This was a surprising day in Des Moines. I was sitting on my couch watching the US lose, UCLA win and WLs left and right at US Nationals. Some from expected suspects and some from unexpected suspects.
I have seen Greg Nixon run all spring and he has looked ready to run, but 44.61 was a surprise result. One because he looked horrible on Friday in his semi. Two he was in lane 9. Three he had never broken 45 before. Four he looked terrible Friday!
Congrats Lolo on the dream victory. I do not care who you are if you can win the US title in your home town on a track you ran on your whole life, that is something special. Family and friends in the stands. Excellent.
Special shout out the Kellie Wells on her second place finish. Long road back but here she is.
Batman and Johnny Dutch were shock performers. Batman hadn't broken 48 in a few years despite his medals and success. And Dutch is a junior in college. 47,63 is ridiculously fast for his age.
The highs got started today, the race I have been waiting for.Ryan cruised through easily. The show starts tomorrow, and will be a fun race to watch.
Ok once again, I am typing half sleep...
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Blogging Afterdark
It is never wise to blog wen sleepy but hey what fun we can have. Now contrary to the title of this entry, this will not be anything close to twitter after dark.
USATF started and the 2010 100m champions are Walter Dix and Allyson Felix. Congrats to you both. The winds prevented the times from being fast. The off year and absence of some of our top athletes have sucked the energy out of meet for some.
My personal interest rest in the 110HH which start Saturday and end Sunday. Looking for my man Ryan Wilson to run well and stay healthy for the summer circuit.
Like I said bad idea to blog late at night, I have fallen asleep twice writing this smdh
In closing, sorry three times now. Ok that was the closing. USA soccer and USATF champs on TV in the AM, I will be in bliss.
USATF started and the 2010 100m champions are Walter Dix and Allyson Felix. Congrats to you both. The winds prevented the times from being fast. The off year and absence of some of our top athletes have sucked the energy out of meet for some.
My personal interest rest in the 110HH which start Saturday and end Sunday. Looking for my man Ryan Wilson to run well and stay healthy for the summer circuit.
Like I said bad idea to blog late at night, I have fallen asleep twice writing this smdh
In closing, sorry three times now. Ok that was the closing. USA soccer and USATF champs on TV in the AM, I will be in bliss.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Bad business
The season has started. No new faces so far, and the usual suspects are staking claim to their respective places.
DO drops another early season sub 13. Impressive how he and Brooks have dialed it in and are able to run fast right out of the gate. NICE!
Jet has started her season off strongly having taken down the Jamaican trio in succession. It shall be an interesting summer for sure.
Meanwhile, so I have not posted in 2 months. So much I will not say simply because I don't possess the language to say what I want to say with any type of savvy.
Sadness in the fact that La Shawn has gone down and for such a personal reason. I really cannot call him the smartest man in the room, that is for damn sure!
What I want for Christmas is a sport that is about bettering itself through well planned, and transparent marketing and planning. I do not want to read blogs, message boards or tea leaves to figure out if the powers that be our working to better my situation as a participant in this sport. I have never been so disheartened in my life by this sport. Where are my athletes to go to earn a living, or afford to chase this dream. As the structure stands now it is extremely difficult to afford participation in this sport and that is sad. I know of a couple of stories of very talented individuals who are seriously considering walking from the sport because financially it is riskier than playing the lottery! This is not a good situation. And I will leave it there.
We need to do better. I want us to do better.
Hope to see you all soon on the circuit this summer...
DO drops another early season sub 13. Impressive how he and Brooks have dialed it in and are able to run fast right out of the gate. NICE!
Jet has started her season off strongly having taken down the Jamaican trio in succession. It shall be an interesting summer for sure.
Meanwhile, so I have not posted in 2 months. So much I will not say simply because I don't possess the language to say what I want to say with any type of savvy.
Sadness in the fact that La Shawn has gone down and for such a personal reason. I really cannot call him the smartest man in the room, that is for damn sure!
