Month: October 2005

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Just in case you need to know

Part of my Google start page has a ‘How-To’ Section.

This came up today: How to throw a Javelin

The javelin toss, a popular track and field sport in the Olympic games, involves hurling a metal-tipped spear as far as possible. It’s not that hard to throw a javelin, but it takes know-how and practice to throw a javelin properly.

Click the link above if you want to know how to do it. I’m not going to spoil it for you.

and of course:

WARNING: Don’t let people stand to your side or along angles in front of the path of your throw. Keep any onlookers behind you.

You know, cause, you never know when you might need to know that…

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Wow Bengals are 6-2 :)

Wow, the Bengals are 6-2.

Let’s keep things in perspective. The teams the Bengals have beaten have a combined record of: 12 -31. Except for the Bears, who are now 4-3, everyone else is 2-5 or worse. (Yikes)

So the Bengals can keep it together and beat the the really downtrodden, something that was not always possible in the past.

But what they used to be able to do, was get up for big games, and surprise you. Remember undefeated Kansas City? Part of that I’m sure was other teams taking Cincy for granted which they simply no longer do.

But Sunday’s game against Green Bay. Lordy, 5 turn overs. That’s amazing. Erich at work predicted Bret would throw 4 interceptions.

But that’s the problem. They had taken the ball away 4 times and had scored 0 points off of those turn overs. After four picks, Green Bay was still in it. With minutes to play in the 3rd quarter you could feel that Green Bay was going to pull this out, or that the Bengals, in typical Bengal fashion was going to throw it away.

Thankfully the Defense pulled yet another rabbit out of the hat for the 5th turnover of the day, of which we converted.

Still, Bret, brought them back. Yeah, this is the NFL and any team on any Sunday, yadda, yadda. But you know what. Pittsburg doesn’t say that. They say, come to our house and we’ll kick the livin snot out of you, and they usually do.

Giving the Bengals their due; they didn’t fold. They kept their poise. Chris Perry is the man, he’s a thinking back, he stayed in bounds and kept the clock running unlike a wide reciever who blew an opportunity to add 3 points at the end of the half.

Marvins got the boys moving. They should make short work of Baltimore, they should make a statement and beat them by 21 or more. Again the Bengals didn’t cover the spread against Green Bay. They should whoop the Ravins and get prepared for Indy.

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Soccer Report for 10/29 The Cheeto’s

Today was also Maria’s last game.

The Cheeto’s finished their season undefeated I think. Might have lost one, and tied a couple.

Todays game didn’t start out so well, but they battled back in the end to tie the game 1-1 and had all the momentum as the remaining minutes wound off the clock. It’s the candy league and they don’t _really_ keep score, allthough you know every parent on the sideline is 🙂

Coach Rick and Coach Mike were excellent with the kids. My hat is off to them. They handled them all with kid gloves, were always positive and keeping them moving in the right direction. You guys rock!

Maria had a blast, and if she doesn’t end up in Gymnastics will play again next year I’m sure.

Thanks for making her season so much fun.

Photos from the last game are in the gallery here

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Soccer Report for 10/29 Green Machine

Today rounds out the final games of the season for both the Green Machine and the Cheeto’s.

Game one started in the fog. The Green Machine playing the number 1 team again for the first spot in the Tournament, if they’d win they’d get to play again tomorrow but it wasn’t to be. Camden took them to task again.

It was Maggie’s first year playing soccer, and probably her last which is very disappointing. Her team went 0-9-1. Not for lack of effort by any individual player, but complete lack of coaching. Her team never jelled. Nobody likes to lose that’s a given, and everyone hates to be embarrassed every week, week in and week out.

To Maggies coach:Warning, this may sound harsh.
I hope you take the time to pickup a few books on coaching, and team building. You may have played the game, but playing the game doesn’t make a coach.

Building a team takes patience, observation, understanding, listening, and starts with fundamentals which this team sorely lacked in a number of areas.

At practice, you went through the drills and through the motions but you never drove home the point, a point or any point. “This is how you do it, why you do it, do it until it’s second nature, do it until you do it right.”

You had girls that flat out couldn’t kick the ball. Set them aside and teach them that.

You had girls that couldn’t catch the ball (a requirement for a goalie), someone should have tossed her balls ever practice, week in and week out (wet or not).

You had girls that didn’t understand what it meant to attack a ball, most seemed afraid of it. They needed someone to help them get over that.

They didn’t understand keeping their distance from one another, playing as a unit, offensively or defensively. They looked like the candy league.

It was YOUR responsibility to teach them.

Rather than working on weaknesses and building them up, you separated them and screamed at them. That’s not teaching.

You failed to identify the talents that you did have and put them to good use. Other than to simply put Britney on the right wing and expect her to score every game one against the entire team.

She could center a ball but there would be no one there. Why? Because they didn’t understand why they needed to be there. Someone needs to SHOW then why. Why passing the ball is more EFFICIENT than carrying it.

There were plenty of games this team had an opportunity to win, but you were so busy beating them up for one bad play or another that they couldn’t focus on the good things they were doing.

I think you could be a fine coach if you really wanted to be. You do have the desire to win and that’s great, but it takes more than that. You have to be patient, realize what you have, break things down to the simplest form and drill, drill, drill. You have to expect, then demand the respect of your players, and then respect them for the players that they are. You never had their complete attention, ever.

If you want help with that or want pointed in the right direction, I invite you to go watch the Lady Screaming Eagles Basketball team practice. Watch Coach Floyd run a practice. He’s been doing it a long time. Feel free to contact Claudine or I for the information.

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Steelers Thump em’

Wow, flash back.

What a disappointing game. So far this year the Bengals are 0-2 in games that really matter. Fair weather fan? Nope. I want so badly for this team to win. But 12 years bitten I’m just a little bit skeptical.

Jacksonville took them to task and made the D look flat out bad against the run. Today, Pittsburgh manhandled them.

Oh, we had our chances in the first quarter, and I think Chad’s catch was a TD. His elbow was in, but that’s how the ball bounces.

Still the Bengals got owned by what appears to be the best team in the AFC North. The team that brings a swagger into the game and makes you play their style of football. That’s what the Bengals don’t have (yet). All the attention they’ve garnered in the last 6 weeks they pretty much blown.

Yes Palmer and Chad have game, but they can’t do it alone. Our secondary is opportunistic and that’s outstanding, but they got burned today big time by Hines Ward, even AFTER he was hurt. That was sad.

I understand our run defense is young and we’ll certainly end up with a wild card birth this year. But next year will be the year. The next two games for the Bengals are critical. They will play a very hungry Green Bay and then Indy. A loss to either or both could take play off hopes away and we could again be looking at an 8-8 season.