S7s: May 1- Springing into May

1) Kaida turned 4 last week. She had a party in SC yesterday. My brother, Chhay, also just got back from 6 months of deployment so it was a double celebration. And got to see a lot of other kiddos. It was great family time.

2) Speaking of birthdays, god daughter Sydney turned 9. She's growing so fast but she still thinks I'm great so I'll take that for now.

3) Yesterday was the North Henderson High School prom. I drove back from SC, got home around 9:00, changed and caught the end of the prom. I'm glad I made it back. It was great to see all the students dressed up and there were a few that I was very happy to catch. My wrestlers looked sharp and my track team was gorgeous. Everyone seemed to be having fun.

4) My favorite quote of the last week occured when we were outside I noticed what turned out to be fertilizer on the track. Not knowing what it was yet, I asked aloud what was on my track. One of my girls replied, "Grass seasoning". Dunno, I thought it was hilarious.

5)  We went to a meet at Western Carolina this week. The boys took first out of 15 teams. The girls placed 11th. I love WCU's facilities and Coach Williamson and his staff are great to us. The best thing about the meet is that, as coaches, we don't have to work any events or time. That's very rare. It was nice just to watch my athletes jump and throw.

6) I was really amazed by today's sermon. Charles McGowan was the guest preacher and he spoke on Matthew 16:13-17. 

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

I have read the passage before, but read it all wrong. In verse 18, I always assumed it was Peter that was the rock the church would be built on. It turns out that it's actually Peter's answer in verse 16 that is the Rock: Jesus the Messiah is what the church will be built on. 

Also, verse 18, about the gates of Hades... I always assumed that Hades cannot overcome the church. McGowan says that the church is marching on Hades and the gates built to keep the church out cannot win. The church is based on the Messiah  and Jesus cannot be held back by mere walls. 

7) NFL Draft thoughts:

• Laremy Tunsil better be a game changer. If he flops, the Dolphins have wasted another first round pick, a la Dion Jordan. 
• I don't love the Dolphins draft. But not being splashy sometimes is good.
• Panthers took three defensive backs in a row. Josh who?
• I hope Jared Goff is more Aaron Rogers than Brady Quinn.
• I like Denver's pick of Paxton Lynch. 
• I also love that Denver got Adam Gotsis in the second round. Go Jackets!
• DJ White makes plays. I hope he makes the Chiefs roster. 

S7s: Jan 10- Brotherhood

1) Friday night, January 8, we held a reunion for the 1996 West Henderson Dual Team State Championship team. 20 years ago, a young coach took a bunch of talented and committed individuals and together won a State Dual team title. We wrestled two matches that finals night because of inclement weather earlier in the week. We beat North Wilkes in the Regional Finals 28-26.

In the state finals, we beat East Davidson by the score of 28-26. There were big wins by Damon Blackley and myself over two of their better kids. There was a bite that ended up being huge points for us. Casey Manuel got a pin to put us up by 5. Troy Sapp bumped up to heavyweight and stalled his way through the match to give us the win.

As special as winning the State Title was, I think mostly back to the brotherhood. I miss wrestling but I miss more the being on the team. We struggled, worked and cried together. We laughed with one another and pushed each other. Damon and I traveled to countless off season tournaments together. Stephen and Ebert were practice partners. My brother was on the team. Michael and I were the co-captains. We had a coach that pushed us, cared for us and that we believed in. I don't remember the state title match as much as I remember the wrestling room, picking up Nick early in the morning for AM practices, trying not to get slammed into the back of the bleachers at West. That was a special team and I was honored to be part of it. We accomplished great things-- 2 undefeated seasons, 5 individual state champions and several state placers-- but it's the brotherhood we built together that made our team great and made Friday special.

2) This TED talk resonates with how I feel. I have not served and cannot put myself in the position of a soldier, but I think I understand the "brotherhood". There's a special connection when you have to sacrifice, sweat and hurt together. Brotherhood and friendship are not the same. You don't have to like someone to have a brotherhood. But the cool thing is that we our team honestly all liked each other. And we had a brotherhood.

Soldiers are willing to go back to war because of the brotherhood, not because they love war. I'd go back not as much for the wrestling, but for the brotherhood. These guys were that special.

3) One of the youngest members of Terry Lee Varnadore, who was a freshman in 1995-1996. Terry Lee died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on April 23, 2011. Our group came up with the idea of a Terry Lee Courage and Leadership award that will go to a deserving wrestler every year. The award will hang in the West Henderson commons for everyone to see and for Terry Lee to be honored. This wasn't just some award because we felt bad that a guy died in combat, but this was so that people would remember and know that Terry Lee was a man of honor and character.

