The Origin of Coach41

I go by all sorts of nicknames but one identity I have throughly adopted as been "coach41".  I use it for this blog among other things.  While my closest friends know I use this identity, I don't think anyone really knows the ORIGINS of how coach41 came about. 

Back over in 1998, I had graduated from college and working.   Even though I had graduated, my primary email address was the one I still had from college since 1995.  However, in time, the school informed me that my email address was going to be terminated.  I had to find an alternative email account / address. 

Fortunately, with the rise of the Internet around that time, there were plenty of providers of free email so I went to sign up for an account.  The problem was to decided on an appropriate username.   I'm not sure why I didn't select the username I had from school (maybe it wasn't available).  

After thinking about things, I finally settled on "coach41".  Why coach41?   Two reasons:

1.  

Around 1998-1999, I was still coaching basketball at my old grammar school.  I felt the "coach" moniker still fit me well.  

2.  

Around 1998-1999, cell phones and instant messaging weren't used as much as they are today.  The biggest technology in use this time were pagers.   My friends and I had pagers.  For people who don't know about pagers, people would call the pager and send a number to the pager for people to call them (i.e., 415-210-2121) .   However, someone came up with the idea to use numbers as letters and thus was born the first version of texting.  Some of the more popular messages are below:  

43110 = HELLO

837 = THINKING OF YOU

143 = I LOVE YOU 

6000 171647 = GOOD NIGHT

Unlike today, where your phone number is attached to your text messages, there was no easy way to identify you if you texted the random numbers above.  So, to identify yourself, you would put your BIRTHDAY at the end of the message.   As my birthday was April 1st, I could go with 401 or 41.  I decided to go with 41. 

Combine #1 and #2 and that's how coach41 was born.  

Even though I haven't officially coached a team in about 6 years, I have retained the "coach41" identity  It doesn't seem to be frequently used on the Internet and uniquely mine.  I'm fortunate to be able to register the domain name as well.  

Hope you enjoyed the history lesson!  

Old Man Still Got A Little Game

Over the weekend, I inched a little closer to being a middle aged man (aka celebrating my birthday!).  I had a pretty relaxed weekend.  I watched a basketball tournament and caught up with a young person I have been mentoring a bit.  I played a little basketball myself and had a nice dinner with some folks.

Today, it was back to work and after a busy day, I went to play in my Monday nigh basketball league.  My team's been struggling a bit but we finally broke through with an exciting 83-82 win.  I contributed heavily with 18 points (7-17 FG, 4-6 FT's).

Though most professional players don't played into their late 30's / early 40's, there are plenty of amateur athletes who are able to play at a pretty good level for many years.  When I got hurt back in 1999-2000 during the prime of my athletic life, I thought I would never get back to level.  These days, while I am little slower and less athletic, I still can pick my spots and do well (like tonight!).

Playing like this into your 40's require both mental and physical preparation.  Mentally, you can't subscribe to the fact that you are "too old".  You have to say to yourself that you can do it.   Physically, you just have to keep playing and stay in shape in general.  I've been fortunate to be abel to do both.

A guy in our league is 53 and is still playing pretty well.  He's a little slow and not mobile but can hit a shot.  I would be happy to be playing well into his age and beyond!

Basketball from a different perspective

A couple of days ago, I blogged that in my twenty years of adult league basketball experience, I had seen just about everything.   Today, I learned something about basketball that I didn't realize or understand.

A couple of weeks ago, I had planned some activities with my friends.  Alas, the plans had to get adjusted to later due to logistical issues.   With my original plans changed, I made new plans.

As I was suddenly free this morning, I made plans to visit a young high school basketball player I knew.  Even though I had officiated her games quite a bit, I had actually never just watched her play as a spectator.  As it turned out, she was playing in a tournament this morning at a gym close by to my house.

For some backstory on why I was visiting this player, read this blog entry:

Behind The Whistle:  Encouraging Players As An Official

The main plan was just to watch her play.  However, I wasn't going to just watch and leaveI.  Knowing the tournament structure, I knew there was some down time between her team's games.  I figured we would have some time to talk as well.  I wanted to know more about her struggles during the high school basketball season as we had not discussed in detail the last time.

So after the young lady's first game, we took a few minutes to talk a bit.  In sharing her story, she opened my eyes to her experience as the last player on the bench of a high school basketball team.    It definitely WASN'T what I was expecting.

