One of the things I promised to talk about in this blog is my fitness... journey? Let's be real, I hate the language that the #fitspo people use on social media. In fact, I had fitness Instagram, but it became way too cumbersome to keep up. I hardly take care of my personal social media accounts. Right now, between Snapchat and and Instagram, that's where my fitness posts end up. I also re-post to Twitter from Instagram since it's super easy to do so.
So, back to the meet of this post, fittin' this blog in. Like so much social media, we tend to only post the good so it looks like things are rolling. Now, I don't intentionally do that, but if people are taking motivation from our fitness pages, of course we want to only show when we're rocking it. But there's a real-life side to it we try (or maybe it's unintentional) to hide.
I am confident in saying I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. I'm 38. It's been a conscious and sometimes very difficult choice. My cardiovascular health is not as good as it's been recently, but I hate treadmills and when the temperature is below freezing, I make the choice not to run. I secretly have come to really like running.
Right now, I have the chance to lift after school in Dorchester's weight room. It's awesome. I generally have it all to myself or only another teacher in there. It's kinda peaceful and it's definitely making a difference.
My Fitbit daily steps goal is 12,000. At this point I'm entirely unsure why I boosted it from the 10,000 that's preset, but I did, and it's something I try to hit daily. If I don't make it, I at least push to make sure that I average 12,000 per day. That's attainable.
A big part of fitness is diet. I know this. I basically haven't had soda in over a year. Do I still drink them from time-to-time? Yes. When I say I haven't had soda in over a year, what I mean is drink it once or twice a month, if that. It's not something I choose. I don't buy from the machine in the teacher's lounge. I don't keep it at home.
I'm not perfect when it comes to my diet. We still eat a lot of prepackaged stuff in our house, but we're getting better. The biggest change I've made is portion. I don't know where I got the notion that "men should eat big", but I'd always upsize my meal at fast food joints. I'd always get the biggest option at ice cream places. I've stopped doing that. I do much better with fruit or granola bars for snacks, things that fill me up, but have other nutrition in them (yes, I know it's not perfect either) so I stay full longer. I drink a LOT of water.
This is more background than I'd originally meant, but all of this is to say that fitness is not a straight line, at least not for me. I'm still a little fluffy in places, but I'm working on it. As I type this, I'm coming off one of the laziest, cheatiest days I've had in awhile. I was just over 4,000 steps. It won't throw me off of my trajectory. We had a "Cold Day" off of school as the temperature barely broke zero and the wind chill was between 15 and 20 below. Oh, and Everett had a double ear infection so the fever the day before dictated that he was home from daycare, so I got a full day of playing with a healthy kiddo (no fever yesterday).
One of the things that I feel like is lost in so many fitness discussions is grace and forgiveness. There will be days. My goodness will there be days. Days when you just don't feel like it. Days when life suddenly gets in the way. Days when you just. Can't. Work out. Holiday season days (ya know, when the calorie count for everything somehow suddenly doubles). You have to forgive those days, or they'll knock you completely off your path.
I've been there. I've been knocked off this path many times before. In fact, I've started this more times than I can count.
I'll always remember the day in December my second year teaching. I picked my kids up from PE and the PE teacher told me that I'd be doing the January healthy eating challenge with my kiddos. What came out of my mouth was, "Okay," but what was in my head was, "Why?". I then took another pull of my Cherry Coke and looked at my watch. It was 9:30 AM. The why was answered for me. I was 235 pounds that Christmas. By the BolderBoulder that May, I was down to 205. I'd done well.
That didn't really stick, though. I mean, I tried, but the walk to the fitness center in my community was, like, almost a full block, and mostly I had other things I wanted to do. Then I moved to Nebraska and the list of reasons grew. I mean, I sorta tried to. My weight never again broke 215, but I never got in to a real routine.
Then I met Keya. Keya makes fitness a priority. I realized if this woman was going to commit her life to me, that my committing mine to her meant more than saying I'd be faithful and all those other wedding vows. I had to commit to her lifestyle. To say that there have been speed bumps in that process is an understatement, but now we own three major pieces of fitness equipment. Neither of us ever lets two days pass without a workout, even if it's a small one. I hope that the example we set shows Everett and any future kids that fitness is fun and a priority.
When people ask me why I workout my answer's almost always the same, "To get less fat." They usually respond with, "You're not fat." That's not what I said. I know I'm not. 205 pounds spread out over a 6'7" frame isn't fat. Not even close. In fact, even in losing those 30 pounds, it was hard to tell because of my height. But there are places I'd like to clean up, and that means being less fat.
I suppose I've reached my goal of being less fat, but I'm not as less fat as I'd like to be. My lazy/cheat days tend to be fairly epic with me thinking eff it, I've already taken today off, let's really make it count, but I can refocus the next day and get back after it. I, gasp, LOOK FORWARD to working out. My story isn't anyone else's. You can't compare your fitness to another person's, that's a great way to get discouraged and knocked down.
However, I do hope that if you're taking time to read this and are some point on your, sigh, "fitness journey," that you can take some solace in knowing it's far from a straight line. Sometimes it looks more like a topo map of the Colorado mountains and there are precipitous drops. You can get there. I did.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Corporate Entities
I haven't forgotten. This blog wasn't a "Hey! Three weeks and then gone again!" No, actually this time, I've had too many ideas floating around in my head, and wasn't quite sure which one to give life to. I have a series of stories that will make their way into posts on this blog. I also figure I'll write about fitness, parenting, life, ya know, just whatever.
But I got to thinking, while I was in Minneapolis for the National Championship, about those companies that we just assume are national, but aren't, or companies whose reach is greater than we realized.
That thought got me thinking about random conversations I've had with friends through the years related to corporations. Blue Bell Ice Cream, for example, basically used the same jingle for 30+ years. I'm pretty sure the only reason that Discount Tire stopped using the commercial where the old woman throws a tire through the window is that TV technology got so good the commercial looked terrible. According to Youtube, the commercial was originally filmed in 1975. I know I saw it into the 21st Century.
So, I guess what it comes down to, is this is going to be somewhat rambling about the companies that are in our lives, and the effect that they have (mostly on mine, obviously).
