CoachcAmycaM

• My book has closed on another season of basketball. Like the many other years before it, it was great! I really think I made some headway on fundamental milestones this year. We did everything better. We played better offense and definitely played better defense. We went with a man this year and it worked for us. The kids did a fabulous job with the transition from zones to man. Usually it's hard but I was very blessed to not have lazy kids. I had the hard-working and hard-nosed girls. The ones who have had to work for everything their whole lives. They played with pure passion and heart. They never complained and always asked if they could do it again. They worked tirelessly on the fundamentals:passing, shooting and dribbling. Once in a while, their youthfulness would run away with them and they would lose the ball but as the season wore on their mistakes became less and less.
• There is nothing more rewarding than to stand there and say one-word commands and to see it being played out before your very eyes. It's amazing. To see excitement because they get to play their favorite game, and for them to treat it exactly the way it was intended to be: a game. They always left their anger and frustrations on the court. The minute we passed through the locker room doors, real life happened again: friends and family. I often tried to test them and say "Man, we would have won if...or I can't believe you all didn't do this" everytime (I was so proud I could have cried) they all would look at me and say "Next time, we'll fix it tomorrow at practice" or "Coach, it's over. Just add it to your notes." Hahaha I didn't have a choice I just laughed and said okay. Then, as sure as the sunrise, they would ask "What didn't we do yesterday? How come we lost? What did we forget? What should we do different?" So we would practice everything. At the end, they would always say "Not anymore!"
• I didn't deserve those kids but I was blessed with them. This season will always be my favorite. They weren't varsity but, in my opinion, they outworked them and they had more heart. I will be very sad next season because with that kind of ethic, I know I will not see most of them. However, I will be very proud and confident knowing they are ready for that next step.
• So November 2010..."Jaa mata ne"

CamelaalemaC

• Have you ever had a moment in time where you should know that answer but, suddenly, you don't? A moment where everyone counts on you to know exactly what to do and you don't? Usually I am a pretty creative soul and I can at least lie and look the part, but there has been a few times in the last two weeks that I had no idea what to do. I am a basketball coach and it requires you to think ahead about three possessions for both offense and defense. There is constantly the "what if" factor. It was the oddest thing. We were losing the game and then after some key "what if" moments we were winning. Now comes the mental battle of should we risk it and keep scoring or should we hold off and protect the lead. I didn't know what to do!! Everytime we were up by one or two points at the most. Like an idiot, I call time-out, what for?!? I didn't have an answer to my own question! At that point, I kind of figured that I could at least give the kids a small water break to calm their nerves and recollect their thoughts while I tried to sort mine out. Man, that was a stupid thing to do. At least when the other team calls time out, you can at least figure some of the things you are going to encounter: they are either going to foul, go to a man to man defense or even press depending on where the ball is. Now, those things I have the answers for. Nope, I call time out when we've got the lead. I don't know what I look like to my kids. Can they see the fear in my eyes? Can they hear the fear in my voice? Hahaha one thing was for sure...we had the ball. At the 10 second buzzer, we stand - hands are in, the kids look at me with some fear, nerves and excitement and all I could do was smile - :) I had the answer - do both! With confidence, I look them all dead in the eye and say "Protect the ball, pass and cut and if the Red Sea parts, go for it! Make it count! There is only one way to win this game and that is together" The kids shout with a resurgent wave of confidence "Together!" Man, sometimes that coach's box is not big enough. It seems smaller and smaller the closer the points are. Hahaha. Well needless to say I've been lucky those few times and we've won the game. I would hate to be wrong next time.
• In moments of crunch time, I always compare my luck to a bag of Blue Bird flour bag. If you get it just right, with one pull of the right string, the whole bag opens. If you don't, then you have to keep pulling at the strings until finally you get it or you just cut the damn thing. LoL!

CamcAmcaM

• Someone told me today, "Are you ever serious? Do you get angry?" I said "Yes and Yes" They didn't miss a beat and said, "You don't look it." Hahaha how do you look it? Can you really wear your emotions like a T-Shirt? I can't. I have one look and it's a smile. I like it...it's my best defense and offense. I started to sift through scenarios and looked at myself and damn...a smile everytime. Is this a problem? Should I fix it? Absolutely...not. :)
• Here's what I know for sure...I am the opposite of tall and the opposite of boring. I am the opposite of slim and I am the opposite of normal. I am absolutely random. I think of a million different ways to do a simple task and I am forever haunted with the "What if we do it this way..." or the "Wouldn't it be funny if..." mentality.
• Good luck!

CrazyAmbitiousMe

• I often sit and wonder why I do the things I do sometimes. It's not that I can't think for myself I just enjoy having others think for me once in awhile. Both of my everyday jobs requires me to think and plan all the time. If I don't plan then the whole train falls apart. It's very interesting that it works out that way because "in real life" I am the most unorganized person on the planet. My whole universe is in constant disarray. I find more comfort and joy in the piles of papers everywhere than in folders neatly on the desk and clothes piled on the floor than folded neatly or hung in the closet. My backpack is the same way. There are pockets made to serve specific purposes but I don't use them as intended. I often wonder is that my own personal revolution against order and conformity? Nah...I am bold enough to venture out and say I am just lazy and am very happy to just be an unconventional person.
• The second thing I do that I am almost sure makes me an unfavorable person sometimes is I am an optimist. I have this uncanny ability to see the silver lining. I don't look for it it just appears. My favorite lines are always "It could be worse...or Things like that have a funny way of working out..." Hahaha I don't mean to be shallow but isn't it true is a very strange and twisted way? I have seen death too many times in my lifetime. Even then I still manage to be happy even though God has taken away some very special people. I guess maybe because I know he can't break his own rule of taking without giving. He has taken some amazing beings but he has also replaced then even more amazing beings. I can't complain. I guess it's my belief in the goodness of the humanity that makes me this way. I know it's a very naive way to live but it works for me.
• Try untangling that ball of string!