While I have played years of adult league basketball, I never played high school basketball.  I just never really good enough to make my school team.  I've known plenty of people who have played high school basketball but only really talked to one person about their experience.  That one person was a guy friend who played one year of JV ball and was a bench warmer throughout.

For the young lady I visited today, her experience sounded like a combination of politics and poor communication.  I won't share her whole experience as that is for her to share.  However, it really opened my eyes to the high school players WHO DON'T get to play a lot.

There are kids who are good enough to make teams but aren't good enough to play regularly.  In this young lady's case, she is a talented and skilled player but yet somehow got buried on the bench for reasons not entirely clear.  In many ways, this is almost the same problem Jeremy Lin had, except the young lady didn't get much of a chance to show she could play this past high school season.

As someone who didn't play basketball in high school, I always wondered how that experience would be.  I did play other sports but none were as high profile as basketball (or football or baseball).  This young lady's experience shows that just being on the team isn't always glamourous and can be a frustrating experience rather than a rewarding one.   

It is unfortunate that the young lady had to go through the experience she did.  However, she has a good head on her shoulders, has great parents and goes to a good school overall.  She has a lot of support and other basketball activities (via her club teams) to fall back on so she will be fine.

However, I did tell her that if she never needed anything, she could always reach out to me.   I know that I lean on friends quite a bit and having extra support is never a bad thing.

Basketball can be a humbling and frustrating experience

I've played organized league basketball for over 20 years and have seen just about everything.   I've been on both ends of the spectrum and everything in between.  I've been on winless teams that lost every game by 15 points or more.  I've been on championship teams that went undefeated.   I've been on teams that won some / lost some.  So you can say I have some perspective.   Winning is nice but temporary.  Losing sucks but also temporary.

Yet, this spring season has been surprisingly frustrating for my Monday and Thursday basketball leagues.    Combined my teams are 2-11 (0-6 Monday, 2-5 Thursday).   The record doesn't particularly concern me as all teams make the playoffs.

My Monday team has grown since the early part of the season but we have fallen into a pattern of bad 2nd halves.  We compete and play hard but when the going gets tough, some guys start going one-on-one and the game goes downhill.

My Thursday team is just undersized.  The past two or three weeks, we have basically played with 4 guards and 2 forwards.   Offensively, we don't have enough role players.  We have 4 to 5 guys on the floor who want to shoot.  Unfortunately, I include myself in this group and probably get frustrated when the ball doesn't come my way.

The issues I see with both my teams is chemistry.  Most of the guys have never played with each other before and some guys feel they need to carry the load to get the respective teams on track.   This is fine at times but sometimes result in the majority of shots going to certain guys.

On a personal note,  I admit to being concerned with playing with two teams of guys I have NEVER played with.  In the past few years, I've played with teams that had some new guys but some other guys I have played with.   This proves tough as the new guys don't know my favorite spots.

I've had some decent games but also some games where I feel I didn't really get the ball enough.  Last Thursday, I believed I scored 11 points.  I shot 1 of 2 from the free throw line and shot 5 of 6 from the field.   Making 5 of 6 shots is a good percentage but why I didn't shoot more?  I didn't my usual energy and was content to shoot when I got the ball and not force shots.

Unfortunately,  I was semi frustrated that the ball didn't come my way enough.  Even the opposing team commented after the game that I was hitting my shots but wondered why I didn't shoot more.  The answer is I play within the flow and sometimes that flow just doesn't come my way.

All in all, basketball is fun but sometimes can humble and frustrate you.   I was openly frustrated tonight but will get over it.  I'll play with some friends on Saturday and then get ready for the final weeks of league games before the playoffs in a couple of weeks.

What Happens When Linsanity Ends?

Actually Linsanity ended when Carmelo Anthony returned from injury.   However, any chance of Linsanity returning when out the door when New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni resigned today.

The Knicks blew out the Portland Trail Blazers as Jeremy Lin had 6 points, 6 assists, and 6 turnovers in 24 minutes of play.  What might raise eyebrows is that Baron Davis had 10 assists in 18 minutes of action.  The scary thing for Jeremy Lin fans is that the new interim coach (Mike Woodson) may not favor Jeremy Lin as much as D'Antoni.

What happens next to Jeremy Lin remains to be seen.  However, as I wrote on a message board yesterday, Jeremy Lin has learned more about the BUSINESS of NBA in the past few months (being waived by the Warriors, Rockets and now the coach quits).   Also, big money players like Carmelo hold a lot of sway over how basketball should be played than just the coach.

