Philosophy Class

Yesterday embarked the most recent leg of New Year's resolution pursuit, as I met with Coach Short to talk about the upcoming NCHS sophomore boys' basketball season.

Coach Short and I go back more than fifteen years to our days at Illinois State's Walker Hall, home of underground golfing and subterranean Tecmo Bowl tournaments. This year our players will be human rather than electronic sims, and the goals are a shade different - playing the right way is more important than winning. Coach Wooden would agree.

Coach is a counselor at the school for the first time this year, graduating from a dozen years as a history teacher. He looks completely at ease behind a desk and its large size calendar, where I see my name jotted for today's appointment. Eagerly we get to it, and briefly varsity assistant Coach Schweinberg drops in to share some intel.

Tryouts this year start November 8th, and typically we keep 10-12 players on the roster. One or two sophomores might be up on varsity, one or two freshmen might come up to join us. (It turns out that Coach Foster, the only other paid staff, will coach the freshmen this year.)

Open gym is already under way for non-fall athletes, has been since September. Since they're held right after school, it's unlikely that I'll be sitting in. Apparently and fortunately (as expected), there has been some maturation of a couple players from last year's freshmen team.

The schedule is a driver's dream come true. Check out these away games;

12/4/10: Bradley Bourbonnais
1/15-17/11: Rockton (tournament)
1/22: Moline
2/5: O'Fallon

The last three are all more than two hours away. I realize that my employer's volunteer grant program will be easily met - a 40 hour minimum that I'll probably reach through all the road travel on its own.

Like last year, there will be advance practice plans, and occasional need for shirt/tie at games. Unlike last year, we'll sit at the end of the bench rather than in the middle. Rather than being assigned to coach the posts, I'll be more of a gofer. It will be a good year to apprentice, with apparently few real decisions to make and plenty of time to focus on the fundamentals of the program. There will be plenty to glean - drills, philosophy, tendencies, pitfalls. There will also be a new offense for the entire outfit to learn, coaches included.

The countdown is on. Thirty-one days until tryouts, 49 before the first game.