This video surfaced recently. Despite the 22 years that have gone by since it was taken, I think I remember this as the night I got a speeding ticket going south on 101 somewhere around San Mateo. It was fun being there when the brothers got together, this was taken when Mike, Freda, Theresa and Helen came out from North Dakota.

Bye George

I've been had

I'm coaching JV softball at Bishop O'Dowd this year. It's a good bunch of kids, I enjoy doing this, and believe me, it's for the love, not the money. Practice on Monday was difficult, kids were lacking energy and focus, and a couple kids were sick, so they didn't show up. We have a very tough opponent in Castro Valley scheduled for Thursday, so I'm trying hard to get them prepared.

OK, Monday not so good, let's see what happens Tuesday.

We have a zig-zag throwing drill that involves throwing, running, and synchronization. Typically I have to call out the order where someone runs, but I decided to sit back and watch. They did it about 95% correctly without me saying a thing, best they've ever done - and I told them how pleased I was. Between some other drills and Dale throwing batting practice, they took a couple of water breaks. I have about 3 or 4 brief encounters with Brenda, it goes something like this:

#1
Brenda: Coach I gotta tell you something.
Me: What's up?
Brenda: No I can't tell you now
Me: scratching my head

#2
Me: Hey Brenda, what's up?
Brenda: I can't tell you.
Me: What do you mean?
Brenda: She'll kill me if I say anything

#3
Me: Is it someone on the team?
Brenda: Yeah

#4
Me: OK, who is it
Brenda: (sheepishly) It's Adrianne
Me: Is it me? Is it personal?
Brenda: Yeah

Adrianne is a nice kid, but for her, becoming a great softball player is neither an ambition nor a priority. At least once per practice (or so it seems) I have to repeat something because she's having a side conversation with another kid about who knows what.

Brenda: She's leaving the team, but you can't let her parents know the real reason.
Me: OK, I'll talk to her

Ugh! She must think I hate her, she's miserable because I have to go out of my way to correct her, sometimes on technique, more often on behavior. Now I have to confront her and the latest drama. Is she going to lose it?

Batting practice continues, Adrianne is due up second. I try to clear the dugout, with limited success. My opportunity arrives to take on the situation.

Me: Adrianne, can I get a word with you?
Adrianne: Sure
Me: So what's on your mind?
Adrianne: Uh, nothing.
Me: I mean with the team. Are you cool with everything that's going on?
Adrianne: Uh, yeah, what do you mean?

Then ands there I realize I've been had.

Me: Is this Brenda's idea of an Apirl fool's joke?
Adrianne: Uh, yeah, I guess so.
Me: Dang, Adrianne! You had me cold! All you had to do was tremble or cry or something! you had me smoked on that one!

Anyway, it was fun and funny, I admire the way Brenda put it together. Even coach V was in on it. When we huddled at the end of practice he told me of the original plan, which was tha Adrianne was pregnant and had to leave the team.

ring in the new year

my family spent a quiet new years eve at home, something we haven't done in years. Played Eric's Settlers of Catan board game after going our for a simple meal. I started 2008 off in healthy fashion by taking a bike ride down Redwood, across Monterey and through Butters canyon.
and hey, sold another shirt on redbubble! check it out!

BCO video snippet

Dean Thomas and I got a drum and bass solo in the middle of I Wish... see it here!

garment print on demand

This is a great new resource for printing t-shirts on demand. I've put a couple of brand new music designs up there. Check out my Bountee page.

Tournament ball '07

I never did take the time to write about my tournament team from summer of '07. We had a really great group of kids, they showed a level of dedication and love of the game that impressed me deeply. My most sincere thanks to my assistants, Maria Morris and Lauren White, all the parents and families that were involved, and OGSL - all of whom supported this cause all the way. Here are among my recaps:

We got dusted in San Ramon, went 0-3-1, tying Alameda in a late inning rally that kept the weekend from being an entire bust. I knew this would be our most challenging tournament, my approach was to give the girls a jolt of reality and see how they responded...

