Wednesday, April 19, 2006

 

Air Supply has a New Record and...

The Annual Fund is headed into the new millennium next year- and we're not even worried about Y2K (that's what happens when you come to places late: all of the problems are already taken care of). Yes, we here in Delaware are going to launch an e-mail campaign to (gasp) raise money! No paper! No stamps! You, the donor, won't even have that awkward time after you give. You know, the time after you have written and sent in your check and then you don't know what to do with the mailing. "Should I throw it away or hang it on my refrigerator (because it looks like my fourth grade neighbor made this mailing)?" You don't want to be rude. It's rough, I know.*

Now we're movin' on up.

This is not say that we are cancelling the mailing program- don't fear, you will be able to collect the 2006-07 set of Jason Thompson Direct Art (I hear the collective sighs of relief). What it does mean is that both mail and e-mail will be more directed toward you and not you and everybody else. Annual Fund mail won't be like your siblings- always hogging all of the attention all of the time, especially when you do something great and then they steal your thunder because they are glory-mongers. No, it will be all about you... and who doesn't love that? Break out the Air Supply, disco, and guys in shorty-shorts with crew socks! It was the American way in the '70s, and now it's back in a mail format.

Just As I Am
To show even more evidence that we are racing into technology like it was 2001, you'll notice that last Friday Donna Burtch, the esteemed Director of Annual Giving, made a grand entrance back into the blogging world. I laughed and I cried; I even recommended it to my 91-year-old grandmother who doesn't even own a computer. We may need to have a little pow-wow with Ms. Burtch about paragraphs and white space, but all-in-all, it was a good effort. In fact, it was probably more sensible than my own.

News From Nowhere
I am the head coach of the UALC Fightin' Luthers, a community basketball team made up of high school boys from the Upper Arlington and Hilliard area. In the two years I have been coaching, I have guided the team to two victories- stunning games in which the other team failed to show. It was a thrilling feeling; I was extremely proud of my boys to be there.

There is not a single player above the height of 5'10" on the team and none of the boys had previously played organized basketball. The league consists largely of inner-city teams, thus making the Luthers the smallest, most Caucasian team in the Lifeline Basketball League. Couple this with a complete lack of knowledge of the fundamentals of basketball and you have a formula for the recently defeated seasons of the Luthers. But if we were an Academic Challenge team or a drumline, we'd be unbeatable.

I often question the reasoning for coaching as I am extremely competitive and played basketball in high school. Why do I continue to coach when my boys rarely listen and never run a play? That question is answered every time we get in the van to drive to the games: they play hard every game, no matter the score and always believe in themselves. I see hints of improvement that make me proud.

Most importantly, the kids value their time together and enjoy playing. They let me be a part of that. It's more than a game, it is a part of their lives. And, occasionally, we take a step as team that gets us one step closer to an actual victory: in a game this season, for the first time ever, we took the lead in a game in the second half. Sure, we lost the game by 7 points after completely forgetting how to run a press-break, but I would not trade those 15 seconds of hope and accomplishment for the world.

I didn't even know what to do with myself. I almost called a time-out to get a picture of me in front of the scoreboard.

I wonder if this is how Donna feels when I actually get something done...

footnotes
* Whenever I get any type of greeting card, I always have an enormous debate with myself as to what to do with said card. I know that I will eventually throw it away, but the person obviously spent money on the card and was thinking of me. Thus, I always keep the card, along with the other cards I received on my dresser for 3 weeks to 8 months until I clean my room and inevitably throw them away.

What a racket Hallmark has.

Comments:
Where can I buy Air Supply's new album?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : Monday, April 24, 2006
 
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