On Rowing with Pocock, Parker, Nash and Perry - row2k video

On Rowing with Pocock, Parker, Nash and Perry - row2k video

A great video with some of the legends in US Rowing history. I especially like what George Pocock says about the importance of leadership over technical knowledge with respect to coaching and the way Ted Nash describes the sport.

- Jimmy

Going Back in Time

Training has been going really well over the past few weeks.  The volume and intensity are high and the results are showing progress.  When I'm at practice or watching video on my own I try to stay focused on that, but it's nice to think about the old days as a kid when not much was on the line and enjoy some fun stuff.  Tonight, I went to go see the new Muppets movie.

Christmas season is always great for bringing back childhood memories.  I definitely have developed what I like to call an adult switch.  I realize I am an adult and feel that I can act like one when needed.  However, sometimes I like to flip the switch and watch cartoons, horse around or do stupid stuff that I could get away with as a youngster.  Shaunnah can testify, I love cartoon movies.  Shrek is awesome.  Tonight, I really wanted to see Arthur Christmas, but chose the Muppets instead.

It was great to not think about practice, upcoming erg test or selection and veg out to some old friends.  I haven't watched the Muppets in YEARS.  I'm no spring chicken and it may have been 15+ years since my last Muppet experience, but it was great.  The movie was well written and funny.  I found myself surrounded by little kids and parents and it's always interesting to hear adults laugh when kids don't.  Some of the jokes are just above them and I love that.  I remember watching Shrek for the first time with Mike Berganski and his to daughters.  They were in middle school at the time and Mike and I laughed our butt's off.  After the movie the girls said they didn't like it nearly as much as us.  Many of the jokes in that movie came from Disney movies that the girls had not seen because they were just too young.  Mike and I, on the other hand were rolling with laughter.

Christmas is always a great time to think about opening presents as a kid, or hearing your Dad drive a four wheeler across the yard on Christmas morning.  That was one of the best Christmas presents ever!  The movies that play this time of year bring me back as well.  I downloaded the entire Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack on itunes the other day.  That is my favorite Christmas movie.  I'll just turn it on and read or hang out.  I think my roomates are getting a little sick of it...

Well I hope all of you are enjoying the Holiday Season.  Take a minute from your busy lives and act like a kid again.

- Jimmy

Leading when you need to be led: Sitting bow in a pair

Bow seat of a pair is a difficult seat to row.  You have to be in perfect sync with the guy in front of you and you have to be on top of it mentally at all times.  Your responsibilities include, setting the boat, making steering calls, pulling hard and making technical calls.  The technical calls are what can get you in to a bit of trouble in the boat. 

When I’m rowing I’m constantly thinking of things to correct.  Self criticism is the best criticism in my book.  I try to hold myself to a high standard of rowing or anything else for that matter.  However, when I’m rowing in bow I’m not going to make calls to myself.  That would sound ridiculous and is a waste of energy.  “Jimmy, reach from the hips and sit up.”  My stroke seat would probably stop rowing and ask if I needed to talk to someone.  On the other hand I am responsible for making the technical calls for the entire boat and that includes stroke.

It’s a hard business making calls to someone other than you.  People can get defensive or begin to say to themselves, “why is he only making calls for me?  I know he’s not rowing perfectly.”  In order to have a solid pair relationship and create speed this needs to be avoided.

I try not to harp too much on one singular thing the stroke is doing and if I do feel something I usually try to come up with a drill that will fix it.  The drill helps him feel the difference instead of hearing me “complain.”  Another great tool is the “royal we.”  We need to hold the legs down a bit more while the bodies come over and let the boat run out.  We need to be a little more horizontal at the catch.  The thing is I see him doing it and 

I’m supposed to follow his every move so the collective is very relevant and a great tool. 

Stroke seats remember, your bow seat is not just berating your technique solely.  He is still trying to better his own stroke as well and these calls only create positive speed, so deal with it.    

On another, more defensive note, I have not had any stroke seats flip out on me.  I was discussing this point with another guy I train with who usually sits bow and stating how difficult it is to not sound like an elitist while rowing bow. 

  

Good Enough and Some Video

When I was a kid and would go over to my Dad's shop and help out there was a poem on the wall of his office.  All I ever remember were two of the lines, but they go:  "My son beware of good enough, it is not made of sterling stuff."  I don't know who the author is, but it's a great line.

