Yesterday I wrapped up my stint as Northside's assistant varsity girls' basketball coach. We did make it to state playoffs, which is something of itself, being one of the best four in your division. Once we got to state, we ran into a team that was destined to win the state title, and I feel like the girls didn't really play with enough passion and discipline to prove that third place was really that much better than fourth. The consolation game was one of the worst officiating jobs I've seen ever -- the second worst this season. I just really have a bad taste in my mouth about basketball at the moment, and if I let my emotions talk right now, they would say that I'm giving up basketball for good. But I don't know.
Spending time in the garage yesterday and today was therapeutic, finishing up my workbench and repairing this and that. The garage finally looks presentable too, now that I have most everything off the floor and mounted on the walls. I sure wish there were a coat of white paint on the wall though :)
I'm happy to announce that my 23rd college client, Palm Beach Atlantic, will be launching in the next couple of weeks. I look forward to working with the good folks down there.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
2007 Reflection
As we look back on last year, I would like to thank my friends and clients who have made this year so special. What started as a dream in 2003 finally culminated this year as the business is now my ONLY full-time job (prior to August 2006 I had multiple full-time jobs! Yes, it's possible!).
My family and I moved into our second home, and first one in the Charleston area. Our house in Irmo sold three years to the date from when we bought it, and after our apartment lease ran out, we purchased our beautiful home here in Goose Creek.
Our son started school last year, and is a typical five-year old male: he's scatterbrained, he doesn't pay attention to detail, and all he thinks about is playing. Oh yeah, he's pretty smart too and loves to read, and seems to be artistically inclined. No telling what he is going to be when he grows up, as his interests change on what seems like a weekly basis.
My father died in 2007. It wasn't like we didn't see it coming, but nothing really prepared me to see my father's lifeless body in a hospital bed or in the casket. I can see it clearer today than I did back in July ... at the time everything was like a movie to which I was half-paying attention. I dream about my dad in those circumstances, and I seriously wish I could have just one dream where we're playing catch with ball and gloves or going fishing down at Pete Smith's pond or just sitting in the living room watching The Dukes of Hazzard (the show; yes, I'm that old to remember it new). I never wish for my dad to come back; why would I want him to return to a body that had heart disease, total kidney failure, smoke-damaged lungs, high blood pressure, near-total blindness, and leukemia? But I sure want to go to where he is. I want to "shed the sins and sorrows I have carried all these years." (Brad Paisley, When I Get Where I'm Going) As my body ages and starts to wear out, Heaven is a sweeter and sweeter reality. Eternal fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ... and all the ones who accepted the Lord and preceded me in death ... in addition to all the things that a new, perfect body will bring. And there are a lot of things I have to do before I go -- but you know, I really don't have to do them.
Rain and sunshine in 2007. More of both predicted for 2008. I'll try to do a better job of keeping the blogosphere informed as it happens instead of putting it all in one batch in my January 2009 posting. :)
This post was originally begun the day after Christmas on my notebook in a hotel room with a spotty wireless network. I ended up getting a few autosaves, but never got to post. It probably seems weird to do a "Year in Review" piece halfway into January, but I like to finish what I start.
My family and I moved into our second home, and first one in the Charleston area. Our house in Irmo sold three years to the date from when we bought it, and after our apartment lease ran out, we purchased our beautiful home here in Goose Creek.
Our son started school last year, and is a typical five-year old male: he's scatterbrained, he doesn't pay attention to detail, and all he thinks about is playing. Oh yeah, he's pretty smart too and loves to read, and seems to be artistically inclined. No telling what he is going to be when he grows up, as his interests change on what seems like a weekly basis.
My father died in 2007. It wasn't like we didn't see it coming, but nothing really prepared me to see my father's lifeless body in a hospital bed or in the casket. I can see it clearer today than I did back in July ... at the time everything was like a movie to which I was half-paying attention. I dream about my dad in those circumstances, and I seriously wish I could have just one dream where we're playing catch with ball and gloves or going fishing down at Pete Smith's pond or just sitting in the living room watching The Dukes of Hazzard (the show; yes, I'm that old to remember it new). I never wish for my dad to come back; why would I want him to return to a body that had heart disease, total kidney failure, smoke-damaged lungs, high blood pressure, near-total blindness, and leukemia? But I sure want to go to where he is. I want to "shed the sins and sorrows I have carried all these years." (Brad Paisley, When I Get Where I'm Going) As my body ages and starts to wear out, Heaven is a sweeter and sweeter reality. Eternal fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ... and all the ones who accepted the Lord and preceded me in death ... in addition to all the things that a new, perfect body will bring. And there are a lot of things I have to do before I go -- but you know, I really don't have to do them.