As someone who grew up in Denver, if I simply type, "Now you have a friend in the diamond business..." anyone who grew up someplace where Shane Company has stores will have some version of the end of that commercial that tells you where there store was. In Denver for a long time it was ..."just off Arapahoe Road on Emporia Street, one-half mile of I-25. Open Monday through Friday till eight, Saturday and Sunday till five." Then adding a new store and the online options changed it all and when we were back in Colorado this last time, I couldn't even recognize it, but hearing Tom Shane's voice was still somewhat comforting.
Menard's is a company that comes to mind when I think about a company that feels ubiquitous in many places, but others may have never shopped at one. Menard's is even more common than Home Depot and Lowe's in many parts of the midwest, but there isn't one east of Ohio, south of Missouri, or west of Wyoming.
Grocery stores are another weird one. In Colorado it was Safeway and King Soopers (owned by Kroger). In many of the smaller towns you'll see the Kroger stores branded as City Market. Living there for 30 years, I'd come to rely on King Soopers for a lot of things. When I moved to Omaha, the Kroger brand was Baker's, but King Soopers it wasn't. Here, I've discovered the joy of Hy-Vee. It's actually the best. My buddy Jack got REALLY excited about Hy-Vee when we were hanging out one night.
The catalyst for this article was driving around Minneapolis and I saw a storefront for Paul Davis Restoration. That was a brand I'd seen in Lincoln and Omaha and assumed was local. It might be weirder to discover that a company you thought for sure was only in your part of the world exists other places.
I fully acknowledge that this is written with no input from others, and my perspective about brands who've crossed my path in my life. Maybe reading this made you think of something down these lines, or maybe you smiled and realized you weren't alone.
The last thing I'll mention on here is the Diamond Store. When I moved to Colorado Springs, I'd grown accustomed to large-market type commercials. The low quality of commercials in Colorado Springs blew my mind. I can't remember most of the ads, but the worst was the ninja ad. It's really difficult to describe, and a cursory glance through YouTube didn't show me any of their commercials, BUT it was bad. It's basically this rotund, middle-aged man with a beard who is fighting ninjas in the jewelry store (he was in all their ads, I assume to this day he owned the store) and it ends with the tagline, "Not even ninjas can keep you from the great deals" or something to that effect. It was terrible, but here we are, 15+ years on and I still remember it.
Thanks as always for reading!
But I got to thinking, while I was in Minneapolis for the National Championship, about those companies that we just assume are national, but aren't, or companies whose reach is greater than we realized.
That thought got me thinking about random conversations I've had with friends through the years related to corporations. Blue Bell Ice Cream, for example, basically used the same jingle for 30+ years. I'm pretty sure the only reason that Discount Tire stopped using the commercial where the old woman throws a tire through the window is that TV technology got so good the commercial looked terrible. According to Youtube, the commercial was originally filmed in 1975. I know I saw it into the 21st Century.
So, I guess what it comes down to, is this is going to be somewhat rambling about the companies that are in our lives, and the effect that they have (mostly on mine, obviously).
As someone who grew up in Denver, if I simply type, "Now you have a friend in the diamond business..." anyone who grew up someplace where Shane Company has stores will have some version of the end of that commercial that tells you where there store was. In Denver for a long time it was ..."just off Arapahoe Road on Emporia Street, one-half mile of I-25. Open Monday through Friday till eight, Saturday and Sunday till five." Then adding a new store and the online options changed it all and when we were back in Colorado this last time, I couldn't even recognize it, but hearing Tom Shane's voice was still somewhat comforting.
Menard's is a company that comes to mind when I think about a company that feels ubiquitous in many places, but others may have never shopped at one. Menard's is even more common than Home Depot and Lowe's in many parts of the midwest, but there isn't one east of Ohio, south of Missouri, or west of Wyoming.
Grocery stores are another weird one. In Colorado it was Safeway and King Soopers (owned by Kroger). In many of the smaller towns you'll see the Kroger stores branded as City Market. Living there for 30 years, I'd come to rely on King Soopers for a lot of things. When I moved to Omaha, the Kroger brand was Baker's, but King Soopers it wasn't. Here, I've discovered the joy of Hy-Vee. It's actually the best. My buddy Jack got REALLY excited about Hy-Vee when we were hanging out one night.
The catalyst for this article was driving around Minneapolis and I saw a storefront for Paul Davis Restoration. That was a brand I'd seen in Lincoln and Omaha and assumed was local. It might be weirder to discover that a company you thought for sure was only in your part of the world exists other places.
I fully acknowledge that this is written with no input from others, and my perspective about brands who've crossed my path in my life. Maybe reading this made you think of something down these lines, or maybe you smiled and realized you weren't alone.
The last thing I'll mention on here is the Diamond Store. When I moved to Colorado Springs, I'd grown accustomed to large-market type commercials. The low quality of commercials in Colorado Springs blew my mind. I can't remember most of the ads, but the worst was the ninja ad. It's really difficult to describe, and a cursory glance through YouTube didn't show me any of their commercials, BUT it was bad. It's basically this rotund, middle-aged man with a beard who is fighting ninjas in the jewelry store (he was in all their ads, I assume to this day he owned the store) and it ends with the tagline, "Not even ninjas can keep you from the great deals" or something to that effect. It was terrible, but here we are, 15+ years on and I still remember it.
Thanks as always for reading!
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself
So, prior to last week's blog (no, these won't necessarily be weekly, but I'm going to try to have at least a couple per month), I hadn't posted on this blog in over five years. I was about to get married. It's wild to think that far back, in a way.
Now, I sit here at twenty to seven in the morning at my family condo in Grand Lake, Colorado with three generations of Peteranetzes. My dad is sitting in his traditional recliner up here, my wife is playing with my son, and my mom is still asleep. We're watching the Weather Channel as they track Winter Storm Eboni (Things I hate: That we now name winter storms).
While I realize that most who follow this blog are people that I know, people who started following it when I moved to Nebraska in 2011 and wanted updates about my life, I know there are also people who are following because of my writing for cornnation.com. I'm guessing a few of you will just stumble upon it as you're scouring the internet for... something? I'm glad you're all here, and it struck me that now's probably a great time to introduce all of you to me.
