August-September 2011 - Concepts Direct, Inc.
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August-September 2011 - Concepts Direct, Inc.
Robious Corridor AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 High School Football Preview With Head Coaches DeFrancesco & Thomas Football Mom For Dummies A Field Of Dreams Finding The Best University For You 50 Ways to Feed Your Lover...Pizza! :: 2 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor CONTENTs V o l ume 2 , Issue 4 A ugust / september , 2 0 1 1 4 6 Photos provided by parents Dohn Guyer, Stephanie Haysley, and Janice Weaver. Features Columns Football: Coaches Interviewed 4 6 Gregory DeFrancesco of James River High School Kevin Thomas of Midlothian High School Join us online at facebook.com/RobiousCorridor and www.RobiousCorridor.com facebook feedback Renee: That was a great issue of the magazine! Amy: Loved your article “It’s Just My Opinion” I woke up yesterday and found two deer standing in my fenced in yard eating my tomato plants. Lee: That was a great article Monica (Ghost Stories), someday I should write about my encounter with the ghost in our 175 year old house. Robious Corridor Magazine is a bi-monthly publication of Concepts Direct, Inc. For advertising, please call us at (804) 241-0378 or visit www.robiouscorridor.com. All rights reserved. Any reproduction in whole or in part of any text or photograph without written permission from Concepts Direct, Inc. is prohibited. 9 Surviving The Road To College Caitlin Phelan, Contributing Writer 16 Notes On The Run 19 50 Ways to Feed Your Lover 20 Exit Laughing Monica Cassier, Contributing Writer Jenna Weaver, Contributing Writer Michele Dixon, Contributing Writer Colleen: Michele, keep up the good work! (The Grass was Greener...) Community Vote: Bruesters or Cold Stone? 5 to 1 Cold Stone Doris: The new Midlothian Athletic Center is fantastic! Community Vote: Chipotle or Qdoba? Tied! Gregory DeFrancesco Head Football Coach - James River High School Tell me a little about your background, where you have coached or taught and what brought you to James River High School. Teaching and coaching was a mid-life career change for me. A series of seemingly unrelated events led me to James River, but upon reflection I think it was really a God thing. . . to get me where He wanted me and where I would have the opportunity to pursue my true purpose. It’s actually a very long story, but in a nutshell. . . I was born and raised in Baltimore. I came to VA to attend Hampden-Sydney where I played football and baseball in the late 70’s. After H-SC, I left behind football which had been a huge part of my life for 15 years. I pursued a corporate business career and moved to Cleveland with Sherwin-Williams in the early 80’s. I was there for about ten years. In the early 90’s my Dad was diagnosed with cancer for the first time. Being an only child, I was returning to Baltimore frequently to help my parents. I was looking to make a move back to the mid-atlantic area to be closer to my folks and I accepted a job in Richmond with Circuit City. Somewhere in there my son started playing little league football in the Chesterfield Quarterback League with Swift Creek. Somehow my wife volunteered me to help coach and I fell in love all over again with the game that had been such a big part of my life. It was during that time, that I would talk about leaving behind my corporate career one day to teach and coach. Teaching and coaching had been something I considered coming out of college, but the financial realities of teaching turned me off to the idea. Then my Dad, who beat his cancer the first time, developed a different cancer. He and my Mom came to visit one weekend, he got very sick and was never able to return home. My wife and I cared for him in our home for 7 months before he died. During that time, and during many long talks with my dying Dad, my ideas about what was important began to change. I was contacted somewhat out of the blue about helping at James River and I talked more frequently about making a career change. My wife, who was much braver than me, kept telling me that if I wanted to do it I should make the change while I was still relatively young. Shortly after my Dad died, I made the change to coach at James River. I didn’t have a teaching license or a teaching job, but it overwhelmingly felt like the right thing to do. With the help of divine intervention all of the pieces fell into place in short order and I have been coaching and teaching at James River ever since. It was the right place for me to be. It has been a great experience for my family. My wife followed me into teaching a few years later and she is still teaching fashion marketing at Cosby. My son graduated from James River and played for me. Both of my daughters have helped with the football team since they were in kindergarten. They enter their senior and junior years this fall. I teach seniors in US Government and I tell each class every year that the most important thing they can do is find their purpose and that when they do they will find true happiness. I have found that at James River. What do you have the players working on this summer? The goal for the summer is to work hard when you are in town, and get away and enjoy some family time and some summer fun before the practice starts in August. We had a five day camp with Middle School & High School players in June. This gives us an opportunity to get everyone together and develop our relationship with the local associations like Weaver, Robious and Teaching and coaching was a mid-life career change for me. A series of seemingly unrelated events led me to James River, but upon reflection I think it was really a God thing. . . Providence. We participated in a 7 on 7 tournament at UVA right after school ended and then the very next day we had 31 players and 4 coaches travel to Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC for an intensive team camp. The Wofford Camp was a great experience for our team. It was tough and challenging and our players responded and made us very proud. That experience really laid the foundation for the kind of team we can become this fall. Since then, we are working out on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in the morning and participating in 7 on 7 on Thursday nights at Deep Run. At this point, the goal of our workouts is to climatize and get physically ready to endure the rigors of two-a-days, so that we can get the most out of our practice time in August without