This past Friday night I covered the Marianna football spring game against Northview. It was not unlike many other spring games that I have covered, with one exception. There patrolling the sidelines for the Bulldogs was an ole familiar face. John Donaldson, or J.D. as some call him, is back at Marianna High School and back coaching in the football program.
This ain’t J.D.’s first rodeo so to speak with Bulldog football. He was a fine player for the Bulldogs in his younger days and went on to play at Florida State. After graduating from college he returned to his alma mater for a long tenure as an assistant coach. He was coaching at Marianna during their big run (1996 -2000, that included four district championships, four straight years of making the FHSAA playoffs and a State Runner Up) under Greg Guy and continued on in his role as an assistant under Don Dowling.
For all the joy that comes with coaching, it also comes with low pay and a lot of long hours away from your family. Over the years the long hours and low pay often takes a toll on coaches. The fire in their eye that they had for coaching is often reduced, at best, to a smoldering ember. That is why you don’t see many old coaches around anymore. And it finally took a toll on J.D.. So a couple of years ago he left the school system and went to work in private industry.
I don’t know much about what type of work he did in private industry. I just know that many of us missed seeing him on the Bulldog’s sideline. So we greeted the news of his return to Marianna High and Bulldog football as welcomed news.
Friday night’s game was just a spring game, but J.D. was on patrol. When his offensive lineman did something good he was showering them with accolades. When they missed a block or used a wrong technique, he was showering them with instructions on what they need to be doing. And if he saw someone loafing he was chomping on their backside. Folks that’s what good coaching is all about and unless I’m badly mistaken, ole J.D. has the fire back in his eye.
I’m in the camp that says the Marianna football program will be better off with J.D. back. But even more importantly than the program, the young men that play for J.D. will be better men for having played for him. And I suspect that the late Coach Hud would join me in saying, Simply Put, it sure was good to see J.D. back on the sidelines. I betcha Coach Hud would say that is where J.D. belongs.
From the Front Porch: Coach said that the race not always goes to the swift but to those who keep on running.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
“Tough Times Abound”
Several weeks ago I started to write a column about the fact that four families that I call friends had suffered major tragedies. For various reasons I did not write the column. Well in the last week two more families were hammered with devastating news. In less than two months I know six families that got devastating news about their young folks. That devastating news included two daughters / granddaughters that died, two sons/grandsons that died and two sons/grandsons that were arrested for pretty serious charges.
My heart goes out to these families. And it has left me and my family asking those all too familiar questions. Why? And what’s going on? It has also left me disheartened at times when I hear folks around me make statements about these situations that are careless, insensitive, flippant, cruel or downright wrong. So for the record, if you are around me and are thinking of making these kind of statements about these situations, do us both a favor and keep your opinions to yourself.
Maybe you’ve heard about these situations and before you know it find yourself thinking that surely these were bad kids from bad homes. Well get off your high horse and quit looking down your nose at folks. I know all six of these families and their children and guess what. They’re not any different than many of us. They all come from middle class homes and most had two loving parents. I guarantee you that every one of these young people had parents or grandparents that sit next to you in church, at a ball game or at a civic club.
Did some of these young people make some very poor choices or were they clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time? Yes. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to climb up on their high horse and spew venom from their tongues. And that is just what it is when they make their snide remarks, poison.
As I talked with a group of six men the other day about one of the recent tragedies, all six of us acknowledged that the same thing could have happened to anyone of us in our younger days. How true the old saying is “But for the Grace of God there go I.” Maybe some folks have lived just such a perfect life that none of these situations could have occurred for them or their families. Well good for you, but please keep your thoughtless comments to yourself. Better yet ask yourself if that is what Jesus would say in these situations. I suspect not.
Most of us live in the real world with real problems. And is sure hasn’t been easy lately. Simply Put, tough times abound. We all need to humble ourselves before God everyday, asking for the strength to carry on and to fill our cups with compassion.
From the Front Porch: Coach said Live Simple. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. And leave the rest to God.
My heart goes out to these families. And it has left me and my family asking those all too familiar questions. Why? And what’s going on? It has also left me disheartened at times when I hear folks around me make statements about these situations that are careless, insensitive, flippant, cruel or downright wrong. So for the record, if you are around me and are thinking of making these kind of statements about these situations, do us both a favor and keep your opinions to yourself.
Maybe you’ve heard about these situations and before you know it find yourself thinking that surely these were bad kids from bad homes. Well get off your high horse and quit looking down your nose at folks. I know all six of these families and their children and guess what. They’re not any different than many of us. They all come from middle class homes and most had two loving parents. I guarantee you that every one of these young people had parents or grandparents that sit next to you in church, at a ball game or at a civic club.
