We have all seen the news stories: the parent who cusses out the coach after the game. The parents who get in a fight with the referees. The parents who punch the coach. The parents who cuss out the team as they leave the field, calling the coaches every name in the book — when those same…

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash Almost every sports parent comes from a place of love for their child. We all want to help our kids, give them the most opportunities, and give them what we didn’t have but wish we had. My definition of the American Dream echoes this idea; the American Dream is wanting better for…

As Coach Warr and I began this collaboration, we both worried about coming off as know-it-all coaches. I do not have this coaching thing all figured out in three easy essays. However, Jason and I have over 50 years of combined experience in education and athletics besides our time playing sports. While we don’t know…

What Is “Success?” Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash Mission statement: The West Ada School District is creating a three-part series about high school athletics, coaches, and parents. Our goal is twofold: one, to help everyone remember the value of high school athletics, and two, to remind people that life and sports are viewed through many…

What a great view (photo by the author) I found myself with some time during Spring Break — time to do whatever I wanted because my family was out of town. I love Spring Break: no holidays, no commitments, no expectations; just time to do what you want to do. Here’s how I spent mine. Friday night: As…

We never know where the ripples in the pool are going to go after we toss the rock. Photo by Shaojie on Unsplash I just finished reading an article in The Atlantic by Derek Thompson titled “Why Simple Is Smart.” In this article — which is a pretty good look at writing and I agree with most of his thoughts —…

Sunday, April 3 Gabe and I unloaded at the little camp spot above Carnage Canyon because the Kane Springs parking lot was clogged with at least 10 camp trailers blocking the road. I drove right through the middle of them to the trail, hopefully teaching them they were camping on a road and that’s not…

Balance Photo by Vicky Sim on Unsplash   Our school has a “theme” each month. A credo. A mission statement. A focus. There are videos and reminders about that certain aspect of life. Sometimes, there are even t-shirts. This month — March — is BALANCE. (And look at the syntactial balance of that previous sentence!) I was asked to write…

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash I hate February. I’m a teacher. Every year, for the last 23 years, I get to February and it seems like The Never Ending Story. It seems like we aren’t going to survive this month. The name itself sucks. Looking at the image above, it’s like one of the dumbest…

Special thanks to Krista Rogerson for the lettering on my son’s commemorative football (Photo by the author). The other day, Mr. Gossi walked into my classroom and handed me a sticker. It read “It’s a Great Day To Be Alive And A Mustang.” I loved it! I felt like I was being quoted in the…

Brock and I after a game his senior year (Photo by Fabiana Beatriz Photography) Last night, I went to my son’s last high school football banquet. It’s crazy: I started at my school in 2001. I have pictures and memories of packing Brock around the practice fields in one of those weird baby backpacks during…

How I Make Working Out A Priority Photo by Alonso Reyes on Unsplash The longest relationship I have had in my life is with the weight room. You would think with this relationship, I would be in way better shape and all muscled up. I’m not. Spoiler — that is not me in the above picture. But this…

Friday — Saint Anthony Sand Dunes The Jeep was loaded and waiting on the trailer Friday morning. The motorhome rolled out by 7:30 AM, headed east toward St. Anthony Sand Dunes. Lynette and I left early because there was a report of wind that afternoon. If you know Eastern Idaho at all, it’s always windy….

This campground, RZR, and pop-up were my home for a week during UTV Takeover (photo by the author). Have you ever had a vacation so fun, and did so much with it, that you needed a vacation from your vacation when you got home? That’s how my last week went. I know I had fun….

About 10 years ago, Chuck Coble told me a story from his motorcycle days in the 70’s. He and his buddies would go out into the desert at night and one of them would go hide. That person would shoot up a flare or a rocket and everyone else would race to see who could…

When I became a member of Idaho Off Road, I bet 80% of the members were into rock crawling. There were tons of lifted, locked Jeeps and buggies with V8s and it seemed that everybody enjoyed it. All I wanted to do was get my Jeep ready for rocks. Now, 12 years or so later,…

Muti-Club Run, March 25–27, 2021 Friday For this year’s joint club run, Lynette and I were taking James, our grandson, on his first camping and wheeling trip. We over-packed the motorhome because we didn’t know how this was going to go with a three-year-old. To quash the suspense, he did awesomely. No problems. He will…

One of my earliest memories is coming out of my bedroom before sunrise. My dad was hard at work at the center island in the kitchen. He had a blazing fire roaring in the stove, and his tongue stuck slightly out of his mouth as he focused on writing something. He was making a list….

March 13 is my birthday. Last year, the world ended on my birthday — schools canceled, work suspended, no sports, the beginning of this bullshit “new normal.” If you need a review of how shitty last year was, here is the story I wrote about March 2020. So besides the normal, existential feeling of getting another…

I’ve been bad at blogging. My goal after football season was to publish once a week, and I had done well since November. The last month or so, I have completely failed. I do think I have a good reason, or at least an excuse, so I thought I would write about that today. It…