allowing fatigue or exhaustion to distract us physically or mentally. :: 4 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor What are you looking to improve on for the upcoming season? During our June camp, the players collectively set a team goal to win The Dominion District title this year. In order to accomplish that we must improve defensively. We gave up a lot of points last year. On offense we must do a better job of eliminating drive stoppers like crucial penalties, mental mistakes and turnovers. We want to take our special team play from average to excellent. The changes we have made to scheme, approach and implementation have all come about through a focus on accomplishing these improvements. Who are some of the returning Seniors that will play a significant role this season? Who are you going to trust to lead the team? It has been my experience that our teams with the strongest senior leadership have been our best teams. We need every senior to take ownership and play a significant role. Returning offensive starters Sam Hunt (QB / S), Austin Cundiff (RB / CB), Nelson Harris (WR / CB) will obviously be feature players. We graduated a lot of talented offensive linemen. Senior Mustafa Bahrami is the only returning starter. He will be joined by seniors Bryan Layne, Tyler Lucas and Rueben Blevins who all saw significant playing time a year ago. Senior lineman Kent Livesay has worked extremely hard to put himself into a position to contribute. How the offensive line develops will determine how far we are able to go offensively. Trey McMorris (RB / LB) is another rising senior who has had a good off-season and is expected to contribute in a big way. involvement of these parents and I hope that by participating our volunteers feel a closer connection to the team. Who are some of the under classmen that show promise? We are excited about a lot of our underclassmen. We think we have a good core for several years to come. Mac Caples and Craig Stevens, who both started every game as sophomores last year, will play even larger roles this year. Other rising juniors who we expect to step up and shine include Travis Haysley (S, WR) Austin Jones (SS, RB), Tyler Shirley (WR, S), Wes Mason (RB, LB), and Stacey Jennings (RB, WR, CB). There are a host of others too numerous to mention. Describe your offensive attack. We are a triple option based attack. Think Georgia Tech, Navy, Wofford. How are the parents and the booster program effective in helping the players and the staff at JRHS? We have a dedicated group of football parents who help in fundraising and a number of tasks that we would be hard pressed to accomplish without them. Like most volunteer organizations that group is made up of only a handful of parents, we are constantly faced with the challenge of getting more volunteers involved to share the workload and not burn out the volunteers that we do have. The contributions range from working at monthly Bingo fundraisers, running concession stands, shooting end zone video, taking and publishing sideline action photographs and painting the stadium field for game nights. The players and coaches truly appreciate the Describe your defensive attack. We operate out of an odd front. Basically a 3-4 base. Our intent is to maximize the aggressive attacking nature of this defense while maintaining sound gap control and coverage responsibilities. Will James River beat Midlothian this year? I thought Midlothian was greatly improved last year. I think Coach Thomas did a great job and the team clearly looked on the right track. I know they have some exciting young players who came out of the Weaver program who will be moving up to varsity this year and I expect their team to be even better this year. When James River opened in 1994 the Coal Bowl rivalry was established with the winning team keeping possession of the trophy until next season’s game. The series currently stands at James River 11 wins Midlothian 6 wins. Midlothian won the first couple of years and then the series was pretty even for the first ten years. Since 2005 James River has won six in a row. I expect the 2011 Trojans to mount a great effort to take back the trophy and we know that we will need to play our best mistake free football to meet the challenge and retain possession of the trophy. :: 5 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor Kevin Thomas Head Football Coach - Midlothian High School Tell me a little bit about your background, where you’ve coached or taught, and what brought you to Midlothian High School. After I graduated from Longwood College, I was hired by my father (John Thomas, head football coach at Colonial Heights from 1979 - 2007) as an assistant coach at Colonial Heights High School. I was teaching at Swift Creek Middle School, here in Midlothian, at the time, and was driving 30 minutes to get to practice every day. It was really wearing on me. About the second or third week of the season, I went with my father to trade films with David Cooper, who was the head coach at Midlothian. I had met him a couple times before and mentioned to him that I was interested in coaching closer to where I lived. Sometime that spring he contacted me and told me he had an opening. That was in 1999 and I’ve been fortunate to be here ever since. I was hired to teach here about 5 years ago when there was an opening. I actually interviewed at James River for a P.E. job at the same time, however the Midlothian job opened up at Are these future Midlothian and James River High School football players? the same time, so I stayed. I am very happy here, I feel blessed, the kids are great, the administration is great, and the faculty is great. When Dick Overton retired as AD, Coach Cooper was hired to replace him. One of his first big assignments as the new AD was to find his replacement. Let me tell you something, there is nothing more intimidating than being interviewed by the man you’ve looked up to for the last 11 years. I was very fortunate to get hired. I’ve been around football my whole life. As I said before, my father was a head coach. He was actually my head coach. When he retired, I told him that one day I’d like to become a head coach and if I ever got a head coaching job, I wanted him to become my offensive coordinator. So true to my word, once I got the job, I called my father and told him, “I need you here.” What do you have the players working on this summer? We are focused right now on building cardio-vascular endurance, you know, stamina, heat acclimation, getting them