As mentioned earlier, I'm a married man with a son. My wife is Dr. Markeya Peteranetz. She earned a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. My son, Everett, is a year old. As it stands right now he's begun to walk and points at things and says what we think is "That!"
I am a fourth grade teacher and volleyball coach. I teach and coach for Dorchester Public School in Dorchester, Nebraska, a town of about 600 people 30 miles west-southwest of Lincoln. I've been teaching since 2007 and started coaching volleyball when I was in college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I think that was 2002. It might've been '01, though.
I was born and raised in Colorado. I grew up in what I, at the time, considered a small town, Lafayette. Lafayette, as my dad describes it, is 20 miles north of Denver. Specifically, it's on the eastern side of Boulder County. Husker fans, I grew up 10 miles due east of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
This is not going to be some long autobiographical post. I will tell stories from my life on this site going forward, mixed in with other thoughts on politics, sports, weather, science, and likely dozens of other things that I am in no way qualified to write about.
Many friends of mine would likely have told you that I am the epitome of a Colorado kid (Yes, I turn 38 on Saturday. Kid is probably not an apt description any more, but I DON'T CARE!). I love the mountains and everything that seems ingrained as part of the Colorado lifestyle, being outside. In fact, I still identify as a Coloradoan, though I'm also a proud Nebraskan.
I've been a Husker fan as long as I can remember. My Uncle Dave was determined to convert either me or my brother, Jay. Depending on your perspective I'm either the weak-minded one or the smart one. I know I was a Husker fan before the 1994 Football National Title. I also know I was a Buffs fan when they won the 1991 Football National Title.
Fast forward to how I ended up living in Lincoln, Nebraska. The opportunity came to coach collegiate volleyball at the College of St. Mary in Omaha. I thought that coaching at the college level was a dream of mine (Narrator: It was, sort of). However, I missed teaching desperately and wanted to get back to it.
By that time, I'd met the woman who would become my wife. Friends had joked that I'd meet her within six months of moving to Nebraska since I was such a Husker fan. They were right. We met within three months. She was going to get that PhD I mentioned earlier from UNL, so I pursued jobs in Lincoln.
In my time in Dorchester, in particular, I've learned more about agriculture than I'd ever thought I'd learn. I can confidently talk about how rain affects both harvest and planting. I never knew I'd be able to discuss things like irrigation and field size. I don't feel like I need to leave the room when people start discussing these things.
I married a woman who's into fitness, and I don't mean the stupid "fitness whole pizza into my mouth." I now enjoy running and lifting. I like fitness, too.
I've often said volleyball brought me everything that's good in my life. It's true. I met Keya at a volleyball camp. My job at Dorchester is due in no small part to volleyball. My closest friends in Lincoln are thanks to volleyball. I moved to Nebraska in the first place because of volleyball.
I will try to keep updating this regularly. Hopefully this gives you a little better idea of who I am as you read this. Thank you for reading this piece. It'd be great if you like it and share it with friends. Yes, it's a shameless plug, but please follow me on Twitter (@coach_ty6) and Instagram (@coachty6). Posts here, and on social media will be all over the place, but if you've liked what I've written so far, I think you'll enjoy that.
Thank you!
Now, I sit here at twenty to seven in the morning at my family condo in Grand Lake, Colorado with three generations of Peteranetzes. My dad is sitting in his traditional recliner up here, my wife is playing with my son, and my mom is still asleep. We're watching the Weather Channel as they track Winter Storm Eboni (Things I hate: That we now name winter storms).
While I realize that most who follow this blog are people that I know, people who started following it when I moved to Nebraska in 2011 and wanted updates about my life, I know there are also people who are following because of my writing for cornnation.com. I'm guessing a few of you will just stumble upon it as you're scouring the internet for... something? I'm glad you're all here, and it struck me that now's probably a great time to introduce all of you to me.
As mentioned earlier, I'm a married man with a son. My wife is Dr. Markeya Peteranetz. She earned a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. My son, Everett, is a year old. As it stands right now he's begun to walk and points at things and says what we think is "That!"
I am a fourth grade teacher and volleyball coach. I teach and coach for Dorchester Public School in Dorchester, Nebraska, a town of about 600 people 30 miles west-southwest of Lincoln. I've been teaching since 2007 and started coaching volleyball when I was in college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I think that was 2002. It might've been '01, though.
I was born and raised in Colorado. I grew up in what I, at the time, considered a small town, Lafayette. Lafayette, as my dad describes it, is 20 miles north of Denver. Specifically, it's on the eastern side of Boulder County. Husker fans, I grew up 10 miles due east of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
This is not going to be some long autobiographical post. I will tell stories from my life on this site going forward, mixed in with other thoughts on politics, sports, weather, science, and likely dozens of other things that I am in no way qualified to write about.
Many friends of mine would likely have told you that I am the epitome of a Colorado kid (Yes, I turn 38 on Saturday. Kid is probably not an apt description any more, but I DON'T CARE!). I love the mountains and everything that seems ingrained as part of the Colorado lifestyle, being outside. In fact, I still identify as a Coloradoan, though I'm also a proud Nebraskan.
I've been a Husker fan as long as I can remember. My Uncle Dave was determined to convert either me or my brother, Jay. Depending on your perspective I'm either the weak-minded one or the smart one. I know I was a Husker fan before the 1994 Football National Title. I also know I was a Buffs fan when they won the 1991 Football National Title.
Fast forward to how I ended up living in Lincoln, Nebraska. The opportunity came to coach collegiate volleyball at the College of St. Mary in Omaha. I thought that coaching at the college level was a dream of mine (Narrator: It was, sort of). However, I missed teaching desperately and wanted to get back to it.
By that time, I'd met the woman who would become my wife. Friends had joked that I'd meet her within six months of moving to Nebraska since I was such a Husker fan. They were right. We met within three months. She was going to get that PhD I mentioned earlier from UNL, so I pursued jobs in Lincoln.
In my time in Dorchester, in particular, I've learned more about agriculture than I'd ever thought I'd learn. I can confidently talk about how rain affects both harvest and planting. I never knew I'd be able to discuss things like irrigation and field size. I don't feel like I need to leave the room when people start discussing these things.
I married a woman who's into fitness, and I don't mean the stupid "fitness whole pizza into my mouth." I now enjoy running and lifting. I like fitness, too.
