I couldnt make this stuff up...

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=2705087

Oh boy...

Is it bad that in a personal, serious email trying to help a friend with a situation he was in (with a girl), I compared it to a basketball player...

Jays move to 4-0 in Conference, and 6-2 Overall after a terrific road win @ Blue Springs South last night.

Now a week off before we play again in the William Jewell tournament!!

Have a restful, and enjoyable Christmas!!!

Interesting...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/more/12/18/failed.gender.test.ap/index.html

Feel free to comment as you need...

KC Star article...

Here is the article I spoke about...

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/16243501.htm

Dropped one last night, 71-70 in OT.

Article is Friday...

The article in the KC Star I mentioned the other day is going to be put out tomorrow, Friday December 15th, instead of today.

We won 53-51 on a last second shot Tuesday night. Improved our Conference record to 3-0 and moved to 4-1 overall.

Big test for us tonight against a good BVNW team. I had/have the scout for it and think we match up pretty well, and we certainly know EVERYTHING that they're going to try to do. Should be a good game, come on out!!

Hy-Vee Shootout @ Avila University; 6:00pm Tip
Television: Metro Sports

Blue Springs Tonight...

Tonight, we play Blue Springs, in our 3rd Conference game of the season. Our record stands at 3-1, after we won @ #1 Ozark, and lost @ #3 Springfield Kickapoo. Saturday was frustrating for us, b/c we're a much better team and had a chance to end a 24 home winning streak and really have people take noticeof our club.

It is important for us to defend our home court tonight, we like our chance and feel good about the game plan that is in.

For those of you that have Metro Sports in the KC Area, or would like to listen to our game on the internet, go to Liberty.k12.mo.us, and on School information scroll down to athletics to catch the Blue Jays in action against Blue Valley Northwest on Thursday at the KC Hy-Vee shoot out!

Go Jays!

(There will be an article in the KC Star tomorrow (kansascity.com) about our bball program. We have had a reporter in the past couple of days. Candace Buckner will be the one writing, so check our your sports page tomorrow!)

Weekend...

I trust that everyone had an enjoyable weekend, and us in the midwest, enjoyed all the Snow fall. We had 2 days of school cancelled because of the weather, which was a nice break, at an appropriate time.

I wanted to thank all of you that have sent an email/text or made a phone call offering your support. Trust to know how much I appreciate it and know that I am truly thankful for all of the wonderful friends that I have.

I hope that you all have an enjoyable week, and stay warm!!!

Talk soon!!!!

News...

I hope this post finds everyone doing well and that you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with family and friends and were able to give Thanks for all the wonderful things/people that allow you to enjoy your life.
It comes with a heavy heart that I pass along to you the following. Barrett Wepler, our Senior basketball player who collapsed on the floor November 16th ended up passing away at 3pm yesterday, November 29th. We met with our team immediately after school and passed along the news to them.
Obviously, it was tough for the kids to take, but we're working through it as best we can.
Here is a link to an article that was in the KC Star today.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/16126737.htm
Let me know if you have any suggestions/ideas as to how to help our players handle it.
Above everything though, keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers!
Thanks!!

Gametime...

WATCH our game live Tonight v. William Chrisman!!

Be A Part of Liberty History; Go Towww.liberty.k12.mo.us In the bottom left hand corner of the the Liberty website, under the KLPS logo, click on “live video stream”.

Then YOU can watch!! Game time is 7:00pm!!!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!!

Go Jays!!!

Answer for ?...

As most of you know, we have had a hectic time, and extremely serious situation that transpired within our bball program. We continue to deal with it and are optimistic that things are going to turn out well...

To answer my own Blog question...>

If money wasnt an issue, w/o a doubt, I would buy the Kansas City Royals and take over as team owner.

$$$$...

If money wasnt any issue...

What is the ONE thing you would buy?

I'll post my answer tomorrow...

You could be next...

During my 6th hour class, I had a kid who was on his cell phone. I asked him to get off, and when I did he put it down. I then went over and went to take his phone from him, which he pulled away. Upon pulling it away I gave him two choices: 1) Give me your phone, 2) Work with the custodial staff...