together as a team, and functional strength – a total body workout. Scott Jenkins, our assistant wrestling coach, has been a big help with summer workouts. We do a lot our workouts outside because we have to get the kids acclimated to the weather. We are a small school, and we have a lot of kids who play multiple sports - which I fully support, but that means we have to make the most out of the time that we have. We have a core group of kids who have been in the weight room consistently since the season ended last year. They believed in what we were starting to build and didn’t want to let that slip. I’m very proud of the hard work that they have put in to this. What are you looking to improve on in the upcoming season? I think we had a hard time last year with consistency. I feel like we made a lot of good plays when we needed to, but we also gave up a lot of big plays. For example, I thought we played very hard against James River but gave up some big plays that we didn’t adjust to. As a coach, I want to be more consistent and one of my big goals is to prepare the kids more in practice by getting them more repetitions. Last year was more of a learning process with the new terminology and schemes. We did change things up but now that the kids know our system, I want to do less teaching and get more reps to have more quality practices. Essentially, get the most out of every minute. Who are some of the returning seniors you are excited about and who do you plan on having lead the team? Last year we returned most of our skill positions, but had a young and inexperienced offensive line. Most of those skill position players are gone. We graduated two of the best receivers in the district. We had an all district fullback and a three year starter at QB. Our skill positions were “senior” heavy. They did a lot of good things for us and will be sorely missed. This year it is kind of flipped around. We graduated only our center on the offensive line, but the guards, tackles and tight end are all returning, plus some key reserves that got significant playing time last year. Our left guard, Brian Jorgenson (5’ 11” – 285lbs.) has really come into his own. Our :: 6 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor left tackle Kaash McElroy (6’ 2” – 265lbs) had a great year last year on both sides of the ball. These are just 2 of a big group of guys who will have a significant impact on the line. Tight end Omar Howard is one of the hardest working players I have ever coached. Omar will play both ways for us. We will rely on him heavily because he is a natural leader. In our skill positions we have gaps and there are some questions that need to be answered but we will know what we have before the first game. I anticipate our consistency improving due to our offensive line returning. Who are some of the under classmen who show promise? We had a few sophomores last year who showed promise. Madison Day started at inside linebacker and led the team in tackles. I’m looking for Madison to grow as a player and to step up. Taylor Stout, another sophomore, filled in when we had an injury at tail back, so he will see more carries this season. He is a very athletic kid, very quick; I’m looking to see how he improves. Daniel Jackson, a sophomore back up QB from last year, who is very fast, is a kid we may look at playing receiver but still try to get him under center, too. He’s athletic and needs to be on the field. How are the parents and the boosters effective in helping the MHS football program? I couldn’t ask for a better boosters association. It is amazing what I don’t have to think about as a football coach because the boosters take care of it. They handle virtually all of our fund raising needs. The kids get team dinners every week. Our end of the year banquet is amazing. So many parents put so much time and effort into making their son’s football experience memorable. They are always working on something. Our football rep, Bill Fischer, took over having the field lined each week, which was something the coaches used to have to do. He formed a committee of some hard-working dads who would show up after a hard day’s work and get out there rain or shine to get it done. If I ever need anything as a coach, I know I can go to Bill and he will do whatever he can to help. We are very fortunate in this regard; I know there are many schools in our district that don’t have this type of support. I appreciate their help so much. What will the offense look like this year? We are a pro style offense and I hope that we run the ball a lot more. I think we have a good offensive line and running back, but let’s face it, anyone that knows the other Coach Thomas knows he likes to throw the football. He calls the offense and has total control of it, so if we have a QB that can throw the ball we will be throwing. What will the defense look like this year? We do many different things on defense, mainly because I can never settle on just one thing, but we are an odd man defense. We will play a 5 man front with our goal being to stop the run. As we do this, we will make adjustments accordingly to compensate for a spread or passing Help Support the MHS Trojans Midlosports@gmail.com or call Bill Fischer at 804 467-6635 offense. We tell our kids that if we can stop the run we will have a big advantage. . . this is a philosophy that I’ve learned from Coach Cooper. We will use proper techniques, read what offenses do, then make our adjustments. Will Midlothian beat James River this year? (Laughs) You know, I’d love to say “YES” but they have had our number. It has been 6 years since we have won that game, they have always found a way to beat us. They have a very talented and well-coached group. It is always a good game, but unfortunately they have been on top the last few times. They run a great program, their off season program is wonderful, they have a lot of kids coming out for football, their kids really buy in to the entire mindset of individual improvement affecting their team’s performance and all of this starts from the top. Coach DeFrancesco spends a great deal of time getting his team prepared all year round, which is the reason for their success. We’ve got a great group of kids. They have worked very hard and are buying into what it takes to be successful. We are going to win games. I just can’t predict when those games will take place or who they will be against. :: 7 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor Expires 09/30/2011 Expires 09/30/2011 Expires 09/30/2011 D. Vauter Tree & STump Service, inc No Job Is Too BIG! 