Category Archives: Writes

March 30, 2011 · 6:54 PM

Brick by Brick

Brick by Brick by Coach Hays

This was the theme of summer conditioning the final year we coached.  I was really proud of this program.  I thought I’d finally found a theme which fit what we tried to accomplish like a glove.  I found the program while cleaning out some folders on the hard drive.  Funny how almost every file in the Tiger Sports folder brings back great memories.  Practice schedules, travel lists, depth charts, strength and conditioning data, it all comes rushing back as I click through the files.  I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.  And if not, too dang bad, because now I have a whole computer folder full of things to share.

Brick by Brick

The foundation of a solid team is built brick by brick.  Each individual brick in a foundation wall is unique and important.  Every athlete in our summer conditioning program is unique and important to the foundation of the teams we are creating.  The coaches act as the bricklayers to put the foundation together.  Parents, administrators, former players and fans are the mortar which supports and holds the foundation together.  The goal of our Tiger Strength and Conditioning program is to provide the tools so that every athlete can mold themselves into the best brick they can be.

(As I looked over this, it occurred to me that in our final season, some of our mortar didn’t realize, or accept, that it was the mortar and instead wanted to play the bricklayer.  Our bricks were good, our plan was good, but as the wall of the team was beginning to come together, we lost our mortar and our wall crumbled.)

The 2008 Coach Hays Rules of the Road

1.  Show up and work hard, every day.

2.  We will work in groups.  You will choose your own group of 6-10 people.

3.  You will be held accountable to your group.

4.  Compete with yourself on a daily basis.

5.  Be the best you that you can be.

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March 23, 2011 · 8:48 PM

Shame On Me

“If we, as Kansans and as religious communities, who are committed by our core values to look out for the marginalized and most vulnerable in our society, if we are not paying attention to this, what are we about?  If this doesn’t matter to us, what does?”

“What happens to these folks when nobody is looking?  We need to, as citizens of Kansas, hold ourselves accountable to the value of taking care of these people.  Not just today, but tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”

-Pastor Tobias Schlingensiepen

Topeka First Congressional United Church of Christ.

This time of the year (tax time) finds me moaning and groaning quite a bit about the money the governments take from me.  This year was even worse than usual, with all the Tea Party Limbaugh Fiscal Conservative-ness floating around nowadays.

I am driving home the other night and listening to Kansas Public Radio.  They ran a locally produced piece from a series they are doing on health care.  This particular piece was a response to the Kansas governor’s proposal to close the Kansas Neurological Institute in Topeka, one of the last facilities for the severely disabled in Kansas.  As Pastor Tobias Schlingensiepen began to talk (Listen at link below) about a sermon he gave, which has taken like wildfire throughout the Topeka clergy community, the lightbulb began to go off inside my head.  Pastor Tobias nailed the very essence of what it means to be a HUMAN BEING, what it means to be a faith-filled member of society.  After several minutes of self-reflection, a shadow of shame crept in and dimmed the light bulb in my head.  I realized I had failed, I had placed my own selfishness in front of those who “marginalized and most vulnerable” people out there who need me to care.  I should be willing to pay, not complaining to pay, the meager tax amount to help provide these citizens and their families a safety net.  I should be doing more.  I should be more Matthew 6. Shame on me.

Clergy Question KNI Closure

For more background

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March 8, 2011 · 8:56 PM

TOUCHING RNA

TOUCHING RNA by Anna Marie Pyle

“The molecular world has always been part of my mental furniture. I grew up on the outskirts of Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, famed for its research on energy, materials, and nuclear weapons. My dad was a physician and biomedical researcher who loved chemistry above all things, and who would interpret all of life’s vicissitudes in terms of some obscure chemical reaction or metabolic dysfunction. Learning chemistry, therefore, became a necessity for basic communication with my father. My neighbors were mostly physicists who would bring home spare bits and pieces from labs around the country. My friends and I sprayed rainbows of color on the bedroom wall with old prisms and played with a cube of depleted uranium metal that seemed impossibly heavy compared with the cubes of iron and aluminum that had been thoughtfully cut to exactly the same size. We were told that the uranium cube was only “slightly radioactive,” which nicely reflects the relaxed parenting attitudes of the 1960s. Our parents represented science as play and as a vehicle for fun. The microscopic world of molecules was as real to us as the grass in our backyards or our pets. We had no idea how lucky we were.”

I really don’t know what to say about this article.  I have read it about seven times just for the heck of it.  Entertaining and informative, right up my alley, baby!.  If the explanations and the science behind the discoveries on the magnificent Swiss-Army knife molecule called ribonucleic acid (RNA) are not enough to intrigue you, how about the opening paragraph highlighted above?  Magnificent work.

