Fall in Appleton

 I'm on the clock. There are 22 minutes left before I have to pack up from this chicken scratch session and head to the "Banta Bowl" for my son's football game. It is an idyllic autumn morning in Appleton with bright sun, a light breeze and the temperature hovering somewhere between medium coat and sweatshirt. I'm wondering if forgetting my winter cap will be logged as a regret today. If it is it'll only be a minor one. 

I'm sitting in one of my favorite little coffee shops here, the Commodore Cafe. I usually sit on the main floor but I arrived to a busy lobby as there's a street market going on along College Avenue, the main drag through downtown, today. This caught me off guard as there's usually not a ton happening here on the Saturday mornings. Downtown usually has a sleepy vibe in the morning. In my mind this offsets the weekend evenings where there are ~30 bars, according to appletondowntown.org. Indeed, the town may often have to sleep it off. 

My view

Given the influx of morning activity I have fled to the second level of the cafe to a lofted space, overlooking the coffee bar and the patrons ordering their pumpkin spice whatevers (it is fall afterall). It's very nice up here actually, with a low black panel ceiling comfortable seating and even some (fake) plants adorning my table. 

I wish I could sit longer, but parental duty calls and I will need to head over to the stadium in a moment. Still it's a good reprieve from a challenging week where I found myself sick as a dog and actually having to take a day off from work on Thursday to pretty much sleep. While I'm rambling, where does the term "sick as a dog" even come from? Was there a time that dogs were often sick? Okay, thanks curated copilot AI search: "The phrase "sick as a dog" originated in the early 1700s to describe extreme illness, reflecting the poor health and miserable conditions of dogs at the time."

Fortunately, I'm now feeling much better, although my ribs are sore from coughing way too much. I've also switched coffee shops. I went down to my son's walk to the field with the team and clapped them into the stadium. It's something of a tradition at his school. Now I'm at a new find of a shop for me. I wanted something away from the downtown hubbub so I'm now at Coffee Wizardz which is situated on the canals and locks along the Fox river. This area supported paper mills for many years, but since the world has shifted to largely paperless, those mills have closed or scaled back. Many small shops and modern cottage-esque businesses have moved into the available space. While maybe some of the previous industrial economic power has waned, it has left a dynamic atmosphere that I personally enjoy. 

I digress. To what I don't know though as this was meant to be something of an exercise for me to get the proverbial rust off of my writing. I usually find I'm not the most inspired writer if I'm not fired up about something. Indeed, it can even feel like work. I'd like for it not to, but it is what it is. 

This shop definitely speaks to the Hobbit lover. I'm looking across at a laser cut map of Middle Earth and the wifi password is currently "treebeard". The coffee itself is tasty as well. I usually just opt for a drip coffee. I find it a good gauge of the roast is just fine for my old man palate and I'm only $3 disappointed as opposed to $8 disappointed if I get a latte and its crap. 

Being able to sit and write and have some quiet time is quite nice. The last two months have been filled with work, coaching football, driving and watching more football. My coaching season is done on Tuesday. It was an interesting year. We found ourselves with a team of 15 and outgunned in a few instances, but still managed a couple of wins. These last two games we have some additional support from sophomores whose playing season ended a couple of weeks ago and still want to get some reps/playing time. This really bolstered us leading to a strong win last week and we're lined up for another good showing this week. 

Before you ask "well isn't it supposed to be just freshman ball?" many teams have significant challenges getting enough players together and most of the teams we've played this year have either been their JV squad or a mix of freshmen and sophomores so in reality this was an opportunity to even up. The challenge this last game was coming up with rotations that got everybody some action. I had 12 wide receivers, five utility "H" backs and three running backs I had to figure out how to get into the mix. For most of the year I we had to not let guys get a break due to lack of people. It would be nice to land somewhere in between, but we often don't get to pick our circumstances. 

When there are too many players though, there are a number of things that can certainly make picking who to play easier. These largely boil down to attitude and effort. Missing practice makes one a liability because they don't gel with the team and miss out on any new stuff, not to mention the reps that make you better. I've got no time for the unexcused no-shows. Next is attitude, if you're there physically but are making it obvious you don't want to be let me help you not be. I get it, some days it's tougher to fully show up than others, but persistent poor attitude drags on the team. If there's no effort to get to the root of it and find ways to change focus, e.g. attitude of gratitude, I also don't have time for that. No one is forcing anyone to be on the team. If it has turned to feeling like you're conscripted every day, we release you from duties. 

There's a tougher class of player to sort through though. Players that are showing up and have more or less good attitude but are uncertain or are finding themselves behind the player development curve. There are just some players who struggle with retention, attention and execution. These guys should, at the JV and below level, still absolutely see the field. My biggest hope is that things click for them eventually. However, it can be tough to strike a balance when we're trying to win and the game is close. Placement of this lot can be a little more bespoke. There are a couple of positions that are less impactful and that offers some opportunity. When that light does come on, when that growth spurt happens, these are the guys I find myself rooting for the most. Maybe that's the lineman in me, a position that can take a little longer to develop than the natural talent backs and receivers. 

Regardless of the situation I'd like to see every player succeed individually as well as recognize that giving their full effort has a multiplying effect on helping the team get better. 

As I read over this blog, I realize that it is a rambling mess. They can't all be concise winners and that's fine. I'm just happy the rust is somewhat off of my fingers once again. This also helps calm my brain which is often moving faster than I care for it to. I'm now off to watch my son play and enjoy this beautiful Saturday.