Did some of these young people make some very poor choices or were they clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time? Yes. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to climb up on their high horse and spew venom from their tongues. And that is just what it is when they make their snide remarks, poison.
As I talked with a group of six men the other day about one of the recent tragedies, all six of us acknowledged that the same thing could have happened to anyone of us in our younger days. How true the old saying is “But for the Grace of God there go I.” Maybe some folks have lived just such a perfect life that none of these situations could have occurred for them or their families. Well good for you, but please keep your thoughtless comments to yourself. Better yet ask yourself if that is what Jesus would say in these situations. I suspect not.
Most of us live in the real world with real problems. And is sure hasn’t been easy lately. Simply Put, tough times abound. We all need to humble ourselves before God everyday, asking for the strength to carry on and to fill our cups with compassion.
From the Front Porch: Coach said Live Simple. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. And leave the rest to God.
Friday, May 14, 2010
“The Grind”
It all begins around mid-August. Job #2 (radio/internet broadcasting) and Job #3 (Sports Editor at The Times) that I hold down kick into gear with the start of the school year. The fall sports season (August – November) includes a heavy dose of football at all levels along with high school volleyball, golf and cross country. Middle school football gets coverage too so I usually work four times a week during this stretch.
The winter sports season (November – February) brings on the onslaught of basketball season. Chipola trots out a men’s and women’s team the first part of November. Our county has four teams per high school when you count boys varsity & junior varsity squads along with girl’s varsity & junior varsity teams. Throw in about 8 middle school teams and that’s a whopping 26 basketball teams that deserve coverage. Toss in a wrestling program at Marianna and I usually work four times a week during November and December.
The spring sports season (February – May) includes a tough overlap of about three weeks when the basketball and baseball seasons overlap. Chipola baseball and softball throw out the first pitch in February and our county has 16 high school baseball and softball programs. The middle schools now play baseball and softball as well so there are a total of 26 programs that deserve coverage. The four track & field programs in the county deserve, and I tried to provide this year, just as much coverage as baseball and softball.
The Grind is in high gear from January through mid-May. With Chipola sports and high schools sport, and that tough overlap period, I normally work about five times per week. When the dust has settled on the school year, August – May, I have normally worked about 160 times with my newspaper and radio/internet broadcasting. And this is on top of holding down a full time job, being a husband and father.
I know some folks might not care about “The Grind” or might say that there is an easy solution to “The Grind,” just quit. Others might say I chose to accept Job #2 and Job #3, so quit complaining or at least don’t use my column to complain. If they say that they would be totally misunderstanding the point of my column.
For as tough as “The Grind” is, I still enjoy what I do with the paper and on the radio/internet. So I’m not complaining, but rather I am celebrating. My writing this column is not so much for you the reader but more so for me. Simply Put, “The Grind” is over for another school year. I can recharge my batteries for the next three months and get ready for another school year. Meantime, bring on the summer, Yesteryear and Rollin’ Down The River.
From the Front Porch: Coach said you cannot unsay a cruel word.
The winter sports season (November – February) brings on the onslaught of basketball season. Chipola trots out a men’s and women’s team the first part of November. Our county has four teams per high school when you count boys varsity & junior varsity squads along with girl’s varsity & junior varsity teams. Throw in about 8 middle school teams and that’s a whopping 26 basketball teams that deserve coverage. Toss in a wrestling program at Marianna and I usually work four times a week during November and December.
The spring sports season (February – May) includes a tough overlap of about three weeks when the basketball and baseball seasons overlap. Chipola baseball and softball throw out the first pitch in February and our county has 16 high school baseball and softball programs. The middle schools now play baseball and softball as well so there are a total of 26 programs that deserve coverage. The four track & field programs in the county deserve, and I tried to provide this year, just as much coverage as baseball and softball.
The Grind is in high gear from January through mid-May. With Chipola sports and high schools sport, and that tough overlap period, I normally work about five times per week. When the dust has settled on the school year, August – May, I have normally worked about 160 times with my newspaper and radio/internet broadcasting. And this is on top of holding down a full time job, being a husband and father.
I know some folks might not care about “The Grind” or might say that there is an easy solution to “The Grind,” just quit. Others might say I chose to accept Job #2 and Job #3, so quit complaining or at least don’t use my column to complain. If they say that they would be totally misunderstanding the point of my column.