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February 28, 2011 · 6:56 PM

Terry Pratchett’s Alzheimer’s Speech

Terry Pratchett’s Alzheimer’s Speech in Full

“Soon after I told the world (about his Alzheimer’s diagnosis) my website fell over and my PA had to spend the evening negotiating more bandwidth.

I had more than 60,000 messages within the first few hours.

Most of them were readers and well-wishers.

Some of them wanted to sell me snake oil and I’m not necessarily going to dismiss all of these, as I have never found a rusty snake.”

Terry Pratchett is one of the most talented writers of our time.  A satirist known for his Discworld series and for GOOD OMENS, co-written with Neil Gaiman, the creations he crafts are extremely entertaining and humorous.  Personally, I just discovered his work not long ago.  I don’t know what rock I have been living under, but I am glad I’ve finally seen the light.

Neil Gaiman may have given Mr. Pratchett the ultimate writer compliment in his comments on working with Terry Prachett on GOOD OMENS.

“Terry is that rarity, the kind of author who likes Writing, not Having Written, or Being a Writer, but the actual sitting there and making things up in front of a screen. At the time we met, he was still working as a press officer for the South Western Electricity board.  He wrote four hundred words a night, every night: it was the only way for him to keep a real job and still write books.  One night, a year later, he finished a novel, with a hundred words still to go, so he put a piece of paper into his typewriter, and wrote a hundred words of the next novel.”

It is a cruel fate with his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.  No matter how prolific Mr. Pratchett can be, there will still be a wonderful tale trapped in his brain without synaptic release for all of us to enjoy.

Thank you, Sir Terry Pratchett, for all you have done and all you will do.  Keep pushing forward.

Humor in the face of tragic news. Hope over despair.  Courage over fear.  And (which would make Hemingway proud), grace under pressure.  Class.

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February 23, 2011 · 8:11 PM

The Viking Laws

I don’t really know for sure who wrote the Viking Laws.  In fact, I cannot even recollect where I originally ran into them, but I am grateful to have found them. There almost has to be some fantastic legend that goes along with their origin. A great wisdom flows through, around and into the Viking Laws, no matter where their origin lies.

The Viking Laws work very well as a road map in a football strength & conditioning environment.  The attack mode and human weapon philosophy required to prepare one to physically, mentally and emotionally compete is mapped out in the Viking Laws.

Believe me, there is a lot to be learned in these 138 words.

THE VIKING LAWS

1. BE BRAVE AND AGGRESSIVE

  • BE DIRECT
  • GRAB ALL OPPORTUNITIES
  • USE VARYING METHODS OF ATTACK
  • BE VERSATILE AND AGILE
  • ATTACK ONE TARGET AT A TIME
  • DON’T PLAN EVERYTHING IN DETAIL
  • USE TOP QUALITY WEAPONS

2. BE PREPARED

  • KEEP WEAPONS IN GOOD CONDITION
  • KEEP IN SHAPE
  • FIND GOOD BATTLE COMRADES
  • AGREE ON IMPORTANT POINTS
  • CHOOSE ONE CHIEF

3. BE A GOOD MERCHANT

  • FIND OUT WHAT THE MARKET NEEDS
  • DON’T PROMISE WHAT YOU CANNOT DELIVER
  • DON’T DEMAND OVERPAYMENT
  • ARRANGE THINGS SO THAT YOU CAN RETURN

4. KEEP THE CAMP IN ORDER

  • KEEP THINGS TIDY AND ORGANIZED
  • ARRANGE ENJOYABLE ACTIVITIES WHICH STRENGTHEN THE GROUP
  • MAKE SURE EVERYBODY DOES USEFUL WORK
  • CONSULT ALL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP FOR ADVICE

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February 19, 2011 · 10:56 AM

Bugs in the Arroyo by Steven Gould

Rest Day Read (SR-75)

Bugs in the Arroyo by Steven Gould

(chapter excerpt from his forthcoming novel, 7th SIGMA. Release July 2011)

“Bugs care about three things, near as Kimball could figure. They loved metal. That’s what they’re after, what they’re made of, what they ate to turn into even more bugs.

You don’t want to have an artificial joint in the Territory. Ditto for metal fillings.

In preference over metal, though, they go after electro-magnetic radiation. This means they love radio and really, any of the humming frequencies caused by current flowing through conductors.

Forget computers, radios, cell phones, generators, and—remember fillings and crowns?—well, a pacemaker, an imbedded insulin pump, a vagal stimulator brings them quicker.

But there is one thing that brings them even faster than all of those, that makes them swarm.

A broken bug is to the territory what blood is to a shark pool. They come in numbers, they come fast, and they come with their coal-black nano snouts ready to eat through anything.”

They say a good writing does not just tell about the action, good writing shows the reader the action. GREAT writing drops the reader into the action, not only telling the reader it is raining, but making the reader feel the drops hit the face.  In BUGS IN THE ARROYO, I felt I was walking around the desert scene looking over Kimballs shoulder the entire time.  GREAT STORY, folks.  Please, give it a try.

