The Macon sporting world has suffered a huge blow this week with the loss of one of the better coaches in the area.
No he didn't die, he just left the profession.
Although death and not coaching anymore is almost the same thing.
I know I know, I have to get over this, but on a personal level this one is difficult to handle.
I mean seriously, I lost Prince and Jamie Dickey in the same week
How will I recover.
When I first saw Jamie Dickey at a Stratford basketball game, my first thought was wow, Stratford dresses the team manager nicer than the coaches. Wow why is the team manager standing during the game and yelling at his players and calling plays? This must be some training program that Stratford is using to motivate goofy looking young 16 year olds.
But that goofy looking 16 year old was Jamie Dickey, and he wasn't 16, he was like 27. He was the head coach at THE academy.
Jamie is a reader, a follower and s strong supporter of my blog. He has been the brunt of my humor on here on several occasions, including my make believe golf tournament, and I have commented on his clothes several times.
Jamie is a bit of a pretty boy.
Let me tell you how Jamie uses the media to his advantage. The man is smart way beyond his years. Since he is not coaching anymore, I can tell some of his stories.
Jamie always looked at my top 15 list of basketball and football players. Jamie asked me to keep a player off the list to motivate him. Guess what, the kid went nuts and had the biggest game of his career. The guy actually came up to me after the game and asked if he had done enough to make the list now. And there is Jamie Dickey, with that Opie Taylor grin looking back at me. That was all Jamie.
Jamie always, always, bargained to get his kids any kid of press he could. I mean , he bargained to get me to write about his players even on my blog. Publicity is publicity after all. I am guessing I could have got money out of the guy if I wanted to , because he would do anything for his players, but I never really took advantage of it like that.
Jamie shared information with me that was very helpful and we even talked on the phone like once a week during basketball season. I know he was schmoozing me, but that's ok. I mean the world needs schmoozers. I know he is genuine with it, and I know he is genuinely a nice man.
I will miss the baby blue pants with the white sports jacket and preppy shoes. I will miss the smile that is always on his face when he talks to you. I will miss the frustration when his team didn't quite win, I will miss his texts on what's going on at Stratford, I will miss all the little things he did to assist the press in getting what they needed. I know Mark Farriba will hire a great head coach, but he has his job cut out for him, because folks, Jamie Dickey is one of the special ones.
Like I said, losing him and Prince in the same week is almost too much to bear. I think I will go buy a raspberry beret and hope for some purple rain.
Farewell Jamie, you were one of the best.
Oh and by the way, I am glad you aren't going to be far away in case I need to text you
Monday, April 25, 2016
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
the wonderful GHSA ad slow pitch softball
Ok here is the truth
I played slow pitch softball for many many years.
I mean I am not talking about church league softball (too good for that)
I am talking about every weekend as soon as it turned warm until the summer was long over.
I am talking seven games in a day travel the southeast softball.
And we were pretty good,
But that never got me the quality points that most stupendous athletes get from their kids.
"Dad they were throwing it underhanded right ? said my son on more than once occasion.
The biggest thing was is that I did not have a comeback for that one, because yes, they were throwing it underhand.
The announcement Monday that slow pitch softball was coming back to the GHSA is almost just as shocking.
I mean, I know we have tons of fast pitch gurus that are making a living off of overzealous parents that see their kid as the next great hitter or pitcher in the fast pitch game, but seriously, can they do that for slow pitch.
"ok Bobbie Sue, put a little more arch on the ball and follow through" ?
I just don't think it will work.
Seriously, I don't know how to take this news, and I am not sure who will play it.
Will the girls who play fast pitch come out and play the much slower game that some of them have never ever played, or will they laugh at it.
My guess is that some of em will play and some of em wont.
It will be interesting if all of the schools in the area will even play slow pitch.I really cant see Joey Hiller or Jeff Treadway pushing his fast pitch kids to play , but I could be wrong. It will be a spring sport, so it goes against soccer, track , and lacrosse.Oh and lets not forget tennis, which is a little like hitting a softball, except its moving at faster speeds. So maybe they will .