Whenever I'm feeling sorry for myself during a practice and want to take a stroke off I think of this.  It helps motivate me to maximize every workout and get through the end of the day.  If you guys know my Dad then you'll know he isn't into literature.  However, he found this poem and took it to heart.  I think it helped him build a successful business.

Anyway, enough ranting.  I hope you are all enjoying the holidays.  I've actually been listening to Christmas Music which may or may not be driving my roommates crazy.  I'm looking forward to the next 2 weeks of hard training and then a break in Annapolis.

BEAT ARMY!

- Jimmy

P.S.  The video is of Ryan Fox and me doing some power work with a bungee on the boat.

Not Eating as a Lightweight. Thank you Thanksgiving

My favorite holiday is right around the corner, Thanksgiving.  It is the one holiday that I am not affected by marketing.  No presents, cards, flowers, candies, just cooking and fellowship.  I enjoy the aromas, sitting around an watching football and I do not participate in the black Friday hoop-lah, so it is a relatively stress free holiday.  The most wonderful part about Thanksgiving is trying to eat like a champion.

Unfortunately, I will not be home with Shaunnah for this Thanksgiving, booooooooooooooooooooo.  Despite five years in the military and four deployments between the two of us, this will be the first Thanksgiving we spend apart as husband and wife.  I'm going to stay in Oklahoma City.  However, that will not affect the status of my belly around 6 pm on Thursday.  Some of the guys I train with are going to stay here as well and we are preparing a mighty feast.

The famous casserole is on the right side of the table in the
dish.  This is in Mom's kitchen.

I am going to help with the Turkey (brine is the way to go) and make what has become a Thanksgiving staple in my life since I married Shaunnah, sweet potato casserole.  Everyone has their thing when it comes to traditional dinners.  My Mom makes the best stuffing you've ever tasted.   The key, I believe is the sausage.  Shaunnah's specialty is a sweet potato casserole.  It does not have marshmallow... oh no.  It has something much better; a thick layer of butter, brown sugar, sugar, pecans and other goodness baked on top of a buttery, velvety layer of sweet potatoes.  I don't really have a specialty.  I just ride the coat tails of the women in my life, haha.

Again, I wish I were home, but I am definitely glad that I can bring some of my home to OKC and share it with my teammates.  I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

- Jimmy

At the Mercy of the Elements

Driving to the course this morning for the Fall Speed Order I saw mirrored reflections on Lake Carnegie.  I was thinking to myself that this will be a fast race with perfectly flat conditions.  In the back of my mind I was remembering the wind forecast I looked up the previous night that said a 8-9 mph headwind would appear between 8 and 9 am.  However, I ignored the forecast saying to myself, "There's no way the wind will pick up from 0-9 mph in 1 hour.  I WAS WRONG (we started at 9:15)

Will and I shoved from the dock at 8:38.  We wanted to get a good warm-up in to row the 6k erg test out of our legs before the race.  About 3k in to the warm-up I noticed there were no more mirror reflections and the wind kept building over the next 10 minutes in to a pretty stiff head wind headed straight down the first 1/2 of the 3 mile course.  I told Will it would be awesome.  We would just pound it in to the head wind and make everyone hurt.  What I forgot to think about was how much it would hurt me as well...

We had a solid piece, but that first 1.5 miles was tough.  After every stroke it just felt like the boat was slowing down way more than it should.  It was painful and I'm sure added a good 20+ seconds to the first 1/2 of the race.  Then we started to turn and found about 150 meters of shelter and started to gain some momentum.  Once the wind became more of a cross head instead of a direct head we got in to a better rhythm and moved a bit.

Rowing is funny.  Conditions can change in an instant and there is nothing you can do about it but bear down and pull hard.  At least it wasn't hailing.

Enjoy the video (Will Newell and I doing some low rate stuff earlier this week).

- Jimmy

Seizing Opportunity and 1x Video

At least once in everyone’s life an opportunity shows it’s self.  I feel most successful people are there because they seized that opportunity.  They saw it and took it.  Those who do not succeed, for one reason or another, whether by choice or chance did not seize that opportunity. 

