Tennis is OVER

The tennis season officially was over as of Thursday afternoon. Something amazing happened this year, the entire varsity team made it to State. Taylorsville hasn't had a girl tennis player qualify for State in like five years. It was awesome, they all lost their first match in state, but that is fine. They made it; and that was a victory for them. I was so excited for them. Now that the girls season is over, it is time to start thinking about the boys season. It was really nice getting to come home after school yesterday. I can't get used to it though, I promised myself that once tennis was over I would start to work out again.

Are you ready for some football?

I love football...and I love the 2001 entrance that South Carolina has. This could be a big year for South Carolina, if we get some decent play for the quarterback.

Go Warriors!!

My school struggles with most sports, it is hard to get any better because most athletes choose to go to a different school. Anyways tonight we played our rival and our football team won. We played amazing and we had a great turn out from the students. It is a huge game for us to win, not only was it our rival game, but next week is homecoming...maybe we can get a winning streak going. I think the students are actually excited about football for the first time in a long time.

Tennis Season

This week marks the official start of the Tennis season. This season is looking up, we will have a full team this year. Last year we were two players short of a full team, this year we could have two extra players. We lost some good players to graduation, but it looks like we added some good players to replace them. The only thing is that the start of tennis means the beginning of the school year is just around the corner. Although, I'm not ready for the school year to start...I am running out of stuff to keep myself busy.

Spring in Utah

Update: last Saturday it was 75 degrees when I went to General Conference, thanks Jensen's for my AWESOME seat. We were on the bottom floor right in the middle, I'm not going to get any better of seats unless we have some one in the family become an apostle. On the walk back to the car we saw Satan, and some guy drove by and called us "losers" it was fun. I love the protesters at conference. I then went down to my sister's and woke up to EIGHT inches of snow. WOW, where did that come from? Then it has pretty much rained/snowed all week this week. Spring kills me, one day it is BEAUTIFUL then it is followed by several really bad days of terrible weather. Awesome huh?

This last week was tough at school, we had to cancel one tennis match because it was raining/lightening/hailing...that means that next week I'm going to have four tennis matches. I don't know how I feel about that, but I guess that will help the season move along. Their is only two months left of school and I can't wait for summer to come. I have some fun stuff planned this summer and I can't wait for it to come.

Busy Beaver

It is odd what this time of the year is so busy for me, I'm not coach or anything in the winter. Some how though I almost always feel over whelmed this time of the year. I guess I do pick up a part time job during the winter, I run the scoreboard and varsity girls basketball games at my school. It isn't bad, I get $35 a game, before taxes. So if they have a bunch of home games in a row, like what is coming up, then I feel like I'm super busy. I'm also getting ready for the spring tennis season, I will be coaching the boys tennis team. I have been kind of stressing out about it, because I don't know enough about tennis to coach the boys, but I think I just found someone to help me out this season. If he can run practice and I can do all the paper work that would be AWESOME. The big news recently is that I have taught for three years now, which means that I have some paperwork and some hoops to jump through, but then I should be a level two teacher!!! Becoming a level two teacher is kind of a big deal....so I really should get on some of the stuff I need to do. Well I guess I have rested long enough, time to get back to work.

This is AWESOME!!!!

Whatever Happened to Sportsmanship?

The high school I work at isn't know for having the best sports teams, yes we are pretty good at a few sports, but in general we aren't the greatest. The region we are in the last few years have two schools that really compete in almost ever sport and the rest of the region fights for third and fourth. Of these two schools, one is great at every stinkin' sport, but you know what, they are good sports. We we play them, we know they are going to fight hard, but they are going to show you some respect. The other school, the team that usually comes in second has the worst sportsmanship in the region be far. We had problems with them in Tennis, Soccer, and tonight in football I saw them do something very cheap. Starting the third quarter of the football game tonight the score was 17-7, with them leading. They got the ball and easily scored a touchdown making in 24-7. The following kick off, with them up by 17 points, and with us not really being able to do anything, they kick an on-side kick. About half way through the third quarter we had run one play and they had scored three touchdowns. It was like they couldn't be happy with just beating us, they needed to beat us down. Next week I believe they play the best team in the region that just happens to be ranked #3 in the country, I hope they get destroyed, so they know what it is like.

The Decision

This is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. To understand it you would have had to watch that dumb interview when L. James announced that he was going to the Miami Heat. Enjoy.

