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Messages - SleepFighter

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1
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 21, 2024, 10:49:31 AM »
Looks cool. Now you get to add video editing and production to your list of duties!


2
Kansas State Football / Re: Nebraska's struggle for relevance.
« on: March 20, 2024, 02:31:26 PM »
I think a very large part of it is the absolute rough ridin' shitshow the Nebraska BOR has made of the state academic institutions. There's a reason the president, chancellor, and provost all got the eff out. the BOR is supposed to name a priority candidate for the pres. job tomorrow. You can rest assured it'll be some shithead (unless they've learned their lesson).

I read that people think he was making reference to the DEI stuff but he's going to Texas and Texas A&M who will almost certainly cut DEI as well. Apparently there's talk within college athletics that states who are explicit in eliminating DEI programs will have some difficulties with recruiting. I have serious doubts about that.

It's not "almost certainly". Texas is one of the states that has made DEI at public universities against the law. I would say more, but it would Pit the hell up out of this thread.

3
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 20, 2024, 10:54:40 AM »
Finally, we are in the home stretch for competitive little kid sports in my household. Going to California this weekend for a USA Water Polo event, Texas in April, then back to California in June and July.

Then maybe water polo in college? Depends on where she gets accepted but a couple schools have indicated spots on the varsity teams if admitted. Miserable stuff, just send your kids to KU or K-State and do not try to get recruited in an obscure sport or go to a school with competitive admissions.

Ha, I know at least 3-4 dudes from college that played football right out of high school, but ended up at KSU after a year. Just couldn't give up the dream which I totally get, but they were apparently pretty jealous of their HS buds partying and hanging out while they were back to being a nobody on a college team.

my daughter only considered schools that she would consider w/o polo. Although some she eliminated when she realized there wouldn't be a spot for her on the team and/or they brought on girls she hated. (I mean these girls are awful)

My son was in a fairly similar position, but in men's soccer. There are clearly more men's soccer programs than women's water polo programs, but it's still pretty tough. 

For context, despite being an incredibly deep area for soccer talent, Texas has only four D1 men's soccer schools, and three of them are places most kids I know don't want to go (Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, and UT Rio Grande Valley, with SMU being the "good one"). The D2 and D3 options in Texas and the surrounding states are slim as well. The Venn diagram of schools with the right academics, geography, and athletics that fit your kid can be very small. Coaches that my kid was contacting were more or less not getting back to him, and schools that reached out to him were schools that he had no interest in for one reason or another.

As of 6 months ago, I thought my kid was going to end up at a big public school, as he had pretty much given up on the recruiting process. But before a a national showcase that he attended last October he contacted one school that he was interested in attending, just to see. They had a coach come out to watch him, and he liked what he saw, and things went really fast from there.

My kid got admitted, started talking to one of the assistants regularly, went on a visit where he stayed with some of the players and went to a camp, and then got an offer.

He knows a fair number of guys that have gone on to play college soccer, some have hated it, and some have loved it. I'm clearly hoping he falls into the latter category.

contacting coaches is the worst. Like, you're a teenage girl emailing a middle aged guy who will either ignore you or tell you that you aren't good enough at the thing you love most. On top of other college rejections. She was in communication with coaches at her top choice academic school and they were very communicative and supportive but wouldn't commit to admission support and she ended up applying early and getting rejected, but one of her best friends in water polo got admitted. It really shitty! I will say though that one coach that reached out to her separately tried to recruit her but she wasn't interested and he offered to refer her to other coaches because he liked her and he was a nice guy! And he did! Still uncommitted and waiting on a few more admissions decisions.

The weekend my son made his visit, he was one of 7 kids that got there a few days before a one day camp that had 30 kids show up. One of the other 7 kids was a friend of his from his club team. That kid was in the same spot as my son, either this situation was going to work out, or he wasn't going to play soccer in college. My son got the offer, but that kid didn't. So even getting the offer that he wanted wasn't without mixed emotions.

It is so incredibly tough, with so much heartache along the way. The good news is that it only takes one school for it to work out. I really hope it works out for your daughter.


4
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 20, 2024, 10:07:49 AM »
Finally, we are in the home stretch for competitive little kid sports in my household. Going to California this weekend for a USA Water Polo event, Texas in April, then back to California in June and July.

Then maybe water polo in college? Depends on where she gets accepted but a couple schools have indicated spots on the varsity teams if admitted. Miserable stuff, just send your kids to KU or K-State and do not try to get recruited in an obscure sport or go to a school with competitive admissions.

Ha, I know at least 3-4 dudes from college that played football right out of high school, but ended up at KSU after a year. Just couldn't give up the dream which I totally get, but they were apparently pretty jealous of their HS buds partying and hanging out while they were back to being a nobody on a college team.

my daughter only considered schools that she would consider w/o polo. Although some she eliminated when she realized there wouldn't be a spot for her on the team and/or they brought on girls she hated. (I mean these girls are awful)

My son was in a fairly similar position, but in men's soccer. There are clearly more men's soccer programs than women's water polo programs, but it's still pretty tough. 

