Enjoy Each One and Then Use It

Experience and experiences. Two words that get tossed out in conversation on a regular basis. One evokes thoughts of a person with a great portfolio built up from time in the trenches and the other brings about memories we have created from travels or events we have participated in. The experiences we have help us gain the experience we need to succeed at our chosen endeavor.

This weekend at the Supercross we had the chance to see and feel both. We witnessed true professionals with varying levels of experience attempt to master and succeed on an ever-changing track that claimed many victims. The experience they have allows them to handle obstacles that we found hard just to walk up and over. Even with all the experience these outstanding athletes have, occasionally they have new experiences that they add to their portfolio to help increase their ever-growing book of experience. Watching them manipulate the bike around the track, handle the media and fan responsibilities, and stay focused with the non-stop drama from qualifying through the mains can only be accomplished with years of work to put towards their experience package.

Since I was a little boy I have been at the races. Whether it was my dad and granddaddy at their SCCA races, my BMX races, the off-road races I competed in, or the multitude of NASCAR, IMSA, or motorcycle races I have watched over the years have given me so many incredible experiences. Because of the travel associated with each of these events there were just a multitude of experiences that have brought some incredible joy and even sometimes a bit of sadness. Those great times made such an indelible mark on my life that I wanted to share those with my wife and my daughter. They have traveled the country watching races, being a pit crew, a sounding board, and amazing traveling companions. The places we have seen, the things we have done, and the people we have met have only allowed us to have some of the greatest experiences a family can share. Those experiences have also given us a pretty good book of experience to call up when needed. Michelle and Brianna travel all over the southeast having their own experiences now with the horses. They have so much experience with their own travels and that is amazing to watch.

Get out and have some experiences. My next experiences will include watching little league baseball at the Eagle Lake Sports Complex, training for the next race, and watching my daughter train her horses for her adventures yet to come. Go have the experiences so you can gain experience.

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I Didn't Know What To Write About

What a week. There are a lot of things going on all over the place. It feels like late spring here in Florida and people are taking advantage of the great weather we are experiencing. There are festivals, concerts, races, and many other events happening all over the place. People moving to and fro having a fun time enjoying the particular event they chose to attend and enjoying the people they are doing the event with. These annual festivals, rites of spring, and other smile inducing events are reason enough to enjoy the sunshine in this great state.

I just wanted to start off with some great positives because we have endured so much negative the past few weeks. We have a deranged kid shooting up a school, which is terrible, but even worse are the ass hats who are trying to gain some ill-advised attention calling in other threats while caring parents panic about sending their child to school. A week or so ago I was really pissed about something our legislature wanted to try and introduce as a bill, but the tragedy occurred, and it went bye-bye in the news. I am sure it is being bantered about somewhere in the House along with the by the seat of our pants emotion that is pouring out regarding gun control, mental health, and arming Mrs. Cuddlekids in her first-grade classroom. I know, I overstepped, there will be great controls and I am not here to discuss those issues. Just pondering the pro’s and the cons on each side. Everyone yells at one another, so it is hard to disseminate the information from each side. It’s like a bunch of kids on the playground playing “Your momma” from back in the day.

It is amazing how many things happen that are bad throughout each week. Some cycle through pretty quickly and others get much more press. Who heard that Tiger missed the cut last Friday? What about Roger Federer retaking the number one player on the ATP? Who could have missed all the drama from the Olympics? One of the Olympic Athletes from Russia wore a shirt that said she didn’t do drugs and ironically, she tested positive for drugs. Oh, the irony. Also, I am not a huge fan of curling, not that I don’t like it, just that I don’t watch any of the sports, but that is not the point. I don’t feel that it is the most demanding sport of these Winter Olympics but nonetheless, one of the Olympic curlers tested positive for the same drug that cost Maria Sharapova two years on the WTA. Wow, I guess it doesn’t matter the sport, someone is always looking for an advantage.