Rain and sunshine in 2007. More of both predicted for 2008. I'll try to do a better job of keeping the blogosphere informed as it happens instead of putting it all in one batch in my January 2009 posting. :)
This post was originally begun the day after Christmas on my notebook in a hotel room with a spotty wireless network. I ended up getting a few autosaves, but never got to post. It probably seems weird to do a "Year in Review" piece halfway into January, but I like to finish what I start.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Winning and Losing
Someone has surely written a book on the subject of the psychology behind winning and losing. One day I intend to find that book and read it. Today I want to talk from personal experience.
I like to win, but I hate losing.
I did not say "I love to win and hate to lose". Love and hate can come in varying degrees, but without any other quantifier, you'd place love and hate at opposite ends of the spectrum, or as counteracting forces. Like vs. Hate is no contest. Hate overwhelms Like in a hurry. Only Love can combat Hate on an equal footing.
Maybe every coach feels this way, or maybe it's just me. I think the idea initially came to mind after hearing an excerpt of a speech from some top college b-ball coach among the caliber of Kryzyzewski, Knight, Pitino et al. It wasn't Wooden or Dean Smith, but I can't put my finger on who it was. Regardless, the unidentified coach shared the sentiment. A loss is a lower valley than a win is a pinnacle.
I suppose one coach in each division of basketball feels differently: the national champion, state champion, conference champion ... that coach that wins the final game of his postseason, the game at the end of the schedule where no further possibility of advancement exists. Once you win that big one, you hit the pinnacle. But you don't live there. If you continue to coach, you will lose again, and you'll be back in the cycle.
This creates the existentialist's question: why do it if it ultimately leads to more sorrow than joy? For me, the answer is that I love the game. Yes, love. I love to see players develop. I love to see joy in their faces after a hard-fought two-point win like we had last night, or after the overtime win last Friday night.
And ultimately, I end up caring for the players. As the season starts, I see players as chess pieces that, once aligned in the proper position and each using her skills and strengths at a high level of proficiency, give us an excellent chance of being successful. Then you see what motivates them, what makes them cry, what makes them fail, and you realize you're working with more than machines: these are carbon-based life forms that believe, and feel, and fatigue, and make mistakes, and sometimes perform better than you knew possible. And then you care for them as people. And ultimately, one day you can count these players among those that call you a friend.
But enough with all that: right now I see a team that is finding its identity and that is getting better in every practice and every game. I'm starting to think about a run in the state playoffs. And dare I say that the possibility of that pinnacle described above--winning the final game for which a team is eligible to play, a state title in this context--is becoming something that I'm willing to believe in.
Tonight, we took a step toward that pinnacle with a tough road win over what could be the toughest competition we'll see short of a state semifinal game. I've seen the other two contenders in our region play, and I think we can take them. We must now play without letdowns and continue to improve on ... what am I doing with all this coaching talk in here?!? I should save it for the locker room!
I like to win, but I hate losing.
I did not say "I love to win and hate to lose". Love and hate can come in varying degrees, but without any other quantifier, you'd place love and hate at opposite ends of the spectrum, or as counteracting forces. Like vs. Hate is no contest. Hate overwhelms Like in a hurry. Only Love can combat Hate on an equal footing.
Maybe every coach feels this way, or maybe it's just me. I think the idea initially came to mind after hearing an excerpt of a speech from some top college b-ball coach among the caliber of Kryzyzewski, Knight, Pitino et al. It wasn't Wooden or Dean Smith, but I can't put my finger on who it was. Regardless, the unidentified coach shared the sentiment. A loss is a lower valley than a win is a pinnacle.
I suppose one coach in each division of basketball feels differently: the national champion, state champion, conference champion ... that coach that wins the final game of his postseason, the game at the end of the schedule where no further possibility of advancement exists. Once you win that big one, you hit the pinnacle. But you don't live there. If you continue to coach, you will lose again, and you'll be back in the cycle.
