Coach Scanson's Blog

To whom this may concern...

2010-08-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

I am talking to you Dan Muscatell. I am talking to all of you on twitter begging me for more blog. I know you missed me, little did I know that you were craving more blog. I put it on the to-do list and then moved it straight to the top.

Montana Coaches Association - 2010 Clinic
This event gets better every year for me. It's not that the speakers are any better or that I learn more, but it is that I know more people. I love the speakers and always get something from every presentation, but I get just as much if not more from going to lunch with Coach Mouat or sitting down at the steak fry with Coach Gordon and Coach Tait.

The MCA wasn't all wonderful. The two low-lights came from within our own department. First Coach Huse (Head Men's Basketball Coach) calls me out of the crowd during his presentation on defense and proceeds to put me in closeout drills and defensive slide drills. Thanks Coach. The second 'incident' was Thursday at lunch. The MSU Volleyball staff "bigtimed" us and chose free wifi at Jimmy Johns over lunch with Coach Close and I at Chili's.

Overall I had an amazing time, caught up with some good friends, and made some new ones!

Dribble Drive

2010-01-14T14:43:00.001-08:00

OK, lets get back on the horse. I am just finishing my Sac State scout and don't have another one until we play Weber State on 2/6.

It is time to start checking in with me and I will get something worth reading in the next few days!

Good Coaches

2009-09-21T15:20:00.001-07:00

I had a wonderful meeting today with Dr. Craig Stewart about the class that I will be teaching this fall: HDPE317 Basketball Coaching Theory. We had a great conversation about the direction of the class and some of the characteristics of good coaches. I felt like the conversation had just started and before you knew it, we had been talking for an hour. Made me think that it could make a good blog topic. I am going to try and make this a recurring feature, help me out by posting ideas about what you think makes a good coach.

Time Management
Good coaches are good at time management. I think it probably comes down to a more basic skill of organization, but we can talk about that some other time. Dr. Stewart made a great point saying "Time is the only thing you and your opponent have exactly the same amount of." I thought that was great! How efficient can you be in practice? Do you start on time? Do you end on time? Do you allow enough rest? Do you allow too much rest? Do you get to everything you want to cover in practice? Are you consistently 30 minutes behind schedule? These are very important questions and I think you will find the good coaches are very skilled in time management.

Let me know your thoughts...

Internet and Recruiting

2009-08-31T10:24:00.000-07:00

Recruiting is a form of marketing and in marketing you need to go to where your customers (recruits) are. Today they are on the Internet!

Recently, we have made the Internet a critical part of our recruiting plan here at Montana State University. Today’s student athlete is on the Internet, they all have their own email, they are on Facebook and if they see a cool video on YouTube, they pass it on to twenty of their friends.

Email
A few years ago we started using a software company called Scoutware (http://www.scoutware.com/). Scoutware is, at its core, a web based database and graphic email program. There is so much that Scoutware can do and we are working hard to take advantage of its capabilities. One of the main features of Scoutware is the ability to create graphic HTML email. Every email we send with Scoutware allows us to use sharp graphics such as an Erica Perry action photo, or pictures of our beautiful campus. In every email that I send, Scoutware allows me to add my picture at the end of the message which allows recruits to put a face to the message.

Blog
Our next step into the web was “Bin’s Blog.” This is something that we wanted to do with the msubobcats.com website a few seasons ago, but settled on having Jamie Thornton write a play blog instead (It was great by the way!). Coach Binford’s Blog http://coachbinford.blogspot.com/ was launched in May 2008 (after a small push by recruiting guru Dan Tudor) with personal stories about family, vacation and Tee Ball. It has since grown into a blog about different topics like leadership, pride, and a very popular series called “Take it to the Next Level.” Next Level is a collection of ideas and strategies for athletes that want to be the best they can be, whether it is youth basketball, high school, college, or professional. Currently, Coach Bin’s Blog has over 6,600 hits from all over the world including Europe, Asia, and a few very loyal readers in Australia!

YouTube
One of the hardest jobs I do is also one of my favorite responsibilities as an assistant coach at MSU. This is the production of our end of the season highlight video. I work very hard and take great pride in the production of this video. As the videos grew in popularity with our players and Fast Break Club members, we were looking for an avenue to share these clips with more fans and also with recruits. YouTube was the obvious forum, and after a little trial and error, we were up and running at www.youtube.com/msuhoopster. Currently we have 43 videos uploaded to YouTube including highlight clips, off the court outtakes, player interviews, and our very popular “Cat Shorts” series. “Cat Shorts” is a series of commercials filmed with the purpose of showing what kind of amazing (and funny) athletes play for Montana State University Women’s Basketball.

Future
As new technology becomes available and we see it as a positive avenue for our message, you can be sure that we will be all over it. On the immediate horizon for Montana State University Women’s Basketball are Twitter and Facebook accounts. See you on the Net!

Film Friday!!!

2009-08-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest parts of my job is watching interested film. Ok, its not the hardest part of the job, just a part of the job that I never get to cross off my to-do list and something that is just difficult for me.
I am very goal oriented and get really excited about big time projects. I love the idea of putting together a YouTube commercial, getting it loaded and crossing it off the list. During camp season I can cross off things like: get officials, set up lunches, hire coaches, daily agenda, sign up forms, etc. Interested film isn't like that.
Interested Film is game film sent to us by kids that want to play college basketball. It is really a great strategy for kids to send in their best games for us to watch because if we haven't seen them play, how could we recruit them? We get a fair share of highlight videos which really does us no good. Even I look like an All-American in a highlight film! :)
So I have for the past few weeks designated two hours each Friday as "FILM FRIDAY!" I know that I will never be done watching interested film, but at least I can cross it off my list once a week.