Our lives are full of ups and downs. Some affect us straight away and others we just worry about because everyone tells us we should even though they don’t affect our day to day lives. There are some awesome things happening this weekend. Watch the news tonight, pick your channel, and count how many cool thing stories they show you. One at most. It doesn’t sell. Tragedy is easy to watch, angers us, we yell, and then wait for the next story we need to feel angry about. Stop watching the bad stuff and get out and go do some of the cool stuff. Go to the Chain of Lakes Eggfest, get over to Tampa and watch the baddest ass motocross racers do their thing at the Monster Energy Supercross, go eat at the Frostproof FFA auction dinner, go watch the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, get out on the water, pick a project around the house, or come to the Kiwanis’s Annual Pancake Breakfast tomorrow morning.

You see, there are a multitude of things that are good. Start focusing on those and stop watching the negative crap that is fed to us like feed-lot cattle on the way to slaughter. Also, there truly are some terrible things that happen and being passionate and wanting change is commendable and necessary but yelling and screaming at the people who oppose your opinion isn’t really the best way to evoke that change you are wanting. We have lost all semblance of discussion and just holler with no tangible results occurring. Don’t believe me; look at all the events over the past few years and tell me how much change has actually happened from all the anger.

Have a great weekend, get outside, enjoy your friends, hug your family, and for God’s sake; stop yelling against and start cheering for your side. Cheers and good thoughts to all.

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A Story About TJ, A Former Player --- This One's for You Miguel

It is Monday and this little ditty was supposed to be written last night. All I can say is YouTube and Supercross. I guess I will say a little bit more. On Sunday nights we have family night and watch the Supercross that occurred on Saturday night. It is a big deal. One, we love racing and two, a lot of times it is pizza night. On top of both of those things there are occasions that we wander off into YouTube land. Last night was one of those nights. Pizza, YouTube, and Supercross meant that family night went late and the Blog, as important as it is to me, got postponed.

This weekend was pretty epic though. It started on Friday night. The girls had this endurance competition scheduled for awhile so that meant that it was party time for me. Party time just means being alone or finding something to do that normally I wouldn’t do when they are here. This Friday night it meant going back to Florida Southern to see the dedication of the Chris Bellotto Softball Field. What a magnificent event. I got to catch up with a lot of people I truly appreciate. I also got to catch up with the women’s tennis coach during a match. She is also appreciated but I know that sounded weird grammatically. After the events on campus I headed to dinner with some of my former players. It was an impromptu get together and it was awesome to see so many of them. They are doing great, I expect nothing less, and they are still having great experiences. Some of the guys said they were enjoying the Blog but one, not mentioning any names but he does have a zoo at his house, said otherwise. I asked him why he thought it sucked and he said it was because I don’t write about players anymore. Well, tonight animal lover, this one is for you.

Have you ever met someone that was so eat up, old Southern expression, with something that they become a bit obsessed? Yeah, me too. Tonight, that person is TJ Krishnan. The crazy Indian, he was actually from India, scared me, amused me, concerned me, amused me more, and now impresses me with his drive. TJ, his real name was Tejas, came as a walk on freshman and stayed for the entire four years to graduate. He had his downs and then his ups along the path but in the end of this journey he had a bit of direction. His path wobbled, and even upon graduation it wobbled, but it appears he is living the American dream these days, or maybe the Bollywood dream, I am never really sure.

When TJ came as a freshman he appeared that he didn’t have a pot to piss in. This was a farce he created so that no one would know that he was financially okay. He loved tennis and I thought that maybe he would be a good addition to the disciplined roster we already had. The weirdness started early when we would catch him sleeping on the benches between the courts at all times of the day and night. He just wanted to be that close that he freaked people out by sleeping at the courts. He would watch professional tennis anytime he could which meant that he was tired at inappropriate times of the day. Like, when it was time to practice. He was not a bad player but not quite at the level needed to be one of the top six guys.