Since the Student would not agree to turn his phone over, I proceeded to have him wipe dirty lunch tables with the custodial staff for twenty minutes, 19.5 of it was him throwing a fit.

Do what you're supposed to, or else you're could be next...Think I got my message across...

Tidbits from me...

Thank all of you for the birthday wishes and in some cases gifts. I always appreciate and am blown away by the gratitude of all my friends and family. Thank you for making my birthday a VERY enjoyable day.

Basketball is going okay. We still have a lot of work that needs to get done. We need to develop a tougher mentality. I could go on and on about that. The way we've been practicing the past couple of days though, we couldn't beat Thomas' team riding their short bus to our game. (See Thomastein.blogspot.com).

As mentioned in a previous post: I was trying to attach an audio file to my blog of a voicemail that I got. I am not sure if that can be done though. If you know how to, or if it can be done, let me know.

Otherwise, I am counting down the minutes until Thanksgiving break from school, but more importantly until Melynda gets here from Oregon.

Normal days activities at "The High School". Hope you enjoy your day wherever that may be, and look forward to hearing from you all and talking soon!...

Birthday...

Well, as most of you know today is my birthday. I never get too excited about it, I do enjoy it, but try to play it pretty even.

It is only 8:05am though and this has already happened...

• My wonderful girlfriend called at exactly midnight
• TK called last night
• Jody and crew sent me a batman card
• One of the school secretaries made a blueberry pie for me
• The custodians left a card for me on my table
• My entire family has called and left messages
• Smalls, my buddy I worked with from KSU, called
• The Women's bball SID from when I worked at KSU, wrote me.

Now, that will surely bring a smile to anyones face.

I truly appreciate everyones well wishes, and know that it means quite a bit.

Enjoy your weekend, and thanks again!

Been a while again...

Basketball has kept me super busy the past week and a half and so I havent had much to post. I am working on uploading an audio clip that I got on voice mail the other day. It is something that would make anyones day better...

I am hoping to progress with it....stay tuned...

Cuts...

We're going to have to tell kids who have the dream to play basketball that they can't. The kids that give the effort that is necessary, have the right attitude, that they aren't good enough. We're going to have to tell the kid who just went out and bought new shoes for the season, no thanks. We're going to have to tell the kid who has posters in his room of his favorite player, sorry, you can't make it. We're going to have to tell a kid no, and that kid is going to have to tell his parents, "I got cut" Thats the part of it that stinks for me.

We have a kid this year that probably fits into that category. He came to the latter part of our pre-season conditioning and was dead last in every sprint. Now there is a difference though, b/c he RAN every sprint. We have varsity guys we have to get after to run EVERY one. Is he coachable? Extremely. Does he have the right attitude, Yes. That is why it's so hard for us.

We're going to tell him that we don't have a roster spot for him, but that he is welcome and wanted to stay on in a capacity within the program. We/I want kids like him in the program.

Hopefully he decides to stay, and hopefully are other cuts go as well as we can expect.

My friend Dennis...

Yesterday was the first day of basketball practice/try-outs here at the High School. It went like a first day normally does, some good, some bad, some pretty good, some pretty bad. We are working hard, and I will certainly talk about our guys more as the week goes on...but I have to share this story...

Dennis is a custodian here at the High School, a man in his mid to upper 40's is my best guess. Dennis works from 8:30-4:30 everyday, doing the custodial type of work. He also spends about every weekend, occasionally skipping a few, to go back to Chilicothe, Missouri to tend to his fathers house, since his father is ill.

I always bring the KC star to work. I will finish it by the time I have to move, and Dennis always would glance at it as I had it on my table. Eventually, I decided when I moved areas, I would just leave the paper in Dennis' area where he keeps his cup/jacket/keys. Still to this day, Dennis will thank me for leaving the paper for him to read, it always is a good part of my day.