I guess the first decision will be whether or not to pick the sport up. Just because it is offered by the gHSA does not mean a school has to have it as a sport. I would not be shocked if most of the schools in Macon do play it.
So I think I may have another career change coming if slow pitch does come back. "After all, I can teach how to hit a ball that's thrown underhanded.
I am sure in a ghsa school coming close to you very soon that the very first beach volleyball team or maybe synchronized swimming will be presented. Lets come up with 5 or 6 more sports to drain the talent pools of schools even more
I played slow pitch softball for many many years.
I mean I am not talking about church league softball (too good for that)
I am talking about every weekend as soon as it turned warm until the summer was long over.
I am talking seven games in a day travel the southeast softball.
And we were pretty good,
But that never got me the quality points that most stupendous athletes get from their kids.
"Dad they were throwing it underhanded right ? said my son on more than once occasion.
The biggest thing was is that I did not have a comeback for that one, because yes, they were throwing it underhand.
The announcement Monday that slow pitch softball was coming back to the GHSA is almost just as shocking.
I mean, I know we have tons of fast pitch gurus that are making a living off of overzealous parents that see their kid as the next great hitter or pitcher in the fast pitch game, but seriously, can they do that for slow pitch.
"ok Bobbie Sue, put a little more arch on the ball and follow through" ?
I just don't think it will work.
Seriously, I don't know how to take this news, and I am not sure who will play it.
Will the girls who play fast pitch come out and play the much slower game that some of them have never ever played, or will they laugh at it.
My guess is that some of em will play and some of em wont.
It will be interesting if all of the schools in the area will even play slow pitch.I really cant see Joey Hiller or Jeff Treadway pushing his fast pitch kids to play , but I could be wrong. It will be a spring sport, so it goes against soccer, track , and lacrosse.Oh and lets not forget tennis, which is a little like hitting a softball, except its moving at faster speeds. So maybe they will .
I guess the first decision will be whether or not to pick the sport up. Just because it is offered by the gHSA does not mean a school has to have it as a sport. I would not be shocked if most of the schools in Macon do play it.
So I think I may have another career change coming if slow pitch does come back. "After all, I can teach how to hit a ball that's thrown underhanded.
I am sure in a ghsa school coming close to you very soon that the very first beach volleyball team or maybe synchronized swimming will be presented. Lets come up with 5 or 6 more sports to drain the talent pools of schools even more
Monday, April 4, 2016
a little bit of personal
With the high schools in Macon taking a break last week, I decided to go a little personal today. I am going to talk about something near and dear to my heart and it may interest some of you and it may not.
I am on a diet.
For the ones who don't want to hear about this (lots of obese folks in this world) I urge you to click off now and go read Sports Illustrated or something. But if you want to hear what I really think, keep reading.
I will start off by saying what a tough world this is to try and lose weight. As I drive to work, I see signs of a super supreme biscuit, chicken biscuits, a new country fried steak biscuit, a butter steak burger, loads of friend chicken deals and just about everything else that describes some of my favorite foods. All of this while I am eating a banana or a plumb.
I will also talk about my least favorite term to be called. While I am a bit tall, I am not tall enough to be called tall. So when people walk up to me and say BIG JOHN how's it going. I will usually put my head down and pretend not to hear it and just say, going good here how about you.
But inside, I am burning.
I know you don't mean anything by it, but I am not that tall. So to me, its like you are saying, Hey fatboy, how's it going. IM not tall enough to be called Big John, so obviously you are talking about my weight. So just say what's on your mind.
I figure over the last 45 years or so, I have lost 400 pounds. I was big in high school, and dropped 60 once but gained it back. My wife married me despite my size and soon after we were married I dropped around 100 pounds. And guess what I kept it off. I ran the Labor Day road race twice, even ran it in 24 minutes once. My wife had dropped to around 115 pounds and she was having issues getting pregnant, and the doc told her she had to gain a little weight to get things moving. So she did, and I did too.