I stumbled across Steven Gould’s BUGS IN THE ARROYO around the end of 2010 when I registered to win free ebooks of his novels in a Twitter contest.  I had known him as the author of JUMPER, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of Steven Gould.  After I registered, I went to his website, http://www.digitalnoir.com, roamed around and found a link to this story on TOR.com.  It is impressive to say the least and cranks up the anticipation for the July 2011 release of his novel, 7th SIGMA, from which this story is a chapter of.

Hope you enjoy!

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February 16, 2011 · 8:29 PM

Whose name is written on YOUR foot?

Whose name is written on YOUR foot? by Coach Hays

I sat down in my man-chair.  It was comfortable. It was quiet. It was peaceful.  I was reading some Sherlock Holmes. Life was good.  In comes offspring #2, who plops down on the sofa and turns on the TV.  Toy Story followed by Toy Story 2.  I cough.  Then I loudly clear my throat, but to no avail.  And wanting to avoid an international incident requiring mediators and negotiators, I let the intrusion slide.   I ignored Offspring #2 and went back to reading.

But pretty soon…well, you all know what happened.  The giggling and laughing from the sofa caught my attention and before you know it, the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is safely closed on the end table with me and Offspring #2 both laughing and reciting lines by heart.  (Admit it.  “Positive is positive and negative is negative!” is one of the greatest quotations ever recorded on the intricacies of battery polarity engineering and placement.)

Well, the following morning, in that magical mental place between the alarm ringing and full consciousness wrestling back the proper mental faculties, I had a thought flash into my head with the vivid mental image of Woody looking at the faded name of ANDY written on the bottom of his boot. ANDY.  The name that represents belonging to and being a part of.  ANDY. The name that gives Woody purpose.  Looks what happens to Woody in Toy Story 2 when the cleaner wipes those four letters off his boot.  He gives up trying to get back to Andy and the others. Gives up and floats away from all that is important to him.  When the name disappears, so does the very core of who he is.  Eventually, it takes a monumental effort by his friends to bring him back.

Then came the big question.  Whose name do I have written on the bottom of my foot in permanent marker?  Who do I choose belong to? Who do I choose to give myself up to?  What is the purpose, what is the driving force I stand on?  Is it a name to provide solid footing or is it one that will cause me to slip and fall?  I know now.  After some mistakes and some trial and error (see here), I now know.

God on the right foot.

Faith on the left.

Family on the toes.

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January 31, 2011 · 11:27 AM

The Steeler Way

The Pttsburgh Steelers, with another  team of virtual nobody’s, are in the Super Bowl again.  I heard something astounding about the Steelers the other day on ESPN Radio.  Since 1975, the Steelers have had only seven sub .500 (losing) seasons. That means over that 35 year time period, in an age where the very league they participate in (THE NFL) legislates parity and a organization quality cycle, the Pittsburgh Steelers had winning seasons 80% of the time. That is a remarkable success rate that goes far beyond the raw athletic talent on the field.
How do they do it?  (Here are the humble opinions and observations of Coach Hays)
A. Plan
The Steelers ownership have a vision of what they want to accomplish.  They paint the picture of what their vision looks like and post it on the wall for all in the management to see.  They then sit down and decide how they want to go about the business of attaining the goal.  In other words, they develop the personality of what their team needs to be. Once they know what they want to do and how they want to go about doing it, they take their picture of their goal vision off the wall and cut it up into pieces, much like a jigsaw puzzle.
B. Personnel
The Steelers ownership goes about finding the people that fit each piece of the big picture puzzle.  First the outside frame pieces are found and assembled, the right general manager, a top flight scouting staff, the right head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators and position coaches.  Now, the magic begins.  The aforementioned group watches hours of film, performs thousands of scouting visits, hundreds of interviews to find, select and sign the individual athletes that fit perfectly, like a glove, into each of the puzzle pieces.  Once each piece is found, the often undervalued ability in the NFL  to coach each of these pieces into a proper “fit” in the puzzle picture occurs.  Finally, the goal and vision picture is now ready to assemble from the pieces.
Personnel Note:
37 men on the Pittsburgh Steelers 53 man roster for the Super Bowl are homegrown draft picks or un-drafted free agent signings.  Here is a list of their first round draft choices of the past decade.  Impressive.
2001 Casey Hampton (DT)
2002 Kendall Simmons (G)
2003 Troy Polamalu (DB)
2004 Ben Roethisberger (QB)
2005 Heath Miller (TE)
2006 Santonio Holmes (WR)
2007 Lawrence Timmons (LB)
2008 Rashard Mendenhall (RB)
2009 Ziggy Hood (DT)
2010 Maurkice Pouncey (C)
C. Performance
Through the course of the season, the organization goes about the business of working through the peaks and valleys of a 16 game NFL season in order to hang the picture back in a place of esteem on the wall.  In the case of 2010-2011 season, that place of esteem is a return to the Super Bowl.
Calm and steady, moving forward one step at a time. Every man does their job on every play. Blue collar, hard hat, lunch pail, sprinkled with a healthy dose of Pittsburgh attitude.  That is the Steeler Way.