Personally, I have been very fortunate in life.  My parents raised me with certain values that have helped my brothers and I transition well in to adult life.  We were given every opportunity to succeed because my parents worked their asses off to present their children with those opportunities.  None of my brothers are screw ups (4/4 is pretty good these days).  All four of us have taken advantage of the gifts we were given and utilized them to their fullest.

Opportunity can present itself in a number of ways.  Attrition is one of them.  Whether you are in the office or on the field, there is always going to be someone above you who is leaving.  They could have been transferred to another office, been hurt during a play or just decided to quit.  Your job at that moment and time is to jump on that and attempt to insert yourself into that position.  Raise your standards for yourself and forcefully put yourself in to that new position. 

Placing yourself in that new position can be done in a number of ways.  You can suck up (not my preferred method), you can bring up past results (which may get you there but your past results have only gotten you to this point so more may be needed) or you can just raise your game (BINGO).  Step up.  Show the people above you that you get things done. 

I’ll use sport as a reference, “Remember, you miss every shot you don’t take.”  I don’t know who said that or if it is credited to one specific person, but I think it says a lot.  If you see that opportunity and you idly watch it as someone else jumps on it, then it is your own fault.  If you try and fail, that is much more noble and forgiving. 

I do know one young man who has just started taking more shots.  Believe me, it has paid off.  He has made things happen and helped his team to perform well.  He has done an excellent job of taking advantage of opportunity.  He began seizing opportunity many years ago when his older brothers would rough him up a bit when playing in the yard.  Instead of shying from it and running to Mom he embraced it and became one tough SOB. 

Hope everyone enjoyed Halloween and is ready for Thanksgiving.

- Jimmy

row2k video: HOCR11 - Men's Lwt 8, Jimmy Sopko - Row2k Video Coverage: Head of the Charles

Interview with Row2k following our Head of the Charles victory. Do I always talk out of the side of my mouth?

row2k video: HOCR11 - Men's Lwt 8, Jimmy Sopko - Row2k Video Coverage: Head of the Charles

Charles Weekend

I love racing at the Head of the Charles.  The first time I did it I was at The Gunnery School.  I had only raced 2 or 3 head races prior to it since I only rowed in the spring at Mathews.  I was too naive to realize how big this regatta actually was.  Ever since then I thought it was great and the greatness has magnified in my mind every year since.

My buddy Matt Muffelman from Mathews racing in the
Dartmouth Alumni boat.  

In the summer of 2010 I wrote a blog about friendship and rowing, The Friends Along the Way, for Shivani at shivspix.  I don't think any other regatta gives me the chance to catch up with EVERYONE than HOCR.  When you come to the Charles and walk around the finish line area or anywhere along the 3+ mile course you are bound to run in to old friends.  Yesterday alone, I saw friends from Mathews High School, The Gunnery School, Navy and Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle.  I haven't seen many of them for years, but HOCR delivers.  I also got to have dinner with one of my cousins who is going to law school at BC, bonus.

So, although I'm really glad and super excited to race this afternoon, it's been just as thrilling to catch up with old friends.  I wish you all the best.

- Jimmy  

October on the Charles

It’s that time of year again, my favorite time of year…  Head Race Season!  I don’t like it because I like head racing more than sprint racing. That would be ridiculous.  There is nothing better in racing than locking into the blocks with 5 other boats and seeing the green light.  However, head racing just so happens to occur during the fall, when the weather and scenery are awesome.  Racing when it’s 60 degrees out is amazing.  Although, sometimes it’s 60 degrees at NSRs, but it’s also 7 am, raining and we had to weigh in at 5 am, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. 

DO WORK!!!!

I’ll be racing at the Head of the Charles in Boston this weekend.  I and 8 other guys training in Oklahoma City are going to try to tear it up down the course.  I’m sitting bow and am super excited about it.  My main responsibility will be to set the boat so the others can do the real work AND I get to yell at all of the crews we pass (hopefully)!  That’s going to be fun. 

Over the years I've learned not to take head racing results too seriously.  There are too many outside variables that can affect results.  i.e. crashes, bad steering, variable winds, hitting buoys.  So I try to go out and just have a lot of fun and it's always easiest to do that on the Charles with thousands of people screaming for 3 miles!

If you are in the Boston area come by and watch the racing.  We go down around 4:30 on Sunday.  

True North

What is your true north?  I guess what I mean by that is what direction are you taking in life and what principles are you going to follow to get you there, what symbolizes you?  When I think of that question the image of a compass rose comes to mind.  For some reason, ever since I’ve been making adult decisions, I’ve always gravitated to that image.

