Class Notes 2/4

What a Super Bowl!  Uncle Ray Ray got to ride off into the sunset and will now be the most watched father during University of Miami football games where his son will play in the fall.  Joe Flacco is about to be a 100millionaire, and Ed Reed can now shed his Django fro.  Everything else in the aftermath of the Super Bowl has just been noise.  Partially because of the stomach flu turned cold I've been battling, and partially because none of the notes I took in the last couple week have moved anywhere (not surprised).  That said here's what I got for this week:

POLITICS:  Major cities are starting to get fed up with the systemic shutdown and or reconfiguration of public schools in key neighborhoods predominanted by students of color.  Advocates for Crenshaw HS in Los Angeles are not happy with the proposed reconstitution of their high school into three magnet schools fearing that it would disenfranchise many current students and are calling on the US Dept of Education (USDOE) to examine the nature of this restructuring on the grounds that it is racially discriminatory act.  If successful, Los Angeles would join the list of major cities where the USDOE has already agreed to look into school shutdowns and reorganizations.  This list currently includes, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.  This is intriguing because if these cities start winning these cases and organizations like the Crenshaw Cougar Coalition are successfully able to defend their districts, then it may lead to a greater discussion about the President's Race to the Top education program, which is flawed in how it rewards schools for success as measured primarily by test scores, but cares little about the means by which the success is achieved.  Full article on Crenshaw Complaint

SPORTS:  There was a time when I could name at least three players on any of the Top 20 college basketball teams in the country.  It made college basketball especially exciting to watch because you were getting a good preview of the dudes who would soon dominate the NBA.  With the current "one-and-done" rule in place, the best players in college now leave after one season to take NBA money leaving college teams in a constant state of flux and the games less exciting.  What  kills me is that NBA teams feel forced to take players on potential, so their game is watered down because each roster only has so many players who actually know what their doing.  Teams also can't rely on the draft to improve.  The Charlotte Bobcats' roster is full of former 1st round picks, including last year's #2 pick, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (9ppg) and they aren't close to being a .500 ball club.  The NBA either needs to invest more money in the Developmental League (D-League) so that if players continue to leave school after one year they have a vehicle for improvement or work with the NCAA to come up with a new standard of when players can enter the league.  Of the three one-and-done players the University of Kentucky sent into the league last year, only Anthony Davis is averaging double-digits in scoring (13ppg).  It stands to reason that another year in college, particularly for Marquis Teague wouldn't have hurt.

ENTERTAINMENT:  The Grammys are this weekend.  My picks in the categories that I'll pay attention to (by the way, who comes up with these categories?):

Record of the Year:  "We Are Young" - FUN
Album of the Year:  Frank Ocean
Song of the Year:  "Call Me Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen
Best New Artist:  FUN
Best R&B Song:  "Adorn" - Miguel
Best R&B Album:  "Robert Glasper Experiment" - Robert Glasper
Best Traditional R&B Performance:  "Lately" - Anita Baker
Best Rap Performance:  "Ninjas in Paris" - Kanye and Jay-Z
Best Rap Song:  "Lotus Flower Bomb" - Wale
Best Rap Collaboration:  "Tonight" - John Legend and Ludacris

Class Notes 1/28

If I'm Joe Biden, I don't like what I saw when I watched 60 Minutes last Sunday as I watched my boss, the President, yucking it up with departing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  That can't be a good sign for any Presidential aspirations he may have.  SAG Awards were a snoozer.  The only awards season intrigue left for me is if Argo (Best Picture) and Daniel Day Lewis (Best Male Actor) complete the acting triple crown (Golden Globes, SAG, Oscars).