Things started getting weird when he started posting lines from Criminal Minds on his Facebook page. Players were coming to me and stating that he was getting weirder and weirder with each passing day. I thought that he was trying to get attention but did have a bit of apprehension as the posts became deeper and darker. The moment things took a serious turn was when the team was at Embry-Riddle. We were hanging out in a gazebo by the courts when one of the players brought me his phone. The post from TJ was haunting considering what we had seen previously. “I guarantee I will be in the top six next year no matter what.” It doesn’t sound bad. Actually, it sounds inspiring when taken at the raw, emotional, and wanting to succeed level. Sometimes, emotions send the wrong message and this team had witnessed enough to know they were worried about their teammate and their own well-being.
Once we got back home I scheduled an appointment with our school psychologist. You know, I just wanted to know what I was dealing with. He was a great guy, appeared to want the golden ring, but there was this piece that kind of freaked me and the other guys on the team out. The meeting was set, and the diagnosis was doled out. Attention, only attention, no true worries. Really, come on, all that shit on Facebook, the mood swings, naps on benches, and lack of personal care and it was just for attention? Great, then we are all good and that was that.

In an astonishing twist, it was over. TJ became one of the guys. He still was quirky, but he found his role on the team and flourished as a human being. The attention he craved came to him in a very positive manner. Another cool thing happened after this as well. TJ found his muscles. He began to shape them, sculpt them, and find who he wanted to be. He still played tennis but that wasn’t the dream anymore. Dreams are fleeting, especially when they don’t have substance. TJ had a dream but the belief to achieve it wasn’t strong. When he started lifting, he saw results, and realized this dream was attainable. He could be the best at it because the arduous work would pay off. The results could be seen in the mirror. Like I said, he still played tennis but during the day he would play in a long sleeve shirt to protect his skin. I used to tease him about the lights not giving him a tan, because at night he would play with his shirt off.

TJ went through his junior and senior year at FSC on the team as a support person. He was on the team, but he was really just interested in the friendship and the gym time. He started looking at modeling and acting as his future. He graduated on time and went and chased his dream. He got his MBA, worked a bit in the tennis industry, floated back and forth from India, to Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. He is still chasing the dream but with a clear head, a fabulous physique, and an outstanding mane of hair. The kid that scared the hell out of me at the start of his time at FSC became a man that I admired for chasing the unicorn dream. His direction is not one that I would have traveled but the journey is one that he will never forget. His teammates still think he is crazy but love when he visits them. Thanks TJ for the memories and we can’t wait to see you on the big screen, magazine cover, or that underwear ad you so desperately wanted to be in when we thought you were doing porn. Dude, you’ve had one heck of a ride. Keep dreaming and don’t forget your pre-workout.

Photo by Gillespie202
Photo by Pim Chu on Unsplash
Photo by Corey Motta on Unsplash

Keep Looking Forward

It is Thursday night and the ladies of the house are planning their adventure for the weekend. With their absence, I will have an evening to fill. The comfort of them being around makes scheduling day to day easy. When they are gone, as cool as it might be to have the freedom, there is an emptiness. Don’t tell them because I often tell them they are pains in the butt but I really like having them around. I’m such a whiner. They are only gone for a day. I am complaining, and I used to travel for days at a time and they just did their thing without a second thought. When I was gone it was fine, but when they are gone that is just wrong. I guess I can put on my big boy pants and go check out the new softball complex at FSC and watch a legend get her due.

Once upon a time, there was no social media or a twenty-four-hour news cycle. Major events happened, and we saw them on the six o’clock news and the paper the next day. Technology occurred, and we gained access to stories moments after they happened. With even more advances we could start posting our opinions about these stories and our feelings became stronger with each post. We stopped listening to the other side at all and even found news sites that fit our position. Yesterday, we again had a big event that caused massive trauma. Many of us are now besides ourselves and want justice. We want change. When it happened last time, the time before that, the one before that, and on and on, we wanted change. Then, this weird thing happens, we forget. Okay, maybe forget is a strong word, but it isn’t at the head of the conversation. Issues like this cannot be forgotten if you really want to change them. When you start working out, you must continue even after the thought of it being a clever idea has worn off. The diet you started only works if you continue to do it. The point is, if we want to effect change the fight for that change must be continuous even when the story is only still emotional for the families involved.

