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catcoach

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  1. 6'7" Senior Kyle Jackson led the Wildcats with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots.
  2. Two game suspension went into effect last year. It does not matter what they were for---there is no appeals process. At least, that is if the powers that be are consistent from sport to sport and school to school. The technical was for hanging on the rim. And it was a terrible call. The dunk came off an offensive rebound with Harris coming full speed down the court. If he did not hang, his momentum would have likely caused him to all on his back. The three officials all looked at each other following the dunk to determine if they should call it or not. The second technical was for something he said. Hard to tell from the stands what it was---still have to be smarter at that point. The game was very poorly called (as was the BE/BC game, though not quite as bad). Several blatant fouls and violations were not called, and then there would phantom calls. Both teams point guards were in foul trouble throughout. It was good to see the PRP/Doss rivalry renewed a bit. I had not seen Doss have that many fans at a game since the Derek Anderson days of the early 90s. While PRP probably deserved to win, Doss scrapped to stay in the game. A few makes on some open shots in the 1st quarter would have had quite an impact.
  3. It was the plane. Ten years ago---one plane, one moment; a world changed forever. It was something that I’m sure had happened hundreds of times before, and I had never noticed. I had no real reason to. It was the plane; flying over our makeshift soccer field squeezed in amongst the church’s softball field lights. But this time, the plane broke an eerie silence. A planned silence as we took a moment to remember the events of the week. It was the first time I could recall really having stopped trying to process information since the moments early in the school day of September 11, 2001…. A plane. A plane? Into the World Trade Center. Really? No way, how can that happen? Wait, you are serious. How can you not miss a building thatsize? As the principal slid out of my 1st period freshman geography class, I went into the connecting room of my fellow history teacher who had just received the same news. We would often visit each other’s classroom, usually as part of some practical joke. (Perhaps our finest work being our convincing of one class that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Communist propaganda. But that’s a story for a different day.) But with this news, humor came with a certain uneasiness; not sure of what was really happening. What was an unfortunate incident, surely the mistake of some pilot or mechanic, was soon to be known as a tragic, deliberate attack. A plane. The news of the second tower being hit came as one class left and another entered. The teaching of geography andhistory for the day soon veered far from any intended lesson plan. As high school and middle school classes scrambled to rooms where televisions were being tuned in, the process of digesting and dissecting the information that was coming across the networks and newswires began. Amidst the murmur of the news anchors searching for information and students filing in to see what was going on, my mind drifted back to that January day fifteen years earlier when we were returning from 6th grade math. It was strange not to have our teacher in the room when we got back; stranger still when she returned with her husband, carrying a television. We watched for the remainder of the day devastated by what had happened to those seven astronauts aboard the Challenger. There seems to be an event each generation that tends to shape how we view our place in this enormous universe. Pearl Harbor. JFK. Natural Disasters. Challenger. It was clear that this was just such an event, but not one just for a generation, but for an entire society---and the entire free world. As new information, both factual and theoretical, poured in, so did the questions from the students. The questions came rapidly, changing from “How could this happen to them?” to “Why is this now happening to us?” Then as anxious, excited conversation continued, they fell. The two massive towers just fell. The focal point of our best known city, falling as though part of some Hollywood special effects. A plane. As the day wore on, classes began to diminish in size. Many parents, sharing the uncertainty of the entire citizenry, deciding it was best to keep their loved ones as close as possible. For those that remained, the earlier news of a third plane colliding with the Pentagon should have raised more commotion, but it did not. Perhaps we were already numb to the sheer number of lives thought to be lost. Perhaps we had already resigned ourselves to the fact that this was an attack on America. Not just buildings, but on our very culture and livelihoods. It was, in fact, a great personal irony. Here in our beloved nation’s worst moments came some of my best moments as a teacher. While for five years I had given information to students about a variety of subjects, I’m not sure I had really taught until that moment. As students, both apprehensive and inquisitive, came in and out of the room they started to delve into the massive number of reports that were forthcoming. What is the connection between the United States and Middle East? Why would they attack? Why is there so much violence in that part of the world? Students engaged with the issues of the day, searching for more and more knowledge. History at work from the Biblical stories of Isaac and Ishmael to the personal remembrances of the Persian Gulf War, just ten short years ago. “Yup, I remember when it started. I was shoveling sand out of the school auditorium. I remember when….” Students were searching for something---anything---that might offer some sense of reason, some answer to the simple, but unanswerable, “Why?” A plane. A plane of heroes. Heroes, that in their deaths saved the country from even further debilitation. Heroes that demonstrated that an attack on who we are, was an attack on the spirit of the American people---a spirit that would only respond with even greater resolve. Heroes who exemplified what President George W. Bush just days later said about the country as a whole, “We will not tire. We will not falter. And we will not fail.” Heroes that we cannot name today; names that we would deem as insignificant if a simple list was placed in front of us, very unlike the celebrity culture with which we are so infatuated. Heroes that called friends and family somewhere over western Pennsylvania, bidding them farewell, while vowing to make a difference in the dwindling minutes that they had remaining on earth. On Monday, September 10th I sat at Slugger Field in downtown Louisville cheering on a baseball team hoping to win a league championship, pouring my heart into something I really had no part in achieving. Twenty-four hours later, I sat drained from analyzing the events of the day and continued to watch over and over again the footage that is now so engrained in our memories. The emotions were varied. I was still stunned that this could actually happen. I selfishly was angry that it was going to cause such a disruption in my life, games missed, days “wasted”, generally inconvenienced. I was strengthened by the faith of the President and so many more of God’s people. I was encouraged that there was still hope for our nation, whether it was those working among the rubble in New York, the fallen heroes of Flight 93, or even the students of our school inwardly pledging that they would not stand by to see this happen in their community, their nation, their world. We already knew that because of these event the world would be a different place, but they would make it a better place. It’s funny really. I never wanted to be a pilot or an astronaut or had any real interest in flying. In fact, I had really only flown two or three times in my life up to that point. Sure it was “cool” to look at a fighter jet or a space capsule, and a flyover at a sporting event was always impressive. But then, for a short while, they were all gone; the planes, the games, the buildings, the security---all of it, gone. Gradually, things progressed back towards normal. The President encouraged us to keep living as Americans---as free men. And so life went on…radio stations returned to their music, theaters started running their films, and ESPN returned to covering sporting events rather than news stories. And even in our own little speck of the planet, we resumed our lives, albeit with a little different perspective. As we set to return to the soccer field, to play the game against our heated rival that had been cancelled just days earlier, a casualty of the violation of American life, it was more than appropriate to offer up a prayer for those that lost their lives on that fateful day. And as we stood there side by side, a demonstration of the unity that was prevailing upon our nation, we observed that moment of silence----a moment of reflection that has now lasted a decade. And the silence was broken by a simple, single sound--- something we had not heard for several days. It was the plane.
