It was a quiet and relaxing week and Sideways wins the epic battle of S's

Where I was this week

It’s 5:30am and I’m traveling back to Wichita from a week in Florida with the family.  Other than some good, quality family time there isn’t much else going on for me to report – unless you want to hear about me sitting around a pool in 80 degree weather (I’ll spare you the details).  I did take this picture of a pretty sunset in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Track and Field

I tried not to bug the athletes too much this week and let them enjoy the holidays with their families.  I did get a few messages from some athletes and I will be getting back in touch with them later today to see how their training is going.

This will be the last full week of training on their own before they return to Wichita and the confines of the Heskett Center.  As of today (Monday, Dec 29) we only have 11 days until our season opener at the University of Kansas.  Next week I’ll be previewing that meet.

 “S” Movies

It just happens that one of my shortest blogs will be this week when I have the longest movie review of the alphabet.  There are a whole bunch of awesome movies in the “S” category.

This is the 18th of a 24 part series (we’re almost done!) 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 178 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.

I own 15 “S” movies and there isn’t a bad one in the lot.  Here’s the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Sideways (2004, 126 min, R, 7.6, $109m) – One of my all-time favorite movies.  Directed by Alexander Payne (Nebraska) and starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church, this is a buddy movie about a bachelor party gone wrong in wine country.  I remember seeing Sideways in a little theater with a friend and we couldn’t believe how funny it was on first viewing because we didn’t know much about it beforehand.  It’s a very quotable movie and has several memorable (and very R-rated scenes).  Get a group of friends together, pop open a few bottles of wine (no Merlot) and enjoy this classic!

Swingers (1996, 96 min, R. 7.4, $4.5m) – The movie that made the phrase “Vegas baby” popular was also the first starring role for Vince Vaughan.  If ever there was a cult classic film this is it.  Written and co-starring Jon Favreau (who directed Ironman and Elf) it basically just follows around several actor friends while they are trying to make it in Hollywood.  It’s really funny as well as being a pretty good story but Vaughn steals nearly every scene he’s in with his obnoxious personality.  This has got to be one of the most quoted movies of the 90’s.  This movie is “so money” that it didn’t even know it!

Slumdog Millionaire (2008, 120 min, R, 8.1, $377m) – This sensation of a movie hit the theaters without a ton of fanfare but quickly became one of the top movies of 2008.  English director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 127 hours) made a very interesting and stylish movie about an Indian teenager and his life told through a game of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”  For me it really brought the slum of India to the forefront and what these kids have to do to just survive, let alone thrive.  It’s cleverly put together and overall just a great movie.

Stripes (1981, 106 min, R, 6.9, $85m) – Bill Murray and Harold Ramis are a couple of down on their luck guys who decide to join the Army in hopes of kickstarting their lives.  It seems like every major star does a military movie and this is Murray’s.  I love this movie, it has so many great lines and funny scenes that bring out Murray’s sarcastic sense of humor (watching him try to do five pushups at the beginning is classic).  I recently saw him in “St Vincent” and I think he is becoming one of our most beloved comic actors of all time because he just seems like a guy you want to hang out with.  It was directed by Ivan Reitman who did the Ghostbusters franchise after Stripes.

Smokey and the Bandit (1977, 96 min, PG, 6.8, $126m) – This is one of the first movies I can recall watching from my childhood and the way Burt Reynolds avoided the police while fronting for a semi hauling a bunch of beer across the country was just cool as heck.  Reynolds is the star but when you watch it over and over again the real comedy comes from Jackie Gleason as the cop in hot pursuit of the Bandit.  Sally Field and Jerry Reed support the leads with great performances as well.  There is nothing special about the plot, this is just a fun movie watching a guy avoid the cops in a fast car while Gleason gives us terms like “tick turd” and “sumbitch!”

Slap Shot (1977, 123 min, R, 7.4, $28m) – A cult classic starring Paul Newman as the player/coach of the Charleston Chiefs minor league hockey team who starts using violence to win games and earn fans for a team that is about to be sold and moved out of town.  I saw this movie for the first time in college with a bunch of college hockey players at Kent State and remember how much they loved this movie.  I watched it again recently and, surprisingly, it holds up well.  Newman is great in the lead role but the majority of the comedy comes from the three “Hanson Brothers” who arrive to the team in the middle of the season and wreak havoc on the opposing players.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012, 122 min, R, 7.9, $236m) – This was another small budget movie that came along at the right time and hit it big.  It didn’t hurt that it happened to co-star two of the most up and coming names in Hollywood with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.  They both play people with mental/emotional problems but find a way to work together in reaching their goals.  You know it’s a great movie when Robert De Niro plays a supporting role and goes largely unnoticed.  It’s not a typical romantic comedy but I guess it could be classified in that genre, and for a date it would be one of the better movies you could find.

Snatch (2000, 102 min, R, 8.3, $83m) – Great movie starring Brad Pitt and Jason Statham about boxing promoters, bookmakers, gangsters, robbers, and jewel thieves.  Entertaining throughout, the best part of this movie is Pitt who plays an Irish Gypsy who turns out to be a heckuva boxer that messes up the gangsters’ fix and all hell breaks loose.  Statham is also great is a more reserved than normal role for him.  If you like this movie also make sure to check out the movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels made by the same director (Guy Ritchie) and also starring Statham.

