366 Days – Jan. 24-27

Friday, Jan. 27 - A long night at the office is about to start. There are nine calls, no Rick and I get to manage the entire ship on my own (with two correspondents’ stories coming in).

This is the state of the desk before the calls come in:

My desk on Friday prior to the start of a long night of calls.

Thursday, Jan. 26 - The end of the swimming season is about to start. It is a time when you have to focus on the swimmers who are heading to the postseason meets and try and motivate and improve the rest of the squad for the future. The sub-district meet next Wednesday will be the first postseason meet and the last one for a large group of the boys.

This isn’t the time to ponder what life has been like in my first season as an assistant coach, but I will say this — I want to do this again. I now understand how some coaches find it tough to give up coaching their teams/sports. But post mortems later on that.

Most of this day was practice, prep and some desk work at night. Another long night, but without the stress. You don’t get too many of those in the winter.

Wednesday, Jan. 25 - A double dual meet between Aberdeen, North Thurston and Mark Morris dominated the day. I got some decent sleep after getting home at 2:30 a.m. from the Tuesday night shift, but not nearly enough to keep my from looking like I need another couple of hours of sleep.

The Bobcats split the duals, losing to North Thurston and beating Mark Morris. Damn good swims from everyone, especially seeing some of North Thurston’s studs up close. Those guys can fly and would have given some of the fastest swimmers on my high school and college teams a real challenge, especially in the sprints.

Several of the first-year swimmers made their district time marks to qualify for the meet. That was cool to see. Some of those guys were struggling to make 25 yards in the first days of practice. Now they are district qualifiers. They deserve the recognition and they’ll get a chance to enjoy the weekend experience.

Tuesday, Jan. 24 - In this time of economic instability, high schools have found ways to trim their expenses and still give students their full experience. But in this case, bullshit.

The new trend over the past couple of seasons has been co-ed doubleheaders in basketball and traveling double dual meets in wrestling in the winter. I won’t get the pleasure of covering a double dual meet, but the basketball twin bills are tough to get through mentally.

On this day, I found myself sitting courtside for the Montesano at Hoquiam co-ed doubleheader at Hoquiam Square Garden (yes, that’s the real name of Hoquiam’s gym). The girls game was first, at 5:45 p.m. After you shove down your dinner or a snack, you get two struggling offenses trying to outduel each other. This game was the exception to the rule. Montesano produced its biggest scoring night of the season to edge Hoquiam.

It isn’t a problem to cover one basketball game. The problem is keeping your focus on the second game. The boys game was entertaining enough, plenty of offense and a good narrative. However, mentally, I was drifting off to “la la” land. By the end of the third quarter, I was on auto-pilot. There are a few tricks you can do to keep yourself in the moment, but this format tests you and it is easy to make mistakes. (Not what you would call a drastic event or even a mild one, but just a bit of reality. In the grand scheme of things, I get paid to watch sports. Not a complaint should be given…)

A view from the press table looking east at Hoquiam Square Garden on Tuesday night

366 Days: Jan. 20-23

Monday, Jan. 23 — I’m supposed to be old enough to not get gut shot after a sporting event loss. Apparently, I’m not. The day after the 49ers gave away the NFC title game to the NY Giants, I’m still unable to find my perspective and level-headed state. Completely unable. I should, because it is just a game in the end. It is football. It happens. But damn, this time? Damn.

Terrell Suggs helped me at least laugh at all of the bullshit. Calling an ESPN talking head a douchebag on national television is prime entertainment.

Less than two weeks before the sub-district meet, which is the last chance for a good portion of the team to qualify for districts. The top-two finishers in each event get in, plus time standards. Wednesday, there’s a tri-meet. That’s one chance. Saturday, there’s a huge invitational in Longview. That’s another chance. Then… the sub-district meet. That’s it.

Desk duty at night. Not a problem. A long week is ahead.

Sunday, Jan. 22 — Two fumbles. One player. The Niners lose. In overtime.

This is how I handled Sunday night’s NFC title game loss: took a few phone calls, took a deep breath or two, turned out all of the lights and went to bed. At 8 p.m. Good night. (Honestly, I could have handled it better, as in not like a brooding little teenage girl.) Blech. I suck. I really didn’t handle it well. At all.