It was both heartbreaking and an honor to get to hug his parents. When the award was presented to his parents, I got pretty emotional. I got to meet his two daughters, who are both precious and adorable. The older one reminded me of her dad so much. The gym was full of love and laughter, but there was still a hole in our hearts. There were several members of our team that couldn't make it on Friday to the reunion, but Terry Lee's absence hurt the most. 

Terry Lee; The Fallen

Times News; West 1996 Title Team; Varnadore Honored

4) Last week was a really good week of classes for me. My kids were at it, trying to get things done and be ready for exams this week. I have never liked the state's mandate that schools start no earlier than August 25. It means we don't finish our first semester until after Christmas holidays. We have to reteach to get ready for exams because of the break rather than just review. 

Also, the state, in their brilliance, has created tests that can take 10 days to score. So we have to give "incompletes" if they don't have test scores back. This makes no sense-- if you're a senior and are in danger of failing a core class, you need to know immediately whether you have to retake the course. Of it it is second semester, you need to know if you're eligible to graduate.

And this article resonated with me: The Real Problem with teaching in NC

5) Up and down week for the wrestling team. We broke a losing streak to Pisgah on Tuesday by a score of 42-25. Our kids wrestled tough and we got several big falls. I was really proud of our effort and toughness. The win puts us at 17-4 for the season and 3-0 in the conference.

Yesterday was a day of growth for us. At the Fandetti Brawl, we got beat up some. We battled and fought, but lost lots of tough matches. The competition was stellar and while we are a good group, it showed that we still have work to do. We had 5 placers, but our highest kid was 3rd. We were humbled in some places and in other places we showed that we were fighters. Our potential is there, we still have high ceilings individually.

6) NFL Playoffs have been pretty fun. All the road teams won. Green Bay ended up running away from Washington. Chiefs in a blow out. But some notes:

• Bengals-Steelers: dirty and ugly play by Burfict. I hope Antonio Brown is okay. Bengals lost their cool at the end. Fumble. Personal Foul. Personal Foul. That set up the game winning field goal.
• I feel so bad for Vikings kicker Blair Walsh. He'll never live that down. I guess you'll see more coaches going for game winning field goals on 3rd down to get the second shot in case of a miss. 
• I think that the Panthers wanted to play Green Bay or Minnesota rather than Seattle.
• Predictions: Chiefs over Patriots, Broncos over Steelers (especially if Ben is banged up), Carolina over Seattle, Arizona over Green Bay.

7) College Championship Prediction: Clemson 33, Alabama 27

S7s: Dec 3- Ode to Pompey

1) Happy New Year! 2015 was indeed a great year for me. Lots of highlights and some trying times. Blessed with a great career, friends, church and community. I got to share in some really cool moments. Had a neat moments of reflection. I worked too hard sometimes and not hard enough during others. I'll post my photo review later, but in the meantime I am stoked at what 2016 has to offer this soul of mine.

2) I bit the bullet and did something that will surprise and shock a lot of people: I bought a new car. My old car, affectionately named Pompey, has been a rock for 15 years and over 230,000 miles. She still runs strong, but has some issues that older cars get. I was looking for a replacement and found a good deal on a 2012 Mazda 3. It leather heated seats, moonroof and gets 40 MPG on the highway. I will miss the stick shift (still on original clutch) and all the great adventures Pomp and I had. She drove to Alaska! She's been to Colorado twice, RAGBRAI and Nova Scotia. There have been countless trips to Atlanta and we've hauled bikes to almost all those places. 15 years is a long time together and I bought her new, so there is a lot of sentimental value. I'm hoping this new car is half the car that Pompey was.

3) There are "militia" members who took over a National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. I biked through Harney County in 2015 and spent a night in Burns. A few gripes:

• The same people who call these guys heroes and militia would also call similar people standing up to "oppression" thugs, terrorists or traitors. Double standard 1.
• The same people who claim patriotism are the first to cry foul, tyranny and offense when they don't get there way. The ones say they stand behind the Constitution don't bother to follow the methods set by the Constitution to change laws, amend policy and effect change.
• These people are like Westboro Baptist: attention hungry, disillusioned and narrow minded. They don't want to understand or try to be part of a nation that is diverse and made of many people, needs, interests and beliefs. 
• Double standard 2: if others are offended or feel put off, they are told to suck it up and not be so damn easily offended. If they are offended or feel put off, it is acceptable to throw a tantrum and issue threats with lots of firearms.
• I do feel, in my limited knowledge, that maybe the jail time for the Hammonds might be excessive, we do have a legal process for appeals. You know, the Constitution. No where in the law of the land does it advocate taking matters into your own hands.

4) Instagram Top Nine: babies, bikes, outside! 