Have a great weekend!

Quick Hits - August

2009-08-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

A few quick hits today.

Tiger not coming through on Sunday of a Major hurts me deep in my soul. Credit to Y.E. Yang for stepping up when the pressure was at its highest. I could hardly hold the remote steady, no idea how he was able to birdie 18!
The System (see previous blog) is working well. My office is cleaner than it has been in years and I am getting more done. Avid Coach Scanson Blog reader Heather Elkinton had this gem today: "see, when you think of something that you need to do, what you are going to want to do is, listen closely, do it." Thanks Heather
Weather in August has been different this year. It feels like April, it has been raining, cold, windy, just not what I am used to for a Montana August.
Filmed a new commercial today. "Bizzaro Coaches" (not sold on the name). Our buddy Jeff at NBC is going to work his magic and hopefully we will have something on YouTube before the week is over.
I am working on trying to find a better template for this blog. Hopefully I get something up and working soon.
Jason Mraz in the Fieldhouse on September 23rd!!!

The System

2009-08-14T11:39:00.001-07:00

Ok, I am slightly obsessed with productivity. I think that I have great ideas, good insight and a whole bunch of common sense. My problem is that I don't get as much done as I want. I am sure I have ADHD, but who doesn't anymore? Anyways I enjoy productivity experts. I subscribe to Stever Robbins Twitter and PodCast (Get it Done Guy), and am always looking for help in the productivity department. My wife tells me that I would be a lot more productive if I didn't spend all day looking for ways to be more productive...really? :)

Anyways, during one of my productivity searches I ran across Mark Forster's website. He is the auther of "Do it Tomorrow" the next book in my reading revolution. Anyways, when I was on his website I came across a link simply titled "Autofocus System."

The "Autofocus System" is simply a To Do list system. It doesn't judge you for working on a big project for 10 minutes before you get bored or if you want to knock out a bunch of easy stuff, go for it. Anyways, the "Autofocus System" has produced the last two blog posts so I think it is working! Here is the system : CLICK HERE

Ok, now I can cross "Blog" off my list!

The Tipping Point

2009-08-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I need to read more. I usually pass on reading in favor of watching Sports Center and really can’t remember the last book that I read cover to cover before this summer. There are a lot of things that I am interested in that I don’t know much about (surprising I know!) and things I want to improve on. The book that sparked my personal reading revolution was “Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. “Tipping Point” is about the characteristics of social epidemics and the point at which they “tip.” At first I was thinking about how to “tip” our YouTube videos into a viral sensation or how to “tip” Bozeman into buying season tickets and selling out the Fieldhouse. When it came time to write this letter, my mind settled on a new idea…what will “tip” this team towards winning the Big Sky?

We have had tipping points in the past. Two seasons ago we beat the Griz at the Fieldhouse behind a great crowd and some crazy three-point shooting. Last year we knocked off a pretty good Portland State team at the Stott in a high scoring shootout. Both of these moments helped carry us to post season victories, but ultimately ran out of gas before reaching our final goal.

The point I want to make is this, an opportunity to win the Big Sky Conference will present itself. It may be in the form of a 6:00am workout, a “Bring It On Coach” drill, a team dinner, or an overtime nail biter in February.

The question is: Will we be ready?

Lovin Las Vegas

2009-07-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well we are well over the half way point of the big recruiting month of July. I have been in Vegas for the past couple days with my family getting a little "vacation" (I put vacation in quotes because I have been checking my phone nonstop with emails and phone calls) before tournaments begin later this week. I wanted to post a quick update and a few July #s:
4 - Starbucks
2 - PF Changs
2 - Chipotle
1 - Qdoba
1 - In N Out Burger
1 - Round of golf

I will be BBQ'n for my Vegas family tonight, my specialty: Flank Steak and Grilled Asparagus. Till next time...

Cat Shorts #11 - Chalk Toss

2009-07-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Twitter

2009-07-07T18:32:00.001-07:00

Ok, Sorry about that. Blogger didnt like all the youtube stuff I was doing. I had to delete a few posts and then everything started working again.

What do you think about twitter? I think it has kinda "jumped the shark", but EVERYONE is on it. I dont know, let me know if you would care what I am doing at the store or when I am out recruiting.

Oh and here is a video!

Bloggin

2009-07-01T12:19:00.003-07:00

Blogger has been a pain...Hope we can get this up and rolling!

Thanks for your patience

Frozen Food

2009-06-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how far frozen food has come in past few years. I remember biting into a Hot Pocket and almost burning my mouth off. The problem was that Hot Pockets was as good as it got as far as frozen food goes.

In an effort to save money and eat healthier (sorry taco bell) I have started eating some amazing frozen lunches. Today I had a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer...DELISH! I also have been very happy with Marie Calendar's Pasta Al Dente. I can get those for under $3 at Wal-Mart and they are both good and healthy!!!

Just thought you would want to know.

Work it out!