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Next up: Carmel, June 30, July 1.
wow.
this was a weekend I will long remember - I think we all will. I was hoping to have played 2 more games by the time it was over, but we walked away with a lot to be proud of. Contributions from every player up and down the roster, the support of families, great setting, great weather, a great Saturday night get-together - I wish all tournaments were as much fun as this one. The win over the Valley Magic was a game to remember all in its own. Ask me some time in person.
Saturday:
Oakland 9, Belmont 5; Oakland 3, Valley Magic 1; Oakland 12, San Carlos 9
Sunday:
Oakland 4, San Anselmo 2; Almaden 6, Oakland 4

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San Jose - Wess Jones Memorial
this was a fun tournament, and the kids really gave it their all. We finished 2nd, lost the championship game by a single run. Ouch (but not THAT painful)
Natalie pitched all or parts of 6 games. Home runs by Callie, Lexi and Kera. Very proud of all our girls!
Official recaps

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Benicia, August 10-11
Our season has come to a conclusion this weekend in Benicia, and I'm glad to tell you all that we fought our way once again to the championship game. But alas, bridesmaids again: we were soundly defeated by a very strong Redding team. It seems as though they had the philosophy "we're not driving 4 hours down highway 5 to not bring home the big hardware!"
We played pretty tough all weekend though, we consistently jumped out to leads in every game we played. Our batteries were outstanding, especially Natalie (she makes me so proud) and Erin (our team MVP, catcher and leadoff hitter), they worked 5 complete games together. Haley also pitched very well with Alexis catching. We played some great D on and off, and it seems we learned from a couple of key mistakes, then turned similar opportunities into big outs in the field.
In Sunday morning elimination play, we went back and forth with Santa Rosa, scrapping for runs after blowing a 5-2 lead. We're playing defense and up 8-6 in their last at bat. With two out and a runner on second, there's a single hit sharply to our left fielder. In the previous inning our left fielder Kera had tried to play a single back to the infield and thrown poorly, missing the cutoff and allowing 2 runs to score. Naturally, the third base coach remembers this in the next inning and sends his runner home, only to see her get HOSED!!! at the plate to end the game. A very strong throw to the plate and our catcher had her pegged by 15 feet. YEAH!! Winning on Sunday, baby, that's all that matters! (thank you Al Davis - hey, we're Oakland, right?)
3 weeks ago we lost a close one to Lamorinda in the championship game in South San Jose. Well, this weekend we exacted some sweet revenge. In Sunday's semifinal, we sent them home as we advanced with a 6-3 victory. Nursing a lead coming into the bottom of the final inning, Nat strikes out the leadoff batter, then gives up a hit and a run on an error. One out later, but with the momentum clearly on their side, Natalie goes to her change up to induce a game ending ground out by their slugging catcher. A 13-year old girl in an 18-year old's frame, she blasted a triple in the first inning. With Erin calling pitches brilliantly, Natalie kept her off balance the rest of the game, retiring her on a pop up and the aforementioned ground out to Alexis at short.
In the championship against Redding, we could only manage to spread out 5 hits, while the Rapids parlayed 5 hits and a number of errors into an 8-run second inning. One of our theories: Redding is a warm weather town, and as our girls looked to be withering in the 80+ degree sunshine, the (perceived) heat hindered the Rapids not at all.
So there you have it, my summer coaching girls softball. Our record: 12 wins, 9 losses, 2 ties. Combined with our league's 10 and under team coming away with a second in Half Moon Bay and a first in Rohnert Park, we're making great strides in travel ball. Gone for now are the 3 hour practices and the hauling of equipment, trading keys to Owen Jones and getting booted from Flood without permits. Time for me and the family to get a little R&R - aloha, peeps!

go VIPERS!!!

New projects, part 2

With my partner Allan Miller, DSD is building a project management tool to use in the agile development style of building software.
We've seen a number of open source tools out there, and most provide many layers of functionality. As a result, they are so much more than what our small business clients are interested in (or capable of utilizing), that we started to build our own tool.
Keep an eye out for news regarding DSD's AgileMonitor (coming soon).

New projects on the horizon, part 1

If you know a little about me, then you know that I'm involved in youth sports. I've got great memories of playing baseball when I was a kid, and part of those memories are of the coaches who led our teams. Not all were great, but I've always kept in mind the ones that were good instructors and genuine caring people.
Enter a new project, PlayerDev. Through my own coaching experience, and as league player development coordinator, I've gathered tons of drills, ideas for practice plans, insights as to what helps a player hone their skills. I'm bringing all this and more together in an online resource that will benefit players and coaches. It's a free web-based community where coaches can both contribute and gather information, supplemented by diagrams, pictures, video and multimedia.
The launch date will be in the upcoming months, but you can get a glimpse of the site at PlayerDev.com.