The Mermaid

Right now it is a contact period in recruiting so we are able to do home visits, watch an athlete in a different sport, and even get to an open gym.

I am not a coffee drinker but in my travels I do enjoy the caffeine pick me up on occassion. So I found myself standing in line for a place I rarely visit, Starbucks. I chose a green tea, alhtough I do not even know if it has caffeine. However, the fact that my last flight had no heat and my feet were still frozen I thought a warm beverage sounded nice.

So I sat down waiting for it to cool enough to take a sip and looked at the symbol on the cup. After all of these years I hadn't ever really noticed that it was a lady. I texted Amy to see what the lady was, and the answer, a MERMAID.

What's the purpose of this blog you ask? Absolutely nothing, unless you are on Jeopardy. Amy e-mailed me the Wikipedia link about Starbucks and how the Mermaid came into play. It was interesting, but I will not win any trivia games so I promptly deleted it.

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Game Day

Last weekend our team had a tailgate in front of the football stadium entrance in anticipation of an aggressive performance by our 'Cats. We enjoyed the pulled pork, peanuts, and Todd lifted Brooklyn into the air to cheer everytime we scored a touchdown. We even started the wave across section 113!

Our team showed they will be Big Sky contenders once again! We are off to a rockin' start this season.

It could be the $20 million dollar campaign that gave us an additional 5,000 seats in a new end zone; or maybe it's the shoulder to shoulder blue and gold, head-to-toe student section? I must admit, it is helpful that we have the MVP of the Big Sky taking every snap for the Bobcats!

When you add up all of the factors- community, college campus, amazing venue, talented athletes, and savvy coaches- it makes for an awesome game day experience!

Go 'Cats!

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Official Visit

Signing Period is just around the corner as prospects visit campuses to make their leap of faith on the perfect choice for them.

What's interesting about the recruiting process is how much the conversation changes as the final decision gets closer. The initial calls deal with size of school, location, major interest, success of the team, which are all important pieces and help narrow the list of what schools to visit in person.

So what is the official visit about then? It's all about the relationships! How does the prospect feel about the coaches, the players, and the community?

Ask yourself who you want to spend 20 hours a week with and that's your answer.

I made my decision within the first 30 minutes of my official visit. I didn't tell anyone that soon but I knew. I knew that if I was happy, enjoyed the people I played with and for, then I would work that much harder every single day.

I believe you can have great team chemistry and be extremely successful. Neither one should suffer because of the other.

At the end of the day, if the journey isn't valued then the result doesn't matter.

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Support

Emily Allen's brother passed away this weekend. We ask that you keep Emily and her parents Craig and Julie in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

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Thank You

I would like to thank Coach Scanson for being so persistent 5 and a half years ago when I had an assistant coaching position open. He literally did everything imaginable, including driving to my office from Las Vegas to convince me he was the perfect candidate for the job, and he was.

Coach Scanson has been a valuable coach and teacher to our student athletes bringing more than his enthusiastic "rock star" energy to practices every day.  He was a visionary and pushed our social media networking capabilities to a whole new level. When asked for an idea he would give me twenty options.

The Scanson "Diet Book".

•  If the restaurant has dessert in the name of the restaurant you can have dessert. Ex. Cheesecake Factory.
• You are not allowed to have more than 4 breadsticks.
• Don't eat off of other's plates. He learned that after the first year of finishing my meals on road trips.
• Pick bacon or sausage not bacon and sausage.

Although we will have to find another brilliant chef for team dinners, and I will have to call ITC five times a day, I wish Coach Scanson and his family the best in their new adventure. Our staff and team will miss you but know this is a great opportunity for your family.

So you ask where is Coach Scanson going? Our program has been utilizing the services of a software company called Fast Model that organizes playbooks and opponent scouts. Fast Model just got a great addition, but he won't "break" when you ask him for MSU's plays!

The best news of all is that he is still in Bozeman and now can dance WITH his daughter during the music before our opening tip.

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Cagey Squirrels

My family went camping with some friends this weekend and found ourselves in a pickle with the local squirrel community. The second we set up camp squirrels were running in a dither, which at first was a joy. All of the kids were pointing with excitement trying to catch them.

The next morning, however, was not so wonderful. Our friend came over and said that squirrels had gotten into his camper and stole something underneath the hood. Then we saw a squirrel running from another vehicle carrying something.

So my husband popped his hood, a squirrel jumped out, and he jumped out of its way with his own cat like reflexes. Our children will be so athletic!

As we looked in the hood we noticed the insulation was all torn up. These nice, sweet rodents were destroying our insulation to build themselves a cozy nest. Instead of sweet words our children were now pointing saying "mean squirrels."

We went into immediate protection mode.

• Keep the hood raised so the squirrel can't reach the insulation. That didn't work as they can jump.


• Spray the insulation with mosquito spray. Failed! They aren't mosquitoes.


• Wait with my son's Indiana Jones whip and then scare them. I'd rather go boating on the lake.

In the end we let them have our insulation and build themselves a comfortable Silverado Sofa. They have learned to adapt to city slickers coming in on their neck of the woods so we might as well let them have what they want.

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Purpose

I, along with assistant coach Mandy Close, spent the last two days listening to amazing speakers at the Global Leadership Summit. Going into the summit my expectations were to learn how to be a better leader, better teacher, improve my skills, and grow stronger in my faith and relationship with my Lord and Savior.

What I got out of this summit was so much more. I think the core of this Summit challenged each of us, more than 160,000+ listeners to ask a very important question. What is our purpose and how do we fulfill it to the best of our ability? As Pastor Steven Furtick put it, "don't survive the world, change it."

I feel blessed and humbled that I have been given an opportunity to coach and teach young women. Our student athletes learn the importance of sacrifice, putting their teammates above themselves, serving their community with thanks. .In fact, the best and most admired student athletes are the ones who hone such humility.

If I could accomplish one goal for each student athlete, besides winning the Big Sky Conference and Championship, it is that they identify their purpose beyond basketball and run toward it with perseverance.

I am a work in progress as always, but feel re energized for an incredible 2011-2012 Season,

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