The Social Network (2010, 120 min, PG-13, $224m) – This movie tells how Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook and then fought several of his own friends in lawsuits over who really owned the rights to the social network.  Jesse Eisenberg does a great job as Zuckerberg who is shown as a genius, jerk and lonely jealous ex-boyfriend all at the same time.  For better or worse, Facebook changed how many people live their lives and inspired every other social media website that has come since so if anything this will serve as an interesting slice of American history for many years down the road.

The Skin I Live In (2011, 120 min, R, $30m) – This is a Spanish movie starring Antonio Banderas as a plastic surgeon who creates a synthetic skin like no one has ever seen before.  I don’t want to tell any more about the plot because when you realize what happens about halfway through the movie you won’t believe what you’re seeing.  Two warnings here: 1) the movie is in subtitles and 2) you may possibly be permanently scarred by watching this movie.  With that being said, I highly recommend watching it but be prepared for a twist like you’ve never seen before.  This is a brave movie that would never get a big release in the US.

Super Troopers (2001, 100 min, R, 7.1, $23m) – This was a super low budget movie with no major stars that became a cult classic years later on video and cable.  It follows several Vermont state troopers, who are a bunch of knuckleheads, and end up trying to save their department by outdueling the police officers in their area.  The movie business is a tricky thing, I’m sure there are lots of great movies that go unnoticed every year and this could’ve easily be one too, but for some reason it caught momentum at the right time and became popular.  The guys who made this movie tried making other movies but none have had the success of Super Troopers.

Sin City (2005, 124 min, R, 8.1, $158m) – This was quite the original movie when it came out almost 10 years ago with its unique visual style.  It also had big names like Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke alongside director Robert Rodriguez (who sure knows how to make women look attractive in this film).  The plot is about a miserable town and how all the different characters are caught up in the corruption of that town.  Even today I think the visual style holds up and if you haven’t seen it you should for that experience alone.

Semi-Pro (2008, 91 min, R, 5.8, $43m) – A lot of people were disappointed by this Will Ferrell movie but I wasn’t one of them.  I appreciated the attempt to satirize the merger between the old ABA and the NBA with a fictional basketball team like the Flint Tropics.  If you haven’t seen this movie, Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, who is the owner and player for the Tropics.  It’s rated R so there is plenty of adult humor but I constantly laugh when I watch this movie.  It’s no Anchorman or Old School but it’s as good as most any other comedy that Hollywood spews out these days.

The Strangers (2008, 86 min, R, 6.2, $82m) – This horror movie starring Liv Tyler is about a couple that is staying in an isolated vacation home when they start being terrorized by three unknown assailants.  There is nothing new in the horror genre here, it’s just done very well.  What I like about this movie is that it doesn’t try to explain why the killers are doing what they’re doing – they’re just crazy, insane psychopaths.  It didn’t have the best ending but I will overlook that because of how much I liked the rest of the movie.

Shakes the Clown (1991, 87 min, R, 5.5, $115k) – This odd little movie was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait (who was the weird talking guy on the Police Academy movies).  I can imagine a lot of people won’t like a movie about an alcoholic clown but this is a great premise.  Basically what happens is a regular comedic movie, except everyone is clowns and everywhere they go is a clown culture.  Yep that’s it.  And with that being the case it makes for a bunch of ridiculous scenes that you have to see to believe.  It won’t win any awards but I give it a thumbs up for creativity and effort.

Wow, I didn’t realize I would like every single movie on this list but I do!  And I REALLY like all of them except the last two (which I just like just a normal amount haha).

Next week

It’s almost time for the indoor season to get going so I’ll be talking about our first meet!  It won’t match this week’s list for quality or quantity but I have seven pretty good “T” movies as we start to wind down on this movie by letter exercise.

As always, I appreciate everyone who reads this blog!  If you keep reading it, I’ll keep writing it!  Until next week, go Shocks!

Convention recap, Will the "Power 5" doom T&F, The Interview and a bunch of good "R" movies

Even though we’re on a break from practice and competition, there’s still plenty going on in the world of track and field.

Track and Field

Most of my time this week was spent in Phoenix, Arizona, at the USTFCCCA Convention.  It was another good convention where I was able to learn some things, discuss our sport with peers and see lots of coaching friends in a relaxed social atmosphere (and play a little golf).

Here is the day-by-day of what I did at the convention:

Sunday – I arrived around 10pm and hung out with friends from Texas A&M, Pittsburgh and Auburn.  We mostly talked about our head coaches and their unique personalities.

Monday – I played in the coaches’ golf tournament with Coach Rainbolt as well as friends from Stephen F. Austin and Black Hills State.  Our group only managed to place 10^th out of 19 teams with an -8 score of 64, but we had a blast and unfortunately it was the only day I played golf this week.  Later in the day I went and saw legendary coach Dan Pfaff talk about sprinting.  Pfaff has coached some of the fastest men in the world and it was a comfort knowing that much of his philosophy is the same as ours at Wichita State.  Also on Monday I listened to well-known recruiting expert Dan Tudor speak about how to brand our program in the recruiting process.  He was very interesting and I plan on using several of his ideas immediately.  I also attended the Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony where six coaches were honored.  Our director of operations Ryan Patton arrived very late in the evening after flight delays so I stayed up and socialized with coaches from our staff and many others who passed through the crowded lobby bar until he arrived.