Dammit, I wasn’t going there tonight. The positive stuff going on is still out there. It may be frivolous, but it is what keeps us from going insane with the constant barrage of negativity that sells ads on the TV and talk radio, sorry Dr. Anderson. This weekend the great American race happens in Daytona. There are some outstanding storylines to be followed. Golf is having a mini-major out in Riviera, F1 is doing introductions of their new masterpieces for the upcoming season, and Roger Federer is one win away from being the eldest number 1 in men’s professional tennis since Andre Agassi did it awhile back. I recently just finished reading the book The Alchemist, a fable that chronicled a young man’s desire to find his personal treasure. He chased it far away from his homeland and only after a great journey did he find it again once he returned. Through the journey he had some great times and fought through some great tribulations. He never lost sight of his goal and in the end found his happiness.

There is some serious stuff happening in our state, the nation, and around the world. How do you make changes and not get lost? Take care of yourself, your family, and your friends. Be the light when it is dark. Be a friend. Listen more than you spout and don’t forget that we are all allowed to our opinion. We used to disagree and go have a beer. Now, we can’t even be seen with an opposing figure or our position may be compromised. Good lord, we all need to get over ourselves. When we have our politicians trying to worry about what time we are going to use as the pressing issue for the session what chance do we have that they will do something real important; like make sure our infrastructure is secure. Be important to your family, friends, and community. Set the example that is worthy of being followed and for goodness sake; stop yelling. Let’s talk to each other and realize that there is more than one way to cook a steak.

I am looking forward to this weekend. Visiting some old friends’ tomorrow night, hanging with the family on their return Saturday night, and Supercross rewind on Sunday night. The days are mine to fill with the stories I will share each evening. What stories will you be able to share during your evenings?

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Insert Bad Word Here

You see, there is a lot that (insert bad word here) me off. Tonight, I was going to write about the increasing stupidity I see from dumb (insert bad word here) who think they are awesome at texting, or whatever in the (insert bad word here) they are doing and driving but realized it won’t make any difference. I guess these are the same people that are eating Tide Pods. Yes, I think you fall in the same category. If it was okay to text and drive, they would have movie screens on your dash, so you could watch 50 Shades of Grey or Talladega Nights while you took the kids to soccer practice or the million of other things we do, so we can say we are busy and look at our stupid phones. Everyone thinks they are so (insert bad word here) important that the data streaming across that glass screen is more important than any other thing that they may destroy while looking at that little miracle of modern technology.

That’s what I was going to write about tonight, but as you can tell the passion and angst towards those stupid (insert bad word here) people would not allow for a good feeling piece of text on a beautiful Monday night. Instead, I think I’ll stay in the same mode and just (insert bad word here) about the other things that (insert bad word here) (insert bad word here) me off. First, how in the (insert bad word here) do we get anything done in today’s society? Every time I meet someone they are “so tired”. Come on, really, how in the world can everyone be so tired? I don’t mean the people who have 6-10 kids from ages 1-12 but the people who don’t have a child living at home, have had the same job for a gazillion years, or literally go to work from 8-5 five days a week for 50 weeks a year. Those people that (insert bad word here) about how tired they are really needing to get out and do something and that tiredness would just go, poof, and disappear. How boring must their life be that they are so tired from the lack of life that they live? We live in the greatest country in the world, have beaches an hour and half from us in either direction, are the amusement park capital of the world, and you are tired. Seriously, it is exhausting getting up, going to work, coming home, cracking a beer or pouring a glass of wine, turning on the television until the Tonight Show comes on, and then getting up and doing it all over again. I know, I don’t understand. You’re right, I don’t understand. I had a really good coach during college and he would tell us constantly, “You are only as tired as you tell yourself. There is physical tiredness and mental tiredness. If you tell yourself you are tired, you guessed it, you’re tired.” It is truly personal, but I believe this wholeheartedly.