2009-05-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hands Only

2009-05-13T09:13:00.001-07:00

Quick Hits

2009-05-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Brett Favre - Play or don't play, but if you retire more than 3 times, you lose the right to be thought of as one of the all time greats. You will now be remembered as the guy who couldn't let it go. I would love to see him play for the Vikings, just so he could torture all the Viks fans (my dad, TW, Jay). BUT I really hate seeing nonstop coverage on if he is or is not throwing slant routes to high schoolers in Mississippi.

Manny - Surprised? Me either. The only positive is being able to give my buddy Zeb a hard time about the 04 and 07 Sox being dirty.

A Rod - Happiest guy on earth as all these other scandals hide his comeback to the Yanks.

Clemens - The guy that I really wanted to go away quietly. I love baseball and I really loved watching him pitch. Probably the greatest pitcher any of us have ever seen. And now this morning he jumps all over sports radio and highjacks my day.

Check ya soon! (and thanks for the shout out MslaCat!)

PitchMen

2009-05-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I have had a dilemma when it comes to the blog. Should my blog be focused on my occupation and the happenings with MSU Women's Basketball? Should my blog be focused towards my family? Should my blog just be information all of you need and didn't even know you needed it?

Option #1: If you want to know about MSU Women's Basketball, check out Coach Bin's Blog at coachbinford.blogspot.com , if you are looking for everything Big Sky Conference WBB check out my guy at twcourtside.blogspot.com . I have a little input on both of those blogs. :)

Option #2: My wife has Facebook, so I'll call it good for that.

Option #3: Yes, CoachScanson.blogspot.com will be just daily bites that everyone needs. Kinda like John Tesh's Information for your life. I probably should have named the blog something other that "Coach" Scanson's blog, but I will keep it for now. I am sure basketball will pop up from time to time, but if you are looking for X's and O's or recruiting news or inside information, this won't be the place.

So....I watch the Discovery Channel often. It is probably the best HD channel and it has extremely interesting shows like "Mythbusters" and "Dirty Jobs." I found "PitchMen" the other night and was immediately hooked. It follows pitchman Billy Mays and his accomplice Sully. Check it out!

Scans

Gday from tomorrow

2009-04-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Monday morning. The tournament is over (for the college coaches) and today is a free day. The last two days have been chalk full of basketball and it is going to be nice to take a look around today. Internet is expensive here so I am going to make this quick (also the reason I havent posted since I got here).

Air New Zealand

2009-04-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Hello from Auckland New Zealand! I just bought 60 mins of internet so this will be quick. Some random thoughts for you:

Yes Man - ugh, not that great of a movie, Jim Carrey being over the top Jim Carrey
Traitor - Don Cheadle is fierce, good movie
Air NZ food is great. Had a braised beef in red wine sauce for dinner (11:00 pm) and a cheese omlette about an hour ago that was amazing.
New Zealand loves Rugby
The plane I was just on held 370 passengers. The plane I started the day on held 48. :)
Alright, gonna run out of internet soon, I will post from Adelaide!

Here we go!

2009-04-15T20:04:00.001-07:00

Hey! I am sitting her at LAX getting ready to get on my flight to Auckland New Zealand. I am pretty fired up! The terminal is packed and my flight is going to be full. My plan is to get on the plan, get comfy, get some food, and hit the Tylenol PM hard and knock myself out for 8 hours or so! I will drop you a note if Auckland Wi-Fi is as good as LAX, otherwise I will check ya from Adelaide!

I'm Back

2009-03-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry about that! We had a great/busy/fun conference season and I didn't feel that I had enough time to breath, so the blog suffered. I am in the office today working on wrapping up some things. We are working on the end of the season highlight film (I have high expectations this year), getting camp information out, cleaning my office, replying to emails, and returning phone calls. Thats it for now, just thought I had to jump back into the blog so here it is! Talk to you soon.

Hiccups

2008-12-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

Monday night I had a wicked case of hiccups. It started around 3:30 pm and didn't stop until I put myself in a NyQuil Coma around 10:30 pm. (I had a nice 2 hour brake from 5:30 - 7:30, but still 5 hours or hiccups Monday night).

I tried drinking water turned upside down, a can of ginger ale, a can of sprite, I held my breath, I tried to change my breathing pattern, everything.

How do you get rid of hiccups? Other than drugging yourself with NyQuil, what is your magic cure to hiccups?

Post your remedy please (Athletic Trainers are especially encouraged to help)

Blog Neglect

2008-11-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

Heather mentioned this topic in her wonderful blog http://heatherandzeb.blogspot.com/ . Blog Neglect: this is something that I have been guilty of ever since my trip to Australia. I am not going to apologize because you are sick of hearing it. I am going to work harder and make this happen.

A few updates:

Happy V Day to Pete!!!
Tyler's Blog has taken it to the next level and has become the "OFFICIAL blog of Big Sky Women's Basketball"
I weighed in this morning at 189.6. Officially that is 24.6 pounds since last May. We will see how Thanksgiving dinner treats me. I am now in my comfort zone. I want to stay between 185 and 189.9.
Eric Musselman's blog is awesome! He must not be able to sleep because he will have 3 or 4 posts every night between 4:30 am and 7:00 am. Impressive! I really enjoy his topics and his blog has inspired me to work on my blog just a little bit harder!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Trick or Treat

