What I Saw This Week

I am generally a pretty observant individual.  It is a trait that makes me a candidate for officiating whatever sport may be at hand.  I pick up nuances and details a lot of people miss.  With proper schooling, I could have been a doctor.  As a doctor, I don't have to call it immediately.  I just need to be accurate.

So, what did I see this week?

-I saw sixty degree weather turn into six inches of snow.  Doesn't happen in Florida, but Northern Indiana is good for that.  Might have something to do with that large body of water called Lake Michigan.  In fact, the wind chill factor this morning is around zero degrees.  As a softball coach, if your under 12, I'm cancelling practice.  If you're over 12, focus.

-I saw a sixth grade boys basketball coach get tossed from a game.  I didn't do it: my officiating partner did.  As a long time coach, I will never understand how coaches of kids who aren't even teenagers yet want perfection out of the officials and the players.  You, as a coach, aren't perfect and you don't control what the officials call or don't call.  Get over it and focus on what you can do to help your players get better.  Leave working officials for the guys who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to coach.  When you get there, you will have earned the right.

-I saw an observation solidified: the better the players, the better the officials calling the game.  It's a simple matter of percentages: the more things the players do right, the more obvious the errors and fouls.  When the younger kids do something right, the more beautiful it is to watch when it happens.  Otherwise, just keep encouraging them.  The freakish level of athleticism required to earn professional contracts are just not available to everyone.

-I saw a puppy buried.  We adopted a pug at the end of September with knowledge she might be pregnant.  She delivered four beautiful pup on November 3.  We watched one, temporarily named River, stop eating, be hand fed, and decline.  She passed Thursday evening.  I saw my kids and wife bounce back.  I look forward to seeing the three remaining pups get bigger and stronger.  Right now, these pugs look like little teddy bears.

Take the time to really see things you don't normally see this week.