Tuesday – I got up and worked out for a while before heading to what’s called the Opening Session of the Convention, where everyone is welcomed and someone of high regard usually speaks.  The speaker this year was Jeff Schemmel, who is a former track coach and athletic director, who tried to give us some insight on what’s happening at the NCAA level and how it will affect our sport.  As you may know the NCAA will be going through some major changes in the upcoming months.  The “Big 5” conferences have autonomy to make whatever rules they want and the rest of us will have to deal with it.  Much of what they will do will likely result is more spending and thus could affect Olympic sports like track and field.  The one sobering statement Schemmel made was, “Your program might not get cut but you are probably sitting next to someone who will have their program cut.”  I could go on in a lot of detail about this topic but before knowing what the Power 5 conferences are going to do it’s probably a waste of this space.  Check back in a couple months for those thoughts.  I also went to a short session where former Oregon coach and now Tracktown, USA, bigwig Vin Lannana spoke about how to connect our sport better with our community.  I got some good ideas from this session that I hope to use during the track season to get more people interested in Wichita State Track and Field!  We then had a Division I general session and Missouri Valley Conference breakout where we talked about many of the issues facing our sport like possible rule changes, changes to our national meet and how to make our sport more important on our campuses.  The night finished with an excellent barbeque dinner sponsored by Mondo where we all overate and hung out talking about our sport until midnight.

Wednesday – After getting up for another morning workout, this day was filled mostly with being in the Division I general meetings where coaches debated topics from the day before.  Sometimes there can be some very entertaining back and forth discussions but usually we don’t end up accomplishing much.  For me that’s one of the most frustrating parts of the convention because track coaches all want to have their own agendas and often don’t agree with how to move the sport forward.  One good thing that came out of this week is it looks like our NCAA Outdoor Championships will move to separate days for the men and women (men on Wed/Fri and women on Thur/Sat) where it will be much easier to promote the meet and championship storyline.  ESPN will be broadcasting all four days with field event action on ESPN3.  It’s the most live track (12 hours) that the NCAA has had in my lifetime and probably ever.  Now we just need to get some Shockers to that meet and compete well!  The other highlight of Wednesday was the annual Bowerman Awards given to the top male and female track and field athletes for 2014.  It’s often referred to as the “Heisman Trophy of Track and Field”.  It was another first-class affair this year with the winners being Laura Roesler of Oregon and Deon Leondre from Texas A&M.  Good job to the USTFCCCA office for putting together

such a great event!  Afterwards I got to spend some time with our friends from Sacramento State as well as my best friend Kevin Lucas (and his wife), who is the head coach at Mount Union College in Ohio.  Kevin was honored earlier in the week at the Opening Session for winning the 2014 Division III NCAA Outdoor Championships.  It’s pretty cool that two country kids from Eastern High School in Brown County, Ohio, ended up doing ok in the college track and field coaching world.

Thursday – The only thing left for the week was to vote on the various topics brought forward so by 10am our convention was over.  We voted to approve text messaging recruits and voted against having volunteer coaches more involved in recruiting (although I voted for that one).  I was traveling back to Wichita with Ryan Patton and our flight didn’t leave until 4:30pm so we decided to take a walk and grab some In-N-Out Burger before we left (those are good burgers man).  We were joined by one of my former Shocker athletes Nate Thiesfeld, who is now the sprint coach at High Point University in North Carolina.  After that is was off to Houston and then Wichita before arriving home around midnight.

So if you were ever curious, that’s pretty much what goes on at the USTFCCCA Convention each year (well at least the stuff I can write about here).

WSU Track and Field

Most of this week was just keeping in touch with our athletes via text messages, Facebook and phone calls about how their training is going.  So far I’d say most of them are doing well but I know some of their individual training situations aren’t ideal.  Hopefully they can stay focused through any cold weather and difficulties they encounter.

We have about two more weeks of “on your own” training left before we are back in the Heskett Center.  And in three weeks from today we’ll have competed in our first meet already!

Academically it looks like our team has come through finals pretty well.  We’re still waiting on a few grades but our men’s team will have around a 3.0 GPA this semester while our women are above 3.2.  On top of that we shouldn’t have anyone come up ineligible.  Hats off to the hard working student-athletes as well as their academic coordinators (Andrew Moses and Sarah Wiley) for keeping them on task.  For a team of 130 athletes, that’s a remarkable feat!

The Interview

Did you hear about how Sony pulled their upcoming movie “The Interview” from theaters after getting threatened that terrorist activity would result if the movie was released?  When I first heard about this I thought it was a clever way to market and would get people talking (and who knows it still might be), but now they have totally pulled the movie from theaters and said it would not be released on DVD or On Demand.  The Interview is a comedy starring Seth Rogan and James Franco where they are trying to assassinate the leader of North Korea – Kim Jong-un.  I can see how the subject matter is controversial but the fact it’s a comedy and obviously a joke makes me worried what will happen in the future to other things regarding our freedom of speech.  I think Sony should go ahead and release the movie and if this somehow puts us in danger (which I don’t think it will) then I would much rather deal with that then bowing down to other countries who don’t like what we do.  Because if we do things will get worse and worse in regards to what “terrorists” think they can do.  I was glad to hear President Obama say that Sony made a mistake by not releasing the movie.

There are all kinds of offensive movies made in the world every year – lots are even about the USA and our leaders – but not letting people have freedom of speech is very bad.  There have been recent movies made about our presidents that were very negative but no one ever thought about denying their ability to be made or released.

