Ballplayers, like everyone else, like
to get told they did something right.
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| via SF Giants Photos |
Willie Lee McCovey
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Misc.
Several open water events have been dropped due to flooding.
ASA's Lake Travis Relay and Highland Lakes Challenge have both been "Cancelled due to historic flooding" and the swimming portion of the Waco Triathlon was scrapped as well.
“Ironman has strict safety benchmarks in place that have been surpassed, including the rate of water flow,” race officials said in an email message sent to the 3,000 athletes registered to compete in the race. “The abundance of rain created additional flow with a rate higher than the limit deemed safe for swimming in the Brazos River.”
More at the Waco Tribune-Herald here
Arlington-Mansfield Area YMCA association director of aquatics
Lackland AFB tactical athlete coach - swim
Missed an excellent article on Linkedin last year:
Why hire the swimmer who swam all four years of college?
Have you ever worked hard on a project for an entire week and finally presented a seamless masterpiece to your client that brought you great recognition? What if this masterpiece only lasted twenty seconds and what if your hard work lasted 22 weeks? Would it be worth it? This swimmer has lived this scenario and has done it for most of their life. The ability to work towards a goal for such a long time is something that's not found in most people, which could be an asset for multi-year projects.
What doesn’t always happen is being successful, but this swimmer comes back year after year to achieve greatness.
Full article here
The CSCAA TYR Top 25 October polls:
Division I
Division II
Division III
Former Longhorn Brendan Hansen is organizing a benefit clinic in Austin. The clinic will feature Olympic medalists and collegiate All-Americans.
Who: Athletes of all ages & abilities
What: age group swim clinic, masters swim workout, nutrition sessions, etc.
When: Sunday, November 4 from 8 a.m. to noon
Where: Rollingwood Pool, 4801 Rollingwood Drive
How: Preregister via email here
“When the University of Texas swimming and diving family heard of the Carter’s situation with their twin babies, it affected all of us as if it were our own kids,” said Brendan Hansen, an event organizer and clinic coach. “We wanted to put together an event to share our skills with the Austin fitness community that not only would have an immediate impact for the family financially, but also for them to know we stand behind them through this process. That’s what family does and the overwhelming response up to this point shows how strong the Longhorn family is.”
Full Statesman article here
Facebook page here
gofundme page here
Quote of the Day
If I'm honest with you, you might not like me for a day or
two. But, if I lie to you, you're going to hate me forever.
Joseph John "Joe" Maddon, Jr.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
2019 Clinics
Legends of Texas, April 4 - 7, Ft. Worth
ASCA, September 2 - 8, Dallas
TISCA, September 19-22, Austin
News from the UIL Legislative Council Meetings
Those pushing for a third conference might point out that swimming/diving is the only UIL activity* divided into two (2) conferences. Even Team Tennis is a three-conference sport in Texas.
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| via CHARGRILLED |
The Standing Committee on Policy authorized the UIL staff to monitor several proposals, including sanctioning water polo.
The committee
- sanctioning disc golf,
- adding a competitive stomp season,
- sanctioning bowling, &
- adding archery.
The entire UIL press release is here
*That includes not only Athletics, but also Academics and Music
Quote of the Day
Most of what we call management consists of making
it difficult for people to get their work done.
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| via Wikipedia |
Peter Ferdinand Drucker
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Rocktober (edited 11:15 a.m.)
Looks like Rocktober has been rough on the guys:
Florida/Indiana/Texas (M&W, real time)
A week ago, everyone in town knew a cold front was coming in. Not only isn't the heater in the city pool working, but they didn't put tarps on until Monday. By then, the water was 74 degrees.
In the 60's now. So tired of the old "one step up and two steps back" routine here...
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| via Storyblocks |
Was that a light bulb I saw flash over her head? Is this really happening?
The Texas Democratic Party asked non-citizens to register to vote, sending out applications to immigrants with the box citizenship already checked “Yes,” according to new complaints filed Thursday asking prosecutors to see what laws may have been broken.
