Whatever Flips Your Waffle (192)
The moment was upon us. Every parent dreads this moment; every child squirms upon hearing the topic of the imminent conversation. That’s right; it’s the birds and the bees talk, and it’s one that is happening less and less.
Before Jayna started 6th grade this year and arrived at the “big” school in New Richland, Michelle and I decided we’d better start down that path and have a straight talk with her about sex. As the old Schoolhouse Rock cartoons used to tell us, “Knowledge is power!” If kids know the facts about sex, they are less likely to make decisions that can be costly.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they surveyed high school students across the nation in 2011 and found that 47% of those surveyed had engaged in sexual intercourse, including 33% in the previous three months, of which 40% did not use birth control.
Stop and think about those numbers for a minute. Then think about this: 2009 saw 400,000 girls ages 15-19 who gave birth. I’m sure many of them have become fabulous parents, but it’s a tough road to start down at that young age.
In addition to that, every year in the United States, there are 19 million new STDs, half of which occur in 15-24 year olds. That’s another difficult situation for too many people.
Other studies, however, show that when parents become involved at a young age and open the door to conversations about sexual behavior, the numbers go down tremendously. In an article in Reader’s Digest a number of years back, one teenager said that she was not as curious and eager to experiment when it came to sex after her mom sat down and talked to her about it. There is something about hearing about these things from your parents (who we always TRY to think of as non-sexual beings) that makes the prospect much less attractive!
I’ve taught the novel Tex, by S.E. Hinton, for many years in my 8th grade class. In the book, the title character tries to make a move on his girlfriend, but she firmly puts him in his place and says she’s not ready for that. It often leads to a class discussion that frequently shocks me at the lack of knowledge students have. When I ask how many have had a talk about sex with their parents, the number is always between 10-15%.
There are students that young who are testing the waters. There are students younger than that who are trying things out! It’s something most people don’t want to think about or talk about, but if kids don’t know the basics and the risks involved, they are much more likely to find things out their own way.
Did we talk about everything with our daughter? Of course not, but we opened that door. It was a difficult door to crack open, both for her and for us, but it’s not a door we mean to shut any time soon. Our hope is that now that she understands the basics, she will feel comfortable asking us as new situations arise and that she will think before she acts. There will surely be more uncomfortable conversations as she gets older, starts dating, leaves home, and other perilous status updates.
That’s the best we can hope for in today’s sex-saturated society. Life is all about choices. We want our kids to make the best choices all the time, but that’s not always realistic. Everyone does things they will regret, but I always tell my students when it comes to sex, alcohol, etc. that if you decide to make that choice, at least be as safe as possible. Use protection, get a designated driver, talk about the potential repercussions. Know what might happen before you do something.
I’m not eager to be a grandparent until I’m in my 50s. If it happens, I will help make the best of the situation, but I truly believe that kids want to know about these strange and mysterious subjects. We don’t help matters by not talking or by simply saying, “Don’t do that.” Discussion is the key.
At least we have a few years before we get to sit down with Anton for this same talk…
Word of the Week: This week’s word is quondam, which means former, as in, “The child didn’t think of his parents as being quondam teenagers, having gone through all the same struggles as he currently was.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
Back in October, I mined my notes of items my students have written over the years that made me chuckle. I think I already have enough for another column.
Last weekend, I sat down to read and correct my 7th graders’ essays on drugs and alcohol. I’ve had my students write an essay on this topic for many years. For one, it’s a viable topic, and the more students know about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, the better off they are. Another reason to write on this topic is it is a good opportunity to work on research and mixing facts with opinions in a persuasive essay.
My head starts to hurt sometimes when reading essays. My dad once told me, “Measure twice, cut once.” In other words, spend a little extra time on a project and you won’t have to do it all over again. As part of my refined grading program this year, any assignment that doesn’t meet a standard needs to be redone, and many of my students are having to redo assignments, including this one.
And here’s one of the fiends that leads to bad proofreading: auto-correct.
I advised my students at the start of the year to go on their iPads and shut the auto-correct off. It’s not only a sign of laziness by letting your device finish your word for you, but it’s also quite often wrong. All you have to do is Google “auto-correct failures” and you’ll be laughing for hours at the horribly embarrassing texts that people have sent to each other.
I now (not so proudly) present to you auto-correct (and other basic) failures, as seen on 7th grade essays.
“Tabasco is a natural substance, just like marijuana.” If I knew I could grow tabasco on my own, I’d never have to get it in the store!
“Pear pressure leads to more drug use.” Those darn fruits are always putting pressure on me too!
“I wouldn’t take heroin or drink too munch alcohol.” If you’re munching your alcohol, it’s either been out in the cold too long or there’s something seriously wrong with it.
“People that smoke regally are most likely to die.” I guess if you smoke without the throne or crown, it’s not as bad for you.
“Marijuana also can be helpful for people that have enthusiasm.” I’m still trying to figure out which word the student meant to use instead of enthusiasm, but I suppose it’s a factual statement since marijuana does tend to help people relax.
“People can relax by getting a message.” I’m not sure; I’ve gotten many messages that didn’t help me relax.
“People who participate in heroine abuse can get in trouble.” I would say so; if you’re abusing Wonder Woman or other female heroes, that will lead to trouble.
“122.1% of teenagers use drugs.” If I have to explain the impossibility of that statement, you may want to revisit your math class.
“47 billion Americans have tried drugs.” If we have that many people in America, how many is China up to now?
And now my favorite: “Drinking can do a lot of bad things, so use it!”
That last one isn’t an auto-correct failure, but it helps to emphasize what I try to tell my students. After you’re finished typing, you’re not really finished. Read your essay or story again. Read it out loud. That’s the best way to catch those silly mistakes and to avoid sending the wrong message.