Best wishes to Jeremy Lin as he navigates another challenge in his career.  I do have confidence he will be fine.

Guard / Forward / Center

For those who are familiar with basketball, the three positions in a game of basketball are guard, forward and center.  The guard and forward positions had sub positions (point guard, shooting guard, small forward and power forward).  If you're playing high level basketball (NBA, college, top high school teams) your position generally reflects the skill set you bring to the game of basketball.

However, in most adult basketball leagues, your position if sometimes determined by height / weight as much as skill.  If you're a big and tall guy, you're usually going to be a center or power forward.  If you're a decent shooter / ball handler / reasonably tall, you'll probably be a shooting guard / small forward.  If you're a guy who can dribble and pretty short, you'll be the point guard.

Drilling down even further, Asian adult basketball leagues are a little more different.  There aren't any Yao Ming's running around though you'll get a few 6'3" or taller guys ever now and then.  But the reality is that most player fall between 5'6" and 6'1".

For me, I happen to stand around 5'10" and generally an shooting guard / small forward on offense.  I usually defend point guards, shooting guards and small forwards on defense.  For our Thursday night basketball league this sping, I am probably the tallest guy on my team.  With the other teams having tough post players, I end up guarding the perimeter AND the post players.

Last night, my team played my friend's team in our league.  My friend is 6'1" 180 pounds.  He can post and has some guard skills.   Seeing I was guarding him, my friend tried to post me and I had to battle just to keep him away from the basket.  Alas, I got into foul trouble and later switched to guarding the point guard.

It was definitely a rough night on the court as my team lost 78-72.  I scored 14 points but was somewhat beat up banging with the big boys inside and chasing the guards outside.  I don't mind the challenge but being an older guy, I can't bang like I used to.

Good Learning Lesson For Jeremy Lin

By now, everyone knows that the Miami Heat beat the New York Knicks 102-88 tonight.  Jeremy Lin was harassed the whole night and played his worst game since became a starter two weeks ago.

As I write this though, I am not particularly disappointed or upset by this performance.  Like many fans, I have been glad that Jeremy Lin has shown Asian-Americans can compete at the NBA level.  It would have been good to do well against a championship contender such as the Heat.

However, I think this bodes well for Jeremy Lin's future.  As it's well documented, he was a small guy entering high school and grew to 6'3".  I'm pretty sure it took a little while for Jeremy to adjust to this.  At Harvard, he didn't start until his sophomore year and he didn't really break out until his junior year.

Jeremy Lin has shown that he is able to adjust and adapt his game over time.  Tonight will be a blip and he will be much better off the next time the Heat and Knicks meet.   Not many players (even highly drafted ones) can simply get on the court and do well.  Jeremy Lin has done pretty good over two weeks.

After playing in the rookie-sophomore game tomorrow, Jeremy Lin will get a break from playing and prepare for the second half of the season.  He'll have a chance to practice with his teammates, work on improving his game and be ready to help the Knicks for their playoff run.

Asian-Americans Love Jeremy Lin because........

Asian Americans are loving Jeremy Lin / Linsanity as evidenced by the tweets, Facebook posts, blogs and memorabilia being purchased at huge rates.

While the major media outlets are taking the angle that Asians love Jeremy Lin because he is breaking stereotypes (true), there is another angle that hasn't been covered as much.   Asian-Americans also LOVE basketball just as much as other people.  In fact, China and the Philippines love basketball just as much as any other country so there are probably more Asian basketball fans than any other ethnicity around the world.  Having Jeremy Lin be Asian and playing basketball is a dream come true for many Asian-Americans.

Focusing on Asian-Americans though, the love of basketball is evidenced by the various leagues, tournaments and Asian-American teams that exist up and down throughout California (and also in some other states).

Up in Northern California, there are at least a dozen organizations that host upwards of 8 to 12 youth basketball teams for boys and girls from 2nd to 12th grade.  These organizations host a tournament circuit year round that sometime include teams from Southern California.  The Southern California teams also do the same thing.