What I want for Christmas is a sport that is about bettering itself through well planned, and transparent marketing and planning. I do not want to read blogs, message boards or tea leaves to figure out if the powers that be our working to better my situation as a participant in this sport. I have never been so disheartened in my life by this sport. Where are my athletes to go to earn a living, or afford to chase this dream. As the structure stands now it is extremely difficult to afford participation in this sport and that is sad. I know of a couple of stories of very talented individuals who are seriously considering walking from the sport because financially it is riskier than playing the lottery! This is not a good situation. And I will leave it there.
We need to do better. I want us to do better.
Hope to see you all soon on the circuit this summer...
Friday, March 5, 2010
Bootcamp is over
I learned today that not only is the time of year coaches start to amp up speed and intervals in practice, but boot camp really is over. I know because I attended the ceremonies of my oldest, Ricky, yesterday and today. It was one of my proudest moments in life.
Yesterday was Turning Blue. He received his blue braid that signifies him as infantry. Now the downside is I missed the ceremony but got there just as it ended. Which proved to be perfect. See I was the surprise. He had no idea I was coming, and when I popped up from the mass of people he was surprised, then I got surprised. He gave me hug so tight it almost broke me down. I love that MAN, no longer a boy. And I really did not expect him to react so strongly to my presence, yeah fathers love to feel wanted too. It was fantastic.
Today was his graduation and I was in for another surprise. He was the guidon, or should I say holding the guidon. This is an honor bestowed upon the most upstanding soldier I was later told by a 17 yr enlisted man. Shoulders back, head level, back straight, knees straight, at 6'2". "That's my boy out there!" Looking like a soldier, a man.
Lord I thank you for my children and for the lives you have blessed them with. You know I have not been the father of the year but through your infinite wisdom they respect me, love me, and show me tremendous honor. I know this would not be possible without you. Keep them covered out in this world. Help me continue to show you favor through my love for my children. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
Needless to say this man is feeling like he did something right, proud of my man!
Yesterday was Turning Blue. He received his blue braid that signifies him as infantry. Now the downside is I missed the ceremony but got there just as it ended. Which proved to be perfect. See I was the surprise. He had no idea I was coming, and when I popped up from the mass of people he was surprised, then I got surprised. He gave me hug so tight it almost broke me down. I love that MAN, no longer a boy. And I really did not expect him to react so strongly to my presence, yeah fathers love to feel wanted too. It was fantastic.
Today was his graduation and I was in for another surprise. He was the guidon, or should I say holding the guidon. This is an honor bestowed upon the most upstanding soldier I was later told by a 17 yr enlisted man. Shoulders back, head level, back straight, knees straight, at 6'2". "That's my boy out there!" Looking like a soldier, a man.
Lord I thank you for my children and for the lives you have blessed them with. You know I have not been the father of the year but through your infinite wisdom they respect me, love me, and show me tremendous honor. I know this would not be possible without you. Keep them covered out in this world. Help me continue to show you favor through my love for my children. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
Needless to say this man is feeling like he did something right, proud of my man!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
I am different
As the title to this suggest I realize I am different. Not strange or weird or artsy different, I process information differently and think on it from a different angle. That being said this blog will be some random thoughts not short enough for tweets and status updates. Lets go
I was told get a job and do not coach. That was 17 years ago and they were right but I am still coaching. LOL
I was told to get off the internet and stop letting people in on what I think and I am doing. They were partially right and I made partial adjustments. LOL
This is for my man Doc Dossman who I hope all athletes know by now. I know and athletes know that physio's, doctors, chiros, and masseuse's are not the same. We know who to go see for what, well let me rephrase, I know who to go see, and I instruct my athletes accordingly. However, when in casual convo it is time prudent to just use physio as a universal catch-all. Especially on the road. For example some call me a trainer depending on where they are from, I do not get involved in the banter of correction, its not important in casual settings.
To my tweeter friends. Criticizing grammar on tweeter is dumb. You have 140 characters to say what you need to say, abbreviations and homonyms are acceptable and preferred and a part of the text-lingo. Your continued post about grammar is arrogant, presumptuous, and makes you look like an asshole. Real talk. I will write and misspell and keep it pushing becuz its ltd spc avail 2 say wut i wnt 2. You want proper grammar read a blog, or an email, stop embarrassing yourself and trying to clown others in an attempt to make you feel superior.
