Hawkins Blogging

Dan Hawkins posted an entry on The NCAA Football Blog this week. He's a great inspirational speaker, and his approach to the game transcends football. I recommend it highly if you're up for a pump-up session, or if you just enjoy motivational speeches.

UPDATED October 14, 2006: Should I write about why I loved playing for Coach Hawk?

Allow me a bit of self-indulgence here. The reason I avidly follow Coach Hawkins, and will be a life long fan regardless of where he is coaching, is because I spent a couple of years playing for him way back at Willamette. I had just finished three frustrating years at Montana State, where I started at tailback as a true freshman, redshirted the next year, and was moved to receiver by the coaches for season 3. I wasn't happy there, for sure.

I loved football. Ever since I was a rugrat, really, I loved to play football. I grew up around it, my mom being the secretary for the Montana Grizzly coaching staff. But when I got to MSU, I ran into a coach who had a very negative philosophy and coaching style. Whereas Coach Hawkins is famous for his "Hawk Love". Hysell was famous for something else.

“Don’t fuck up.”

“Gulick, you’re a fucking idiot. You here me, Gulick? A fucking idiot.”

“Steiny, you’re not studying to be a doctor are ya? Good. Cause I sure as shit wouldn’t want you operatin’ on me.”

Those are just a few of his choice and uplifting quotes that stand out in my mind to this day. We laughed about it then, and in some ways it was funny, but really it wasn’t funny. I mean, you have nearly exclusive concentration on the negative. No matter how positive a person you are, that type of attitude and approach starts rubbing off on you. I noticed it happening to me. I wasn’t playing for fun any more. I wasn’t playing fearlessly, going for it all out. No, a little demon had crept into my brain, the little voice of fear. Fear of failure.

And eventually, the tension was too much. After three seasons of it, I was miserable, as was the rest of the team. Nobody was having fun. And the coaches pointed out the least helpful things to the team. “Don’t drop the ball.” “Don’t fumble.” “Don’t lose.” Most people playing the game have a grasp on those fundamental concepts. And of course, with the negative attitude and direction from the top, we weren’t winning many games.

At any rate, a player from Washington (Marvin or Martin Harris) brought in an article about an NAIA football team that focused entirely on having fun, cooperation, and camaraderie. And they were very successful. The article wasn't about Hawkins and WU, although he was mentioned in the article. It was about PLU, and Coach Frosty. I had never heard of the NAIA, and that was part of the appeal. No pressure, no distractions. Just college kids playing football for fun. So I called all the coaches in the conference. I wanted to get back to the roots. Playing football for the sheer joy of playing. I decided to quit MSU football.

The above picture is one of my happiest days - my last moments ever as a Bobcat. I'm with my high school teammate/role model/hero, Kelly Stensrud. The decision to leave was a good one - it allowed me to experience playing for a truly legendary coach. I didn't know that at the time, but it really worked out better than I ever dared to imagine. I remember saying, I'll smile big, and in time nobody will remember which team won the game. At the very least, I made a winning decision.

I called Coach Hawkins and asked for his spiel. He finished with, “And that’s my spiel. I hope I don’t sound like too much of used car salesman.” I was into it. I talked to Chris Prange’s mom, a high school friend who was playing for Hawk, to make sure she felt, from a mother’s perspective, the situation was positive. I knew Hawk was the coach for me the moment I stepped into his office and saw his bookshelf. Lao Tsu? A stack of self-improvement books? We talked a little about football and a little about philosophy. And I knew I was headed to WU. And I knew Hawkins wouldn't be at WU forever. He was destined for great things.

Playing for him was incredible. So positive. The change, the difference between MSU and WU was palpable. Letting go of fear, and playing all out regardless of the consequences. Not paying attention to the scoreboard. Teamwork and cooperation. Fun. Hawkins really knew how to put the fun into the tedious repetitive tasks that are necessary to improve basic skills, and stay in peak physical shape. He pumped us up with a positive approach that left us all on a good heading for success in life. He inspired all of us to get the best out of ourselves, and the best out of each other.

And he excelled where so many good coaches stumble; the hardest thing for most football coaches is staying positive during hard times. And that's where Hawkins is at his strongest. He doesn't yell, curse or point the finger. He learns from the situation, and improves upon it. That’s why there’s no worry that Colorado’s current slump will tarnish Hawkins successful reputation. There is no question that Colorado will eventually dominate under Hawkins. And even those players who are there right now, enduring all these losses, they are learning valuable, positive life lessons. I'm sure they'd be the first to tell you that.

For Hawkins, it’s not just about football. He loves football, there’s no doubt about it. But he sees beyond it. And that’s why, at least in this humble former player’s mind, he’s the greatest football coach of all time.

One Reason Why Missoula Is Awesome

Tony Hawk, inaugurating Missoula's brand new free skatepark in front of 8,000 stoked Missoulians.

Despite Burke's mellow take on the scene, Justin Figueroa, a 16-year-old skater with Hawk's tour said: “I have never seen a crowd this big at any of our events. In fact, I've never seen this many people in one place - period.”

By Figueroa's assessment, Missoula's park is one of the best he's ever experienced.

“The cradle? It's gnarly. It's insane, but it's cool. The pool? Not usually this many banks.”

“This park is definitely up there - top five for sure,” he said.

And the crowd?

“It's overwhelming,” Figueroa said. “It's amazing.”

Happy Weddings!