POLITICS:  Immigration Reform took center stage this week with a visible display of bi-partisanship.  While it was nice to hear members from both major parties come together and pledge that they believe comprehensive immigration reform can get done, I think partisan politics will eventually derail this legislation.  This would include items such as a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and the DREAM Act, which offers the chance of higher education for undocumented children born in the US.  I find it hard to believe that those who oppose immigration reform will all of a sudden be willing to bargain for a deal that would potentially widen the registration disparity between new Democrats and Republicans.  Monday's press conference which featured Senators Chuck Schumer (D), John McCain (R), Dick Durbin (D), Lindsey Graham (R), Robert Menendez (D), Marco Rubio (R), Michael Bennet (D), and Jeff Flake (R) was in effect symbolic for Dems in that they will continue to fight for citizenship and for Republicans it signaled that they are at least making the effort to be more inclusive as a party.  While Republicans were willing to smile and talk about optimism during the press conference, Rubio was quick to go on numerous talk shows with a much more tempered attitude.

Rubio is one of the "stars" of the Republican party who may have aspirations for 2016.  He will not be able to earn the favor of the more conservative, deep-pocketed parts of the party if he's known as one of the architects of reform that paved the way for millions to become citizens, the great majority of whom would register as members of the Democratic Party.  Ultimately, if this legislation does make it to the floor, it will die just like it did in 2005.  In 2014, Republicans will be able to say that they made the effort.  Only when locals in states like Texas, Arizona, and Florida mobilize to change the political climate will we start to see reform like this gain some traction.

SPORTS: The unofficial national holiday known as the Super Bowl is upon us, and it is a historic one in that the opposing coaches are brothers.  Jim and John Harbaugh prove the strength of genetics as both of them have taken the coaching DNA given to them by their father, and have risen to the top of their profession.  This Super Bowl also holds intrigue because we get to see if one of the all-time greats, Ray Lewis, gets to ride off into the football analyst chair with a win in the big game a la John Elway and Jerome Bettis.  I've been a fan of Ray Lewis since the U and continue to view him as one of the greatest leaders the gridiron has ever seen.  Speculation about his role in a double murder which occurred after he won his first Super Bowl in 2000 have resurfaced and that is fair given that two men died and there are key questions that remain unanswered.  I don't think we'll ever know the whole story about that night or the Dear Antler Spray Uncle Ray allegedly took to get back on the field this season.  None of that will matter, however after kickoff on Sunday, so here's how  I see it playing out so Ray Rice, Ed Reed, Joe Flacco and Co. will get to hold the Lombardi Trophy while the confetti drops: 

1.  Joe Flacco has to hit a big play early.  In any profession, think about what it does to your psyche to work hard,  and have success only to hear in evaluations that you haven't done well enough.  You're not elite though your record says otherwise.  This is what Joe Flacco has endured throughout his career, and through it all, he has not lost it, he continued to go out and win.  In this year's playoffs he has taken out the quarterbacks who will go down as the best of this generation, and now he's only one win away from joining the short list of active quarterbacks who have lead their team to a Championship.  If he hits a 30+ yard pass early in the game, then I think the confidence he has shown throughout the playoffs will continue.  He also has only been sacked once in the playoffs which has helped him be able to pick apart defenses.  Continued steady offensive line play will be critical.

2.  Ravens have to force the 49ers  to abandon the running game.  The reason that Colin Kaepernick is starting this Super Bowl over former starter Alex Smith is that between his arm strength and mobility, he makes the 49ers a more explosive, dynamic team.  He can run and breakdown defenses like he did against Green Bay or he can stay in the pocket and throw precisely as he did versus Atlanta.  All of what makes Kaepernick dangerous however, is set up by Frank Gore's running, and if the 49ers get down early and have to throw to catch up, then they lose the most consistent and stable part of their offense.  The 49ers offensive line excels at run blocking and their ball carriers averaged 5 yards per carry.

3.  Ravens have to win the Special Teams battle.  Jacoby Jones is an All-Pro special teams playeer who had one punt return for a touchdown and two kickoff returns to the house.  Conversely, the 49ers had no returns for touchdowns this year.  Ravens Kicker Justin Tucker has made 91% of his field goals this year while the 49ers kicker, David Akers, has only made 69% of his field goals.  Akers has been particularly sketchy on kicks over 40 yards.

ENTERTAINMENT:  After a shaky start, the Real Husband of Hollywood (RHOH) seems to have found its footing and BET appears to have a new hit show.  Entertainment Weekly dubbed the show a "must-see" and I won't be surprised to see more of Robin Thicke on the TV as he's had some of the funniest moments on the show.  Somebody please tell Nelly he doesn't have to try and act.  He's playing himself.