2008-10-31T15:50:00.001-07:00

WOW!!! I'm sorry, it has been a long time and I have no real excuse for leaving my readers for this long. It's Halloween and we have been busy. We are 2 weeks into practice and looking forward to our Blue/Gold scrimmage tomorrow. First of all the Blue/Gold scrimmage is a Blue/White scrimmage and depending on the health of our kids, the scrimmage may actually be against our scout team. Our scout team has 5 guys so I will be coming off the bench as well as Coach Close for scout. I should start taking ibuprofen now!
Hopefully I can get you an update on how the scrimmage goes. Maybe Tyler "please call me Gus" Wiltgen can keep a stat line on me!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2008-10-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Good

Received the best compliment yet on my weight loss. Just for the record I have lost 13 pounds since September 8th. On Sept 8th I weighed in at 208.8, this morning I weighed in at 195.8. Yay me. Anyways, the other day I was leaving work with a woman from our administration and she asked me

Woman: "Justin, are you sick?"
Me: "Um, no"
Woman: "You are wasting away to nothing"
Me: "Oh, I have lost almost 20 pounds since last basketball season"
Woman: "On purpose???"

The Bad

It is snowing today :(

The Ugly

I am sporting a mustache today, I doubt the stache will live to see another day. I am having trouble looking people in the eye!

The Rules

2008-10-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Heather, Tyler and I have put in some work, please check out the rules and let me know what you think.

Thanks
Scanson

Rules of the Road

2008-09-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

After my first season with the MSU Women's Basketball team, I found myself a good 15 pounds heavier at the end of the season than I weighed at the beginning. I was perplexed because I practiced often with the team and wasn't necessarily out of shape.

It was during season 2 that I figured out the problem. We were at Olive Garden in Dallas Texas. I was about to eat my 5th breadstick when I thought "hmmm, maybe eating on the road is the reason I am putting on weight." This was followed by Coach Binford finishing half of her plate and then just pushing it in front of me. This was a terrible habit that we got in. Coach Bin would throw her leftover food at me like you would give table scraps to the family dog.

These behaviors needed to change. With the help of our SUPER ATHLETIC Trainer Heather and Ty Ty the Radio Guy, we came up with "Scanson's Rules of the Road."

Don't eat off anyone else's plate. This is the "family dog" rule. It is the most important and hardest rule. Very often someone will have something amazing to eat and they want to share. According to my rules of the road this is forbidden.

Bacon or Sausage, Not Bacon AND Sausage. We see our fair share of breakfast buffet's on the road. The highlight for me had been a wonderful selection of breakfast meat. I had been guilty of a plate full of bacon and a plate full of sausage, not good. Now it is one or the other.

All you can eat...ONLY a suggestion

Do not eat a 5th breadstick. I am thinking about having this apply to slices of pizza as well.

Dessert only if in the name of the restaurant. This is the "Cheesecake Factory" loophole.
Dont eat until you pass out. This rule has also been known as stop eating if you lose feeling in your arms. And I don't mean literally pass out, but eat to the point where you say "wow I could pass out" or "I could put my head down and sleep right now." That is the Don't eat until you pass out rule.
Cleaning your plate is a bad thing. It is better to leave one bite of food on the plate than to force yourself to eat it.
Avoid "French" Food. This is a new rule that Heather, Tyler, and I came up with Sunday night when I was at my new favorite airport restaurant: Jimmy's Bistro & Spirits in the Denver Airport, terminal A. Anyways avoid French Fries, French Toast, French Onion Soup, and French cut green beans. This does not include curly fries, potato wedges, or jo-jos.

I think we had 8-9 rules, I need to consult Heather and Tyler, hopefully I can update the rest of the Rules. If you have suggestions, let me know!

And the winner is...

2008-09-22T20:30:00.001-07:00

WOW, I was going to blog today about how I tried so hard, but in the end wasn't quite able to do it.

I have been sick since last Thursday and am just starting to feel a little bit better today. During my illness I haven't worked out and my weight leveled right at 206.6. Well yesterday my parents had us over for a birthday dinner and my dad made his specialty...Prime Rib. It was amazing. My brother, while polishing off his 24 oz cut of Prime Rib, said "Wow, Justin is a model of self control tonight." Thats right, a model of self control, only one serving of Prime Rib for me please!

Well this morning I overslept my alarm, didn't get in a workout and didn't eat breakfast. I went to work and weighed in at work. Doug swears that the scale in the weight room is completely accurate and definately more accurate than my scale at home. AND I WEIGHED IN AT 199!!! Mission 200 complete!!! BOO YAA!!! YAY ME!

So I had pizza tonight as my birthday dinner, but I don't feel 100% about Mission 200. There was nothing in Mission 200 about what scale I had to get under 200, just that I had to get under 200. That being said, I am not done. I am going for under 200 on my home scale. Wish me luck!

Shout Out to the Dingerson's who have Coachscanson.blogspot.com as their home page and everytime they open the internet I get another click on my sitecounter! (I secretly changed their homepage without their knowing and I don't think they know how to fix it, don't tell them!)

End Game!!

2008-09-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Its Friday at noon and my most recent weigh in was 202.6. Yes thats correct, I should have blogged more recently about my weight loss success, but I have been busy, back off! Anyways I have come down with a sickness and this could be exactly what I need to get to 200 by Monday morning.

Up until yesterday morning, when I fell ill, I had exercised more this week than I had since I was playing baseball in college. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow morning to make a serious run at 200 for Monday.

I also want to give a quick shoutout to Diet Lipton Green Tea. DLGT, thank you for being my go-to soda subtitute and low calorie refresher!