Here is one that will stick with me though: Yesterday Dennis was sweeping the floor after lunch and there was a bottle cap that he picked up about 20 feet from the nearest trash can, Dennis threw it, and hit the trash can dead in the middle. I joked with him that we have try-outs today, and he shoots it better than any of our guys. Dennis then went up to his boss, and jokingly mentioned he was going to have to be off by 3 today, b/c "Chris invited me to tryouts". We all shared a laugh. Then during practice, about 4:30, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around, and there is Dennis' smiling, saying, "Hey, I am here". I died laughing. Dennis had just gotten off, and was getting ready to leave, but first came through the gym to give me a hard time.

I think it's a story that is better in person, better if you witness it, but I hope by writing it some of you get a picture of it.

Have a wonderful day...!

Post game celebration...

I was LOVING this last Saturday. After Cal won in OT, the all-everything back got in the cart and started driving it around the field...how epic is that?!?!?!

So, what if I...

So my kids in 6th hour have finally calmed down and realized I hate all the screwing around/loud yelling (although they are just talking across the table) that use to be.

So now that they have figured it out, I am left here with no one to yell at, no kid to write up, and no reason to get up and go tell a kid "either you dont pay attention, dont care, or dont get it, and the bad part is, I think it's all three"(true comment).

I just ate lunch, and the only thing I can think about doing is taking a nap...I am not at the head nod stage yet, but that could be coming fast...

Truth...

You don't have to worry about what you say as long as it's the truth...

New Book...

I finished reading Charlie Weis' book "No Excuses". I really enjoyed it, and it provided some interesting perspective. I will make sure that I root for Notre Dame as long as he is the head coach. He stands for what is right in the world of Coaching.

Now I am reading Winning the NFL way. It is five NFL coaches who got together and brainstormed(if thats a word) some leadership/motivation strategies.
In the intro it gives 7 attributes that surround winning:

1) Great teacher
2) Motivator
3) Picking/choosing the right people
4) Communicator
5) disciplinarian
6) Visionary
7) Excellent character

Let me know what you would add/subtract.

Tuesday, October 24th...

Believe is or not, we start our basketball season in 6 days. It seems like yesterday we were closing our season in Dallas. I miss certain aspects of KSU, but overall I am super happy where I am at.
We have the necessary talent to win at the high school level. We have a super skilled sophomore, 3 experienced seniors who can play, and a reliable bench. The only problem personnel wise is our point guard. We will have a senior who hasn't played Varsity, but is a terrific athlete. We will have to coach him up so he can lead our guys, b/c I am hopeful that we are busy until the first week of March here.
Hope everything is going well, email me, CoachMcCabe@gmail.com, or post on here. Would love to hear from you all (if anyone reads this).

Have a GREAT Tuesday...
Chris

Charlie Weis' "No Excuses"...

When I was in Eugene, Melynda was wonderful enough to buy me Charlie Weis' just released book. (Part of the proceeds go to his daughters special needs foundation as well, which made it more meaningful for her to buy it for me). Reading this has been super interesting b/c it's not a "Guide to coaching" but a story of his rise, with a few stories of coaching here and there...

"If you know what you're doing you don't feel pressure. Pressure is something that's self-inflicted. Different people handle it different ways. The key to not letting it get the better of you is preparation. If you're prepared and know what you're doing you should be able to handle the pressure because you should feel confident that you have the answers to the test."

Have a good week...

Do YOU do this?...

In my trip to Eugene, I had time to observe many people/personalities in various settings. Noticing these people I came up with various things:

