Yes sir, he is serving in the Army and is a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne.
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I coached youth baseball, basketball, and soccer in my younger days. Baseball was by far the worstâŠmany dads (and almost as many mothers) in the stands knew how to coach much better that us on the field. Amazingly so, since you hardly saw any of them for practice or field duty. 
Soccer was the best. It was in the early days of the youth soccer movement. Coaches could do no wrongâŠthe parents knew nothing and were just thrilled to have us on the field! And they were by far the most helpful when there were things to do.
Sometimes I miss it, but attend a few games every now and then and realize how much it has changed.
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Baseball moms are serious! I love how they deck themselves out in their playerâs jersey numberâŠon everything. Shirts, bows, purses and blankets. Iâve seen a few moms come off the bleachers a few times as well. Our area has a competitive baseball program and has been to the LLWS playoffs quite a few times in recent years, so parents around here are diehard.
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TWINMOM must be very proud of Derickâs brother. He may not be scoring touchdowns but he is a part of a very elite and honored unit.
The Armyâs 82nd Airborne Division is an elite division specializing in air assault. Based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 82nd Airborne soldiers are easily recognizable by their maroon berets and âAAâ arm patches. This unit has been involved in virtually every U.S. military conflict since World War I.
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Thank you, we are extremely proud of him.
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I coached in West U Little League and Post Oak Little League, and Iâve never had so much fun in my lifeâŠbut some dads acted like it was open tryouts for the World SeriesâŠ
I had one kid playing Right FieldâŠand most of us probably know that Right Field is usually occupied byâŠshall we say, a less talented player. Well, the father of said player had been extremely vocal (to us and to the parents) about how he had hired the Rice Baseball staff to coach his little tot to be a pitcher.
Well , we were an undefeated team, and had just won like our tenth game. I was giving the post game pep talk to the kids, when said father stood up in the stands behind our dugout (with all the other parents now listening intently) and began shouting questions to us about why we were not playing Wonderboy at pitcherâŠ
Well, I had finally had it with this jerk. I yelled back to him âIf I played your son at pitcher, all these other parents would hate my gutsâŠâ
He never said another wordâŠ
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Thatâs wild! I have seen parents do outrageous things as well. My two would have been mortified if we said anything remotely close to that. I notice that parents of more talented kids usually are the least vocal for some reason. I have a lot of respect for little league coaches. My husband was one as well and yâall get an ear full!
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My favorite was coaching 5 and 6 year old soccer and and having 50 parents and grandparents on each side of the field yelling âkick the ballâŠkick the ballâ! Like what was I even doing there? 
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When Derek and his brother were 4 they played soccer at the Y. His brother was all over the field after the ball and Derek was just sitting and playing in the grass. Basically had him out there so we could have enough kids to play. Soccer was not his thing.
Being a sport parent, I know we can be obnoxious!
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One of my favorite playersâŠto this dayâŠwe nicknamed Ferdinand, as in the childrenâs story âFerdinand the Bullâ, who would rather smell the flowers than bullfight. But dang, he just loved being out there. I encourage any young coogfans parents to get involved in coachingâŠor at least helping out. It can be intimidating at first, but the memories last forever. And as far as coaching your own kidâŠwowâŠthe lessons learned!
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back in the early '80s we had just bought our first house in a new neighborhood. Lots of young families and we had one little girl about 1. One of the other fathers came to me and told me some of the kids wanted to play T Ball and ask if I would help coach. We were going out of town after one of the games so my wife and daughter were there. One of the mothers there ask my wife which one was hers. She pointed at me and said âthe big one at first baseâ.
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Absolutely! We loved being involved. Being on the league board and coaching was so fun for us. Sports was huge in our family. We would rather be in a stadium or at the track or ball field than anywhere. It was our life.
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Your twinâs careerâs path speaks volume of the parents that they have.
Most have no idea what is the daily commitment that players make. Most have no idea what is the 365 days 24/7 commitment that coaches make. Coaching takes over your life both mentally and physically. It is enormously hard to stop coaching. Even long after you still have the âbugâ to get back into it. It is never about you the coach but it is always about what you can bring to the players. Being in charge of construction is very similar. It is the passion to BUILD. I have been critical of players, mea-culpa. if I did it is by how much I believe in the same two players that I criticized. The greatest reward for any coach is to give a chance for a player to fully express himself or herself and see first hand hard work pay off. The athleteâs key to success and common denominator is the same passion that coaches instills in the players that we coach. Your twins might have two different uniforms but it is actually the same. That is the one that says in the back of the jersey âServe your fellow manâ
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[quote=ârtcoog, post:30, topic:26074, full:trueâ]
Pretty sure heâs still around. I think the latest handle is âCoogs4U.â
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My grandson plays LL baseball and it has been fun watching him, but I really feel sorry for some of the kids that have to put up with fathers that chew them out if they make a mistake. I have seen coaches be especially hard on their own sons that Iâm sure the kids dread going on the field. These dads may have played in high school, but not beyond; however they expect their sons to be a combination of Nolan Ryan, Hank Aaron, and Carlos Correa.
On the other hand, some coaches are very encouraging and positive, even if their team is made up of players that canât throw, hit, or catch a ball. Letâs face it, some kids just arenât athletic at all and all one can ask is for them to do their best. I have a lot of respect for these coaches and the patience they show. I also have a lot of respect for the LL umps, they take a lot of unwarranted guff.
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Urban? Urban Meyer? Come on down!
On @Twinmomâs comment. Can confirm that players read these boards. Their response? âLmao they donât know what they are talking about most of the timeâ.
Thereâs a huge difference between criticism and insults. Iâll criticize players any day as I got criticized for the way I ran the org, what we did, etc. But thatâs just for temporary stuff, general comments. Insults are crossing a line, and itâs horrible to see stuff like that said about players. Will never forget the CoogFans BOOING the Coogs off the field during the 2018 Temple game. Like come on!
Now Iâm on Phase 2 of this org doing Alumni stuff while leaving it to students to run the student org portion (I am trying to find a way to gather alumni into discussion so we can take it on, as this spirit project has always been open to everyone). With that, there is still criticism. And years and years from now, there might be criticism for the students running the student org side while the alums are working on our side.
So very true. Derekâs twin was a LL ump for a season during his freshman year of college. Because he was a new he was only allowed to ump for t ball and coach pitch. A coach got angry at him for telling a little t baller to turn and run toward first and not third. It was the coach for the opposing team. He said he would have done the same thing for his team, the little guy was just 5. He would get threatened and everything. Good grief itâs t -ball!
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I literally coached both my kidsâ (son and daughter) sports teams, all year long, no matter what they were playing, until they got to HS, when thankfully, the pros took over.
I would come home from work, coach their teams, then go back downtown to the office for a couple of hours to finish what I was working onâŠ
I wouldnât have traded one minute, greatest thing I ever did. Just loved it.
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I have never and will never boo the Coogs. I have never and will never boo the other teams. I have booed calls by the refs on occasion.
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I recall you commenting about people doing that that game, it was crazy.
The refs can always get booed. Players on both teams are representing their University.
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