Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Sunday, February 12, 2006

SUNDAY SERMON

All I can say is that I can’t wait for a week from Thursday and returning to Santa Barbara. I think this is the longest it’s been since I’ve been back there to my old hometown since I moved here. It’s also about ten years since I coached a real game……..

There is so little left to talk about. Let’s get it on.

UCSB beat Chapman College in overtime yesterday. In the past this match-up would have often been a mismatch-up. I am not much of a look-at-and-compare the scores guy and all that, but I admit this 10-9 double overtime finish surprises me a tad. The Gauchos will play BYU right before they play us, so we will learn from that, too.

DATE NIGHT IS BACK

I am the only man in America that is thrilled when the mother-in-law comes to stay for 6 months. She just got here, which more than anything opens up the possibilities of me and my wife actually going out together without two little ones in tow. She (mother-in-law) doesn’t speak a word of English, and as we know my Spanish is terrible, so this works great. We do tons of smiling at one another. Meanwhile my kids learn Spanish for free. Well, nothing is free, but they do know Spanish better than I.

Last night Ada and I went to a surprise engagement party for one of our former players and his bride to be. The blissful couple will be tying the married knot a mere 17 months from now. They have been together for several years, and wedded is their destiny. However, with all the over-planning that can go on for that long period of wait before the ceremony takes place, you could not pay me to be him or them. I have some experience in this area that I really shouldn’t go into, except that the time before the wedding was so long that it wore me into a tiny nub of a man.

Boy had already asked girl and everyone knew, so I am not sure what a "surprise" engagement party is other than the fact that everyone yells, "Surprise" as the guests of honor enter the threshold to what they thought was just a ‘regular’ Saturday night cocktail party. All I could really decipher from it was that the mother of the bride likes very much to cater and put on these types of little fiestas, and she does them well.

My thought (always the cynic) going in was that the only surprise would be if anyone was actually surprised about anything, but it was fun and I got to see a few of my old boys (and girls).

ALMOST FAMOUS

Early in the party proceedings I was introduced to the before mentioned mother of the bride, and she says to me, "I know you. You are sort of famous". This just rung my bell at that moment, and it also tickled my funny bone. I never know how to be humble, gracious, or even generally cognizant about such things. After all, I go to the bathroom with me. I know the truths, but it just made me think, yeah, that’s me. I’m ‘sort of’ everything, master of nothing. I’m 'sort of' a coach (enthusiastic volunteer). I have no "degree" that would qualify me to teach and mentor others, yet I do it as if it was my job. I’m 'sort of' a businessman (We are closer to the fortune 5 million than the Fortune 500). Still, many people know about Rock-it Pocket. I am 'sort of' a writer, but not, of course, a real one, and on and on.

I AM NOT A (insert fantasy here), BUT I PLAY ONE......

I guess I know now at this stage in my life that I don’t have to be, nor will I ever be able to be fully anything. I can just do the 'sort of' thing and keep it light, and I can leave the expectations on the hallway table, sort of next to the guest sign-in book.

Next Entry | Previous Entry


Flip Started Blogging Before it was Cool, Read Over 400 of His Entries Since January 2001
Jump to a Period:
2006: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
2005: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2004: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2003: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2002: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2001: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Sept Oct Nov Dec