Blue Versus Red

The hot topic in the news right now is Health Care Reform. It seems most people agree reform is needed, but aren’t sure the plan presented is the option we should go with. I really have no idea what the best route is, but I generally say change is better than doing nothing, especially when the path we are currently on doesn’t have a happy ending. Obama’s legacy will largely depend on what his administration does concerning Health Care. For that reason, along with reform being essential, I wish them luck.

Tonight Kentucky plays Cornell in the NCAA Tourney. Cornell is this year’s Cinderella, media darling, and David rolled into one. Neither team has much NCAA experience. Cornell is playing close to home, but Kentucky travels well. West Virginia and Washington fans are likely to side with the underdog, Cornell, in hopes that they won’t have to play Kentucky to advance to the Final Four. Kentucky will win and advance to the next round because they are a more talented team, but more importantly the team had a few days to properly prepare for Cornell. A lot of the “upsets” in the tournament come in the 1st and 2nd rounds because of preparation and the difficulty of properly seeding teams. Favorites seem to lose early because they aren’t familar with their opponent and don’t have much time to prepare for them, especially between rounds 1 and 2. With more time between 2nd and 3rd round games that 1st and 2nd round games, better teams tend to prevail because they have coaches that can better prepare a team and the underdog teams have used up their bag of tricks during the first weekend.

Last week I spoke at the Illinois Coaches’ Conference. The conference director, Pamela Dorner-Saxhaug, was great and easy to work with. She was one of the founding members of the Association hosting the conference because she wanted to help educate the coaches in her area. My topics at the conference were stunt transitions and maximizing you score. For the stunt transition sessions I got to work with the girls from CheerTime USA (United Starz Academy), pictured below. They were a talented group and I enjoyed working with them.

I’m not sure when the Kentucky women play again, but I know they have a Sweet Sixteen game in Kansas City. Hopefully between victories they’ll have a chance to get some Arthur Bryant’s. I think that’s all for now.