Do you ever get irritated with folks that complain about texting? LOL I did at first but I remembered something. I do not like to talk on the phone. Hell most men don't. One of those old school stereotype things LOL. I like texting because I can carry the conversation at a comfortable and unforced pace and so can you. Neither of us have to answer RIGHT now. We can readdress the convo with a written record of what was said not flawed memories that lead to arguments lol. That being said, texting has been a universal reverse psychology on the world. We now all appreciate the value of real communication, hearing someones voice, seeing them and their expressions.
Sadly what the internet has created is a false universe. Where people think what they think is acceptable simply because they thought it and have a medium to bring it to existence.
Ok enough ranting, I am far from perfect and I am sure guilty of the things I dislike the most LOL. In more important news, good luck to all athletes going to nationals! My 2 charges Carmelita and Kenny, go make this team!
Oh i do have one more rant. This one is form the heart and goes to my track friends and foes and fans. Shut yer mouths! Root for who you like, be friends and dislike who you want. But stop all these accusations and drug insinuations. One day it will be you if you ever get to realize your dreams. Be mindful of this simple truth. You are working hard and selling out to be the best, to be recognized and to win. When you get there you will want to receive accolades and smiles and have people admire what it took to get there. If all you read and HEAR is about how dirty you are, you will not be pleased. I have seen men cry behind accusations, this is real life and real people just like you. Our sport is shaky and when I hear people in the sport talking about how such and such is dirty it pisses me off. We are all trying to earn a living out here and I am telling you from experience, reaching the pinnacle does NOT guarantee you money. We have to do better, this should not be the case under any circumstances. Watch what you say and who you say it to.
Further, you will not succeed operating from a negative pov. That energy does not breed success, just contempt. Change your mind, be positive. You are better served allowing people to disappoint you than protecting against it through cynicism, pessimism and hateful opinions. Real talk.
I was told get a job and do not coach. That was 17 years ago and they were right but I am still coaching. LOL
I was told to get off the internet and stop letting people in on what I think and I am doing. They were partially right and I made partial adjustments. LOL
This is for my man Doc Dossman who I hope all athletes know by now. I know and athletes know that physio's, doctors, chiros, and masseuse's are not the same. We know who to go see for what, well let me rephrase, I know who to go see, and I instruct my athletes accordingly. However, when in casual convo it is time prudent to just use physio as a universal catch-all. Especially on the road. For example some call me a trainer depending on where they are from, I do not get involved in the banter of correction, its not important in casual settings.
To my tweeter friends. Criticizing grammar on tweeter is dumb. You have 140 characters to say what you need to say, abbreviations and homonyms are acceptable and preferred and a part of the text-lingo. Your continued post about grammar is arrogant, presumptuous, and makes you look like an asshole. Real talk. I will write and misspell and keep it pushing becuz its ltd spc avail 2 say wut i wnt 2. You want proper grammar read a blog, or an email, stop embarrassing yourself and trying to clown others in an attempt to make you feel superior.
Do you ever get irritated with folks that complain about texting? LOL I did at first but I remembered something. I do not like to talk on the phone. Hell most men don't. One of those old school stereotype things LOL. I like texting because I can carry the conversation at a comfortable and unforced pace and so can you. Neither of us have to answer RIGHT now. We can readdress the convo with a written record of what was said not flawed memories that lead to arguments lol. That being said, texting has been a universal reverse psychology on the world. We now all appreciate the value of real communication, hearing someones voice, seeing them and their expressions.
Sadly what the internet has created is a false universe. Where people think what they think is acceptable simply because they thought it and have a medium to bring it to existence.
Ok enough ranting, I am far from perfect and I am sure guilty of the things I dislike the most LOL. In more important news, good luck to all athletes going to nationals! My 2 charges Carmelita and Kenny, go make this team!