5) Quote of the Week: "Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, but rather the hero's heart."

6) Wrestling competed in the Holy Angels Tournament on Friday and Saturday. The tournament featured 66 teams and North finished 11th. We only entered 7 wrestlers. Josh Blatt beat the #1 4A wrestler in the state in overtime in the finals. Paul Searcy had three tough matches in a row to win at 145 lbs. We had three other placers in the tournament and three place in the JV Tournament. It was a great weekend, this team showed lots of heart.

7) The college bowl games have been lame. Too many blow outs. Clemson played well and Alabama looked angry. Could be a great National Title game. Hope it's not a blow out.

In the NFL lots of action this week:

• Chip Kelly out in Philly. Sort of a surprise. Thought he'd get one more year.
• Welcome back Peyton Manning.
• I hope the Dolphins find the right coach.
• Tom Coughlin: classy guy. I hope he enjoys retirement and doesn't return to coaching. 
• Is there a bigger mess than Cleveland? What a train wreck-- from personnel to coaching. But it all starts at the front office.
• Congratulations to Carolina. They looked great. 
• I want a Panthers-Broncos Superbowl.

Sunday 7s: Oct 25

1) One nine weeks down. Proud of a lot of things that are happening. Need to do some things better. Teach smarter, not harder. Blessed to be part of a great school. Here's our social studies department showing our support for cancer awareness. Haake didn't get the memo :)

2) I wonder if in a decade whether we'll look at the Bengazi hearings the way we view the McCarthy hearings of the 1941? Will Trey Gowdy be the modern McCarthy? If the goal is find Hillary of criminal charges, it seems that they are far from it. If their goal is to hurt her presidential campaign and smear her, they've seemingly failed there too.

3) World Series Prediction- Royals in 6. I've been way off on all my baseball stuff, so don't quote me on that.

4) a) Congratulations to my friends Emily and Aaron of Alaska and the birth of their new baby boy.

    b) Godspeed to my brother who left on Tuesday for a six month deployment to the Middle East.

5) Friday was a teacher workday for us. I went in at 5:30 and worked so I could leave early and take advantage of a beautiful fall afternoon and hit some trails before wrestling started. Hit some great Pisgah singletrack: Cove Creek, Daniel Ridge, Butter Gap. They had done some work at the top of Cove Creek and it's a great little change. Now you can ride a lot of it instead of dismounting for the creek crossings. Butter was so fun and we had a blast on Cat Gap trail. But my favorite part was stopping for a break and watching the leaves fall around us. It was tranquil and magical. Pisgah is a special place.

6) I've long said that Georgia Tech-Clemson in 2004 was the most improbable win I've ever witnessed live. Teams scored 5 touchdowns in the last 8 minutes. GT had 3 in the last four and half minutes. But all Clemson had to do, up by 3 points, was get a punt off with 23 seconds left and Tech having no time outs. But they didn't and the legend of Calvin Johnson was born:

   

Saturday was one of the most surreal sports moments of my fandom and may have topped 2004. Georgia Tech beat FSU on a miracle play. This GT team has gotten no breaks or balls bounce their way this season. But it finally happened last night. The place went crazy. When FSU lined up to kick, I figured we would lose then or lose in overtime. But crazy things happen in sports and this was one of the best. They're calling it the "Miracle on Techwood Drive":

It reminded me of the last time Georgia Tech hosted Florida State in 2008, a game I was also at. Down by 3, the Noles had the ball on the Tech 3 and looked sure to score. But Cooper Taylor was having none of it, stuck a helmet on the ball and caused a fumble. I remember screaming at the defense to fall on the ball because it looked like they were trying to pick it up. Thus the "Miracle on North Ave" was born:


And just because it's Florida State week and it's a great play from one of my all time favorite players, here's Josh Nesbitt fumbling the ball and stealing it back from the defense.

And since yesterday was a top 10 team coming to the Flats and a night game, it was a fantastic day of tailgating, including some friendly FSU fans joining us. I even got a nap in.

7) Apparently, there were other games played yesterday besides the GT one:

• Polls are starting to shape out better now that we've seen a body of work from teams, so I won't post an under rated or overrated opinion this week. I will say I feel vindicated. I've long said FSU is not a top ten team. Even if they won yesterday, I would have stood by that statement. 
• Top Seven: 1) Clemson 2) Ohio State 3) Baylor 4) TCU 5) LSU 6) Michigan State 7) Notre Dame

Sunday 7s: Oct 18

1) Just left a congregational meeting at the church. Our pastor is resigning. Everyone is heartbroken. Some are angry. Dave Desforge has taught me so much about the Gospel. He's one of the reasons I love Grace and keep coming back. It will be strange not have him giving the sermon, but I am reminded that Jesus is bigger than one man. Or one church.

