Awards of Excellence

Congratulations to Lyndi Seidensticker as she was recognized last night as one of 40 MSU senior students to win the MSU Awards of Excellence. Winners were nominated by their faculty for their academic excellence, campus leadership, and community service.

We are so proud of you.

Lyndi was also the third in a row MSU Women's Basketball student athlete to win this honor.

The pressure is on underclassmen.

Go Cats!

Coach Bin

Slip, Slop, Slap

I learned this phrase at dinner with our team at PF Changs in Sacramento. I had the luxury of sitting next to Emily Allen and Rachel Semansky, so I was asking them why they got interested in elementary education.

Emily began talking about basketball camps and how she loved working with the Kindergarteners and then said I could make a "career" out of this. Rachel mentioned that her grandma told her she'd be good at it. Well, in both rights they both will be exceptional teachers and definitely have the energy for that age.

We then talked about what you teach a Kindergarten age student. I told them Justin had learned how to be independent and how to put his winter clothes on before the bell rang. That's when Emily jumped in about

Slip, Slop, Slap!

There isn't snow to deal with in Queensland, Australia, but instead the sun. So the advertisement they use is to slip on the swimsuit, slop on the sunscreen, and slap on the hat to protect yourself from the sun.

Now try and imagine Emily telling the story as fast as the Tasmanian Devil himself. It makes for quite a fun story.

We'll attach a few photos this week from our last road trip and some rules of the road thanks to Katie Bussey. Make sure to keep checking in because there is something we can all learn from these rules.

Coach Bin

Camryn's Birthday Party

Coach Scanson's daughter just turned four, and we were invited to the big bash on Sunday. Don't worry, it was well before the Superbowl.

So we headed to Target to get the perfect gift. Justin already knew what to get her, a Transformer (level 3) as she already had the level 2's. The level determines how difficult it is to transform it. Justin said he would teach Camryn.

When we arrived to the Transformer section Optimus Prime, the leader of the Transformers, was right there in front. That was easy.

While we were in the checkout line, we saw Tyler (our radio guy) walking by to get his gift for Camryn. I guess we are all last minute shoppers.

I am pretty sure Justin sat with the Optimus Prime in his lap the whole ride over to Camryn's sizing up the gift. He then said, "I really want this one."

As we pulled up to their house, Brooklyn had just fallen asleep. Isn't that always the timing? Like any 2 year old arriving at a birthday party however, she has the senses of a hound and woke up 1 minute later as we walked in the entry way. She was ready to PARTY!

Camryn and Justin began playing with Camryn's race track and raced cars down it until Brooklyn joined in trying to send Pony hairbrushes down the track. They don't go quite as fast.

We all ate some pizza and praised Coach Scanson's great cooking ability from Papa Murphys and then got ready for the opening of the presents.

Camryn began opening some very exciting toys until she got to mom's wrapped socks. Camryn looked at them, tossed them aside, and went to the next box. That's when the winner was opened, the Pillow Pet from Grandpa and Grandma. She squeezed the pillow tight and said repeatedly "I always wanted this. I always wanted this."

The grandparents were in the winner's circle with Camryn but not necessary Coach Scanson and his wife Shannon when the next gift from them was a harmonica.

To Mike and Peggy Scanson, I just want to say, GOOD ONE.

That's unless it ends up on the bus next week for our road trip to Idaho State.

Coach Bin

The Bench

When I am a spectator rather than a coach on the sidelines I love to watch the bench because every bench is as unique as a team's offense.

• Timeouts-most coaches will talk with their staff first before going into the huddle. Some teams have players talk to them first, some have a coach talk defense, then another talk offense. My favorite joke, though, is when a friend of mine told me I needed to get a stool to sit on when I was pregnant because she was worried Brooklyn might deliver early.
• Trainers-they probably have the most stress of anyone. They have to be ready to clean up blood in under 30 seconds at any moment of the game as well as pop back a dislocated finger (2 years in a row for our team). They have to have everything in their trainer's bag for any situation that could come up (just like any women's purse), AND they have to take care of every athlete, coach, and PREGNANT coach.
• Athletes-the good teams have focused athletes on the bench and in the huddles. They aren't looking around waving to their friends (or their daughters- Coach Scanson, lol). They are learning from their teammates on the court ready to make the adjustment when they go in. The good teams also have great energy on the bench whether it's cheering, jumping, high fiving, etc. Their energy is electric.
• Coaches-you have the Tara Vandaveers who don't get up often, sit there calmly watching their team execute their plays with ease, to the Kim Mulkeys who will entertain you with animations from start to finish. I find myself in between the two but also know I coach a lot better when I don't get caught up in the entertainment or should I say- juggling of the officials.

Obviously it is a lot of fun to lace your shoes up and step on that court and get into the action, but don't underestimate the excitement of the sidelines who have the best view of the game.

Coach Bin