This creates the existentialist's question: why do it if it ultimately leads to more sorrow than joy? For me, the answer is that I love the game. Yes, love. I love to see players develop. I love to see joy in their faces after a hard-fought two-point win like we had last night, or after the overtime win last Friday night.
And ultimately, I end up caring for the players. As the season starts, I see players as chess pieces that, once aligned in the proper position and each using her skills and strengths at a high level of proficiency, give us an excellent chance of being successful. Then you see what motivates them, what makes them cry, what makes them fail, and you realize you're working with more than machines: these are carbon-based life forms that believe, and feel, and fatigue, and make mistakes, and sometimes perform better than you knew possible. And then you care for them as people. And ultimately, one day you can count these players among those that call you a friend.
But enough with all that: right now I see a team that is finding its identity and that is getting better in every practice and every game. I'm starting to think about a run in the state playoffs. And dare I say that the possibility of that pinnacle described above--winning the final game for which a team is eligible to play, a state title in this context--is becoming something that I'm willing to believe in.
Tonight, we took a step toward that pinnacle with a tough road win over what could be the toughest competition we'll see short of a state semifinal game. I've seen the other two contenders in our region play, and I think we can take them. We must now play without letdowns and continue to improve on ... what am I doing with all this coaching talk in here?!? I should save it for the locker room!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Champions Again!
"One for the thumb" could almost be the rally cry for the Adams State University women's cross country program after winning its fifth straight national championship. I say almost because none of the harriers would actually own five team championship rings, as they would have exhausted their eligibility after four seasons. It's entirely possible that one of them obtained a medical hardship waiver (AKA redshirt) and was still awarded a ring ... ahh, you know what I'm getting at!!! Not only did these Grizzlies run away with (pun intended) another title, their male counterparts finished tied for second nationally. These runners certainly are in "rare air" up there at 7,000+ feet above sea level.
The Sunshine State Conference calls itself the conference of national champions, and it can add one more notch to the belt after last Saturday night. The team doing the notching was the University of Tampa women's soccer program. Congratulations Spartans! It is with somewhat mixed feelings that I offer praise, because Tampa did knock off Columbus State, another client, in the Elite Eight during its championship run.
On the men's side of the draw, Midwestern State University dropped its national semifinal game to Franklin Pierce in penalty kicks. Praise is still in order for the Mustangs who were ranked as high as #7 nationally during the regular season.
After winning last year's national crown, Tampa volleyball will have to settle for an Elite Eight appearance this year. The Spartan netters fell to Washburn in the quarterfinal and finished the year ranked #4 by the AVCA.
Two national titles, one runner-up, one semifinal appearance, and two quarterfinal appearances by ATHLETICSITE.COM client schools. Not too shabby at all. :)
The Sunshine State Conference calls itself the conference of national champions, and it can add one more notch to the belt after last Saturday night. The team doing the notching was the University of Tampa women's soccer program. Congratulations Spartans! It is with somewhat mixed feelings that I offer praise, because Tampa did knock off Columbus State, another client, in the Elite Eight during its championship run.
On the men's side of the draw, Midwestern State University dropped its national semifinal game to Franklin Pierce in penalty kicks. Praise is still in order for the Mustangs who were ranked as high as #7 nationally during the regular season.
After winning last year's national crown, Tampa volleyball will have to settle for an Elite Eight appearance this year. The Spartan netters fell to Washburn in the quarterfinal and finished the year ranked #4 by the AVCA.
Two national titles, one runner-up, one semifinal appearance, and two quarterfinal appearances by ATHLETICSITE.COM client schools. Not too shabby at all. :)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
It's been almost three months??? Get outta here
August 29 couldn't have been that long ago, but it was. He he
Well, since I haven't linked to this blog yet, I guess I'm just writing for myself anyway. Still, that's no excuse. Today was not a good day. I'm helping coach a basketball team that hasn't gotten to practice in about six days, and it shows. Very badly. I became very frustrated with the players today and kind of lost my cool. That wasn't good for me. I've had blood pressure issues in the past from coaching, and I should not let it reach that point ever again.
Houston Baptist's site (www.hbuhuskies.com) has now launched, and Florida Tech is on the horizon. Hopefully I have a couple more to post about in the next few days. Florida Tech should be launching around the first of December.