Oh i do have one more rant. This one is form the heart and goes to my track friends and foes and fans. Shut yer mouths! Root for who you like, be friends and dislike who you want. But stop all these accusations and drug insinuations. One day it will be you if you ever get to realize your dreams. Be mindful of this simple truth. You are working hard and selling out to be the best, to be recognized and to win. When you get there you will want to receive accolades and smiles and have people admire what it took to get there. If all you read and HEAR is about how dirty you are, you will not be pleased. I have seen men cry behind accusations, this is real life and real people just like you. Our sport is shaky and when I hear people in the sport talking about how such and such is dirty it pisses me off. We are all trying to earn a living out here and I am telling you from experience, reaching the pinnacle does NOT guarantee you money. We have to do better, this should not be the case under any circumstances. Watch what you say and who you say it to.
Further, you will not succeed operating from a negative pov. That energy does not breed success, just contempt. Change your mind, be positive. You are better served allowing people to disappoint you than protecting against it through cynicism, pessimism and hateful opinions. Real talk.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
24 hours of D - Not a race for the weak
Suffice it to say my last 24 hours have smacked me around. We can skip the first 4, I am not telling you all what it was anyway, plus the last few is where the action is, like a well constructed action flick. As I have been joking I got fired on my day off, TWICE, that is all. Then I woke up today and started over. Cool.
Get up, felt a little tired, got dressed, kissed my son and dressed him for school (love it), headed off to the weight room to start practice, it is 7am-ish at this point. Got a little business to hand but had to delay it because the person was not in that early. Gym it is! Now it gets good. I started smelling gas in the truck yesterday afternoon, but no leaks I can see but clearly by the time I was leaving the gym I was in full flow of when I was taking the truck to the shop, after practice was option 1A and 1B.
Well remember I had that business to handle so I decided to get it done between the weight room and track, let's roll betsy, even tho she was smelling a little gassy. Rolling along with the windows down hoping I do not pass out from the fumes. Then the accelerator goes dead. Uh oh, I just took the truck in for that. Coast around the corner, step on it to test it and NOTHING but a pop in the engine. Wow what was that? Out of the corner of my eye I see some thing. What is that says my brain. My eyes scream FIRE! The right front is in full flame, and growing!!! Jack Bauer was a black man for 10 seconds. brake/putinpark/unclip seatbelt/grabphone AAANNNNDDD bounce! Walk away from the vehicle D! Call 911, oops, wait...
I skipped a part. On my way to the gym I found out my phone was down. Thought I had made a payment and did not. So I am sitting there at 730am with money in pocket and no way to pay the bill until 10:00am when the shop opens. So no calls to be made except for 911. If you did not know you can always call 911 as along as you have a signal. ok back to the action...
CHP happened to be driving by and pulls over, he blocks traffic and stands next to me and watches the fire, the Car-B-Q as he and the fireman would later call it.
I am safe and sound. The engine is D-U-N! A few sprays from the water hose of the fire truck and it was all over, nice plume of white smoke.
Bye truck, 1989 silver 4runner in decent condition, gone by the car killer. That is 4 for me now, only one was my fault or carelessness, that other three are wear and tear, and a drunk driver.
It is over I proclaim. That 24 hours is in the books. As soon as I pay the 200 to the tow company that was called out to drag the truck away.
Get this, they want me to pay them for the towing and storage AND sign over the truck to them if I want to junk it to them! Where dey do dat???
Can someone show me a track meet! Damn!
Get up, felt a little tired, got dressed, kissed my son and dressed him for school (love it), headed off to the weight room to start practice, it is 7am-ish at this point. Got a little business to hand but had to delay it because the person was not in that early. Gym it is! Now it gets good. I started smelling gas in the truck yesterday afternoon, but no leaks I can see but clearly by the time I was leaving the gym I was in full flow of when I was taking the truck to the shop, after practice was option 1A and 1B.
