I like the riding the bus. It’s almost a treat. I get to spend 25 minutes of uninterrupted time where I can read, close my eyes, do whatever. Besides, my bus route runs right along the lake for half of it, what’s not to like.
I like the energy of working in a downtown area to. It’s fun to be able to walk just about anywhere I need to go and get anything that I need (or want). All in all, the move downtown has been pretty positive.
The only thing that I notice is that there aren’t a lot of happy people walking around. You don’t see many smiles on either the bus or walking around downtown. Everybody seems to be headed somewhere, but they are not happy about it. Occasionally you see people walking together and they seem to be enjoying themselves, but that is the exception.
My Twin Cities travel tip of the week is that if you ever need seafood in the center of the country and have a spare $100, Oceanaire is wonderful. It was a great meal and great way to celebrate the new job.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
One week down - 259 to go
I spent my first week riding the bus, working downtown, and trying to figure out exactly how a large, private University works. It has been great. I like the bus, I like the work, and Spring is the in the air.
The fun moment of the week was having lunch with Garrison Keilor. Alright, so we didn’t actually have lunch but he did walk into the small deli where I was having lunch with a colleague on Wednesday. By the way, lunch was great.
I say I have 259 to go because my goal is to be in this job for at least five years, and the feeling after week one is that it is possible. Everyone here is very focused on the mission. They seem to all be working together toward excellence and it is both challenging and invigorating. I’m trying to figure out why they hired me. There are a lot of smart people here and they seem to genuinely like each other.
I’m having a blast.
The fun moment of the week was having lunch with Garrison Keilor. Alright, so we didn’t actually have lunch but he did walk into the small deli where I was having lunch with a colleague on Wednesday. By the way, lunch was great.
I say I have 259 to go because my goal is to be in this job for at least five years, and the feeling after week one is that it is possible. Everyone here is very focused on the mission. They seem to all be working together toward excellence and it is both challenging and invigorating. I’m trying to figure out why they hired me. There are a lot of smart people here and they seem to genuinely like each other.
I’m having a blast.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Seasons End
I just played my last “noon-ball” game, and its funny how my life and basketball have coincided over the past several months. In the last few weeks my son, my daughter, and my coaching and playing lives have all ended a season.
I realize more today than ever what I enjoy about playing. Its not the games, it’s the teammates. It was a pretty normal lunch time basketball game, but I’m glad for some of the guys that were there. Some of them started playing about the same time I did, and we have shared a lot of things outside the court. Other guys have been playing here forever, and will be playing for a lot of years to come. Then there was that group that I thought about. The only thing that would have been better is if I would have gotten to pick a final team with Chip and Kelly who left awhile ago.
I hope somehow at the basketball banquet next Sunday and in my kids careers I can do a better job of communicating that it really is more about who you play with and how you play the game. While I might have sometimes envied teams with more talent, in retrospect there is not a team I played on our coached that I would have traded for another – and I’m pretty lucky to be able to say that.
As I look at starting a new position next week, it's with high hopes that I will be able to say that with a new team off the court. I know I would say that about the team I was priveledged to work with here.
I realize more today than ever what I enjoy about playing. Its not the games, it’s the teammates. It was a pretty normal lunch time basketball game, but I’m glad for some of the guys that were there. Some of them started playing about the same time I did, and we have shared a lot of things outside the court. Other guys have been playing here forever, and will be playing for a lot of years to come. Then there was that group that I thought about. The only thing that would have been better is if I would have gotten to pick a final team with Chip and Kelly who left awhile ago.
I hope somehow at the basketball banquet next Sunday and in my kids careers I can do a better job of communicating that it really is more about who you play with and how you play the game. While I might have sometimes envied teams with more talent, in retrospect there is not a team I played on our coached that I would have traded for another – and I’m pretty lucky to be able to say that.
As I look at starting a new position next week, it's with high hopes that I will be able to say that with a new team off the court. I know I would say that about the team I was priveledged to work with here.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Lessons from 5th Graders
I always leave youth basketball tournaments feeling a little worse about the state of sports in America. This last weekend was my daughter’s fifth grade basketball tournament, and if it weren’t for the shear joy of seeing your daughter score a basket I don’t think I would have been able to say it was a positive experience.
One particular incident that stands out is on Sunday afternoon when a referee had to reprimand a parent, two players, and both coaches all within the span of about thirty seconds. Was the official great – probably not, but there was almost no way to call the out of control eighth grade girls game he was trying to keep control over. Whatever he was making that day was not enough.