The Imperfect, Perfect Game

For those that know me well, know that I love sports. I'm one of those rare girls that actually likes watching, playing, or talking about just about any sport. Even though I love sports so often I am disappointed in athletes. They get paid to play a game, but it seems like you never hear about the good these athletes do and always hear about the bad things they get involved in. Yesterday a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, Armando Galarraga was one out from a perfect game, when the first base umpire totally blew a call and ruined Galarraga's perfect game. To pitch a perfect game means that not only does nobody get a hit, but nobody reaches base. There have only been 20 perfect games in the history of baseball---they are extremely rare (besides the fact there have already been two perfect games thrown this season). The average person, heck I would have been extremely mad if this umpire just cost me a shot at history. What happened instead shows what kind of man Galarraga is, instead of getting in the umpire's face and complaining, all Galarraga did was drop his head and walk back to the mound. The umpire has come out and apologized saying that he was wrong, but Galarraga held no hard feelings for this man. All too often athletes get caught up in there spot in history, here is a young pitcher that 24 hours ago hardly anybody knew his name, and today everyone is talking about him because he didn't react; he just went on and finished the game, he did his job. He may not get credit for a perfect game, but he sure did seal his spot in history.

Welcome to the Big Leagues

And the new head Tennis coach at Taylorsville High School is..................ME!! Things are getting tight in education, you can no longer teach and go home at 3:00 anymore. Being a young teacher, we are asked to do extra things, all in the name of job security. Young teachers all over the country can be found doing after school tutoring, working ticket stands, being club advisers, keeping score at basketball games, coaching, and teaching eight hours a day. Oh wait, that is all the things that I have done this year. But you know what, I LOVE me job, some days are better than others, but that is no different than any other job. Yes I put in extra hours doing odd jobs, but it also puts more food on my table. Recently my school as been looking for a new tennis coach for both the girls and boys teams, due to some personal and professional reasons I put my name in the hat for the job. Today I got the job, mainly because I'm the only one that showed interest in it. This means a few things: 1. I need to learn to play tennis 2. I have to figure out how to be a head coach 3. I cannot coach soccer anymore. I will miss the soccer girls, but I have to do what is best for me.

Keepin' it Real

I was able to go to the Real Salt Lake home season opener....it was amazing. They celebrated winning the MLS Cup last year. Before the game they unveiled the Champions banner and gave all the players their rings, but once the game started it was down to business. We were controlling the ball and basically doing whatever we wanted to do. But just our luck Seattle scored on a counter-attack. We were able to tie it back up with an amazing header from Will Johnson. Again Seattle scored on a rather lucky goal to take the lead back. It looked like this was going to be the first time Real lost a open season opener ever. But in the 94th minute we scored to tie the game up with 30 seconds left in the game. The stadium was going crazy....

Leo the Lion getting the crowd pumped up before the game, he came over right in front of us. I guess he is a pretty good mascot, he often does backflips on the side lines.

When they put up the banner right before the game starting. It was cool to be there when they were celebrating a championship, especially in Salt Lake.

That Time of Year Again

It is Rivalry Week again in Utah, aka Holy War Week. Living in Salt Lake I take a bunch of choice words for being a BYU fan and not a Utah fan, but that is what makes it so much fun. Their are two of us "BYU fans" in my hall way and we decided to strike first this year and we decorated our doors early before any of the Utah doors could go up. This year it wasn't as much fun because they play the Saturday after Thanksgiving so we could trash talk all the way up to Friday, but it was still pretty fun. This year I decided to go old school with my door and I put up a more traditional logo. I'm sorry to brag, but I think it looks pretty amazing even if I have to say so myself. Actually I had all kinds of people say my door liked nice, even Utah fans. The teacher next to me was not happy that my door looked so nice, because he felt like his had to compete with mine. His turned out pretty nice as well, he went with the white door to match mine. In the past two years that we have done this I have discovered some main differences between BYU and Utah fans. The main one is that Utah fans are often mean....maybe it is because I'm Utah country, but they are constantly making fun of not only BYU, but also BYU fans. Another difference is that Utah fans are always trying to "prove" they are better. I never push BYU on anyone, if someone is wearing a Utah shirt I don't feel the need to walk by and say "Utah Sucks," but you have no idea how many times that happens to me. I have gotten it daily for the last two weeks, but I expected that because of my door. This happens though any time of the year, if someone sees me wearing something BYU they feel like it is there right to insult me for being a fan. This is one of many reasons why I like to go down to visit my sister in Utah County, so I can not be insulted for being a BYU fan. I know sometimes I bring it on myself, and I understand that I'm living right next the University of Utah, but grow up people. I have had several other BYU fans tell me the same thing so I'm not the only person. Some other teachers instead of decorating there door put signs up all over the school, so I go a TA to design me a really cool sign. I then got the only SBO to put it in the main hallway behind glass, in a place that he only has access to. Oh well I got to have some fun at work right?