For context, despite being an incredibly deep area for soccer talent, Texas has only four D1 men's soccer schools, and three of them are places most kids I know don't want to go (Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, and UT Rio Grande Valley, with SMU being the "good one"). The D2 and D3 options in Texas and the surrounding states are slim as well. The Venn diagram of schools with the right academics, geography, and athletics that fit your kid can be very small. Coaches that my kid was contacting were more or less not getting back to him, and schools that reached out to him were schools that he had no interest in for one reason or another.

As of 6 months ago, I thought my kid was going to end up at a big public school, as he had pretty much given up on the recruiting process. But before a a national showcase that he attended last October he contacted one school that he was interested in attending, just to see. They had a coach come out to watch him, and he liked what he saw, and things went really fast from there.

My kid got admitted, started talking to one of the assistants regularly, went on a visit where he stayed with some of the players and went to a camp, and then got an offer.

He knows a fair number of guys that have gone on to play college soccer, some have hated it, and some have loved it. I'm clearly hoping he falls into the latter category.

5
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 13, 2024, 04:08:58 PM »
There's a water polo team at my kids' high school, and one of my kids went to some practices. But yeah, apparently there's like one or two good players on it, and everyone else is terrible.

6
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 13, 2024, 04:01:47 PM »
Football he loves because it’s most of his school friends. We put together a feeder tackle football team for our HS. I coach it with some other guys and it’s fun as hell.

one interesting thing about this discussion I hadn't thought about is how football is one of the last remaining sports that still feels driven at the community level because clubs/private coaches haven't been able to completely take over the high level competition. It might be the last sport in the US where high school competition really means anything when it comes to playing at the next level.

hockey

There's actually quite a bit of hockey in Texas, but none of it is played in high schools.

How many texas hockey players play at the next level?

I honestly don't know, but I'm guessing more than you would think.

7
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 13, 2024, 03:52:30 PM »
Football he loves because it’s most of his school friends. We put together a feeder tackle football team for our HS. I coach it with some other guys and it’s fun as hell.

one interesting thing about this discussion I hadn't thought about is how football is one of the last remaining sports that still feels driven at the community level because clubs/private coaches haven't been able to completely take over the high level competition. It might be the last sport in the US where high school competition really means anything when it comes to playing at the next level.

hockey

There's actually quite a bit of hockey in Texas, but none of it is played in high schools.

8
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 13, 2024, 02:58:36 PM »
Football he loves because it’s most of his school friends. We put together a feeder tackle football team for our HS. I coach it with some other guys and it’s fun as hell.

one interesting thing about this discussion I hadn't thought about is how football is one of the last remaining sports that still feels driven at the community level because clubs/private coaches haven't been able to completely take over the high level competition. It might be the last sport in the US where high school competition really means anything when it comes to playing at the next level.

This is something that is 100% true.

It's also true that for a lot of kids that high school competition can be a lot more fun, and is much more visible to their peers.

My oldest kid just committed to play D2 soccer. Every single kid on the that roster either played in the MLSNext, ECNL (the two best national youth club soccer leagues in the country), or they're an international student.

Those high level club teams are put together from relatively large geographical areas, meaning that the players are likely not hanging out with each other outside of practice/games.

The opposite is true in high school. It makes those club teams feel like groups of mercenaries, while high school teams feel a lot more tightly knit.

Added to that, more or less no one that isn't directly related to the players goes to or cares about those club games. However, while it doesn't have anywhere close to the same interest as football, or even high school basketball, you will see classmates show up to cheer on the team in high school.

It stinks that there isn't more correlation between what feels the most rewarding and what you need to do if you want to keep playing after high school.

9
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 13, 2024, 09:25:41 AM »


In general I think travel coaches and training centers scare parents into the idea that early specialization is necessary to keep them from being "left behind" when in fact it is probably actually detrimental to most kids if you care about things like burnout and injury

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658407/#:~:text=Results%3A,sports%20at%20a%20young%20age.

This is all true, but the problem is that baseball has evolved to play on these competitive teams or don't play baseball. My kid whipped ass in summer and fall rec leagues with his pals. As they got a bit older, those teams dissolve and fewer of his pals played baseball anymore. He was good enough to make a "competitive" team so he's still playing, but I know he'd rather be just playing league or whatever with a bunch of his buddies. Thankfully our coach is the best and doesn't go full on and encourages everyone to play other sports, but I know Lil SF doesn't like it as much as he did in the past. I was talking to a dad a year or so ago and he said his kid was on a team that does tryouts and cuts every year. Its a constant shuffle. I asked him if that was any fun at all and he basically said both he and his kid hate it, but he knows the kids and doesn't want to go to a random team so its that or don't play baseball anymore and he likes playing baseball.

