We are Knight's Wrestling

I noticed that my last blog update was on November 9. Not that I have a huge cadre of followers, but I want to keep updating my blog so that people check every once and a while. But I do not want to blog so much that it bores people. It's quite a delicate balancing act that I have been neglecting recently.

Why?
I attribute it to the "Hole".

The "Hole" is wrestling season. If it sounds like I abhor wrestling season, that could not be further from the truth. I adore the opportunity I get to coach and be a part of a special sport and the role I play in lives of a couple dozen young men each year. I don't know how to do it right without committing lots of time and energy. College and Pro football coaches are notorious for coming into the office at 4:00 in the morning or just sleeping at their facilities because that is how hard they prepare for the next game. I feel like I do that on a smaller scale. My friends all know that I sort of fall off the face of the earth during wrestling. That's the "Hole".

As of now, we are carrying 30 wrestlers on our roster. It's a mixed bunch consisting of diverse backgrounds, talents and abilities. As a group, I really like my team. My assistant, John Williams, and I had, over the course of the last 8 months, monthly dinner meetings with our five rising seniors to build relationships and better model leadership. The hope is that they will responsibly assume leadership roles within the team.Our roster is quite different from the last few years. We lost a few returning starters to various things (academics, choices, NC School of Science and Math) but still have a strong nucleus. Our success will depend a lot on whether our young guys take to the coaching and how quickly they mature as wrestlers.

So far the season is off to a great start. We placed 6th at the Old Appalachian Invitational in Boone and finished 3rd yesterday at our own North Knight Invitational. We've been working hard to get them in shape and teaching technique. We've still got a long way to go, but we are getting tougher, better and closer as a team. We are Knights Wrestling!

Sunday Observations- Nov 16

1) I went to Boone yesterday to see my alma mater, Elon, play Appalachian State in an important Southern Conference showdown. Elon was ranked 10th in the country and ASU ranked 2nd. It was a great game, even if Elon lost 24-16. I loved the game, it was cold and wet. Rain and, at times, snow were blowing into our faces. This is football. People around me were whining but I was in bliss. It made me feel like I was in Lambeau or Buffalo. I'm glad we made the trip, I haven't seen Elon play in about 5 years. Elon has come a long way since the days of playing games at Williams High School.

2) Random encounters are so neat. We walked into Mellow Mushroom in Boone and a young lady walked up to me and asked if I was Heang Uy. It was a girl I went to high school with. Then she turned to my friend Dave and asked, "were you in a band?" Dave used to play in a band called Dirt Poor Authority. You can find them on itunes. That encounter made Dave's day and made him feel like a rockstar. Dirt Poor hadn't played in over 5 years and someone from "the day" remembered him. Good times.

3) I love my iphone. I will admit that I am a bit addicted to it. That's part of being a geek. Now that it's cold, I have found one fault with it. The touch screen works on heat, not pressure, so I cannot use the phone with gloves on. Unfortunately for me, I am a glover when the weather is cold. So if you call and I don't answer, it might because I am fumbling my phone out of my pocket then taking off a glove and then unlocking the phone...

4) I would not recommend Geno's in Boone. We stopped there for dinner. The food was amazingly slow to get there and the selection bland. I'm to the point also that I don't want to eat where they allow smoking. The most amazing thing was when my friend asked for chili cheese fries and the waitress said they couldn't do it because the kitchen would be mad. She could, however, bring cheese fries and a side of chili for an extra charge. But bringing french fries, chili and cheese on one plate was not possible.

5) Discipline was the topic of the week at our youth leaders meeting and at church this morning. Read Proverbs 3. The Lord disciplines the ones he loves. When you are as egotistical as I am, discipline can be a very disconcerting thing. Who am I that I need to be disciplined? God's word humbles me.

Man-Crush of the Week: Jeremy Gillespie. Why? 1) He wanted to be it. 2) He let me bring my wrestling team to Camp Arrowhead for North Henderson Wrestling's boot camp. 3) He was pretty rocking when leading worship at Grace this morning. 4) His other identity (don't tell anyone, shhh) is Superman.