Saturday, Jan. 21 — This is a strange work day. Early-morning practice went really well. We’ve discovered two butterfly experts just in time to get them a couple of chances to get into the district meet.

Took a nap. Went into work to try and catch all of the wrestling invitationals that’ll call in before the basketball games. Nope. No calls. None. Rick came in for the main rush with zero calls in with results. We got the calls, but there were a few misses overall. Disjointed day overall.

366 Days – Jan. 17-19

Thursday, Jan. 19 - The one-day snow break ends today. There’s practice, then office work and pages to do before the weekend. As of Noon, there was still one game left on the schedule, which is amazing after you look outside and see all of the iced snow on the ground.

Lucky for me, I don’t have to worry about digging out my car for another day or so. My wife’s SUV, however, will be easy. I’m driving that to practice and work. No chance to really enjoy the snow today. The ice made it pretty slippery to walk, but the crunching beneath your feet is still pretty cool.

(Updates later…)

Wednesday, Jan. 18 - On Tuesday night, I drove home from work with no snow on the ground. None. All of it was washed away from the rain that dominated the day. Whatever snow there was on Sunday and Monday was gone.

And then:

We got about 8-10 inches of snow here. At the highest at my house (which is about as far as I got on this day), the snow was about 14 inches. Now that’s a helluva snowstorm. It was a snowday – no work in the office, just enjoy the day with the little girl. She didn’t play in the snow as much as I thought she would, but I enjoyed it. (That’s me falling down in the third picture.)

No games were played. Everything was rescheduled.

I did get some work in, sort of. I had a nice conversation with a colleague about the Aberdeen football program and its move to the Cowlitz-Clark County based Greater St. Helens League for next fall in football only. You can fall on any side of the issue and there are pros and cons there to navigate. In the middle, there’s a pratfall waiting for you – you eventually side on competitive issues or safety issues in the end. Officially, the two-year sojourn into the GSHL will be good for everyone, especially Aberdeen’s program. It won’t become a powerhouse overnight (or in the two years playing there), but it’ll get healthy and wise. (Wise enough to stay for another two or four-year cycle after the 2012-14 reclassification? Maybe. Personally, if you are going to change leagues like that, it should be for more than two years, reclassification included. Minimum: 4 seasons/years)

Tuesday, Jan. 17 - All of the games on a short schedule was wiped out in anticipation of snow. East County schools were closed, but Aberdeen and Hoquiam stayed open. The pages were done quickly – features, a few bits of news that broke after deadline in the morning – and I was home well before “said storm.” There’s no snow on the ground and it is a lightly raining.

366 Days – Jan. 13-16

Monday, Jan. 16 - MLK Day. The snow has completely taken over Grays Harbor. The roads are fine, but the rest of the world is covered in white.

Went outside for a little while, got a nice walk in and threw snowballs at the little girl. She returned them just as well. This was a nice day to have off – no worries. Practice was optional due to the holiday. Now, if the snow closes school, then it’ll get interesting this week. Meet on Wednesday vs. North Thurston at home. There are 4-5 newbies who are threatening district qualifying marks and this is a good meet to try and get it at. The Rams are stocked full of good swimmers. Snow is good, but too much snow is bad.

I’ll refrain from a picture on this day, but not the previous one.

Sunday, Jan. 15 - More football. This was the first full day of snow on the ground. The end of football is growing near. Just one more full Sunday and one mega-Sunday left to go before the football winter sets in until August. Baseball will be interesting, however. Always has been. Always will be.

State Street (Aberdeen) covered in snow at 12:30 a.m. Sunday

Saturday, Jan. 14 - Another full night in the office. I realized that we need a full house in the office to get everything in, that’s at least 3 people, especially if one of them (myself) is on desk duty (aka in the barrel).

By the way, my DVR stopped taping the Niners-Saints thriller in San Francisco with 5 minutes left in the game. Thus, I missed the dramatic ending. Thanks to the Internet, I heard the 49ers Network call of the game, including Ted Robinson losing his shit when Vernon Davis caught the game-winning pass from Alex Smith with 9 seconds left in the game.

Here’s the call (in Techmo Super Bowl):

Friday, Jan. 13 - In the barrel. Light day, nothing to it.