As a plebe at Navy I had to memorize every fact about every monument, sculpture, building, ALL OF IT.  It was a pain in the ass and to be honest, I don’t remember all of it.  One thing I did realize after I graduated is there are a lot of beautiful things on the campus that I did not appreciate.  However, despite all of the historically significant monuments and buildings, the one I like the most is not even on the plebe memory list.  It’s a compass rose outside the Visistor’s center, off the historically significant beaten path.  When I go home to Annapolis to spend some much needed time with the wife, I like to run around the yard ( USNA speak for campus) and I usually enter through gate 1, pass Halsey Fieldhouse and run along the water.  Every time I do that I take a good look at the compass rose etched in stone (it’s also hard to miss since it’s about five feet in diameter).  I usually do it to orient myself, but at the same time I never do not look at it (double negative equals positive).  I like what it represents.

To me it represents what direction I’m going to take.  Yes, I’m a cheeseball, but whatever.  I’ve accepted it, along with the fact that I will most likely not have a son and my daughters will be coxswains, haha.  I guess the direction I want to take in life is embodied by principles of hard work, dedication, humility and family.  Almost every successful institution has a direction.  USNA and the Navy, for example have the core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment.    I like these core values because they are meaningful and concise.  

Another successful institution is Apple Inc.  I think of them because of the recent death of the innovator, Steve Jobs.  Their core values are not as concise, but definitely give the company a direction and are one of the reasons why they are one of the most successful companies in the world. 

Apple Inc.’s Corp Values

·  We believe that we’re on the face of the Earth to make great products.

·  We believe in the simple, not the complex.

·  We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make.

·  We participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.

·  We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.

·  We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.

·  We don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change.

Both institutions have a direction that leads their mission and creates an excellent product. 

Core values can and should also be used in sport.   In my opinion each team should have a set of values that guides them.  It pains me to think this and I'm becoming more in tune with it as I get older, but sport is not just about winning or losing.  It's about growing as a person and a team's core values will help you become not only a great team, but a great person.  I'm going to use another service academy graduate as an example, Coach Mike Krzyzewski (known as Coach K) is a West Point grad and now one of the most successful college basketball coaches in the history of the game.  He coaches at Duke University and his core values are Communication, Loyalty and Unity.  These have been the core values of every team he has coached for the past 3 decades and helped him to an amazing record of 827-225 (.786).  

I'm not saying you have to adopt my, Apples' or Coach K's core values.  Not every person's should be the same, but the point is to have some so that you have a direction.  

So the next time you are trying to make a life or team decision, think about what defines you and apply that definition to the decision.  It should help you in achieving your true north.

Have a good one.

- Jimmy  

A Little Video

All,
Here is some video from this morning's steady state row.  Enjoy.

Have a good one.
- Jimmy

Family

I was going to write a blog about leadership and communication.  Actually, I was writing it, but it felt a little forced because all I could think about was something else, Family.  So here it goes.  I’ve always had a pretty tight family.  My Dad is the oldest of four and my Mom is the 9^th of 11!  On my Mom’s side alone I think there are 35 grand-kids.  That’s not to mention all of the kids the grandkids are having.  The Colligan side of the family tree is sprouting every year. 

One of my favorite and only great memories of high school was when my brother Chris became a freshman.  I was a senior, Tommy was a sophomore and Chris now joined the ranks.  Patrick was in 2^nd grade so he had a ways to go, but he was always great for getting girls to talk to us, haha.  When all three of the older brothers were in high school I had a huge sense of pride.  It was a little false, because it’s not like we ruled the school or anything (I’m thinking of the O’Doyles here), but we were known.  Tommy was an awesome football player, Chris was a freshman standout on the varsity soccer team, and I was their older brother.  Win – Win for me.  I actually could take a little bit of credit for their success.  Not that I deserved it, but I did take it, haha. 

I know it’s arrogant and conceited and whatever other word you can use, but I love seeing the name Sopko in the newspaper or in an article.  I actually don’t like seeing when it says Jimmy (or James) in front of it, but I love reading about my brothers.  When I was at Gunnery and then Navy Tommy and Chris lit up the papers.  Then, when I was in the Navy Patrick came onto the scene.  The kid was kicking ass in everything.  It started with soccer, but by the time he was a senior he was winning regionals in cross country.  My Mom and Dad also make the paper every once in a while for a high school activity with Mom or a local seafood article with Dad.

