So after a couple months of rest and relaxation, it's just about time to get at it.  Megan's team, MPulse, starts practice Tuesday. It's a new team this year, but several members from Rampage joined this team, so several of the girls already know each other.

I'll carve out a section on this site for MPulse once things get moving. And hopefully, I'm able to continue taking photos of the kids. Last year I started coaching for my son's JCBI team and that was pretty much the end of taking photos for the season, at least for JCBI anyway.  This year, when in the dugout, I'll try to get some shots as long as it doesn't become a distraction.  We'll just have to play it by ear.

Anyway we're definately ready to get back into the swing of things.  The kids and the adults have been hitting the home gym for a few months now and are eager to get out the bats, balls and gloves.  After an early start last year, JCBI has decided to wait until late January to practice.  I think that's the right decision for a team that already has a lot of experience --don't want to peak too early in the season.

There's little in the way of acceptable excuses...  I've gone almost a month without a single post.  Pretty much the typical hustle and bustle that plagues all of us.  I've also been spending a lot more time pursuing the photography passion of mine and working towards a new website for it.  Seems I've got too many irons in the fire -- too many varying interests, but as some say, there is a season for everything.  Before we know it softball and baseball will occupy the top spot in our minds and lives, but until then it's nice to get a little break and pursue other interest.

If you're looking for private baseball lessons for your son this winter, these guys know their stuff --period. 

The BC Baseball Academy believes that private lessons are essential to the development of players.  Whether the lessons are for hitting, pitching, or defense, these lessons lead to much quicker development.  Tremendous improvements can be made at these times in many areas.  The goal is to have the players continue to improve during the “off season” and, thus, start each preseason much improved over the end of the previous year.

We would like to offer every player on one of our league teams an opportunity to partake in our winter lessons.  Our main lesson instructors will be Brad Doering (pitching), Bret Graziano (hitting) and Bob Coons (hitting and pitching).  We will also have other instructors that will become available.  Below are the listings of our lesson packages provided:

Individual Lessons are scheduled with one instructor teaching one player during the scheduled time.  If players are scheduled for one hour lessons, the lesson may be broke into 30 minutes hitting and 30 minutes pitching.  If this is done, player may have a different instructor for hitting and a different instructor for pitching.

Partner Lessons are scheduled with one instructor teaching two players during the scheduled time.  If partners are scheduled for one hour lessons, the lesson may be broke into 30 minutes hitting and 30 minutes pitching.  If this is done, partners may have a different instructor for hitting and a different instructor for pitching.  When scheduling partner lessons, parents/players should find a partner to schedule with and work with for lessons.

The times for these lessons will be made available either on Saturdays and Sundays or on any weekday from Monday through Thursday from 5:00 – 9 pm.  Individual lessons will typically last for 30 minutes; however many players tend to do 30 minutes of hitting and 30 minutes of pitching.  Take into consideration that schedule times are on a first come basis.

I hope we may serve your interests and provide the opportunity to help each player attain their goals and play at the next level. Please feel free to call Mike Hinton at our BC office at 573-445-8999 if you have any questions. Hope to hear from everyone soon and best of luck to you in preparation for the spring.

The high price of sports gear
from Youth Sports Parents by Mark Hyman

Here's my latest post on BusinessWeek's "Working Parents." I'm writing about the high price of youth sports gear. Do 11-year-olds really need baseball bats powered by "CNX technology"? No. Do we happily buy these expensive toys for them? Absolutely. Want to see my credit-card bill?

I really enjoy reading Mark's blog and often link to it here.  I wish I had his drive and abilities to keep posting focused sports and coaching related stories during the off season, but my mind wanders too much.

Anyway, his latest BusinessWeek's story created more than a few chuckles around here.  Nah, I won't show you my credit-card bill, you'll know the story when my son rolls into the dugout and begins unpacking several gloves, catching gear, and various bats for any hitting situation.  I get exhausted just watching him -- and the rest of the team for that matter.

When one considers the spectacular success, the unprecedented prosperity, that capitalism has achieved in practice (even with hampering controls) -- and when one considers the dismal failure of every variety of collectivism -- it should be clear that the enemies of capitalism are not motivated, at the root, by economic considerations.  They are motivated by metaphysical considerations -- by a rebellion against the human mode or survival, a rebellion against the fact that life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action -- and by the dream that, if only they can harness the men who do not resent the nature of life, they will make existence tolerable for those who do resent it.

Nathaniel Branden
The Divine Right of Stagnation

Seems these days Capitalists are cowering everywhere as government and altruistic social ideology gains power. It's pretty sad to watch leaders of today abandon all logic and historical perspective, trading instead the very future of existence for the approval of the uninformed, misguided, (dare I say lazy) people. It is a radically complex time in which we live today. It requires effort to understand and appreciate what's at work within our governments and markets.  Unfortunately it' not something that fits into the 30 second "sound bite" mentality that's pervasive throughout society.

There were days when I thought this election would never end, but fortunately, time marches on and the end has in fact come. I try to keep the political posting to a minimum around here, but a few leaked out recently, so I figured it's worth a wrap up. I'll keep it short.