366 Days – Jan. 10-12

Thursday, Jan. 12 — I’m sitting here going over what happened over the last couple of days and wow… Boring.

There is a declaimer at the beginning of this project that this could delve into the minutia, but there are times that would downright drag me into “really. I’m writing about this.”

Like this post here. There are one or two items to write about, but not much else happened.

Covered the Aberdeen-Black Hills wrestling match and the Bobcats, missing one of their big guns, couldn’t keep up. They also gave up three forfeits, putting them down 12 points before they even started. (Black Hills gave one forfeit back).

Wednesday, Jan 11 — On Monday, one of the other assistant coaches talked to most of the newer swimmers to get the point across that they need to show up to practice – all of them – and support their teammates. On Wednesday, all but a very small handful of swimmers showed up. It worked.

One of the captains noted that this is the first season where you could really tell how much improvement the newer swimmers have shown from the beginning of the season to now. That’s a credit to those guys – they’ve worked very hard and have done everything they’ve been asked to do. Some of those guys are moving up to the faster lanes now, too. That’s gratifying to see. Now, to get them into the district meet…

Also, to acknowledge the veterans, a few of them are very close to getting their trip to the state meet validated. Others are solid in the district meet and there are a few guys who are close to getting in there. The next two weeks are critical. We need to get the yards and the work in to set everything up.

Tuesday, Jan. 11 - Another late night at the office. We’re working through the system and we’re trying a few tricks to get the pages out faster. Everyone is frustrated. Not much else to say on that. It is a work in progress and I’m trying to be patient with myself to get this thing to work – efficiently and effectively.

Clip of the post:

Patrice O’Neal discusses “Fight Club”

366 Days – Jan 8-9 (BCS and Tebow)

Monday, Jan. 9 - What a difference a touchdown makes.

For the vast majority of the BCS title game between LSU and Alabama, the five field goals kicked by Alabama set up the entire game — and the process used to select the two teams — for a large bucket full of ridicule. And on Twitter, I absolutely joined in. Hard not too.

However, once Trent Richardson scored on a 20-yard run with 4 1/2 minutes left in the contest, the score hit the 20s and the Twitter-verse softened up a bit. Now, those who were pumping up Alabama’s dominance on defense (Argument No. 1: LSU crossed the 50-yard line once and never came close to scoring, not even a field goal) and overall excellence in the game could get a word in edgewise. It is the right call and debate to have, but there was no way it was going to get any traction against the tide (ha ha, inadvertent joke) of “The BCS sux” and “Booooooring….”

So, thank Trent Richardson for single-handedly turning the debate from the process and special teams to what really happened on the football field.

Sunday, Jan. 8 - There really is just one thing you need to know about this day. It is the play that I marked out for like Hell In A Cell with Mick Foley. (OK, a slight exaggeration. I did mark out, but not as big as HIAC.)

TEBOW!

366 Days – January 7

Saturday, Jan. 7 - There are some days when I am amazed I’m not an alcoholic.

You come home super late, deadline kicked your ass with copy flow that was one big wave after another of calls, mishaps and revisions. You are wide awake and the rest of the world is asleep. Grab a beer. Grab a bottle. Grab a glass. Drink it down with like-minded individuals who are awake when the world is asleep.

Every major newspaper in the country has a bar, a watering hole where you go to de-stress and melt the rest of the day away in bourbon, wine and beer.

In San Francisco, there are three bars right next to the San Francisco Chronicle, two of them stocked full of reporters and newspapermen/women talking about life inside the newsroom and the meaning of it all outside of it. The patrons talked about sports, the Zodiac killer and the industry. When I walked in there, I felt like I walking into a social club of like-minded compatriots at the end of a long shift. I’d get out of class – high school, junior college and university – to drive to SF and clear my head. Sometimes I’d walk into those bars (the names have been scrubbed from my memory, especially on a second Guinness at 2 a.m.) and know that this is where I wanted to be “when I grew up.”

In Sacramento, working at The Bee, there wasn’t as much camaraderie in the newsroom, but there were two bars within easy walking distance to gather in and unwind. And they were frequented by those inside the newsroom and inside the corporate offices. At Sac State, most of us on the paper would first gather at the picnic table outside of the offices and move to one of the tens of hundreds of bars/taverns/joints in the city. I always preferred the craft brew bars downtown, but the most fun came from the small dives that a group of 12 would take over and call our own.