Is it possible that a movie could be made that goes too far?  Yes, I’m sure there is, but I’d rather our country decide that instead someone from another country who threatens to harm us.  The proper way for North Korea to have handled this would be for their leader to call our leader and let us know how offensive it is.  But we know that’s not how things work over there.  The worst thing you can do when a bully tries to intimidate is back down.

I feel like there’s been too much politics in this blog recently so let’s take a break from ALL that for a while!

“R” Movies

I don’t have any “Q” movies so we’ll move onto the next letter!

This is the 17th of a 24 part series (are you bored yet?) 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 178 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.

I own 11 “R” movies, one of my most popular letters.  Here’s the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Ringu (1998, 96 min, NR, 7.3, $??) – This is the original Japanese version that inspired the hugely successful American version.  It’s basically the same movie as the American one but done with a little bit less gore.  I really like this movie for how creepy and original it is.  The plot is whenever someone watches a mysterious video they get killed a week later unless they can figure out the mystery.  If you’re into horror movies you should definitely put this one on your list.

Rocky Balboa (2006, 102 min, PG, 7.2, $152m) – This is the final “Rocky” movie which details Balboa coming out of retirement to fight the reigning heavyweight champion in an exhibition fight that gets serious.  I don’t own any of the other Rocky movies because they are so often on TV but this would still be my favorite of the bunch.  I’m intrigued by people who are almost out of the game (or a musician who’s not popular anymore) and how they deal with it.  Also this is the most realistic fighting in any of the series and they basically make it a HBO fight just like they would broadcast it.  Very well done!

Requiem for a Dream (2000, 102 min, R, 8.4, $7.3m) – Ok this is not a movie for the faint of heart but if you can handle uncomfortable scenes and situations it’s well worth your viewing.  Jared Leto is the main star here who plays a guy addicted to drugs.  In fact it follows several people with all kinds of addictions and the director Darren Aronofsky (who also did Black Swan) does visuals that make it seem like the viewer is also on the same drugs so often you don’t know what’s going on.  If you like a movie that will make you feel all kinds of emotions then this is the one for you.

Running on the Sun (2000, 100m, NR, 7.4, $2.4k) – I found this documentary online and took a chance when buying it and am I glad I did!  It follows several runners who are competing in what some call the most grueling race in the world, the 135 mile uphill race through Death Valley and into the mountains.  It's not a big budget movie at all (in fact it only made $2400 in theaters) but what's so good about the movie is how it shows in excruciating detail what these athletes go through to finish the race.  There are elite level runners all the way to people in their 60’s who are just trying to conquer the race and finish.  Very motivating – every time I’ve shown it to my athletes they have no reason to complain about their workouts, haha!

Reservoir Dogs (1992, 99 min, R, 8.3, $2.8m) – This is the first movie the general public ever saw from director Quentin Taratino (Django, Pulp Fiction, etc).  It didn’t make much money but from this came Pulp Fiction and the rest was history.  The plot is simple, a jewel heist goes wrong, but the only thing you see as the viewer is the aftermath inside the hideout afterwards.  Tarantino’s normal signature items are here (great dialogue, brutal violence, unique characters) and there isn’t a moment wasted.  If you are at all a fan of QT then you need to see this movie because this is where it all started!

The Rookie (2002, 127 min, G, 7.0, $80m) – There are some parts of this movie that really hit home with me.  It’s a true story about Jimmy Morris (Dennis Quaid) who makes it to the major leagues for the first time when he’s 36 years old.  Another movie about an older guy trying to see if he still has what it takes to be successful at the highest level (see Rocky Balboa).  It’s a truly remarkable story that is very effective in how Disney put it together.  I’ll admit the part where he finds out he’s finally going to the majors is one of my favorite ever movie moments (and I still get a lump in my throat every time).  I saw it’s rated G, I didn’t know that was still possible!

Running Brave (1983, 106 min, PG, 6.8, 3m) – Another true story turned to dramatic movie about a sports star.  This one is about the improbable life of Billy Mills (Robby Benson).  It follows him through his younger years, onto his college days at Kansas then culminates with his incredible Olympic victory.  It’s one of those movies that if it were fiction no one would think it was possible.  I saw it as a kid in school (my junior high math teacher was the track coach) and now I live in Kansas and have a whole new respect for it.  It’s not the best movie with the best acting but if you’re a track fan you’ll enjoy it.

The Ringer (2005, 94 min, PG-13, 5.8, 40m) – This is one of those movies that you’re not sure you should be laughing at while you’re watching, but can’t help it because it’s funny.  Johnny Knoxville needs money so he plays a mentally handicapped guy so he can fix the Special Olympics.  There are a lot of seemingly insensitive jokes about the handicapped but in the end you realize they were probably in on it and you feel a lot better.  It’s an odd movie-going experience where you feel bad for laughing then feel good for watching the movie afterwards.

The Rocker (2008, 102 min, PG-13, 6.2, $8.7m) – Not many people saw this movie but I think it’s pretty good.  Rainn Wilson (from the TV show The Office) plays a failed drummer who is given another chance at success when his nephew’s band needs another member.  Like I said it’s a funny movie that just never found an audience so if you have a chance to catch it you should.  The video of Wilson that goes viral and makes the band famous is worth seeing the whole movie.

