Filed under: "The Boring Whistle" With Dan Sharbaugh
Once again I am very apologetic about the long periods of silence on the blog, but for the last few weeks I have been as nomadic as I have ever been and really didn’t have time to write a new entry, until today. Over the past few weeks I have been all over the Northeast (literally, the only two states I haven’t been in northeast of PA is Vermont and Maine). I have logged many miles and many hours along the way but I finally made it back here to Philly in one piece. Since it’s been a while since I have last updated you on my life, I will start from the beginning.
Last time I told everyone about the weekend getaway that the interns all had up in Point Pleasant, NJ. I honestly had such a good time that I decided to go back and play for FCA in the War at the Shore tournament held right down the road. This tournament could have been one of the craziest things I have ever seen. From the amount of people who were there, about 70 teams, to some of the actual players that were there, Max Quinzani and Jack McBride, to some of the ridiculous team names, Peeping toms and the NJ Playboys, it was just an all around chaotic weekend. Our team didn’t do too hot, we went 2-4 and only beat one team because they were all completely hung over and the game was at 8 am. But hey a win is a win. The highlight of the weekend was after one of our game a team starts warming up and this team consists of Max Quinzani, Ned Crotty, Jack McBride, and a whole host of other DI players so naturally I hung around to watch how good this team was. Little did I realize that a team of no name kids would come out and absolutely man handle the DI all stars. It was actually pretty crazy how badly they got beat. That weekend I also caught a baby duck in the ocean so that was also pretty sweet.
The next weekend was a pretty good one as I traveled home to New Hampshire just to leave two days later for my brother’s wedding in southern Connecticut. Over the next few days there was the rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding. Thankfully this time there were no people ruining dances by not knowing which way to go (Harshaw). And just in case anyone even thought for a moment that Harshaw was right in that I was messing up the dances, let me just assure you of how very wrong he was. The song “hit me with your best shot” came on at one point and I started to break it down to say the least. Before I realized it there was actually a circle of people around me clapping and cheering for me. Needless to say that I am prepared at any point while I am dancing so I did not panic, instead I pulled out a move that most people probably thought was the highlight of the whole wedding (way more interesting then that whole ceremony with rings and all the readings and what not). So as I walked into the center of the circle, to the untrained eye it probably looked as though I was confused and just dancing around. But what came next blew the crowd away. It was in the last chorus of the song and when Pat Benatar screamed the words “FIRE AWAY” I stole the show by spinning around on my butt break dance style. I know that most of you probably didn’t know I had the capability to steal a show like that, but that is why it was so perfect because no one was prepared for it. And that is the story of how with a few spins on my butt I made the Sharbaugh wedding complete.
So this brings us to the last weekend and let me just say that between these weekend excursion my life has been filled with a lot of sleeping and sitting on that same butt that I break dance on like a champ. This past weekend I actually took a trip down to Ocean City Maryland to play in the OC classic with an FCA team. Well we did even worse than the first tournament going 0-4 but I would say our team had multiple wins throughout the weekend. The last game was particularly memorable because we actually stood a chance against the team we were playing seeing how there were no DI all Americans or MLL players on the other team. The first memorable moment was when we decided to have the two goalies take the face off. It was probably one of the more pathetic things I had ever seen so as I ran in as the LSM the other wing guys and I decided we would stand back and let the two of them battle for the ground ball and not give them any help. The second best moment of this game was probably the play of my career and I don’t know why I didn’t think of this tactic earlier. One of the other teams defenders (who was an under armour all American, just FYI) was running the ball down the sideline on the side of the field our box was on. As middie came off so I could go on as LSM the ref was standing right in front of the box, so I had a stroke of genius. As I came onto the field, I ducked down and hid behind the ref as the other teams defender came unsuspectingly closer to me, once he got in striking range I jumped up from behind the ref and screamed. This kid may be going to Maryland, but I guarantee he will never see such an intelligent defensive play in the ACC. As he was startled I stripped him and fed it up field to one of our attack men who scored. Yes, that was the time I stripped an All American and got an assist all in the same play.