When I worked in Calistoga, there were wine tastings and three-bar hops inside the city limits to spend the weekend away. Not the same thing, but the wine tastings always brought out the best — and worst — people. Always good to engage in a bit of sociology with your vino.  The fun came from meeting the tourists, enjoying the locals’ company and feeling like you were living in one of the cushions of luxury enjoyed by those way more monied than you’d ever experience.

I still have friends who live there and I’d return there to live in a second if I got the chance. Yeah, it is one of the few places I’d return to in California. Besides San Francisco, Calistoga is one of the very few places that triggers the right vibe in my head that I need to survive. It is a mega-dose and when I feel it draining or low, vacations get planned and life revolves around returning there to get my charge.

It would never be the same again if I returned for good, but I still miss that place.

Here in Aberdeen/Hoquiam, there are logger bars, dives, military service posts and restaurant joints to sit down and enjoy the time in, not to mention the people. But it doesn’t feel the same, especially when you are used to one vibe and another is predominant and putrid. Sorry, but that is one of the knocks around here. Snobbish, yeah maybe, but I’ll never deny that I am at times.

But the point to this is simple – this business and a drink are intertwined. The old days were stocked with stories of reporters opening file cabinets to pull out 12-year-old scotch for a quick belt to inspire a finish to a story or a shift. Smoke in the newsroom, light your garbage can on fire, drink a shot and ask whether the Giants will win the pennant with a son of a pretty good, but not Hall-of-Fame caliber player, coming from Pittsburgh.

A beer and a drink has been by my side throughout this journey. I’m still healthy (enough) to enjoy, but I do wonder on nights like this how the rest of the world gets along without. Maybe. Maybe not.

By the way, I just poured by third Guinness glass, my last before bed.

And, after a brief pause, I’ve lost the rest of my post in my head. Sunk in Guinness and serenaded by The Clancey Brothers. So be it. G’night everyone.

Wait. One more… I lied. I’ve had Cee Lo Green in my head all night, so why shouldn’t it be different now. Enjoy. G’night freaks.

366 days in 2012 – Jan. 1-6

(Disclaimer) Just for a writing project for 2012, I’m going to try to post something every day of 2012, all 366 days of it. So, that’s the title. Maybe broken up into months or weeks, maybe a breakout day, maybe a few dumped in together. With the help from Momento, a diary writing iPhone app, this’ll be easier once I get into the habit. This project will be filled with minutia, so now you’ve been warned.

Latest days on top, updated daily (that’s the plan).

Jan 6 — I’ve finally gathered up enough notes to start this project. There really isn’t a goal in mind with this. I’d like to see where this goes and, as always, I don’t mind having other people read it. Maybe something will come of it. Maybe it dies after a few weeks.

Another basketball doubleheader tonight, this time in Elma. The format can down right drain you mentally, especially if you get two games that are one-sided.

(More later…)

Jan 5 — In the night barrel, taking calls and laying out the sports pages for the Friday morning shift to finish up. The new system is getting a bit easier to handle. However, when you are adding 5-6 new steps, repeated for every story created/pulled in from the wire, to the process, you’re not as fast as you’d like to be.

Tuesday night’s/Wednesday morning’s shift was brutal and, in a few ways, I’m still trying to get myself back to normal. Going to bed at 3:30-4 a.m. screwed up my sleep schedule.

At practice, we’ve dissolved Group 3 (the new swimmers) and moved them into Group 2. The new swimmers have been with the team long enough and are in need of increased endurance/speed work that it is time to move them all up. There is 3-4 of them who were ready beforehand, but moving everyone else up will give them all the incentive to match what the more experienced swimmers are doing now.

And, with the district meet in five weeks and the sub-district meet in 3 1/2 weeks, there isn’t a lot of time left to get them up to speed… ha ha. Inadvertent joke.

Wednesday, Jan 4 — A tripleheader, so to speak. Woke up just before noon after going to bed between 3:30-4 a.m., so not much time to get stuff done at home.