Class Notes week of 1/21

Nothing like a Presidential Inaguration to stir up controversies both valid and imagined.  From President Obama taking oath on Dr. King's bible to Slick Willy's wandering eye to Beyonce's lip-sync-gate, there was much to digest and take note of this week while preparing for the onslaught of Super Bowl coverage which will feature the Harbaugh family, Ray Lewis and Colin Kaepernick. We also bid adieu to Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State as she catches her breath before her run in 2016.  Here's what I took particular note of this week:

POLITICS:  While many were excited to comment on inauguration events and were swept up by the exuberance of Joe Biden, the stylish grace of Michelle Obama, and the youthful innocence of the Obama girls snapping phone flicks,  the governmental machine still raged on.  If there is one lesson I hope people learn from President Obama's first term it is that it takes more than one political outlier who is able to galvanize the nation to redirect the political machine.  While an estimated 1 million people gathered in DC for the inauguration ceremonies, Virginia lawmakers were busy trying to put in place policy intended to have a Republican president taking oath in 2016.  The GOP in VA proposed a bill to redistribute electoral college votes so that the impact of urban areas densely populated by people of color would have less impact than would more rural areas.  This smacks of the same type of race-tinged voter manipulation that lead the PA House Majority Leader, Mark Turzai to utter this memorable line in June.

"Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done,”

If this goes through in Virginia, what would stop GOP officials in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, and Illinois from trying to do the same.  If voter district gerrymandering could work in swing states, surely GOP honks would have no problem trying to redistrict states like California and New York.  Now that we have put our inaugural ball gowns and tuxes away it is time to make sure that we're paying attention.  Those who turned out for inauguration better be voters in the mid-term elections.  It is clear what the GOP plan is, and if people want to see the President move forward with his agenda in these next four years, then allowing a GOP-dominated House won't work.  Unfortunately Nate Silver is already forecasting that I shouldn't get my hopes up for a 17-seat swing in 2014 that would return the Dems to a majority.

SPORTS:  It's going to be an eerie feeling in Los Angeles come mid-April when the playoffs start and the Staples Center will have already packed up the hardwood floor that the Lakers play on.  As we hit the midpoint of the season, it looks like we are going to see the Clippers, aka the Staples Center stepchildren, make the playoffs while the main Staples Center tenant will be drowning their sorrows at an Hermosa Beach watering hole.  Not since the '75-'76 season have we seen the Clippers in the money round without the Lakers.  This will be a first in my lifetime, and it will be interesting to see how LA responds.  Will Jack, Denzel, and Cube support the Clippers?  Will the tall apartment building across from Staples unveil a Clippers mural?  All food for thought, but the real nitty gritty is what are the Lakers going to do to turn it around.  What will be the move that rights the ship?  The only marketable pieces on the team are Kobe and Dwight.  Pau Gasol's market value has been destroyed by Coach D'Antoni, and discussing trading Kobe is ludicrous (contract is a monster, 30M @ 35?).  Lakers fans will talk all playoffs about the 16 Championship banners that currently hang in Staples, and I'm glad they have that to hold onto.  Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchack have some work to do here and it might take a while to get it right.

ENTERTAINMENT:  When will the folks on Deception realize that if Meagan Good is to be believed as a cop, then she can't look like she just walked off the set of a photo shoot.   The writers have also failed to give her any real depth as a character so we're left with a main character who provides eye candy while we become more interested in the characters of Victor Garber and Tate Donovan.   Damn shame because the concept is one that should have rendered NBC a hit show.