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Today I have the application for my favorite school in hand (actually 4 copies of the application, thanks to my wonderful Dad!) and I’m beginning to count down the days until the early decision deadline… which is less than 3 months away! Thankfully, due to the major I’m interested in and the specific size and other details I am looking for in a college, one university came knocking a long time ago that I have secretly known all along would always be my calling… as long as I get accepted! If you don’t fall into the small group of people interested in early decision (which is 100% okay!), you may still be searching for that perfect match, that “this is where I belong” feeling, or that one building or professor or cool person that makes your decision click. So, in honor of the back-to-school season and those fast approaching deadlines, here is my gift to you - a complete run down on how to find the university that best fits Y-O-U! For most of us, unless you’re planning on going straight to culinary school or some other similar institution, you have two options: a traditional education or a liberal arts education. Liberal Arts Liberal arts schools are growing and continue to be praised for their large amount (usually around 1/3 of your total college credits) of general education classes. Unless you already know that you want to be an engineer or a doctor, liberal arts schools are great because they can help you discover what you are truly interested in. Even if you go into your freshman year with a major in mind (the largest major for college freshmen is “undecided”), these schools are known for opening your eyes so wide you may In honor of the back-to-school season and those fast approaching deadlines, here is my gift to you - a complete run down on how to find the university that best fits Y-O-U! switch that major, possibly even twice! Liberal arts schools tend to focus on the extra experiences outside of the classroom that create a well-rounded student, such as internships and studying abroad. If you have dreamed of riding elephants in Thailand or walking down the Champs-Elysees with a nutella and banana crepe in hand, studying abroad would probably be very important to you. Liberal arts institutions have a higher rate of students who study abroad during their time at the university (at some schools, 70% of students study abroad at least once before they graduate!). You may be thinking, “Wow, how do all of these students manage to study abroad?” Some liberal arts universities have gone so far as to put into place a format for their school called the 4/1/4 (instead of the 2 semester system). This format has a fall term and a spring term while also having a January or May term. This term lets students participate in offthe-wall classes such as examining the success, from a business standpoint, of NASCAR, and also allows for short 3-4 week study abroad experiences and short internships. When thinking about a liberal arts institution, take into consideration the cost and the size of the school. These schools generally tend to be private schools, meaning that they are not funded by the state, so they cannot offer in-state tuition. Besides not offering instate tuition, the tuition in general tends to be higher. On the upside, the schools usually are smaller schools, for example, a few thousand students versus tens of thousands. A smaller school means smaller class sizes and professors who actually know your name. Though the athletic scene may be smaller at some of these schools, for many students, having your professor invite your entire class over for dinner at their house is a neat exchange. Continued on next page ➥ :: 9 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor Traditional After hearing all of those interesting facts and cool perks, you may already have your mind made up. However, a traditional education is just as awesome! Traditional universities are not known to have a long list of general education requirements like liberal arts schools. If you are 100% set on your major, hearing this may want to make you jump up and down! No general education requirements typically mean that when you get to college, you can jump into that major you have been dying to explore. However, if you are undecided, that may sound a little scary. Academic advising is available and with the help of a professor and some research on your own, you may just have to do a little extra searching before school starts to find out what you may be interested in for a career. From the college searching I have done, I feel that traditional colleges are generally more focused on the classic areas of study, such as engineering, medicine, business, and law, as compared to the more liberal paths of study, such as psychology, teaching, communications, and world languages. Traditional universities usually don’t place quite as much emphasis on study abroad and internships as liberal arts schools do. But these options are still around and are plentiful especially in certain majors and depending on how strong the alumni connection is with the university. Since traditional schools generally are bigger state schools, the price is usually lower than liberal arts institutions. State schools also offer the less expensive instate tuition, too. If you are worrying about the big size (since most state schools are generally those big football schools with anywhere from 16,000 to 56,000 students), do not worry, because there are many traditional schools that are smaller. The perks of going to a large traditional school tend to evolve around two words: school spirit. Whether it is the crazy college town connected with the university, the ESPN televised football and basketball games, or that every student seems to always have at least one piece of school colored apparel on, it can all be very alluring. The Right Choice No matter where you end up, whether it is at a small liberal arts school or a large traditional university, that school is bound to be a good fit. As long as they have the major you are truly interested in and you are happy with your classes, the people you are meeting, and all of the activities you are participating in, there ultimately is no way to accidentally choose the “wrong” college. All of this hunting and sorting and finding is about choosing what fits you best, personally, whether you feel at home with 1,200 or 48,000 other people. Happy searching! 