For adults, there are various leagues that have been around for years and years.  The longest standing leagues is the Nisei Athletic Union (NAU) that originated back in 1931.  Originally catering to Japanese-Americans, the league is now open to both Chinese and Japanese Americans.  Another long standing league in the Chinese Christian Union (CCU) Summer Basketball League.   The CCU Summer League has been around since the 60's or 70's and had it's start in Chinatown.  The league featured primarily Chinatown churches but began to expand in the 1990's.  This past summer, the league had over 70 teams from churches around SF and the Peninsula.  These are the long standing examples but other leagues such as the Dream League (SF Bay Area - 10 years) and others give Asian-Americans opportunities to play in a competitive basketball environment.

Beyond leagues, there are various tournaments catering to Asian-Americans.  Rather than playing a 2 to 3 month "season", organizers host weekend tournaments in various locations around California and other cities.   WHile most of the SF Bay Area / Northern California tournaments usually feature local teams, there are some tournaments involving teams from other states.

Two of the longer standing tournaments are the Las Vegas Invitational which is primarily a Chinese/Japanese tournament which features some 15 divisions of 6 to 8 teams each.  Most of the teams are California based though some of state teams join the fun every now and then.

One large tournament (32nd year in 2012) that is organized in the East Coast is the North American Chinese Invitational Basketball tournament.   Held every Memorial Day Weekend, the tournament shifts locations every year.  In 2012, the tournament will be held in Canada.  The most interesting aspect of the tournament?  It features teams from all over North America, Canada and even from China.  The majority of the teams for this tournament come from the East Coast (Boston, New York, Philly) and Canada but West Coast teams (LA, SF, Arizona) have also made treks to compete in the tournament.

The point in all of this history is that Asian-Americans not only like Jeremy Lin but they like basketball.  Yes, there will be the bandwagon fans who only follow basketball because of Jeremy Lin.  But there are also basketball fans who liked basketball before Jeremy Lin and will continue to like it after the Jeremy Lin noise has died down.

Racial Awareness Thanks to Jeremy Lin

At the moment, there is a quite a bit of discussion of ESPN's decision to use the headline "Chink In The Armor" on their website.  The headline was describing the New York Knicks loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night and likely a reference to a big weakness in Jeremy Lin's basketball game:  Turnovers.

However, the term "Chink" has some negative connotations in the Chinese American community and that caused a minor uproar.  ESPN removed the headline and apologized for it today.

Personally, as a Chinese-American, I don't think the headline "Chink In The Armor" was meant to be offensive.  The headline (or phrase) is generally used to indicate weakness.  However, it just so happened to be describing Jeremy Lin and so I see why people would be offended.

Regardless of what you think of the ESPN uproar, I think that Jeremy Lin's sudden rise has sudden given Americans (and the entire world) to an inside look of what Asian-Americans have to deal with.  There have been quite a few national newspapers which have discussed this.

While Asian-Americans are a large part of the American culture and society,  many non-Asian Americans do not know the history of Asian-Americans and the stereotyping and racism that was faced by Asian-Americans over the years.

From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the Japanese Interment Camps to Vincent Chin, there is a history of Americans viewing Asian-Americans as foreigners or a threat to their society.  Yet, when racial politics are discussed in America, it is usually a Black or White affair.  Asians (and even Latinos) are not part of the discussion.

Jeremy Lin is bringing an awareness of the Asian-American community that should benefit everyone in the future.

What Jeremy Lin means to Asian-Americans

As a long time Jeremy Lin fan since his senior year (2006) in high school, I am extremely happy that the outbreak of "Linsanity".  Even though I thought he could be a "decent" player in the NBA, I never thought he would do as well as he has.  Jeremy's break out has also galvanized the Asian-American community and I would like to talk about some of the reasons why.


JEREMY LIN IS THE FIRST TRUE ASIAN-AMERICAN MALE ICON SINCE BRUCE LEE


Even though Bruce Lee has been dead since 1973, he is still one of the mostly widely recognized Asian-American celebrities in the world.  No Asian-American (or even Asian born) celebrity (actor / athlete) has completed filled Bruce Lee's shoes.  Well known Asian-American actors such as John Cho and Daniel Dae Kim currently have good followings but don't have Lee's star power.  Asian-born actors such as Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li also have their own following but their Asian life experiences don't resonate with the Asian-American population in the States.

The last Asian celebrity that rivaled Bruce Lee was Yao Ming.  The 7'6" giant was born in China but spoke solid English and showed a different side of Chinese cultural.  Despite Yao's ability to shift between the Chinese and American lifestyles, he was still an Asian born athlete who's life experience didn't reflect what Asian-Americans go through.