Swim dual meet started at 4 p.m., got there at 2:45 p.m. to help get everything set up and let everyone know what they would be swimming for the meet. The team is still around 30-35 swimmers, which is pretty damn good. We did lose some from the Christmas break, but some of the guys came back after that. Those guys who missed will be behind those who made it to the two-a-days.

Good meet. Saw the results/times after the GHC basketball doubleheader. Many of the newer guys are getting faster. Their time drops were substantial and they’re getting into a time zone where they can see a chance at making districts via time standards. A few of them missed the meet because of illness on Tuesday, but I know where those guys are in terms of times and effort. Really happy with their work and improvement this season, with more than a month left to go.

The established guys are starting to find their groove. This is a team that has the potential to send a very good group to state this year, even one that is big enough to place as a team in the top-five. However, a lot can happen in 5-6 weeks.

Just before the dual meet finished, I had to leave for the GHC doubleheader. The Chokers have some talent on their teams, but they struggle offensively. The women stayed close, because Pierce College were horrific shooting from the field. That was one of those games where it took just one person to get hot to take the game over. Pierce, which never stopped shooting even with GHC dominating the boards, had that player and took a 4-point game with 10 minutes left and turned it into a 30-point rout.

As for the men, the head coach said it best. The Chokers were looking around for someone to offer the offense and only figured it out in the second half when they were down by 20 points to the Raiders. One-sided, not much drama. Pierce had nearly a 1:1 ratio in offensive/defensive rebounds vs. GHC, a very telling statistic.

Tuesday, Jan. 3 - It didn’t take long to come up with one of the longest days of the season.

There were 8-10 calls, with Justin and Jack covering games and filing and Susan in to help with calls. Rick was covering a game and I covered the Aberdeen-Tumwater girls game. My game got pear-shaped pretty quickly. Tumwater’s pressure and a big second-quarter surge turned the game into a tough one to finish at the end.

Got into the office and the phones were ringing off the hooks. Took four call-ins before I even created a file to start my story, with Susan getting in to help out in the middle of that run. Never felt like I was on top of the work for the rest of the night. With Justin and Jack filing and finishing off all the call-ins, it was 12:30 a.m. before I started on the pages – 3 full, no-ad pages.

Even with a bit of pre-game work on the pages, I finished at 3 a.m. All of the little stuff that you have to do with the new system add up quickly.

Went home, spent just a few minutes unwinding and slept the sleep of the dead.

Monday, Jan. 2 — Worked, watched bowl games. Still don’t understand how coaches can literally take the ball out of their best players’ hands and rely upon a kicker (a freshman kicker, to boot) to win it.

Sunday, Jan. 1 — I said this on Facebook after the NFL games were over and I’ll say it again — Thank you, Tony Romo, for helping me with two fantasy football championships and just under $200 in prize money.

In one league, I was on a great run of scoring and I was able to ride it out to the end. In two-week finals, all you need is one bad week and I didn’t get that this year. And, to do it against some of the toughest FF owners in the league is gratifying. I got better at playing that game because of those guys and it is always gratifying to win against them.

In the other league, I rode a lucky streak. In the quarterfinals (Week 15), I had to sit in front of the television on Monday night and hope that Alex Smith would stop throwing to Michael Crabtree after the first quarter. It happened, which gave me a 2-point victory.

In the semifinals (Week 16), this is where Tony Romo started helping me. My opponent had Romo as his starting quarterback. What does Romo do? He plays 1 1/2 series and leaves for the rest of the game with a slight wrist injury. Total points scored by Romo = 0. I won by less than 10 points.

In the finals (Week 17), most of my players were in the afternoon games and my opponent had a great morning run. Once the afternoon games started up, my team chipped away at the deficit, taking the lead late in the afternoon. With the NY Giants defense and one Dallas receiver (Austin Miles) left and against New York’s Victor Cruz, I honestly wasn’t comfortable. I stayed in the lead until Cruz got his last catch and run in the fourth quarter, down by 1 late. Dallas had the ball, were driving and Miles was nowhere to be found. On the last contested play of the game, Romo drops back and gets sacked/stripped for a fumble – three defensive points. I flip from down 1 to up 2 as Eli Manning took a knee to end the regular season.

Victory.

The Empty Press Box

Shaking the cobwebs off of this thing – new top photo, darker background.

Warmups – (South Sound Shockers) #m #PFL #semiprofootball

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