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Information is believed to be accurate but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor Notes On The Run “Field Of Dreams”by Monica Cassier The start of the school year is just around the corner. We’ll head to the store to buy mountains of school supplies trailing our children who will bear a look of pitiful resignation: the summer is almost over. However, many will take to the fields for the ritual of Friday Night Lights. I love high school sports. It’s a joy to see athletes who have graduated beyond the ankle biter juice box leagues, flinging themselves around the field of play, passionate about sport, really getting it. However, there is always the few who wreck it for the many, who exhibit bad behavior and ruin it for everyone else. And it’s coming from the bleachers: “REF! ARE YOU BLIND???? THAT’S A BLATANT FOUL!!!!!” Yes, I’m talking about the parents. Not all parents, just the nutty few. You know the kind I’m talking about: they are pillars of society, hold good jobs, keep their lawns neat, help elderly ladies cross the street. Put them anywhere near a place where their child is locked in athletic combat and they morph into a seething mass of screaming irrationality. They know their children’s sports stats thin-sliced to the nth factor, but ask them the name of their son or daughter’s math teacher and they look at you like you’re speaking in Aramaic. The cautionary tales abound of over-the-top sports parents – their patron saint is Marv Marinovich, who started training his son Todd to be an all-star quarterback at the tender age of one month. His father wondered how well a kid could be developed if ‘given the perfect environment’. So he set out to create it forgetting that his grand assumption neglected the very real fact that his kid would eventually have to inhabit a very imperfect world. I think Todd probably woke up one day and couldn’t even ask himself “what do I want to be when I grow up?” It was probably more like “WHO do I want to be when I grow up?” He was just a big grand experiment, an athletic monster to his father’s Dr. Frankenstein. The kid who was never allowed to have a Ding Dong growing up has spent most of the last 10 years in rehab. The moral of the story is this: LET YOUR KIDS HAVE A DAMN DING-DONG. The deal is this: nothing kills the fun of kids sports like parents. The remedy is simple: we need to back off and shut up. Period. I know whereof I speak: My name is Monica and I’m a recovering sports parent. The following are my own stereotypes of over-thetop parents from my years of half-wit, unscientific and wholly undocumented soccer, football, hockey, figure skating, lacrosse, swimming, tennis, crosscountry field research. Yes, I know: several of the aforementioned sports don’t use fields. Its allegory, get over it. The Early Achiever It’s a late summer football scrimmage. Parents are standing along the sidelines chatting, it’s a lovely late afternoon, the sun is just beginning to set. The air is fragrant with the smell of trampled grass. If you were to look at the field, you’d see novice football players and 4 coaches trying to coax some form of organized play out of them. It would – to the untrained eye – look like an exercise in cat herding. Next to you is a guy dressed in business attire. He’s shed his suit coat and loosened his tie. He stands there, unsmiling. “Look at them. It’s pathetic. You’d think those coaches would have prepared them better. Look – they can’t even run routes.” You look at him with a My name is Monica and I’m a recovering sports parent. mixture of amusement and confusion; you wonder if he’s joking…you say gently, “Yeah, but… the kids are only SIX.” You hope you see some sense of logic enter the mind of this guy, but NOPE: you’ve met the Early Achiever. He (or she) is the guy (or gal) that didn’t make the cut in high school, or made the team but didn’t do anything extraordinary. He has ‘it’ all figured out. “It” is the reason why he/ she didn’t make the team and usually heavily discounts an absence of natural athletic ability. And he is still bitter about it. On any given day his complaints are like a Chinese menu of excuses and the blame will fall squarely on the coaches, the athletic organization, or the mom who organizes the snacks. This guy may never graduate to full-fledged screaming in the stands because his kid will get sick of the constant grumbling and give up sports for something that will not attract the glare of parental attention, like Accounting. The Tennis Mom This sports parent almost exclusively appears on girls’ tennis teams. They are close cousins to their northern species, The Figure Skating Mom. They themselves typically belong to tennis clubs and are :: 16 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor active participants in the sport. They are rarely seen out of their own jaunty tennis apparel, and are always well groomed. They have an overwhelming need to take over the tennis program and turn it into a junior version of the country club. They have somehow forgotten that parental participation shouldn’t extend beyond the checkbook and minivan. Some ban their daughter’s boyfriend from attending matches because “it’s distracting”. Their daughter’s seed on the team is inversely proportional to their mood. If another girl challenges their daughter for their spot on the ladder, they get so fiercely protective they make Tiger Mothers look like pussycats. They demand a buffet at each tennis match that typically includes the following list of snacks: “A sweet, a salty, Gatorade, bottled water, sandwiches, 7-layer Mexican dip” which is I believe more food than is needed for all participants in all 27 stages of the Tour de France. When challenged on the need for a catered affair, they will icily respond “IT’S TRADITION”. Do not – under any circumstances – reply “So is rampant obesity.” Jaunty tennis attire is not appropriate wear for a rumble. The Soccer Mom Hasn’t this one been done to death? Yeah, I think so. The Lemon This parent is pretty bitter. A close relative of the early achiever, this parent’s child somehow manages to stay with the sport. The child can be gifted or not, a starter or not. The complaints aren’t usually about the performance of his/ her child but about other kids out there, usually those that are better/faster/ stronger. There is an inherent need to chip away at a performance. The amount of kid-bashing that goes on would make a Child Beauty Pageant Mother proud. Anything is fair game: their equipment, perceived dedication at practice, performance on game days, their ethnicity, shoe color, parents’ professions, suspected mental defects. They often accuse other players of cheating. You can spot these people from afar by simply looking for a guy who is surrounded by other parents squirming to get away. One of my son’s plays the cello, and I tried to imagine a couple of parents engaging in this behavior at an audition. This is how I imagine it to go: Parent A: Did you see Billy? Parent B: Yeah. You know he’s going to get the first chair, he’s so good. Parent A: Pfft. I know, pathetic. Do you know his private instructor? NOT EVEN EUROPEAN. Parent B: Ok, but… Parent A: And his parents? They have the orchestra director WRAPPED AROUND THEIR FINGER. He gets to leave early because of his private lessons. Parent B: Well, yeah, but the kid is nearly a prodigy, they’re saying “Julliard” Parent A: With that instrument? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. He doesn’t even have a BELGIAN BRIDGE. Parent B: Well the music he plays, it’s so beautiful. Parent A: WHO GIVES A CRAP ABOUT THE MUSIC? You get my drift. The Thief When I was growing up, there were these two girls – a year apart in age who were incredibly gifted runners. Ridiculously so. They were a year apart and were breaking national age-group records in middle school. Their father was beyond intense. I mentioned him to my dad a few weeks ago and he replied “He was a monster”. If the girls didn’t run the time he demanded he was known to hurl empty soda cans at them and scream at the top of his lungs. I’m not sure if the girls ran out of fear or the need to please but by the time they were seniors in high school these girls who had competed at the national level were washed up, burned out, barely able to win a local meet and rebelling hard against their dictatorial dad. I competed against these girls and despite their handing me my rump in every single meet, I really felt sorry for them. I’d see them out on training runs and there was no joy in their face. They’d be out there pounding the miles with this look of – I don’t know – maybe, uncontained fury. I always wonder what happened to them. I couldn’t imagine running with that weight of my parents expectations on my shoulders. I used “Mr. G” as an example of the over-the-top parent, and we’ve all seen them out there. Their kid isn’t necessarily a national caliber athlete – that is wholly immaterial. The deal is this: they’ve stolen the dream from their kid. Whatever fun their child had is long gone and has been replaced by the expectation to perform at a certain level for the benefit of the parent. Somehow the term “extracurricular activity” is lost in the equation. They morph from reasonable people to thinking the balance of the earth rests in the outcome of the sporting event. Somehow their entire ego is wrapped up in it, that if their child (or child’s team) fails, they have failed, they lose too. They’ve forgotten the meaning of the word ‘spectator’. I witnessed perhaps the worst example of this at a lacrosse game this past spring when a father was thrown out of the facility for verbally harassing and threatening the referee. I watched this man – who is probably a pretty reasonable guy – spin up and out of control the further his son’s team fell behind. His intermittent shouts turned into a full-throttled barrage of insults at perceived missed calls, accusations of favoritism and finally – the coup de grace – threatening bodily harm on the ref. Finally – after 30 minutes of the Continued on page 22 ➥ :: 17 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor FREE One Day Guest Pass Try out our facility for a day at no cost. Call for details (804)-330-2222 *Not valid on holidays. • Fitness • Group Exercise Classes • Aquatics • Tennis • Basketball • Racquetball • Café • Pro Shop • Massage • Waterpark • Kids Programs 10800 Center View Drive • Richmond, Virginia 23235 (804)-330-2222 • (804)-330-2247 (fax) www.macrichmond.com • facebook.com/macrichmond :: 18 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor 50 Ways to Feed Your Lover by Jenna Weaver jennaweave.blogspot.com Nothing beats a hot, cheesy pizza on game day. Its the perfect food to share with somebody while watching your favorite team on cable, or grabbing a slice from the concessions at the stadium. Easy Pizza Dough Recipe (serves about 4) ✽ 1-1/4 cup hot tap water ✽ 1 packet of active dry yeast ✽ 3 cups bread flour ✽ 1 teaspoon salt ✽ 1 tablespoon white sugar ✽ 2 tablespoons Olive oil ✽ 1 teaspoon garlic salt or any other seasonings of your choice (I sometimes like to add dried Italian herbs) Pre-heat oven to 425º. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in the hot tap water and let stand for around 5 minutes. In another large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, garlic salt, and olive oil. Mix with spoon. Combine with yeast mixture and mix until well blended and dough is tacky. (It should pull away from sides of bowl) Cover and let rise until volume has doubled, this will take around 3040 minutes. Turn dough onto greased cookie sheet, pan, or pizza stone. Press down and stretch out the dough with the back of a spoon or your finger tips to form the desired shape on pan. (If dough is too sticky to work with, sprinkle a little more flour on top.) Top with your preferred toppings and sauce. Bake in preheated oven until crust is golden brown, around 20 minutes. Try out new toppings and combinations. My personal favorite is some combination of salami, pineapple, mushroom, and onion. The possibilities are endless when it comes to topping your own pizza! :: 19 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com Auto • Home • Business • Life facebook.com/robiouscorridor Exit Laughing: “Football Mom for Dummies” by Michele Dixon My future as a Football Mom was sealed when my son was 6 months old. The burden of carting Thomas, a grinning pudge-ball, around on my hip during a Fourth of July party was wearing me down so I handed him off to my cousin, Brian. A graduate of an NCAA Division II school where he’d played both football and baseball, Brian is a gentle giant with a recruiter’s eye. He hefted Thomas up and down a couple of times to gauge his size, looked me dead in the eye and said, “Shelly, if you let this kid play soccer I will kill you.” Football was scary to me so I encouraged Tom to try other sports. Ignoring Brian’s threat, Tom played soccer in 1st grade. He lost all enthusiasm for the sport shortly after I kicked a soccer ball