During the fifth grade games the officials got a share of irritated fans. Coaches seemed to be the worst offenders. If they had spent as much time coaching as “working” the officials the girls would have gotten an education. For the record, I was proud of the way our girls coach conducted herself and coached our girls, but overall the adults seemed to make the experience a lot less enjoyable for the girls. Between officials on the court, screaming coaches and parents, and tournament officials looking for many ways to maximize a buck it was hard to see the love of the game. It was there if you looked, but you had to look awfully hard.
My form of protest is that I vowed then and there to put up a hoop on the driveway this summer. I’ll encourage my kids to do camp and keep playing, but I’ve decided that maybe the playground is the best place to learn. I’m grateful to the coaches I had, especially for the life lessons. As an assistant high school coach for the past two years I can see how that still happens. High school teams seem to be a little more controlled and a little more balanced with a focus on winning the right way. However it seems to me that the traveling team basketball culture has lost sense of why we play the game. The chance that any girl at this week’s tournament will make the WNBA is astronomically small. The chance that they will need the lessons in perseverance, sportsmanship, health and wellness, and confidence that basketball can teach is astronomically large.
So, for the weekend I’m glad we went 0-3 and tried to do it the right way. With a few more practices every week and teaching the girls how to play a 2-3 zone that relies on just not letting anyone come near the lane would likely have garnered us at least one win, but a few days removed I think the future is brighter for our 0-3 girls than whoever ended up winning the championship. Early success is no guarantee of future results, but early effort is.
One particular incident that stands out is on Sunday afternoon when a referee had to reprimand a parent, two players, and both coaches all within the span of about thirty seconds. Was the official great – probably not, but there was almost no way to call the out of control eighth grade girls game he was trying to keep control over. Whatever he was making that day was not enough.
During the fifth grade games the officials got a share of irritated fans. Coaches seemed to be the worst offenders. If they had spent as much time coaching as “working” the officials the girls would have gotten an education. For the record, I was proud of the way our girls coach conducted herself and coached our girls, but overall the adults seemed to make the experience a lot less enjoyable for the girls. Between officials on the court, screaming coaches and parents, and tournament officials looking for many ways to maximize a buck it was hard to see the love of the game. It was there if you looked, but you had to look awfully hard.
My form of protest is that I vowed then and there to put up a hoop on the driveway this summer. I’ll encourage my kids to do camp and keep playing, but I’ve decided that maybe the playground is the best place to learn. I’m grateful to the coaches I had, especially for the life lessons. As an assistant high school coach for the past two years I can see how that still happens. High school teams seem to be a little more controlled and a little more balanced with a focus on winning the right way. However it seems to me that the traveling team basketball culture has lost sense of why we play the game. The chance that any girl at this week’s tournament will make the WNBA is astronomically small. The chance that they will need the lessons in perseverance, sportsmanship, health and wellness, and confidence that basketball can teach is astronomically large.
So, for the weekend I’m glad we went 0-3 and tried to do it the right way. With a few more practices every week and teaching the girls how to play a 2-3 zone that relies on just not letting anyone come near the lane would likely have garnered us at least one win, but a few days removed I think the future is brighter for our 0-3 girls than whoever ended up winning the championship. Early success is no guarantee of future results, but early effort is.
Friday, March 09, 2007
New Resolution
My new resolution is to post every Friday, which is a good goal because with starting a new job in 8 days, I should have something to say. I've also decided to try and figure out what this blog is about and actually try to attract and retain some readers and spark some discussion.
Today's post is simply that God is good. I heard from an old friend today who helped me see that and one of the things that pointed out the most that God is good is that she found that out along the way to. I couldn't be happier than to be starting my new job on March 20. Yes, I'll still be an expatriated Montanan, but I think I have landed at a good place. Just one more indicator - they have Caribou Coffee brought in every day. I had my choice of a big office or one near the coffee. I took the one near the coffee.
Today's post is simply that God is good. I heard from an old friend today who helped me see that and one of the things that pointed out the most that God is good is that she found that out along the way to. I couldn't be happier than to be starting my new job on March 20. Yes, I'll still be an expatriated Montanan, but I think I have landed at a good place. Just one more indicator - they have Caribou Coffee brought in every day. I had my choice of a big office or one near the coffee. I took the one near the coffee.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Real live snowstorm
Well, we made it to March 1 but we have a snowstorm in Minnesota. We had about 6-8" in the last week and today they are predicting about 16". It seems like we will actually reach that total based on what it looks like out my window.
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