Update

2008-09-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

Mission 200 is going ok. I have been right between 207 and 208 the last 5 days, I am really thinking that I will see 206 for the first time in 5 years soon. Was up early this morning and had a great stair workout, have eaten well today, and will avoid Dairy Queen tonight at all costs.

Redemption

2008-08-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

207.4 this morning, back on track. I think it was the Taco Bell for lunch yesterday that put me back on track for Mission 200. I have some smoked salmon for lunch today and if I can resist Buffalo Wild Wings on the way home, I'm golden!

Setback

2008-08-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, Thursday was a very bad day for Mission 200. We experienced a severe setback that included a trip to Red Robin where I proceeded to run many red lights. 209.8 today. :( Sigh, I'm going to miss pizza.

Mission 200

2008-08-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, I want to get everyone a quick update on mission 200. Mission 200 is my quest to get under 200 pounds before my 30th birthday. I have been on this quest for 2 months now, but decided to start taking it seriously as we approach the 1 month countdown. The motivation: After September 22, 2008, I am not to eat pizza, not a slice, NO PIZZA unless I am under 200 pounds the day this pizza is to be served. I am definatly starting to get nervous about this.

As recently as a year ago I was living right around the 220 mark and am down to 207.6 as of this morning. Yes, thats right I am counting tenths of a pound, every tenth counts.

I started jogging, or is it yogging, might be a soft J, anyways I started jogging two nights ago. I made it around my neighborhood (2 miles I think, felt like 10). The first night I was dying!!! I had to spit every 20 seconds, but I didn't walk at all. Last night was round number two and it was much much easier. I didnt spit once. This morning however my legs are absolutely killing me. Stretching is important and I was just too tired both nights to do anything other than shower and go to bed.

Anyways that is the quick update, I will keep you up to date on how Mission 200 is going including a request for "Coach Scanson's Rules of the Road Diet". Get back to you soon!

Olympics - 1 thing that would make it better

2008-08-14T12:45:00.001-07:00

Have you seen the synchronized diving? It is ok, I would much rather watch swimming or table tennis, but if it is in HD, I will watch it. Anyways I don't think the synchronized divers take their synchronization seriously enough. Here are a few suggestions to take this sport to the next level.

You can only enter this event if you and your partner look very similar, identical twins would be ideal.

If one diver has a taped ankle, the partner must tape the same ankle. Everything should be done to appear the same and no one should be able to tell one diver from their partner.

Synchronization doesn't end when you hit the water. They need to swim to the edge in synchro, get out of the pool in synchro, shower in synchro, celebrate high scores in synchro. I think this has tons of potential as a SNL skit or a Will Ferrell movie. Synchronized divers that have synchronized lives. Think about the potential, sychro dates, bathroom, interviews, driving, the possibilities are endless.

Post a comment if you have any other synchro situations that I didn't think of that have the comedic chops to qualify for our imaginary Will Ferrell movie.

Olympic Fever

2008-08-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

Michael Phelps is a freak. Thats all I have to say! I wasn't excited about the Olympics until they started and now I am on full medal watch. Is Michael Phelps the best athlete in the world? Maybe. He eats 10,000 calories a day. I heard that he has 3 fried egg sandwiches, french toast with powdered sugar, a 3 egg omlette, and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. That is gross and awesome all at the same time.

Sorry about the lack of blogs, I think I may have over done it while in Australia, I was blogged out. Anyways I am almost back to full strength. Hopefully you will be hearing from me soon.

Travel Awards

2008-07-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Highlight: Air New Zealand Food
Lowlight: Tie : Walking 12 blocks in freezing rain to the Ballarat library in search of wireless Internet AND not buying an authentic Croc Dundee hat
MVA (Most Valuable Aussie): Kelvin Taylor - Unanimous
Best Place to eat in Ballarat: Hog's Breathe Cafe
Hotel with the "iffiest" Internet: Quality Inn
Best Surprise: My baggage not getting lost
Worst Surprise: Snow in Ballarat
Favorite thing to say in an Aussie accent: Meat Pie (Meat POI)
Best CD to sleep to: Semisonic - Feeling Strangely Fine

The End is Near!

2008-07-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

10:00 pm (1 hour away from Bozeman) I am airbourne headed back to Bozeman. Today has literally been the longest day of my life. I started my Friday 36 hours ago, have seen 2 sunsets and eaten 5 meals. Now here on the home stretch the plane is about 1/2 full and redneck Steve in front of me just ordered 3 whiskey cokes. I am so completely annoyed. Partly annoyed at redneck Steve and how loud he is talking, partly annoyed with myself and what a stuckup snob I am.

My iPod is about to die. Just thought I would share that. I listened to it for the 5-7 hours I tried to sleep on the flight from Auckland to LAX. I was able to finish "The Departed" and then I watched two Ryan Reynolds movies, "Chaos Theory" and "Definatly Maybe." I liked both of them and I think I got something in my eye near the end of each movie, weird. I would like to give Air New Zealand props on some spectacular meals during my journey. I had a crumbcrusted fish and garlic mashed potatoes for the dinner meal and thy came by and woke me up for pancakes and fresh fruit. I sampled a complimentary wine or two and was always very impressed. Now if I could just get bumped up to business class premeire, we would be all good!