Well, since I haven't linked to this blog yet, I guess I'm just writing for myself anyway. Still, that's no excuse. Today was not a good day. I'm helping coach a basketball team that hasn't gotten to practice in about six days, and it shows. Very badly. I became very frustrated with the players today and kind of lost my cool. That wasn't good for me. I've had blood pressure issues in the past from coaching, and I should not let it reach that point ever again.
Houston Baptist's site (www.hbuhuskies.com) has now launched, and Florida Tech is on the horizon. Hopefully I have a couple more to post about in the next few days. Florida Tech should be launching around the first of December.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Ok, so I've been tardy
I haven't done any posts over the last -- wow -- two months because of the volume of work that has come in. Four new sites have debuted since my last post:
- Rogers State (www.rsuhillcats.com)
- Sunshine State Conference (www.sunshinestateconference.com)
- Southern Wesleyan University (www.swuathletics.com)
- Midwestern State University (www.msumustangs.com)
Houston Baptist is the next client on the list, and hopefully we'll be able to announce at least one more new client in the next two weeks.
You may have read in my last post in June that my father was teetering on the brink. He passed away on July 6. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that donations be made to the National Kidney Foundation in his name (Charles McCain).
School has begun, and I now wear the hat of a parent in the circle of education. I hope my former experience as a teacher is a blessing and not a blight as we work with the school in the education of my son. I'll have to post some photos of the first day of school soon. Well, maybe not soon ... more like when I get low on work again.
Friday, June 22, 2007
A Purpose
Not since I've been a camper at summer church camp or been a student in college have I come across something that forced me to take a hard look at my life the way I did today. The website is http://www.johnplaceonline.com/ and the articles in particular were the series on synergy.
To define your life message and life purpose is a daunting task. It's particularly daunting because I see humanity as four groups of people:
* Those who know their purpose and are fulfilling it;
* Those who know (or believe they know) purpose, yet are spending their time in a career or lifestyle that is not working toward that purpose;
* Those "happy fools" (as I call them) who are perfectly content working their 9-to-5 days, happy with their jobs, and no real "greater purpose" exists for them; and
* Those who know no purpose and are also unfulfilled on a daily basis (unhappy with jobs if they have them, no real motivation to accomplish or succeed at anything).
I don't believe those are ranked from best to worst. Obviously the first is best and the last is worst, but I struggle to rank the second and third in my unnumbered list above. I'm almost persuaded that the happy fool is better off than the unfulfilled mission. That's why I say defining your life purpose and mission is a daunting task--once you "eat of the treee of the knowledge of good and evil", you can never return to the innocence possessed before. That is, once you have defined your life purpose, you can't recant later on and say you have no purpose. Saying that would be a lie. You have a purpose and are now choosing not to fulfill it.
I encourage you to spend some time on this site. He writes from a very religious-neutral standpoint, but many of his principles appear to be Bible-based. These concepts would be very easily ported into sermons. I bring up faith here because I'm getting to what I've defined as my life message and purpose. This could change over time, as it has changed since graduating from college 14 years ago, but for today it is:
So now you know a little more about me, and what makes me tick. I don't publish that in an effort to get more business because someone might be sympathetic to my cause. I'm not going around selling candy bars for $1. I do the line of work because I love it and believe I do it well. I'd rather my motivation, and what I do with my profit, stay private and personal, but because of the topic at johnplace, perhaps I can inspire someone else to define a purpose and life message.
Another thing that I found in another article was this line:
"Do you understand and approve of the reasons you live your life the way you do?"
Can you read that sentence and justify any bad habit you've allowed to creep into your life? What obstacle/sin exists that you can't defeat just once? Just once? Let's say it's smoking. I choose that because right now my father, a lifelong smoker, is experiencing heart disease, kidney disease, Parkinson's disease, and partial blindness brought on by a series of strokes that is also limiting his mobility. He will be confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed soon, or he'll suffer that final stroke that will shut down a crucial part of the brain and that will be the end. He just turned 64, a man who did physical labor all his life after military in Vietnam, and if he'd never picked up a cigarette, it's safe to say he'd still be operating his own flooring installation business. My son is five, and quite likely he won't have a grandfather by his sixth birthday. He did a little better than I, though: my last grandfather died when I was six months old. Of lung cancer.
