They are fast!

Oklahoma City Results
1st Junior Women's Single
1st and 3rd Junior Women's Double
1st and 5th Junior Women's Quad
3rd Junior Women's Four

It was a great day, good weather, good racing, good stuff!!!!

Don't They Look Tough

We have our first race this weekend in Oklahoma City...The Varsity girls are ready...actually the Novice are ready, too. They just have to wait a few weeks for their first race. It's gonna be a fun spring!

The SCARE -Sculling Pair

I can't wait for warmer water...

Jayhawks 33-5!

Well...so much for the Hawks.

I don't understand the folks who are spouting off about getting rid of Bill Self. If we had been offered the following results before the season started we ALL would have said 'heck yeah!'.

They one 33 games! Regular season Big 12 Champions. Big 12 tournament champions. Made it to the Elite 8 for the second time in 4 years.

Yeah it hurts a little today. But I'm going to put my red and blue on and continue to cheer on my Hawks. It's rowing season, you know!

Overall 33-5
Big 12 14-2 Champs
Home 16-2
Away 8-2
Neutral 9-1
Post-Season 6-1
Big 12 Tourn 3-0 Champs
NCAA Tourn 3-1
Made it to the Elite 8

Thursday Thirteen

"It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt

"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club wont be worth a dime. "
-Babe ruth

"The country is full of good coaches. What it takes to win is a bunch of interested players."
-Don Coryell, ex-San Diego Chargers Coach

"There's no substitute for guts."
-Paul Bear Bryant

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."
-Vince Lombardi

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."
-Michael Jordan

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
-John Wooden

"When someone tells me the is only one way to do things, it always lights a fire under my butt. My instant reaction is, I'm gonna prove you wrong."
-Picabo Street

"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace."
-Amelia Earhart

"Other people may not have had high expectations for me... but I had high expectations for myself."
-Shannon Miller

"Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts,' probably lost."
-Martina Navratilova, American Tennis Player

"Champions keep playing until they get it right."
-Billie Jean King

"Sport strips away personality, letting the white bone of character shine through. Sport gives players an opportunity to know and test themselves." ~Rita Mae Brown

More Songs For My Hawks

Listen

The KU Fight Song
I'm A Jayhawk

Listen

Fighting Jayhawk

Listen

The Rock Chalk Chant

A little song for my Hawks...

Listen

Far above the golden valley
Glorious to view
Stands my noble alma mater
Towering toward the blue

Lift the chorus
Ever onward
Crimson and the blue

Hail to thee
My alma mater
hail to old KU

Rock chalk
Jayhawk
KUuuuuuu

GOOD LUCK HAWKS!!!

The Parent's Equipment List For Regatta Attendance

This is a list put together by a fellow coach. I thought it was good enough to share.

Chair: There isn’t anywhere to sit at a regatta. Chairs are very important when the only alternative is sitting in a mud puddle.Book: Races run late. There will be long periods of time with nothing to watch.

Warm clothes: It’s springtime in the Midwest. The weather will change. Dress in layers, warmer than you think you need.

Money for the kids (T shirts, etc): There aren’t ATMs at racecourses, and there are plenty of opportunities to spend money on regatta stuff.

Rain clothes: It’s springtime in the Midwest. It is going to rain. All day. It will be a very cold rain. Rain clothes include something to cover your pants, because you will be out in that rain all day.

Binoculars: Even coaches forget these.

Contact a parent coordinator and transport some food, equipment etc: The parents in charge of food and the traveling circus that a rowing team is need help. Transport some equipment, help set up the tent, help cook some food, because these heroes deserve it

Did I mention rain clothes and warm clothes? I love my survival suit for a reason.

Change of clothes: There is nothing nastier than finally getting in your car for the drive home, but your clothes are muddy and soaked through. Warm dry clothes after a nasty day are almost as good as a hot shower.

Sun screen: Eventually, the sun will come up, and regatta sites usually don’t have a lot of shade. Get some sweat-proof sun block, because your kid is guaranteed to forget to bring some for herself.

Sun glasses: Sunlight reflected off a river or lake isn’t fun to squint into. Polarized sunglasses are the best.

All this stuff in a waterproof bag: Assume that the ground you will be on will consist of 4 inches of freezing mud. You have a lot of stuff, and you will need to carry some of it to the tent. Have a bag that can sit in the muck and still keep your cell phone dry.

Rain/mud proof boots: Rain clothes are worthless if your feet are soaked through. Who cares about the weather when you can slop through the mud with no worries?

Comfortable walking shoes: When the weather is decent, you will realize the regatta site has spread out over a large portion of the race course. Then the distance the kids have to race over suddenly doesn’t seem that short. Launch docks are rarely close to the boats, which are rarely close to the tents, which are never close to the parking area. Be prepared to walk about 5 miles on a regatta day.

Thursday Thirteen #10

Thirteen things I love about March

1. The random days when you can go outside in shorts and bare feet.
2. Rowing on the WATER again.
3. The grass begin to green.
4. Novice rowers.
5. Tulips.
6. Hummingbirds.
7. St Paddy's Day.
8. Basketball.
9. Fishing.
10. Andrew's birthday.
11. Thunderstorms.
12. The first Learn To Row of the year.
13. The first Regatta of the season.

Happy March!
Go Hawks! (and Rebels and 49ers)

Vote for Rescue

Rescue is in a cute dog contest...please help VOTE FOR RESCUE

Auto link trouble?

I can't get the auto links to show up?
Anyone?