2) Jesus + nothing.

3) This experience has made me contemplative. I understand the inability to manage people and the constant risk of burnout. I wonder if or how long my heart can continue to pursue this passion (teaching) with the energy, commitment and love that I need to for my students and co-workers. It's tough to admit that you might be in over your head. I often feel that way.

4) Today's sermon was by my good friend Brian Land. He spoke on Hebrews 12:1-3, which is one of my favorite passages.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

• Jesus runs with us. It's an endurance race and we're not alone.
• I love that not only does he "author" our faith, he also is the "perfecter:
• I made it into the sermon today. Me, Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson & Robert De Niro, King Leonidas and Neo (the Matrix) all make their way into the sermon. Obviously, I was the star...
• Brian used my bike journeys to illustrate the endurance aspect of the race that must be endured. Also, he said that if he were to ride the Great Divide, he has a reference that he can trust-- a wealth of knowledge. Jesus provides that for all our races.
• Talked to two friends who recently moved. They both commented on how much stuff they have and they are trying to lighten the load. Ironically, that's one of the messages in the sermon: we carry heavy burdens that make our race harder. Reese Witherspoon in "Wild" had too much stuff and she couldn't hike the Pacific Coast Trail. Robert De Niro's character in "The Mission"-- he literally carried his burdens and was trapped by them until they were cast into the river. Both my friends are at a point where they are realizing that the stuff the accumulate to make their lives more comfortable only burden them and weigh them down. But getting rid of stuff and lightening the load is difficult. In one friend's words, "It takes radical heart change."

5) Went to Columbia yesterday. We had a party for my older brother, Chhay, who is being deployed to the Middle East for 6 months with the Air National Guard. His brother in law, La, who is the only person I know with a hibachi grill on his porch, cooked up dinner. We played with the kids, ate and celebrated a great brother, dad and husband who will be missed while deployed. 

6) Rode Spencer Branch Trail today. It was the last run down Spencer as we know it. Tomorrow, they are closing it and the new re-route will be the only way down from Spencer Gap. The old trail was technical, with lots of roots, rocks and decent drops off water bars. I'm not a great technical rider, but I love to ride this trail and have no shame in walking when necessary. It will be greatly missed. I hope the new one is as fun and challenging.

7) Another crazy week in College Football. Michigan-Michigan St was nuts! Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech look bad. Ole Miss lost to Memphis. 

• Overrated in this week's Poll: Florida St (9), Houston (21)-- I know they are undefeated, but I still haven't seen a Top 10 performance from the Noles. Houston is beneficiaries of a soft schedule (though they did beat Louisville).
• Under rated: Oklahoma (17)-- they are better than Iowa and Florida in my opinion and that throttling of K-State was impressive. The Texas lost, while not pretty, might be an anomaly. North Carolina (NR)-- shows the lack of respect the ACC gets. And the ACC deserves no respect, even though Clemson is really good and UNC isn't bad.
• Top 7: 1) Utah 2) Baylor 3) Ohio St 4) LSU 5) TCU 6) Clemson 7) Michigan St.

Sunday 7s- Oct 11

1) "The ground of Liberty is to be gained by inches". Thomas Jefferson
Good reminder that change doesn't happen overnight. It's more trees growing than it is weeds sprouting.

2) Went and saw "I Once Was a Beehive". One of our former students, Kaley McCormack, has a role in it as one of the campers. It's a feel good story, with some intense parts and several messages of faith and family. Overall, it's just a cute picture. I was extra excited to see Kaley on the way out of the showing and get to give her a hug and congratulate her.

3) My brother came up this weekend. We got some good family time and I got to hang out with the niece and nephew. That's always worth it. They're pretty cute.

4) Stephen Willis came up this weekend also and brought some friends. We rode in Pisgah. Weather had been great all week until Saturday. All day rain. We rode anyway. About 21 total miles. Lots of fun and good people. Some trail notes:

• Daniel Ridge is so fun. The hike a bike going clockwise is tedious at times, but I always forget how fun the downhill is: lots of twists and turns, nothing too technical, some creek crossings and then you finish at a cool waterfall.
• Looked for Cove Creek Connector. Went up one trail and it was all wrong. Found it on the second attempt. I had heard of this trail but never seen it before.
• Butter Gap was a river at the top. But that's such a great descent. You definitely appreciate full suspension. I was really surprised at how well the trails handled the rain. There's a terrific waterfall on Butter about 2/3 of the way down. 
• Longside is a tough little trail climbing away from the intersection with Butter Gap. But we cleaned most of it. Rode down a forest road back to the main road. 
• Davidson River Trail will always be one of my favorites. You can go fast, it doesn't have many obstacles and it's where I put in a lot of miles when I first learned to mountain bike. I also have a scar from a crash on that trail.