Australia to New Zealand

2008-07-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings from 11,000 meters above the Tazman Sea. Just had my first meat pie and I can say I don't really think its that special. It was good but nothing I would write a blog about, wait, nevermind. Just finished watching "21" on the Air New Zealand on demand entertainment center. Good story, bad acting, overall I enjoyed it. I just started watching "The Departed", I have seen it before, but wanted to watch it again because Mark Walberg is insanely good and Alec Baldwin, well, need I say more? We have now started our descent into Auckland, check ya later.

I am getting to know Auckland International Airport a little too well. The big problem I have right now is that the best food option here is Burger King or as its known in Australia, Happy Jacks. They have a little coffee shop that I was considering, but I am going to be popping sleeping pills soon, not so sure how much caffeine I should have with that. Also I have no idea what meal comes next. Local time should be dinner, at home should be breakfast. I think I will just try to eat every 6 hours and call it good. Alright, off in search of food.

Well that was dumb. I went with a chocolate danish and a latte. Good luck sleeping on the plane!

Day #???

2008-07-10T01:15:00.000-07:00

How long have I been here? It is all a blur. Thanks to a loyal reader I am fired up and ready to blog. I got an email from a reader encouraging me to keep up the good work so here I am!

I am now in Melbourne. I watched two more games in Ballarat today and I can't believe that I flew half way around the world to see coaches from Washington State, Idaho, Gonzaga, Wyoming, and Colorado. They same guys (and gals) I see at every tournament.

Anyways, Ballarat was good, cold but good. I was planning on getting out here in Melbourne and seeing what I can see, but I am tired! That and the shuttle driver to the hotel was crazy, no seriously. Dropping F-Bombs like he had been my best friend in truck driver school and driving as fast as he could make his little van go. So now I am thinking about staying in my room, relaxing and just getting some good rest for the upcoming plane trip.

I have been putting together a couple top ten lists for you, my readers. Also I should blog a little layup rant. I will try and blog again soon! Thanks to all the readers!

Brrrr

2008-07-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

This was awesome! It is called the Haka and it is a New Zealand war dance.

I am still cold, but the sun just came out from behind the clouds. I am back at the Library before the next game starts. I am listening to ESPN Radio, makes me feel good!

G'Day

2008-07-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, Sorry bout the delay. It is tuesday 11:45am. I just walked 12 blocks in the rain to the library to access this wonderful wireless internet. I don't even know how I can catch you up with my story from where I left off. Since Auckland, I have lost my bag, found my bag, frozen my butt off, told my guy Kelvin that the best kid in the tournament was "ah, she's ok, I guess", um watched Cricket, yeah I need to gather my thoughts and check back with you again soon.

Blog 3

2008-07-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

10:46 (pm/am um, not sure what day) Wow how time flies when you are having fun. Just finished breakfast, a cheese omelet, roasted potatoes, fruit, yogurt, and orange juice, very impressive Air New Zealand. I have no idea how long I actually slept, but I am sure I got a few hours. There is a group of high schoolers sitting in front of me. The two guys are idiots and I have resisted the urge to smack them for long past my normal patience level. Oh and by the way it is tomorrow where I am now. It is almost 11:00 am in Montana, but I think it is almost 3 or 4 am tomorrow here. Yeah I'm confused too. They just had to reboot the entertainment system which has really disturbed tweedle dee and tweedle dum in front of me. I have watched How I met your Mutha, Drillbit Taylor and Semi Pro. Well I am gonna try and sleep a bit more. CHeck ya later.

3:14 pm G'Day from Auckland New Zealand mates! Overall the 12 hour flight from LAX to Auckland was good. Local time here in New Zealand is 9:15 am tomorrow. I just slept for about 45 minutes on some chairs in the Lobby. My next flight doesn't board for an hour or so, I will probably explore the terminal stores.

Blog 2

2008-07-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

3:50 pm Orange Juice and a mini bruchetta. Life is good.
3:51 pm The wine is complimentary? How did I miss taht?
3:52 pm The min bruschetta amounted to 1/4 of a stale breadstick. Delish!
4:57 pm Wow Seattle is green. Just dropped out of the clouds into the very green Seattle area.
5:18 pm Turkey wrap, chips, water for $10.13, what a deal! Actually the turkey wrap is very good. I am happy with my choice.
5:56 pm Am sitting here with my guys Owen and Tyler. Own enjoys drawing guns and singing Soulja Boy. Tyler likes giving Owen a hard time, although he is terrible at it. Owen just demonstrated his best "Thriller" Dance, after drawing a gun on my notepad.
6:32 pm Orange juice and pretzels! Owen is 11 years old and enjoys old time pistols, 12 gauge shot guns, and Elephant guns. He also got a switchblade knife in Alaska. I am truly terrified of this kid.
10:36 pm Should board for Auckland shortly. I checked in and I guess I need a visa. Luckily they have no problem doing it on the fly for a mere $25.00. Just called Rebecca, she told me to sleep as much as possible and take advantage of any free drinks. I will write on the plane if I am awake.

Blog #1

2008-07-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

12:32 pm (7/4) Ok as we get ready to leave Bozeman, I have good and bad news for you. The good news: We have a big plane, 150 seats for the 40-50 of us flying today. The bad news; we had a "mechanical malfunction" as we pulled away from the gate, won't be but a few minutes we were told. I hope not, I am already 3/4 of the way done with my skymall. In other potentially bad news, the guy in front of me is just itchin to recline his seat. If he knows what is good for him, he will keep his finger off that recline button.

12:38 pm Flight attendant comes on and says "I wish I had some good news for you, but..." and continues to tell us the plane is broken and we will die if we don't fix the problem. I'm fine because I have granola bars and my connection isn't until 4:something. Hmm, what should I eat in Denver?