Enter Jeremy Lin.  The Palo Alto raised kid had to fight through many years of coaches and teams not recognizing his talent and ability.  He had to fight through racial taunts and stereotypes of what Asian-Americans males should be.  Lin is not as angry outwardly as Lee was, but you can see the fire in his eyes when things go well.

Jeremy Lin is not quite on the level of Bruce Lee just yet.  However, the impact in the past couple of weeks is similar and this impact could GROW as the months and years go by.

PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS ARE SUPPORTING JEREMY LIN


When the Golden State Warriors signed Jeremy Lin, it was thought to be a marketing ploy to cater to the large Asian-American population in the Bay Area.  When he didn't do well (and eventually got cut by the Warriors and the Rockets this year), the assertions seemed to be correct.

It is now Week 2 of "Linsanity" and we've got people from all walks of life following and supporting Jeremy Lin.  Is it NOT JUST an Asian-American fan base.  It includes Blacks, Whites, Latinos, other professional athletes and even some actors / actresses.

Jeremy Lin's rising star should be a sign to the American business and entertainment worlds that Americans will support of other ethnicities besides White / Caucasian.   In the music industry, it was only recently that an Asian-American group, Far East Movement broke through with their #1 Billboard  hit "Like A G6".  However, while their other songs received some attention, none have duplicated their success.  Prior to the Far East Movement, there have not been many mainstream Asian-American musicians.  There are a lot of underground singers and groups but not many are known to the general American public.

In the movie and TV industry, there are quite a few well known actors including the aforementioned Daniel Dae Kim and John Cho.  While Cho has had some lead roles with Harold and Kumar, none of the movies were huge multi-million dollar hits.  Kim and other American born actors have solid roles but are still not considered as the main lead actors.

However, Jeremy Lin's sudden emergence and the fan response shows the world that people will support anyone IF they have the talent.  I believe that Jeremy Lin's sudden rise to fame will open the eyes of other industries to consider looking at people's talent beyond the color of their skin.  It may take some time but Asian-American lead actors and mainstream musicians should eventually appear and became as normal as an Asian-American NBA player.

ITS OK TO BE SMART AND ATHLETIC


I've blogged about this before.  Jeremy Lin was a good student in high school and college.  Now he's playing in the NBA.  In many ways, he is living many Asian-American male's dreams. There are certain parents who rather their kids focus on their studies instead of sports.  I am the believer that both things can co-exist.  Now I have an example I can point to in Jeremy Lin.  If I ever have kids, I can say "if Jeremy Lin can do it, so can you".

There's probably more things I can write about, but I'll leave it for now.  Enjoy the Linsanity.

Jeremy Lin: WOW!

As I have blogged about Jeremy Lin before, it should come as no surprise that I am a fan of his career.  I remember reading about him during his high school days, followed him throughout his college career and was thrilled when the hometown Golden State Warriors signed him to a contract.   Alas, Jeremy's NBA career hadn't taken off as anyone expected and many people wondered if he would ever get a chance to show his skills. 

However, even the most die-hard of Jeremy Lin fans would have never expected Jeremy Lin to do what he did in the last two games.  He led his team to victories over the Nets and the Jazz.  He had career highs in points in both games (25 / 28), assists (7 / 8) and minutes (36 / 45).  

I don't think it's completely sunken in for Jeremy Lin OR his fans.  I think most of us fans would have been happy if he played 15 to 20 minutes and became a consistent bench player.  Instead, in two games, he has been the star, outshining his more heralded teammates. 

However, if you look at Jeremy's career in high school, college and even D-League, Jeremy has always been a leader of men (or teams).  In many ways, we shouldn't be surprised at what he did the last two nights.  He has done it before after all. 

Basketball: Playing Defense (why it's hard for older guys)

For the past several months, in addition to my regimen of playing league (when in season) and pick up basketball, I have been working out at the gym pretty frequently.  In the past, I used to just do cardio exercise with some light weight work.   Since my office gym isn't all too crowded, I've spent more time on weight work, primarily focusing on arms, chest and shoulders.  However, I decided to do some leg muscle work as well.

The leg work seemed to have a bit of an unexpected effect on my basketball playing.   I seemed to get a little more bounce in my step playing DEFENSE.  I've never been the quickest guy in the world but in the past couple of months, I've noticed I'm able to stay in front of younger / quicker guys a little bit better.    My friends will laugh at this as I'm better known for my jump shooting than defense but I have been moving my feet a little better.