More at The Washington Times here
Lutheran South Academy needs a MS/HS swim coach. Contact Susan Paling
Richardson YMCA needs a swim coach
City of Lakeway needs a swim center assistant manager
City of Texas City needs an aquatics coordinator
USA Swimming Sport Development Division survey
See where swimming ranks (overall and in specific categories) among high school sports:
Girls
Boys
Looking for Pictures
Greetings, 'Horns and Friends of 'Horns! Two of Eddie's first assistants from 1978-80, Chuck Warner and Dana Abbott, are writing a book about Eddie's 40+ years on the Forty Acres, the working title is "Eddie Reese: Coaching Swimming, Teaching Life". A good chunk of the net proceeds will go to the Reese/Kubik Legacy Campaign. Chuck and Dana have a good book in writing but need photos from the earlier years, primarily 80s and 90s. If you have some you can share with them, contact Dana at reese-book@outlook.com and we can work out how to share. If digital, they need to be at least 300dpi (right-click on the image, select Properties, then look under the Details tab, scroll down to Image and look at the numbers for horizontal and vertical resolution, 300dpi is what the publisher needs for digital photography). If film prints, the larger the print the better, and NEGATIVES or SLIDES are better still. Happy to send a list of names of swimmers, coaches, and other parties mentioned in the book if you will contact Dana at reese-book@outlook.com, but ANY good photos are welcome and could get included. All photographs used will be acknowledged in the book (and returned), here's your chance to be semi-famous beyond your swimming careers! With gratitude and appreciation in advance from the authors!!!
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Misc.
Back in the day, our Blue/Gold intrasquad meet was a pretty competitive affair. We started off each season with this "practice" meet. It was good for our swimmers, officials, and volunteers.
After the team went to "zero" in '15 (did not send anyone to district meet), I unretired to help restore our program. Our early teams have been pretty small, so an intrasquad would have been more like a time trial.
Several alumni suggested we add former BCHS swimmers & divers to the mix and host a Blue/Gold & Alumni meet. It's been working out great.
 | ||
| Bobby Button, Keith Hill, Neal Holden, Kory Ashcraft, Blake Holden, Andrew Medina |
Feel free to let former BCHS swimmers/divers who might now know about the meet to join
Louisville took this year's SMU Classic (W)
San Antonio Veterans Memorial HS needs a head swim coach. Contact Richard Mendoza at 210-619-0220
Houston's Bridge Bats needs several coaches
I'm not able to fit this year's Highland Lakes Challenge into the schedule, but those of you who're interested can get more info here
Sunday, October 07, 2018
A&M's Tanica Jamison
Article on former Longhorn Tanica Jamison - now associate head coach for Aggies - is here
Together, she and Bultman and their team have developed the Aggies into a perennial swimming powerhouse.
After four-straight fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships from 2013-16, the Aggies tallied their highest NCAA finish ever in 2017 with a third-place effort at the NCAA Championships.
They equaled that feat again in 2018, and all of Texas A&M’s swimming school records have been bettered since Jamison’s arrival in College Station.
Quote of the Day
Nobody ever forgets where he buried the hatchet.
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| via Irvington Historical |
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard
Thursday, October 04, 2018
All Over the Cartograph
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| via KXII |
Looney was the UIL 5A state champ in both the 200 IM (2:00.54) and 100 fly (:54.40 - state record).
Coach of the Year was Andrea McCarthy (Dripping Springs).
Any other educators dealing with acronym overload? Got this the other day: "...use their PLC time this week to access the IFD planning document in TEKS Resource System..."
Here's a share from DJA: Stalin Would Approve by Ben Stein
 |
| via onlinefootage |
Dozens of UT students are Uberin' to them safe spaces after a group of conservative Longhorns (yup, there are still a few there) showed support for Brett Kavanaugh. Story here
“It is despicable and wrong for people to be here trying to uplift a man who is clearly a perpetrator of assault,” junior Elizabeth Boone, one of the people who protested YCT, told the Daily Texan. “It just really shows that even on a campus like this there are people who truly do not care about women, and they don’t care about people who have been assaulted.”