Mom, a saint of a woman, worked her ass of dealing with us.  I kid you not, that poor woman put more miles on herself and her car driving four boys to more sport practices and emergency room visits than one would want to handle alone.  Tommy, Chris, Pat and I were usually well behaved, but we had a tendency to be a handful once in a while (this might be an understatement).  When I was in high school my Mom had breast cancer.  At the time I didn’t really comprehend what that meant.  It was a few years prior to the “Save the ta-ta’s”/pink movement and I was a selfish teenager that had more important things to think about.  Basically, I was too worried about myself to realize what was going on.  I don’t think she missed a single practice or game for any one of us.  She was getting chemo!  How tough do you have to be to be able to deal with all of that?  Every time someone mentions the word tough a picture of my Mom shows up in my head.

My Dad owns a seafood company, Seafarms Inc.  He’s owned and operated it for about 26 years and it has become a pretty successful small business, not because the seafood industry is lighting things up right now, but because he worked his ass off.  He adapted when a certain product would be in short supply by expanding his business and started to work with another product.  When he started, clams were the main source of business.  Now he works with clams, fish, oysters, crabs, scallops, pretty much all seafood dealt around the Chesapeake Bay.  He was never a “let’s go throw the ball in the yard” Dad.  Most of my time with him was spent helping in the yard or helping over at Seafarms.  When I was a teenager I hated it!  I hated getting up early and going over to work just to come back hours later smelling like seafood and peeling fish scales off of me throughout the evening.  I actually quit, haha!  One day, when I was 16 he and I got in to it and I told him I quit.  I went and got another job and moved on.  He never once made me feel bad about it.  He treated me like a man and let me move on, realizing it was the best for both of us.  Our relationship only grew stronger from that point on and now we are truly friends.  I would not trade the way my Dad raised me for anything.  I learned TONS of stuff and will probably repeat many of the things he did with my...  daughters (yes, I’ve given in to the fact that I will probably have girls).

This is not even the beginning of what I could write about my family.  Shaunnah, alone could take up months and months of blogs.  However, I think she would kill me if I blogged about her.  She hates when I brag and that’s all I really can do because she’s a stud.  One day I might write about the time we went to a shooting range with 3 Olympic Gold medalists and she outshot EVERYONE with a 45 caliber revolver (her grouping was about 2 inches in diameter)  More will come about her later on in the year when we find out where we’re going to live next after she’s done being the Superintendent’s Aide.  I am constantly surrounded by people who I look up to and am fortunate for that.  The other positive is that I have the same DNA as them (except Shaunnah’s side of the family) so hopefully I’ll get some of it too. 

Have a good one.

- Jimmy

Distractions

One of the only ways for me to get through the training week is to have distractions.  Don’t get me wrong, when I’m rowing I’m focusing solely on rowing, but when I’m not rowing I try to keep myself sane with other occupations. 

Reading always works.  I never read much as a kid.  It’s funny, I was just talking to my Dad about this yesterday.  Somehow, the SAT came up and we were reminiscing on when I took it at least 7 times in high school to improve my scores enough so I could get into Navy.  I told him one of the reasons I believe I had trouble on the verbal SAT was because I didn’t read as a kid.  My parent’s tried, but Tommy, Chris, Pat and I were always trying to kill each other in the woods or on the soccer field.  I’d do it all over again.  Anyway, when I started going on deployments in the Navy I began to read pretty regularly.  I remember how stoked I was when I finished my first deployment and read 4 books over 6 months!  That was a big deal for me.  A man, or at least this man can only watch or play so much xbox.  Now-a-days I find myself reading a bunch of different stuff.  I’m currently reading Ender’s Shadow.  It follows the life of Bean, who is one of Ender’s Lieutenants when killing all of the galactic buggers.  I know, it sounds dorky and kind of is, but they are good reads.  I’ve also read some historyv(1776 from David McCullough is a good one) and biographies.  One of my favorite books is Longitude.  It’s about the invention of the chronometer and the idea of using it to gage what your longitude was during the age of sail.  Yes, being navigator on FORD was my favorite job ever.  I’m a dork.

