Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sunday Observations - Feb 22

- Wrestling Season is over. It's always bittersweet. Relieved to have the grind of the season over, but sad because I do love coaching and l miss the fellowship with the boys.

- We fell short of some of our goals. No state placers. The kid with the best shot lost two tough ones: 2-0 to the eventual state champ and a 5-4 decision to the kid who takes 3rd. We were close.

- I see God in the most random places and times. When I least expect it, He is there.

- I would recommend the Marriott Courtyard University in Winston-Salem. Nice place to stay and friendly staff.

- My dilemma of the week: I alternate between wanting to live in a city for access to culture and arts, people and diversity. Other times, I want to move to rural Oregon, SW Colorado, Montana, Nova Scotia or somewhere in British Columbia and be totally isolated among great scenery. This week, I flipped flopped about 20 times in 2 days.

Crush of the Week:
When I think of high school wrestling in North Carolina over the last 15 years, the programs that jump out for sustained success are in the order: Cary, Orange, Morehead, Alleghany and Ragsdale.

Bobby Shriner, the head coach at Orange High School is someone I consider a coaching mentor and friend. His team won both the Dual Team and Individual State tournaments this year and won with dominance and class. He coaches winners. He coaches champions.
Coach Shriner, besides being a great coach is just a great man. Unless we end up at the same camp, I really only see him twice a year (at the State Tournament in Feb and the Coaching Clinic in July). When I do see him, I always get a warm hug and positive encouragement. When I was at Elon and doing a practicum, he allowed me into his wrestling room to watch. When I was seeking coaching advice early in my career, he let me into his office and chatted with me one day. Some teams that dominate develop a reputation of arrogance and others like to pull against them. Orange is one of those exceptions. People just like Orange. People like Bobby Shriner.

1 comment:

Emily Bradford Routon said...

mmmm...moving is good, 20 times isn't too terrible