S7s: 3 Apr- Bye, Break

1) Spring break is ending. Tomorrow, we're back for nine weeks left of the school year. Family and weather dictated that I stay close but I had a great week that included:

• My niece, Suelee, was in town for the week. She had her two kids. I hung out with them a bunch. Eva is pretty stinking cute.
  
• Went to Jack of the Wood for Trivia with some of the Enka crew. I learned that Charlotte is the second largest city in the Southeast after Jacksonville, FL. Atlanta metro is bigger, but the city itself is smaller. 
• Had drinks with Michael Hodges. He's an athletic trainer in Buncombe County and he's doing the Great Divide this summer. I'm so excited for him. And jealous. It was fun getting to share advice and reliving the journey.
• Cleaned the house a little. Got a bunch of stuff delivered to Goodwill and the recycling facility.
• I learned that I need a new motor for the washing machine. Not going to happen. This one is going trash and I'm shopping for a new one.
• I went camping in Turkeypen along the South Mills River. Just me and my hammock and some reading stuff. It was great to be solo and disconnected from technology. It was going to be two nights, but weather forced me to do just one. 

• 
  
  
  

2) This is Shawn Evans. Today is is his Birthday. Shawn is a new friend of mine, but a great guy. He hired wrestlers last year when he had to move and paid them well. He's a heck of a biker, he joined me for a few days of the Great Divide last year. We also got a ride in today. And yesterday, he brought me a refrigerator because I had posted on Facebook that I was looking for one. They had an extra. 

3) I learned in my reading last week that the human hand may have evolved for combat. We are the only hominid or primate that can close our hands into a fist. The human jaw may have evolved to better sustain blows. Interesting. Look it up.

4) I've been reading a little more about HB2. I stand by my position that it is not about bathrooms. I learned that in addition to stripping municipal governments of local control it also has moved all discrimination lawsuits out of state courts. That means if I feel like I am being discriminated against because of my ethnicity, I cannot legally sue within the state court system. I must file a federal suit, that can often take longer and be more costly. It's as if the state of North Carolina does not want to protect its citizens from discrimination.

5) I am starting to get into better riding shape from the winter. Rode the Davis-Evans loop on Monday, climbed Elk Mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway on Friday and then hammered 43 miles with Dan and Derek over Jeter Mt and out to Etowah yesterday. Finished that with a ride today and I'm almost at 90 miles this week!

6) Opening Day of baseball today. I'm interested, but not that much. I love Clayton Kershaw. I get bored of baseball though. Shorten the season! I am excited that this is Master's Week!

7) Special congratulations to Josh Blatt. After finishing 7th in Greco in Fargo last summer and winning the State Championship in February at 106, he went to the NHSCA Nationals and placed 2nd! That's amazing. Mitchel Langford placed 4th two years ago, that tells you the depth of these tournaments. Great job on being an All American.

We also had three other kids go to Virginia Beach... all our state placers. Morgan King, Will Baldwin and Paul Searcy all went 2-2. They won against some tough kids and lost some close matches. We were always competitive and hopefully this experience will help us for next season. Knights Wrestling has some high expectations. 

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: 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