• Conversation skills: You ever asked a stranger a question? I asked a person standing in line "Is this the Flight 716 to Denver?" You would have thought I asked the gentlemen to recite the quadratic formula for me. He didn't look at me in the eye, muttered, so I had to ask him twice what he said to finally understand him. My first thought was, Do I do this?
• Public (cell) Speaking: Noticed two main things. 1) People have no problem explaining all their personal problems/issues/thoughts to the world. I couldn't do that. 2) Volume level. I would be embarrassed to speak as loud as some of these people talking about personal stuff. Watch for this, and watch the people AROUND the person talking. They feel more uncomfortable than the person talking. My first thought was, Do I do this?
• Doing a favor for a stranger: Melynda and I were waiting in line for the shuttle to Autzen Stadium. They charge a fee if you don't have a bus pass or student ID. Obviously I had neither and was ready to pay the fee. As we were approaching the bus, a nice gentleman from behind me asked if I had a bus pass. After I told him no, he responded by offering me his pass so I could save the money. Also, I was in Albertson's buying some items I couldn't travel with, and the cashier asked me if I had a "Discount card" with me. Responded to him that I was visiting, he then rang a generic card thru the register, saving me $2.20. My first thought after each circumstance was, Do I do this?
• The airline ticket taker at United was extremely abrasive and tried to let EVERYONE know that she was in charge. Raising her voice, being very demonstrative(sp) in her body language. Short answers, bad sense of humor. Then I asked myself, who am I to judge the character of her. (Although I think I had a pretty good assessment of her). So I asked myself three things, referring to the ticket counter 1) Do I act like her when I am in charge? 2) Do I judge based off what I believe is right, or standard. 3) What is "standard" and do I know it?

There are a million other examples, some of which I may post later.

As you can tell, I had time to think and observe many attitudes/behaviors/personalities of people. I really enjoyed doing such.

I tried to be very introspective with everything I witnessed. Whenever you see a behavior that makes you take notice, good or bad, maybe you should ask yourself, Do I do this? Then implement/discard it to make yourself the best possible person.

Trip...

(I'll add various things that came to mind during my travels and the visit itself as the week goes on, so check back in during the week)
Obviously, my trip to Eugene was too short. We had an absolute blast and were able to do quite a few things both of us enjoy doing together.
We ate extremely well. Went out to a Japanese steakhouse, and a homemade itailian place, to name a few, called Beppe & Gianni's. Both were terrific.
Also got to make it out to Mac court for the Volleyball game on Friday night and over to Autzen Stadium for the Oregon v. UCLA game Saturday. Cool atmosphere, absolutely BEAUTIFUL facilities there is a reason they have top flight athletic programs.
There is a million other things that I could write about, but those are what first comes to mind to share with you all.
As you could imagine, it was terrific to be with Melynda for that extended period of time. Those of you that know us, know how happy that we are together and that didnt change a single bit over this past week. She truly is the best person I've ever met.

Been a while...

It has been a little hectic lately and so I have not posted as frequently as I would like. Things are going well now, I had various meetings and obligations that I had to be at the past week/weekend and so now the dust has settled.

Yes, you're right, I do leave for Oregon tomorrow night. Fly out at 7:09 here, and land at 10:27 (12:27 central) there. As you could imagine, looking very much forward to it.

Once I get back, we have a coaching clinic/retreat that our staff is going on before we start our first practice, October 30th.

Our Fall league team won two games yesterday, to improve to 7-1. We beat the team that has handed out our only loss, so that was important for our guys. We have an enormous amount of work to do to get to where we need to be if we want to compete for championships, but we have a solid foundation in place.

Well, hope to hear from each and everyone of you soon, I will surely update you about my trip to Eugene when I get a chance, and plus, when my wonderful girlfriend is at class, Jax and I can only do so much, so I probably will post a time or two.

Take care and have a great week!

Incredible...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/061003

Bill Simmons does a great job normally, but this might be the best I've EVER read, please take the time to read this, it will make your day better...

In case you were wondering...

One week, and I'll be in Eugene...

Coach...

I had just spoken with my beautiful girlfriend for about 15 or so minutes catching up about the days activities. We hung up about 6, and immediately after we hung up, my phone rang again. It was a number that I didn't recognize, so I usually don't answer. After I let it go to voicemail, it showed up that I had received a new message. I checked it to find out that it was my old boss at KSU, Coach Wooldridge. Coach was calling to see how I was doing and what was going on. Said a few other nice things and I tried to call him back shortly there after. Got his voicemail, and so I left him a message and am waiting a return call from him.