For as tough as “The Grind” is, I still enjoy what I do with the paper and on the radio/internet. So I’m not complaining, but rather I am celebrating. My writing this column is not so much for you the reader but more so for me. Simply Put, “The Grind” is over for another school year. I can recharge my batteries for the next three months and get ready for another school year. Meantime, bring on the summer, Yesteryear and Rollin’ Down The River.
From the Front Porch: Coach said you cannot unsay a cruel word.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
“Names”
After almost 20 years of sports broadcasting surely I have heard and pronounced, or mispronounced, just about every name imaginable. I still remember my first broadcast with my buddy Russell Register back in December 1990. It was a basketball game between Marianna and Walton County. The Braves had a pair of twins on the team that were obviously of Polish ancestry. I was already nervous enough, but trying to pronounce their names was more than I could handle. By the end of the game I was simply calling the pair by their first names.
Over the years I have continually been surprised to see, and then have to learn, names that I have never seen before. I’d like to think that I have gotten better at pronouncing the names but I will tell you that some sports, like girl’s basketball, still routinely present a challenge.
As our broadcast crew (myself, Russell, Sandy Westmoreland and Mike Miller) drove down last week to Auburndale for the FCCAA State Softball tournament numerous topics were discussed. During a discussion about major league baseball I jokingly professed my disdain for Japanese baseball players. I told them my disdain is not about their playing ability, but rather about the difficulty in trying to pronounce their names. We all had a good laugh and drove on.
Upon arrival at the state tournament, the Executive Director of Deep South Sports Broadcasting (Russell Register) assigned me to do all the Miami Dade broadcast. He figured that with my marriage to a lady of Hispanic decent and my travels last summer in Nicaragua, I was the best suited to handle all the Hispanic names of the Miami-Dade roster. No problem I said.
A quick glance at the Miami Dade roster had me shaking my head in disbelief. Who would ever figure four Japanese Brazilians were on the team. There last names were spelled Miyahira, Suetsugu, Fukunishi and Morimoto. I went to their coach for help with the names. He barely spoke English, so he sent me to the assistant coach. She spoke English but with a Spanish accent as thick as a brick. She did the best she could and so did I. I then wrote their names as much as I could like they were pronounced. They came out something like this: Me–yah-hair-uh, Sweat-sue-goo, Fu-ka-knee-chee and More-e-moto.
With the fast paced game of softball, just imagine my North Florida drawl trying to spit out “ground ball to Sweat-sue-goo, she throws over to Fu-ku-knee-chee and she comes home to More-e-moto”. The folks from Miami Dade that watched on the internet are probably still trying to figure out which mountain I came down from. I know one thing, no more joking about Japanese names. Simply Put, I can always count on a few names just around the corner to keep me humble.
From the Front Porch: Uncle Bob said if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Over the years I have continually been surprised to see, and then have to learn, names that I have never seen before. I’d like to think that I have gotten better at pronouncing the names but I will tell you that some sports, like girl’s basketball, still routinely present a challenge.
As our broadcast crew (myself, Russell, Sandy Westmoreland and Mike Miller) drove down last week to Auburndale for the FCCAA State Softball tournament numerous topics were discussed. During a discussion about major league baseball I jokingly professed my disdain for Japanese baseball players. I told them my disdain is not about their playing ability, but rather about the difficulty in trying to pronounce their names. We all had a good laugh and drove on.
Upon arrival at the state tournament, the Executive Director of Deep South Sports Broadcasting (Russell Register) assigned me to do all the Miami Dade broadcast. He figured that with my marriage to a lady of Hispanic decent and my travels last summer in Nicaragua, I was the best suited to handle all the Hispanic names of the Miami-Dade roster. No problem I said.
A quick glance at the Miami Dade roster had me shaking my head in disbelief. Who would ever figure four Japanese Brazilians were on the team. There last names were spelled Miyahira, Suetsugu, Fukunishi and Morimoto. I went to their coach for help with the names. He barely spoke English, so he sent me to the assistant coach. She spoke English but with a Spanish accent as thick as a brick. She did the best she could and so did I. I then wrote their names as much as I could like they were pronounced. They came out something like this: Me–yah-hair-uh, Sweat-sue-goo, Fu-ka-knee-chee and More-e-moto.
With the fast paced game of softball, just imagine my North Florida drawl trying to spit out “ground ball to Sweat-sue-goo, she throws over to Fu-ku-knee-chee and she comes home to More-e-moto”. The folks from Miami Dade that watched on the internet are probably still trying to figure out which mountain I came down from. I know one thing, no more joking about Japanese names. Simply Put, I can always count on a few names just around the corner to keep me humble.
From the Front Porch: Uncle Bob said if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
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