Friday, January 19, 2007
Let's Talk Frustration
It is difficult enough to coach in and of itself, but add the facts that I am a 21 year old girl and my team is a bunch of 17 year old boys then there is a credibility problem. My kids are finally starting to take me seriously, but they are such flirts that I feel like I have to be mean sometimes just so that they will listen! Making last night's practice even worse was adding the 16s team to our practice - we had 18 people on the floor at one time! They could not pay attention or keep their heads in the drills because there were so many of them. I absolutely cannot handle such a huge group, and I hate that we have to add the 16s to our limited practice time! Hopefully we won't have to share the courts much longer because I am never going to get my team where they need to be skill wise if we can't do drills - and the reason we can't drill is because the youngins have no respect for me, the game, or their own skills!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Coming Up
Our first practice since the tournament is tonight. I am ready to work on drilling my players hard because now I know exactly what they are capable of and how to maximize their talents. Tonight we are really going to work on over passes, block penetration, transitions, and team building. Our next tournament gives out 3 bids for this summer's nationals: I can't wait to see how well we do in Wisconsin!!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Learning but not Winning
This weekend my volleyball team played their first tournament with me as coach. It was a big national qualifier, so there were around 30 teams that came to the St. Louis area vying for a free bid to this summer's nationals. We went in with moderate hopes, but ended up realizing we have a lot to work on instead. We didn't win a single game of a single match, but I don't think a single one of my players has been discouraged from the game, and for that I am proud of them. I look forward to next practice and tournament for their improvement!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Lexophiles
I was sitting here kind of bored wondering what to post, and I started thinking about words in general. It amazes me how using the right word at the right time can create so many meanings! It also amazes me how many people are not aware of their manipulation of the English language. So here is a fun email that was forwarded to me along with some fun sites for Riddles, Spelling, and Writing Backwards.
1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
15. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
17. Every calendar's days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end
24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.
1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
15. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
17. Every calendar's days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end
24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
...Feeling Old...
At 21, I am a very young woman. I like to go out and have fun, stay up all night, whatever. In light of such nuances, let me tell you about the concert that some friends and I went to last night. We were very excited because we felt like there were two headlining bands that we knew well - A New Found Glory (NFG)and Fall Out Boy (FOB). Now concert crowds in the St. Louis area are usually awesome: lots of energy, belting out every word, general good will to other concert-goers, but last night was different. While my friends and I were bouncing around to NFG, the kids around us were just standing there! That is such a sin at a concert whether you know the band or not - if the band is good give them their due! Now don't get me wrong, I heart FOB much, but I blame the lacking audience on the fact that they are so popular with the extremely young, teeny-bopper crowd! We could not figure out why the heck these kids were so quiet, but then we had an epiphany! Not only are these kids at that "I'm too cool" phase, but NFG came out when we were like 11 and 12 years old, making almost all of the rest of last night's crowd around 7! I doubt most of them have even heard of this band that my friends and I looooooove! That revelation just made us all feel old! To make matters worse in my mind, when FOB ended, the MC came out and prompted the crowd to call for an encore. You just cannot be asked to do that; avid concert-goers know that if they yell and scream for their fave band to come back on stage that the band will play at least one more song. Most of these kids must have been at their very first concert last night, or maybe FOB just didn't have faith in St. Louis's concert-savviness. In any case, my friends and I again felt old.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Political Quiz
I was raised in a fairly liberal home by hard-working and open-minded parents. I credit them completely for my own independence, work ethic, acceptingness, and confidence. I find it interesting, however, how my personal political views differentiate from and support their own. I have never been a lemming, but I always assumed I was a political clone of my parents. They are big believers in keeping our economy American and supporting our own citizens and workers. After taking a few quizzes, I see how I am maybe more moderate than they are because I am both idealistic and greedy, blancing in my mind socialism and capitalism. The Political Compass found me to be very much in the Libertarian Left (versus Authoritarian and Right). The World's Smallest Political Quiz and the Politopia quiz found me to be on the line of Centrist and Liberal, advocating a small amount of government control with much personal liberty and some economic regulation.
My results seem to affirm my open-mindedness toward my peers, and I am very interested in the ideologies of others. I think it would be interesting if those who read my blog would take at least one of these quizzes and post their own results as comments. I encourage everyone to be informed and know how they think because i believe knowledge is the number one way to succeed in this country...
My results seem to affirm my open-mindedness toward my peers, and I am very interested in the ideologies of others. I think it would be interesting if those who read my blog would take at least one of these quizzes and post their own results as comments. I encourage everyone to be informed and know how they think because i believe knowledge is the number one way to succeed in this country...
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