We’re always in such a hurry that many people rarely check over an email or a text before sending it; I’m guilty at times too. However, I’m discovering more and more that if I take just a moment to look things over, I keep from sending something that could be taken the wrong way.
Live your writing life in the slow lane. If you move too fast, you may find yourself in a future column!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is skulduggery, which means trickery, as in, “The teacher wondered if there was skullduggery afoot when he read an essay that couldn’t possibly have been written by the student in question.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
Last year I wrote a couple of columns regarding my coaching philosophy and how it has changed over time. As you read this, I am approaching the final tournament of my four-year career as an elementary basketball coach. It has been quite the ride!
When I started coaching Jayna’s class, I had no intention of doing this beyond the four years of the elementary program. However, I’ve had so much fun watching this fine group of girls grow and develop, not just in their basketball skills, but in their personalities as well, that I plan to apply to continue coaching them in junior high.
With that in sight, and by the request of many of the girls, Todd Born, our other coach, and I signed them up to play in two spring basketball tournaments. We always felt that we didn’t want to overdo the amount of tournaments, and at the end of each season, the girls have wanted more. That was a good sign to us that we had hit the right number of games on the head. Thus, we’ve gone from one to four to five to six tournaments over the years, now adding an additional two as a buffer before junior high.
This has all been part of a carefully-crafted plan, with this end in sight, back in third grade. The plan has adjusted at times to meet the needs of the large number of girls we have playing, which is currently twenty.
And now is when the truly difficult part begins. I mentioned in my musings last year about my firm belief in giving people opportunities, and I stand by that. However, those opportunities now include giving all players chances to play in different groups than they’ve had the chance to in recent years. We always had four groups, divided equally, and rotated girls so that half of them played in one location and the other half in another. We’ve never put together “A” and “B” teams. Now the time has come to be able to allow the combinations that we didn’t get to use due to the splitting of teams.
I really think we did things the right way, and Todd and I have seen some kids become much better players, which might not have happened if they had been on a “B” team. Had we divided that way, our “B” team might have been throttled routinely since all the best ball-handlers would have been on the “A” team. Instead, by dividing equally, we’ve had some success, placing second, third, or fourth in many of the tournaments. That’s pretty good when you don’t have all your players.
However, we now need to give the opportunity to the kids who have progressed to a higher level to all be on the court at the same time, at least for portions of games. This leads to us merging into one team only, and it might cause some hard feelings. While girls have gotten many chances to play more regularly in the past, during this year, we’ve tended to reward those who are working hard and understanding the concepts better with more playing time. If you still can’t run our basic offense after four years in the system and still don’t know where your person is on defense, you won’t see the floor as much.
By playing in Pacesetter tournaments this spring, we will face a higher level of competition, and players need to be ready for it. Every girl that plays will continue to receive chances to prove herself, but in the end, playing time will be limited for some, especially if most of the girls continue to play.
If a girl loves the sport and is willing to work hard and understand her role on the team, she’s always got a place on a team I coach. It’s the “understanding her role” portion that becomes difficult for some to swallow. Not everybody can be a starter and not everybody can be the first people off the bench. When I played varsity basketball, I understood my role to be the person who pushed the starters in practice and worked hard to get better; I simply did not have the talent to play much.
Todd and I still love the enthusiastic interest in the sport and appreciate the efforts of the girls, as well as the tremendous group of parents we get to work with; they have been awesome in their support. We hope the players can understand their roles, but also know that some will begin to drift away in the next couple of years. In the end, we hope to have a competitive group of girls left at the varsity level to keep up the strong tradition that is being built and should continue for years to come.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is bumfuzzle, which means to confuse, as in, “The zone defense seemed to bumfuzzle the players, who had only seen man-to-man defense previously.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
As you read this, it is a busy week in the Domeier home. Anton just turned nine (happy birthday, bud!), parent-teacher conferences are upon us, and Jayna has a basketball tournament in my hometown of New Ulm. Oh, and there’s Valentine’s Day.
Long-time readers of this space know I dislike Valentine’s Day, an overhyped excuse to spend money on flowers and candy. This year, I’m going to do something different: I will proclaim my love for Michelle publically!
I’ve written before about how we got set up on a blind date and that there was never really any doubt in my mind that Michelle and I were meant to be together. I stand by that. We have so much in common, even though we have dramatically different personalities.
Michelle has commented from time to time how I know more people than she does in this, her hometown. It’s not a hard thing to do when you teach in the district and see so many people at school functions. It doesn’t hurt that I’m gregarious; I can walk into a room of strangers and find myself in a conversation in no time, not something Michelle is as comfortable with.
This is where the phrase “opposites attract” applies. We’re not the same, and that can be a good thing. There’s an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry falls in love with a woman, only to find out the reason he likes her so much is that she has all the same traits as him. Then he realizes that he doesn’t really like himself, and it’s over.
There are things I don’t like about myself, but Michelle fills in those qualities so wonderfully, and that’s why we fit together so well.
I’m not always great with the kids; my patience is lacking. My wife has tremendous patience and is much more able to show how much she cares for others than I do. Her creative mind is always going and coming up with neat things to do with the kids, like treasure hunts, puppets, and other things I’d never dream of. Her creative nature lends well to being a room parent and helping with creative projects; as I type this, she is helping Anton decorate a Minecraft box for Valentine’s Day cards.