NETFLIX!  Oh man, how many hours have I wasted away watching netflix.  I watch many many different things:  Documentaries about nutrition, history, the economy.  Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, Nip/Tuck, Breaking Bad and many many more.  My roommates and I don’t have a TV so Netflix and live sport games streaming are my outlets.

Vege Lasagna

Cooking/Eating.  I don’t want to brag, but I’ve managed to become quite the little chef.  Anthony, one of my roommates gave me this killer vegetable lasagna recipe that I can make from memory.  The other night at C’s for the B’s (cookies for the boys, a guy only team function where we make cookies and try to carb load.  Sugar is a carb too J) I made whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.  They were pretty good, but not amazing.  I personally thought there was too much butter, oh well.   My new inspiration has been the bean.  I’ve managed to make a few healthy bean salads over the past 2 weeks.  The one area where I have trouble is portions.  Each bean salad last about 5 days, haha.  No matter how good something is, you will always probably not enjoy it anymore on the fifth day.  When I don’t feel like cooking or just run out of food I usually make the trek to a local OKC eatery.  They include, but are not limited to Irma’s Burger Shack, The Classen Grill, Kaiser’s, Leo’s BBQ and Cool Greens.     

Blogging.  As we all know, I don’t have too many blog post and this is a newer thing for me, but it does help keep my mind off of rowing and allow me to practice a bit of writing and critical thinking.  It’s a great way to keep family and friends informed and I enjoy it. 

Hopefully you enjoyed this one and thanks for helping me keep my mind off of practicing. 

Have a good one.

- Jimmy

Eating as a Lighweight: Fall Style

My last lightweight feasting blog was tailored to race time.  Well now it’s training time.  Our schedule went from the low mileage, weigh in preparing, high intensity short piece to a long distance, lower intensity, aerobic base training plan.  This means a few things for lightweights.  1)  We need more calories.  2) We EAT A LOT MORE CALORIES 3) These calories are not necessarily always the best calories. 

The key to this whole new diet is to not go completely off the deep end.  It is enticing to eat ice cream and cupcakes for every meal, but that’s not how we’re doing it.  Basically, we just eat more.   I still eat vegetables, beans and lean meats, but on the happy end of that, we add a few desserts in to the mix.  After capping off a hard week of work with a Saturday erg slaughter, we tend to direct our attention to milkshakes and burgers. 

Eating now is definitely a little more fun and you can tell by the mood of the guys at meals.  Prior to racing we are in and out of meals faster than a bolt of lightning.  Now, we have fellowship.  Meals could last hours, just sitting and talking, while eating of course. 

You can see the change in our faces as well.  The cheek bones are not as defined and there may be an extra layer of energy around the waist these days (that's what we call it).  The funny thing is it’s always harder to take it off than put it on…  Oh well. 

Myself and the other USA lightweights are enjoying our first few days back together, working hard towards the goal and eating merrily.  I hope you are all doing the same.

Have a good one

- Jimmy

P.S.  Stay tuned for some OKC favorites from the team.  Yesterday we hit up the OK State Fair.  The corndogs were to die for. 

The Evolution of a Team

There are people that dispute evolution.  I don’t want to get in to a theology/science debate, but I did want to talk to you about what I call the evolution of a team.  From what I understand a team is a group of individuals that work together to accomplish one or a series of goals.  This definition is not from Webster’s or Wikipedia, but from my own head so it may not be completely accurate. 

At some point in a team’s life it begins as a group of individuals, but that is all they are.  They don’t become a team until they do 2 things, set a goal and work TOGETHER.  I have been part of many teams that have worked together to accomplish a goal.  My most memorable team was the Navy Lightweight Varsity.  We were all on the same page, working hard to get there.  Other teams that I were a part of that come to mind were on USS FORD (FFG 54).  Our goals varied, depending on where we were working on the ship, but we strove to work together.  If we did not work together, the group failed.  In all occasions I was part of the team, building together and as a result I have never really been an outside party to witnessing a team make the huge step from individuals to TEAM.  Well this past week that all changed.    