Over the summer I have spent a lot of time in front of the computer reading about lacrosse and lacrosse related things. Here is a video to sum up my new personality as a “laxer”….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqg01Nk3SYI
enjoy.
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
I wanted to send out an apology to all of the people who follow this blog. In my last post I included a link to an article written by Phillylacrosse.com. It was a great article highlighting this year’s incoming class. However, at one point I was missed quoted and the comment came off way wrong. In the article it said that when I got here I wasn’t given much of a chance. What I really had said was that I arrived here at Eastern in July and so the recruiting was over and I was given much of a chance to go out and recruit. Therefore this year’s incoming guys were my first recruits.
I can certainly see how the quote must have been viewed by the many people who have worked so hard to build Eastern Lacrosse. I never meant anything to come off that way and in fact I am so grateful for my friendship with former coach John Levis and have a great respect for all he has done to bring lacrosse back to Eastern. Also, to the players that I coached this past season; I OWE YOU GUYS THE BIGGEST THANKS OF ALL. It must be so hard having a new coach come in and change so many things. Adjusting to a new coach means a new coaching style, new practices, a new everything basically. Despite all of the great defensive stands and great goals, it was how they adjusted to a new coach which impressed me most about this team. The transition from Coach Levis and me went so smoothly. With all of this being said, I wanted to write a post highlighting my favorite memories from what had to be the best lacrosse season of my life. I had a lot of time to think about it recently and looking back there were so many great memories.
The first one had to be Jimmy Caiola’s efforts at the face off “X” in the Messiah game. Messiah has an outstanding face off guy and Jimmy accepted a challenge laid out not only by his coaches but by his peers to limit Messiah’s advantage at the face-offs. It was an outstanding day for all but, a terrific day for Jimmy. I also, thought about Tim Dempsey’s goal against FDU. Timmy is such a great rider and his hard work all season paid off with a huge momentum shift late in the first half, as he rode the ball back and scored just before the halftime buzzer went off. Everyone loved that moment I am sure. I loved seeing Dan Sharbaugh pick off a pass and take it coast to coast and dishing off to an attackmen for a huge goal. I felt like that play was a defining moment of Dan’s leadership all season. There was a Pat Dempsey goal that stuck in the corner for a second and a half before dropping in the net that was picturesque. Erik Nelson scored what would have been a 2-pointer in the MLL that will not soon be forgotten in St. David’s as well. I remember the way that Paul Macerino led our defense in the Widener playoff game. His communication and his mind for the game were both so important to us slowing down Widener’s potent offense. I will also, forever be grateful for Dillard Brooks and his sacrifice for his team. I recently heard a friend of mine, Mike Murphy (new coach at Penn) say, “Selflessness is just as contagious as selfishness.” Dillard came to mind the very first time I heard those words. Dillard’s selflessness was so very contagious and he always did what the team needed first and what Dillard wanted second. The last great memory I will mention may be my favorite. Late in the last game of the season Nate Trunfio picked off a clearing pass and fired it 50 yards into the empty net. This was a huge goal and it was a great memory for both me and Nate. Trunf worked so hard this season. He fought off injuries all year long and changed from attackmen to midfielder and then back again. He was always willing to do what we asked and although it took until the last 4 games to get healthy he had a great final stretch. That 50 yard goal had to be the defining moment of not only Nate’s season but perhaps his career. It was a sick goal that stemmed from a lot of hard work!
I could go on and on with these great memories. The 2009 Eastern Lacrosse team will always have a special place in my heart. This team gave me so many wonderful memories and taught me so much about coaching. I grew as a coach only because I had 24 guys that were willing to watch me fail and stick with me anyway. So thanks so much to all 24 of you guys. It was a lot of fun coaching you all and my first year at Eastern was the best year I have had in the game of lacrosse.