5) May not seem like a big deal, but North Henderson was one of 139 schools in North Carolina to go ejection free for the school year 2014-2015. 

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/high-school/hshuddle/2015/10/09/wnc-schools-go-ejection-free/73655266/

6) Hero of the Week: Doug Draper. Draper is heading to Australia tomorrow to compete in the world Duathlon Championships. We wish him the best as he represents all of us. And Doug is a serviceman, friend, teacher, riding buddy. Great guy to have around.

7) Did anyone think that Florida would be undefeated, Michigan looking like the real deal, Auburn and Georgia unranked and Oregon with two losses at this point in the season?

• Tennessee fans deserved and needed that win. Congrats.
• Is there a more disappointing division than the ACC Coastal? No offense to Duke or UNC, but Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Miami all look miserable and that makes the division miserable.
• Overrated this week: TCU (3). I have been on the Horned Frogs bandwagon all season, but their defense seems suspect and there have been too many close calls. They are top 7 for sure, but right now I'd have them out of the playoffs. 
• Underrated: Temple (NR). I just like the Owls and their 5-0 record. 
• Top 7: 1) Utah 2) Baylor 3) Ohio St 4) Clemson 5) TCU 6) Michigan St 7) LSU

Playoff 2012

Here's the alternate postseason I proposed last year:

• Eight team playoff
• Champion of each automatic qualifying conference gets in.
• Two at large qualifiers determined by BCS Rankings. Teams from Non AQ conferences are guaranteed a spot if they finish in the top 5 of the final BCS rankings.
• Higher ranked team hosts in their home stadium in the first round
• Semifinals are at two of the sites of the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls on a rotating basis. The two bowls not hosting that year have first choice of non-playoff teams.
• Finals rotate among the 4 BCS bowls.

This year it would look like this:

• #8 West Virginia (Big East Champ) at #1 LSU (SEC Champ)
• #5 Wisconsin (Big10 Champ) at #4 Oregon (PAC 10 Champ)
• #6 Stanford (at large) at #3 Oklahoma St (Big 12 Champ)
• #7 Clemson (ACC Champ) at #2 Alabama (at large)

Stanford would have been ranked ahead of Wisconsin but the rankings were reversed to avoid a conference rematch in Round 1.

Hypothetical Semifinals:

• Rose Bowl: #4 Oregon vs #1 LSU in a rematch of the season opener
• Fiesta Bowl: #3 Oklahoma State vs #2 Alabama

The other BCS Bowls played these games:

• Sugar Bowl: Arkansas vs Boise St
• Orange Bowl: Michigan vs Kansas State

The BCS final would be:

• #1 LSU vs #3 Oklahoma State in the BCS Title game at the Superdome in New Orleans.
• LSU slipped past Oregon in a much closer game than week 1, 35-30 to get to the game.
• Oklahoma State played good enough defense to contain Trent Richardson to beat Alabama 27-17.

I Hate/Love Football

I'm pulling for Oregon tonight in the BCS Championship. I need an excuse for a bulleted list, so here's why I like the Ducks:

• State of Oregon > State of Alabama. Salem tops Montgomery, Portland tops Birmingham. Oregon has Crater Lake, Alabama has well, Biloxi. Oregon wins big.
• Duck might not be the toughest mascot, but at least Oregon can decide on one. Unlike the Auburn Tigers/Eagles. Plus, Ducks are original. There are 46 four year colleges that use Tigers (and 74 that use Eagles). Info from this interesting article.
• Autzen Stadium cooler than Jordan-Hare Stadium.
• Oregon's offense is cooler to watch. Makes you tired they move so fast. And anyone can use hand signals and runners, Oregon uses these to call plays:
• I also think there's something dirty about Auburn. I have no proof, but the Newton saga just stinks. If it smells like poop, it just might be poop. And I do believe that Auburn all-world DT Nick Fairley is a dirty player because of his late hits and unnecessary roughness . Mighty talented, but dirty.
  

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I hate the BCS. TCU won a quality football game against a pretty good Wisconsin team. They finished 13-0. Bowl apologists, please never ever tell me again that every game matters. Obviously it doesn't. A team should not win every game and not get a chance to play for a championship.

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Is College Athletics a Sweatshop?