Reefer Madness (1936, 66 min, PG, 3.7, $??) – I can honestly say I’ve never had marijuana in my life but I’d heard this was one of those “it’s so bad it’s good” movies so I bought it on a whim.  It was originally made to try and scare teenagers away from smoking weed by showing all the bad things that will happen if you do it.  It was so bad an ineffective (and not accurate) that it became a cult movie where people actually got high while watching it!  It’s definitely a very bad movie but I laughed a lot and the version I have has a commentary track by the guy from Mystery Science Theater where he makes fun of it the whole time.  I don’t recommend using drugs but feel free to have fun with this one!

Rock of Ages (2012, 123 min, PG-13, 5.9, $59m) – I’ve heard the musical of the same name has been hugely successful and this movie has a lot of big stars and music but for some reason it just misses the mark.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s still quite fun and seeing Tom Cruise go all Axel Rose on everyone is awesome, but at 123 minutes it’s about 20 minutes too long.  Although if you like 80’s rock music you’ll enjoy it for that alone.

What a great list of movies – a little bit of everything.  And who wouldn’t love a list with two running and five sports movies!

Next week

With it being the holidays and all I might take the week off but then again who knows maybe I’ll have another long plane trip to kill some time here with you fine folks!  As a matter of fact I will, I’ll be heading to Florida to see my family so possibly look for a long, long list of “S” movies (15).

Until then, thank you for being such dedicated readers and Go Shocks!

Lots of traveling, Abe Lincoln and Ferguson, and Pulp Fiction edges politics

I’m writing this on Sunday as I fly to Phoenix so I have plenty of time to rant.  There’s not as much going on with WSU T&F so I’ll be bouncing around this week.  I just got a new laptop so the format is a little goofy - sorry.

Track & Field

I’m on my way to Phoenix, Arizona, for the annual USTFCCCA National Convention.  It’s the one time every year when track and field coaches get together to discuss the current state of our sport.  We also listen to great speakers from all the world of athletics as well as socialize with our coaching buddies.

            I always enjoy the convention.  Usually it’s at some fancy hotel and resort (this year it’s the JW Marriott) and yes I’ll be playing some golf with Coach Rainbolt.  But what I like the most is that our sport feels really important for a week.  They have the Bowerman Awards here, which is often referred to as the Heisman Trophy of track and field.  It’s done first class all the way and you feel like it’s a big deal (and it is).  The speaking topics are usually interesting and often educational – I always take away a few things to use as well as feeling like we’re doing things at WSU just like the most successful programs around the country.  They have a Hall of Fame ceremony.  Every night there’s a different dinner and social event to attend.

And the NCAA has declared this week a dead period so there’s no recruiting.

Next week I’ll report on what I heard and let you know what I took away from these four days in Phoenix.

WSU Track & Field

We finished up finals this week and most of the team went home for the holidays.  Now it’s up to them to stay focused and come back in January ready to battle to reach our goals.  As coaches we do our best to keep in touch by phone, text, email, Facebook, Twitter – any way possible.  Mostly I’m making sure to touch base each week, at least one time, with every athlete I coach.  It ranges from having kids text me every day to having kids never contact me at all.

We’re also anxiously awaiting our academic results for the semester.  Hopefully by next week we’ll have that complete picture.  Our academic coordinators Andrew Moses and Sarah Wiley do a great job keeping us up to date on anyone who is struggling.  I think we will come through the semester looking good, but like any race you have to run through the finish line so you don’t get clipped by an unsuspected runner (or test).

Early MVC returns

While we had an Intersquad meet last week, most of the MVC competed in actual meets that counted.  Looking over the early results show some great results from several teams.

I           Indiana State ran at Indiana this week and, as we thought, looked very good.  Also looking very good last week was Southern Illinois (especially the women’s team).  I would say the rest of the MVC didn’t have as strong team competitions but most of them weren’t fully competing either.

            In comparison I thought our Intersquad results were favorable.  It might sound funny but the atmosphere at our Intersquad Meet is better than most early season track and field competitions around the country.  If you don’t believe me just re-watch the live stream.

Speaking of live streams

Thank you to the almost 1000 people who have watched our meet online.  If you are a fan of WSU T&F you will be able to watch all of our home meet online this year at Livestream.com.  We have moved over from Ustream because of how much easier Livestream is to use.

The MVC has struck a deal to broadcast the MVC Indoor Championships on ESPN3.com this year.  I think that’s an awesome event to have online because it such an exciting meet!  If you don’t make it to Cedar Falls, Iowa, at the end of February be sure to check us out on ESPN3 or the Watch ESPN app on your phone.

Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan

I did a little traveling this week and while I was out I stopped by the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.  Earlier this summer I went to the Ronald Reagan Museum in California and I can tell everyone that going to these places is well worth your time.

The Reagan museum (located in Simi Valley, California) was massive (one room had the entire Air Force One in it) as well as being educational and inspirational.  Lincoln’s was much smaller because it was in downtown Springfield, but it was no less inspiring.  While I was there I couldn’t help but think about my next topic …..

Ferguson

While I was at the Lincoln Museum I realized I was only a little over an hour from Ferguson, Missouri.  I haven’t really taken any position on what has happened in Ferguson or other recent places like Cleveland or New York City.  I sympathize with both sides of this heated debate but that’s not my point here.