Alas, there is a flip side to this.  After playing several hours of pick up ball on Saturday (guarding a couple of quick guys), my knees were quite sore.  I think younger guys have more energy and recover faster.  If I was asked to play ball the next day, it would have been difficult.   Plus, if you focus on defense, your offense suffers a bit.    It is extremely hard to be a two way player.

Regardless, it's pretty fun to try to guard quick players at my age.  Who says old people can't play?

The Life of An NBA Player is not easy (just ask Jeremy Lin)

I haven't been blogging too much recently but watching Jeremy Lin bouncing from team to team in recent weeks gave me a topic to discuss.

There are probably many young basketball players / athletes / kids  out there who look up to the various NBA players and dream they could be out there.  However, I would be willing to bet that most of the players young athletes idolize are the stars:  Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, etc, etc.

There's nothing wrong with idolizing stars but their lifestyle and basketball careers are remarkably different than fringe / borderline NBA players like Jeremy Lin.  Stars don't have to worry about where they will play for or if they will make money.  Teams will pony up a ton of cash and sign a star at a moment's notice.

What most young athletes don't see is that mid to lower level NBA players have to work really hard and even then there is not a guarantee they will play in the league.  It's perfectly fine for young athletes to dream about playing in the NBA but the reality is STAYING in the NBA takes a lot of work for players who are not stars.  Plus there is a ton of uncertainty to deal with.   But if a young athlete has some ability and the dedication to improve, they might be able to make it.

How does this relate to Jeremy Lin?  Well, Jeremy is a player on the fringe at this point of his career.  He is now with the Knicks after being cut by the Warriors and the Rockets.  He hasn't gotten a ton of opportunity to show what he can do and it remains to be seen what will happen with the Knicks.

No matter what happens to Jeremy in the future, I hope Asian parents will take note of Jeremy's example and not other Asian NBA players like Yao Ming.  While there is nothing wrong with Yao as an example, Yao is/was a star much like the Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.  Jeremy's career path is much more realistic (if not as interesting) path that the MAJORITY of NBA players have to go through.

Unfortunately, Jeremy's current career path may actually cause parents to discourage Asian parents from letting their kids from playing sports.  They might say "Look at Jeremy, he's jumping from team to team and doesn't know where he might be a few weeks from now".

All of this is true but nothing in life is ever set in stone.  Just having a good education these days is no guarantee that you will get a job.  These days, experience and connections matter more than just pure education.  The flip side is that Jeremy loves basketball and wants to prove he can play in the NBA.   He is more than willing to put the work in.

I'm a believer in pursuing whatever you're passionate about.  That's why I support independent Asian-American movies, musicians and artists.  They might not be big names but there is stuff I like.  I support Jeremy Lin not just because he is Asian but because he is basically a "regular guy" that people can relate to.  I hope that Asians (and others) take note of Jeremy's example.

My Holiday Tradition: DONATE!

Some years ago, the company I was working for at the time had a Christmas / Holiday toy donation program.   Employees would donate toys and the company would give them to local charities or programs like Toys For Tots.  I really took to this program because less fortunate families and/or kids struggle just to have a home, food or other basic necessities.  Families can't just afford to purchase toys or other fun things for their kids.

That year, I made an effort to purchase some toys for donation.  As I was shopping, another idea came to mind.  Rather than purchase ONE toy, I purchased two toys.  One toy for a boy and one toy for a girl.  I figured it would be fair to purchase one of both genders.

I continued this tradition until I left the company a few years later.  My last couple of companies don't have any official toy donation programs.  So for a couple of years, I purchased toys and donated them at malls or other locations that need donations.  Last year, I just made a monetary donation to the local Toys For Tots programs.   This year, as I was at a mall, I saw a Toys For Tots donation both, I went back to purchasing two toys again.

It's a small way to contribute back to the community during a time where there are many families that are struggling.  When kids are happy, I believe that will help the family feel better overall even if their circumstances haven't completely changed.

For those who want to make a difference this and any other holiday season, consider making a donation to a charity that you support.

Things To Be Thankful For - 2011 Turkey Day Edition

Some years ago, I wrote a list of things I was thankful for and emailed them to my friends.  Since we have the power of Facebook and blogs, I am going to note a list of things to be thankful for in 2011!