Don’t get me started on being busy. For God sake, everyone is also so busy. How in the (insert bad word here) are we so busy? What about being productive instead? Why are we busy? Maybe it is simply because that’s what all the other lemmings do so we think we need to do the same thing. Are you really busy or just bad with your time management or determining what’s really important to you? We spend so much time doing things that aren’t important, like looking at Facebook posts while driving, but I digress, that we don’t take the time to handle the things that are truly important to us. So, when that happens we become too busy. We become so busy that we then become tired. We get so tired that we are so busy that we cannot get the things done that we need to do to actually better ourselves, so we then spend the time off from our work doing the things that needed to be done so we can go do the things again the next week that steal our time. The circle goes around and around so we get to tell everyone how busy and tired we are. Don’t believe me, just listen from tomorrow through Friday, keep a tally and you will be shocked.

Lastly, I think I will discuss the lack of customer service. I wish I had enough working capital because I believe I could be a multi-millionaire in so many industries. There are a few I wouldn’t touch but I don’t have to. Machines will take those jobs from them, we will pay for them to be out of work, and they will fuss that if they got paid $15/hour they would do better. Really, how hard is it to look at a large screen, a piece of paper, and then fill a bag with the proper food ordered from the establishment. Forget smiling, I’ll take the proper order and deal with your frumpy attitude. In my small town it is hilarious what is going on. There is a fast food establishment that is pushing the use of kiosk ordering machines. The hilarious part of it is that the company is using the current employees to train the customers on how to use it. “We want more money”, is the mantra and the company has decided that they are willing to invest in machinery instead of the human. Who can blame them? How many phone calls must they get, along with every other service industry, regarding the lack of customer service. Our family spends a lot of time out and about so the convenience of quick food is more important than the clogging of the arteries that occurs from eating it. We spend multiple minutes at these places of business and it is shocking how many times our order is incorrect. We are not driving a tour bus through the drive-through, we are simply a small family. Good lord, can you imagine the average American family these days? There must be big question mark on the bag when it is received through the window. The funny thing is, when there is an error the workers get (insert bad word here) that you have brought it to their attention. Oops, I’m sorry that I am asking you to do your job properly. I know, you are so busy and tired that you just can’t do your paying job correctly. It isn’t just the fast food world but most industries, excuse my French, suck at customer service these days. Any outgoing entrepreneur, if they can deal with firing many workers until finding the right ones, can make an absolute fortune in the industry they choose. There is a group of consumers that still cares, or at least I think there is, and would love to have great experiences while shopping in true retail locations.

Wow, I feel so (insert bad word here) good now. That was refreshing. I wish you all the best tomorrow while commuting to work. Oh yeah, one last thing. A few years ago, I met with the school psychologist just because I wanted to make sure I was healthy. We sat down, but I didn’t have to lay on the couch, and started talking. I asked him how he felt about this story. It goes a little like this: “Whenever I see someone texting while driving I want to take them and push them off the road with the bumper of my truck. Actually, I wish I had a big rig, so I could destroy them before they have the ability to hurt anyone else.” “Hey Doc, is this an issue?” The doc sits back in his high-backed chair, smiles, and then says, “Have you ever done any of those things?” “No” I say. He then leads forward and says, “You are completely normal. We all have those thoughts but unless you actually act on them we don’t have a problem.” I left satisfied and to this day I have such a sense of normalcy when I get so (insert bad word here) off seeing some dumb (insert bad word here) staring deeply into their phone while cruising down the road. I never hope they are injured but the day I watched a man text and drive, at highway speed, into the bumper of a large F150, I am not going to lie, I smiled like a guy who just got acquitted because a glove didn’t fit. As I said, good luck tomorrow. I hope you get to see the stupidity that surrounds you, the tiredness and busyness that is rampant, and that when your Big Mac in your bag isn’t a Quarter Pounder.