            I was watching a video about the Civil War at the museum.  It was four minutes long and showed an animated map of the USA that was red (South) and blue (North).  Every second represented 10 days and it showed how the lines of battle moved as the war progressed.  In the bottom right hand of the map it had a counter of casualties from both the North and South that eventually caught my attention the most.  At first it registered a few thousand then tens of thousands and then hundreds of thousands.  I knew there were massive amounts of lives lost during the war but as I saw the map becoming bluer with every second it hit me hard that, combined, there were 1.4 million people who died (over 700,000 from the North and over 600,000 from the South) fighting for what they thought was right.

My thoughts turned to our country (and to nearby Ferguson) and I felt embarrassed that we are seemingly so divided.  It’s not even black or white or police or republicans or democrats, sometimes I don’t think we know who or what we’re upset about because we’re forming opinions based off what others are saying on television or social media.  Both the black and white people from the North came together and didn’t just TALK about what they felt was right or wrong – they were willing to put their lives on the line for it.  I hear things from both sides of this issue and they are both correct.  Being in track and field I’ve always been around a diverse group of teammates, coaches and athletes of all colors who have felt discriminated against.  Being a fast white guy as a youngster often put me in social situations in college that were different than my childhood.  I also dated outside my race and the following is very true – groups of people are stupid but when you talk to people individually they are smart.

Just this week I had the opportunity to hang out with a police officer that expressed thoughts about how they are trying to do a job as good as they can.  I can’t imagine what it would be like if masses of people all of a sudden started hating track coaches when all we are trying to do is help people run fast and do our job.  Unfortunately it’s hard for us to have productive conversations about how to move forward because much of the focus of the media is on the protestors not what they’re protesting about.  It’s one of the reasons I’ve all but stopped watching the news – I can’t trust what I’m seeing – so I’ll just continue talking to people and forming my own opinions.  I hope that’s where the rest of the country eventually heads.

Whatever side of the issue you’re on please speak from personal experience and not what others (especially on TV) tell you.  Myself, I’m on the side of what’s best for the United States, which is the side everyone should be on.

Sorry about that rant, on to another media altered story ….

Johnny Manziel

… or otherwise known as Johnny Foosball (at least I hope he can play foosball better than he played football Sunday against the Bengals).  I grew up not too far from Cincinnati so naturally I dislike the Steelers and the Browns.  When I saw the Browns draft Manziel this year I just chuckled.  I went to college not too far from Cleveland so I’m friends with a lot of Browns (and Steelers) fans.  Do I feel sorry for them?  No.  Why not?  Well let me just tell you about the Cincinnati Bengals from 1991-2002, or as Cincinnatians refer to it as “The Lost Decade”.  It was awful being a Bengals fan and I spent most of it in Northeastern Ohio where I even lived with fans of both the Browns and Steelers.  Since the Bengals became relevant again (even though most don’t give them credit, they’ve been good for over a decade) I don’t feel bad for anything that doesn’t go the way of the Browns and Steelers – including drafting a guy like Manziel.

            Why am I against Manziel?  Personally I’m not.  But for a guy who has never won a professional football game – show some maturity.  I DO think the guy is talented and can probably play in the NFL but what happened to being humble.  As Crash Davis said to Calvin LaLouche in Bull Durham about having fungus on his shower shoes, “Once you win 20 in the show you can have fungus in your shower shoes and the press will say your colorful.  Until then, you’re a slob.”

Manziel should be a perfect example for young athletes that talent can take to you to a certain level but at some point you need to be an adult.  Guys who have come up through the years and acted this way always have short term success then fall on harsh realities.  When no one cares about Johnny Football anymore what will he become?  Just ask Brian Bosworth.

Johnny please take some advice from Crash Davis.  Or don’t, the populations of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Baltimore don’t mind.

Speaking of movies …

“P” Movies

This is the 16th of a 24 part series (are you bored yet?) 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 178 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.

I own nine “P” movies.  Here’s the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Pulp Fiction (1994, 154 min, R, 9.0, $213m) – Even though it wasn’t his first movie, this is the one that brought Quentin Tarantino to the world.  To me, Tarantino is a fascinating guy who basically has never done anything the typical Hollywood way – and I respect him for that.  This movie stars Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Samuel Jackson doing all sorts of bad things but we kind of like them because beneath being the bad guys they are also funny and normal in a lot of ways.  The unique thing about watching this for the first time is how it doesn’t go in the normal sequence – it jumps back and forth several times and is quite confusing but in the end it all makes sense.  I had friends in college tell me they left the movie after they realized this halfway through – what a bad mistake they made!  There is definitely some hard language and graphic violence in this movie but it’s a movie that is well worth the 154 minute investment of your time.

Primary Colors (1998, 143 min, R, 6.7, $52m) – John Travolta plays a democratic candidate running for his party’s presidential nomination that is loosely based on Bill Clinton.  I absolutely love this movie for a few reasons.  Travolta does a great version of Clinton – funny, shady, charming, underhanded, loveable – and you kind of understand why these politicians have to act like they do.  Another reason I love this movie is to how it indirectly talks about leadership throughout and it doesn’t come full circle until the end.  Sometimes a leader has to do things that are for the better good and in the process people get hurt or not treated as well as they should.  And this movie shows that in blunt detail.  Billy Bob Thornton is also great as the Democratic strategist.  If you liked the TV series The West Wing then you would probably really like this movie.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987, 93 min, R, 7.6, $49m) – It’s ironic I’ve been traveling a lot this week and this movies is on the list.  Terrific comedy about the travel problems of Steve Martin and John Candy who are both trying to get home from work for the holidays.  I am so glad they went with the rated-R script because there are some of the funniest scenes of the 1980’s in this movie.  Seeing Martin curse out the lady at the airlines is awesome (and can’t be repeated here).  And the running joke of their car getting more and more smashed up as they go is really good.  The only bad thing is they make Wichita look like a tiny little town – but the guy they meet there with the speech problem makes up for it – and yeah I can see him being from Wichita.  Classic!

