A Great Story

There is a web site that has the best posts from Craig's list. Usually they just are rants about people or sarcastic attacks but every now and then there is a motivational one. I found this one that illustrates the importance of education.
Nothing, can improve your place in the world like additional education. Yes, there are some advanced degrees that do not pay off as well as others but education can take you places. They open the doors and then it is up to you. Get an education and work hard to achieve great things... On and off the mat.

From a Welfare Kid

---

Date: 2007-02-11, 12:52AM AKST


Over the past couple of months, I have noticed many, many posts concerning white trash and welfare people.

I am a welfare kid. Oldest of 5 children, mother has a 9th grade education. She married my father at 15 (he was 21), had me a year later at age 16, and so forth. Father has an 8th grade education. Dear dad took off after 10 years of marriage - have heard I have several unknown siblings out there somewhere. No, he never once paid a penny of child support. He just left.

Mom's family is from Missouri - you guessed it, trailer parks, shacks, too many people stuffed into small houses with too many animals, bugs and parasites. We were the runny-nosed kids in worn-out clothes people looked down on to make themselves feel better.

After dear dad took off, mom supported us by working in various nursing homes as a nurse's aid or as a laundry person. Other jobs she had were motel maid, waitress, phone sales, cleaning taverns after closing, etc.

We have been homeless, living in a borrowed car, eating at missions when we were in larger towns/cities. Oh, did I mention the places we lived? Before I was 18, we lived in Missouri, Okalahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, California, Utah, South Dakota and Oregon. We rarely spent more than 6 months in the same place, same school district, usually it was a completely different town.

We stood in the free cheese lines, went to the church clothes closets, accepted the Thanksgiving and Christmas kindnesses of strangers with as much dignity as possible. We endured sermons from all the different churches that my mom tried to get help from. Rarely did the help come.

Did we like it? Not a danged minute of it. The sympathetic looks from the do-gooders who pretended to care. Those who expected us to fall at their feet because they brought us a turkey.

Am I grateful? Yes. To my mother. She found ways to feed us when there was no food. When I was a bitchy teenager refusing to stoop so low as to "go begging" as I called it, she went alone or with one of my brothers. I was ashamed that we were so poor. Teenagers hate being different, no matter what they tell you.

As a young teen, I babysat for money to buy a pair of "cool" jeans so I could be something like the other kids. I wore that stupid pair of jeans until they wore out and then bought another pair.

The people I remember most from childhood are those who looked upon us as people and not a cause. Those who sat with us, laughed with us, just talked with us. Those who looked beyond the ragged clothing and to the people we were. My brothers were unruly at times - guess what, mom was tired. She didn't always have the energy to do it all.

Mom made sure we could all read, spell and write well. She knew we would be judged by that. She also made sure we had books no matter where we were. libraries are free. Those books became escapes from lives we could not deal with sometimes.

All but one of us dropped out of high school. With the moving around, it was almost impossible. We received GEDs instead.

Today, all we kids are grown. I am completing my Bachelors. My sister has almost completed her Masters. My three brothers work as a computer tech, sheetrock hauler and a med aide in a nursing home. I don't have children but my siblings have given me nine wonderful nephews and nieces.
Growing up, we learned early on that all we really had was one another. We currently all live within 5 miles of one another. When I count my best friends, I count my brothers and sister first.

We live far away from my mother's family. They are the very definition of dysfuntion. Not good people to be around in any situation.

I'm not sure how it happened, but none of us were ever in jail, ever addicted to anything more than nicotine. According to some statistics and to most people's prejudice on this board, we should all be white trash meth addicts.

For those of you who look down upon those little kids with hungry eyes and brave faces, reach out to them instead of judging. It can really make a difference.

Thanks for reading.

Every Wrestlers Last Match

As the season ends I wanted to share a great story about wrestling.

Every Wrestler's Last Match
By James Emig
James Emig was a state tournament qualifier heavyweight in 1975 from Cincinnati Greenhill High School. He has worked at 12 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships. He has seven years of coaching experience as a Junior and Senior High wrestling coach a Finneytown and St. Xavier High Schools. He has served as tournament manager of the Cincinnati division I sectional at St. Xavier high school.

This article appeared in the program for the 1993 Ohio State Wrestling Championships.
There comes a time when every wrestler realizes his competitive career is over. Exactly when that moment occurs varies for every wrestler. For some, that realization takes place in advance of their last match; those wrestlers walk out onto the mat knowing it ends after that match. Others get caught up in the race for the top and don’t really want to think about what may be their last match. It is difficult to put an end to something to which you have given so much of yourself. However, sooner or later, every wrestler grasps the reality that he has wrestled his last match, and for many, it will happen this weekend.