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
Well I just finished up at Woodberry Lacrosse Camp in Orange Va. It was a great week working with some great friends and mentors of mine. It was nice to get out and do some instruction after weeks and weeks of watching and evaluating talent for next year’s incoming class. The week at Woodberry was great and I met and worked with a lot of great kids! I hope to make it back next summer. The recruiting season is officially on pause until the fall tournaments start up. I have been to a lot of events this summer and just wrapped up last week at the Brine Shootout in Baltimore. I hope that this proves to be a fruitful summer and that the class of 2014 is a great one!
The next big thing is my wedding. This Friday I am getting married and then it is off for a vacation away from Lacrosse! I am looking forward to this weekend more than anyone could imagine.
I also wanted to let everyone know that recently phillylacrosse.com did a great article on Eastern University’s in coming class. I was really excited to read it and I was thrilled that Eastern has already begun making a name for itself in the philly lacrosse world. I have supplied the link to the article here. http://phillylacrosse.com/72309eastern.aspx
We all are really looking forward to this fall ball and beginning to work towards our goals for the 2010 season. I hope everyone has a great couple of weeks and God Bless.
Filed under: "The Boring Whistle" With Dan Sharbaugh
July 22
Hellllllloooooooooo everybody. Long time no updates. I know you have all been staring at your computer screens waiting for a new update to pop up so you are welcome for getting back so quickly. The last few weeks have gone by pretty quick but there was quite a bit of substance to them. First thing we did since last time was run a tournament in Annapolis, MD. Pretty much my job was to look good and cruise around in the gator and be “eye candy” for the girls at the tournament and give FCA a good image. I did that very well. We then went to Salisbury camp for FCA, and let me tell you how good a time it was. All that we really had to do was suit up for two sessions a day and play against high school aged guys. Needless to say, I think I would have been selected to the first team all camp. I tallied somewhere around 14 ground balls and I assisted in the two games I played in. The twelve year old I stripped had no idea what was coming to him. After returning from Annapolis, I returned to the Philadelphia area for a wedding. To my pleasant surprise, Coach John Harshaw was in attendance at the same wedding. Let me stop right here and say that I am putting it in the hands of this year’s freshman class to teach coach Harshaw the Cupid shuffle. I understand the lyrics make it difficult to follow (“to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right, to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left, now kick, now kick, now kick, now kick, now walk it by yourself, now walk it by yourself”). Again, it’s very difficult to follow and I can see how coach bumped in to me multiple times. He just stood there dumbfounded and didn’t know where to go. So I am picking Eric Docherty from Plano, Texas (random selection and I know that Texas Cowboys know how to kick it line dance style) to perfect the cupid shuffle and teach coach Harshaw how the dance is done. You will be tested at the first meeting of your new found skill. I came back Sunday morning but not without a little detour to one of my favorite places to eat in Philly, Pat’s Cheese steaks. One of my bosses asked me to bring him back a whiz with on my way to Baltimore. But as I drove down 76 I found out the South Street Bridge no longer existed so I had to find a new route. I drove a little further and jumped on city Line Avenue and found Ninth Street and decided to just drive down it knowing that I would eventually run into the famous cheese steak place. What I didn’t realize is that I would be driving through the scariest section of Philly I’ve ever been in, and it was 11:30 on a Sunday morning. To make matters worse, as the beat up black Saturn from New Hampshire made its presence felt in Philly (I think they were just as scared as I was once they caught sight of the whip I was rolling around in), Gangsters Paradise by Coolio came on the radio. I quickly rolled up my window and turned down the radio and might have soiled myself in the process. This week so far we went on a beach trip to Point Pleasant, NJ. Great time, swam in a pool with two crazy dogs, fished for 5 hours (it took me 4 hours and 15 minutes to actually catch one but I ended with a hot streak of 5 in 45 minutes.) kayaking, boat rides, and water skiing. Today every muscle in my body aches, but it was well worth it to enjoy the 8 seconds I spent cruising along the top of the water behind a boat before I ate it. One last thing before the video of the week, in my last post someone named Canandaigua lax mom/soon to be Eastern lax mom (I know, I can’t figure out who it is either, I wish she would just be a little less secretive), asked a question and I wanted to take a second and answer it: “These posts are too funny! I especially liked the Stanley Cup/Buffalo Wild Wings episode. Have you considered a career writing for late night television? Keep it up!” No I have not considered a career writing late night television. I feel as though my antics are funny to me and only to me and sometimes I make the stories a little funnier than they actually were. Thanks for your comment and if you have any more I would be happy to field them. Video of the week, a collection of videos of people wiping out on water skis, making me feel better about my failure at the sport. Of course, these people are dumb and forgot to put on one of their skis……. so they deserve to crash.