Just Plain Ugly

I don't even understand how this girl only got a yellow card in this game. I don't think I have ever seen someone play this dirty!!!!

Bitter Sweet

Well the season is over in soccer...and it is bitter sweet. We played really well against Brighton in the playoffs, but we just didn't have the man power to stay with them the entire 80 minutes. If it was a 60 minute game I think we could have surprised them, but oh well. The girls were very happy with how they played and so was I. I don't know what to do now that I actually have some free time, I'm so used to running around, I can't wait to actually go home after school gets out and just relax. I guess now I need to focus on finding a condo to buy...but that is a whole other story.

Playoff Time...

For the first time in ten years, Taylorsville girls soccer has made the playoffs!!! I have taken great pride in the team, they have showed some real heart this season. We have faced many challenges (i.e. a captain quiting, broken arm, and red cards), but we figured it out to make the playoffs. We got a tough draw, we play the #3 team in the state, and the state runner-up last year, but it is actually a good thing. We are playing Brighton High School, they were in our region last year and we actually played them closer than anyone else in that region. We kinda know what to expect so we could prepare for them a little easier than if it was a team we haven't really ever seen. Playoffs can be magical, we just need one win for this girls to be taken seriously, I just hope they aren't just happy to be at the party. We need to be the life of the party, which will require us to play the game of our lives, but it is possible. Our game is 4:00 tomorrow, wish us luck.....

What happened to fall?

This is now my third fall in Utah, and I have to say where did it go? Yesterday it was 90 degrees and windy, today the high was maybe 47 degrees. It is like we skipped from summer to winter in 12 hours. I just don't understand how that is possible. Fall is my favorite season, and I seem to always get robbed of a long fall. This afternoon we had a soccer game and it started to SNOW!!!! It didn't stick and it only lasted for a few minutes, but come on, last day of September and snow. I was freezing, I was not quite prepared for the low 40s and high 30 degree temperature that we were playing in. I felt so bad for my team, but they stuck it out and got a huge win for us today. We are one game away for qualifying for the state playoffs for the first time in many, many years.

Region Victory

Taylorsville was stuck in the hardest region in the state for soccer last year, two teams from our region played for the state championship. We were lucky that when they changed the regions, the soccer schedule became much easier. We still have to play some really great teams, but not the top two teams in the state. Our team has had some adversities, to say the least, and we haven't played up to our potential yet. Finally yesterday we played really well and won 4-2, I'm hoping that they became a team and build on this win. Taylorsville hasn't won a region game in at least four years, so it was a big win for them.

School Spirit Help

For whatever reason my school struggles to have school spirit, which is something I just don't understand. I grew up with Orange and Blue running in my veins before I knew anything about high school. My goal is to increase the school spirit at my school now. Taylorsville is a great school, and yes we struggle in some sports, but they also don't have the support they need. I want there to be a crazy student section that never sits down and is always cheering, no matter what the score is. This is going to be a big project, but I'm willing to slowly work on it. I think I'm going to be the advisor to the "Superfan Club", which is basically the school spirit club and I need suggestions on what we could do. The school sells these cool Superfan shirts that a lot of students have, but I want more than just students wearing the same shirt. So if any of you guys have any great ideas for cheers, activities, or really anything, PLEASE let me know. I want these students to have as much pride in Taylorsville, that I have in Richland Northeast.

Week Two of Soccer

This week we had two more games (that makes four BEFORE schools starts), and the were pretty opposite. Tuesday we played Grantsville, which is a smaller more country school. It became pretty clear very quickly that we run up the school almost as high as we wanted to. So the varsity team played the first half and the J.V. team played the second half, the final score was 12-0. I really had games like this, it doesn't matter which side I'm on, I hate winning and losing by a blow out. Then the next day we played a much tougher team and it was hard to get everyone moving again. West scored on us early and late (after some key injuries) and we lost 0-2. We played fairly well in the middle of the game, so we will take that as a positive thing that came out of the game. J.V. didn't do as well and they lost 0-5, but they played hard.