In no particular order:

1. Family:  Mom/Dad primarily, but to all my cousins that are out there.  I don't see them a ton but thankful when I do see them. 
2. Friends:  Too many to name, but thanks to everyone I come into contact with.  You all have been a blessing to me, especially in times of need. 
3. Job:  Yes, I've been laid off twice from my current position and still chose to come back once again.  But I am not complaining.  I am thankful to have a job during a tough time in the economy. 
4. Basketball:  Many reasons I put this down.  One, I love being involved in the sport.   Two, it's good exercise.  Three, it brings together friends whether it's the Saturday guys I play with or the leagues I play with.

To conclude, it's easy for a lot of people to look at what we don't have (me included!).  However, try to remember that we are blessed with many things if we stop to take a look.  It may be as simple as the air we breathe or the fact that we have a roof over our heads.  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Coach vs Player-Coach

Being a basketball (or any sport) coach is a challenging task, even for the professionals.   In my years of involvement of basketball, I've been lucky to have been a player, coach and referee.   If being just a coach itself is tough, imagine being a player-coach.

I coached kids basketball for 14 years and the challenges were running practices, skill development, motivation and preparing the kids for the games.  Coaching during the game was not always easy but probably the best part of being just a coach.  However, my best skill as a coach was identifying a kid's best talent and putting it to the best use for the team.  After all, five Michael Jordan's or Lebron James' do not make a team.   You need the Rodman's and Paxson's too.

As I went away from coaching kids and playing myself more, I eventually started being a captain / coach to some of my adult league teams.  With the adult leagues I play in, there isn't practices.  I might have say in the players if the league was a draft league but this wasn't always the case.   Season by season, the challenge was you had a changing set of players with varying skill sets.

As time went on though, I realized the hardest past WASN'T figuring out the players on my teams.  That was actually the easy part.  The hard part was figuring out how much I SHOULD PLAY, especially if you're not having a great night.  You see, some of the other team captains are talented and highly skilled.  For myself, I am the jack of all trades and fit into a team in many different ways.   If I'm on my game, I'll play more for sure.  If my game is off, I might play myself more to see if I can work through things.  Otherwise, the hard choice is to sit yourself.

Coaching at any level is tough and it's even harder when you have to "coach yourself".  But I wouldn't keep doing it if it weren't enjoyable at some level.  :)

The Changing Nature of Halloween

Where I live, I've noticed a trend the past two to three years.   When I was younger, every Halloween, there would be a stream of kids coming by with their parents to get candy.  But I started noticing fewer and fewer kids stopping a few years ago and then the past two to three years, there has been ZERO kids stopping by.

I had heard that parents had decided to take their kids to the local malls where the stores were passing out candy.  Being at the mall tonight, I saw it was true.  There were a ton of families and kids there including someone I knew.  I guess I can understand why parents have been doing this.  Safety at night is an issue though I can't say that my neighborhood is all that bad.

The funny thing is that I talked to a co-worker in Virginia today and he was still taking his kids out to the neighborhood.  I'm not sure why parents in my area are not taking their kids out to the neighborhood but it is an interesting trend I don't think will change anytime soon.

Writing For Dollars

A couple of weeks ago, I made a tough decision to take a leave of absence from high school basketball officiating.  The reasons for this are plenty but nothing I really want to discuss at this point in time. However, the decision was not made without having some plans in mind.

Some weeks ago, I felt I had an inkling to start writing more again.  I do various blogs throughout the year. I write a monthly column on Apple II and other retro video games.  A couple of years ago, I had embarked on freelance writing covering high school sports.

The reason for freelance writing was that high school sports coverage is pretty sparse in the area I live in.  Since I was unemployed at the time, it was a good idea to try and I did it for the better part of a year.  The issues I ran into was that I was a freelance operation and I had to do everything myself.  When I returned to work a few months later, I continued to write as much as I could but it proved difficult to juggle freelancing with my job.  Eventually, I stopped my freelance writing.

However, another enterprising person saw the same gaps in high school sports coverage I did and started up his own website and got a staff of writers to work with him.  In fact, I was asked at one point to contribute to this site.  I declined as I was busy with work, officiating and other stuff.

Alas, as I had an inkling to write again, I asked the website if I could potentially contribute to their site as a writer.  The owner/editor noted that he would love it if I could help out.  At this point, there is nothing formalized but I do plan to contribute as much as I am available to watch games.

It was time for a change and I am fortunate to be given an opportunity to try and do something different.