Patrick as a Plebe

My youngest brother, Patrick is a member of the Varsity Soccer Team at Navy.  He is a sophomore and this year they have had a slow start.  I have seen 3 games this season.  The first 2 games the group played more like individuals than a cohesive unit.  They did not communicate very well and did not play to their potential.  Proof of this are the results.  The first game they lost the lead with 5 seconds left and the second game they would let the other team regain all momentum after breaking it for a bit.  Honestly, it was hard to watch.  I saw these young guys struggling and I cared deeply because I could see the dejection in Patrick’s eyes.  They were lost.  Then something happened.

One of the top players on their team quit.  Skill wise, this kid was probably the best, but he did not make 

everyone else around him better and because of that they were losing as a team.  What I saw in the third game was beautiful soccer.  The Navy Soccer team was passing to open spaces, covering touch and goes and supporting each other on both ends of the field.  Not one person stood out as an individual.  Every goal had an assist and one even had two assists.  It was awesome to watch them figure it out as the game went on.  They defeated a solid team and accomplished one of their goals, playing good soccer.  The best part was the look of pride on their faces when they were leaving the field to sign autographs (Even I got an autograph).  You could tell they knew something had changed and they had made the next step. 

Being on the outside of that one was pretty cool and I hope to see it again in the future. 

Have a good one,

- Jimmy

Teaching Leadership: The Discussion

I have been thinking a lot lately about the importance of leadership.  I think in the past I always took it for granted because the majority of my experiences were with good leaders.  There were plenty of bad leaders, but usually there was a good one in the room to help out the bad one.  The question asked is, can the bad leader become a good leader?  My answer, YES.

One of the core classes at the Naval Academy is leadership.  When I was a midshipman I thought it was one of the dumbest classes I took.  I had the reaction that many do, “you can’t teach leadership.”  I rescind my statement.  At the time I was a 19 year old kid without many life experiences.  Now I’m a 29 year old KID with a few more experiences.  I was on the varsity lightweight crew team, worked on a US warship, got married and now am training with the national team.  Time has given me more wisdom and perspective. 

Of course, I do believe there are natural leaders and those who are not as natural and need some help.  Those who need help only need to look at those around them to figure it out.  You need to look at those who are leading you and decide if they are doing a good or bad job, and see what you like and don’t like about their leadership traits.  If you see something that you like, then try to emulate it.  When you see something that you don’t like, don’t see as being effective or don’t agree with then put it in your bank of things not to do. 

All 4 brothers with Mom, Shaunnah and Max

I have 3 younger brothers.  I try not to say little brothers anymore because I am now the smallest.  Anyway, my youngest brother Patrick is 10 years my junior.  I used to tell him he should make almost no mistakes because he had 3 older brothers to learn from.  Tommy, Chris and I (the older ones) all made mistakes and have been successful in different ways.  Patrick had the opportunity to see it all, or at least hear my parents yell at or praise us.  He has done an excellent job in avoiding the mistakes we made and excelling beyond any of our successes.  He’s a better athlete and is majoring in engineering in college.  He’s a stud and Tommy, Chris and I take all of the credit, haha. 

For those of you that disagree with me and say you can’t teach leadership, you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that.  I think my keystone statement for argument is: If you can’t teach leadership, then how do leaders develop their leadership skills through life experiences?  Like I said before, there are natural born leaders, but not all of them come out of the womb with a full leadership toolbox.  Leaders develop over years and years of experience, proving to me that they learn and can be taught. 

Have a good one.

- Jimmy   

R & R

After the racing last week Shaunnah and I got to spend some time together around the beautiful country of Slovenia.  After the intensity of racing it is always nice to relax.  Although, it always takes a few days for me to stop thinking about racing, I did manage to enjoy some spectacular sites with the wife.

We ran in to a herd of cows on an alpine road.  

Predjama (into the cave) Castle.  It was amazing.

Piran, on the Adriatic.  We stayed in nearby Portorose and rode bikes to Piran.  It's known as the Slovenian Venice.  The streets are so narrow you have to park your car outside of town and walk in.

Relaxing on the hammock outside of our hotel.  I was pretty beat.

Now I'm back in Annapolis until September 18th and then it's back to Oklahoma to get back to work.  The US lightweights have a lot of work to do.  Have a good one.

- Jimmy

The Journey

So Funday Sunday didn't go as planned.  We got to the course, made weight and raced.  2/3 of those events did go as planned.  We all took the 720 bus down to the course to check our weight and sweat for an 846 weigh in and a 1046 race.  We weighed in perfectly, averaging everyone out at 70 kg exactly.  The warm-up went really well and we felt like we were ready to go out and give it our best shot.