Can you make it through the next temptation to smoke? That's the only one we're worried about right now. Let's skip this one cigarette break. It will be both tougher and easier to skip the second cigarette break: tougher because of the nicotene withdrawal, but easier because you have a victory under your belt now. Ok, let's go for #3. Don't tell yourself, "well, I'll smoke the third one; I'm trying to wean myself off." So, you're going to wean off poison? Drinking less poison will help the recovery process??? Drinking NO poison is what will restore you to health!
Do you understand and approve of the reasons you live your life the way you do?
When you can say yes to that question in all honesty, you're reaching your potential or heading to the bottom. "Drugs or Jesus", as Tim McGraw sings. Tomorrow can be better than today. Reach that potential.
To define your life message and life purpose is a daunting task. It's particularly daunting because I see humanity as four groups of people:
* Those who know their purpose and are fulfilling it;
* Those who know (or believe they know) purpose, yet are spending their time in a career or lifestyle that is not working toward that purpose;
* Those "happy fools" (as I call them) who are perfectly content working their 9-to-5 days, happy with their jobs, and no real "greater purpose" exists for them; and
* Those who know no purpose and are also unfulfilled on a daily basis (unhappy with jobs if they have them, no real motivation to accomplish or succeed at anything).
I don't believe those are ranked from best to worst. Obviously the first is best and the last is worst, but I struggle to rank the second and third in my unnumbered list above. I'm almost persuaded that the happy fool is better off than the unfulfilled mission. That's why I say defining your life purpose and mission is a daunting task--once you "eat of the treee of the knowledge of good and evil", you can never return to the innocence possessed before. That is, once you have defined your life purpose, you can't recant later on and say you have no purpose. Saying that would be a lie. You have a purpose and are now choosing not to fulfill it.
I encourage you to spend some time on this site. He writes from a very religious-neutral standpoint, but many of his principles appear to be Bible-based. These concepts would be very easily ported into sermons. I bring up faith here because I'm getting to what I've defined as my life message and purpose. This could change over time, as it has changed since graduating from college 14 years ago, but for today it is:
My desire is to help people know the Lord and walk with Him daily. I want
to help organizations—such as camps, churches, and Bible colleges—financially
and physically. In order to be able to afford to do this, I choose to make
my living as a private business owner involved in website development for
college athletic departments. I have chosen this line of work because I am
a former sports information director at the college level, and coach and
athletic director at the high school level.
So now you know a little more about me, and what makes me tick. I don't publish that in an effort to get more business because someone might be sympathetic to my cause. I'm not going around selling candy bars for $1. I do the line of work because I love it and believe I do it well. I'd rather my motivation, and what I do with my profit, stay private and personal, but because of the topic at johnplace, perhaps I can inspire someone else to define a purpose and life message.
Another thing that I found in another article was this line:
"Do you understand and approve of the reasons you live your life the way you do?"
Can you read that sentence and justify any bad habit you've allowed to creep into your life? What obstacle/sin exists that you can't defeat just once? Just once? Let's say it's smoking. I choose that because right now my father, a lifelong smoker, is experiencing heart disease, kidney disease, Parkinson's disease, and partial blindness brought on by a series of strokes that is also limiting his mobility. He will be confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed soon, or he'll suffer that final stroke that will shut down a crucial part of the brain and that will be the end. He just turned 64, a man who did physical labor all his life after military in Vietnam, and if he'd never picked up a cigarette, it's safe to say he'd still be operating his own flooring installation business. My son is five, and quite likely he won't have a grandfather by his sixth birthday. He did a little better than I, though: my last grandfather died when I was six months old. Of lung cancer.
Can you make it through the next temptation to smoke? That's the only one we're worried about right now. Let's skip this one cigarette break. It will be both tougher and easier to skip the second cigarette break: tougher because of the nicotene withdrawal, but easier because you have a victory under your belt now. Ok, let's go for #3. Don't tell yourself, "well, I'll smoke the third one; I'm trying to wean myself off." So, you're going to wean off poison? Drinking less poison will help the recovery process??? Drinking NO poison is what will restore you to health!
Do you understand and approve of the reasons you live your life the way you do?
When you can say yes to that question in all honesty, you're reaching your potential or heading to the bottom. "Drugs or Jesus", as Tim McGraw sings. Tomorrow can be better than today. Reach that potential.
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