Coach Thornton

I've had dreams and aspirations to be lots of different things in this life.  I love being a dad.  I've always enjoyed my work.  I love building things and I love adventure.  One thing I honestly never considered adding to my list of accomplishments though is the surname of Coach.

In fact organized sports for me in general haven't been a big part of my adult life.  I don't own any pro or college sports memorabilia beyond a few t-shirts from my college and a Mariners hat I bought when I first moved out to Seattle and wanted to fit it.  Sure, I enjoy going to the occasional game but I can't stand the thought of spending an afternoon watching baseball or football on TV.  I know, I'm strange for a 30 something male.   To be clear I'm not some anti-TV guy, I enjoy TV, just not sports.  To be further clear I'm not anti sport.  I love to play sports and I love to exercise and I fully respect those who love sports.  Personally I just know very little and generally have little interest in the mechanics of the two big American organized sports -  baseball and football.

I'll put it this way.  I haven't watched a Superbowl in 13 years.  I could care less about the ads or the game.  I honestly can't even tell you who played.  This year I went to the gym and swam during the Superbowl because I knew the lanes would not be crowded.  I realize most of my friends would consider this highly lame.

My father was similar. He liked sports but if given the choice between watching a game on TV and hunting some game, the woodland creatures would always win, or loose depending on your perspective.

As a child I recall feeling  left out of the discussion as other kids would talk about what a great season the Buckeyes were having or what should have gone better in the game last week.  Then there were the trading cards that all the other kids in school played with.  I remember buying a few packs with a grade school friend (hi Brandon) just so I could fit in but really all I cared about was the gum.

So fast forward to yesterday when I come home from work and my wife tells me that she has signed the two of us up to coach the girls t-ball team.  Apparently there was no coach and she got strong armed into it.   My first reaction was that there appears to have been a mistake, I have no qualifications to coach anyone's kid.  I don't even know all the basic rules of the game.  I sat with the idea for the evening though and I started come around.    Clearly being a coach will put me outside my comfort zone and it has the potential to be a fun adventure.  So I decided I'm in.  I plan to chronicle the interesting lessons learned here.  Follow along.