She must have patience to have to listen to me vent, even if she doesn’t know who or what I’m talking about half the time. She must have patience to put up with a husband who’s always on the go and spends at least as many nights at some activity as he does at home. She must have patience to be a coach’s wife, an aspect where I get too focused on my team. Michelle is so supportive of my need to go, go, go, knowing that I’m like a shark sometimes: if I stop, I might be done for.
We do have a lot in common as well. We found out quickly when we started dating that we had similar tastes in television, watching Seinfeld and Friends. (In fact, I proposed after an episode of the latter. Romantic, I know.) We have the same sense of humor and enjoy sarcasm and irony as much as anyone. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a great example of a show that we both enjoy for its snarkiness. We enjoy sports, whether our kids are playing or not. Our reading tastes might not always be alike, but the bond formed by books is very strong.
It’s never difficult to have a conversation with my wife, and I think that’s one thing that is important in a relationship. I think that even when we’re retired and have more time together that our lives will not be dull and we will not become sick and tired of each other. It’s frightening how many times we’re thinking the exact same thing or complete each other’s sentences already!
We continue to discover new and wonderful stages in our lives from dating to newlyweds to young children to watching our kids grow up and start down paths of their own. I can’t wait for the next stages to come, and I love the fact that Michelle will be at my side as they arrive. I love you, my lobster!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is capitulate, which means to surrender, as in, “The woman was forced to capitulate to her beau’s proposal, as he had won her over at last.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
At NRHEG we are in our second year of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). It’s an effort to change the culture of our school and is being implemented by many schools across the state and country. We’ve seen some progress in the atmosphere of the school, but still have a distance to travel.
For the month of February, our focus at the secondary building is on proper behavior at events such as athletic contests, plays, concerts, and assemblies. These are lessons that cannot just be taught to our students, but to the adult population as well.
Before every home game, I ask people to remember their Panther Pride and be positive, be respectful, be responsible, and be safe. What does that mean? I’m glad you asked!
Being positive means just that. Don’t be negative about things occurring in a game or performance. Applaud good plays in a game. Give credit to a student who sings or plays a song well. Give a standing ovation when appropriate. When students do well in a play, a standing ovation is a nice touch by the crowd, acknowledging the many hours they put into practicing.
Try not to dwell on the negative. Players make mistakes on a field or court. A wrong note might be hit. Someone might forget their line. These things happen; we always have to remind ourselves that these are kids.
Officials and coaches make mistakes too. As I’ve stressed before in this column, unless you have been in that particular position at that level, keep your grumbling to a minimum. I like to say when I officiate or umpire that I miss one call a game; I just won’t tell you which one! Standing up and shouting negative things won’t change what has happened on the floor.
Being respectful goes another step. Certainly, it goes hand in hand with what I just mentioned. But it encompasses other areas as well. I’m very bothered when the pep band plays the school song and I look around and see people, especially students, sitting. Be proud of your school and be respectful of other schools when you are on the road. A school song being played means that you should rise, and if it’s your home game, clap along.
We should always be respectful of the national anthem. When “The Star-Spangled Banner” is played or sung, shut your phone off, remove your hat, stand, and be respectful of the flag. I recently had a discussion with different people about singing the anthem. Many people agree you might try singing if the band or a recording is playing it, but that you should respect a soloist and give that person the full stage.
Respect performers as well. Don’t get up and leave when your child is done performing. Be appreciative of all the kids playing or putting on a show. It’s also a good idea to avoid leaving the room unless there is an emergency as it can disrupt what is happening on stage.
Being responsible falls on both adults and students. Listen, our gym is small; there isn’t much room on the sidelines. Parents absolutely need to be responsible for their children. Don’t go tracking across the corners of the court during a game unless there is a stoppage. Know where your kids are. I don’t know how many times over the years the clock has been accidentally unplugged because kids are running around under the bleachers.
Students and adults should be responsible for their mess as well. It’s not all right to say, “Well, the janitor can clean it up.” Pick up your garbage before you leave. Our custodians do a good job, but treat your garbage at a game as you would at home; I hope you don’t dump an empty pop bottle on the ground there.
Being safe can be an offshoot of responsibility. When you or your child cut across the floor, it can impact play. A player or official could get hurt. Plus, especially in winter, you can’t help but track snow and dirt across the floor. Please wait until a stoppage of play to go in and out of the gym, and then stay off the court. I’ve actually seen a coach tell people they couldn’t walk in front of him during game play and wanted to applaud him.
All these things go hand in hand. If we all work on them together, it makes games, concerts, and performances a great experience. Show YOUR Panther Pride at the next NRHEG event you attend!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is intransigent, which means unwilling to compromise, as in, “The unruly fan was intransigent when asked to calm down and take his seat; that is, until the official threw him out of the game.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
As our cold snap continues, I’m floating back in my time machine to my youth. My parents live on a hobby farm outside New Ulm, and when I was younger, they always had sheep in the barn.
Full disclosure: I hated those animals. They may well be the dumbest creatures on this planet, and they were an awful lot of work for what we got out of them. Still, as with many things in life, I can look back and realize the full value of the experience.
We mainly had Suffolk sheep, the black-faced variety. Dad never had more than maybe twenty sheep at a time, so it’s not as if I had to spend hours outside taking care of them. Really, sheep are pretty self-sufficient, as long as they have a pasture in which to roam and access to water. We had quite a bit of room in the pasture and a creek running through.
What were my responsibilities? I would bring them some feed once a day. I’d get them hay when needed. And then there was the lambing process.
This is what I’ve been reminded of during our cold winter. This was always lambing season, and the ewes seemed to pick the absolute coldest days and nights to give birth. Dad and/or I would be down in the barn, trying to coax these newborns into a safe, warm environment.