Being in shape is not quite the same as basketball shape...plus misc topics

Typically, a group of guys I know play pick up basketball on Saturday afternoons.  For as long as I have known and played with these guys, we have hardly played full court basketball.  I'd say 99.99% of time we have played half court games with the rare exception of playing full court.   Most of the guys are in the mid 30's and some are older than that, so running full court isn't always optimal.

In the past few years, we have hardly missed many weeks.  Of the 52 weeks in a year, I'd say we play 80 to 85% of the time.  Obviously some guys come and go due to various thing but we usually get enough to play regardless.

Alas, the past three weeks, we have not played.  There were several reasons for that.  One, several guys were out of town.  Two, the gym we normally play at was closed for gym floor maintenance.  Since we have grown to love playing indoors, the remaining guys decided to just skip playing.

As someone who typically plays a lot of basketball, I realized how much I have missed playing the past few Saturdays.  First, since I didn't really play Saturdays for a few weeks, I lost a little bit of stamina and feel on my jump shot.  That affected me in the first three games on my Thursday night basketball league. I was getting up and down but not as well as I normally do.  Plus, my usually reliable shot was just not going in.  When my shot is going, it's pretty automatic.  But the past three Thursdays, I felt I was pushing my shot.

Today, the Saturday basketball crew finally got back together and played.  Just about everyone was a little out of sync early because your body hasn't really moved that much in a while.  I struggled with my shot quite a bit today.  Because I played in league, I was in ok shape so I could rebound and hustle a little but my shot was way off.

Playing basketball today made me realize how everything works together.  Lots of young kids just like to run and play full court basketball.   Those pick up games end up being run and gun affairs with minimal defense played.  Our guys play hard and we have to keep moving.  I think playing with the Saturday crew actually has helped me get my shot more consistent during my league games.   I personally don't mind playing full court pick up sometimes but it gets harder as you get older and have to run against young kids.

Lastly, even I haven't played a ton of basketball lately, I did work out at the gym a bit.  There is a major difference being in decent (and healthy) shape versus being in basketball shape.

Sports As A Social Exercise

The past couple of weeks have been interesting for me.  Two of my best friends went away on vacation at the same with their respective families.  At the same time,  I had been expecting to play basketball about three times a week (Monday & Thursday leagues + Saturday get together).  However, the Monday and Thursday leagues were merged due to lack of players on both days.   My usual Saturday basketball group also did not play in the last couple of weeks with some people away and the gym being closed for remodeling.

All of this forced me to become more adaptable.  I hung out with some of my other guy friends (who are usually busy with kids but we had a get together a couple of weeks ago).  I reached out to some others I hadn't seen or talked to in a while.  Some folks I hadn't talked to in a while actually called me too.

But the toughest challenge proved to be finding an activity to substitute for playing basketball.  A few of my friends always say I should play "less basketball" as it's an activity that consumes my time at the expense of other things.   Alas, I disagree with the assessment.  Basketball is an activity I enjoy and it's exercise.  Exercise is always good for the body.

However, as I learned in these past two weeks, if basketball were JUST exercise, I could easily replace it.  I could play basketball elsewhere, play another sport or just work out in the gym.  In fact, I did do some cardio work AND played basketball at my local gym.  While the exercise was nice, I really realized why I was missing some my basketball that I was expecting.

I realized that part of my enjoyment from playing basketball (or other sports) is the socializing.   My current Thursday night basketball is competitive but I know a lot of the guys too.  While we all try to win, it is also a chance to catch up and talk to folks.  The Saturday basketball crew is also like that as well.  I was introduced to my Saturday crew from one of my friends I mentioned above.   It's been only in the past 2 or 3 years that I have been showing up consistently.  It's always good to play but talk to the guys.  While I don't share a long history with them, I've become a part of their circle.  We have birthday gatherings and other things we do together.

Simply just doing cardio or playing pick up ball with random strangers is good and I've done that plenty of times in the past.  However, I don't usually work out with others.  Playing ball with random strangers is cool if you want to just play ball.  While my basketball playing style is adaptable, sometimes it's just good to play with people you know.

All in all, As I get older, I am realizing the social aspect of sports is become just as important as playing the sport itself.  In fact, I see this applying to other activities such as officiating.  I was officiating a tournament this weekend.  My partner today wanted to have breakfast so we met up early, had breakfast, talked and watched some football before working our games.  I plan to socialize more with my fellow officials as my high school season rolls around in the next few months.