Another week
has rolled by and we’re starting to see what kind of team we have this year.
I have to
start with our cross country team because they really ran well this weekend at
Nebraska. Obviously I’m not an expert on
distance running but I’ve been around a lot of great coaches and athletes in my
lifetime. We’ve had some really good
cross country teams at WSU and some really average ones. It looks like we have a couple of really good
ones this year and so far they are undefeated through the first two meets of
the fall.
We
thought our women’s team would be pretty solid but they appear to be coming
around more quickly than we thought.
There’s a good mix of veterans and rookies and you never know how long
it will take to mesh. After easily
defeating the likes of Nebraska, Air Force, Northern Iowa, Miami and Northern
Colorado this weekend on top of edging Kansas State two weeks ago, I have to
imagine they are starting to turn some heads.
Same for
the men in terms of turning heads. It
wasn’t as easy but they beat all the same teams this weekend and seem to be
coming together very nicely. Coach
Hunter’s teams don’t have any superstars and seem to be working together to
prove the preseason MVC rankings of fifth and sixth wrong.
The next
meet will be a step up in competition at the University of Arkansas in two
weeks. I’m going to travel over with the
team so I’ll be able to see their progress in person. Good stuff!
As for
the rest of the team, it will take a little longer to see what we have although
after a few weeks of practice I think we are cautiously optimistic. We had another good week of practice and the
newcomers are starting to look less like newcomers than a few weeks ago. We’re about midway through our preseason
conditioning phase and each week is better than the previous.
In
preseason conditioning we have two main goals.
The first is to, obviously, get the team into shape. Basically we’re trying to get everyone to the
point of being able to train specifically for their event in about six
weeks. If they have done a nice job in
the summer then this phase is usually fun.
If they haven’t done a good job in the summer then it’s pretty
miserable. Luckily we’ve had a lot of
fun so far.
The
second part of preseason conditioning is trying to get the team to become more
of a “team”. We purposely have large
groups of athletes running, jumping and lifting together so they can get to
know each other. We demand our team come
together at championship time but it’s a whole lot easier if they can come
together earlier in the year. It’s very
tough because we have over 60 athletes on each team and just getting to know
most of your teammates is very time consuming.
So far we’ve mostly just focused on learning to practice together but
we’ll have some other team building activities coming up in the last few weeks
conditioning.
The
newcomers, and especially the freshmen, are always the last to figure out the
“team thing”. They have a lot on their
plate when they first get to campus but pretty soon we will be expecting them
to get up to the level of their teammates in terms of teamwork and work ethic.
Like I’ve
said before, so far so good, but it’s really too early to know what kind of
team we have.
Coach Hetzendorf gets married!
For the
second time in as many months, one of our coaches got married this
weekend. Our throws coach (and my former
teammate at Kent State) John Hetzendorf got married to Amber McGown in a
beautiful outdoor ceremony in Wichita.
Amber was a terrific distance runner for Cornell and Oregon and we have
already decided to recruit their kids.
My job
for their wedding was to play certain music before and during the wedding
ceremony. I’m not sure what Amber was
thinking putting me in charge but luckily I didn’t mess it up and everything
turned out great. Even the forecast of
rain stayed away – I’d say it was a good way to start for the Hetzendorf’s!
Congrats
to John and Amber!
“D” Movies
This is
the fourth of a 24 part series (if I don’t bore you all to death) where I list
movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I
do have some that start with numbers). I
currently own a small collection of 150 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.
Most of
the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely. Some are movies that I had not seen but was
curious about. Some were gifts from
people with bad tastes in movies.
Here is
the list of my 15 “D” movies from best to worst (this is the most movies in any
letter I own) …..
Movie Name (year made, length,
MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Box office)
Dallas Buyers Club (2013, 117 min, R, 8.0, $55.1m) –
You can hardly recognize Matthew McConaughey as a man diagnosed with AIDS in
the early 1980’s. He lost over 50 lbs
for this role and the dedication to his craft was as inspirational as anything
I’ve ever seen on film. On top of that
this is a great movie about a subject that is sometimes hard to talk about.
Django Unchained (2012, 165 min, R, 8.5, $425m) –
Since Pulp Fiction I’ve always been a fan of Quentin Tarantino and this may be
his best movie yet. Brutal and funny
with a completely different perspective on the issue of slavery, Django left a
significant impression on me. Jamie Foxx
is one talented dude!
Dazed and Confused (1993, 102 min, R, 7.7, $7.9m) –
One of Richard Linklater’s first movies and definitely one of his best. It follows a bunch of high school kids on
their last day of school. It doesn’t
really have a lot of drama but it’s a great snapshot of a time in life that is
captured very well. This was Matthew
McConaughey’s first movie and what a great creepy guy he played!
Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned
to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, 95 min, PG, 8.5, $9.4m) – One of director Stanley
Kubrick’s most well liked movies despite the longest name ever, haha. It’s a dark comedy about an insane general
who tries to start a nuclear war while a bunch of bumbling politicians try to
stop it. The more I watch it the more I
like this crazy old movie.
Death Race (2008, 105 min, R, 6.4, $75.6m) –
You won’t see a lot of action movies in my collection but I am a Jason Statham
fan and I loved the original Death Race 2000 movie (see below). They did a great job making this movie
stylish and funny while keeping it entertaining throughout. Although it’s not the same story as the
original it’s a great new version of the old absurd concept of killing people
with your car.
The Departed (2006, 151 min, R, 8.5, $289m) –
What’s not to like here? A great
action/drama with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars directed by Martin
Scorsese. I wouldn’t say this movie is
the most original movie in the world but its fun and entertaining the whole
way. Jack Nicholson as a bad guy always
makes a movie better!
Donnie Darko (2001, 113 min, R, 8.1, $1.2m) –
This is a really weird movie where a teenager (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) has
visions of a bunny rabbit that makes him commit crimes. Yes, I said it was a bit weird. But it’s really a great movie when you sit
down and give it a watch. It is full of
emotions and great acting for a movie with such a small budget.
Death Race 2000 (1975, 80 min, R, 6.2, $???) –
The plot is ridiculous (a cross country race where you gain points by killing
people with you car) and the acting is atrocious (one of Sylvester Stallone’s
first movies). But somehow it caught on as a cult classic and luckily I saw it
as a kid. You don’t watch movies like
this to comment on its artistic beauty.
You watch it with your buddies and laugh at how ridiculous it is.
Dan in Real Life (2007, 98 min, PG-13, 6.8,
$68.3m) – I’m a big Steve Carrel fan and this movie shows off some of his
non-comedic talent. There’s a part where
he’s singing “Let my love open the door” with Dane Cook that motivated me to
learn how to play a guitar so I could show off to girls.
Don Jon (2013, 90 min, R, 6.7, $30.4m) –
Written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this movie takes a completely
different perspective on a “love story”.
Even though the subject matter is a bit risqué, I definitely found this
movie very entertaining and thought provoking.
Deliverance (1972, 110 min, R, 7.8, $???) – A
white water rafting trip that goes to hell is a pretty good summary of this
classic starring Burt Reynolds. This was
a very controversial film in the 1970’s and still makes some people
uncomfortable viewing it today. One of
the more beautiful scenes, however, is their version of dueling banjos – great
stuff!
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988, 110 min, PG, 7.3, $42m) –
This is a funny little movie with Michael Caine and Steve Martin who try to
continually top each other by being seeing who can be the best con man. There are some really funny scenes and a
twist ending that seems appropriate for the two scoundrels.
The Doors (1991, 140 min, R, 7.2, $34.4m) –
A biopic movie of the popular and controversial band The Doors with lead singer
Jim Morrison. It was directed by Oliver
Stone so it has a bunch of weird scenes where he tries to be very artsy. It’s entertaining but a little bit too
long. I like it but I probably would
like a documentary of the band just as well.
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982, 88 min, PG, 6.8, $18.1m) –
This is an early Steve Martin film that was probably way ahead of it’s
time. It’s a parody of a detective story
from the 1940’s or 1950’s where this movie is blended with scenes from older
movies and stars like Cagney, Douglas, etc.
It probably needs to be watched more than once to appreciate it. I’ve only seen it once.
The Da Vinci Code (2006, 149 min, PG-13, 6.5,
$758m) – I always thought this was an interesting premise – clues in Da Vinci
paintings that lead to religious mysteries that could shake the foundations of
Christianity. Unfortunately it never
really connected with me but apparently it did with many others as it made over
$700 million worldwide.
Whew that
was a lot of movies! Luckily next week I
only have 4 “E” movies.
Go
Shocks!
Wednesday – I was up early (for me) and at
my first of four high schools for the day at 7:45am. I traveled around during the day and had
visits at 8:00am, 9:30am, 10:45am, and 1:00pm.
I saw a total of six recruits for the day while our jumps coach Heidi
Yost (now Benton) saw three more.
Practice on Wednesday is optional right now so we didn’t miss anything and
I was home in Wichita by early evening.
El Topo (1970, 125 min, NR, 7.4, $?) –
This strange underground movie somehow developed a significant following in the
1970’s when John Lennon convinced a friend to distribute it worldwide. What is it about? Good question. There some interesting gun fights, weird
sexual encounters, and dwarfs too. I
think John Lennon was on drugs when he recommended it but I would say it is
worth one viewing for the sake of saying you’ve seen it.