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
This post is a long time coming.
The second I learned that Aaron Benz was committing to Eastern University I wanted the world to know about Aaron the Goalie from Louisville, KY. I was telling everyone about the high quality goalie that we just got. Not only was he a standout keeper but he was also going to be the first Engineering student in Eastern’s Templeton Honors College. No matter how much I wanted to publish a story on the incoming class and the Goalie that was headlining the group, I have continuously resisted the temptation………Until Now.
In late May, Aaron was named the Most Valuable Player in the Kentucky State Championship Game. Aaron led his team to a repeat as champions by making 24 saves in his final high school game. With graduation a couple days away and another state championship under his belt, everything was great for this 18 year old boy. However, two days before graduation and 6 days before his 18th birthday Aaron was informed that he had Hodgkin’s Disease. Not only did the doctors tell him of this horrifying news but they also notified Aaron that he had the disease for over a year and that he was likely at stage 4.
If there is one thing that I have learned in all my years around the game of lacrosse, it is that Goalies are not normal. The goalie’s job is to get in the way of a hard ball coming at them upwards of 90 mph. Who would do that? The obvious answer is the toughest guy on the team. But, I think goalies are more than that. I think they are selfless, courageous, and they lead by example. When I think about the goalies that I have been around in my life, all of these attributes are true. The goalie I played with in college Nick Braun never played in an organized high school lacrosse game. That didn’t stop him from taking shot after shot to get better. He went on to make 21 saves the day we beat #1 ranked Salisbury in 2003. Recently, I watched Zach Rivest from Eastern put off surgery until the end of the year after breaking his hand with five games to go. When I asked Zach whether or not he was going to have surgery or keep playing, he just responded with, “I only have one choice.” Zach was the ultimate team first guy.
And so in a way Aaron’s courageous approach to his battle with cancer comes as no surprise to me. He is a goalie and that is just what they do. However, it is worth noting that Aaron is maybe a bit different than all of us. (Goalie or Not) I can honestly say that Aaron has impressed me every step of the way. His number one goal is to take the field this spring and start in his first college lacrosse game. It isn’t to survive this disease or to make it to his first class in the fall. It is to start in our season opener at Swarthmore. Now don’t get me wrong Aaron certainly wants to survive and he definitely wants to be in class on August 26th but in his eyes it is obvious that both are going to happen. It is simple; he just wants to take on his role as Eastern’s selfless leader right on schedule. Perhaps it is this which defines a young kid that is quiet yet confident in his abilities not only to compete on the field, but standout as a math wiz off the field. I think what Aaron wants the most is a life back to normal, where he can continue to sail under the radar and quietly glorify God with his talents.
I must admit that it is not Aaron’s ability to stop 90 mph shots in the goal or his ability to write computer programs that impress me the most. What impresses me about Aaron is how simple he leads his life. It is a life which has been made complicated by circumstances beyond his control. This summer, it is typical for Aaron to walk away from chemotherapy treatments and go straight to his fishing hole of choice. This scenario describes Aaron Benz perfectly. Nothing in life (no matter how severe) needs to get in his way of enjoying the simple things God has gifted us with. Aaron has traveled to Boston for the final four celebrating his 18th birthday on a guy’s weekend with his father. He also just got back from Colorado for an outdoorsman’s vacation. All and all Aaron’s life has not changed. It is simple!
