on SportsCenter, or a star player who also was involved with violent crime or the drug trade. And then there were the Northeast teams.

Every fan I met from the Giants, Jets and especially the Patriots was an obnoxious twit. Perhaps it was a product of the beginnings of sports talk radio, but these mouth-breathing, smirking wastes of DNA just drove me nuts. It didn't matter if their teams were terrible, in the playoffs or anywhere in between. Constant, incessant attitude. It wasn't that hard to start hating these teams.

I couldn't stand the Patriots long before I got to Pittsburgh and "adopted" the Steelers along with the new city. The killer AFC championship loss in 2002 only cemented that loathing. I saw the Pats as everything that drove me nuts about Northeast teams: got all the calls, all the bounces and swaggered in the adulation of their legions of moronic fans as they cashed their paychecks from the richest and most unethical owners in the league.

Loss after loss by the Steelers to the Patriots only rubbed salt in the wound. I started following the Pats, if only to cheer anyone playing them. I despise the Pats so much, I would cheer for (shudder), the Baltimore Ravens. This is hatred.

So and thus I hail tonight's defeat of the Pats by the Broncos. Schadenfreude. Watching all these prima-donnas lose in the same way they would win was sweet, very sweet. They could move the ball up and down the field. They dominated the total yardage, 420 to 286. They held a huge time of possession advantage until the final quarter. But they fell, losing turnover after turnover, piling penalty upon penalty. They got screwed over by the refs (that fumble on Bailey's INT return went out of the end zone. The Pats got screwed and I LOVED IT!) Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal. Sweet, sweet, all of it sweet.

The Steelers could lose tomorrow. I would be disappointed but wouldn't be too crushed. Indianapolis is a great football team and I've always liked the Colts, mainly because they would always lose to the Pats. I'm finally in a position where I actually like all the teams remaining in the NFL playoffs. I will enjoy the Super Bowl this year, no matter the outcome.

Categories: Football, Personal

Energy Usage

I've got the citation somewhere in my USRowing level III book. I don't feel like digging that out because I'm a little short of sleep. Anyway, here's today's fact for digestion:

80% of the energy expended in a rowing race is through the aerobic energy system. In "english," this means the most important training for rowing is long endurance training. "Aerobic" means using oxygen, a system that does not produce lactic acid which causes pain throughout the body.

Aerobic fitness is the most important aspect of rowing training. Short intervals may be fun (and painful) and weights may be great for the ego as the athlete slams around large amounts of lead. These are important, as power and pain tolarance are aspects for a race. But the aeorbic training will pay the biggest dividends in fitness, boat speed and won races.

Long, boring, ass-numbing, mind-numbing, sore-back-causing, sweaty, tiresome steady state training. That is why the swim teams do hundred lap days, cyclists log hundreds of miles and runners keep Nike in business.

Want speed? Get in the miles. There is no faking fitness.

Categories: Rowing, Training, Fitness

Cliche

In five months, both of my crews will be at their "highlight" regattas of the season. The regattas that will define success or failure of this year will be underway.

I suppose I should write something inspirational and save it up, work on it, polish something that perhaps none of these kids have heard before. Like all coaches, I feel the need for some sort of psych-up speech before an event, just to get them prepared and impart any last minute information.

However, I will point something out. Those speeches are fun, and they do sometime get the kids pumped up. But they don't make boats go faster.

In five months, Pitt and FC, you will be at Dad Vails and Midwest Scholastics. Glory or defeat, the outcome will be decided there. But if you desire glory, if rowers anywhere reading this want excellence, crave the taste of triumph, then get working.

Everyone knows this is an endurance sport. That means lots of hours, every week, banking the work towards that race. Every rower has heard the cliche "Races are won in the winter." What's funny about cliches is that many times, they are true.

Time to get working.

Categories: Rowing, Coaching, Training, Motivational

The usual random blather

Beautiful weather in Atlanta. Not too bad up here. Perhaps Pittsburgh's winter won't be so bad, or have I just cursed everyone? Level high these days but temp almost up to 40.

Got a great post coming from New Year's Eve. I'm just waiting for Emily's father to send the pictures. I'm sure that will get everyone really interested.

Along with my survival suit (which I don't look like a marshmellow in), I also got an iPod for Christmas. I have no plans to bring it out on the water. Our river seems to eat such things.

During the winter, baseball has the "hot stove league" where teams build interest through free-agent signings and some fan bases begin to think "this is our year." Rowing has something similar; because the teams are indoors and coaches don't have as much to do, we spend our time in meetings pissing each other off. I won't get into details (this comment has NOTHING to do with either team I'm involved with), but suffice it to say that coaches get a little itchy these months.

Why do three year olds never want to go to sleep? I love sleep and never get enough.

We brought up two huge bookcases from Atlanta. Unfortunately, we've already got more books laying around than there is space in these bookcases.

Going to have a meeting this weekend with the other Pitt coaches to map out the months ahead. Don't worry, Pitt guys. It will be painful, but fun.

Watching the game tonight, I wasn't impressed with Reggie Bush or Matt Leinart. LenDale White seemed the more polished, patient runner. Leinart's passes were never quite on target nor did they have the velocity needed for the tight coverages he faced. Here's my prediction: Bush will go 1st pick, and pull a Ki-Jana Carter on the Texans. Leinart won't be an NFL starter. Really going out on a limb here, aren't I?

Categories: Personal