  4. Better the shoulder than the legs. That was my first thought until he started to move his foot around. Had a quick dive back into second a pitch or two earlier.
  5. No report yet from the team. Looked like he was flexing his foot before coming off---no noticeable limp. Stole third and home (double-steal) in the first, and then second later before coming off. Hessman hit two more long home runs for the Bats. Mark Prior made an appearance in relief. Louisville pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts (I think), a night after fanning 18.
  6. Opening Night in Louisville: Tony Cingrani with most dominant pitching performance I've seen at AAA. 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 13 K, 1 BB. Fast ball topped out at 96. One curve ball buckled a hitter so bad he could have blown both knees out. Did not go to a 3-ball count until the 6th. Billy Hamilton is really, really fast. First AB hit a flare to short center and was around first before the ball hit a ground. Turned it into a double without a play. Signing Mike Hessman will improve the Bats record this year by 5-6 games, based solely on the fact they don't have to pitch against him. Hessman, a career AAA player, hit 2 HR and was a couple feet foul of a 3rd. While it should be an exciting year for Louisville (blew 3-0 lead in 9th, only to hit a walk-off off the RF fair pole), there does not appear to be many field players that are ready to step up should injuries happen in Cincy.
  7. Per Jason Frakes: Live from Sixth/Seventh Region Tournament draws | Jason Frakes ? KHS SEVENTH REGION BOYS Monday at Valley – Ballard vs. Seneca, 3:30; Male vs. Manual, 5; Central vs. St. X, 6:30; Trinity vs. Eastern, 8:15 Wednesday at Valley – Semifinals at 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday at Valley – Final at 2 p.m
  8. Per Jason Frakes: Tuesday at Valley – Butler vs. Fern Creek, 3:30; Moore vs. Fairdale, 5; PRP vs. Doss, 6:30; Bullitt East vs. Southern, 8:15 Thursday at Valley – Semifinals at 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday at Valley – Final, 7 p.m.
  9. Nope. Bullitt East has opted out of the LIT to play in a showcase in, I believe, Missouri that weekend. I don't think many of the JCPS schools were disappointed with that decision.
  10. Monuments Men was a wonderful book. Very surprising. A real life National Treasure.
  11. Not a ton of changes in the park itself since then, but make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get there----seems to be more roads closed around downtown than open. Attendance has been down this year due to 1) Terrible heat, 2) Bad team; 3) Traffic issues, but Friday nights have still had decent crowds, in part due to Fireworks every week.
  12. There have been series this year when the Bats had not scored 5 runs---did it in 3 different innings last night. Every batter (except the P) had scored by the time there was one out in bottom of 2nd. What a strange game---perfect for Friday the 13th. Obviously early, but Gregorius has been pretty smooth both offensively and defensively through first two games. He and Janish have worked really well toghether in the middle. Undecided on Rodriguez, has made some nice plays at third, but given his size, not sure he will ever have the power numbers you would expect out of a 3rd baseman.
  13. 6th and 7th Region games last year were delayed because of heat index readings of 100+ on the turf at Jim Patterson and St. X. This year, due to the projected heat, they have already decided to move games so that they are all started before noon. 2 games each at Southern, PRP, St. X, and Eastern starting at 9 and 11:15. Semis will return to UL with evening start times Tuesday/Wednesday.
  14. Male scored 2 each in the bottom of 2nd and 3rd to take a 4-0 lead, but would not tally another hit. WA responded with a run in the 4th, then Freshman pitcher Cameron Brussell (pushing 5'2") came in and kept the Bulldogs off-balance, using just over 20 pitches to get through the next three innings. Whitefield took the lead in the 5th on 4 runs, the big shot being a bases loaded double by soph. Nathan Getzin, which drove in two runs. In the bottom of the 7th, Brussell lost his control and hit the first two batters. Senior Cameron Smith returned to the mound after starting the game, to strike out the first batter he faced. With one out and two on, Male base runners tried to advance on a ball in the dirt, but Junior catcher Dakota Draper made a perfect throw to third for the second out. Smith then struck out Male's lead-off hitter on a called third strike to close the door. Not a very good day for Male as they also dropped a 3-1 decision to DeSales later last night.
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