What's up in the mountains? Well....two nights ago, someone jumped out of an apartment building to his death. Why would a young man with a great future ahead of him do such a deed? Why, indeed. I said to Buddy that this is a permanent solution to a short term problem. However, not knowing what is going on in this young man's head, I cannot comment any further BUT....
I finished reading the Book "Trouble is a Gift" by Jim Cusack who founded Villa Veritas in New York. It is a rehab center that he founded with his wife Sue. The book depicts the 84 year old's life as a life long alcoholic and hell raiser. He writes about his disease, black outs, his fights, his lack of maturity, and his long road to sobriety. It gave me unique insight into the mind of an alcoholic and now I look at the population from a different perspective....so back to the student jumper...perhaps he was so inebriated that he 'blacked out'. In that case, it is a double tragedy.
On to baseball, two more pitchers have injuries....why? I'll tell you why...their training and protocols are crazy. Their fundamentals are screwed up and the guys are ruining their arms. If I remember correctly from my coaching days......
A coach is a person who teaches fundamentals and places his or her players in the best situations to maximize their effectiveness for the good of the team. My thought here is that someone does not know the basics and is hurting rather than helping these players. If we look back on the three years Buddy has been there, there has been a trail of broken arms, elbows, shoulders, and hearts as the guys cannot even toss a softball anymore.
Fortunately, the big kid has become his own advocate and knows enough about his body that he will not sell his soul for a chance on the mound. He has to do it on his terms and the coach does not like it. He is called a prima donna, yet he has battled back to mound. The coach also thought that he had elbow surgery. This is the coach....he was told a number of times that he had shoulder surgery. The kid even gave to him his rehab schedule and exercises for the shoulder. He never opened the file and never contacted the kid while he was in the hospital rehabbing. Actually, Buddy did it. He texted him about the surgery, post op, physical therapy, throwing and so on. The coach never responded to any of the texts. And so, he was quite surprised to find out that he had the shoulder surgery. When Buddy was admitted the hospital for epiglotitis, the coach did not respond to that text either. What's the deal?
I dunno, but I will tell you this...with the arms and the season's record as dismal as it is, I am sure that the coach is already aware that a division 1 school is not going to have the reputation that it is running a bad program. In fact, they want national champions. I will tell you...I will be surprised if they have a total of ten wins this season. It seems to me that many of the kids have given up.
On to work....
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