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January 28, 2011 · 8:53 PM

Did You Just Call Me a Wuss?

Rest Day Read (SR-72)

Are Americans Wusses or Just Fond of Trash Talk?

by Jeffrey Zaslow in Wall Street Journal

[Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell belittled the NFL for postponing an Eagles-Vikings football game because of a snowstorm. “We’ve become a nation of wusses,” he said.]

[Gov. Rendell says he was stunned by the interest in his comments, but on reflection, he now understands why his words stung. “Our country was founded by incredible risk-takers,” he says. They were an army of farmers and shopkeepers, and they fought knowing that if they lost, they’d be hung. We seem to have lost our boldness.”]

[The United States defined itself by its pioneer spirit. “We were the brash Paul Bunyan nation with a don’t-tread-on-us culture,” says John Strausbaugh, author of the 2008 book SISSY NATION.]

[“We’re now a culture focused more on safety than freedom,” says Steve Olson, a 41-year-old IT manager in Savage, Minn. He dates the change in America to sometime between 1984, when “baby-on-board” signs were first seen on minivans, and 1988, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lawn darts.]

[Ms. (Lisa) DeNoia was bothered by coverage of Gov. Rendell’s remarks. In a letter to him, she wrote: “We’re not a nation of wusses. We’re a nation of fearless, bumbling morons in pickup trucks who like to drink beer, go shirtless in the freezing cold for football, and drive in blizzards.” She argued that true leaders are mature enough to make unpopular decisions to protect the public’s safety.]

“Did you just call me a wuss? Meet me back here then in 20 minutes, I need to get my gloves, my mouthpiece, headguard, my inflatable body suit and my Chuck Norris SAFELY KICKING ASS, THE WALKER TEXAS RANGER WAY manual. You are getting a good old fashioned butt whipping today, my friend!”

Have we gone too far in America? Have we swung too far to the side of trying to make everything as safe as humanly possible that we actually have become weaker? Safety is good, don’t get me wrong, but have we taken it to the point where we are worried more about complete prevention from bad things rather than preparation for bad things. We work to completely prevent the bump on the head, the cut on the arm or being bullied in school but we do not work to prepare ourselves and those we love to deal with these things.

We will fail, we will lose, we will get hurt. These things are all part of life and part of living in a great free society as we do. We need to be prepared to deal with these things so that we may learn and move
forward as better individuals and society.

If we give everyone a trophy, we basically give no one a trophy.

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January 20, 2011 · 8:27 PM

Pancakes, Well Done.

We decided to have breakfast for dinner.  Frick and Frack had things to do so we needed to get it on the table quickly.  Frick made potato pancakes, Frack sausage and scrambled eggs, the Mom pancakes.  All was good in the world.  The table was set and the Mom put the last four dollops of batter on the griddle.  Being in a hurry, we sat down, said grace and ate.  Stories from the day were told, with jokes and laughter sprinkled in between.  Also around the table, brown dog and black dog begging for food.  It was the usual Hays family dinner.

About 25 minutes into dinner, Frack gets up to leave for his event.  He walks into the kitchen and says, “Umm, I think we forgot the pancakes on the griddle.”  We turn to see smoke billowing from the griddle on the stove.  The Mom ran into the kitchen and pulled the griddle from the burner.  Those pancakes were burnt, burnt, burnt black.  The Mom, with a few choice words, took the griddle outside and dumped the pancakes onto the back porch.

She returned and sat down at the table wondering why none of us noticed the pancakes burning.  Dead silence pervades the table.  I looked to Frick, no comment.  I looked to Frack, no comment.  I looked to black dog on my right hip, I looked to brown dog on my left hip and say the only thing that pops into my head,

“Nice job of warning us of eminent danger, dogs!  Maybe you two need to watch a little more Lassie.”

Laughter takes over.

Four things I learned from this incident:

1. Pancakes may be an effective and cheap insulating material to protect the space shuttle on re-entry.

2. I LOVE breakfast for dinner, especially when potato pancakes are involved.

3.  Dogs, especially ones not possessing Lassie-like rescue skills, will eat anything.  Even very crispy, blackened pancakes.

4. NOTHING beats laughing and talking around the dinner table with your wife and kids.  Well worth being engaged to the point where pancakes are forgotten and subsequently burn on the griddle.

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