Interesting read. Continuing the spirit of bulleted lists:

• College Athletes have to do an amazing thing by balancing social, academic and athletic obligations. Greg Strobel, head wrestling coach at Lehigh University told me he tells his athletes they can excel at two of the three, but not all three. So they have to choose. But they also get preferential selection of classes, housing and academic tutors. They have lots of help.
• College football programs generate lots of revenue and the poor athletes get nothing from it. I must apologize and say I do not for one moment feel sorry for a big time football or basketball player. They get equipment, training tables with the best food, per diems and leave college with no debt. You know who's starving? I was. And many of my friends and other regular students who had to work their way through college. You know who else is starving? Collegiate wrestlers, gymnasts, lacrosse players and other minor sport athletes. Please don't tell me, Tyrelle Pryor, that football players can't make it.
  
• I would not be opposed to paying college athletes on top of their scholarship. It needs to be something universal across the NCAA, or else Texas, Alabama and Notre Dame will become the Yankees of college sports by paying their athletes the most. Maybe something like you can pay college football players $500 per month, minor sports $250.
  
• I would like to see football and basketball scholarships become more of a loan. If you do not get a degree in 6 years from your first semester (that even lets you go pro and work towards a degree), you are contractually obligated to repay the value of your scholarship. Then maybe we would see more student-athletes in these sports. The ones who are using it for a stepping stone to the pros can then give back to the school that assisted them.

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Final word: As the NFL season winds down, there is a talk of a lockout by the owners. The NBA collective bargaining agreement is expiring soon also. There's lots of things that need to be worked out, but if anyone in the know is reading please remember:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics have January 7 unemployment numbers at 9.4 percent.
  
• Tom Brady is guaranteed 48.5 million in his new contract, $72 million with incentives. I would have to work about 970 years just to reach just his guaranteed money.
• Reggie Bush's 2009 salary was just over $7 million. He ran, caught or returned the football 144 times that year. Basically, he got $48,611 for each time he touched a football.
  
• US Census data has median US income in 2009 at $49,777.
• If there's a lockout, we'll come back to football eventually. But we'll be hurt because many of us will not understand or be able to relate with millionaires who do not have enough money.
  
• Some will wonder why, when they cannot find employment, these men who get to play a game for a living do not want to work.
  
• I hope there is no lockout, because I do love football. But if there's no NFL, I'll ride my bike more, hike after church and pay more attention to the college game.
  

Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday. Colts-Saints should be a great game. Two great cities, two great teams and two great quarterbacks. You have classy coaches, respected owners and loyal fans. Here are some thoughts on the two stars of the big game:

Peyton Manning- Yeah, I understand that he can be overexposed. And all those hand signals and audibles before the snap can get annoying. But he's so good at what he does and here's the evidence:

• Dude is smart, but he also studies like no one else. He is always watching film and between series he is looking at photos and making a lot of the adjustments himself. No one is more prepared than Manning and no one is better at making strategic adjustments than him. Peyton was blessed with a lot of talent, but he works as hard as anyone else. When he showed up to do Saturday Night Live, he arrived at NBC studios with binders of stuff he had studied and was diligently taking notes during planning. If he takes SNL this seriously, imagine how serious he takes Sundays.
  
  
  
• Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon: The Colts drafted two no names at wide receiver. Peyton's favorite, Marvin Harrison, was not resigned last season. Anthony Gonzalez, the slot receiver who played so well last season, was lost for the year with a knee injury. What do they do? They develop gems from gravel. Collie came out of the 4th round from BYU. Garcon? He was drafted in round six from Division III Mount Union. I believe that "champions" make those around them better. Michael Jordan did that. Drew Brees, of the Saints, does that. Peyton and the Colts do that so well.
  

- Drew Brees - I like Drew Brees, because he has achieved so much at so many levels in spite of the "experts". He is not supposed to set passing records and be the starting quarterback in the Super Bowl, but here he is. Signed in 2006, Brees has embraced New Orleans. The Crescent City needed a hero and Brees was that on many levels through his gameplay and his charitable efforts.

"Winner" might be one of the most overused cliches in sports. We've really watered down the meaning. But I mean it when I say Drew Brees is a "winner":

• A three-sport star, he led Westlake High School (Austin, TX) to a perfect 16-0 season and a Texas 5A State Championship. Both were firsts in school history. Despite being the 1996 Texas 5A Player of the Year, he was not recruited by the Texas powerhouses: hometown Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Texas Christian. At 6 feet even, he was considered too small. His college choices for football: Big Ten bottom feeder Purdue and Ivy League Brown.
• At Purdue, a school overshadowed by Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, etc, Brees was the Maxwell Award (for best college player) winner and a Heisman finalist in 2000. That season, he led the Boilermakers to their first Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl appearance since 1967. Winners overachieve and make those around them better. Brees took Purdue past the tradition powers of the Big10 conference to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl.
• Most scouts thought Brees still too small for the NFL and that his arm strength was inadequate. Still, the San Diego Chargers took him in the second round of the 2001 draft. He beat out the famous (though old) Doug Flutie (see video below) for the starting job.
  