I guess the reason I could not wait to tell this story is because Aaron is a perfect description of what our world needs right now. Aaron Benz has been given a set back at age 18. God gives us all setbacks and he does so to speak to us and to draw us closer to him. I have witnessed this happen to Aaron Benz!
In January Aaron called me to tell me he was coming to Eastern. I was at an Eastern Basketball game when I saw the 502 area code on my phone. I walked outside and went over to the middle of Olson Field to answer the call. Aaron (in a simple way) told me he was coming to Eastern. That night and maybe into the next week, I was so excited because I thought that God had blessed our program with a great goalie. What God really did that night, was a blessing to me. God has spoken to me through the story of Aaron Benz, and I have heard him loud and clear. No matter how big the set back is in life, just take it day by day and in a simple way. So thanks Aaron and praises to God.
Aaron Benz has treated this setback in his life (Hodgkin’s Disease) in the same manner he treats everything else in life. Like a goalie, with courage, with a quiet confidence and through leading by example.
For more on Aaron Benz, please click the link below.
Filed under: "The Boring Whistle" With Dan Sharbaugh
June 29th, 2009
Well it’s been a while since I have created a new post, but I have been in Virginia for a week coaching at the NOVA power camp. It was a pretty good time; I would say that I made the all camp team after stripping 8 and 9 year olds of the ball and their dignity for a week straight. These little kids wouldn’t come into the middle if there was a hundred dollar bill, they were fading like Wagner. It was a very nice and very necessary confidence booster for myself. But something I didn’t enjoy was finding out that I have no skills at building puzzles, I tend to give up after about 20 to 30 minutes and it never ends up getting resumed. Two pretty fun things that I did do since the last post were the tour of Baltimore sports, and a trip to Top Golf. First, we went on a sports tour through the city of Baltimore. First stop was the US Lacrosse hall of fame right next to Homewood Field at Johns Hopkins. The tour of that took about 3 minutes and I got free admissions due to the fact that I showed them my expired US lacrosse membership card (haha, suckers, didn’t get the $3 admission charge). Then we went on a tour of Camden Yards. I’ve been to the stadium before but hearing about it and getting to go in the Brooks Robinson Party Room (that’s right, THE Brooks Robinson), and all the press boxes and saw all the plaques of people who have hit homeruns onto the road (3 Red Sox have plaques out there). During the tour there was a high school all star game going on and it took me a while to realize it wasn’t the orioles playing. We then took a tour and had a question and answer session with the guys (and one fairly attractive lady) at Inside Lacrosse. It was fun to look at all the work that goes into the magazine and website. The best was saved for last as we went over to Annapolis and watched the Baltimore Bayhawks get rocked by the Boston Cannons. Paul Rabil had approximately 17 points and approximately 12 inches of flow in the back of his helmet, so he did alright. The best part of the game however, other than seeing a girl from Oyster River high school there, was the tour of the Naval Academy hall of fame. This hall of fame is easily 4 times the size of the US Lacrosse hall of fame, but we actually got a tour from one of the founders of the Navy hall of fame. It was insane all the history that the Naval lacrosse program has and to see it all, from the All Americans they had in the 40’s, to the trophy for best goalkeeper that Matt Russell won in 2004. I would also like the voice how angry I was, as I’m sure a lot of you were, when Coach Childs posted an article about Will Johnson ruining the ending of Season In the Balance before the final episode was even available. Now we all have to wait for next season to see if we can finally keep the suspense until the very end. Life’s full of disappointments. But either way, congrats to the CA Braves and all the state champs coming to play for Eastern this upcoming season. Top golf was a journey we took in Virginia. It is a driving range that has giant targets on the range that are worth different point values. http://www.topgolf.com/ Check it out, it is ridiculous. I think I drove 2 balls more than 40 yards, needless to say I was quite a liability for my team. But I had fun. Ben Horton, aka THUGLIFE has just joined me down here in Sparks and we are getting ready to turn this town upside down. This week I will be helping coach Team Teabow (aka FCA South), in the Gettysburg College Gait Cup, hopefully I will bring home the gold with the boys of the SEC.
