Guest Blog: September 2008 Archives

Thomas Page is the manager of the 12U Bolingbrook Bandits travel baseball team. He is attempting to lose 50 pounds before Jan. 22, 2009. Along the way he is raising money for the Bandits through per-pound sponsorships. This is the second of his weekly journals for The Brook Blog.

Well, the diet has been going good so far. To date, 7 pounds and counting!!

It's been a bit of a transition going from eating out just about every day to eating three square meals and 3 snacks. It's also been enlightening looking at calorie count and serving size on the boxes at the grocery store. I have been on diets before, but now with all the information on the packages, it's a real eye opener.

Exercise has also been something I found I have been able to work into my schedule. Good, long walks after supper are refreshing. My son has been going with me and pushing me to jog and sprint. He and I are both trying to exceed our goals we have set for ourselves.

Bolingbrook football coach John Ivlow is making his first appearance as a guest blogger on The Brook Blog.

I have had the privilege of playing for many wonderful coaches in my career. I found out that many of them were wonderful people as well.

When I first thought about getting into coaching, I often wondered about what "style" I would adopt. Would we instill a hard work ethic among my players like my high school coach Wayne DeSutter, would we stress the physical aspect as preached by my college coach Earle Bruce, or would we take the George Siefert approach and establish a democracy among players and coaches?

The honest answer is that I have taken ideas from all of them, as well as from some people who had nothing to do with football. We have made a "mold" for our football player which has been derived from the ideals and values of myself, my staff and people that I have met along the way.

There are "no exceptions to the expectation" of behavior that we have for our football players and football program. If players or coaches do not "buy in", they are simply removed from the program. I do not know if this is the "right" way or the "wrong" way, but it is the "Raider" way and hopefully some portion of this article will give you some ideas.

Each week we are asking one of the Bolingbrook Raiders coaches to take the readers inside their heads. This week our guest blogger is boys golf coach Chuck Marik.

Tell if you have heard this one... "I hit the ball GREAT, but I just couldn't score well..." My guess is that if you have ever played golf you have definitely uttered this phrase. The question remains...How can you strike the ball so well but not shoot the score that you have always wanted?

The answer is simple. Too many golfers focus on hitting the ball 300 yards, striking crisp irons, or perfecting the putting stroke. What every golfer should be focusing on is the "ins and outs" of what it takes to think your way through 18 holes.

The average 18 hole round last 4-5 hours, and for any golfer, this is a test of endurance and focus, one that puts the mind to the ultimate battle of emotions vs. instincts. Trying to teach a high school golfer the importance of remaining calm and composed for this length of time, in my opinion, is the ultimate challenge to any golf coach.

In seven years as a high school golf coach, I have come to realize that the greatest challenge that I have is, "How do I convince a group of teenagers that the way that they think about the game, directly impacts their score."

Thomas Page is the manager of the 12U Bolingbrook Bandits travel baseball team. He is losing weight in order to raise money to fund his team through donations per pound lost. Page will try to lose 50 pounds between Friday and Jan. 22, 2009. His progress will be monitored with monthly photos in The Sun and weekly blog posts in The Brook Blog.

Welcome to the blog for Thomas Page's fundraiser for the Bolingbrook Bandits. I would like to take a moment and give you a little background about who I am and why I am doing this.

I have always had a love for baseball. I have played all through grade school, high school. I have three boys 11, 9 and 7 and have coached them since they have been able to play. Last year, I was given the opportunity to coach this travel team for Bolingbrook Bandits 11 U.

It was an awesome experience to say the least. We over came many hurdles and one of the main hurdles we needed to overcome was the financial one.