YMCA of Greater Houston Youth Development Director - Aquatics
City of New Braunfels Head Swim Coach & Assistant Swim Coach
Check out swimmers and coaches on 2018 National Select Camp Rosters (several Texans)
Former Longhorn Jack Conger signed with TYR. Read more at Swimming World here
 |
| via amazon |
Nope, not talking about cleaning up after big birds here.
It's the Title IX issue at Eastern Michigan University.
No idear what we's talkin' 'bout? Catch up here, here, and here.
Okay, here's the latest: A federal court has ordered EMU to restore two (2) of the four (4) athletic programs they cut back in the spring.
Think they're bringing back men's wrestling & men's swimming?
WRONG!!!
What's yer danged problem? I taught y'all everything I know and ya still don't know nothin'!!
Nope, they're restoring the women's tennis and women's softball programs. Story here
"This is a historical moment for women in athletics," said Jill Zwagerman of Newkirk Zwagerman, the lawyer for the female athletes. "This will hopefully send a message to universities everywhere that are thinking about saving money by cutting women’s athletics. Cutting female sports is not the way to do it. It violates Title IX, which is illegal."
Anyone who's surprised by this move is hereby ordered to never read another post on this here blog.
Educating ya just ain't workin' - time to go waste yer time somewhere else...
Quote of the Day
Success seems to be largely a matter of
hanging on after others have let go.
William A. Feather
Sunday, September 30, 2018
The Bitter End
CEO & Head Coach John Bitter was recipient of the old "lead handshake" from Santa Clara Swim Club. "Financial irregularities" was given as the reason for his termination. Poor guy never had the chance to give the usual "more time with the family" reason.
Bitter's bio was scrubbed from the team's website, but is still available through Google's "cached" feature:
John Bitter
CEO/Head Coach
Over the course of his 24 years in the coaching profession, John Bitter has had the opportunity to train, develop, and establish swimmers and programs throughout the United States. John came to SCSC in September of 1995 as the Associate Head Coach, under the Dick Jochums. Working with Jochums, SCSC went on to win two National tiles for Men and one national title combined. Besides this, SCSC placed Tom Wilkens on the USA Olympic Team in 2000. Tom went on to win a bronze medal in the 200 IM.
Following the retirement of Jochums in December of 2006, John was elevated to the position of Head Coach of Santa Clara Swim Club. In this position, the club has seen tremendous growth in terms of both performance and number of swimmers and programs offered to the swimming community. In September of 2009, John was also given the title of CEO of the organization and today he heads a swim program that has diversified itself into Adult Fitness, Competitive, Developmental, and Learn-to-Swim programming.
As a coach, John accomplishments have been numerous. He has been a an Assistant Coach for the USA Swimming Junior Pan-Pac team in 2010, a two-time USA Swimming Select Camp coach, a USA Swimming Zone Development Camp Coach. John’s swimmers have produce multiple National, Junior, and Olympic qualifiers and he has had many of his former swimmers go on to compete in college at such schools as University of Georgia, University of Virginia, Rice University, Indiana University-Bloomington, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Davis, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota, University of Hawaii, just to name a few. The biggest joy John receives as a coach is when one of his swimmers is given the opportunity to continue his or her swimming at the college level, while also receiving their degree. Besides his work on the club level, John has also had success as a college coach, having worked with the 1989 NCAA Champion in the Men’s 1650 Free.
As a swimmer, John swam for Jim Tynan at Sugar Creek Swim Club in St. Louis, then for Martha Tillman at Washington University in St. Louis. Transferring after his sophomore year, John went on to swim for Dick Jochums at the University of Arizona. John was team captain his senior year. John received his B.A. in History from the University of Arizona and has done masters work in Sports Management at the University of San Francisco.
Former FCST head coach Allison Beebe is currently SCSC's Lead High Performance Coach and a possible replacement for Bitter.
Quote of the Day
If you hold a permanent view of yourself as
a victim, you become your own oppressor.