Wordless Wednesday

Rock Chalk Jayhawk (K-State, you were robbed...you should be dancin' too!)

Mascots are believed to bring good luck, especially to athletic teams. KU is home of the Jayhawk, a mythical bird with a fascinating history. Its origin is rooted in the historic struggles of Kansas settlers. The term "Jayhawk" was probably coined about 1848. Accounts of its use appeared from Illinois to Texas. The name combines two birds-the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter. The message here: Do not turn your back on this bird.

During the 1850's, the Kansas Territory was filled with such Jayhawks. The area was a battleground between those wanting a state where slavery would be legal and those committed to a Free State. The factions looted, sacked, rustled cattle, and otherwise attacked each other's settlements. For a time, ruffians on both sides were called Jayhawkers. But the name stuck to the free staters. Lawrence, where KU would be founded, was a Free State stronghold.

During the Civil War, the Jayhawk's ruffian image gave way to patriotic symbol. Kansas Governor Charles Robinson raised a regiment called the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawkers. By war's end, Jayhawks were synonymous with the impassioned people who made Kansas a Free State. In 1886, the bird appeared in a cheer-the Rock Chalk Chant. When KU football players first took the field in 1890, it seemed natural to call them Jayhawkers.

How do you draw a Jayhawk? For years, that question stumped fans. Henry Maloy, a cartoonist for the student newspaper, drew a memorable version of the Jayhawk (top left) in 1912. He gave it shoes. Why? For kicking opponents, of course.

In 1920, a more somber bird (top right), perched on a KU monogram, came into use. In 1923, Jimmy O'Bryon and George Hollingbery designed a duck-like Jayhawk (second image on left). About 1929, Forrest O. Calvin drew a grim-faced bird (near right) sporting talons that could maim. In

1941, Gene "Yogi" Williams opened the Jayhawk's eyes and beak (left), giving it a contentious look.

It is student Harold D. Sandy's 1946 design of a smiling Jayhawk (left) that survives. The design purchased from Sandy and was copyrighted in 1947 by the KU Bookstores. The University of Kansas later registered the design as its official service-mark and it is still one of the most recognizable and unique collegiate mascots in the country.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK

GO KU!

CHEETAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday Thirteen #9

Thirteen quick things...busy day.

1. Badly in need of a nap, up since 2:30am.
2. When you live 2 blocks from a hospital, a swollen foot because you kicked a wall when you were drunk the night before, does not require an ambulance.
3. When you ask for an ambulance for said foot you are likely to end up at a hospital across town due to strange patient load regulations for ambulance traffic.
4. If you'd limped the two blocks you'd be home by now.
5. Being really drunk at 3:45am also does not require an ambulance.
6. When you fall down the stairs because you are really drunk you will be placed on a long, hard, very uncomfortable board (to protect you from paralysis), placed in the ambulance and taken to the hospital.
7. If are really drunk at your mother's house at 4:50 am and call an ambulance she is likely to holler at you the entire time.
8. When you own a business with a wood shop and a heat detecting alarm, it really should at least have a door with a window so the firefighters called to said business in the middle of the freakin' night because the alarm has tripped know whether or not to break down said door.
9. If not you should absolutely not be pissed when they do.
10. I need to remember to have some gum in my bunkers.
11. I should not drink coffee before 4am.
12. I need light blocking curtains for my room.
13. Yawn.

Perhaps I'll Chuck It Against The Wall

Just a little rant.

I have a program that saves information (some of it important). Aparently there is an updated version. The version I have suddenly became...i don't know...empty?
All the info stored there, poof, gone.
Pisses me off.

Wordless Wednesday

Manic Monday #3

So, Today's word is BLOW.
It is spring, we are moving to the lake today, we do live in the land of 50 mile an hour winds.
Here's a little poem....

The Wind


Can you hear the wind
Been blowing all day long
That same old wind
That blew yesterday away
We are all afraid
Both animal and bird
Of mother nature
Telling us to move along
That unrelenting wind
Both hot and dry
Cold and rain
The wind wont slow
I cant seem to grow fond
Of the restless wind
Perhaps one day
It will fade away

written on a windy day 2004

allan james saywell


And a little prayer...

Please God, give us calm waters and sunny days.
Help me to teach these young hearts.
Give them strength and confidence and the courage to face the defeats along with the victories.

Amen

I've been meaning to do this for weeks

Sgt. James J. Holtom, 22, of Rexburg, Idaho.

Spc. Ross A. Clevenger, 21, of Givens Hot Springs, Idaho.

Pvt. Raymond M. Werner, 21, of Boise, Idaho.


These boys died in Iraq the same day Anna Nicole died.

She's still on the magazine covers and in the news.

Have you ever heard their names........

Thursday Thirteen #8

Thirteen Random Things About I Love About Spring Rowing...

1. Novice Rowers asking "will I get big muscles?"
2. The Varsity girls showing off for the novies...just a little.
3. The anticipation of our first day on the water (Tuesday, hopefully!)
4. The Spring race schedule
5. Laura calling and telling me she's not moving until after Topeka!!!!!!Yeah!!!!
6. A potential novice eight...yes, an eight!
7. The seniors and their erg scores.
8. The kids in tees and shorts, Laura, Ed and I freezing to death in the coaching launch.
9. The trailer loaded for the first time since fall.
10. Worrying about the dock during the first big spring storm.
11. Nine million emails about signing up for this or for that.
12. Rescue and Mags and their first spring practice.
13. Finally being OUTSIDE!!!!