12:50 pm Its not a good sign when they start a movie while you are still at the gate. Mims Island...I hope I don't get to see it all!

1:15 pm Mim's Dad died! What a downer! Anyways, they called the mechanic at home and told him to put down his beer and get to the airport asap. Good news, the guy that wanted to recline left to get a flight to Chicago. Wait Mim's dad is alive, I feel better now, he is just lost at sea, no biggie.

2:48 pm Just boarded a Horizon Air flight going to Seattle on to LAX. We got about 1/2 way through the movie on the other plane when they cancelled with no hope of getting to Denver. I tend to sympathize with people in the customer service field. The gate agents had nothing to do with the cancelled flight but they get to deal with the whole aftermath. The girl that helped me was great and here I am about to head to Seattle/LA/Auckland/Melbourne. Oh, I had to go through security again and was selected for a cavity search, actually just a quick pat down. Ugh, I wanted to grab the United Magazine with the SuDoKu, oi!

3:11 pm We are airborne. Horizon Air Magazine has no sudoku, oi. On another not, do I get the miles for my cancelled flight? Do I get anything from United?

3:28 pm Kid behind me looks really nervous. Either he doesn't enjoy the turbulence we are experiencing or he is afraid we will all find out that he peed his pants, hard to tell what the nervous face means. Where is the flight attendant? I don't want to eat all my granola bars before I even get out over the Pacific. Rockin the iPod pretty hard, trying to drown out the engine that is right outside my window. Listening to John Mayer/Fall Out Boy's cover of Beat It, I like.

3:43 pm Just flew over Missoula. I have this sickness where I love to identify objects on the ground from my seat 30,000 feet in the air. Washington Griz stadium doesn't look so big. :)

July

2008-07-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here we are in July and I am heading off to the land "down unda" tomorrow. I wanted to post a quick blog before I left.

I am originally from Livingston Montana. Livingston can't do anything right, Livingston couldn't lead ants to a picnic, but Livingston puts on a pretty impressive show when it comes to the 4th of July! It always starts with the parade on the 2nd leading up to the Livingston Roundup Rodeo the 2nd - 4th.

The parade yesterday was quite impressive. I always enjoy the bagpipers and anyone that is taking their float extra serious. My dad enjoys scoffing at the politicians and well its makes for a pretty entertaining 90 minutes.

Other notes: I leave Bozeman tomorrow (the 4th) at 12:30 pm and I arrive in Melbourne at 12:50 on Sunday. I still don't know exactly how long I will be in flight, I should probably bring a stopwatch.

Right now it looks like the readers want to read a top ten list or want to see how entertaining I can make layups. Anyways I will get my blog on as soon as I get to my hotel in Ballarat. Have a fun and safe 4th!

G'Day Mates!!!

2008-06-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm not in Australia yet, but I am ready! I am planning on Blogging every day/night in Ballarat, but I can't promise anything. I leave on the 4th of July and land in Melbourne on the 6th, jump on a shuttle for 120 km and viola, I am in Ballarat.

Any of my readers travel to Australia? Any suggestions on international travel? Any suggestions on what to do with 16 hours on a plane? Hit me up and let me know.

Anyone seen any good movies lately? I thought "Get Smart" was great. Of course it was stupid, but well worth $7.50 and a couple hours. Another reason I enjoyed "Get Smart" was the combination of Anne Hathaway and THE ROCK. I love them both! Oh yeah and Steve Carrel is great as expected.

Has anyone seen the trailer for "Step Brothers?" Everyone knows how much I idolize Will "Ron Burgundy" Ferrell. This movie looks like it might be the best Will Ferrell movie yet. If you haven't seen the preview, go watch it now!

Shoutouts
Heather Elkinton - Whats up?

Tiger :(

2008-06-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

The golf season is now over. Tiger is out for the year with season ending knee surgery. The good thing is that I don't have an excuse to watch golf on TV anymore and my yard will probably look significantly better because of it.

Speaking of golf, I need to get out and hit the little white ball around the lawn! Camp is over, the weather is beautiful, and I have a 10 round pass at Cottonwood. I still have not golfed at Cottonwood yet, but now seems like a good time!

Thats all I have today. I will try and get something up every other day, even if its short. I am looking at doing a question and answer blog. Email me at jscanson@msubobcats.com with your questions and I will do my best to answer in an upcoming blog.

Cheers Mate!

Camp Wrap and Tiger

2008-06-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tiger!!! I am usually a huge supporter of the underdog. I love the 15 seed that gives the 2 seed all they can handle in the NCAA tournament, I loved that Appy State beat Michigan, I love when the Yankees or Red Sox lose, I love the 34-1 longshot that wins the Belmont. All of this means nothing when it comes to golf. If Tiger isn't playing, I'm not watching. Today Tiger won his 14th major in a playoff against Rocco Mediate. Rocco is the definition of an underdog, going up against the best golfer ever. And I sat here and held my breath on every Tiger putt waiting to see him win again.

You may ask why I was able to watch Tiger today? Why wasn't I in the office working? Well, I had camp last week. And while I don't know exactly how many hours I worked last week, I do know that sometime during my 16 hour Saturday, I decided I could probably take a day or two off this week. Done and Done.