Porky’s (1982, 94 min, R, 6.1, $111m) – I was too young to go see this movie when it came out in the theaters but after watching it years later it shows how having an original idea and a few crazy scenes can create a buzz and make a ton of money.  Watching it now it seems pretty tame by today’s standards but some of the adult themes back in the day got people talking and out to see it.  The acting isn’t that great and the plot is fairly ridiculous but that doesn’t matter when it comes to Porky’s.  See it with a bunch of buddies and throw popcorn at the screen every time something dumb happens.  You’ll probably enjoy it!

Piranha (1978, 94 min, R, 5.9, $??) – Ahh nothing like a good ole Roger Cormen low budget horror/comedy.  Cormen is the guy who also brought us the original Death Race 2000 movie in the 70’s.  Piranha got made because Jaw was so successful and Cormen figured what else could be deadly in the water?  It’s bad acting and has a cheesy plot but it’s great fun to watch in my book.  It even spawned a recent remake and sequel (I saw the remake, it was hilarious).  Be warned it is graphic but totally worth it.

The Player’s Club (1998, 104 min, R, 5.4, $23m) – This was Ice Cube’s follow up to his surprise hit Friday.  I remember going to see this movie in college and liking it enough that I went ahead and bought it years later.  It follows the life of a couple of strippers who are trying to make their way through life (and college) by dancing for a living.  While it wasn’t a perfect movie it definitely had some memorable scenes by showing how brutal that life can be.  I think Hustle & Flow is a much better movie in this genre but The Player’s Club was definitely an original when it came out.

Parker (2013, 118 min, R, 6.2, $46m) – I totally picked up this movie on a whim because I generally like Jason Statham’s movies and I heard the books this movie was based on were pretty good.  I enjoyed Parker even though I’m not a huge action movie fan.  It wasn’t way over the top like a lot of these movies could go (I imagine they didn’t have the budget to do so) but I think it worked better that way.  Statham’s character Parker is basically a Robin Hood type guy who tries to win over the girl by beating the bad guys (very original haha).  It’s not good enough to warrant a sequel but it’s good fun if you like these types of movies.

Panic Room (2002, 112 min, R, 6.8, $196m) – Being a horror movie fan, I bought this hoping it would live up to the hype (it made a lot of money).  Unfortunately it was just average and not nearly as good as movies like The Ring or something originally from Japan.  Jodie Foster is the lead and is effective enough but don’t watch this movie hoping for it to scare the daylights out of you.

Poetic Justice (1993, 109 min, R, 5.8, $27m) – I only own this movie because it was part of DVD pack with Boyz in the Hood.  This was another John Singleton movie that tried to play on the popularity of Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur but it never really worked for me.  The only scene I can remember being funny was when they stop and randomly join a family barbeque by saying they are cousins from out of town.  I liked Tupac way more in movie like Juice and Above the Rim.  He was a very talented guy, unfortunately we never got to see him mature into a veteran actor.  If you never see this movie you won’t be missing out on anything important.

Final movie thoughts this week …

Interesting how Travolta played in both my top two movies this week.  I was talking to someone who reads this blog and I got to telling them how I would decide how I rank the movies.  I have all my movies listed alphabetically on my laptop and I just start from the top.  So this week the first movie was Panic Room.  I do the little write-up for that then I ask myself do I like Panic Room or Parker better?  It goes on like this until I’m done.  This week was a tough choice for me because I think Primary Colors is overlooked by most and everyone has seen Pulp Fiction but I can’t deny Tarantino’s genius.

Next week

I will report back what I can get from our convention as well as talking about a bunch of “Q” movies.  Uhh wait a minute, I don’t have any of those.  I guess I will go with the 11 “R” movies I own – and there are some true classics!

Feel free to comment below or on my Facebook page and tell me if you agree (or disagree) with anything from Ferguson to Poetic Justice (see what I did there).  I am always amazed at how many people end up reading this every week and I thank you very much!

Until next week, try to stay warm and Go Shockers!

Recap of an epic Intersquad Meet and it's time to go Old School

Our last full week together as a team this semester was a busy one!  It looks like our team has had a good fall as we head into the winter break.

Track

The main thing that happened this week was our annual Intersquad Meet on Friday.  Overall I’d say it went very well for our team.  There are always athletes who don’t compete to the level they want and an early season competition like this one is no different, but this year the Intersquad Meet felt a little more serious and focused – and the results showed.

Like I’ve explained in previous posts, our team is divided into three sqauds (Gold, White, Black) and compete against each other (as well as our alumni Gray team) in a scored quad meet.  The captains of each team serve as the coaches and they did a good job of getting everyone entered in their events and organized in all the relays.  To show how healthy our team is this year, of the 130 athletes we only had about eight that didn’t compete Friday.  That’s a pretty remarkable statistic.

Watch the replay of the Intersquad Meet here.

