I was recently looking at my Twitter account and noticed my blog account in the corner. I clicked the link for no reason in particular other than I'm a narcissist and a harsh critic at the same time. I like to look at my writing and then tear it down.While processing my own self loathing, it occurred to me that my last post was over two years ago. It's pretty hard to promote a blog chronicling the details of your life when you aren't doing said chronicling.
In two years much has changed and yet much has stayed the same. I'm still tubby, still in college, still coaching speech, still a giant fan of the Barenaked Ladies and still tremendously unlucky in the playoffs of fantasy football. Despite the sameness, a great deal has changed and will continue to change as the year goes along. I'm currently engaged. It's pretty funny reading my blogs as a single guy. It's crazy how a person can change you and for the better. Kari on a daily basis makes me think and ponder how to be a better person. She's easily the most supportive person I've ever been around. She is also quick to point out when I'm being an asshole.Before I met her I get the feeling I was an asshole a lot. So I'm doing the smart thing and marrying that girl. My hope is she will make me ponder how to be a better person every day for the rest of my days.
I'm finally graduating soon. Seven years in the making and it's finally going to happen in May. I've given so much to this degree and learned so much and put up with so much with this experience. I feel like I'm about to give birth to a 7 year 300 pound baby. A baby that will cost 50 large plus interest. It's enough to give myself 3am feedings.
My goals of starting a podcast have finally been realized with my friends Izzy and Andy. The Tim and Izzy Podcast Show has been steadily growing and after 53 episodes we are still having fun. I'm not sure how many we will do but as long it is fun and people like listening to it, I'm sure we will keep doing it. I would like to do a sports related show at some point but this is too much fun to stop doing. I encourage you to listen. I'll clip on a widget so you can listen sometime.
That's it for now. I'll try not to be a stranger this time.
Tim
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Art of the Pep Talk
I've always wanted to be a coach. When I was younger playing baseball and basketball, my coaches would often call me a "coach on the field". They were referring to how I would always be talking and encouraging the guys. When I would go to the bench I would always sit by the coaches. Some of the kids thought I was being the classic brown-noser but in all honesty I did it because I was always fascinated by the different strategies and different tactics coaches would use. It became clear though by the 8th grade that my future in sports was going to be as a coach. The injuries had mounted up to the point where I just couldn't go anymore athletically. My brain was still in coaching mode. I joined speech because I wanted a place where I could funny and compete and not get injured. I also liked the idea of having a coach.
Coach Roberts was different from my sports coaches but just as effective if not more. Most of my sports coaches were great X's and O's guys and could tell you where to stand and what to do and how to do it but the often didn't have the ability to give you the pep talk. The Vince Lombardi type pre-game speech that warmed your blood and made you think you were unstoppable. While not as demonstrative as Lombardi, Coach knew how to light a fire under me. You wouldn't think that would be important in something like speech but I'll tell you that speech is no different than sports when it comes to the competitive element. It takes energy and commitment and often times your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. While Coach always was quick to help me when things weren't working in my delivery or in my writing, he was even quicker to tell me when I was good. Often times our practice sessions were him and I joking and going back in forth and it worked. Never was I more successful then the times I worked for Coach Roberts.
After high school, I realized my dream of coaching when I started coaching house basketball. We weren't the most talented team but those kids played hard for me as I incorporated all of the coaching tactics I had learned in my life. None more important than my pre-game pep talk. The players seemed to respond to my energy and my passion and we achieved some success. Then something happened....I stopped pep-talking and started yelling. My next bunch of years we had even less talent and instead of teaching and coaching I was shouting at everyone in sight. Referees,players, parents, fans, assistant coaches you name it. I forgot what I leaned from Coach Roberts. I forgot what it meant to give the pep talk. So I stopped coaching basketball. I stopped coaching...period.
In 2005, I was offered a chance to coach speech. I took it. Not knowing if I would be good or not and early on I wasn't.. but it felt right. It felt good to coach again. I got back to basics. Setting principles and giving kids the freedom to be themselves while utilizing the pep talk as my primary coaching tool and it worked. The kids bought in and we started having success. I've been there ever since and as my seventh season draws to a close I finally truly realize what it means to be a coach. It's the little moments that are the lasting ones. This weekend one of my seniors came to me after her final regular season speech round with this huge smile on her face. I asked her how it went and she said "It went Great". She was ecstatic about her performance and about the fact that she made the final at every tournament we entered this year. No small feat in speech. It was her smile, her energy and her excitement that at that moment was priceless for me.
One last story, When I was a senior I was lucky enough to win the state championship in speech in my category. I remember running to Coach and hugging him and saying to him that "We Did It,We Did It." he stopped me quickly and said "No, YOU did it." He never wanted the credit for what we did and still doesn't to this day. I never understood why until last year when my top creative made the state final. His first words to me was "We Did It". I stopped for a second and at that moment I understood why Coach deferred the credit. You don't coach for trophies, you coach.....for the pep talk.
Back from a Break
Tim
Coach Roberts was different from my sports coaches but just as effective if not more. Most of my sports coaches were great X's and O's guys and could tell you where to stand and what to do and how to do it but the often didn't have the ability to give you the pep talk. The Vince Lombardi type pre-game speech that warmed your blood and made you think you were unstoppable. While not as demonstrative as Lombardi, Coach knew how to light a fire under me. You wouldn't think that would be important in something like speech but I'll tell you that speech is no different than sports when it comes to the competitive element. It takes energy and commitment and often times your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. While Coach always was quick to help me when things weren't working in my delivery or in my writing, he was even quicker to tell me when I was good. Often times our practice sessions were him and I joking and going back in forth and it worked. Never was I more successful then the times I worked for Coach Roberts.
After high school, I realized my dream of coaching when I started coaching house basketball. We weren't the most talented team but those kids played hard for me as I incorporated all of the coaching tactics I had learned in my life. None more important than my pre-game pep talk. The players seemed to respond to my energy and my passion and we achieved some success. Then something happened....I stopped pep-talking and started yelling. My next bunch of years we had even less talent and instead of teaching and coaching I was shouting at everyone in sight. Referees,players, parents, fans, assistant coaches you name it. I forgot what I leaned from Coach Roberts. I forgot what it meant to give the pep talk. So I stopped coaching basketball. I stopped coaching...period.
In 2005, I was offered a chance to coach speech. I took it. Not knowing if I would be good or not and early on I wasn't.. but it felt right. It felt good to coach again. I got back to basics. Setting principles and giving kids the freedom to be themselves while utilizing the pep talk as my primary coaching tool and it worked. The kids bought in and we started having success. I've been there ever since and as my seventh season draws to a close I finally truly realize what it means to be a coach. It's the little moments that are the lasting ones. This weekend one of my seniors came to me after her final regular season speech round with this huge smile on her face. I asked her how it went and she said "It went Great". She was ecstatic about her performance and about the fact that she made the final at every tournament we entered this year. No small feat in speech. It was her smile, her energy and her excitement that at that moment was priceless for me.
One last story, When I was a senior I was lucky enough to win the state championship in speech in my category. I remember running to Coach and hugging him and saying to him that "We Did It,We Did It." he stopped me quickly and said "No, YOU did it." He never wanted the credit for what we did and still doesn't to this day. I never understood why until last year when my top creative made the state final. His first words to me was "We Did It". I stopped for a second and at that moment I understood why Coach deferred the credit. You don't coach for trophies, you coach.....for the pep talk.
Back from a Break
Tim
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