Did you know that it’s much more common for a ewe to have twins than just a single lamb? That made for some work when a mother needed help. You’d barely get one lamb cleaned up and suckling than the next would arrive. When triplets arrived, it was even more hectic; after all, it’s not like we did ultrasounds to see how many were coming!
One time, I got home from school and headed down to the barn in time to help a ewe deliver quads! I was probably 13 or 14 at the time. More than two can be trouble. The mother only has two places with which to feed, so anything more than two can lead to problems of abandonment. Often, a third lamb would have to be brought in the house to be bottle fed and kept warm.
In this case, the fourth lamb was quite small. I hastened to clean out its nose and mouth, but wasn’t able to in time. I recall being devastated when that lamb died. Now remember, I really disliked these animals. But that one moment in time really helped me understand the value of life and the difficulty of a farm life. The mother may never have noticed, but I’ve carried that memory with me ever since.
We showed sheep at the county fair for 4-H. This was a lot of work as well, getting them cleaned up and set to go. The week of the fair might have been my favorite every year. It was a week at the fairgrounds, and luckily, the sheep show was always the first night; the rest of the fair was ours to enjoy.
The work ethic I gained through these experiences was invaluable. Pitching manure wasn’t pleasant, but it taught me to not wait on big tasks or they will become even bigger! Carrying five-gallon buckets of water to the barn from the house to keep expectant ewes hydrated taught me to do as much as I could at one time (six buckets was my record).
And then there was baling hay. Understand, I have some allergies, and hayfever is first and foremost among them. Still, there I was three times a year on the hayrack, stacking the bales as they emerged from the baler. Usually, there was rain on the way and we were in a hurry, but trundling along in our small field and the local ditches also taught me lessons.
First, I learned to fight through my impediments. I was generally miserable and sneezing my way through this task. But it had to be done.
Second, I learned that when you’re the dad, you get to pick the task you want. Dad got to drive the tractor. THAT’S the job I wanted, but it wasn’t going to happen. I think one time, after the rack tipped in a ditch, with me and about 20 bales on it, Dad let me drive tractor for a while, but that was about it.
I sometimes think that every kid should spend a year in a farming scenario. My own kids need to toughen up a bit, and I’m sure there are plenty more that could use some of these same lessons I learned, along with the idea of getting your work done NOW, not when you feel like it. I may not have liked it at the time, but my farm experience has made me a better person today, thanks to my parents.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is yare, which means ready or prepared, as in, “The farm boy was yare when the call came out from the neighbors to help finish baling hay.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
This week is traditionally the coldest week of the year. After the arctic blast we had to start January, that’s a frightening thought! Still, as we trudge through winter and outdoor activities are not as plentiful, it’s always a good time to find a new book to read and new worlds to discover.
I enjoy reading; that much should be obvious. Michelle and the kids also are voracious readers. One thing I’ve found over the years is the great pleasure in sharing a good book and being able to talk about it with others.
I do this in my classes. My 7th graders read Tom Sawyer and The Outsiders, two books that many of my readers have probably read as well. My 8th graders read The Diary of Anne Frank, The Revealers, and Tex. Part of the joy of teaching these outstanding pieces of literature is the discussion portion of class. Kids come up with fascinating ideas on their own, and it’s also fun to see the light go on in some students’ eyes as we discuss a part they previously hadn’t understood.
Students often ask me what my favorite book of all time is. That one’s easy: To Kill a Mockingbird. As with many of you, I first read Harper Lee’s masterpiece in high school. I’ve read it a number of times since then, and the great thing about this book is that every time I read it, I think things will turn out differently in the courtroom. Atticus Finch has such profound arguments that I think no jury can find Tom Robinson guilty.
What else tops my list? The Hobbit is another great work of literature. I’m afraid now that we’ll have a whole generation that will watch the movies first and never bother with the novel. This is another book I read back in middle school and even used to teach. The descriptive prose that J.R.R. Tolkien uses can take some getting used to, but it has a lyrical quality that makes it even better when read aloud. In fact, since studies show you should read to your unborn child, that’s the book I chose to read to Jayna while she was waiting to be born.
Frankenstein is a classic novel, but many people often just think of the monster movies from the past and brush it off. Try it though; the monster is a sympathetic creature, and Mary Shelley gives some real human qualities to it, while removing those same qualities from its creator. While it certainly has a tinge of science fiction, it’s a compelling read.
You might ask, “How about more recent books?” Michelle and I both read Stephen King’s 11/22/63 last year and found it an amazing read. The best part was reading it and discussing different aspects of it together afterward. “Are you at this part yet?” was a common refrain. I’m not normally a big King fan, but there’s not really his typical horror element here. There are parts that are disturbing, but the question of, “Would you try to save JFK if you had the chance to go back in time?” is scintillating in how King approaches it. Even though time travel is involved, it feels real.
Michelle has been reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. These books also have a time travel element, but my wife has said it’s not a typical time travel story. These books are about a woman who is torn from her present in the 20th century and thrust back to the 18th century. It has romance, historical fiction, adventure, and science fiction all mixed together. Michelle is eagerly awaiting the eighth book that will come out in June, as well as a TV series on Starz.
There are certainly other books that are worth reading. I enjoy the Harry Potter series, as well as the Game of Thrones series. I read a lot of comics that are great prose, mixed with great art. Watchmen might be the best example of this. Sharing these great books with you gives me pleasure, and I’d love to discuss them with anyone who wants. I’m also always looking for new books that you might feel are really good. Let me know; maybe we can share some good stories!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is hebetate, which means to make dull, as in, “The teacher tried not to hebetate the great novel by discussing it in too much detail.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
I read with interest a story about Medford’s volleyball coach not having her contract renewed for next year. This coach continually increased the win total every year, and Medford volleyball had the best year in the history of the program last fall.