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Nothing can Sometimes be Everything

So, there was a show about nothing that was immensely popular. The writing was splendid, and the characters were so well cast, the show was a runaway success. There are times that nothing is just perfect. If the world won’t stop for us to take it in, sometimes we must stop ourselves. Nothing; the word can be beautiful, vilified, and can make people feel worthless. Tonight, it is how I feel about writing. Nothing is in there. It is not a terrible thing, it’s just a thing.

Work is how many of us define ourselves. We make the money, it is what we do, and where our friends come from. Oh, I know, there are also the friends from our kid’s sports teams, youth groups, and whatever else we have them do to shape their lives and give us solace that we are doing the best for them. How many of us can step away from our work and feel no guilt about not being there? For years, I took days for myself. When I started working with my hard driving spouse I mentioned it to her. “Ludicrous,” was her first response. Her second response was something to the effect of, “there is always work to do. How can we take time off to do things for ourselves? We will be so far behind.” As all great husband’s do, I pushed with the softest gloves I could find, and the first work day occurred. They are now an essential part of our monthly work schedule.

You see, there is always work that needs to be done. There is also work that must be done. The last thing we ever think about is the work we need to do for ourselves so that we can do the needed and must be done work. Nothing doesn’t mean that we don’t do anything. It simply means we handle things that get pushed off because the work never ends. Today was just one of those days. Nothing also doesn’t mean not handling the must be done work. It simply means we become the important thing for the day. Sometimes it’s the house, other days it is the barn, sometimes it is the real world, and then rarely it is an enjoyable husband and wife fun day. Although that is rare it is the ultimate goal as we become better.

I never want to do nothing. That has been tried but TV really sucks these days. Riding my motorcycle again sounds great, checking out a one tank drive seems splendid, and breakfast at a roadside café may just be the best start to a nothing day ever. We are all so busy, I really hate that word, we forget what it was like to be productive. Tomorrow is another day and the schedule is full. Today, was productive for me and that was cool. Not what I wanted to do but what had to be done for the day to be successful. Balancing the need to and has to is something that will be a continual learning experience. Pushing towards the end goal doesn’t leave much downtime but I have learned that having the great discipline leads me to great freedom. Nothing doesn’t mean doing nothing, it means doing what you want instead of doing what your told. Enjoy your weekend and I hope your nothing is exactly what you want.

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Photo by Kimon Maritz on Unsplash

What a Pretty Picture

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” That expression has been around for eons. What does it mean? The original phrase is attributed to Tess Flanders talking about journalism and went like this; “Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words.” This is way back in 1911 when pictures were arduous to take. There is also some credit to Fred R. Barnard who used it on street cars. He said it was related to a Chinese proverb. The proverb actually stated, "Hearing something a hundred times isn't better than seeing it once" and it was debunked over time. I take multiple photos and there are times I believe I can get a thousand words from it but some of my sunrise or sunset photos I think might be hard. “Oh, look the sun is coming up.” Or maybe, “Ah, what a beautiful sunset.” I do believe the old expression from 1927 about a picture being worth a thousand words but I am also a bit confused. Most of us are completely lost in the blue rays of our modern technology and look through photo arrays daily. We look, stare, lose track of time, and somehow, we barely speak to one another anymore. If this expression is so valid, where the heck is the conversation to go with all the post we waste so much time staring at?