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| via MPRnews |
Candace Owens
Friday, September 28, 2018
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Misc.
 |
| via Fort Bend ISD |
CSCAA Open Water Championships Results:
Women (Rice 2nd, TCU 5th, A&M 8th)
Men (TCU 4th, A&M 5th)
Info and registration link for the Houston Build & Program a Pool Conference (November 10 & 11) is here
Sick of our current party system? Wonder why logic seems to be absent from so much of what they say and do? Check out a post by Bryan Caplan on EconLog:
What are the key differences between GMU econ blogger culture and mainstream intellectual culture? For starters:
- We value intellectual progress over emotional comfort. As long as speakers are polite, we blame listeners who get upset, not speakers who upset them.
- We are genuinely non-partisan. The Democratic and Republican parties both seem like absurd churches to us. Even if one is markedly worse, we’ll never join either because both are “often wrong and never in doubt.”
- The daily scandals that excite mainstream culture seem insipid and arbitrary to us. What matters are statistics, not emotions – and arguments, not stories.
- One bet is worth a thousand pages of punditry. At least.
- Giving in to Social Desirability Bias is a grave sin.
- Corollary: Don’t dodge questions.
- Hyperbole is the worst thing in the universe. Most problems and effects are marginal. If you’re really certain that X, you should happily bet at 1000:1 odds.
- Appealing to your identity is a reason to discount what you say, not a reason to pay extra attention.
- An argument doesn’t have to “prove” anything to be worthwhile; it only needs to change your probabilities.
- We’ll strategically appease mainstream thinkers, but that doesn’t mean they’re right.
As you can see by today's Quote of the Day, #7 is my favorite.
In fact, it's absolutely the greatest quote in the history of mankind...
The City of New Braunfels needs an assistant swim coach
VillaSport (The Woodlands) needs an aquatics director
Meridian School (Round Rock) needs a developmental swim coach
D&J needs an assistant manager for their Austin location
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| via billboard |
Sarah Brightman HYMN tour coming to Smart Financial Centre (Sugar Land) February 25th. Info & ticket link here. If you want to hang out w/the Button's in Section 103 - Hey, who doesn't? - those seats are going fast. North Texans? Your concert's on the 23rd in Grand Prairie.
Must share another, The Bettor's Oath, by Caplan:
The Bettor’s Oath
Blathering talk surrounds us, but I will take no part in it. My word is my bet; I will always put my money where my mouth is. When challenged, I will bet on my words, refine them, or recant. When no one is present to challenge me, I will weigh my words and thoughts as if my fellow oath-takers were listening.
I will make both conditional and unconditional bets, and assign probabilities whenever asked. I will claim no false certainty; unless I will stake my life on my belief, I am not truly certain – and will admit it.
When I lose a bet, I will admit defeat, pay promptly, and hold my tongue – never protesting that I was “really right.” If I have caveats or reservations, I will declare them when I make the bet – not after I lose it.
When I win a bet, I will not shame my opponent, for a betting loser has far more honor than the mass of men who live by loose and idle talk. I pledge my mind and words to the bettor’s oath, for this day and all the days to come...
Unless something in this oath turns out to be wrong, an eventuality to which I assign a 3% probability.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Johnnie Means
 |
| via Houston Chronicle |
Swimming World Q&A with HCAP's Johnnie Means is here
A diverse swimming environment is one where any and everybody is presented with an affordable opportunity to be a part of the swimming world.
CSCAA Open Water Champs
Tomorrow's schedule:
- 7:30-8:15 a.m. - Women’s Check-in
- 8:15 a.m. - Women’s Pre-Race Briefing
- 8:25 a.m. - Women’s Inspection and Roll Call
- 8:30 a.m. - Women’s 5K Start
- 9:30-10:15 a.m. - Men’s Check-in
- 10:15 a.m. - Men’s Pre-Race Briefing
- 10:25 a.m. - Men’s Inspection and Roll Call
- 10:30 a.m. - Men’s 5K Start
- Noon - Women’s and Men’s Awards
More info here
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Quote of the Day
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who
did nothing because he could do only a little.