Most of you that are reading this understand my respect for Coach Wooldridge, w/o a doubt though, this shows how high character of a person he is, and how much he cares about people. (See Wichita Eagle article from Sep 27th) As a coach, you can only hope that you can build those type of relationships, b/c after all, life and Coaching is about relationships isnt it?

Nebraska Game...

This weekend I am going to do something I have been looking forward to for quite some time. I am going to Lincoln to watch a game in Memorial Stadium. Nebraska is opening Big XII play with KU.

I am looking forward to the atmosphere. I have heard so much about the Stadium, it's going to be awesome to experience it.

Two of my best friends....

2 WEEKS...!!!

In 14 days I will be in Eugene, Oregon!!!! YES!!!!

Proud of our guys...

Our Fall league continued on Sunday, which we won by 8 in the first game, and by 47 in the second game, although that doesnt tell the real story...

I've OFTEN heard coaches talk about how the team "takes on the personality of their coach". Although I am new, and it's only fall league, I have tried to instill certain things that are in my personality into the kids.

Those of you reading this, know how much I like to win, more importantly, hate to lose. Having said that, we played a team in our second game last night and were up 47-20 at half. I told the guys about how we have something to play for, b/c we need to get better. They responded well, executed well, and outscored them 33-13 in the first ten minutes of the second half. Then, b/c of our aggresive, never give in attitude, the opponent started to play cheap, and committ hard, cheap, fouls. The official at one point warned he would stop the game if it continued. Well, it did, and after a hard foul the game was declared over and we had scored 80 points while limiting the opponent to 33 in only 30 minutes, and a running clock.

I equate it to a boxer trying to stay in a fight by head butting, and hitting below the belt, until finally the referee calls it because the boxer has no opportunity to win, and has been beaten. It was a great feeling, and needless to say, I was extremely proud of our guys.

Enjoy your Monday.

It's Friday...

'nuff said...

Oh, and this...
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2598383

Lifestyle...

As I sat in the bball clinic last night in KC, I realized how much of a lifestyle difference there is between the D-1 game, and the High School game. Having expierenced it at the D-1 level, I've seen all the time demands, public appearances, private pressures, that are different from the high school game. In the HS game you still have player on/off court problems, parent problems, etc. It's a lifestyle choice though.

Without going into detail, I had conversation with a friend last night who is stressed and overwhelemed. They just feel a constant pressure to work. That is all they are doing, is working and working towards working, and thinking about working and when am I going to be working...

I remember being in HS and being in love with wanting to be the next Roy Williams. I wanted to coach in College worse than anyone could ever imagine. I was always asking people about how to break in, what to do, etc. Then I got to the point where I would ask all of my coaches why they didnt coach in college. The prevailing answer that I got from all of them was the lifestyle. At the time, I thought that was the most silly thing in the world, how could that lifestyle not be the greatest thing ever? Having been through it for 3 years, which I LOVED, I realize all the positives and the negatives. I loved sitting in front of 16,000 people on Wednesday Saturdays for 3 years.

Basically what I'm saying is what I heard President Bush say when I heard him speak at KSU in January. "Priorities give us perspective".

Something to think about...

Almost friday!!

Clinic...

Today the KC Bball Coaches association is putting on a clinic featuring Steve Alford and Mike Anderson. The school is paying for it, and our staff is going to go over and listen to it. I am really looking forward to learning some things, and meeting some people.
A few things im pondering as well:

• Royals still need to win 5 games to avoid another 100-loss season.
• Counting down the days until October 10th, when I head to Eugene
• Looking forward to Saturday's Royals game with Jody and Larry
• Trying to figure out teacher certification process
• I miss Penny and Jax, nothing is better than a good dog, which both of them are.
• Oh, and the Royals preliminary schedule came out for next year, how about the Red Sox to open. Anyone interested in going...?

Have a good one!

A few thoughts...

Yesterday and for 2 periods this morning I have become increasingly annoyed with some of the attitudes/actions of the students that I have in my Study Hall. Although you wouldn't think that this job could be stressful, when you see approach 600 Students a day, I am seeing about 500 more than any other teacher in the building.

