Dameo Says » athletics

Sometimes advertising gets it right

Dameo — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:56:15 +0000

This new nike commercial with the tag line “break to build” is awesome. As the off-season begins to ramp up for next spring I can only hope to instill this sort of mentality in some of my kids. If I can than I think I will have taken a step towards becoming not only a successful, but a good head coach.

Prepping For 2010

Dameo — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:11:47 +0000

With schools around the country kicking off in the next week or two it’s time for the return of High School athletics. That means it’s time to start preparing for the next year. The spring of 2010 will mark my first year has a head coach and I’m pretty excited about it.

I’ve been doing my best to gather all the information I can about scheduling, uniforms, and practice gear. One thing I’ve learned from my two years as an assistant is that if you need something in February you better get on it no later than October.

I feel by getting a lot of this out of the way now, it will allow me to really focus on off-season training in the fall and pre-season come January! Plus if everything rolls like I’d like we are going to look sexy this spring!!

The Ambiguity of Playoffs

Dameo — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:22:03 +0000

No matter what level, what sport, or what system of calculation is used, someone will always be upset about the results of a playoff bracket. The biggest gripes are usually about who gets in versus who stays at home, but other times there is also debate about who is seeded where.

I coach lacrosse in North Carolina and our post-season starts later this week. In the 4A division there is a 16 team playoff based completely on an RPI system (.25 x your win % + .5 x your opponents’ win % + .25 x your opponents’ opponents’ win %). Not the best system obviously with SO much weight being put on the strength of schedule and no checks like making sure that a team has at least a .500 record. With this system I admit I’m more upset than some since my team came in #17 and the #15 team had a (5-9) record. There were also some seeding issues, similar to Notre Dame in this years NCAA Div I bracket , in which an undefeated team was ranked #11, below a team they’d beaten twice.

In the end all the speculation and arguing won’t get you anywhere. Everyone had opportunities to scheudle tougher or win a close game, and now you play the hand you are dealt. For some that means it play until you lose. For most of us it means preparring for the offseason and making sure we do the right things to avoid missing the playoffs in the future.