So why was she not renewed? There has been much speculation, and I’ve seen reports that she was fired for not playing the “right” people. I’ve also seen rumors that she has been accused of bullying players. We may never know.
It got me to thinking about coaching. As I continue coaching Jayna’s basketball team, this is the 18th team I’ve coached for basketball, plus 13 years of coaching baseball. I used to be convinced I would coach forever and that I wanted to be a varsity coach. No more. When I’m done with Jayna’s group and after a stint of coaching Anton for baseball, I’m through.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy coaching. When all you have to worry about is that – coaching – it’s a fantastic job. But there’s so much more involved, even at my level, and I can’t imagine what our varsity coaches deal with.
Last fall, I threw the idea at Pat Churchill, NRHEG’s boys’ basketball coach, that we might never see another varsity coach that stays at that level for 30+ years, such as Ted Pelzl and Jeff Reese. He agreed quickly; while he enjoys his position, he thought that being a varsity coach for that long is unrealistic today for most people.
Let’s look back at the Medford volleyball position. If the coach indeed bullied players and scared some off from the team, that’s very wrong. Why would she do that? Did she feel pressure to win? Someone once told me that in small communities like ours, no coach has ever been fired for not winning.
Or look at the other possibility – not playing the “right” people. Listen, I understand that parents want to see their children succeed and get a chance, but life doesn’t always work that way. Do parents do the same thing if their children don’t qualify for an advanced placement class in school? I’m guessing the griping happens a lot more in extracurriculars. If you want a chance to play more, then work harder. Also, understand that some people just might be better than you in the end. It’s the same experience some people have in the job market.
Coaching at a varsity level is a different beast today than it was when I was growing up. Back then, your season was clearly defined. Fall sports started in mid-August and ran through October. Winter sports went from November until February. Spring sports were an exception, where school events happened from March to May, and then most of us played summer ball.
Today, you have 12 months of some sports. Basketball coaches have players leaving for volleyball practice, football coaches see players playing fall baseball, and all summer coaches fight with basketball leagues during June and July. You don’t just get to be a varsity coach during your season; it’s a year-round job.
People grumble if you don’t win. Everyone has an opinion on what you should change, whether it’s the offensive scheme or the playing rotation. Hey, I have opinions too, but I can at least look at things from the perspective of someone who has a lot of years of coaching under my belt.
My goodness, John Schultz helped lead our girls’ basketball team to a state championship, and I’ve still heard complaints about how he runs the program. Are you kidding me? What do you think can improve? He’s helped set up the program so that even after this year’s seniors leave, there won’t be a giant dip in talent, and there will be fundamentally sound players.
Some people just won’t be happy unless their vicarious inclinations are fulfilled through their children. It’s time to get the blinders off and recognize that most coaches will always do what they feel is best for their program, even if it might not be what you like. Not every coach is great and not every coach makes good decisions, but most of them do what’s best for the team.
It’s difficult to find coaches these days; just ask Dan Stork about that task. It doesn’t make it any easier since so many coaches know that they have to do so much more than just coach kids. My hat’s off to those who can carry on at a varsity level for an extended period of time. I know, and I hope others do as well, that you’re doing the best job you can.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is concatenate, which means to link together, as in, “Dr. James Naismith was a wise man when he was able to concatenate a peach basket and a ball to create basketball.” Thanks to Galen Spinler for this week’s word! Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
January 1 is a holy day in the Catholic Church, honoring Mary as the Mother of God. To the best of my understanding, one of the biggest differences between Catholics and other denominations of Christianity is the way in which Mary is worshipped.
I find it ironic then that the Catholic Church places Mary on this pedestal, but they lag behind other religions in how women are treated overall.
Growing up, only the boys in my class were trained to be altar servers. I don’t recall many women reading at mass in those earlier days. About the only place you’d find a woman involved was as an organist or member of the choir.
This changed slowly. Girls were allowed to be acolytes a couple years after I started. Women are more prevalent in all aspects of mass roles. Except one.
When will women be allowed a place in becoming priests? I used to think, “Not in my lifetime,” but Pope Francis sure seems to be a little more liberal in his thinking. He raised eyebrows during his first Holy Week as the pontiff last year in allowing women to be part of the traditional foot-washing ceremony on Holy Thursday. This had not been done before, with the rationale that these people represented the apostles of Jesus.
I always want to shake my head when people use the Bible as an excuse for being prejudiced. “It’s in the Bible!” Really? Shall we dive into both the Old and New Testaments’ rules about slaves? Apparently, it’s okay to buy them from the countries around you, but not any farther away. How about the rules for food that is clean or unclean? Our menus would be a lot shorter if we followed biblical rules.
So before someone says women can’t be priests because they represent the Apostles, who were all men, and the Bible says so, hold your horses. You don’t get to pick and choose which Bible verses you follow. You either follow ALL of them word for word or go with the understanding that, historically, things change.
During Jesus’ time, women were not considered anywhere near equal to men, so of course He would not call them to be his closest companions – who would take Him seriously? If Jesus showed up today and cavorted around with 12 men, many would question that. It’s much more likely that he would have a more diverse group of friends.
Before Pope Francis was picked, I used this forum to wish the Catholic Church would pick someone who could modernize the church in order to bring people back to worship. The pope has begun this process through his welcoming of all people, no matter who they are, what area of diversity they represent, or what they believe.
I bet the pope would even invite Phil Robertson to come for a visit. All the hype about the Duck Dynasty star’s comments received much more attention than they deserved. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, and whether you agree with someone or not does not make your antagonist a bad person. I’m sure there will be people who disagree with my ideas in this column, but I’m not going to hate you because you don’t agree with me.