Well remember I had that business to handle so I decided to get it done between the weight room and track, let's roll betsy, even tho she was smelling a little gassy. Rolling along with the windows down hoping I do not pass out from the fumes. Then the accelerator goes dead. Uh oh, I just took the truck in for that. Coast around the corner, step on it to test it and NOTHING but a pop in the engine. Wow what was that? Out of the corner of my eye I see some thing. What is that says my brain. My eyes scream FIRE! The right front is in full flame, and growing!!! Jack Bauer was a black man for 10 seconds. brake/putinpark/unclip seatbelt/grabphone AAANNNNDDD bounce! Walk away from the vehicle D! Call 911, oops, wait...
I skipped a part. On my way to the gym I found out my phone was down. Thought I had made a payment and did not. So I am sitting there at 730am with money in pocket and no way to pay the bill until 10:00am when the shop opens. So no calls to be made except for 911. If you did not know you can always call 911 as along as you have a signal. ok back to the action...
CHP happened to be driving by and pulls over, he blocks traffic and stands next to me and watches the fire, the Car-B-Q as he and the fireman would later call it.
I am safe and sound. The engine is D-U-N! A few sprays from the water hose of the fire truck and it was all over, nice plume of white smoke.
Bye truck, 1989 silver 4runner in decent condition, gone by the car killer. That is 4 for me now, only one was my fault or carelessness, that other three are wear and tear, and a drunk driver.
It is over I proclaim. That 24 hours is in the books. As soon as I pay the 200 to the tow company that was called out to drag the truck away.
Get this, they want me to pay them for the towing and storage AND sign over the truck to them if I want to junk it to them! Where dey do dat???
Can someone show me a track meet! Damn!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Coherent ramblings
July 3rd was my last published blog, not my last written one LOL. If you follow me on twitter (@dgs1103) or facebook then you know I always have something to say. Kind of stunts my ability to blog because I run out of coherent ramblings since they tend to be random and varied. Let's go...
Indoors has started and while I love the fact I can see results and talk about what folks are doing, I still feel no relevance to outdoors (real track). This weekend is stuffed with big names on the pro level. The college kids have been at it for a while and running fast. For the life of me I wish I could remember these kids names that run these fast indoor times but a couple of them fell off outdoors, so... back to the pros. I watch the 60s, sprints and hurdles. So this weekend is exciting to me. At Millrose the 60s are stacked and over in Europe a few big names are over there to make statements. Should be fun and Sunday will have the track bears out of hibernation.
Pause
My prayers to one Mr Xavier Carter. Young man pick yourself up and grow up. I mean it with all the energy an old head is supposed to pass on to the young lions of the pride. We ALL make mistakes, the successful ones stand up and move forward. I implore and ask all that are near and dear to him to hold him up and push him forward. Forget track and running fast, I am talking about life. Lets all help him step away from the edge and realize there is thrill and energy away from the edge also. Someone pass this on to him if you can, I am rooting for him now and want to see him be a success story not a money story. Money is short, life is long, that will never change.
Ok back to light hearted stuff.
I would like to thank all my friends and associates and enemies for opening my eyes to the darkness of track and field. I was inundated with proclamations of knowledge all fall. No one in track can pr or improve without drugs anymore. Track folks we have too much disbelief in us. You re out there working damn hard to be great and to be the exception, yet every time someone achieves this level we tear them down without question. Benefit of the doubt is not even offered. Let tell you what I know for sure, if you do not think someone else can do it, you do not think you can do it, and you are operating on hope. Hope is not what gets it done on the track. Hope keeps you training, but when you line up to compete hope is a loser. Belief in the impossible is a constant in great ones.
And thank you for confirming that I have exceeded the boundaries of your imagination.
Congratulations to Alabama for completing on undefeated season. But you are not any type of national champion. Boise St is undefeated too. I love college football. I love football but this is about the farce that is CFB. The NCAA should be sued for false advertisement and prostitution, and pandering and racketeering. Nothing about D1 is for the well being of the student athlete, it is all about money. I resolved my anger by deciding the season actually ends the first week in December. The bowls are for entertainment value solely. Without a playoff we do not get a champion. What we get is arbitrary games that are mainly based on fan following (they travel well). College bball and soccer and baseball and track and water polo and ALL OTHER SPORTS have playoffs. Nope these teams do not travel 100+ ppl but with the millions that a playoff would generate it can be budgeted. Ah you get the point, I am not a fan of bowls, the bowl system and i think the presidents are full of shit whenever they try to defend this crap called the BCS. Come one TCU played Boise St this year. Why? Because they could not have another of their member conferences get beat again as Oklahoma did. that would have legitimized the complaints and law suits and legislation against them.