I deem myself a conversationalist. I like interacting with people I know and even people I don’t know. I think that comes from the fact that since I was a little kid I was around adults in big places. At racetracks, concerts, business meetings, competitions, and just plain old social settings, I was required to interact with people that made me uncomfortable. For twelve years I coached college tennis and had to meet parents of prospective players, speak to opposing coaches, and battle for what I thought was right. This has made speaking a second nature to me. I also taught for three years, volunteered to speak at schools in my spare time, and have spent many hours in hotel bars with strangers and random bartenders. This uncomfortable time has made me comfortable over a period of time. When most of this occurred, there wasn’t this crutch of an iPhone 10 with the most unbelievable distractions available. We had the USA Today. Still today, when I stay in a hotel, I grab the paper they have available and take it to my room. Usually, I throw it away because I too, fall in the trap of the blue light magic of technology. It is my opinion that the youth today are missing the opportunity to be uncomfortable and learn to look at the pictures in front of them and create the thousand-word responses. Think about it. We didn’t have a choice. If we looked out the hotel window from the bar what did we see? Blue sky, cars on the interstate, planes taking off or landing, or maybe a really hot air crew coming in for the night from their Lufthansa flight. There were conversation points because we had nothing else to look at but the world from our eyes. Now, we look through the world from the perspective of the app and what it wants to give us.

This curse has caused us to formulate our opinions only on what we are comfortable with. There is no discomfort anymore. If we don’t like it, we just block it. What happened to seeing things we don’t like, creating a solution, and then implementing it and then seeing what happens? I have seen so much and been in the middle of many things that made me uncomfortable. I lived on a college campus when I was 12 years old, I worked in the hot pits at Sebring when I was under age, I hung out in Green Park when the 80’s were the 80’s, I was lucky enough to be behind the ropes of multiple large concerts and Super Bowls before I ever could drive, and I know what a party really looks like. These are five thousand-word pictures that bounce around, but they are locked away so that when those situations present themselves now I know how to respond. I just don’t see that now. We are sad because someone has said something disparaging about us. Woah, that has never happened before. Of course, it has. Back in the day we beat their ass or got our ass beat. Now, we create a campaign online and we either get bullied or become the bully. Holy shit, hit the delete button. Why put up with it? If you don’t like it, aren’t going to kick their ass, or talk it out man to man, then just hit the delete button. We are so worried about what people think online it effects our lives. Those Instagram models we see are a splendid example of that. I had a player who was dating an Instagram star. Isn’t it weird that all these photos, that are worth a thousand words, are so perfect? How in the hell do you get a photo of you jogging? Oh yeah, your little minion is shooting the photos. Here is the funny thing about that. They are shot over, and over, and over, and over again. He would tell me that she would shoot a photo of her on a staircase looking out at the horizon 5 to 20 times. It was exhausting. Thousands of words just wasted.

Communication has been said to be 30 percent verbal and 70 percent nonverbal. I believe these numbers are skewed now since it is astonishing how many downturned heads you see each day. No one is looking around at the world around them. They are all looking at the world someone else is allowing them to see. Doesn’t this make us like the lemmings? What happened to seeing the world through our own thoughts, eyes, and dreams? We see it through the vision and perception of those who post it for us to look at. In each of those posts there are thousands of worlds that can be brought out for us to contemplate but before we can put the thoughts together our finger swipes up or to the right. We have lost our ability to dream our own dreams.

I love social media. I have found so many mentors that I garner information from on a daily basis. There are books I want to read, places I want to see, and ideas that are festering deep in my mind. I have also reconnected with friends from the past and am amazed at the success of some of the silent ones from our days in school. At other times, I am amazed at some of the vitriol and personal bullshit that others put out. The words say a lot, but the pictures are always worth a thousand words. Take your pictures and then contemplate them. Don’t just push them to your saved file. Remember, your memories are a lot better in your own mind than as a slide post on your friend’s timeline.

photo 1 -- me courtesy of Lou Holtz's bumper
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There Were Some Who Didn't Make It -- Part One

Today’s keyword is menagerie. The fun began with the 4:15 am wake-up call to prepare for the third 4H horseshow of the season. The Pod is not competing as a participant, but has a few students going through the ranks, so she takes a horse each time to do some training classes as well. Why not? Her thought is; she is there so why not train a horse while also training the riders. This is fantastic for the family too because it means we get to spend quality minutes at a horseshow during an off weekend. It is all good though because there is a menagerie of events to watch, horses to stare at, and people to talk with about random things. The word popped into my head today because a year ago I would have been coaching my team against Stetson and would have missed the show which made me think about the players who left the team for a menagerie of reasons. All of them were great guys and each deserves a bit of reflection.