Let’s face it: the Catholic Church has a couple of big problems right now – a lack of priests and the abuse scandal. Don’t for a minute think those two aren’t related. If women could be priests and especially if priests could be married, the abuse would not be so widespread.
The Church continues to lose people though; it’s not surprising folks won’t trust an institution that allows and covers up a scandal, but then turns around and says being a leader in that Church is a calling that only 50% of the population can have. Plus, the Church has always said its leaders are infallible and have tried to worm out of laws in our country, hiding behind some old-fashioned code of separation of church and state in that arena.
Perhaps Pope Francis is laying the groundwork already to allow 100% of people who feel called by God to become priests. It sure seems like it if you examine his words closely. I pray this is so, because it would go a long way to saving the church in so many areas.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is pecksniffian, which means pretending to have high moral standards, as in, “The columnist hoped he did not come off as pecksniffian since he really stood by what he said.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
When you read this, the Minnesota Vikings will have played their last game ever in the Hubert H. Humphery Metrodome. The Twins and Gophers have already entered new homes, so the Vikes were the last regular tenants.
Many people disliked the Metrodome for various reasons. I was not one of them. Listen, I love outdoor baseball and have enjoyed some nice days at Target Field. However, I’ve also been there when it was 100 degrees and when it was 45 degrees and rainy. The past idea of attending a professional sporting event, with the prices I have to pay to do so, and being able to sit in 70 degree comfort without the threat of being dumped on, was comforting.
I’ve actually had the privilege of seeing baseball in three different stadiums. My first-ever Twins game was during the final season at the Met against the White Sox. I’ve been to at least one game a year at Target Field. Still, there have been many more games and memories provided at the Dome. As you traipse through your own memories, allow me to indulge in some of mine.
Kirby Puckett has always been my favorite Twin. This might be due in large part to the first game I saw at the Dome and the inimitable way Bob Casey announced the Twins’ center fielder. My sister thought it was Kirby Pick-up, and who was I to change her mind? Besides, I was too busy exploring this new marvel of a baseball field. Over the years, I think I checked out every nook and cranny I could. Just like my first trip to Target Field, I spent as much time looking around as I did watching baseball.
One summer, my baseball coach bet us that if we won our first playoff game, he’d take us all to a Twins game. It seemed like a safe bet for him; we were the last place team in the league and had gotten swamped twice already by the team we were playing. Never underestimate boys’ desire to watch baseball! We won the game and got good seats behind the first base dugout. We even got to sit by fans from the Toronto Blue Jays, the team the Twins were playing. I still have the Canadian dollar they gave me!
The most important games I saw were Games 1 of the 1991 ALCS and World Series. Dad was able to get tickets in lower left field, and I’ll never forget those games. The atmosphere was incredible, and we only sat down between innings, especially during the World Series. A lady in front of me had a shirt her brother had made and was selling, urging fans to “Stop the Chop,” in reference to the Atlanta Braves. I literally bought that shirt off her back! (Don’t worry, she had another one on under it!)
The only other game that approached those in sound was when Mark McGwire was chasing the home run record in 1998. Michelle and I went to a game where he hit a home run, and the noise was effusive. It even got loud when he jacked some out during batting practice. I’m an old-school baseball guy and still think Roger Maris holds the single-season home run record, but at the time, McGwire was a god in cleats.
Thanks to Jeff Reese, I had some unique experiences at the Metrodome for NRHEG baseball games too. I went along the first year of the new turf when the varsity was going to play. It was pretty awesome to explore the bowels of the stadium and the locker rooms. Plus, I got to walk the field and take some fly balls while staring at the roof. To top things off though, I even got a chance to umpire! The regular game was over and there was still time remaining in the teams’ rental time. The umps had taken off, so I got to step in for a scrimmage for about an hour.
It only got better the next couple times the high school team went. Coach Reese arranged for me to announce the game from the press box. I’d always wanted to play with a real sound system, and here was my chance! I even tried my best to remind people, as Bob Casey always did before Twins games, that there was, “NO smoking in the Metrodome!”
I saw a few Gophers football games over the years, but never watched the Vikings in person. The ticket prices always seemed too extravagant to pay, and I can only imagine what they will be at the new stadium! I’m sure many of you have your own memories of this outdated stadium, and I hope you’re already beginning to build new memories at the new ones!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is falstaffian, which means fat and jolly, as in, “Win or lose, there would be many falstaffian fans at the last game at the Metrodome, imbibing in one last shot at Dome Dogs.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
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As 2014 approaches, many of us think about ways to change our lives for the better in the new year. Many make a big deal about resolutions, but the reality is most of us don’t keep them for very long.
The practice of making resolutions goes back to the ancient Babylonians, who promised to repay their debts in the year ahead and return any objects they had borrowed. The Romans made the same promises to their god Janus, who was a two-headed god. He looked both behind and ahead, which is where we get the name of our first month of the calendar year. Even medieval knights took what was called a “peacock vow” to renew their vows of chivalry.
I’m guessing the knights kept their vows for the most part, but the Babylonians and Romans might have been in the same boat as many of us: the resolutions went by the wayside by the end of January. A study in 2007 showed that 88% of all people who make resolutions fail. That success rate makes you wonder why people even try.
But try we do, and those who find success can feel even better about themselves; after all, they’re a small percentage! Studies have also shown that the success rate goes up when the resolution is shared with others. With that in mind, I’d like to share some resolutions that maybe we can all work on together and find success in some shared goals.