I have a firm set of expectations in place, they were given in a handout at the beginning of the year, and I expect the students to follow them. As the semester has gone on, the majority of them have followed, there are groups of kids that think they can get away and act however they want with an obvious disregard for what is in place. This was REALLY annoying to me, because after all, how difficult can it be to sit and be quiet for 50 minutes a day.
What really blew me away was the fact that some students didn't think the rules/expectations applied to them. They know they are not going with the expectations, but yet still continue to act in a way inconsistent with the expectations of the class. That just blew my mind, but then the more I thought about it...

I realized that this is great for me, because it's taught me a couple of important keys for communicating with people, and successfully implementing expectations of a large group.

• It shows me that I should follow the rule of "treating all my students fairly, but not equal" because there is a group that doesn't deserve equal treatment, but yet fair treatment for how they are acting towards me.
• It shows me that you can never waiver in your expectations/beliefs, something that is important, and I already believe in strongly.
• You can only control certain things, so the ones that you can, make sure that you do control them, and then be able to adapt to the things you can't.
• Being well liked and well respected could not be two more different things. I have a wonderful family, a terrific group of friends, and the most wonderful and beautiful girlfriend anyone could ever imagine, so I don't need the students to like me, I just need them to respect me.
• It shows me that being assertive is an important trait to have. You also must be well thought out, and speak clearly and precisely to the students, so they understand exactly where you are coming from.
• Lastly, it shows me that once you think you know, you sure as all heck do not. Always learning, always changing.

Well, I suppose this is what a blog is for, ridiculous rambles. Hopefully you understand where I'm coming from, and I know most of you can certainly relate.

MAKE it a good day!

Monday...

I usually don't have too difficult of a time getting up on Monday's b/c I've rested over the weekend, today was an exception.

Saturday I was up early, for Gameday at 9, and stayed up late. What a day of college football.
Sunday I coached our varsity team in 2 games, a loss by 6, and a win by 51, go figure that.

The highlight of my weekend by far was having two london broil steaks on Sunday with the family back at the house. Been about 3 weeks since I've been that full after a meal. Man they were good.

Normal Monday activity otherwise.

Could NOT make this up...

First, I hope that all of you have an enjoyable weekend. Huge weekend of great college football games, so you all know what I'll be doing.

Secondly, I am not funny as is, nor could I even DREAM to make something like this up. This REALLY did happen during my 3rd hour today.
Student: Can I get a pass to go to the Library
Me: Yeah, it's right there, fill it out and I'll sign it
Student: Oh, whats the date today
Me: The 15th
Student: (Laughs) Oh yeah, I shouldve known that, its my birthday.

Swear to you this happened...

Have a good weekend!

Think about...

• When deciding between talking and listening, realize listening has a lot less competition.
  
• Promise less, and deliver more.

Golf

Only if I could play this well when I am on the real course...I shot a 35, hole #8 got me...post your score...
I may have a match play tournament later...

http://members.shaw.ca/faithshannon/mini-golf-swf.htm

Coach Mac-35
OJello-35
Coach Myro-28...incredible #, may not be beat.

Overheard in Study Hall...

I never thought that it would quite come to this, but after reading every possible newspaper on-line and in print, I have decided a blog might be of interest...
So, here are just a few things that have been said or happened in 3 weeks of Study Hall...

• (Two JV football players chatting)I am so glad we get to play our game today here at the high school. Buddy-->Yeah, oh hey, are we the home or away team?
• A senior when told about a seating chart: That is stupid. My response: You know what else is stupid, that a 18 year old cant follow simple orders to sit for the first 5 minutes so I can take attendance, get to your seat.
• As I had my head down reading/working on something a young girl walked up to me and said something, I couldnt understand. By the time I looked up, she repeated herself..."I am having women problems"

That is just the trifecta of what has happened. Trust me I have much more.

Thanks for taking the time to read, let me know what you think...