Seems like a pretty good argument for not playing baseball

The problem is that this isn't just true of baseball.

Rec soccer barely exists above u8 or u9 around here, because so many players join various "Jr. Academies". After the Jr. Academies age out after U10, the rec teams have all been hollowed out. There has been a shift to younger Jr. Academy leagues around here since my oldest (17) started playing.

When my oldest was littler there were several u9 rec teams that had the players and coaches to create an environment that was fun, but at the same time at a high enough level for kids to be able to improve while playing in those games.

That just didn't exist by the time that my youngest came around. After like u5 or u6, there were fewer teams, and the teams that did exist were less organized and they were less likely to have the one or two "good" (by that I pretty much mean kids that really wanted to play) players that a team needed to make games not be ridiculously lop-sided. It's no fun for anyone when you as a coach are trying to come up with ways for your five year old kids to not score goals, but that's what was happening.

The only solution is for a bunch of parents to decide at the same time to keep their kids in rec longer. But that also requires that more parents sign up to coach. Which is a whole other problem.

10
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 12, 2024, 12:28:12 PM »
I've seen a lot of youth baseball and I don't think I've seen a lot of plucky try hards out perform the natural athletes.

uhhhh, not sure what kind of youth baseball you are watching. the best athlete on our baseball team is probably our worst player. similar situation to the other teams in our club. we did take him on because he's an elite football player and fast AF and is a very hard worker. I think we can mold him into something but it'll take awhile. hitting a baseball, fielding a hard ground ball, etc. are hard AF and being really fast and strong, while definitely helpful, don't get you the majority of the way there. it's a game of repetitions. unless you believe Dominicans are just the greatest natural athletes on the planet.

Yep, doesn't matter how good of an athlete you are, you have to see a bunch of pitches to be a good hitter. Sure there are "naturals", but its just too hard and requires live pitches and swings especially as they get older. The main problem is that baseball can be boring AF for young kids so lots of kids wash out early. I love baseball, but I totally get it that hitting once every 3 innings and maybe standing out there for 2 hours and having one ball hit to you isn't that fun for a 10 year old. I loved the crap out of it, but I know Lil SF doesn't like it as much as I do and will probably wash out soon, which makes me sad.

Baseball was by far the game I was best at, and I was looking forward to coaching it. All three of mine started early in soccer, and then by the time I wanted to put them in baseball, they all said no thanks. Like Stupid Fitz said, too much standing around for them.

11
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: March 12, 2024, 11:52:46 AM »
The best thing about baseball is that it shifts into slow-pitch softball when you get old, and you can play that until you're stupid old.

12
Kansas State Football / Re: Hand sign
« on: January 06, 2023, 10:59:45 AM »
The last Bob Stoops DC year, (1995) when we ended the season #1 in total defense, and posted three consecutive shutouts was the first time I remember it getting thrown up.

13
Kansas State Football / Re: politics of football (ban that crap)
« on: January 06, 2023, 10:57:35 AM »
Also one other thing about rugby, football, and collisions, I'm fairly certain that research shows most injuries occur at the line of scrimmage. The wide receiver or running back getting blown up is certainly eye catching but that happens what maybe 3-4 times a game, at the very most?

We may be thinking of different sets of statistics, but certainly the most sub-concussive head impacts (the main ingredient to CTE) occur on the line. I have never seen anything indicating that the majority of injuries total occur there, but it wouldn't surprise me, if for no other reason than that is where the greatest concentration of players are at any given time.

14
I can't believe how similar the USMNT is to youth soccer.

15
Kansas State Football / Re: New Uniforms Master Thread
« on: September 14, 2022, 09:26:23 AM »
My annual Tom is old af helmet rant.

On the 40th anniversary of our first bowl game the AD still refuses to roll out the best pre powercat helmet in our history shown below.


Tom


Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
Those primer gray helmets were awful.
Yeah....I'm sure Tom has some good memories associated with that one year but the actual helmet looks like Puke

I'm on team Tom.

17
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: January 07, 2022, 11:38:46 AM »
I mean, I've done the team accountant thing before, but I don't think you want one of my examples, because the last time I did it, lack of payment ended up with me subsidizing the team to the tune of a couple hundred bucks on top of my time.

I would therefore suggest having a heavy willing to use your new bat on kneecaps if required.

18
Kansas State Football / Re: Glasses of Tears
« on: November 16, 2021, 10:08:13 AM »
Trying to win the game is an entirely different thing than not trying to win the game.

You know what else will get a Texas coach fired?

Losing to Kansas.