  
• In 2004, the Chargers drafted NC State quarterback Philip Rivers with the 4th pick in the NFL Draft. This was essentially a vote of no-confidence for Brees. Rivers held out of training camp and Brees played the entire season and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.
• In 2005, Brees injured his shoulder while trying to recover a fumble. A free agent, Brees was offered a very un-lucrative contract with the Chargers (they basically chose Rivers) for someone who was just voted into his second consecutive Pro Bowl. He wanted to go to Miami, but Nick Saban (aka Satan), did not believe his shoulder to be healed. So Brees ended up in New Orleans post-Katrina.
• And what has Brees done in New Orleans? Rallied the city behind the Saints (remember, the Superdome was a Katrina refugee camp), given money to local schools, started the Drew Brees Foundation, and advocated locally and nationally on behalf of the city of New Orleans. Oh, and he took the Saints- formerly the "Aints", who wore bags over their heads to games, one of three franchises to never play in Big Game- to their first ever Super Bowl appearance.

Observations and Reflections

School has started. Great first week. I think I am going to have great classes (again!). Here's how I know I've been teaching for a very long time:

I have my 4th Diaz sibling (there's like 9 of them).
I have my 4th Vera sibling (out of 4).
I have my 3rd (and last) Harris brother.
I am also teaching another Anders, Campbell, Dalton, Kampfen, Maciejewski, Sims, and Yoo.

And dear Jessica is taking my class for the 3rd time. She also took it at least once, maybe twice, with other World History teachers.

North football is 2-0 for the first time since 2003. Volleyball is 5-0. Soccer is 4-1, I think. Catie Byrd won the Invite Race at the WNC Cross Country Carnival, with a time of 20:41.06 on a course that's tough to run fast on (though 3 girls did break 19:10 in the Championship Race and 3 boys went under 16:00).

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"We should be ministers of righteousness, ministers of hope,
ministers of something other than condemnation."

Josiah Bancroft, from his sermon this morning at Grace.
Sermon topic: relationships.

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So I'm at church this morning, just doing my thing and I look down and see:




Does the above picture mean:

A) Heang needs to separate his Salomons.
B) Heang has too many Salomons.
C) Heang should wake up earlier so he does not have to rush to church.
D) Heang is quite the trendsetter.

Have a great week, friends. Be sure to check your feet before you head out the door...

Top 10

Less than two weeks from College Football season kicking off. Here is MY preseason top ten:

1) Florida - Defending BCS Champions. Returns 19 or 22 starters, including their entire 2 deep on defense. Oh, and they got that Tebow guy.
2) Oklahoma - Sam Bradford is Mel Kiper's number 1 draft prospect for next year. He'll take the Sooners far if they can beat...
3) Texas - Big 12 will be fun to watch on offense again. Yes, they have Heisman candidate Colt McCoy, but Texas's defense might be the difference maker in this conference.
4) Southern California - Another year, another talent laden team and another top 5 for Coach Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans.
5) Ohio State - This might be a little high for the Buckeyes, but Tyrelle Pryor will have better grasp of the offense in year 2 (even if I don't believe he ran a 4.3 Forty). Will players step on defense to replace the lost All-Americans?
6) Alabama - Nick Saban is still Satan, but he can coach. As a team, I like them more than I like Ole Miss.
7) Oklahoma State - In the shadows of Austin, Norman and even Lubbock, Coach Mike Gundy has quietly assembled a Top 10 team in Stillwater.
8) Boise State - Blue field plays mind tricks on teams. Plus, they are the best non-BCS conference school this year.
9) Virginia Tech - Darren Evans going down hurts this team, but they are loaded at running back anyway. Plus, Beamerball will keep them in games.
10) Oregon - The Ducks are looking to upend the Trojans for the PAC10. Cal might have a word here also, but I like the potential for success in Eugene.

And where are my beloved Jackets? I'd say Top 15 right now. Let's see where we are at the end of the season. Hopefully playing in Jacksonville in December and then somewhere warm January.

Sunday Observations - Jan 25

- Not to sound to cliche, but Tuesday's inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President will be one of the defining moments in American history. What a great country we live in. For the first time in history, a country with a white majority has elected a minority candidate to lead the nation.

- I miss football season already. And I am just not excited about this year's Super Bowl. Maybe Bruce at halftime.

- Knights wrestling went 3-0 last week. The highlight was a 36-33 win against rival West Henderson. The Knights were down by 3 going into the last match and won a pin in :27 seconds to claim the victory. With the win, the Knights remain undefeated in the conference and tied with Pisgah for first place. Tuesday's match with Pisgah might be for the Conference Championship.

- Time flies. February is nearly here already.