Gold Squad - 2014 Intersquad Champions!

The team race came down to the final event of the meet with the Gold team beating the White team by only four points (176.5-172.5).  The final event of the meet is what we call the “Special Relay” that has all kinds of crazy things going on with the conclusion being a tug-of-war.  Make sure to watch the replay of the meet above with the ending tug-of-war and you’ll see how competitive our team is about this meet.

The results of the meet don’t count on the official school top-10 or MVC lists but we do run the meet off just like a regular one so all the performances are legitimate.  This is the eighth year for the meet and there were 15 new records set.  That’s a large number!

Now the job will be for our teams to maintain their current fitness for the next four weeks while we’re on break.  Our next meet will be around January 10 and between now and then and a lot can and will happen.  Stay focused Shocks!

Team banquet and alumni

Besides having the Intersquad Meet on Friday we also have our annual team banquet and alumni social as well.  Around 300 parents, alumni, athletes and fans attended this year’s banquet where we honored last year’s team and seniors as well as kicked off the 2015 track and field season. Dozens of alumni were in attendance throughout the day and around 25 of them competed in the meet!  All in all it was a great day for Shocker Track and Field!

Around the MVC

Several teams from around the conference competed on the opening weekend of the college track and field season.  From looking at the results it appears many of our MVC opponents had good semesters as well.  Our conference continues to get better and better every year – another reason our athletes will need to be ready to compete when they come back in January.  Check out the results and updated TFRRS list here.

Recruiting

Now that the semester is over, recruiting will also slow down a bit.  After signing five athletes in the November signing period, we’ve had a couple more give verbal commitments.  Those athletes can sign their letter of intent in April and until then we will continue to work on the 2015 recruiting class.  I think we will also be adding between two and five new athletes in January but we’re not able to publicly comment on those athletes until next semester.

What do track coaches do for the next four weeks?

Not all track coaches are the same but the next month will be the last time for many of us to have a break until July.  The next week will be mostly around the office, checking on how athletes are doing academically as well as having some sporadic practices.  Our staff will be getting together to discuss the state of our team as well as thinking about who we might want to redshirt in the upcoming indoor season.  The following week several of us will attend the annual USTFCCCA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.  Following that we will be back in the office for a few days getting ready for the early part of the January schedule and celebrating the holidays (I’ll be in Florida with my family).

These four weeks will surely fly by and we’ll be gathered back up for track practice in no time!

“O” Movies

This is the 15th of a 24 part series (are you bored yet?) 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 178 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.

I only own five “O” movies but it’s a good list!  Here’s the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Old School (2003, 91 min, R, 7.2, $87m) – The bringing together of Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughan was genius for this movie that follows three older guys (including Luke Wilson) who create a fraternity near a college campus where they can relive their younger days.  Ferrell is probably at his all-time funniest as he owns the screen for most of the movie (who can forget him streaking through campus alone when his wife picks him up in her car with her friends).  This is a great comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously – funny, funny stuff.

Office Space (1999, 89 min, R, 7.9, $10.8m) – I can’t believe this movie is 15 years old already but what a great little small budget comedy!  Made with mostly unknown actors (at the time), this movie became a cult classic with its funny jokes and being easy to relate to because of the mundane office work so many people deal with everyday.  Director Mike Judge is probably best known for being the creator of Beavis and Butthead and some of the jokes don’t stray too far from that type of show but overall it’s a very smart movie. Ummmmm yeah I'm gonna need for you to come in on Saturday, ok ... thank you.

Oldboy (2003, 120 min, R, 8.4, $14.9m) – This isn’t the recent Spike Lee movie, it’s the original drama from South Korea that Spike remade.  Some people regard this as one of the best dramas to ever come out of Asia and I would probably agree.  I’ve only seen it recently but upon my first viewing I was very impressed.  The basic premise of the movie is the main character is kidnapped and imprisoned (without knowing why) for 15 years before being released and stumbling upon his captor right away.  There are lots of twists and turns and I am sure multiple viewings will help in understanding everything because the first time it’s a little confusing.  But all in all it’s a very entertaining movie.  I have a fondness for horror/drama movies that come out of Asia and this one doesn’t disappoint.

The Outsiders (1983, 91 min, PG-13, $25.6m) – Really good 80’s teenager movie about two different types of gangs that get into a bad feud after one member gets killed.  One reason this Francis Ford Coppola movie continues to have appeal is because of the actors who eventually hit the big time.  Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon and Ralph Maccio are part of the cast.  It’s worth viewing to see all these guys in their early years and the movie is pretty good too.

Orgazmo (1997, 94 min, NC-17, 6.2, $602k) – From one of the creators of South Park, Trey Parker plays a naïve Morman who makes his way to California where he eventually becomes a porn star (without actually having sex).  I was in college when this movie was rumored to come out.  South Park was just coming out so anything to do with those guys had interest by college-aged kids.  The actual movie was just ok but it had some definite parts of genius that you could tell these were not the average bathroom humor comedians.  A funny thing about the movie is that it’s rated NC-17 and doesn’t have any actual nudity in the film.  It’s worth seeing for anyone who is a fan of the South Park series.

Next week

Next Sunday I will be on my way to Phoenix, Arizona, for the USTFCCCA Convention so hopefully I can post a blog during the trip.  Nine “P” movies are next on the list that are mostly from the 20^th century.

Until then thanks again for reading and go Shocks!