July 9, 2009
So after about two weeks out of the office, mainly being in Gettysburg PA, Coach Childs said that it would make sense to combine two blogs. Since the last update I have had two of the busiest weeks of my life on almost no sleep. First we spent all of June 30th picking up kids from the airport and train stations in Baltimore who were flying in from all over the country to play on our FCA teams for the Gait cup. None of my kids from Georgia flew in that day and so I was a little annoyed with all these kids running around who weren’t even going to be a part of my team. I met some nice kids and got to talk to people from many random areas (i.e. Alabama, Oregon, California, Colorado, New Hampshire…). So finally the day of truth arrived and we drove up to Gettysburg for the Gait cup. When I got there I saw my team of 16 Georgians, a Kentucky kid, a kid from North Carolina, and one Maryland kid. This team actually turned out to be very good as we went 7-1 in the tournament finally losing in the semi finals, which in turn was good because the team that won our division was disgusting, they won the championship game 17-1 or something. So I was fine with a one goal semi-final loss. A couple of funny stories came from this tournament. One great story was our team was quite superstitious. One thing we did was where the same color (white) every game. So one game we get out on the field and the other team is also in white. So the ref calls over and says “one team needs to change colors.” As the mature responsible coach of the team I yelled “Nose goes” and my very disciplined team all yelled the same. Well the ref thought it was a poor way to make the decision so one of our kids decided that rock paper scissors would be the more logical solution. So both teams gathered around and two kids played rock paper scissors, of course the dirty south (since none of the kids were Bull Dawg fans Team Teabow wasn’t as humorous as I hoped so we renamed the team) and we got to be white. The very next game we played the same team and when we both came out in white, their coach actually initiated the rock paper scissors battle. At this point the ref saw the two teams running at each other to start the contest and he thought there was a potential fight breaking out so he got in the middle and we explained what was going on. It was easily the funniest thing I’ve ever watched take place in a lacrosse game. After Gait Cup we stayed up in Gettysburg for Gettysburg FCA camp. The camp was a good time from ages 8-18 there was multiple levels of lacrosse going on. Kevin Huntley stopped in for a shooting demo (I tried to get Matt Wagner but he was at the beach so we had to settle for Huntley), and Tyler Fiorito the freshman goalie from Princeton was there (which was a good thing that Wagner wasn’t there since Fiorito would not have been able to handle the low to low shot he has mastered.) Some fun things happened at that camp, some cool campers from places like Gilman, Haverford school, and Landon were there making the competition pretty good. Coach Childs stopped by for a day and we got to hang out a little bit. And Horton and I got to do the Gettysburg run we did over spring break. So we got back today and tomorrow at 7 am we are leaving for Annapolis for a tournament that FCA hosts every year and then one last camp at Salisbury and we are done. Video of the week: Crazy basketball shot from the beautiful Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire
http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=5r0mTi3NNeA&fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3D5r0mTi3NNeA
Sorry this one was so long, it’s actually two in one.
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
What’s up everyone! I just got back from a great day at the FCA Lacrosse Tournament. It was great to teach and coach along side some great coaches that love to teach the game in the footsteps of Christ. It was such a great pleasure and I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to share my story with a lot of great kids. FCA lacrosse is doing so many great things and there overnight camp at Gettysburg is second to non. Thanks Ryan, Scott and Drew!
On a different note two of our incoming recruits have been in Austrailia tearing it up for USA WEST in the Austrailia U19 Tournament. Ron Johnson from Santa Fe Christian School in San Diego has scored 8 goals in 5 games thus far and LSM Matt Kenyon also from Santa Fe Chrstian was recently named to the All-Tournament team. These two guys are best friends and will be college roomates and teammates here at Eastern this fall. We are so pumped about the incoming class and this is just another snap shot of the great class coming in.
Thanks for checking in and check back soon for a great article on incoming freshmen Aaron Benz!