One area I’d like to improve is judging other people. It’s very easy to do that, and I’m certainly guilty of it in this column. There are times someone needs to be called out or a discussion can ensue about certain actions from prominent figures in the news. However, in day-to-day life, this is an area I can improve, and I’m guessing I’m not alone.
If it’s one thing Mr. Bunn has brought to our school as the principal, it’s to look at the whole person before we pass judgment. It’s easy to get upset with a student who does not do any work or who takes attitude with you, but sometimes there is more to the story. Maybe the child’s parents are going through a divorce. Maybe someone in the family was diagnosed with an illness. Maybe Dad lost his job or Mom got evicted.
All these things can lead to a student acting out or not being motivated to work. We should try to help that student through the difficult time but also give the child a comforting place in which he or she can feel safe and wanted, which might not always be the case at home.
I can always work on being a better father and husband. Again, many of you might be able to say the same; I don’t know if any of us are ever perfect.
I don’t always understand the needs of my kids and sometimes get frustrated when I can see a clear solution to their problem, but they cannot. Sometimes logic does not take center stage, and the better I understand that, the better parent I can be.
I don’t always express my feelings to Michelle either. Too many times, I have too much going on in my head, and I fail to tell her something important or don’t listen enough when she has something to tell me. As you read this, maybe you can relate. Michelle and I have a great marriage, but I know it’s an area that many couples find needs work and constant vigilance.
There are times I feel I am too busy. It seems there is something going on every evening and/or some meeting at school that I need to attend. Instead of cutting back, I have at least tried to stop taking on more. I’ve got to start limiting the stretching I do to accommodate the needs of others, or the people closest to me will suffer, as will I.
The kids will always keep me busy, and that’s great. I want them to be involved and try new things. They’re learning too that sometimes there is only so much they can do, but finding those boundaries is a great life skill to know already.
Won’t you join me in trying to become a better person? I know I’m not alone in these resolutions, and maybe together we can be part of the 12% that succeed!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is importune, which means to ask someone repeatedly to do something, as in, “The columnist importuned his readers week after week to make progress on their shared resolutions.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, was singing!”
This is what the Grinch hears from the top of Mount Crumpit in Dr. Seuss’ holiday classic. EVERY Who was singing, even though he had stolen everything they had related to Christmas.
Singing, even when things aren’t going your way – what a concept! I’ve written before about the importance of music, and what better time than the Christmas holiday season to reiterate that ideal.
Singing is something almost all of us do at some point. People sing in the shower, in the car on the way to work, and while listening to their iPods. There was a great Saturday Night Live skit years ago of someone driving and singing along with the radio. Then the radio was taken out, and we got to hear what most of us probably really sound like!
It takes a lot to sing in front of a group of people. Just look at all the people on shows like American Idol. They not only have to be good at singing, but also mentally tough to do that in front of a national audience. I always admire our NRHEG students who step up to sing the National Anthem before sporting events. Kids like Alexis Wyatt and Lillie Nielsen really do “The Star-Spangled Banner” proud when they take the microphone.
I wish we had more students who would do that. I wish more people would feel comfortable singing outside the shower, period! I can understand the fear of performing in front of a large group, but what about other places?
I lead my church in song, whether it’s with the keyboard or starting a song acapella and hoping I hit the right opening note. I’m sometimes disappointed in the volume of voices. To me, a vibrant church includes many people singing loudly and to the best of their abilities.
When my father-in-law was alive, he often said, “God gave me this voice; He has to listen to it.” That’s so true! I don’t feel like I have a great voice. However, I know this much: my voice has gotten better with practice and just general use.
I went through a stage in college and beyond a little bit where I didn’t really sing in church. I realized I was drifting away from my faith, and the lack of singing was a big part of that. Our previous pastor, Fr. Swami, said that singing is like praying twice. That makes a lot of sense; I know it helped me get more in touch with my faith when I resumed singing.
When I query some people about a lack of singing, they will say that they’re not very good. Yet last weekend, Matthew Misgen approached me after church and said that he gives it his best, even if he’s not a great singer, and he would like to hear more music. I wish everyone had that attitude; it’s difficult to get into my playing and singing when I can pick out voices instead of hearing a clamorous congregation.
Christmas is a great time of year to renew the spirit of singing. Even if you’re not a church-going person, you will probably engage in some caroling this time of year, maybe just singing some “Jingle Bells.” My Aunt Karen told me how she read that singing is supposed to help keep your brain healthy and ward off dementia and other mental deteriorations. So sing, if for no other reason than it will keep you sharp!
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started in low. Then it started to grow…but the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry! It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
I wish all my readers a very merry Christmas! Celebrate it by singing!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is tremulous, which means shaking with fear, as in, “The singer was tremulous as she started the song, but her nerves quickly wore off and she performed well.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
My name is Mark, but I hardly ever hear that. I’m called many things (probably some I don’t want to know about), but rarely by my given name. It’s usually Honey from my wife, Dad from my kids, and Mr. D from my students. In fact, when I do hear someone say Mark, I am usually caught unaware, unsure of what I’ve just heard.
Names have power. It’s why we don’t call teachers, doctors, and priests by just their first names very often; we don’t feel like we should have power over them. We have nicknames from various eras in our lives, some that even stick from youth all the way through.
Last week I wrote about my announcing career. One of the things some people tell me they look forward to is what batch of nicknames I might have for players. Some are blatantly stolen from others (Carlie “The Dagger” Wagner is thanks to the Swami), some are spontaneous (Harlee “Vroom Vroom” Vokoun comes to mind), and others have a good story behind them.
