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Coach
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2020-05A Touch of Retirement: Dice, Clubs, and Power Tools
Covid-19 had more of a positive effect than negative on my life in the spring/summer of 2020. I am a teacher in the small community of Anson, Texas, population 1,884; we are social distanced by default. Following the spring break of that school year, Anson ISD shut down and went wholly online. It was already a time of great transition for me, I was leaving the world of coaching in favor of becoming a regular classroom teacher and I had just been given five months to reflect on my new role. That time was spent with family and friends in an almost semi-retirement doing the things I never had time for because of my demanding schedule. As a teacher and coach, 60-hour work weeks were a norm, and during football seasons you could expect those hours to creep to the upper 90’s. There were also no “real” summers like other teachers. A coach’s summer is spent in morning workouts and summer camps with the occasional week off to visit family and decompress. That is why the “covid summer,” as I remember it, had such a profound impact on my life. Those five months were spent with family and friends playing dungeons and dragons, golfing, and remodeling a good friend’s house. My younger brother is an avid dungeons and dragons player, a hobby that I never found myself with enough time to delve into. The collaborative story-based tabletop role playing game known as dnd requires several people, a few hours, and a lot of reading to play. My covid summer left me with ample free time to do just that. The sound of dice on hard tabletops rang throughout our houses as we held a regular weekly gaming session for five months. One unique thing about dungeons and dragons is the diversity of dice required to play the game, from four sided up to twenty sided and almost every even number in between, were required to effectively play the game. Most sets came with every dice, but the variety of color, size, and material quickly made collection a side hobby. Before long, I had a large bag full of dice and special black and gold metal set saved for only the most special of encounters. That is what I remember most, the cool touch of those dice as I contemplated the best course of action for my character to take against the hordes of enemies by brother could conjure up. While the hottest days were spent in the air conditioning playing games, the pleasant ones were spent golfing. At the time, state health officials had mentioned golf as an almost perfect sport to play during covid because it was easy to social distance and the vitamin D from the sun helped to boost the immune system. I played a lot of golf with much of the same friends I played dnd with. Many of the golf courses we played at threw their doors open and welcomed golfers with open arms to try and keep the business afloat through the troubling times; we never once were denied a t-time. We played golf at least twice a week for five months and I don’t think my hands have recovered yet. The feel of those club handles wore out two gloves and countless blisters across both hand and I wouldn’t change it for the world. While my other two hobbies offered little in the form of vocational skills, my third allowed me to learn the most. My good friend purchased his first home in May of 2020. A quaint 3 bed 2 bath home on a third of an acre just outside of Abilene, a larger town about 20 minutes south of Anson. The home was a product of the 60’s and while it had been well maintained by its previous owners, it needed quite a bit of updating. My friend had some experience in construction from a previous job, but we were all learning on the fly as we decided to remodel his home. Roughly a dozen power tools across four friends, we tore out walls, updated electrical, redid flooring, framed, drywalled, painted, and wired his 1500 square foot house for the better part of three months. There were a lot of late nights, beverages had, and good laughs shared. We all had some know how, but YouTube and google became our best friends. I had always heard the saying that rough hands meant hard work, but the feeling of my hands covered in drywall dust gave a much more visceral connection to it. I think all these feelings for me were so profound during this time because the pandemic had placed a warning label on touch. My mom is a thirty-year veteran nurse, directed an ER during swine flu and bird flu, and still received Christmas cards from high-ranking officials of the CDC; I was well informed on the virus. In the early days, we didn’t know how long it lasted on surfaces, the severity of the virus, or its communicability. Touch was one thing that had to be eliminated. A six-foot bubble was placed on the world and people feared handshakes, hugs, and human embraces foundational to the species. One knows the dangers of the everyday world, but rarely to we expect a loving hug to potentially carry death to a dear loved one. This notion changed how we, as a species, saw each other. Some embraced the struggle to soldier on with courage and others gave into fear as new information came out hourly. Two years later, after mask mandates have been lifted across most of the country, people are still trying to heal. Fist bumps taken over handshakes, hands free pay at most supermarkets, automatic doors becoming a priority are all examples of how Covid-19 changed our perception of touch as a human race. With all the activity I had during my covid summer, I did eventually contract the novel virus on my birthday in June. My only symptom was a loss of smell, one of the weirdest sensations I’ve ever had. I count myself extremely lucky that that was the only symptom I had. Aside from my ten days of self-quarantine, my life was affected in very much a positive way. I cherish the memories of my covid summer and count myself incredibly lucky to have experienced the pandemic the way I did. -