Looking through the stands and in the corridors of the arena at the state championships each year, you will see wrestlers whose careers are over. Sometimes you’ll see a mother, sister, wrestlerette or girlfriend crying while holding him; a father looking out onto the arena floor, silently thinking about what could have been. Behind every wrestler are many others who quietly, deep within themselves, wrestle right along side him. They feel the joy of victory and the pain of defeat as if it was their own. When his career ends, much of the anguish they feel is because it is also the end of something that has meant very much to them.

It is a long, difficult road from those very first matches, marked by many defeats, to the state championships. Somewhere in between, childhood ends. Games are no longer important and boys become men. Fortunate parents witness this beautiful transition. It is not without a great deal of pain and sacrifice for the wrestlers and families alike. For most wrestler, qualifying for the Ohio State Championships represents the single greatest achievement in their young lives. For all wrestlers, qualifying represents an experience they will never forget.

No one knows what drives these young men and coaches to work so hard and sacrifice so much. The rewards come from within. This sport of wrestling brings winning and losing together such that the combination means self-improvement. This is the real reward. One wrestler can’t improve without the efforts of another. The champions owe a debt to the wrestlers they have wrestled and beaten. All wrestler who finish behind the champions owe a debt to the champs because they have improved from the experience. Collectively, we all owe a debt to this great sport because we have all been touched by our involvement.

Six hundred and twenty-four wrestlers enter this tournament each year with the dream of winning that final match. A dream, however, only thirty-nine will realize. To those wrestlers who wrestle their last match this weekend, congratulations to you, no matter where you place. The reality is, there are no losers in the sport of wrestling; there are only those who did not wrestle.

To The Mat

I want to go back to my mental toughness article

I have had some recent frustrations in my life and I have had some great help. The thing about mental toughness is that you sometimes can get caught up in the attack and just keep pounding away. Psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem begins to look like a nail”. We have to remember that we have so many more tools and stay positive as we go through our tool box to find the one that best fits our needs.

It is something I have to remember. I have gotten frustrated in matches and just kept trying to chip away with a snap down and a double. When switching to a throw by and a single would have been a much more effective strategy.

The same goes with life. If one strategy is not working then you need to step back and re-examine the problem and go back to it. I know I need to be less rigid and adapt more some as well.

Now, on to takedowns!

In wrestling you can see your moves as a sentence (I stole that from my coach Matt Furey), meaning that when you go to use a takedown you must go from set up, to takedown to finish. Think “to the mat”.

TO – This is going to mean the set up. Whether you are pulling the guys head down, throwing an under hook or using a Russian. The “to” is the set up.

THE – This is the combined components of the penetration step, knee pound, and drive. Whether it is a high crotch or a single you always have to penetrate your opponents defenses.

MAT – This is the finish. I would encourage anyone that is strong enough to pick the guy up to do so (just make sure you put him down safely). There are many reasons but most of all if you are not a good scrambler then you take away the chances that he can counter you with some funk.

OK so there is the formula. I am sure many of you are wondering why I have a coaching license now because that is almost to simple… I wonder why USA Wrestling gave me a certification too! But, we are going to use that statement (to the mat) to practice.

When you get your partner in the off season and you drill you need to start with the “TO” Hand fight, set up, move your opponent. These are often the most overlooked skills in wrestling. Getting past your opponents defense is 90% of the battle against most guys.

After you have spent some time on the “TO” move on to the “THE” Get the mechanics of your penetration step and drive finished.

A good tip here comes from kick boxing. I signed up for kick boxing once and when I was frustrated the when I hit someone it didn’t seem to have as much impact as others I asked our instructor (Basil) why. Basil, punched me 2 times. The 1^st time when he hit me he aimed to hit me right at my arm. The 2nd time he blasted me and it was a lot less enjoyable then before. The difference as he explained it was the 1^st time he aimed just to make contact with my arm. The next time he aimed to make contact with my ribs. He was punching 6 inches behind my arm. I don’t suggest you go try that on your little brother but when you shoot your take down try to imagine penetrating 6 inches behind your opponent so you knock them off balance. You will understand what I am saying without getting in trouble.

After you get to where you can knock someone off balance with the your prenetraion we get to the final point which is the finish. There are 3 categories that I think finishes fall in.

I am going to use some construction terms.

1. Nail – Hit them hard and keep going through them. Like a blast double.

2. Screw – Turn and twist so that you start to collapse their joints and drag them to the mat.

3. Lift – If you pick your opponent up how can he counter you unless he can get his feet back on the mat? This opens up a great opportunity to score if you can put him down within the no slam rule.

When you practice you want to practice all of these and figure out what works best for you. I was never good at picking someone up (although I agree it is the most successful) but it doesn’t match the tools I was given.

The main point being there are options as you put together your sentence and you need ot find out what way it works best for your given set of tools.

Now, get out there and get on the mat. If you can’t find a mat then find some sand!

By the way the Beach Wrestling Nationals are in New Jersey this June. If you want to enjoy the sun, surf, and wrestling you have need to get out there and try it.

What could be better? Wrestling, Sun, Nathan's famous hot dogs, Sand... I just worry about the seagulls!