Class Notes week 1/14

What a week for explosive drama.  If you're a sportswriter or talk-show host, you got to be lazy this week in preparation as Manti Te'o and Lance Armstrong provided more than enough material to fill a column or a show.  The Golden Globes happened last weekend and saw Tina Fey and Amy Poehler take hosting a step forward.  Salute Don Cheadle for winning the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series Award for his work on one of my favorite shows, House of Lies.  Here are the rest of my class notes for the week:

POLITICS:  We're still talking gun control, and that's a good thing.  I like how President Obama symbolically used children and the letters they wrote to him after the Newtown, CT tragedy to remind his fellow politicians that controlling assault weapons and their ammo is not simply about politics, but about people.  No family should have to live with the knowledge that their child might have been spared being riddled with bullets from a 100-round drum magazine if only the shooter had been background checked.  I'm also still waiting to hear a plausible argument for why you would ever need that kind of ammo in the first place unless you intend to maim big groups of people.  I applaud the President in that among his 23 executive orders, there were provisions included for mental health professionals to cooperate in the background screening process and there were also provisions for assault weapons recovered at crime scenes to be traced so we can begin to deal with the sources of these weapons.

SPORTS:  So Lance Armstrong decides to come clean about his use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) ideally so he can save the Livestrong organization that he built.  Instead of facing a sportswriter like Bryant Gumbel, Andrea Kremer, or Jason Whitlock, people who would really press him on why he perpetrated a lie for almost 15 years, he chose Oprah Winfrey.  This selection was a copout because while Oprah is a good interviewer, investigative journalism is not what she does, nor does she ever really dig in on someone she is interviewing to make them feel uncomfortable.  I did not watch the interview and I won't because the questions I would have for Lance aren't going to be answered.  Oprah didn't push him about why he intimidated and discredited teammates who came out against him. Nor did she press him on why he chose now to come clean.  I wanted to believe the Lance Armstrong narrative, and did for many years, but as teammates started to chip away at the legend one by one, common sense took over.  It is a complicated story in that his tainted athletic accomplishments gave him the platform to do so much good in the area of cancer research funding.  However, I believe he still would've had success as a cancer advocate without the seven PED-tainted Tour deFrance wins, and the story would've been real.  Beating brain and testicular cancer to come back and race in a 2,000+ mi competition would've worked as a hero story especially given that he was already a world champion.  Now, he'll have to cough up millions, and the Livestrong brand will forever be tarnished.

ENTERTAINMENT:  Lots of my favorite shows came back this week.  Makes it harder to maintain my writing discipline, but I'll make it.  My current Top 5:

1.  Suits
2.  House of Lies
3.  Californication
4.  Last Resort (can't believe it's already cancelled.  Andre Braugher is the man)
5.  Scandal (I can see that this show is gonna jump the shark for me very quickly)

TEAM CARROLL:  Lil Man took another step towards becoming the next Bruce Lee as he earned his 2nd degree yellow belt this past weekend.  It is truly amazing to watch the kid who bounces all over the house like a bouncy ball focus in when it's time to perform his skills.  

Class Notes week 1/7

One of my goals for 2013 is to make use of my blog space more often as a place to slow down and reflect.  Between my family and my professional projects, there often is little time for anything else, but it's imperative to get off the carousel at regular intervals to catch my breath and then keep going.  Last year I managed to get at least one blog in every month.  This year I'm going for one post a week, which I'm going to call my Class Notes, a quick spin through the things that resonate in my world: Domestic Politics, Sports, and Entertainment.  I'll also throw in a note about my family as they are the center of my universe.  So without further introduction, here they go...

POLITICS:  Newton, CT. Aurora, CO (again). Taft, CA.  The shootings continue and guns are still finding the wrong hands.  We have to be more serious about gun control.  I'm not saying ban gun ownership, but I also don't think folk need to be rolling around like Antonio Banderas in Desperado.  Even more important is the screening of those who seek to purchase guns and ammo.  If I have to go through every background screen known to man to work with kids, then so should those who seek to own instruments capable of snuffing out human life.  That's an argument that should resonate with even the most staunch gun advocate.

SPORTS:  The Baseball Writers of America (BWA) decided to take the easy way out and not elect anyone to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  Instead of voting in a crop of athletes both suspected and acknowledged as performance-enhancing drug (PED) users, the writers chose to uphold some kind of faux-purity standard.  Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa all got less than forty percent of the vote despite being transcendent figures throughout their careers who made baseball relevant again after the 1994-95 strike season.  Equally egregious in my eyes is the denial of players like Don Mattingly, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy who were never associated with PEDs yet, they don't appear to be HOFers in a numbers sense when compared with the likes of Bonds, McGwire, Canseco and others.  This stinks even more of a planned boycott when you consider that sure HOFers like Randy Johnson, Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, players who were never associated with PEDs, will be eligible for induction in the next two years.  The moral high ground that the BWA tries to claim is laughable and contributes to why Baseball has long been surpassed by Football as America's favorite sport.