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
It is Monday July 6th and feels like it is June 1st. The last month has just flown by. I spent the last week in Gettysburg again for the Gait Cup. It was a great tournament with a lot of standout players. There were two Eastern guys working for FCA and made their coaching debuts. I had a blast watching both Ben Horton and Dan Sharbaugh coach with a lot of energy. It was another great event with a lot of good contacts.
The week endedfor me yesterday, here at Eastern. We hosted Hogan Heroes here on Sunday. It was a great day with just perfect weather. The crowds came out and there were over 500 people on campus for this event! It was a great day of lacrosse and we were so blessed to have the opportunity to host it! Thanks to all of the workers.
Check out Hoganlax.com
Thanks for reading!
Coach Childs
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
Just got back from Maryland where I had a great weekend. I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the UP Lacrosse Tournament at South River High School. It was a great showcase and I was pumped to watch so many kids playing so hard. Annapolis is one of the great cities in America!
This is a busy week for our staff. Coach Wheeler is at Bryant University for the Blue Chip 225 camp and I am leaving tomorrow for the Gait Cup in Gettysburg, PA. Gait Cup will end on the 4th of July and then we will rush back to Eastern to prepare for Hogan’s Heroes which will be held at Eastern as well as the Haverford School. It should be a great week.
Lastly, I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be heading back to Gettysburg to do some instruction at the FCA Lacrosse Camp next Tuesday. I cannot wait to coach and talk about my faith with a group of young kids. So come check us out on Tuesday in Gettysburg.
Have a great week!
Coach Childs
Filed under: "The Boring Whistle" With Dan Sharbaugh
Since last time I checked in not much has happened. I went home for the weekend to go to the final chapter of the Sharbaugh family graduates from Oyster River High School. For most schools, graduation is some sort of torture device that has people sitting for hours on end just to see their child walk across stage and get handed a little booklet with a piece of paper in it that sums up all the work you have done over the last 4 or 5 years. However, whenever I go to a graduation at Oyster River, I am always humored at how lightly the process is taken.
This year started just like any other, a bunch of kids with gowns, caps and aviator sun glasses marching into the ceremony wearing either flip flops or no footwear at all. But when the Principal of the school stood up to give her opening comments, is when all madness broke lose. The tradition of passing around beach balls was taken to a new level when in the first ten seconds of her speech, at least twenty beach balls were thrown into the air. What even topped that was when the life size inflatable “Stone Cold” Steve Austin punching bag was thrown into the air and passed around. Not only was I amazed at the creativity of finding the former WWF superstar in the form of an inflatable punching bag, but I also decided that I must have one for my room next year.
I’m now back in Baltimore at the office and not much is going on. Yesterday however, we recently split up the 72 high school players who have signed up for the Gait cup at Gettysburg College. I am happy to say, that the team I have selected should make a run at the tournament. My team consists of 16 kids from the best high schools in Georgia, a kid from Tennessee, one kid from Alabama, and my sleeper pick, the 6’ 8’’ Beau Bagley of Kentucky, and if all goes according to plan, I will turn Beau into the next great crease man for Eastern University and he will shatter the pathetic freshman scoring record set by a Sophomore…coughWAGNERcough. I feel as though I have created a team with every ingredient necessary to go the distance. Football powerhouse states, southern accents, and 6’ 8’’ high school midfielder named Beau, could this team be any more perfect? Since I have four SEC football states present, I decided to stick with the theme and name the team “Team Teabow”, not because I’m a Tim Teabow fan necessarily (which I am), but because if my calculations are correct, everyone on the team hates him, so it should make for a good ice breaker.
Since 85% of my summer job so far has been surfing the internet and reading useless stuff, it shouldn’t surprise some of you that I have read plenty of blogs. My favorite being the club trillion blog, so I have decided to take one of his traditions and post a good video at the end of every entry, although this is an oldie, it is most certainly a goodie. So check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F2d7M4Lbmw (I recommend any of the fantasy file video’s, but since Laurence Maroney is a Patriot, he is superior in every way to any other football player)
And one last thing, in case the Phillie fans forgot, the Red Sox beat you twice without their entire starting line up, just FYI.
Go Sox.
