S7s- 6 Mar: Make up edition

1) I missed last week. My Sunday was just too busy. Did a long ride in Pisgah, had to take wash to laundromat since washing machine is dead and worked on getting things ready for our team banquet on Monday.

2) Our team banquet was on Monday. Just another reminder on what a great group of guys I have. We ate lots of food and share some laughs. I handed out awards and recognitions. Our superlatives were as follows:

• Most Valuable: Paul Searcy
• Most Outstanding: Josh Blatt
• Coach's Award: Will Baldwin
• Most Improved: Daniel Dowling

Last night also took a few of our kids to the Southern Conference Wrestling Championships. What a great time and great tournament. The last match at heavyweight was between Appalachian State and Chattanooga. Chattanooga led by 2.5 points in the team race, so the winner of the individual bout also clinches the tournament for his team. Appalachian got a late takedown to seal the win and the the team title. Fantastic finish!

3) Track is off and running. I am having a blast with a great group of kids. Hopefully, we'll have some success. Our meet on Thursday was cancelled due to snow. Everyone is itching to compete. We'll be at AC Reynolds on Tuesday and hosting a meet at North on Thursday. 

This was a great image my assistant coach took.

4) Super Tuesday was last week: Trump and Hillary had good days. Sanders is still in the mix, especially after Saturday's caucuses in Kentucky and Kansas. Cruz is surging, Kasich hanging in there and Rubio slipping. Here are some political thoughts:

• Trump basically advocated war crimes by increasing torture and bombing innocent targets. He rescinded the next day, but the damage is done. I think that helped Cruz yesterday.
• Kasich, if he hangs around long enough, may get the nomination. The question is, can he make it to the convention?
• I was getting text updates from my friends in Colorado on their caucus experience. First, no caucus for the Republicans. Second, the turnout was super high! The fire marshall forced Steve out of the Middle School they were in and onto the soccer field.  
• One of the reasons for high turnout was Colorado Cares. Colorado is looking to possibly go single payer for health care. Steve said that 3% salary tax would cover everyone, along with a 8% rate from employers. That's cheaper, by a lot, than most premiums. 
• Trump nomination, or being blocked at the convention could be bad for the Republican party. There could be a shift or split. The GOP as we know it could meet the same fate as the Whigs. 
• Another thing to consider is that the longer Trump stays around, the more it could hurt the Republicans. And he may very well win the presidency, but he may cause the party to lose their House majority and close Senate races. I really think it would be bad for the Senate to block an Obama Supreme Court nominee if the Republican party wants to keep their majorities in Congress.

5) Enjoy your next career, Peyton Manning. He'll be great in the booth or as a coach. He didn't need to play another season. Thanks for the memories.

6) Man, what a tough week for losses: Pat Conroy, Nancy Reagan. Two wonderful part of American history.

"I wanted to become the seeker, the aroused and passionate explorer, and it was better to go at it knowing nothing at all, always choosing the unmarked bottle, always choosing your own unproven method, armed with nothing but faith and a belief in astonishment."

Pat Conroy, "Lords of Discipline

7) Brian Land spoke today on Mark 5. The story of the bleeding woman who touched the robe of Christ has long resonated with me. She reaches, in desperation. Her faith was enough to heal her. Everyone wanted signs and miracles and she, a shunned woman, knew that Jesus was the miracle. 

"Love Alone" my favorite Caedmon's Call song. The chorus sings "Love Alone is not enough/to hold us up/ we've got to touch your robe/so swing your robe down low

All we have to do is believe and reach for his garment and He can heal us. "Don't be afraid, just believe" - Mark 5:36

Sunday 7s: 9/20

1) Congratulations to my dear friend, colleague and former assistant track coach Audra King for being named Henderson County Public School's Exceptional Children's Educator of Excellence. It is a well deserved honor for someone who is humble, kind hearted and gracious at all times.

2) I did not see the Republican debate on CNN last Wednesday, but I read enough on it to know that I didn't learn a whole lot more about the front runners. They spent a lot of time criticizing the present administration, each other and repeating talking points. Nobody said anything that really made them stand out or I found informative. I have yet to hear, nor have they been pushed to present, their positions on education or foreign policy (building a wall is not foreign policy).

3) I saw something earlier this week on whether robots, as we improve artificial intelligence, deserve to be protected certain rights as all individuals. I still worry about a Terminator scenario where robots take over, but beyond that I worry for humanity. Technology has already detached us from each other in so many ways. We're on our screens more than we are having real interactions. Will people of the future choose robots for friends over having human friends?

4) Japan moving to remilitarization. It was kind of lost in the shuffle of events of the past week. It's not a done deal yet and passions are high on both sides, but this is kind of a big deal. This is the country that truly made World War II a global war, the world's third largest economy (prior to 2009, it was the world's second) and for over 70 years has taken a pacifist stance in a part of the world that includes Russia, North Korea and China. We'll see how this one plays out.

5) I had gate duty at the North Henderson Soccer game on Wednesday. It's a fierce rivalry and there's no love lost between the two schools in soccer.

• The good: Both teams played hard. It was a fundraiser night for FBLA and they were selling homemade tamales and horchata. Fantastic idea!
• The bad: We lost in overtime. We had to call the cops. The East fans got a unruly. Both sides were passionate and emotions high. Both schools had large students sections that went back and forth. The students were spirited and respectful on both sides. The coaches were classy. The parents, however, put a damper on the night. Be a fan, don't be obnoxious and disrespectful. 

6) Ride of the week: Dan Ruiz and I rode from Corn Mill Shoals parking lot, down US 276 past Ceasar's Head to HWY 11 and back. A total of 27 miles with about 3200 ft of total climbing. The descent from Ceasar's Head is one of my favorites. Almost 7 miles, nice sweepers with a few sharp switchbacks. The climb is long but never gets too steep or grueling. As a matter of fact, there is a part that "levels" out and lets you recover about halfway up. Surely, one of my favorite rides. I chose to ride back to my house from the car, adding another 33 miles to my day. Long day, good for my soul. We took a break at Bald Rock, where I got to take this picture of me messing around.

7) College Football thoughts:

• Notre Dame outclassed my Jackets in every way yesterday. It was an ugly showing for Tech fans. Notre Dame gets credit for being resilient, well coached and more emotional. That was a good football team who lost their original starters at QB and RB in the first two games of the season.
• Bad week to be Heang Uy: GT lost by 8, Elon lost 7-14 and the Dolphins lost by a field goal. At least the Panthers won. North Henderson had a bye week. The previous week, everyone of these teams won.
• When's the last time an Alabama team had 5 turnovers? Credit to Ole Miss, but even Alabama can't win by coughing up the ball that often. And the gods were on the Rebel's side. This play shows that:

• Overrated in this week's AP Poll: 
• FSU, 10- You can't tell me you watched FSU-BC on Friday or FSU the week before and thought you were watching the number 10 team in the country
• Missouri, 25- Sure they didn't lose, but narrowly beating Arkansas State and UConn doesn't cut it for me.
• Underrated:
• Alabama, 12- They did lose at home. But Ole Miss may be really, really good. They should stay in the top 10 and be ahead of both Florida State and Clemson
• BYU, 22- They lost by one point, on the road against a top 10 UCLA team and they drop three places. That makes no sense to me. 
• I have long said that preseason polls are stupid. I mean, Auburn was #6 preseason and those same polls are the only reason FSU and Mizzou are ranked where they are. Three weeks is about right to start having polls. That said, and based on what I've seen so far, here's how I'd rank the top 7: 1) Michigan State 2) Ole Miss 3) TCU 4) Ohio St 5) LSU 6) Notre Dame 7) Baylor