Over the next 20 years or so I was usually pretty big, but I was ready to push again when I was out of clothes that fit. With a lot of help I went from a high of 322 to 260. I know still big, but a great improvement. I kept most of it off for a few years, but in the last year, I pretty much went in another tailspin of eating all the bad stuff again. I was not happy about it, but I knew after going to Madison's national meet that it was time to do something about it.
So I am about 30 days back into my plan and things are going quite well thank you.
I am not sure where I started weight wise, but I am quite confident in saying that it was somewhere around the first number not being 2 anymore.
As of last Friday I am down to 284. It is sickening that I have worked so hard and I still weigh that much, but even now my energy level is way up and I feel tons (no jokes) better. You see, here's the deal, I do not have the mind of an old obese man. I have the mind of a young guy with lots of energy. The weight takes that away.
I write this blog today to motivate myself. It's a deeply personal battle for me, but you see I don't care if you know my weight. I think some of you are fighting the same battle.
So, my advice to all of you is maybe not call anyone Big anybody unless they are 6'4 or above. It is down right insulting.
In closing I will say that I have another month of this before I will think about cheating. My wife and I celebrate a 30th wedding anniversary by heading on a quick beach trip on may 4th. I plan on being 272 by then.
Sure I will still look the part of Big John, but in my mind, I wont see it that way.
Have a great week everyone
I am on a diet.
For the ones who don't want to hear about this (lots of obese folks in this world) I urge you to click off now and go read Sports Illustrated or something. But if you want to hear what I really think, keep reading.
I will start off by saying what a tough world this is to try and lose weight. As I drive to work, I see signs of a super supreme biscuit, chicken biscuits, a new country fried steak biscuit, a butter steak burger, loads of friend chicken deals and just about everything else that describes some of my favorite foods. All of this while I am eating a banana or a plumb.
I will also talk about my least favorite term to be called. While I am a bit tall, I am not tall enough to be called tall. So when people walk up to me and say BIG JOHN how's it going. I will usually put my head down and pretend not to hear it and just say, going good here how about you.
But inside, I am burning.
I know you don't mean anything by it, but I am not that tall. So to me, its like you are saying, Hey fatboy, how's it going. IM not tall enough to be called Big John, so obviously you are talking about my weight. So just say what's on your mind.
I figure over the last 45 years or so, I have lost 400 pounds. I was big in high school, and dropped 60 once but gained it back. My wife married me despite my size and soon after we were married I dropped around 100 pounds. And guess what I kept it off. I ran the Labor Day road race twice, even ran it in 24 minutes once. My wife had dropped to around 115 pounds and she was having issues getting pregnant, and the doc told her she had to gain a little weight to get things moving. So she did, and I did too.
Over the next 20 years or so I was usually pretty big, but I was ready to push again when I was out of clothes that fit. With a lot of help I went from a high of 322 to 260. I know still big, but a great improvement. I kept most of it off for a few years, but in the last year, I pretty much went in another tailspin of eating all the bad stuff again. I was not happy about it, but I knew after going to Madison's national meet that it was time to do something about it.
So I am about 30 days back into my plan and things are going quite well thank you.
I am not sure where I started weight wise, but I am quite confident in saying that it was somewhere around the first number not being 2 anymore.
As of last Friday I am down to 284. It is sickening that I have worked so hard and I still weigh that much, but even now my energy level is way up and I feel tons (no jokes) better. You see, here's the deal, I do not have the mind of an old obese man. I have the mind of a young guy with lots of energy. The weight takes that away.
I write this blog today to motivate myself. It's a deeply personal battle for me, but you see I don't care if you know my weight. I think some of you are fighting the same battle.
So, my advice to all of you is maybe not call anyone Big anybody unless they are 6'4 or above. It is down right insulting.
In closing I will say that I have another month of this before I will think about cheating. My wife and I celebrate a 30th wedding anniversary by heading on a quick beach trip on may 4th. I plan on being 272 by then.
Sure I will still look the part of Big John, but in my mind, I wont see it that way.
Have a great week everyone
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