The first nickname I handed out came in my third year here. Paul Johnson was working on a project with Danny Gullickson while they sat on the floor. Danny dared Paul to stick a paper clip in an electric outlet. Who could resist something like that besides 99% of us? Paul took the dare, and the next thing everyone in the class knew, a fuse had been blown, and Paul was sitting in a daze with a paper clip in his hand. He was dubbed Sparky, and that name stuck at least through high school.
One of my favorites dates back to when I coached summer rec baseball in Ellendale and Geneva. Justin Stieglbauer was a good player on what was a very good team. However, Stiggy liked to do more than was necessary: he would dive to make a catch when he didn’t have to or take an extra base when he shouldn’t have tried. One day I told him that he was becoming a legend in his own mind, and that was that. The other boys joined in naming Justin “The Legend,” and that’s how I announced him all the way through his senior year of high school.
Curt Pederson and I didn’t always get along in middle school, so I ironically called him “My good friend,” Curt Pederson. I often joked that that was the way I’d introduce him in a varsity game someday. He said if I did that, he’d come up in the booth and smack me. I did it anyway. He said it fired him up so much for the football game that he played a spectacular game, making a number of good defensive plays.
Some nicknames have stuck even after high school. Taylor Holland is a vivacious person, and his motor was always running in school. Before a wrestling meet in high school, I thought that Taylor needed a nickname to match his personality, and thus was born the longest nickname I’ve ever given: The Mouth of the South, the Master of Disaster. To this day, as he assists as a coach for football, I still introduce him that way.
Not everyone gets a nickname. It has to be something that fits and that the crowd might be able to understand. Earlier this year, Leon Schoenrock approached me and said he had the perfect nickname for Kevin Kalis for basketball season: Big Country. Kevin is a force in the lane at 6’6”, so that seemed appropriate. A week ago, some of his classmates told me I should call him Jif, based on some inside joke. Eh, I’ll go with Leon’s suggestion.
Sometimes it’s not even a nickname; some last names are just fun to announce. Joe Moon’s last name was fun to drag out on the vowel sound. Paige Overgaard’s last name lets me go over a hill. Plus, any name that starts with an R can get a growl out of me (think of that for Greg and Geoff Ramaker or even when I can add it to a previous consonant like in Trevor Tracy).
There have been so many fun ones over the years. Alearah “Hello” Neumann, “The Prophet” Eli Bushlack, and Jade “The Blade” Schultz have all been fun, and I look forward to what new ones pop up in the years to come.
Me? I’ll stick to Mr. D, Domeier, Dome Dog, or even Mr. Domeier most days. I expect to hear those much more than Mark… and that’s okay.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is ineluctable, which means impossible to avoid, as in, “It was ineluctable to attend a girls’ basketball game at NRHEG without hearing about a Dagger and a Blade during starting lineups.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
Last week, I mentioned a number of teachers that had an impact on me, especially as an educator. There’s one more who influenced that job and another, that of announcer for Panther varsity events. As we begin the winter sports season, my busiest behind the microphone, it’s appropriate to look at the importance of my Oral Interpretation class at Winona State, taught by Vivian Fusillo.
Vivian was and is a dynamic personality. Her class was a mixture of education and theater majors. The purpose of the class? We had to learn to read with vigor and learn how to change our voices to fit our speaking. There was probably no other class in college that better set me on the path I walk than that one.
Vivian drove her students. We weren’t done with a project until she was satisfied we couldn’t do it any better. She would make you stand in front of the class and redo something until you reached that point. She was a true example of making sure every student reached his or her fullest potential.
This class gave me free reign to be as crazy as I wanted. I had been gregarious before, but Oral Interp opened me up to be free of worry about what others thought. For my final exam, I chose the theme of Spider-Man and “performed” three different pieces of written work about the wall-crawler. I read from a comic, read a poem, and read/sang the old theme song from his cartoon show. As I did this, I donned a Spider-Man mask and leapt from desktop to desktop.
Vivian’s class was my absolute favorite in college, and I quickly realized how important it would be to me at NRHEG. I love reading to my classes and adding touches that I learned how to do in that class.
A bigger stage was waiting though. Former AD, Ted Pelzl, happened to ask me during my first year if I could step in and announce a couple of playoff basketball games we were hosting in NR. None of the teams were from here; we were a neutral site. I asked why he would ask me, and Ted was honest in saying that he just really needed somebody and didn’t know who else to ask.
I hesitated before accepting. Fate does funny things sometimes. What if I had not happened to run into Ted that day? What if I would have said no? I actually considered that answer. Me announce? In front of hundreds of strangers? What would I say?
After I finally said yes, I thought again back to my WSU days. Not only did I think back to Vivian’s class, but I thought about the WSU announcer, Brice Wilkenson. Brice was a crazy man at the microphone. He really got into the starting lineups and was beyond excited for big plays. Ted gave me some basic directions to follow, and then I added in some of the things I heard Brice say at Warriors’ games.
And the rest is history. Before then, we didn’t have play by play at basketball games too often. I started to do that when I could and helped out with football games occasionally when Chuck Crabtree couldn’t make it. Now I make it to every game I conceivably can and love every minute of it, whether the home team wins or loses.
I continue to strive to refine my work and get better, but most of my best stuff is off the top of my head. I love to be the Voice of the Panthers!
By the time you read this, the boys’ basketball team will have played already, and the girls’ home opener is now Dec. 5 – today! Come and watch both teams as well as our wrestlers throughout the season – it’s money well spent, and it should be another exciting winter sports season! Thank you for your kind attention, and please read the rest of the paper safely!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is amaranthine, which means unfading or everlasting, as in, “The announcer’s amaranthine dedication to the home team was evident in his boisterous support.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!