Poets Day US

I refuse to succumb to the people that say I write about rugby too much, so if you don't want to learn a valuable teamwork lesson from the slightly damaged mind of Coach Kiwi then just skip the rest of this weeks post and proceed directly to the fridge and grab a cold one :) A year or so back I was at a USA Rugby Coaching clinic. There was a great group of people there including a couple of buddies whom I coach with me, a couple of big fellas called Byron and Jason, there were guys that work down at Bragg and travel a bit to sandy locations and coaches from some other clubs. The awesome Katie Wurst ran the course that was moved to a local cross fit location (scary place) as it was a tad chilly at the time. The course was a combination of discussions then setting up drills and getting the other coaches to act as the players. Training was a part-whole-part model (or a derivative of that) and after doing a part training teaching how important it was to come up in a line on defense ...

30 years ago I lost a great friend and I have felt a little guilty about it ever since, not that I should, but I do. This is the often told but never written story of the last time I saw Sherilyn White alive and the words that she said that have haunted me to this day. First we need to give a bit of a backstory. I used to love to ride my bike, whether it was a collapsible bike that we used camping, my ever faithful Chopper with the 3 speed shifter, banana seat and ape hanger bars, my red Morrison Monarch whose frame I bent in a crash and never realized it till I got a 2nd hand Peugeot road bike then tried to ride the old Monarch again and couldn't, my Cannondale that I got rid of in 1990 after being told either quit training for triathlons or end up in a wheel chair, the Haro mountain bike I bought 15 years later that lasted 10 years or the Specialized I have now after riding the Haro to death. One of my favorite things was to be out on the road (or these days bike paths) headp...

And the sooner you learn that the better off you are. A friend of mine posted on the book of faces about a girls youth bouncy ball game the other day and about the actions of the opposition, punching her daughter in the back at the end of the game preceded by scratching, elbows and dirty shots throughout the game......and that was just in the stands. Actually it was on the bouncy ball paddock (or whatever they call it) but it just easily could have been in the stands these days. My friend asked the question of whose fault is it for repetitive dirty play on the bouncy ball court, was it the fault of the referee, the fault of the coach but for some reason did not ask if it was the fault of the parent. The 'win at any cost, live vicariously through your child's athletic endeavors trying to make up for the failures in their lives' parent is a major issue for any coach of youth sport. The need to win every game no matter what mentality is (most likely - remember these posts...

I was watching West Wing over the Christmas break and there was episode where a character with PTSD after being shot (Josh) went to see a Head Doctor. When he came out Leo was waiting for him - an Alcoholic - and he told him this story:     This guy is walking down a street when he falls in a hole, the walls are so steep he can’t get out. A Doctor passes by and the guy shouts out “Hey you, can you help me out”. The Doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.    Then a Priest come along and the guy shouts out “Father, I am down in this hole, can you help me out?”. The Priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole then moves on.    Then a friend walks by “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” and the friend jumps in the hole. The guy says “Are you stupid, now we are both down here?” The friend says “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out" "I've been down here before and I know the way out"...

It's been a while, not since I got a hug at work because I got one yesterday and the only reason I am not getting one today is that I am working from home, but it has been a while since I have put pen to paper (technically fingers to bluetooth enabled keyboard). 'Why James', you ask (or should that be 'Why, James') 'has it been so long since you penned your last blog?' and my reply, in all honesty is, "Have you seen the crap in the news these days?" I had decided last year to try and not talk about stuff I know nothing about (i.e. Politics) and instead tell funny stories and maybe write something relatable. Well unless you relate to rugby good ideas have been scarce as of late until the house of cards starting falling down :) Now, understand, I am in no way supporting any of the people in the news lately but rather am supporting all the people that are NOT in the news lately - all those people that right now are scared that the work hug that has...

“Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.” - Branch Rickey I think I may have pontificated about luck as a concept in a previous post but as I cannot actually remember everything I have written I guess I might be writing about this again, however this time will be much better, by design :)  I was reading an article about the first World Series American Rounders game this week between the Astros and the Dodgers when the quote "Luck is the residue of design" was used and I thought, yeah, that makes sense to me. I am not someone who believes so much in luck as in putting yourself in the right place at the right time, and this...

Someone told me to write what I know about - which to them I think meant I need to stop writing altogether :) This week I decided I will write a post about something that I am passionate about instead of knowledgable, so if you want to read a post about rugby continue on, if not you might want to stop here :) I believe it was a certain pointy eared Vulcan that first said "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" - to be honest I had no idea it was a Spock quote till I Binged it - but that is the logic behind this weeks word jumble. Yes it is about rugby,  more specifically youth rugby and what I believe needs to happen for the game to grow not just as a sport but as a personal development tool for youth in the US and other countries. 'But James', you say, 'rugby is all about big lugs with cauliflower ears and broken noses smashing into each other with nary a care for life nor limb'. Well, kind sir/madam, I have to d...