ENTERTAINMENT:  If you can write a movie that is approximately twenty minutes too long so that the script can showcase the entire range of the lead character's abilities, then you have a chance at being nominated for an Oscar.  Zero Dark Thirty put me to sleep as did the The Hurt Locker and the drama about a bomb disposal team won six golden statues.  I'm rooting for Silver Linings Playbook this awards season since its centered in my hometown, the Iladelph and stars a hometown dude in Bradley Cooper.  The movie had an indie feel to it, but didn't feature the drawn-out screenplay of many Oscar-nominated films. 

TEAM CARROLL:  The Mrs. first episode as a BONES writer airs on Monday, Jan 14, so we'll all be taking phone pics when her name flashes on the screen.  It has been announced that BONES will be back for a 10th season, so it looks like I'll be a trophy husband for another year.

Reflections on 2012

2012 is about to be a wrap and as I sit at the computer letting the Christmas holiday weight settle, I figured it be a good time to follow in the great tradition of coming up with some kind of commemorative list of important events from the year.  It has been a year that has seen a shift in my work to Family Life ratio, and I am thankful for that.  So here are my Top 5 Turning Points of the year that have lead to the life I currently get to enjoy.

5. Malibu Seawolves - When you spend time as a club coach, you hope to progress to the point where you have greater control over how things are run in the organization and that you have built up enough good will among families that they will not throw you overboard the minute you say or do something they don't agree with. If you're lucky enough to stay somewhere long enough you may even dare to dream of perhaps owning the organization one day. I hardly felt team ownership was the direction my life was heading after being dumped from two of the last three teams I had worked for, but that was the offer I got in June after spending some time working in Malibu. Bringing the Seawolves to life has been fulfilling and allows me to keep my feet wet in the club swimming world, a world that has become a major part of my identity. I look forward to seeing how it all develops.

The Auckland Museum

4.  New Zealand - In March I had the distinct pleasure of accompanying one of my athletes to the New Zealand Open Swimming Championships which served as their Olympic Trials. The excursion to Middle Earth was supposed to be a family one as the Mrs. had never been and we are all about getting as many stamps in Lil Man's passport as we can.  We had to go to Plan B however when Elijah joined us (see below) so I rolled to Auckland with Isaiah solo. It was the first time I had been away with Isaiah for such a long period, and it was the type of bonding time that I always hoped I would have for my children. I watched a whole lot of Disney Channel, fed him a whole bunch of Froot Loops and Gummi Bears, and also got to see his excitement as he saw all of Auckland. If I ever had any doubt about my ability to parent by myself, the trip put that notion to bed.

Conwell is 2nd from the left.

3.  Jeff Conwell - When Jeff Conwell asked me to preside over his wedding I was honored. It seemed like a cool thing to be able to say you married two of your good friends. As the date drew nearer and I started thinking about not only standing in front of Jeff and Alicia, but also their families to bless their union, it became a more serious matter. I was forced to really think about how I understand the covenant of marriage and how I wanted to speak on that understanding in a way that fit the bride and groom. Subsequently I have continued to explore how my life can be further enriched by aligning my steps with my faith. When I look around at who my role models and mentors currently are, they are all people who have had a close relationship with God that has sustained them. My father, for example has been an ordained deacon for at least thirty years. As I get older and have more familial responsibilities, I am beginning to recognize the power of a life closely tied to Christ to sustain me.  So in 2013 I will continue to look to Him to order my steps so that I can realize the full abundance of what he has in store for me.

