Dear Elite – Page 2 – The Raging Elitist

Protected: Recess

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Chewing Gum

Danyelle has gotten the kids addicted to taking evening walks in the neighborhood. She did it with chewing gum. At the mention of walking the dog after dinner, they each perk up and glide over to the little shelf with its stash of Orbit and Hubba Bubba and Trident. They do this almost methodically, as…
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Mr. Big Stuff

Early mornings, crosstown traffic, carpool lines – the start of the school year gives rise to a particular kind of irritation. The kids’ school is eager to assert its authority over me, sending an onslaught of instructions-laden emails, while on the swim team, the start of whose season coincides with the beginning of the school…
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Cartter is Lindsay Lohan?

Cartter’s only been playing guitar for a few months, and his early competence has been stunning. He already has a repertoire of a dozen or so songs, a couple of which he composed himself, the rest simple numbers by the likes of The White Stripes, Green Day, and Nirvana. He’s devoted to his craft. He’s…
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End of Summer Limbo

The boys’ summer break is almost over, and the family’s lack of routine has gotten to the point that Cartter and Scotty can’t remember what day it is anymore. They got up early on a Saturday and claimed they thought it was the first day of school. Another time we were making plans to go…
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Whiskers

When the kids were toddlers, they were delighted to achieve my adult male height, a feat which they accomplished by standing on benches and couches and stools while proudly grinning at me. In this way they made manhood a game, but sometimes when they were thus at eye level, their gaze would drift absently, and…
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Opinions, Stupid and Otherwise

With each reentry I’ve made into coaching, I’ve found that almost nothing I did before matters. When I was with Mount Pleasant Swim Club at the outset of my career, I had the best athletes and received a lot of recognition. High level swimmers showed up in droves. Now, starting a new team in North…
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The Summer League Coach’s Award

In the six years I spent as a summer league head coach, I never did an awards banquet. My teams had a pizza party at the end of the season, and I would stand up and congratulate all the kids and say thank you to the volunteers. It’s not that I don’t like recognizing individual…
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Summer League Championship Meet

It was the day after the summer league championship meet, and I told my dad that I thought no other film captures the essence of youth sports better than Bad News Bears. The original 1976 version starring Walter Matthau is both surreal in its depiction of poor sportsmanship and truthful in its portrayal of the…
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The Cost of Winning

There’s a light that shines from behind the young coach’s eyes that inspires confidence and belief in his swimmers; they huddle around him after warm-ups and listen intently before belting out a cheer; they utter his name with reverence when they walk the deck chatting about race plans; between their events, they stand at the…
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Category: Dear Elite