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 20th
century.
Until
then thanks again for reading and go Shocks!
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