Takes from the Train - About Dan's Triumph

It is Friday already and I meant to write the tale of Dan's pitching triumph sooner. At least I can provide the synopsis before the event becomes obscurred by the passage of time.

I took Monday as a vacation day to do several personal errands and also hoped to see Steve play baseball with his Freshman team. When I got to the school I learned that the game had been cancelled but the varsity team (Dan's) team would be playing in Hopewell. I have been chosing Steve's games over Dan's since he is the younger but with such a nice afternoon I drove to Hopewell Valley High School looking forward to watching Dan play centerfield.

When I got to the field and was positioned on the bleachers Coach Goldsmith came to tell the parents about a situation where the senior ace pitcher was declared ineligible based on playing on a high school team when he was in the 8th grade. Turns out the school players have 4 years eligibility from when they start playing.

This was devastating in it would reverse the two wins that the player had pitched but also he would not be allowed to play the remainder of this year. He was also slated to pitch the game that was being played that afternoon.

While taking that news in, I noticed Dan heading out to warm up as pitcher. He has been used only sparingly the past two years coming in as a relief pitcher and never going more than 2 or 3 innings. I was excited about being able to see what he could do.

The game began with the tall HV pitcher making quick work of the three Princeton batters. Dan came out to pitch the first inning and handled the HV batters quite effectively himself, getting the batters to hit easy ground ball outs to the infield.

In the next inning Dan led off and hit a long ball that flew over the centerfielder's head. It was a close play but Dan slid in to 2nd base for a double. He later came around to score and was followed by 2 more runs that inning. That would be the extent of the offense for Princeton that day.

The story of the day was how Dan kept coming back inning after inning pitching his game of ground balls and fly balls. The team behind him was making good plays and seemed to grow stronger and more confident with each made play. By the 7th inning taking a 3-1 lead into the final at bat by HV, Dan and the Princeton team seemed very sure of themselves.

The first pitch of the final inning was a ground ball back to the pitcher for an easy put-out. One pitch - one out. The next batter went down swinging at a change up for the only strikeout recorded for Dan. The next batter hit a grounder to the first baseman who flipped the ball to Dan covering 1st for the final out.

The celebration that ensued was a great moment for the Princeton team who had recieved such devestating news just hours before. The game was the best individual performance of Dan's life and I was so glad to have been there to witness it and to share his joy.

There certainly will be big things to happen to him in the future but this was a day that reminds me what baseball can be about. Good job, Dan! I love you and am so proud to be your dad.

Tales from the Train - Executive Coaching

I only have about 15 minutes for this blog post as we just stopped at the Newark Penn Station and soon will be heading to NYC. I wanted to write a little just to keep the blog pump primed.

I was writing in the journal we have asked to keep associated with a pilot team coaching program. A group of Directors from each of the units will meet once per week until the end of June to advance our capabilities with leadership in team settings.

The journaling is tied in to developing better self-awareness. Rather than do it by hand in a paper journal I would rather blog it, but the self-discovery may not be something I should reveal web-wide. I'll certainly bring over pertinent things I can share.

We also will be doing assessment tools like Myers-Briggs, DISC, and hopefully Strengths-Finders. My own Strengths Revolution is proceeding at Columbia through exposure to leadership, and my work team. It is fun to self identify and observe in others when we are working to our strengths.

This morning I observed myself being a Maximizer. Yesterday I pointed out a coworker being Competitive, and another is often using her Restorative abilities. I need to log various people's strengths so I can better see them in action. For one person, the people strengths of Individualization, Relator, and Woo are a very powerful set (you know who you are).

Well, that's all I have time for as we dive under the Hudson. All the best for you on this rainy Thursday. Keep working to your strengths every day.

Easter egg insects

Tales from the Train - What's He Reading Now

I know that question is burning on everyone's brain to the exclusion of any other thing you want or need to know. Not what is the meaning of life or what will happen tomorrow. Only what could he possibly be reading now on his daily traverse to and from central NJ to NTC.

I would like to tell you, I really would, and of course You shall in my own good time. Afterall, we are not even to New Brunswick yet so I have plenty of time to delay the answer to that question.

It's been a full year of reading all kinds of things, from business and leadership books to sci fi to a book about a rampaging polar bear god to a biography of LDV to long-winded novels by Ayn Rand. Have I averaged a book a week? Well, pretty near, pretty near.

New Brunswick is here and then comes Jersey Ave followed by Princeton Junction then my stop which is Hamilton. I have about 20 minutes left. I suppose I can draw out the agony for a while longer.

I once read a book by Pat Conroy whs character spoke about a list of the 100 must read books that was given to him by a literature professor. Seeing as how this story was fiction and the student and professor both fictional I was still slightly disappointed when the list was never provided. Not even the top 10, damn. Jersey Avenue station now.

I wonder if I could write Mr. Conroy for suggestions. Well, I work at one of the premier institutions of higher learning (for?) so I suppose I could chase down (or scare up) literary types willing to make suggestions. But the top 100 must reads. That has a certain pull to it. That has power.

Anyhow, I am sure the suspense is killing you by now or at least causing you impatient types to skip over these hard-types words to get to the answer. OK, here it is. The Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman is my read du jour.

I can tell this book is going to be interesting because while I like the writing the prose style is quite beguiling. What are the stones? They keep appearing in the text ina descriptive way but it is not clear. I feel that these works are literary IQ tests or methods for dwterming whether my brain is too left-brain-wired for anything truly artistic, anything truly abstract and symbolic. I hate doubting my own intelligence.

So what is it about? Read the damn book and don't take the short cuts. I know there is a documentary about it. I know I could Amazon or Google it. I choose the hard road.

Well, here is Princeton Junction so I need to prepare to detrain in a few minutes. I don't want to leave mid-thought. Have you read the Stones of Summer? If so, don't give anything away. I'll be back with an update. Enjoy the nightime.