If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life.

- Abraham Maslow

Mental Toughness

Last year I wrote an article that was published in a Coaching Magazine on ideas that will help build leaders on a wrestling team. (You can find it at WrestlingAssistant.com). I am back to writing for them as I have time. Here is a short article on Mental Toughness, Psychologist call it resiliency whatever you call it though it is a key part of being a winning wrestler.

Constantly coaches complain of a lack of mental toughness in the young athletes today. I want to give you an example of what mental toughness is in my opinion from the greatest sport known to man… Wrestling!

But first, I am going to steal something from two basketball coaches. First, being Jim Burson. I would bet none of you but the most hardcore basketball fans will know who he is. If you love basketball or ever want to coach BBall you should learn about him and his Princeton Offense system. Anyway, when I he gave a guest speech to our team and the one thing that stuck out in my mind is his final quote. “No amount of weight lifted or technique will ever overcome a lack of mental toughness”

So what does that mean. We all have days when our best is not good enough, when a weight that was easy last time we lifted is hard, when we study our butts off and we still fail a test, when everything we try will not work, and when the pressure is huge. These are the times that mental toughness shines.

Next I am going to steal from a BBall coach that you have heard of Pat Riley. He is famous for asking his players to always think. “W.I.N.” Of course all coaches want their players to think win… Winning is the point right? WIN means What’s Important Now. Meaning, there are a lot of things that you have to pay attention to in your life. Not all of them will help you WIN. You can think about your girlfriend, about how much fun you could be having at a bar, about how much you miss your friends at home or you can focus on the things that will get you to your goals.

Now for my example, I spent a year as a high school coach just after graduating college and we had a 119 pounder who as a freshman was pushed into the line up by an injury to the starter. As the match started it showed to be pretty easy for his opponent to take him down and the first period ended with him bridging off his back down by 5. The second period the same bridging position came to be our move at the end of the period, then the 3^rd period and it looked to be much of the same thing. Towards the end of the match I stood up to give some words of encouragement to our next wrestler. As I started to talk our guy down by 12 points hit a lateral throw. I was a little surprised but with 15 seconds left I knew we couldn’t win on points and then the ref slapped the mat. For 5 minutes and forty-five seconds everyone in that gym, every teammate, and even the coaches thought he couldn’t win. For that amount of time our guy couldn’t believe and when it looked like he had stopped trying he decided to try one more time. When no one else believed, he gave it one more shot and he won. That is mental toughness, what is important now, not getting distracted, giving up, not listening to those who don’t believe and not quitting. We all lose, we all face adversity, we all fail. As a coach I hate win – loss records because we give them to much credence. It is just a horrible way to look at things because it can discourage people from trying. What matters in life is often how far you go. I cannot run a race as fast as Carl Lewis but that shouldn’t stop me from trying to finish. I cannot bench press as much as Jake Anderson but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t go into the weight room.

We are at an impasse here as a team. But, that doesn’t mean that we need to sit still and see who will be here next year before we begin to prepare for next season. We have all been dealt a hand and now it is our responsibility to play it to the best of our ability.

GET AFTER IT!

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

- Michael Jordan

New Developments

Our head coach has announced he will be leaving Central for several reasons at the end of this year and our Athletic Director has asked me to take over the task of recruiting. I think I am prepared but I need to have a lot of meetings in the next few days and see how I can best approach this. I am committed to be at Central and I really do enjoy it here. I went Snowboarding last week and that was a good escape and having a slope about an hour away is something i wish I knew earlier. I will be taking advantage of that more!
I have also been out fishing on Lake Red Rocks. I have to admit that I hate the cold and the wind so I am not sure that is for me. All I really caught was a fish the size of a sardine. I may just wait for the warm weather to get here before I go back out on the lake.
Back to recruiting... It is still a new thing to me but I want to put us in the place that we can best win.
This is also something that I want to cover for wrestlers. When you practice, when you drill, when you lift, and when you run you need to keep in mind that the point is to put yourself in the best position to win that you can.
What does that mean? When you go out on the mat the preparation you have put in will show but only if you go out and aggressively go after your wins. Scoring first, building riding time, pushing for back points and building your lead are all ways to put yourself in the best position to win.
In recruiting I will put us in the best position possible by continuing to build relationships and working to recruit the best wrestlers. A Central degree can open many doors for you but you still have to prepare yourself. Our faculty do an outstanding job of motivating students to prepare themselves and building the knowledge they need to move on in life.
With the wrestlers we are going to do a better job of providing the training and resources they need to improve and become leaders. The games do matter and it bothers me when people attack the usefulness of an athletic program as successful as Centrals but, we always keep an eye on taking care of our athletes so they can be better people, better students, and better athletes (listed in order of importance). There are coaches that will tell people anything to get them to a school, I tend to be bluntly honest and I hope that the athletes will respect that I am being honest but that things are on the way up!

Coming up is my take on Mental Toughness…