I've often said volleyball brought me everything that's good in my life. It's true. I met Keya at a volleyball camp. My job at Dorchester is due in no small part to volleyball. My closest friends in Lincoln are thanks to volleyball. I moved to Nebraska in the first place because of volleyball.
I will try to keep updating this regularly. Hopefully this gives you a little better idea of who I am as you read this. Thank you for reading this piece. It'd be great if you like it and share it with friends. Yes, it's a shameless plug, but please follow me on Twitter (@coach_ty6) and Instagram (@coachty6). Posts here, and on social media will be all over the place, but if you've liked what I've written so far, I think you'll enjoy that.
Thank you!
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Reflections on the Most Incredible Six Years
Many of you who are choosing to read this know me from my time at cornnation.com. Some of you reading this know nothing of that. That's okay. Let me bring you up to date.
Look. The last time I updated this blog, it was just over a week before I was to get married. If you bear with me, you'll hear a lot about married life on here. That's part of the plan, at least. Hell, I'll even tell you about being a parent. I've been truly blessed.
However, I wanted to mention more here than I mentioned in my final cornnation.com article. If I'd talked about all of it, it would have felt self-serving and that's not what I strove for in my role there. I'll talk a bit more about that in a bit. However, this blog is ENTIRELY SELF-SERVING and my weird self-esteem having ass is all about that.
When it comes to cornnation.com (CN going foward), it's important to note the CN is the Nebraska site of the larger sbnation.com network. SB stands for Sports Blog (as I understand it). Essentially, the sites are run by people who have real jobs but are deeply passionate about their teams. There are teams for all the major professional leagues and most of the best-known colleges. There's a NASCAR page.
Nevertheless, there are not a ton of professional journalists at any of the SBNation sites. The relationship with the sites and their teams vary greatly. CN has a great relationship with the Nebraska athletic department.
So how did I end up at CN? Accident. Both Keya and I followed a Twitter account that was essentially a road sign in Lincoln. We thought it was a well-known parody site for all things Nebraska. We thought it was a LOT better known than it actually is. We were wrong. But, the man behind that site is a brilliant and kind man.
So Keya was a grad student at UNL. We decided to go the Red-White Volleyball Scrimmage. It was the first match held at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln. It was the great unveiling of the 8,000 seat home volleyball arena for the Huskers. We'd just gotten married and it was going to be awesome. While watching the match, Keya saw a tweet from Salt Creek and Stadium (the aforementioned Twitter account) that said he wrote for this website and Nebraska fans were voracious when it came to supporting volleyball. CN would love to have a volleyball writer.
Welp, I'd spent the previous football season writing for foreverahusker.com. My football writing was, at best, bad. I love football, but when it comes to breaking down Xs and Os, I am NOT the person you want. I coach volleyball. I played it in high school. I love the sport. I had no idea what it would require of me, but I believe my response was something like, "I coach and play volleyball, and I've written for the internet before. I'm interested."
Well, Jon Johnston, the big boss man at CN, reached out and we talked about what being a CN contributor would mean. I'd have a press pass. I'd get to go to every Husker home match. While I didn't realize it then, I'd get to ask questions of the coaches and players in press conferences.
Hell yeah I jumped on that opportunity. I was newly married, but we both kinda realized this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Plus, there'd be more times when we would both head to Husker matches. Win-win.
It ended up being more than I'd ever imagined. Yeah, I got to go to a ton of Husker matches. Yeah, I got inside and insight that I'd never dreamed of, but let me tell you something.
I could talk about the excitement of seeing myself on ESPN right behind Karch Kiraly and Beth Mowins on the National Championship telecast in 2015. That was neat. I got to interview and talk to people I'd never have imagined.
In 2016, I got a press pass to cover the NORCECA Olympic Qualifier that was played at Pinnacle Bank Arena here in Lincoln. I got to interview Karch Kiraly, USA National Team Head Coach.
In 2018, I was credentialed to cover the first round of the Volley Nations League, the FIVB's great new strategy to get national teams playing more often and in front of more people. That first round was played at Devaney here in Lincoln.
That's awesome, but I get chills every time I think or talk about the fact that twice, I got to cover Nebraska National Championships.
Now, when we found out that the NORCECA qualifier was going to be in Lincoln, it was about the same time that Nebraska made the Final Four in Omaha in 2015. I was advised to try to get credentialed for both. I was also told that the NORCECA credentials would be easy, but the NCAA credentials would be much less likely. Alright, I thought, I might as well.
I got the NORCECA credentials almost immediately. It turns out that because the match was in Nebraska, the local USAVolleyball region was mostly in charge. I didn't lessen my excitement, but it was still awesome and unbelievable to me, a teacher and local high school and club coach.
The next day I got the email that my credential request for the Final Four had been approved. I was beside myself. I had been told it was a million-to-one longshot and here I was, with credentials. Again, a fourth grade teacher and volleyball coach with NO JOURNALISM TRAINING was going to be covering the biggest weekend of the sport that had really brought me everything good in my life.
From there, I had the privilege of representing CN and covering four consecutive Final Fours and three out of four National Championship matches.
There is nothing, NOTHING, like the feeling of being courtside/on the sideline when your favorite team reaches the pinnacle of their sport. As I mentioned, I still get chills even thinking about it, let alone describing it to people.
When Nebraska won the natty in 2015 and the streamers fell from the CenturyLink Center (Now CHI Health Center) ceiling, I actually didn't know how to respond. I'm pretty sure, buried on my twitter (@coach_ty6) page from that night, December 19, 2015, is the video of that night including match point.
I cannot appropriately convey in words what it's been like to live that moment twice. in 2017, it was in Kansas City at the Sprint Center less than ten days after my son was born. Let's just say it was different emotions than 2015, but no less strong.
All of that. All of the proceeding words were written to say this. The years I spent as a writer with CN were incredible. Yes, it felt burdensome from time to time when I was rushing from my own Dorchester volleyball practice to cover Husker volleyball, but I never lost track of the incredible privilege I had.
To even start to imagine that I'd get all I got from CN, even to the very last match at the Target Center in Minneapolis, I'd have told you you were crazy. I love volleyball. I love the Huskers, but to get to be part of the media contingent covering the team I've been following since 1995 was well beyond what I'd ever have imagined.
Thanks to my time at CN, I've made an unbelievable number of new friends I'd never have dreamed. CN team, thank you. Thank you for the support, the laughs, and the platform.
Any readers who've followed me here from CN, thank you. The comments on my last article were unbelievably moving. You made this humble guy from Colorado feel really, really important.
It's incredible what happens when you take a chance. Though my dad might not have done it intentionally, one of the most powerful messages I got from Gene Peteranetz was never be afraid to ask, and never be afraid to take an opportunity. CN was an unbelievable opportunity that I'll never forget and has made me a better coach and a more grateful man.
And, I should mention, that Jon Johnston is one of the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Yes, he's obnoxious and yes, he can be a lot to handle sometimes, but he is so full of grace and kindness that I smile at every memory of the man.
Earlier I mentioned trying to maintain a semblance of professional journalism in my time with CN. I was often the subject of light ribbing about not wearing red to Husker matches. I always answered that I wanted to maintain the illusion of objectivity. The best counter I got was someone who asked who I covered, and to name the website I contributed to. I mean, that person was right, but I felt a certain obligation to CN's reputation.
Now that the Huskers have re-established themselves as a regular national contender, I hope that when the NCAA sees CN on credential apps, my contribution will help with the consideration.
I am still in awe of the things I was so fortunate to get to do as a contributor for CN. I built a following I had no idea about. I played some small part in helping people in Nebraska understand volleyball a little bit better.
I will forever be grateful for everything that was part of CN. Now that I've ended this entry, that sense of finality and loss I experienced on Sunday has returned. I will miss the people at CN, though they know how to reach me and that we've plenty of room for them here. I hope that I will get to see them again.
Since this entry is mostly about CN, I'll end it the same way I ended everyone of my CN articles.
GBR
Look. The last time I updated this blog, it was just over a week before I was to get married. If you bear with me, you'll hear a lot about married life on here. That's part of the plan, at least. Hell, I'll even tell you about being a parent. I've been truly blessed.
However, I wanted to mention more here than I mentioned in my final cornnation.com article. If I'd talked about all of it, it would have felt self-serving and that's not what I strove for in my role there. I'll talk a bit more about that in a bit. However, this blog is ENTIRELY SELF-SERVING and my weird self-esteem having ass is all about that.
When it comes to cornnation.com (CN going foward), it's important to note the CN is the Nebraska site of the larger sbnation.com network. SB stands for Sports Blog (as I understand it). Essentially, the sites are run by people who have real jobs but are deeply passionate about their teams. There are teams for all the major professional leagues and most of the best-known colleges. There's a NASCAR page.
Nevertheless, there are not a ton of professional journalists at any of the SBNation sites. The relationship with the sites and their teams vary greatly. CN has a great relationship with the Nebraska athletic department.
So how did I end up at CN? Accident. Both Keya and I followed a Twitter account that was essentially a road sign in Lincoln. We thought it was a well-known parody site for all things Nebraska. We thought it was a LOT better known than it actually is. We were wrong. But, the man behind that site is a brilliant and kind man.
So Keya was a grad student at UNL. We decided to go the Red-White Volleyball Scrimmage. It was the first match held at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln. It was the great unveiling of the 8,000 seat home volleyball arena for the Huskers. We'd just gotten married and it was going to be awesome. While watching the match, Keya saw a tweet from Salt Creek and Stadium (the aforementioned Twitter account) that said he wrote for this website and Nebraska fans were voracious when it came to supporting volleyball. CN would love to have a volleyball writer.
Welp, I'd spent the previous football season writing for foreverahusker.com. My football writing was, at best, bad. I love football, but when it comes to breaking down Xs and Os, I am NOT the person you want. I coach volleyball. I played it in high school. I love the sport. I had no idea what it would require of me, but I believe my response was something like, "I coach and play volleyball, and I've written for the internet before. I'm interested."
Well, Jon Johnston, the big boss man at CN, reached out and we talked about what being a CN contributor would mean. I'd have a press pass. I'd get to go to every Husker home match. While I didn't realize it then, I'd get to ask questions of the coaches and players in press conferences.
Hell yeah I jumped on that opportunity. I was newly married, but we both kinda realized this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Plus, there'd be more times when we would both head to Husker matches. Win-win.
It ended up being more than I'd ever imagined. Yeah, I got to go to a ton of Husker matches. Yeah, I got inside and insight that I'd never dreamed of, but let me tell you something.
I could talk about the excitement of seeing myself on ESPN right behind Karch Kiraly and Beth Mowins on the National Championship telecast in 2015. That was neat. I got to interview and talk to people I'd never have imagined.
In 2016, I got a press pass to cover the NORCECA Olympic Qualifier that was played at Pinnacle Bank Arena here in Lincoln. I got to interview Karch Kiraly, USA National Team Head Coach.
In 2018, I was credentialed to cover the first round of the Volley Nations League, the FIVB's great new strategy to get national teams playing more often and in front of more people. That first round was played at Devaney here in Lincoln.
That's awesome, but I get chills every time I think or talk about the fact that twice, I got to cover Nebraska National Championships.
Now, when we found out that the NORCECA qualifier was going to be in Lincoln, it was about the same time that Nebraska made the Final Four in Omaha in 2015. I was advised to try to get credentialed for both. I was also told that the NORCECA credentials would be easy, but the NCAA credentials would be much less likely. Alright, I thought, I might as well.
I got the NORCECA credentials almost immediately. It turns out that because the match was in Nebraska, the local USAVolleyball region was mostly in charge. I didn't lessen my excitement, but it was still awesome and unbelievable to me, a teacher and local high school and club coach.
The next day I got the email that my credential request for the Final Four had been approved. I was beside myself. I had been told it was a million-to-one longshot and here I was, with credentials. Again, a fourth grade teacher and volleyball coach with NO JOURNALISM TRAINING was going to be covering the biggest weekend of the sport that had really brought me everything good in my life.
From there, I had the privilege of representing CN and covering four consecutive Final Fours and three out of four National Championship matches.
There is nothing, NOTHING, like the feeling of being courtside/on the sideline when your favorite team reaches the pinnacle of their sport. As I mentioned, I still get chills even thinking about it, let alone describing it to people.
When Nebraska won the natty in 2015 and the streamers fell from the CenturyLink Center (Now CHI Health Center) ceiling, I actually didn't know how to respond. I'm pretty sure, buried on my twitter (@coach_ty6) page from that night, December 19, 2015, is the video of that night including match point.
I cannot appropriately convey in words what it's been like to live that moment twice. in 2017, it was in Kansas City at the Sprint Center less than ten days after my son was born. Let's just say it was different emotions than 2015, but no less strong.
All of that. All of the proceeding words were written to say this. The years I spent as a writer with CN were incredible. Yes, it felt burdensome from time to time when I was rushing from my own Dorchester volleyball practice to cover Husker volleyball, but I never lost track of the incredible privilege I had.
To even start to imagine that I'd get all I got from CN, even to the very last match at the Target Center in Minneapolis, I'd have told you you were crazy. I love volleyball. I love the Huskers, but to get to be part of the media contingent covering the team I've been following since 1995 was well beyond what I'd ever have imagined.
Thanks to my time at CN, I've made an unbelievable number of new friends I'd never have dreamed. CN team, thank you. Thank you for the support, the laughs, and the platform.
Any readers who've followed me here from CN, thank you. The comments on my last article were unbelievably moving. You made this humble guy from Colorado feel really, really important.
It's incredible what happens when you take a chance. Though my dad might not have done it intentionally, one of the most powerful messages I got from Gene Peteranetz was never be afraid to ask, and never be afraid to take an opportunity. CN was an unbelievable opportunity that I'll never forget and has made me a better coach and a more grateful man.
And, I should mention, that Jon Johnston is one of the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Yes, he's obnoxious and yes, he can be a lot to handle sometimes, but he is so full of grace and kindness that I smile at every memory of the man.
Earlier I mentioned trying to maintain a semblance of professional journalism in my time with CN. I was often the subject of light ribbing about not wearing red to Husker matches. I always answered that I wanted to maintain the illusion of objectivity. The best counter I got was someone who asked who I covered, and to name the website I contributed to. I mean, that person was right, but I felt a certain obligation to CN's reputation.
Now that the Huskers have re-established themselves as a regular national contender, I hope that when the NCAA sees CN on credential apps, my contribution will help with the consideration.
I am still in awe of the things I was so fortunate to get to do as a contributor for CN. I built a following I had no idea about. I played some small part in helping people in Nebraska understand volleyball a little bit better.
I will forever be grateful for everything that was part of CN. Now that I've ended this entry, that sense of finality and loss I experienced on Sunday has returned. I will miss the people at CN, though they know how to reach me and that we've plenty of room for them here. I hope that I will get to see them again.
Since this entry is mostly about CN, I'll end it the same way I ended everyone of my CN articles.
GBR
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
It's Been Awhile
Hello follower(s). I know it's been awhile. Over five years. I was still single (though almost married) when last I updated this.
More is coming soon.
Thanks for hanging around.
T
More is coming soon.
Thanks for hanging around.
T
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Uh... OOPS!
So... it's been nearly six months since I updated. My bad! I won't go into details, because it's tedious even to me, but I've a new job, will be the head volleyball coach at Dorchester School here in Nebraska, am buying a house, am getting married, etc... ANYWAY...!
This struck me while I was driving to Kansas City for a volleyball tournament. We all have stories. Think about the stories you tell people you're meeting. Let's call them "One Uppers". They're the stories that we hope will elicit the "You're kidding me!" reaction from the crowd. They're also stories that we feel like our "friends" have to know about us. I, frankly, have a series of them: Pulling a guy out of an avalanche, The RV accident, Ireland... We all have one. However, these are the "You know that guy that..." stories. Stories that make us unique. I wanted to call this blog "Ionic Bonding" or something like that. The reason is because it's commonalities that make friendships. It's a shared experience, or similar stories.
I've noticed that the common thread most all of us share is the story that starts something like this: "I got pulled over.." Have you ever noticed that as soon as someone starts that, everyone else has a story? The exception being the stories that put people in the group from the above paragraph (holy crap, you've never been pulled over?!) It's an uncommon person who manages to get through their teenage years without getting pulled over. I was actually fortunate in that way, I didn't get pulled over until the first time until I was 18, and managed to avoid a ticket in Lafayette, which was not common. Usually, when you got pulled over in Lafayette as a Centaurus student, you got pulled over more often in Louisville, but tickets more often in Lafayette. I was lucky and naive when talking to the cop.
I have plenty of stories of getting pulled over, but the one that always sticks in my head is getting nailed in Boulder for 55 in a 40. Many of you have heard this story (I'm not deluding myself into thinking there are a lot of strangers who are reading my blog), but I still like to tell it. It happened after I'd gotten back from Savannah to visit Jay. I'd gone with Dave Harbaugh and Paula Neeman. I'd driven the entire way (27 hours driving each way) save about three hours when Paula drove. SHE got a ticket in that time, even though I'D been breaking the speed limit much more dramatically the rest of the way. As I was leaving Dave's apartment, the thought crossed my mind about how hilarious it would be if I got pulled over between Dave's apartment in Boulder and my parents' place in Lafayette. As I'm driving east on Baseline I looked down because I couldn't shake the feeling that I was driving too fast. As it turned out, I was right, so I slowed down. As I looked up, I saw a black Impala (black rims, black windows) and I knew, I KNEW it was an unmarked. Before I was to him, he had his lights on. I pulled off to the next street. Instead of pulling the stereotypical cop thing (leaning in your window, "Do you know why I pulled you over?") he walked past my window, turned back toward the street and was very casual, "How are you today?"
"Not too bad."
"Even though you have to talk to me?"
I honestly kinda chuckled, "There are worse things."
He laughed, "I supposed there are. License, registration, insurance. You were doing 55 before you slowed down there."
"Yeah, I'm on my way home from Kansas City. I've been on the interstate all day."
"You're driving the wrong way to be coming home from Kansas City."
"Yeah, I just dropped my buddy off at his apartment." (I cannot remember the name of the complex)
"I'll be back." With that, he went back to his car.
I sat and watched him in my rearview mirror. I don't know about you, but I have kinda of an internal clock. If the cop takes more than a minute, it probably means I'm getting a ticket. I started laughing when my head told me it had been a minute. I was definitely getting a ticket. He came back up to my car.
"Well, I had to write you a ticket because your car says SHO on the back." (I drove a Ford Taurus SHO. The SHO stands for Super High Output. They were sporty sedans, and he obviously knew it!)
I laughed. "That's fair!"
"However, I wrote it for 49 rather than 55. What that does is cuts the points from 8 to 4, and knocks $50 off the fine. If you choose to fight it in court, we will prosecute for the original 55."
"Officer, you don't even have to bother going to court. This will be mailed the minute I get home."
"Take care, slow down."
"Have a good one, sir."
I truly laughed a lot in that ten minutes. The whole thing was so funny, and the officer was in great spirits. I have often said that any time you are talking to a cop, you need to treat them respectfully, because you either did something wrong, or are asking for their protection. PLUS, they put themselves in danger so we can stay safe! Experience (too much experience...) has also told me that being kind and respectful the officer that pulls you over will get you out of the ticket way more often than being a d**k.
I have to close this with someone else's story. My buddy Paul, who I coached with at VCN got pulled over on our way to Des Moines and was issued a ticket for the tint on his car being too dark. However, Paul claims he was nailed for a DWB (a phrase I hadn't heard since college. Don't know what it is? Look it up on urban dictionary). I haven't laughed as hard at a story about being pulled over for a long time!
Sorry it took so long to update y'all... I'll try to be better. Thanks for reading!
This struck me while I was driving to Kansas City for a volleyball tournament. We all have stories. Think about the stories you tell people you're meeting. Let's call them "One Uppers". They're the stories that we hope will elicit the "You're kidding me!" reaction from the crowd. They're also stories that we feel like our "friends" have to know about us. I, frankly, have a series of them: Pulling a guy out of an avalanche, The RV accident, Ireland... We all have one. However, these are the "You know that guy that..." stories. Stories that make us unique. I wanted to call this blog "Ionic Bonding" or something like that. The reason is because it's commonalities that make friendships. It's a shared experience, or similar stories.
I've noticed that the common thread most all of us share is the story that starts something like this: "I got pulled over.." Have you ever noticed that as soon as someone starts that, everyone else has a story? The exception being the stories that put people in the group from the above paragraph (holy crap, you've never been pulled over?!) It's an uncommon person who manages to get through their teenage years without getting pulled over. I was actually fortunate in that way, I didn't get pulled over until the first time until I was 18, and managed to avoid a ticket in Lafayette, which was not common. Usually, when you got pulled over in Lafayette as a Centaurus student, you got pulled over more often in Louisville, but tickets more often in Lafayette. I was lucky and naive when talking to the cop.
I have plenty of stories of getting pulled over, but the one that always sticks in my head is getting nailed in Boulder for 55 in a 40. Many of you have heard this story (I'm not deluding myself into thinking there are a lot of strangers who are reading my blog), but I still like to tell it. It happened after I'd gotten back from Savannah to visit Jay. I'd gone with Dave Harbaugh and Paula Neeman. I'd driven the entire way (27 hours driving each way) save about three hours when Paula drove. SHE got a ticket in that time, even though I'D been breaking the speed limit much more dramatically the rest of the way. As I was leaving Dave's apartment, the thought crossed my mind about how hilarious it would be if I got pulled over between Dave's apartment in Boulder and my parents' place in Lafayette. As I'm driving east on Baseline I looked down because I couldn't shake the feeling that I was driving too fast. As it turned out, I was right, so I slowed down. As I looked up, I saw a black Impala (black rims, black windows) and I knew, I KNEW it was an unmarked. Before I was to him, he had his lights on. I pulled off to the next street. Instead of pulling the stereotypical cop thing (leaning in your window, "Do you know why I pulled you over?") he walked past my window, turned back toward the street and was very casual, "How are you today?"
"Not too bad."
"Even though you have to talk to me?"
I honestly kinda chuckled, "There are worse things."
He laughed, "I supposed there are. License, registration, insurance. You were doing 55 before you slowed down there."
"Yeah, I'm on my way home from Kansas City. I've been on the interstate all day."
"You're driving the wrong way to be coming home from Kansas City."
"Yeah, I just dropped my buddy off at his apartment." (I cannot remember the name of the complex)
"I'll be back." With that, he went back to his car.
I sat and watched him in my rearview mirror. I don't know about you, but I have kinda of an internal clock. If the cop takes more than a minute, it probably means I'm getting a ticket. I started laughing when my head told me it had been a minute. I was definitely getting a ticket. He came back up to my car.
"Well, I had to write you a ticket because your car says SHO on the back." (I drove a Ford Taurus SHO. The SHO stands for Super High Output. They were sporty sedans, and he obviously knew it!)
I laughed. "That's fair!"
"However, I wrote it for 49 rather than 55. What that does is cuts the points from 8 to 4, and knocks $50 off the fine. If you choose to fight it in court, we will prosecute for the original 55."
"Officer, you don't even have to bother going to court. This will be mailed the minute I get home."
"Take care, slow down."
"Have a good one, sir."
I truly laughed a lot in that ten minutes. The whole thing was so funny, and the officer was in great spirits. I have often said that any time you are talking to a cop, you need to treat them respectfully, because you either did something wrong, or are asking for their protection. PLUS, they put themselves in danger so we can stay safe! Experience (too much experience...) has also told me that being kind and respectful the officer that pulls you over will get you out of the ticket way more often than being a d**k.
I have to close this with someone else's story. My buddy Paul, who I coached with at VCN got pulled over on our way to Des Moines and was issued a ticket for the tint on his car being too dark. However, Paul claims he was nailed for a DWB (a phrase I hadn't heard since college. Don't know what it is? Look it up on urban dictionary). I haven't laughed as hard at a story about being pulled over for a long time!
Sorry it took so long to update y'all... I'll try to be better. Thanks for reading!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Fight Cowardice with Courage
Naturally, the events in Newtown, Connecticut have loosed a torrent of emotions in the media and the social media-sphere. I'm not here to address those specifically. I am only here to share my thoughts personally. Some of them were, admittedly, sparked by reactions on my FB and Twitter. I am not intending to offend anyone, but I'm also not going to censor my thoughts when it comes to the senseless, heartbreaking shooting.
First, I am beyond heartbroken. Every time I get to thinking about those parents who have to deal with this at what should be such a joyous time when you have elementary age kids, I damn near cry. Columbine was devastating. This is beyond anything I've ever imagined. It's also more profoundly affected me than I thought it would. Any loss of life is tragic in a situation like this (the Oregon mall shooting earlier this week, for example), but I have a soft spot for kids of any age, especially elementary school.
It is not my place to speculate about the wheres or whys of the shooter's mental health. If the Columbine Tragedy in 1999 taught us anything, it's that there are people out there who aren't right, and we may never know that. This shooter may have never given any indication of mental illness, and may, in fact, have never been diagnosed had he seen a therapist. He also may have not have any detectable mental illness and made a conscious, pre-meditated decision. Either way, it is not my place, nor anyone else's who does not know him (them?) to speculate.
It seems whenever this type of event occurs, the discussion about guns comes out. I wish this conversation could happen when it's not so emotionally charged, but events in the second half of this year have shown us that a real discussion needs to be had on the issue. I am in favor and support of the Second Amendment. I am not well enough versed to speak to the accessibility of "black market" arms, but I also don't understand why the average person has any need to possess an assault rifle type of weapon. I intend to own firearms one day (soon, but that has nothing to do with recent events, I have just always wanted to be proficient with a handgun and have it just in case), but only for the protection of my family. An assault rifle seems unnecessary for that. It also seems unnecessary for hunting.
Teachers should not carry firearms in the classroom. Period. I understand the debate here, but I've been fortunate enough to be blessed with this career, and I will protect these kiddos at the cost of my own life if need be. However, I don't EVER want to have another person's death on my head. I also don't have the training or capacity to make that call about whether or not another person's life should be ended. I have many great friends who are police officers and military personnel, or have been one of them, and they are trained for making that call. I am not. I don't want to be. I will do everything in my power to protect the life of the people in my building, but taking the life of another is not in my power, nor do I want it to be.
This is the hardest truth in all of this to me: 20 elementary school students lost their lives at school today. 20 years ago, we never would have imagined security guards and metal detectors in schools. The School Resource Officer was reserved for high schools, and was a borderline figurehead there, giving anti-drug speeches and helping students who'd locked themselves out of their cars. Now even teachers have to know how to respond to this type of crisis. My prayers, my fervent prayers, go to those people whose whole lives were flipped upside down in Connecticut today.
Finally, we have to fight cowardice with courage. As FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Being afraid allows us to be victims. It's what the bullies feed off of. We cannot be afraid to bring new life into this world. We cannot be afraid to send them to school. It's a scary place, but we can change that by bringing children into homes full of love, encouragement, and strength and instilling them with those values as they go into their interactions in the world. We've gradually become afraid. We're afraid of offending, afraid of overstepping our bounds, afraid of being seen as different from the status quo. What if we courageously espoused our values without judging others whose values are different? What if we stood by what we believe in, but with an open mind so as to appreciate and learn from others? What if we went out feeling empowered and courageous, instead of timid and frightened?
First, I am beyond heartbroken. Every time I get to thinking about those parents who have to deal with this at what should be such a joyous time when you have elementary age kids, I damn near cry. Columbine was devastating. This is beyond anything I've ever imagined. It's also more profoundly affected me than I thought it would. Any loss of life is tragic in a situation like this (the Oregon mall shooting earlier this week, for example), but I have a soft spot for kids of any age, especially elementary school.
It is not my place to speculate about the wheres or whys of the shooter's mental health. If the Columbine Tragedy in 1999 taught us anything, it's that there are people out there who aren't right, and we may never know that. This shooter may have never given any indication of mental illness, and may, in fact, have never been diagnosed had he seen a therapist. He also may have not have any detectable mental illness and made a conscious, pre-meditated decision. Either way, it is not my place, nor anyone else's who does not know him (them?) to speculate.
It seems whenever this type of event occurs, the discussion about guns comes out. I wish this conversation could happen when it's not so emotionally charged, but events in the second half of this year have shown us that a real discussion needs to be had on the issue. I am in favor and support of the Second Amendment. I am not well enough versed to speak to the accessibility of "black market" arms, but I also don't understand why the average person has any need to possess an assault rifle type of weapon. I intend to own firearms one day (soon, but that has nothing to do with recent events, I have just always wanted to be proficient with a handgun and have it just in case), but only for the protection of my family. An assault rifle seems unnecessary for that. It also seems unnecessary for hunting.
Teachers should not carry firearms in the classroom. Period. I understand the debate here, but I've been fortunate enough to be blessed with this career, and I will protect these kiddos at the cost of my own life if need be. However, I don't EVER want to have another person's death on my head. I also don't have the training or capacity to make that call about whether or not another person's life should be ended. I have many great friends who are police officers and military personnel, or have been one of them, and they are trained for making that call. I am not. I don't want to be. I will do everything in my power to protect the life of the people in my building, but taking the life of another is not in my power, nor do I want it to be.
This is the hardest truth in all of this to me: 20 elementary school students lost their lives at school today. 20 years ago, we never would have imagined security guards and metal detectors in schools. The School Resource Officer was reserved for high schools, and was a borderline figurehead there, giving anti-drug speeches and helping students who'd locked themselves out of their cars. Now even teachers have to know how to respond to this type of crisis. My prayers, my fervent prayers, go to those people whose whole lives were flipped upside down in Connecticut today.
Finally, we have to fight cowardice with courage. As FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Being afraid allows us to be victims. It's what the bullies feed off of. We cannot be afraid to bring new life into this world. We cannot be afraid to send them to school. It's a scary place, but we can change that by bringing children into homes full of love, encouragement, and strength and instilling them with those values as they go into their interactions in the world. We've gradually become afraid. We're afraid of offending, afraid of overstepping our bounds, afraid of being seen as different from the status quo. What if we courageously espoused our values without judging others whose values are different? What if we stood by what we believe in, but with an open mind so as to appreciate and learn from others? What if we went out feeling empowered and courageous, instead of timid and frightened?
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