2020-11-07Coach Covid
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
03/30/2021Landon Bridges Oral History, 2021/03/30
An oral history between three students from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis concerning the Covid 19 pandemic -
2021-01-08
CoviD symptoms
It was a couple weeks after the New Year. My coach had a fever and felt achey. He said maybe it was the flu, but he got tested for COVID. He realized that he tested positive. He had a mild cough, but couldn't sleep at night. Also, he had to quarantine for 2 weeks so I couldn't train or play basketball with him. My uncle also got COVID but his case was worse. He couldn't breathe at all and had to go to the hospital. He was there for around 5 days, and actually caught pneumonia from it. Eventually he recovered, but it was a crazy week. All in all, these are some of the symptoms that I have noticed in people. -
2021-01-18In just five weeks, another 100,000 people have died from Covid-19
From article: "Each day, thousands of Americans have lost a mother, a husband, a last surviving sibling. These are some of the lives who were lost." -
2020-11-11
Massachusetts School Sports Passes
Throughout Massachusetts, parents and high school students feared their sports being canceled due to COVID. The state quickly came up with guidelines that would deter the spread of the virus. The guideline that affected not only the athletes, but the family and friends of the players was the spectator passes. Two spectator passes were given to each coach and player on the team to make sure there was no crowding occurring at the games. Spectators must also wear face coverings at all times even at outdoor sports. They also must stay 6 feet apart from any other families during the game. Locker rooms are closed, and players must dress before going to the game. The players while on travel and while they are not playing must wear face coverings when with non-family members. All these guidelines were made by the state to keep the players and family members of the players safe from the virus and they allow for high school sports to continue. -
2020-11-06
The Faculty Perspective
Both of my parents are teachers, one working as a fourth grade teaching assistant and the other an eighth grade math teacher/soccer coach. Though I have left home, and started my first semester of college, I have heard their rants, their grievances, and complaints regarding the ways in which the school system is "taking care" of their faculty. My mother and father are both paranoid about the coronavirus, rightfully so, however they were told they must return to the classroom to teach students in person. While there are rules and restrictions in order to carry out this plan safely, there is only so much they can do. Take my mother's fourth graders for example, they don't understand the concept of a pandemic or the need to socially distance. She must enforce rules upon these kids that they don't see as necessary and, more often than not, choose not to follow. This makes my mother, and teachers in general, feel as though their safety is not a priority and as if they are not being thought of by the school's administration. The same can be said for my father. Though his eighth graders may have a better grasp of the new restrictions, his soccer season was a mess. Socially distanced, masked, and with only three games total, it simply did not make any sense. What appears to be happening is the school is choosing to cater to students' parents' wishes, to obviously provide their children with as close to a normal schooling experience as possible; however, by doing so, they are ignoring the comfortability and safety of their teachers by placing them back in the classroom. -
March 26, 2020Online Store Still Open- Coach
Although their physical store locations have closed indefinitely, Coach sent out an email to inform people that their online stores are still accepting orders. Even though clients may not be able to shop in the physical space, it allows the company to continue making money while serving customer needs. -
2020-06-11Changing Times for Athletes and Fans
The social distancing rules enforced to slow the spread of the coronavirus has many negative externalities associated with it. For myself and many others alike, sports have and always will be an outlet from the daily stresses of work and life. Fans, players, coaches, and everyone associated with professional and recreational athletics has been heavily effected in these current times. Losing athletics not only hurts in a mental sense but also in a financial way as well. It was said by ESPN that approximations suggest a total 12 billion dollar loss due to the suspension of sports. Professional athletes have been renegotiating contracts now and the structure of the games have been changed greatly. Being stuck inside seemed alright at first but without live entertainment or the ability to go out and exercise, time seems to move slower and slower in a period that everyone is seeking a way out of. -
05/09/2020High School Baseball cut short!
High School Senior, High School Coach and Freshman showing appreciation for High School Senior for their contribution to the school and baseball program. The season a was cut short due to Pandamic. ##cshsecon -
03/02/2020Fremonts First case of Covid-19
This was a series of pictures that My football team posted at the Special Olympics basketball tournament that my football team volunteered at. No less than a week after this event, an article came out in the Fremont tribune saying that there was a player at the event who had just tested positive for Covid-19. Following this news me and the rest of my teammates had to self quarantine for a week. This was tough for us players and our coaches because many of my teammates lived on campus and did not have access to a kitchen to cook food. But thankfully our coaches were able to bring everyone quarantined food one a day during our week long Quarantine.