On the wedding front, a lot of congratulations are in order - it was a big week for news about lifetimes of holy matrimony. First, CONGRATULATIONS to Jen Curtis and Chris Thoman, who today are getting married in Klamath Falls, Oregon. YAHOO as Jen would say. But louder than you probably just read it. YAHOOOOOO! You'd be hard pressed to hang out with Jen and not pee your pants laughing, as her fun and funny approach to life is highly contagious. And Chris is a solid super cool world adventurer. They are a great couple. I'm sure the wedding will be excellent, and we wish we could be there to help celebrate. If our baby growing schedule had been slightly different, we definitely would be there.

And congrats to Jake and Megan. Jake proposed to Megan this week. We're super pumped for them, but we are a little concerned that they might be rushing into things. I mean, they've only been dating for twelve years. Seriously though, HOORAY for Jake and Megan! They plan on having an excellent ceremony in Port Orford, Oregon, featuring roasted poached deer as an entree. Mmmmm. It doesn't get much better than that. I look forward to being a bad influence on their rugrats, and I hope to see the Jake and Megan rugrats brewing soon! Unfortunately, somehow we only have one picture of these guys on our computer, but I think this sumo shot of Jake from the SLC days makes up for it. Yeah, that's how he used to dress when he was just hanging around the apartment back in the winter of 97-98.

And last but not least, congrats again to Lewis and Tarifa. They've already announced, but now it is super official with a date and everything. The ceremony will be held in lovely Los Olivos, California on August 11, and it's bound to be awesome! I think I'm seeing the world through my own lens, because what I mostly think about when I hear about marriages is what the rugrats will be like. I'm pretty sure Lewis and Tarifa's kids will be super geniuses with excellent fashion sense. Tarifa's not in these pictures, but I think she took them, so that counts. Here's Lewis in a boat in France, and with a parasol:

And finally, in other excellent news, we may be getting our first Bethel visitor! (not counting relatives who have moved to Alaska, which are in a whole separate category) Kevin Burke is heading up in a couple of weeks for a mini vacation. I'm thinking we'll hike from Toksook Bay to Tununak. Incidentally, Tununak is one of the villages here in the Alaskan bush that Chavez is giving oil to. Say what you will about the man, he's an entertaining speaker, and he directly shares the massive oil wealth of his country with the poor folks in our country.

And finally finally, HAPPY EQUINOX! (Even though Genevieve doesn't believe that there really is an equinox. She puts it in the same category as Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. She scoffs at the idea of the same 12 hour day occurring all over the planet. Yeah right, she says.)

Upriver

On Friday, I had the opportunity to go up river to accompany State Troopers as they investigated the scene a homicide. Way up river. Tatlawiksuk River was our destination, 10+ hours by boat from Bethel. I thought gas in Bethel was expensive at $4.50 a gallon, but we've got it easy compared to the folks in Stony River, who pay $7.75 a gallon.

I'd like to write more, but according to Babycenter.com I have to do my pre-natal husbandry duties and give Genevieve a perineal massage. Revel has now been in there for 34 weeks, and we want to make his departure as comfortable as possible for all parties involved.

Shaka!

Much thanks to Stacey Park for taking these action paragliding photos!

Livin For the Weekends.....

OK, so it's the middle of September and we've been lazy bloggers. Here's a picture recap of the past few weekends of fun.






Labor Day was absolutely beautiful. We had blue sky and sunshine the whole 3 day weekend and we took the opportunity for berry picking and canoeing. Dawson even jumped off an old barge into the Kuskokwim (he didn't want me to be the only one who has taken a dip in the mighty Kusko!). He was only willing to dive in, however, if I caught him in extreme photo action. Unfortunately, as you can tell, our old camera has a bit of a delay and I didn't quite catch him in his glory!





































The next weekend we spent in the big city of Anchorage. Anchored Down in Anchorage as Matty reminded us (Dawson got to hear a live version of the song before leaving for the Bethel airport courtesy of Matty's cell phone during a Michelle Shocked concert...he almost missed his flight, but it was probably worth it). We stayed with Regan, Nami, Musashi and Arashi in their new home sweet home. They have a killer view of the inlet and mountains right from their house....


























An exciting event for Saturday was buying a brand new mattress....our first ever big purchase together. And it was a good one too. Regan still has his moving van, so he and the boys helped us to transport the mattress from Costco to Northern Air Cargo to ship to Bethel. It worked out amazingly well and arrived in Bethel a short few days later. The boys enjoyed the chance to ride in the big truck!















The rest of the weekend we took a few hikes, did a little berry picking and saw a matinee movie with popcorn for a big treat (Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby, which Dawson skyrocketed straight into his top 10 comedies). The kids are computer/video game ninjas and Musashi is also becoming quite the electric guitar player.

Girdwood Paragliding

This picture is not of me, but accurately represents where I was and what I was doing, as of yesterday at about 7:00 PM.  The only difference is that the sky was blue.  Alaska paragliding for health and fitness!

Fun Run and Old Airport Exploration

Here's Genevieve's 5k walk.  This is Dawson's almost 10k run.  Last night we decided to get pet pigs and name them Orwell, Churchill, and Cornwall.  I wanted to name one Tocino, but maybe we can name one of our next pigs that.  Anyway, after further research, we might have to wait until next May to get the pigs.

Last night after work we crossed the river and explored the site of the old airport.  We heard there was an old DC-10 over there, all overgrown and spooky.  We didn't find the old plane, but we found a really cool fish camp with a nice basketball hoop, so we played a game of PIG and called it a successful mission.  Now that I think about it, I understand how we got started on the topic of pigs.  We also found this neat old truck.     

 

Bethel was sad when it lost fellow Montanans Rich and Jen Gannon, who moved back to the homeland.  But fortunately, thanks to their web-presence it's almost like they never left.  Here Rich is delivering a special 30th birthday poem to Randy, one of our talented local bush pilots.  It's really worth watching, even if you don't know Randy.