straight into his “stuff”, as he put it at the time. We tried basketball in 5th grade. Tom, stocky and short (then), excelled at lumbering up and down the court, displayed the ball-handling skills of a cinder block, and assumed the admirable position of “Space Heater”. Three months after the basketball debacle, Tom announced that he wanted to play football. I was horrified; Jim, Tom’s step-dad, was triumphant. He shot every one of my Football Mom concerns out of the sky with constant Football Dad propaganda. I heard “he’s not going to get hurt,” and “football will be the best thing for him,” so many times that it wore me out. I filled out the Weaver AA form and wrote a check. Now, the things that I don’t know about the sport of football would choke a horse. I don’t care about the technicalities and a playbook looks like hieroglyphics to me. I do care, deeply, about retaining my sanity and I love my kid to bits so what I have learned, firsthand and from other Football Moms, may serve as a reference for the uninitiated. I give you my perspective, a “Football Mom for Dummies”, if you will. Football Players Stink There is no odor more pungent than that of a football player immediately after a hot, humid August practice. The smell will drive you backwards, away from your precious child. And, when said precious child tells you that he’s offered a ride home to three other players, you will find yourself in hell’s foyer. The only way to survive is by rolling down all the windows and hanging your head out. All the way home. Care and Feeding of the Football Player Shortly after Tom became serious about football, his body became serious about growing. Thomas has grown so much, so fast over the past 2 years that I once asked him if he could feel it – it’s got to hurt. And he’s not done yet – the only real injury that we’ve faced was when he aggravated his growth plates last season. I’d rather he still had baby teeth than active growth plates. He’s thrilled; I’m horrified at the thought of living with the Incredible Hulk and simply try not to make him so angry that he turns green and bursts out of his clothes. Jeans that fit him yesterday won’t fit him next month so I just let him wear shorts all the time. Lesson learned. If your football player is like mine, he’ll chart his growth all over your house. Buy a fat gum eraser from an art supply store – they’re the best at erasing all the I’mmeasuring-myself-again pencil marks from your doorframes. Don’t repaint your ceilings until you can either convince him that he doesn’t need to see if he can touch them today or he actually grows tired of being able to palm the damn things. Don’t be embarrassed when your Now, the things that I don’t know about the sport of football would choke a horse. I don’t care about the technicalities and a playbook looks like hieroglyphics to me. friends come over – they’re likely to be football moms, too; they understand. A rapidly expanding kid will teach you this: there is Not Enough Food in the World. Mealtimes now occur on a revolving 45-minute cycle and, thankfully, Tom can cook most of them for himself. My job is to foot the bill, stock the pantry and the fridge, and keep my hands away from his mouth. Note that football players can’t tell the difference between real Oreos and the 100-count-pack-for-a-dollar icky store-brand cookies as they never let food sit on their tongues long enough for flavors to register. This fact is particularly handy because: His Teammates are Your Kids, Too They’re called a Team for a reason – you will never find a football player by himself. Resign yourself to a house full of teenage boys who can recite the contents and chronology of every item in your pantry. Don’t be surprised when you find yourself at Kroger, purchasing Twinkies for Luc, Salt & Pepper potato chips for Sean, and the ingredients for Coca Cola barbecue sauce to slather on chicken for Peyton. Buy another chicken. Pack extra granola bars in your player’s Continued on next page ➥ :: 20 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor mid-practice meal because big, scary Kaash once shook him down and your growing boy needs more than dirt and hose water during a sweltering August workout. Learn that Kaash is actually a teddy bear and use the extra granola bars to bust his chops a little. The benefits of the team mentality are numerous. If they’re at your house, you can see what they’re up to – if you dare to look. If they’re not at your house, rest assured that one of their other subMoms has an eye on them. Don’t call the police when you haven’t seen one of the boys for a week but don’t be surprised to find that you miss him terribly. Know that they’re good kids, they have each other’s backs and they will police each other, when necessary. They’re always happy to see you, are quick to give you a hug and they’ll make you laugh. You will end up taking them with you on family vacations. Aside from having to feed it, all that size and strength isn’t so bad to have around. Football players will lend a hand if you need to move a heavy piece of furniture. When you’re faced with a really messy project, you’ll have a pre-built team of burly young men who know how to work together and will do so willingly. It will cost you 2 coolers of Gatorade and 8 feet of Jersey Mike’s subs and the smartass in the bunch will tease you about how many dry, brown Christmas trees were in the pile, but all those dead shrubs and branches and crap from your side yard will be gone and you’ll have learned some colorful new words and phrases. Nicknames are Forever Some of the more colorful things that you will learn are the names that football players call each other. Those names will stick. Forever. Do not try to figure out why your kid got that particular nickname unless it’s something obvious or you wish you’d thought of it yourself. Don’t feel bad when you start calling your son by his football name as you can morph that nickname into a term of endearment by, say, adding a cute little suffix to the original name. Hence, I now call my son Titzilla, Titster, Titzenstein, Tits-a-roni, Titso…you get the picture. But try not to yell his nickname during a game. Which brings me to: Game Day Etiquette You will be excited. You will yell and cheer. Your vocalized aggression will amaze you. Remember how many hours you spent instructing your child to “play nice”? It is, now, perfectly acceptable for you to yell, “Hit him!” You will be uncomfortable, not because you’ve recognized a hidden tendency toward violence but because the