Camp was great. Individual camp was exhausting, but definitely worth it. The kids were great and our coaches worked extremely hard. We have some girls that are going to make great coaches down the road. Krislyn in particular did an outstanding job running our shooting station the first 3 days of camp. Now, Krislyn is the same girl that had to talk her way through a drop step during practice this season! Didn't phase her one bit to run 30 kids through a shooting practice and do it well!

Everyone else did an amazing job and I'm not going to name everyone, but without the effort of our coaches, camp would have been a complete failure. Thanks everyone!

Big Brown, McKay, and other thoughts

2008-06-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of horse racing. I grew up on a ranch outside of Livingston and my family had appaloosa race horses for most of my childhood. It was always a thrill for me to go to the races, cheer my horse in the race and yell at the top of my lungs as we entered the "DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME" portion of the race. I would also always watch the triple crown races with my dad when I was little and have always made a point to watch every spring. I have never seen a triple crown winner and really thought this would be the year that it happened. Smarty Jones, Real Quiet, and even Barbaro got my hopes up, but just like Big Brown's trainer, I was unbelievably confident that this was the year that we would all see a triple crown winner. I hope that Big Brown is healthy and I will get a chance to watch him run in the fall in the Breeders Cup Classic.

On another bummer of a note, Jim McKay passed away today. I was watching SportsCenter this morning when the story came up and I immediately choked up as if I knew the guy. When I was real young I remember Wide World of Sports as the only chance I would get all week to watch sports. (We didn't have cable, can you imagine???) ESPN does a fantastic job putting together touching stories that are designed specifically to make me cry and they had one ready to go on McKay. OK, I'm bummed out now, lets see if we have anything good to share.

OH YEAH, I was just found out that MSU Women's Basketball was 40th in the nation in home attendance and 4th in the nation in increased attendance. I am sure you will see more on this in Coach Bin's Blog, but I thought I would beat her to the punch. Here's the link
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/resources/file/ebd54105a321392/2008%20W%20releasex.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

OK, this blog is too long. Hopefully I will have time to give you some updates on camp next week and I am also pondering a "My favorite rap lines" blog, not sure if I can make it appropriate or not! Please submit your favorite rap lines to me at jscanson@msubobcats.com PLEASE keep them appropriate and edited.

Cheers!

AMP

2008-06-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

Have you tried the energy drink from Mountain Dew, AMP! I am half way through an Orange Amp this morning and it is good! I mean I have been playing air guitar in Coach Orton's office and randomly yelling in the hallways. Hopefully they won't find me curled up in the fetal position on the couch passed out in an hour.

Been super busy lately. Camp is coming together nicely. We have had a problem getting emails sent to our campers about the first day, but other than that things are going very well. Hopefully today I will get the camp format completely ironed out and finish our camp meal schedule. Good times all around.

SHOUTOUTS

Anyone with the initials BP

Brian Pumphrey

Brian Priebe

Brooks Phillips

Brook Powalisz

Bill Pilgeram

Barbara Phippard

Belinda Pence

Weight Room

2008-05-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the elevator music! :)

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

2008-05-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of blog over the past two weeks! Got back from Vegas on Sunday and have been spinning my wheels trying to get caught up with life in Bozeman. We are two weeks out from individual camp and this is the time when I start getting nervous about camp enrollment. Hopefully everything will work out perfectly, but you never know, especially with the price of gas, I am afraid that camp will take a hit.

New Big News: I am going to Australia in July! I know, I know, awesome. I have been working on my aussie, but it is difficult now that Mercer is back home. Speaking of Mercer, check out the highlight videos below. It was viewed 3 times yesterday in Australia, good work Becs! Anyways, I have been practicing my g'day, no worries, cheers and 'have a go ya mug' non-stop, to the point that I am annoying everyone in the office!

TUNES: Currently my top 3:
1. End of the world as we know it - REM
2. Nine in the afternoon - Panic at the disco
3. Grace is Gone - Dave Matthews Band Live Trax Vol 6

The Links!

2008-05-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkhOsgKxf-s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GIRLgYuj2o

Check em out, more coming!

TV

2008-05-02T17:17:00.001-07:00

My week in television:
How I Met Your Mother
Rules of Engagement
NCIS
CSI (The real one, Vegas Style)
Office
30 Rock
Scrubs
Lost
Ax Men

Ok, Lost is by far the best show on television, just kinda made me mad that the black smoke is back and more mysterious then ever. I do however like the twist about Jack not being sure if he is alive of if he is in heaven. OK, I need to go watch Office and 30 Rock from DVR.

Friday

2008-05-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Friday was a good day at work. I setup a blog for Coach Binford that you can find at coachbinford.blogspot.com. I also helped Coach Orton get the Men's Basketball Highlight film almost finished. Oh yeah and I went and bought a flip video camera. The flip video is a cheap camcorder that is super easy to load video to the internet. Hopefully we will have some video up soon.

adidas

2008-05-01T07:32:00.001-07:00

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day today! Hopefully I can be productive this morning and get done what I need to get done. On the plate today: equipment order for adidas, meet with equipment manager, recruiting meeting/brainstorm, and follow up with some high school coaches about team camp. I'm sure I am forgetting something, oh well!

It is now time to blog!

2008-04-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

We (the athletic department) had Dan "Recruiting Guru" Tutor on campus today to do a recruiting workshop with the coaches. I thought it was great and we got a bunch of great ideas. I am excited to get more on the cutting edge of recruiting. We will just have to see how much of this is actually NCAA Compliant!