Opportunity is something that is appreciated when it is earned. Enter Nathan Jones. A Jacksonville lad with an eagerness to give it a shot. He came to visit FSC and just wanted to know if there was an opportunity for him to be considered for the team. Seeing his heart and desire to put himself through the pain and effort that would be necessary, made it easy to give him the chance. He didn’t have the skillset of the standard player that came in to the program, but he was willing to start at the bottom and see where he could go. I don’t want to be mean but describing Nathan as scrawny was factual not cruel. He was a lean young man but was eager to build. He was so eager that he started training with some other players before school even started. This ended his early season training because at some point he forgot to stop for the fence. He finally stopped when his head halted his progress against the pole on the fence. This was a new one for me as a coach. A concussion before practice even started. Fast forward and the kid recovered. He trained with the best of them, improved his strength, got better as a player, and was liked by his teammates. He came to me at the end of the season and stated he was going back to be near his home. You see, his first love was the family business. Mission trip camps that his family has run for years. There really is no arguing with a person’s passion. He is doing great these days. He is taking classes at UNF and at one point I heard he was even up in Atlanta in the police academy. He didn’t stay with us long, but he came and proved he could do it.

Education is an important aspect of the college experience. For Thomas Lauper education was a massive factor for his departure from FSC. The Swiss native came to the school for studies and wanted to be a part of the team. His work ethic was second to none, but he was a bit behind on the tennis court. He was a great partner during workouts and his teammates loved him. He was so intelligent, and his studies were so important that he made the decision to leave after his first year. The course of steady he wanted wasn’t offered at FSC. This was a wonderful choice for him. He has been all over the world studying and playing. Currently, he is in Zurich working for the Boston Consulting Group, so I think his decision-making process worked well for him. I get to keep up with him through modern messaging and his travels and exploits are always entertaining.

There was a time that I played tennis fairly regularly during my off time from the team. Enter Matt McNish. A Hawaiian who was residing in Orlando. A diminutive character who loved music. He was studying music at FSC but loved tennis as well. He would come down to the courts and play set after set with me. One day we were talking, and he summoned the courage to ask me if he could come out for the team. Well, as excited as I was to have a hitting partner, the team was a tight knit bunch of guys who had been through the wars together and I just didn’t feel that it would be appropriate for that season. Fast forward to the next fall and the ukulele playing player was on the team. He was a bit out of shape but wanted it so badly. His frustration with his play became must see tennis for his teammates. So pumped when he did well and equally abusive to himself when his play didn’t satisfy what he thought he was capable of, his emotions became a detriment to his personal life. The stress of his class load, his love of music, and internship opportunities shortened his career as a roster athlete. Matt maintained his relationship with the team his senior year by DJing for matches. He had the complete set up and it created a cool vibe.

There are a couple more guys who had shortened careers and I will cover them in a different post. These guys were all an essential element to the team. They either brought personality, diversity, sparring partners, comedy, or a bit of each. I loved giving the underdog the opportunity to shine. It didn’t always work out in the end but there was never denying that it was available. Menagerie, a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition, is the definition according to the dictionary. You know what is funny; it is a true statement when it came to the groups of guys I had on my teams. I love them all and enjoyed showing them off. When we had a home match our mob made quite the impression. We definitely weren’t the Bad News Bears but there were moments that we appeared to be close. Thanks to these guys I had an exciting time and a new experience almost every day.

Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash
Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash