I was first exposed to coaching as a freshman in high school I had just finished playing youth football and went back to that organization to volunteer my time to get back on the football field helping with the younger kids. I spent some time coaching and also did some work on the PA system. I really developed a passion for coaching. Then in the winter I had and opportunity to coach a youth basketball program and we were lucky enough to win the championship. It’s funny there’s a young man who is only three years my junior who still affectionately calls me Coach Epps and says that I was his first basketball coach and he remember those days fondly. I was not that much older than he was. I began coaching in ernest as a full-fledged coach after I graduate from college. I coached two seasons between 1989 and 1991. We won 19 out of 20 games and went to two championships, won one and lost one, it was a great experience.

Again the young man that I had on those teams in the late 80s and early 90s still referred to me as coach today and they are now in their mid-30’s so I’m so honored to have those guys in my life. I went to law school, came back home again went right back to the program and coached for another three years or so. Many of the guys I am still still give me the same respect as Coach Mike and it is truly an honor.

I moved to a different community and got bit by the coaching bug again and for seven years I coached. I was part of a program that was struggling and I didn’t have as much success.

However at the end of the day when you look back on all the things I don’t remember much about the wins even the games or specifically what happened in any of the games. What I remember are the kids that we had. Even though in this phase we were not very successful I met some of the greatest young man that I’ve ever been exposed to and I became a part of their lives and I remain there.

I I’m an African-American male and I’m out here coaching a bunch of kids who don’t look like me but who respected me just the same and loved me just the same and they consider me a mentor and a father figure. What is awesome about coaching youth sports is that we can break down barriers and overcome a lot of the stupid thing that we deal with in society today. When you’re engaged in a battle the guys that are with you in battle don’t care what you look like because you are working as a collective to accomplish a mission and I need you to do your job so that I can do my job and I can’t be caught up thinking about your complexion.

So it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Well, not that one, March Madness. Soon folks everywhere will be pouring over brackets and trying to use all sorts of methods to try to win office pools, family pools and online contests.

Invariably there will be pools won by someone who says “I don’t even know the teams, I pick by the color of their uniform” “by their mascot”.

In the meantime there are folks who will watch every league tournament. Read every blog about the “bubble team” and we will certainly hear about Cinderella. She is always a threat to dance at this time of year.

I wonder how many take my approach, one bracket with your head and one with your heart. I have to complete a bracket which has Maryland winning the national championship, just in case they do. Can’t have them win and not have selected them. Early on I thought only one sheet would be necessary but if the Terps don’t get it together then two brackets it is. And what of my daughter’s Orange this year. I’ll show them some love.

On Sunday March 11 I will no doubt watch the selection show and try to fill in the blanks while they are announced far too quickly even though if I waited 10 minutes after the show I will be able to print a fully prepared any accurate form from any number of web sites. And then on Tuesday it begins, or for purist on Thursday. March 15 and 16 this year (Thursday and Friday of week one) should be a national holiday. Zero work will get done from noon on on either day.

And it all ends on Monday April 4 with “One Shining Moment”. Well good luck, study well and choose well no matter what method you use. It is always a fun few weeks

Go Terps!!!!

It just crossed my mind, with the advance of technology will we get to the point where we have too many buildings.  I am thinking generally but of course my focus is alway Atlantic City centric.  For example, as online banking increases do we really need big bank buildings anymore?  With everything being accessible on a smart phone or other electronic device do we need as many movie theaters?(AC doesn’t have this problem). We have already lost video stores, we have already lost record stores.  Haberdasheries don’t really exist anymore, shoe stores.  What do we do with the buildings?

The one thing that seems to be occupying space is the “junk shop”.  The store where you can buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need and maybe that one thing you do happen to need.  Restaurants and bars, I guess, will still need space.  However in this age we don’t have the dine out culture anymore.  When we do go out it is the box stores where the meal is the same in Boston as it was when you had it in Chicago.  I guess I am nostalgic about some things and times.  I long for some of what was good in the bygone days.

Back to the original thought though, what do we do?  Do we tear the buildings down and create more green space?  That is a nice concept except that green space requires maintenance and who would do it?  Is green space appreciated today?  Now I realize that times are tough right now and people don’t have disposable cash but where would people spend money if they had it?  Well I guess that leads us to the next issue, how do we increase the income level in the area which would lead to a demand for different amenities.

Ultimately this all turns on economics.  Nothing changes without capital investment.  Capital is not invested unless the investor believes that there will be an significant return on their investment (profit).  In todays economy, money is making money without substantial investment in buildings or human resources.  The market collapse of 2008 caused a lot of corporate streamlining and then the corporations discovered that they could remain streamlined and turn a profit.  Technology had a lot to do with that.  There was a time when a fax was inappropriate and now business is transacted by email, maybe even text message.  Meetings are held in group chat, and web meetings.  Who needs an office?  Your able to always take your calls, receive and reply to email messages, store documents in the cloud.  What do we do with the buildings?

Sports arenas, concert venues, theaters (live), recreation space all seem unchanged today.

This is a rambling stream of consciousness post but I guess that is what a blog is anyway, a mind dump.

Well after two full weeks of the 2014 season all I can say is that I am perplexed. I am wondering whether there really is parity in the Cape this season. There were a bunch of results over the first two weeks which don’t seem to add up but hey you have to line up and play the games.

Mainland opens the season giving the Millville Thunderbolts all it wanted and kept the game close despite 300+ yards for Ennis, the Purdue commit and then Mainland has a slugfest with the AC Vikings in week two and following a shoot-out by the bay, Mainland is 0-2. Meanwhile AC bounces back from a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds on a two-point conversion and is 1-1. Jamir Prevard is one of the most talented athletes in the Cape and he seems to have weapons which will prevent defenses from keying on him as a runner.

St. Joe looks to have reloaded with two big wins over St. Augustine and Absegami and they are out in front at 2-0. St. Joe is loaded with speedsters including the Horne twins, and Ordille

EHT jumps out to 2-0 following up the come from behind win in AC with a run-away victory over Lower Cape May.

Buena has taken a commanding lead in the American division with early season wins over Buena and Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek opened the season with a blow out of a non-Cape team, however they took it on the chin in their Cape opener by losing to a determined Buena team on their home field.

Holy Spirit opens the Cape season coming off a non-conference lost to a Pennsylvania team. They lost and drop to 0-2 as Bridgeton gets to level, having lost their opener to Buena.

Oakcrest opens its season with a non-league win against a team from East Orange.

So I go back to my question. Is there parity? Is it too early to say? If there is parity, how does it impact playoff opportunities?

National

St. Joe 2-0
EHT 2-0
Oakcrest 1-0
Atlantic City 1-1
St. Augustine 1-1
Millville 1-1
Ocean City 1-1
Absegami 0-2
Mainland 0-2

American
Buena 2-0
Vineland 2-0
Bridgeton 1-1
Cedar Creek 1-1
Middle Twp 1-1
Pleasantville 0-2
Holy Spirit 0-2
Lower Cape May 0-2

To see and to be seen
to listen and be listened to
to hear and be heard
to hold and be held
to excite and be excited

LOVE

Here is how it began. Atlantic City has been in the news quite a lot lately and most of the news has been dire. The issues primarily concern the proposed closing of several casinos in Atlantic City. Some prognosticators have suggested that this signals the beginning of the end for Atlantic City. There are others who remain optimistic that Atlantic City has a bright future but needs to readjust to stay relevant. The issue had dominated my social media, particularly my Facebook page. After engaging in several discussions a thought occurred to me.
Many of us who are concerned about the future of Atlantic City and who have an idea of what we think the City needs or what might be attractive in the City have posted our thoughts and ideas. However we seem to be waiting for someone or some group of folks to come along and bring the ideas to fruition. It occurred to me that maybe a grassroots investment group might spearhead the effort to attempt to bring to the resort the attractions we believe the City is lacking. So I decided to throw out the idea to see what the reaction would be. My post read as follows: Here is a crazy idea. Several of us have expressed what needs to be done in Atlantic City with ideas such as amusement piers or water attraction or things of that nature. Why don’t we put ourselves on the front line and do a grassroots effort, along the lines of Kickstarter and all invest in one of those properties and see if we can make a go of that?? Let’s have that discussion and put a skin in the game.
Much to my surprise, the post received over 75 likes and some very encouraging responses. Most of the responses were supportive of the concept and several of the individuals seem ready to get involved and put their money behind the concept. What I envision is a group of investors who would form some entity, led by a management team. That group would meet to determine a concrete concept and plan and then seek additional funding to achieve the goal of bringing about the proposed development. Ideally the grass roots group will raise enough capital to be taken seriously by a venture capital group or some other financier and then move the project forward from there.
The notion depends on the one very real and somewhat unique quality about Atlantic City, a sense of nostalgia. Those of us who grew up in Atlantic City before gaming remember a different Atlantic City. We always had tourist and visitors in town. Entertainment was a central element of Atlantic City. An incredible amount of research and organizational planning would be required to move this concept from a Facebook status post to a real project but nothing happens until the first step is taken.

When I first indicated that I was looking for topics to discuss on my blog, a friend suggest youth sports issues. Now I do not profess to know all there is to know about youth sports issues and I am somewhat removed from youth sports these days. However I have a few friends and I know others who are firmly entrenched. I also remember fondly my days of being a youth sports parent and a youth sports coach. I am somewhat grateful that I no longer have a young athlete. From what I have seen these days things are becoming more and more intense.

My greatest concern regarding youth sports is that kids are specializing in one particular sport so young. I feel that kids should play every sport that might want to play for as long as they can. It does’t seem sensible to place all of your eggs in one basket so young. However this current age of AAU competition has created a situation where many athletes have to choose one sport over others. For example when school basketball leagues end in March many kids have to immediately try out for AAU teams which play through the spring and summer. This might require a baseball player to make a tough choice.

In addition to the specialization there is the issue of cost. Youth sports have become such a financial burden for parents. Parents are responsible for registration fees to join teams. Parents pay additional fees for AAU teams which often include travel and lodging expenses. In addition, today’s kids all want to wear the newest shoes, the special socks which are the new trend and all of the other popular gear. And in the age of modern parenting we dare not disappoint our children.

Beyond spoiling our children with material things, today’s helicopter parent gets way way too involved in the process of team management, the coaches job. Gone are the days when parents trusted their kids to the male or female role models, in the form of coach, and allowed the coach to do what he or she had committed themselves to do, which is build young athletes and young men and women. There was a time when parents would pull up to the practice field and drop their kids off, pausing long enough to confirm with coach that practice would end at the usual time. Today parents bring the beach chair or take their spot in the bleacher to “support their child” or is it to let coach know that they are there. Parents have to commit to allowing their children to rise and or fall based strictly on their athletic ability.

So where did we turn the corner? What has caused parents to take this posture where their children are concerned. Are today’s parents so involved as a means to giving their children an advantage or a leg up toward a college scholarship or an opportunity to get to college. Is that really it? Or is it that we don’t want our kids to be disappointed, we don’t want them to “feel bad.” This is consistent with the concept that all of the kids get a trophy for participating and just “giving it a try” is worthy of an award, the same award as all the other players. No superlatives, no cuts nothing to distinguish the strongest athletes from the others. This sugar coating of reality is detrimental to the development of children today.

When I was a youth football coach I would often do an experiment mid-season. I would take a couple of my weaker players and allow them to be captains and pick teams for a intra squad scrimmage. As is said earlier, the kids would take turns selecting the best players on the team. Kids, left to their own devices know who is who and who has what skills. We know this from the school yard growing up. And truth be told, if the adults stay out of things the kids would probably be fine with the results.
I have only begun to scratch the surface of the issues involved in youth sports today. I invite a further dialogue on this issue.

Ok, so this is what is on my mind today.  When and how did we lose our sense of neighborhood.  It happened in my lifetime because I remember having it.  I grew up in a great little neighborhood.  I grew up in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  I lived on a block where every family knew each other.  There were 5 homes on my side of the street on my block.  I can honestly say that I had an occasion to be in each one of those houses at least once.  There were probably 10 homes across the street from us and I was probably in 5 or 6 of those.  

It sounds a bit like a cliche but we lived in the type of community where everyone knew everyone, you could come across someone and they could tell you your life story, what church your family attended, where your parents worked, who your siblings were, the whole story.  

As kids, we played outside.  We went to playgrounds and played games.  We played “sandlot” sports.  We did not need a gym, or a coach or a ref.  We picked teams and the good players were picked first and the bad players last.  Sometimes the bad players picked the teams and guess what. They picked the good players first.  We rode our bikes all over town, we walked all over town.  We spoke to adults.  We had block parties and cookouts and invited the neighbors. 

When did we lose this.  When did we get to the point when we don’t know our neighbors.  When did we get to the point when the neighborhood kids did not greet you as “Mr._____” or “Mrs. _____”  What happened to the days of knowing your neighbor well enough to ask for a cup of sugar.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I am speaking in general terms because I happen to have been very luck in the two homes that I have owned.  I have had the fortune of having an great relationship with at least one neighboring family in each of the homes I’ve owned.

I realize that the new suburban developments make it more difficult to move about our communities.  Our developments a more spread out and are further away from the center of town so walking to the center of town does not happen.  

I don’t know whether this is a general state of the times or if it is unique to my set of experiences but in any event I would love some to the simpler times back.

Wishing on this peaceful storm
Sharing it so close yet so far
Hoping it is a symbol of good things
Wish on it with me