We got to the line and the official starting polling the crews.  After he said, "Australia" we were all set.  The light turned red and then green.  GREEN MEANS GO.  We pressed the hell out of the first stroke, trying not to rip water and then took a quick second, shorter stroke and continued to build the rate over the next 4.  We were off and instincts kicked in.  Go hard, keep us in this race.  We were in the race.  The Italians got out on us a little bit, but not nearly as much as they had in the previous race and Jack, our coxswain was filling us in where we were.  Then it happened...  We caught a pretty heavy digger with an oar and all of that momentum we had gained in the first 200 meters of the race was lost.  We immediately dropped back to last and had to start regaining boat speed all over again.

My first thought was "that just happened, now lets DO WORK and get ourselves back in to this."  From this point on the crew fought and fought, inching ourselves back in to the race.  We never really got in to contention for 1st, but we pulled up almost even with France and Denmark with 5 or 600 to go.  When Jack called for the sprint it just didn't happen.  We had spent too much energy working our way back.  It was heartbreaking at the end.

I felt, for the first time in my international rowing career that we were as fast as the top boats in the race.  We had a chance.  If we had a good race, we may not have won, but we would have left it all on the water and I can deal with that.  However, we didn't have our best piece.  If you don't have your best piece at the World Championships you are not going to win and probably not going to medal.  The margin for error is slim.  Needless to say, I was really pissed on Sunday and it was no Funday.

Then it hit me.  This result changes nothing of the past 8 weeks I spent at Dartmouth, on the Connecticut, selecting 9 guys from 25 and being coached by one of the best in the US.  Up until Sunday at 1052 I would have told you the previous weeks were some of the best in my post college rowing career.  Between 1052 and 2 pm I was saying things like, "what a waste."  It was not true.  We did pass up an excellent opportunity to put ourselves alongside the top guys in lightweight rowing, but it was not a waste.

I had a great time with this crew and would do it all over again the same exact way.  We can't let this result define us.  I will always be proud to be a member of the 2011 US LM8+.

- Jimmy

Funday Sunday

Getting your first race out of the way at any regatta is a relief.  The first race at the World Championships in the lightweight 8 is another level all together.  Most of the US crews at this year’s world championships have raced this summer and they know who is fast.  They also know where they stack up in the mix and have had time to work on things to get faster and make improvements.  We went in to yesterday blind

The lightweight men’s 8 is not an Olympic event.  We did not race at this year’s world cup series and yesterday was our first 2k where we lined up against someone.  It was a little nerve-racking.  We knew that there was speed in this line-up, but what we didn’t know was what everyone else had.  The only prior result was that Italy beat Denmark at the Lucerne World Cup 7 weeks ago. 

Italy is a perennial powerhouse in the lightweight men’s 8.  We knew they were going to be fast and we knew Denmark lost to them, but not by much.  Then there is France, who’s stern pair won the lightweight men’s pair at the 2010 World Championships in New Zealand.  So they’re fast.  Then there is Australia, who is returning at least 6 guys from last year’s 8 that placed 2^nd, beating the Italians who got 3^rd and us, who placed 5^th.  Basically, everyone is fast. 

So our plan was to row our race.  We had a malleable race plan based on what we and our coach (Dan Roock) had seen over the past 6 weeks.  The tricky part is that whenever we did pieces, they were solo; us against the clock and none of the pressure of another crew screaming next to you, distracting you.  So yesterday was our test run.

The test went well.  However, Sunday is funday.  Everyone will show up with strong intentions of beating us.  That is when the race is real and now we have a result against other crews in our event to build off of.  The race yesterday was tight and the finals always seem to be a little tighter.  We’ll bring our A game and put it all on the line.  That’s all you can do.

- Jimmy

Going out on my own

I've done it!  I finally decided to start my own blog.  At last year's World Championships I blogged for shivspix and this year I started the lightweight men's 8  blog and shared blogs with row2k.  I figured this is a good way to keep family and friends up to date on what's going on with Shaunnah and I.  Who knows, maybe it will become a habit and I will do this for years.  On the other hand, it could be a phase and die off in weeks or months.  Time will tell.  I hope everyone is doing well.  Wish us luck racing and I will keep you all posted. 

- Jimmy