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| via Acton Institute |
Edmund Burke
Friday, September 14, 2018
Quote of the Day
Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.
 |
| via Google Play |
Herbert George "H.G." Wells
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Quote of the Day
I just invent, then wait until man comes
around to needing what I've invented.
 |
| via PBS |
Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller
Sunday, September 09, 2018
Quote of the Day
You can teach an old dog new tricks,
and this old dog wants to learn.
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, Jr.
Friday, September 07, 2018
Where Title IX Went Wrong
There could have been many sensible, non-radical ways to apply Title IX to sports programs. In assessing the fairness of a school’s resource distribution, for example, why not consider the full array of athletic opportunities—from varsity, club, and intramural sports to dance, fitness, and outdoor exploration programs? Or find a way to assess whether an institution’s offerings effectively satisfy the interests and abilities of both male and female students? But the women’s groups wanted more than that. In their view, if women were truly free and equal, they would be just as interested in competitive varsity sports as men. These advocates insisted on “proportionality”—if a college’s student body was 60 percent female, then 60 percent of the varsity athletes should be female. Anything less was proof of continuing discrimination. And rock climbing, yoga, and dance did not count. For the activists, Title IX was not an equal opportunity law; it was a mandate to change conventional understandings of what it means to be a man or a woman. “This was a heady job for government regulators,” writes Melnick.
In 1996, assistant secretary of OCR Norma Cantú sent out a “Letter of Clarification,” which mentioned “proportionality” as a “safe harbor” that would protect schools from investigation. Schools got the message that anything less than statistical parity was risky. Previously, schools had been safe from investigation if they could show they were making good-faith efforts to accommodate student interests and abilities in sports. But Cantú’s letter represented a radical policy change. It was in effect imposing a quota system—even though the original law explicitly forbade quotas. And the change was made by “administrative fiat,” in Melnick’s words, without a notice-and-comment proceeding or the president’s signature. But the OCR labeled the secretary’s decree a “clarification.” Judges deferred.
Melnick describes the chaos and expense that ensued. Colleges and universities generally have far more female than male students, yet far fewer women than men aspire to participate in varsity athletics. To keep their football teams and avoid losing even more male wrestlers, baseball players, and swimmers, most schools have opted to devote a greater share of their athletic budgets to varsity sports. Untold millions now go to a relatively small group of elite male and female athletes inside the increasingly cloistered, commercialized world of college sports. Melnick wonders what the current regulation-driven system has to do with increasing educational opportunities for young women. The average female college student might have benefited from more federal funding for physical fitness programs. Now, she helps foot the bill for the ever-expanding college athletic-industrial complex.
Proportionality means almost all schools with large football programs must do three (3) things:
1) Dump male sports until they offer only the minimum allowed by NCAA rules,
2) Use roster caps to force remaining male sports to keep their numbers to a minimum, &
3) Add pseudo-sports for women like equestrian, beach volleyball, etc.
All facts, right? Tough to argue those, isn't it?
Okay, how about we get those Title IX radicals riled up with another fact - one they really go nuts over - Men and Women are DIFFERENT!
Argue that one, Billie Jean & Nancy...
Sunday, September 02, 2018
News & Jobs
 |
| via Texas Sports |
The last six months have been a grave and harrowing learning experience that I would not wish on any honest, clean, elite athlete. I know that any supplement – even a multivitamin purported to contain only those ingredients specified on the label and purchased at a local supermarket – can be suspect.
I would advise any athlete who chooses to take supplements to not only consult resources such as USADA’s Supplement 411, but to also make sure that they are third party batch tested to check for any contamination.
I am excited to return to the pool. I also appreciate the support so many people have shown me throughout this trying ordeal.
Supplement was Cooper Complete Elite Athlete
This year's Tex Robertson Highland Lakes Challenge will take place from October 31 through November 4. More info here
High school swim/dive officials may begin registering now. Info is here
A couple of admin-type jobs:
The YMCA of Greater Houston needs two (2) association aquatics directors
Gulf Swimming LSC needs an executive director
Quote of the Day
I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all
to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
 |
| via npr |
Henry David Thoreau
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