19
Instead of OU losing to an Iowa State or K-State once a year, they'll lose to a Mississippi state or a Kentucky 2 times a year, including getting pounded by Alabama and Georgia. 8-4 is their new future. Trust!

aTm has averaged 8-4 since joining the SEC, I think OU will do better!

They can do better. Nebraska was doing better than that under Pelini. The fans still got pissed and they canned him. This seems like a real possibility for OU.

20
Kansas State Football / Re: K-State Football - Smart Talk
« on: September 22, 2021, 03:47:36 PM »
I'd chew my arm off for a good Quincy Morgan-esque jailbreak screen.

21
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: September 22, 2021, 12:05:42 PM »
I'm pretty sure I've criticized youth football coaching as a factor in concussions on this blog, and there's definitely been talk of baseball coaches ruining the throwing arms of kids from overuse.

But I definitely don't know cheer and will defer to people who know more.

It seems obvious to me that cheer can be dangerous relative to other sports, and that poor coaching can make injuries more likely in an already hazardous activity.

22
Essentially Flyertalk / Re: TV buying help thread
« on: September 22, 2021, 10:35:12 AM »
I have an LG CX, and it is by far the best TV I have ever owned. It sucks that you are having problems with yours. :(

23
Essentially Flyertalk / Re: Best thing you've bought recently
« on: September 22, 2021, 10:31:23 AM »
https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/46396025432

I've had gas chainsaws in the past and they were always a pain to get started.  This thing is perfect for my needs.  I'm not felling any large trees, just mostly routine tree trimming, or disposing of fallen limbs and stuff like that.  But so far it seems this thing wouldn't have much trouble with larger jobs as well.  After my initial hesitancy I've been buying more and more electric outdoor tools including a string trimmer, hedge trimmer and blower.  I love them all and I don't foresee ever going back to gas unless I get a much larger property that requires longer run times.  I bought a push mower last year and now I wish I'd had the balls to go electric on that too.

Nice, i've started doing this too. I should have stuck with the same brand though. I have the black and decker chainsaw and small weed whacker. The chainsaw is great but the whacker is just ok. They both use the same batteries though, so that's nice. I also have a Stihl leaf blower and it is incred. Stihl is pricey, but this thing blows the concrete off my patio. I'm considering the Ryiobi riding mower. Its a pretty big investment though. I've heard its great, but the issue is there aren't a lot of places that work on them when you do have an issue.

Yep I have the same issue.  My weed whacker, blower and electric drill are all 20v craftsman that use the same battery.  My hedge trimmer is a Kobalt and now my chainsaw is a Ryobi.  I bought the Ryobi because I really wanted a 14 inch and the Craftsman electric saws didn't get great reviews.  Kobalt hedge trimmer was a gift.  It's nice but I would have bought a 20v Craftsman hedge trimmer if given the choice.

I got an EGO battery powered lawn mower a while back, and I absolutely love the thing. Never any problems starting it, you can use the self-propelling motor without turning on the blade motor. It's relatively quiet. It has plenty of power. No need to worry about winterizing it, or maintenance. We have 1/3 acre and it can mow the yard on a single charge.


24
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: September 22, 2021, 10:22:40 AM »
While we're discussing this, it's amazing how little middle school administrators care about middle school sports. Club sports definitely go harder. My daughter has had back to back cross country meets cancelled on total bullshit. Last Thursday she couldn't run because their bus was cancelled. They didn't give parents the option of taking our own kids to the meet. Yesterday the meet was cancelled by the host school because of a thunderstorm watch. Not thunder, not rain, not a thunderstorm warning, just a watch. It ended up raining for 10 minutes, an hour and a half before the meet was scheduled to start. The Ames coaches didn't practice after the cancellation.

crap is frustrating.

Unsurprisingly, middle school football here in Texas gets taken pretty seriously. Maybe volleyball too (I don't have any girls, so I'm not sure). Middle school basketball was an okay, but not great experience for my kid. And middle school soccer is an absolute utter complete joke in our district.

25
Other Sports (Tiger's Back) / Re: competitive little kid sports
« on: September 22, 2021, 10:16:21 AM »
We have three kids. At the beginning of school/sports season a year ago we pulled all of them out of basically everything due to COVID concerns. My dad lives close by, he's a cancer survivor, and we're the only people that he knows within like a 500 mile radius, so we were being extra cautious.

Our younger two were okay with everything, and sort of relished the ridiculous amount of time that they now had to play video games (which drove me crazy, a year on after the vaccine we have them back in activities again). The oldest one, without soccer, was absolutely despondent. After about a month and a half after consulting with our pediatrician we decided to let him go back to playing. The change in his demeanor was immediate and striking. We could actually be around him again.

All that is to say is that there are no obviously correct answers. There are risks and costs to all of this, both in doing some of these things, but in not doing them as well.

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