2.  Harvard-Westlake - You know it when you have found a job that meets your criteria as a great position. Professional respect and room for development, excellent resources and facilities, peers who dont get caught up in BS, etc are all things that characterize a great job for me. I have found that working at Harvard-Westlake as head of aquatics (oh yeah the brand-spanking-new pool helps).  My schedule at HW also affords me the time to be present in raising the boys like no other job I've had.  I will not be surprised if I'm working there twenty to thirty years from now coaching and teaching the kids of my current students Shoulberg-style.



1.  Elijah Emeka Carroll - All you can do is marvel when your prayers are answered. We were blessed to have Isaiah six years ago on Thanksgiving Day.  We were resolute that we wanted to adopt our second child, but had no delusions that we would be matched with a newborn when we started the
process.  When I received the call from Nkechi, I was in the middle of a student teacher observation and nearly interrupted the whole class celebrating the news.  Having two boys in the house means
that I've had to develop as a parent in ways that I could not have imagined. I can't be a parenting liability if I expect our household to keep moving so that means being a better nurturer, being a more patient teacher, a more diligent house cleaner and a more efficient worker because if I don't sleep when the kids do, than there won't be any.  Wouldn't trade it for anything though because for every sacrifice there is a reward. Watching one son receive scholastic and athletic awards while the other learns to walk and talk have been more than enough payback, and I can't wait to see what lies down the road.

See you in 2013... I'm sure there will be plenty to write about.

The Morning After: How Will the President Spend His Next 4 Years?

 

This election season was exhausting.  As it became clear that Mitt Romney would indeed be the nominee of the GOP, I sidled up next to my mother everyday as she digested her MSNBC shows so that I could be as informed as possible.  Like many, I was skeptical of what President Obama had  done in his first term, and I wanted to see if in fact his opponent would be an option worth considering.  By the end of the summer I was weary of "campaign coverage" and simply resorted to reading from trusted sites to understand where the candidates stood on certain issues.  I didn't watch the debates because I knew that I wouldn't learn anything new about the candidates. I didn't volunteer to help as I originally had planned because I wasn't a fan of how the campaign was being run.  I voted and watched as the results came in.  I was surprised when the election was called less than twenty minutes after the polls in Cali closed, and then waited to see how the candidates would react to the results.  Ultimately what I had come to believe about the campaign, that it made these two men become different people just for the sake of winning, was confirmed in my mind as I listened to Governor Romney's concession speech and President Obama's acceptance speech.  When unburdened by the campaign and trying to conform to a set of ideals that weren't quite congruent with his own, Governor Romney is not as robotic and bland as he was characterized during the campaign.  He has a personality, and while I disagree with the way he envisioned leading the country, I had a greater respect for him after he walked off the stage in Boston.  The President sounded more like the man who talked about everybody's President when he addressed the masses in Grant Park in 2008.  He touched on ideas that he hadn't mentioned in weeks as he hunkered down to dismantle Romney's character.  I can only hope that folks will continue to lobby their local politicians so that the country can move forward and make some of the institutional changes needed to get people back to work.  Below are a few other things I wonder about as I wake up on the morning after President secured four more years in office

1.  Will the President's feet ever get held to the fire for his program of drone attacks?
According to a recent report published by the law schools of New York University and Stanford University, drone attacks are inaccurate in targeting Al Qaeda opeatives and have killed far more civillians than terrorists and actually incite more hatred of the US.  Pakistanis report fear of going to weddings or funerals because those gatherings may be viewed as meetings worthy of attack.  On a related note, the power that the Executive office has been given to execute American citizens believed to be participating in terrorist activities without due process is also troubling.

2.  Will the President be able to coalition build to pass policies that will make an impact on the deficit?
The popular narrative is that President Obama spent all of his political cache to pass Obamacare, and that in the effort to get reelected he was reticent to bully his policies through Congress.  What will now be his approach with four more years secured facing a Congress that is still Republican dominated?

3.  Will the privatization of American schools continue?
Public education is a dying institution in this country and the Race to the Top program simply creates more incentive for schools within districts to go for self which means the rich will get richer and the poor will be allowed to crumble and turn into charters which are only 50/50 in making the situation better.

I could go on, but it's time to get back to the grind.  For all those who voted for Obama, make four more years count.  For those who voted for Romney, continue to voice your opinion and hold the President accountable because there are changes that need to happen.