This past elections was one of the most disappointing I can remember, not so much for who won or lost, but for the subjectivistic nature behind the men and the choices they presented us. From Obama's desire to seize and redistribute property at whim, to Bush's take over of the banking industry and McCain's promise to nationalize the mortgage industry. Seems the choice was between evil and eviler. My team, the Republicans, since I was a wee lad, had lost their way. Hijacked by a bunch of chicken hearted compromising weenies, devoid of any sustainable principles. Hopefully they'll come to understand that ideological compromise and Altruism is a farce.

My advice for Obama, for what it's worth, you won -- now go lead. Don't waste your time trying to reach across the isle, you'll only wind up like Bush in the end. And if you actually believe in what you claim and the actions of your past, there can be no compromise of any value anyway.

As the election draws closer, I'm just overflowing with too many thoughts to keep to myself.  Those who've read this blog for awhile know that I'm a huge Ayn Rand fan.  I was introduced Anthem at a young age and have been hooked ever since.  It's funny (not really) how the more things change, the more they remain the same. Obama's comments about spreading the wealth around is something Rand touched on many times.

"There is no difference between the principles, policies and practical results of socialism - and those of any historical or prehistorical tyranny. Socialism is merely democratic absolute monarchy - that is, a system of absolutism without a fixed head, open to seizure of power by all comers, by any ruthless climber, opportunist, adventurer, demagogue or thug. When you consider socialism, do not fool yourself about its nature. Remember that there is no such dichotomy as 'human rights' versus 'property rights.' No human rights can exist without property rights. Since material goods are produced by the mind and effort of individual men, and are needed to sustain their lives, if the producer does not own the result of his effort, he does not own his life. To deny property rights means to turn men into property owned by the state. Whoever claims the 'right' to 'redistribute' the wealth produced by others is claiming the 'right' to treat human beings as chattel."
- From "The Monument Builders"

JCBI 14U is having a garage sale and bake sale this Friday, October 31st at the Masonic Lodge, off West Truman (behind the urology care) from 7am - 3pm. There's twelve families participating, so there ought to be lots of good stuff to pick through.  And every nickle of the money raised goes to the boys. Particularly your money goes directly to funding their tournaments entry fees, so every dollar you spend keeps them playing baseball.

Drop by, spend a few minutes looking around.  There's something for everyone and as a last result there's cookies and other bake goods.  No one should leave empty handed.

Update: 10/31/2008
Thank you Jefferson City - you helped us raise $1100 for the upcoming 2009 baseball season.  That's three weekends of baseball we didn't have yesterday. So from the bottom of hearts we thank you!

I've been steering clear of political postings for awhile now, but occasionally, something's gotta give.  There just doesn't seem much to be proud of these days and recently reported fund raising numbers from the Obama campaign struck home. 

Yeah, he's different alright --he's personally taken the political machine to an entirely new level.  It no longer takes 100 or 200 million to get elected as President of the United States, more like a half billion or more before all is said an done.  All this while the media reports there's a recession at hand, the likes of which we haven't seen since the depression. And yet  somehow the "American people" managed to scrounge up $150 million in mere pocket change to donate to the Obama campaign. Just what kind of snake oil are they trying to sell us these days?

Thank God for campagin finance reform, can't imagine where we'd be without it. Geezz.

Without a doubt Season of Life, by Jeffrey Marx. should be required for all youth sports coaches and athletes and fathers for that matter.  It's an easy read, less than 200 pages, and emphasizes living life for others.  A powerful life lesson through sports, where responsibility, empathy and integrity develop leadership in young men as a high school football team struggles through a season.  A story about Servant leadership --where we forget about I and mine and instead focus on self-sacrifice for our team, our teammates and the greater good of our relationships through serving others.

+++++++++++

Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL football star and volunteer coach for the Gilman High School football team, teaches his players the keys to successful defense: penetrate, pursue, punish, love. Love? A former captain of the Baltimore Colts and now an ordained minister, Ehrmann is serious about the game of football but even more serious about the purpose of life. Season of Life is his inspirational story as told by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jeffrey Marx, who was a ballboy for the Colts when he first met Ehrmann.

Ehrmann now devotes his life to teaching young men a whole new meaning of masculinity. He teaches the boys at Gilman the precepts of his Building Men for Others program: Being a man means emphasizing relationships and having a cause bigger than yourself. It means accepting responsibility and leading courageously. It means that empathy, integrity, and living a life of service to others are more important than points on a scoreboard.

Decades after he first met Ehrmann, Jeffrey Marx renewed their friendship and watched his childhood hero putting his principles into action. While chronicling a season with the Gilman Greyhounds, Marx witnessed the most extraordinary sports program he'd ever seen, where players say "I love you" to each other and coaches profess their love for their players. Off the field Marx sat with Ehrmann and absorbed life lessons that led him to reexamine his own unresolved relationship with his father.

Season of Life is a book about what it means to be a man of substance and impact. It is a moving story that will resonate with athletes, coaches, parents -- anyone struggling to make the right choices in life.