bleachers were designed to anesthetize all the nerve endings in your butt by the middle of the first quarter. Buy a seat cushion, preferably from the team’s merchandise table. Buy a teamlogo blanket at the beginning of the season because, while you’re sweating in September, you’ll be freezing in November. Icy cold, hard metal bleachers are the #1 cause of football mom frostbite butt. By the time you thaw out all the good logo blankets will be gone and you’ll look like a dork wrapped in some ratty old thing from your linen closet. Do NOT use a leopard print Snuggie unless you want to embarrass the hell out of your son. Do NOT bring pom poms to high school games – they were fun during rec league but nobody’s going to be looking at your pom poms now because they’re all busy looking at the girls who actually look good shaking pom poms. Root for your team, despise the opposing team, and buy lots of merchandise and junk food from the concession stand. Know, too, that you’ll have to volunteer some time to support the team. Jim tells me that the Chain Gang is the best job because there is, I guess, some prestige in standing on the field, holding a stick and wearing an orange vest. I wouldn’t know; I refuse to wear that color, ever, and women are rarely chosen for the Chain Gang. Perhaps the guy who picks the Chain Gang thinks that women, while skilled enough to swirl a wooden spoon around a pot on a stove, aren’t talented enough to hold a stick still and upright for 15 seconds. Whatever. Aim for the Concession Stand – it requires more skill. Recognize this phenomenon, though: people can stand in line for 10 minutes, watching the action inside the stand, reading the menus tacked up everywhere, and checking out what everyone else is buying. But, as soon as you say, “What can I get for you?” they’ll either draw a blank or ask for something that you don’t have. This is a good time to harvest the patience sowed by your kids asking “Why?” so often that you made up illogical answers. Stay poised when helping a customer understand that “blue” is not in the list of “red, yellow, and orange” Gatorade now, nor was it in the list the first three times you told him. Smile and apologize for not offering surf and turf on the concession stand menu. Display your grace at all times – unless it’s Homecoming and you’re working the half-time shift, when it’s perfectly acceptable to belch and say, “I just ate the last one.” The Highlight Reel Your football player will recap every play of every game. Lie through your teeth and tell him that you saw it. Don’t try to use football slang; if you call it a pancake, he’ll tell you it was a waffle and your lie will be exposed. Just shut up and listen…and lie. Hall of Fame Honor the people who have made a huge difference in his life: his coaches. You don’t have to like them but you do Continued on page 22 ➥ :: 21 :: RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor Continued from page 17 "Field of Dreams" ➥ panning to a shot of you, the weeping parent who drove him 2 HOURS A DAY TO PRACTICE! WHAT DEDICATION TO THE CHILD! Cue the sappy music… STOP!!!! STOP IT RIGHT NOW. I know, it’s hard, but there is a cure. Be the ride, the checkbook, the reasonable cheerleader. Let the coaches teach them a bit about life using the field of play as the chalkboard. Let their teams be THEIR TEAMS; you can cry and cheer for them, not with them, because you are – I’m sorry – an outsider. Back off, loosen the apron strings, and if you’re sitting on the side lines, for heaven’s sake put away your whistle. Most importantly recognize your kid’s dream as theirs and theirs alone. They should have sole dominion over them, they are entitled to it. And you’ll see that in play – not in sleep as Shakespeare suggests – what dreams may come. And if you can’t do that, then bring a big roll of duct tape. screaming (during which a substantial gap opened up between him and the next person) – the ref threw a yellow flag for an offense committed off the field of play. He motioned for the coach, met him mid-field and said – very loudly – “I want THAT MAN OUT OF THIS FACILITY NOW!” The man threw his hands up in the air and stomped away before he could be escorted out. I felt only pity for his son, who was left to finish playing the game. I wondered how he managed to play with the humiliatingly heavy cloak of his father’s public shame draped squarely on his padded shoulders. For these people, there is only one cure: DUCT TAPE. As parents, we need to recognize that our child’s best might not be THE BEST. And while we may dream of our son or daughter reaching the highest pinnacle of sport, of imagining them standing on the top podium, belting out the Star Spangled Banner, the camera Continued from page 21 “Football Mom for Dummies” ➥ have to respect them. Appreciate the time and effort that they expend teaching your child the value gained from hard work, how to persevere in the face of adversity, and the nobility in winning – or losing – when the players respect the team and the game. We were blessed with terrific rec league coaches and they have my undying gratitude. I am always thrilled to hear Tom address them as “Coach”, a point of pride for himself as well as for them. It is my heartfelt wish that your son’s football experience is as overwhelmingly positive as ours has been. Good coaches will make that happen. I love you guys; you know who you are. Go Weaver! My family is immersed in football. It is Tom’s love, his passion, his talent and his guide. Tom would like it to be his future; I want whatever makes him the happiest, but, hey, I’m just his mom. Go Midlo! Pizzeria & Restaurant 3730 Winterfield Drive (Robious Rd. and Winterfield Dr.) 794 - 5350 New Website Coming Soon! Sunday & Monday Nightly Specials ½ Price Wine Bottles Dine-In Only Tuesday Wednesday Thursday ½ Price Pizza (Toppings regular price) Dine-In or Take-Out Pasta Night $10 Per Person (Choose from Chef Selections) Dine-In or Take-Out Date Night $50 Per Couple (3 Course Meal & Bottle of Wine) Dine-In Only 2 Large 2-Topping Pizzas only $20.00 RobiOus Corridor :: August/september 2011 Two Can Dine for $19.95 Choose from: Lasagna, Spaghetti w/ Meatballs, Penne Ragu, Tortellini (meat or cheese) with Marinara Sauce or Fettucini Alfredo (Choice of 2 with Large House : : Salad 2 2 : :to Share) www.robiouscorridor.com facebook.com/robiouscorridor home. e m o c I n e h w l fu r e ond “The house smells w just shine. s th a b d n a n e h c it the kids like it! 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