Happy New Year - 2009 begins my 40th year of coaching. Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I started and sometimes it feels like a century ago. The other day when I was swimming I was reflecting on the way things were in 1969 versus how they are now, it was certainly a different and simpler world in many respects. Please do not take this as an old man reflecting on the good old days. Everything [...]

This a story on Don Wakamatsu, the new manager of the Seattle Mariners. I had the pleasure of working with Don when he was a player with the White Sox. He came to us as a released player with limited future because of recurrent shoulder problems. He worked his butt off to regain the ability to throw and actually made to the big leagues for a short time in 1991. Don was a player that the other play [...]

It just turned Christmas day on the East Coast and since all the fam is asleep and I'm going to be pretty much out of commission tomorrow, I figured I'd take the time to say Merry Christmas. As in year's past I want to open this up for last second Christmas wishes. What are you wishing Santa will bring you under the tree? Perhaps, it's a new pair of spikes? Maybe a PR in the 60m at your first [...]

I love being around people who are creative and innovative. It inspires me and fuels my passion for learning in the pursuit of excellence. Conversely it is tough for me to be around people who are stuck in the status quo, unable to objectively look at their world and do something to make it better. A phrase that I particularly abhor is - Been there, done that. My reaction is - So what? Did you do [...]

I’ve thrown for forty-five years on an average of 10,000 throws a year. That’s 450,000 throws and not one of those throws has ever been perfect. There was always something else I could have done to make the prior throw just a little bit better. I think if we attack life in that same manner we can do some wonderful things on this earth. -Al Oerter Four time Olympic Gold MedalistLeader [...]

I went to the MFA with my friend Sarah last week to see some of my favorite exhibits, as well as take a look at the Herb Ritts gallery. His photography was known for clean lines, the classic Greek ideals, and of course black and white. I like photography, but because the medium is used by non artists it is hard to take full advantage of the art without study. So I read more about photography and l [...]

Terms and phrases barge into our consciousness and are then used and re-used, often imprecisely, until whatever meaning they may have originally held erodes and they are left as shriveled and bankrupt as the word “LITE” on ice-cream containers and beer bottles. As McLuhan observed: “When a thing is current, it creates currency.” That is: an idea becomes accepted simply [...]

With the influx of great blogs on training, warm-ups, extensive tempo sessions and hurdling, I have enjoyed reading and learning more than sharing lately. With the next Holiday approaching, I thought I would divulge a little tradition that I started for my team in college and have continued it where ever I go. The Sunday before Thanksgiving our team gathers together and celebrates turkey day a few [...]

This article made me sick to my stomach. What are we doing to our kids? What happened to education? I am interested in your reaction, maybe I am missing something here. Last weekend I saw a terrific special on ESPN called Black Magic, a four hour film on the African –American influence on the game of basketball. It was riveting, for me to sit for four hours and watch anything is an undertak [...]

Last night on the PBS program NOVA (One of my all time favorite television programs) the subject was Edward O. Wilson. The title of the program was “Lord of the Ants.”Wilson is scientist from Harvard who gained fame for his study of ants and his theories of animal behavior that he derived from his observation of animals in nature. He is the founder of the field of Sociobiology. My firs [...]