Whenever a congressman takes this issue to congress you know something is wrong with it. Oh and that for statement about the well being of the student athlete was squashed when we had 24 hours of college basketball to start their season. We had games starting after 9pm on the West Coast and at 7am on the east coast. LOL
Ok more later, back to tweeting and watching FB people think i am updating my status on FB 30 times a day LOL. I have my twitter connected to my FB, sorry folks, i like to share some things, at times it is even interesting.
Indoors has started and while I love the fact I can see results and talk about what folks are doing, I still feel no relevance to outdoors (real track). This weekend is stuffed with big names on the pro level. The college kids have been at it for a while and running fast. For the life of me I wish I could remember these kids names that run these fast indoor times but a couple of them fell off outdoors, so... back to the pros. I watch the 60s, sprints and hurdles. So this weekend is exciting to me. At Millrose the 60s are stacked and over in Europe a few big names are over there to make statements. Should be fun and Sunday will have the track bears out of hibernation.
Pause
My prayers to one Mr Xavier Carter. Young man pick yourself up and grow up. I mean it with all the energy an old head is supposed to pass on to the young lions of the pride. We ALL make mistakes, the successful ones stand up and move forward. I implore and ask all that are near and dear to him to hold him up and push him forward. Forget track and running fast, I am talking about life. Lets all help him step away from the edge and realize there is thrill and energy away from the edge also. Someone pass this on to him if you can, I am rooting for him now and want to see him be a success story not a money story. Money is short, life is long, that will never change.
Ok back to light hearted stuff.
I would like to thank all my friends and associates and enemies for opening my eyes to the darkness of track and field. I was inundated with proclamations of knowledge all fall. No one in track can pr or improve without drugs anymore. Track folks we have too much disbelief in us. You re out there working damn hard to be great and to be the exception, yet every time someone achieves this level we tear them down without question. Benefit of the doubt is not even offered. Let tell you what I know for sure, if you do not think someone else can do it, you do not think you can do it, and you are operating on hope. Hope is not what gets it done on the track. Hope keeps you training, but when you line up to compete hope is a loser. Belief in the impossible is a constant in great ones.
And thank you for confirming that I have exceeded the boundaries of your imagination.
Congratulations to Alabama for completing on undefeated season. But you are not any type of national champion. Boise St is undefeated too. I love college football. I love football but this is about the farce that is CFB. The NCAA should be sued for false advertisement and prostitution, and pandering and racketeering. Nothing about D1 is for the well being of the student athlete, it is all about money. I resolved my anger by deciding the season actually ends the first week in December. The bowls are for entertainment value solely. Without a playoff we do not get a champion. What we get is arbitrary games that are mainly based on fan following (they travel well). College bball and soccer and baseball and track and water polo and ALL OTHER SPORTS have playoffs. Nope these teams do not travel 100+ ppl but with the millions that a playoff would generate it can be budgeted. Ah you get the point, I am not a fan of bowls, the bowl system and i think the presidents are full of shit whenever they try to defend this crap called the BCS. Come one TCU played Boise St this year. Why? Because they could not have another of their member conferences get beat again as Oklahoma did. that would have legitimized the complaints and law suits and legislation against them.
Whenever a congressman takes this issue to congress you know something is wrong with it. Oh and that for statement about the well being of the student athlete was squashed when we had 24 hours of college basketball to start their season. We had games starting after 9pm on the West Coast and at 7am on the east coast. LOL
Ok more later, back to tweeting and watching FB people think i am updating my status on FB 30 times a day LOL. I have my twitter connected to my FB, sorry folks, i like to share some things, at times it is even interesting.
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