- Life is hectic... wrestling is heading into the final stretch and there's a lot to do with playoffs and regionals (which we are hosting) coming around. Also, last week was the end of our semester so we had exams. They were made more chaotic by Martin Luther King Day and then an impromptu snow day on Tuesday. This week, we have a workday on Monday and I get new classes on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday I am in Chapel Hill for meetings. In between, we have home wrestling match on Tuesday, away on Thursday and Conference Tournament on Saturday. Yeah... busy week.

Crush of the Week:
Lost is back! The new season premiered this week! Admittingly, I didn't watch it. I never watch anything when it comes on because I am never home to. But I will (Netflix rocks, so does ABC.com). It's one of the greatest shows ever. Every episode is a captivating, well written, suspenseful and features Evangeline Lily as Kate Austen. I'm a season behind, so please don't spoil things for me. So here's Evangeline, this week's crush:

Georgia Tech-Clemson

My dear Alaska friend Emily, a Clemson fan, commented in response to the "Death Valley Memories" post that I should talk about the Tech-Clemson series in Atlanta. While I have only missed one Tech-Clemson game in Clemson over the last 10 years, I've made far fewer games in Atlanta (just 2005 and 2007). But the rivalry is still great and the games close and exciting. Whether the games are played at Howard Field in Memorial Stadium or at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field, you are going to get some awesome football!

A few notes on what I consider to be the most competitive rivalry in the ACC:

- Georgia Tech leads the overall series 42-24-2

- The last 10 years, Tech leads 6-4. GT has won won 4 of the last 5 (including last Saturday's game)

- There have only been two blowouts in the series in the past 10 years and Clemson won both: 39-3 on 2003 and 31-7 in 2006

- Besides the two games above and Tech's 13-3 victory in 2007, all games since 1996 have been decided by 5 or fewer points.

Here's a summary of the series (thanks to Ken Sugiura and Larry Hartstein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution):

2007: Tech 13, Clemson 3 (at Tech)—- Tech hands No. 13 Tigers their first loss; Clemson misses four field goals.

2006: Clemson 31, Tech 7 —- Doug-lass High grad James Davis has 216 rushing yards, two touchdowns in meeting of top 15 teams.

2005: Tech 10, Clemson 9 —- The Jackets twice deny Clemson deep in their own territory in the fourth quarter.

2004: Tech 28, Clemson 24 —- Calvin Johnson’s two touchdown catches in final two minutes erase 10-point deficit.

2003: Clemson 39, Tech 3 —- Largest margin in the series since 1944.

2002: Clemson 24, Tech 19 —- Late interception of A.J. Suggs spoils comeback try.

2001: Clemson 47, Tech 44 (OT) —- Woody Dantzler’s touchdown run ends it as Tigers upset No. 9 Jackets.

2000: Tech 31, Clemson 28 —- Kerry Watkins makes one-handed TD grab with 7 seconds left in upset of No. 4 Tigers.

1999: Tech 45, Clemson 42 —- Joe Hamilton smokes Tigers for 410 yards of offense, five touchdown passes.

1998: Tech 24, Clemson 21 —- Hamilton leads last-minute comeback capped by Joe Burns’ touchdown run.

1997: Tech 23, Clemson 20 —- Harvey Middleton’s diving 39-yard catch sets up Brad Chambers’ game-winning kick.

1996: Clemson 28, Tech 25 —- Raymond Priester’s 175 rushing yards lift Clemson.

Crush of the Week: Bay-Bay

So Georgia Tech quarterback Jaybo Shaw completed 9 out of 13 passes for 230 yards in GT's 27-0 shutout of Duke. Tech redshirt sophomore receiver Demaryius (Bay-Bay) Thomas caught 9 passes for 230 yards. In other words, all the passes caught and receiving yards gained by the Yellow Jackets was by one player. I cannot think of a time when one player accounted for all his team's receiving yards. It wasn't just his stats either, the 6-3 receiver showed great hands, leaping abilities and speed. He made a great leaping catch between two defenders that reminded me of the days Calvin Johnson was on the Flats, his screen pass from the Tech 2 yard line should have been tackled for a loss, and then there was the wide open 88 yard touchdown reception that put the game further out of reach. Remember Bay-Bay, because he has great potential, even in Paul Johnson's option offense and because he's this week's crush.

Near Crushes:
Sarah Palin: I sure do like the way she winks at me and talks like she knows me. Doesn't mean I'll necessarily vote for the vice presidential nominee's ticket, but sure can crush on her.
Barack Obama: the presidential candidate stumped in Asheville today. ASHEVILLE, NC!! Like it or not, North Carolina matters. I'm not telling you how to vote, I'm just asking that you vote-- your vote matters!