New Zealand has a certification level for assistant coaches

Not your typical rugby play. From last night's game

Enjoy some football!

Tickets for next week's game go on sale at 9 am on Tuesday. Let me know if you'd like to come and tailgate for the playoffs.

All aboard

From New Zealand

Saw a kiwi today

On the way to QEII swim pool today, on my bike, and passed a wetland area next to a park. There on the edge of the bike path -- none other than a small flock of kiwis. Kiwi's are birds. They are sorta rare. Nice treat.

Today I took in an aquatic class. More tomorrow.

On the way home -- I got our second flat tire on the bike. Called home and got a lift as we had some guests over for a family party. Now to fix the flats.

At the pool we got to see some canoe water polo too.

Libertarian in limelight in MSNBC poll -- by 5 %

Ron Paul steps into national spotlight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2007

ARLINGTON, VA – Congressman Ron Paul finished first in the MSNBC poll following the GOP primary debate last night held at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. Dr. Paul received 43 percent, beating the second-place finisher by five points, and crushing the rest of the field.

"Last night, Americans met Ron Paul and loved what they heard," said Ron Paul 2008 campaign chairman Kent Snyder. "Dr. Paul's message of freedom and limited government resonates with Republicans hungry for a return to their party’s core values."

"Ron Paul is the only true conservative in the GOP race. Americans saw that last night," continued Snyder. "The campaign looks forward to further debates and opportunities so even more Americans will discover Dr. Paul's message of freedom, peace and prosperity."

My tunes are already picked and on the CDs

Allegheny County officeholders invest in future political roles - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The continued fundraising could show how special interests are trying to peddle influence with regional leaders, say watchdog groups.

'He who pays the piper picks the tune,' said Meredith McGehee, policy director with the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center. 'Those who can afford to play ... buy one thing for sure, and that's access.'

I love the musical element found within the quote.

Playground for hearing-impaired opens

Playground for hearing-impaired opens 'In a city that can't afford to maintain playgrounds, let alone build them, this is a great win for Shadyside,' said city Councilman William Peduto.

Got a point. Lost the game. Saw the horses. To host a semi finals next week.

Rugby!

We saw the Christchurch franchise in action tonight. Our team lost, but, they scored a touchdown at the very end of the game. Those points were needed to secure a point in the match. That point insures that the home team will play a home match next weekend -- the first round of the playoffs.

This is a league of 12 teams -- some from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

We were told that the Crusaders squad tonight has have or had 10 players who were also on the All Blacks.

At the start of the game, a lone horseman rides around the field, banishing a sword. He's a Crusader, of course. Then after one lap, he goes to the castle and calls out nine others to join him. They gallop around the field, like the USC Trojan, sorta. But, ten times better as there are ten of them. And, they exit a castle with gas fired lanterns at the draw-bridge / gate.

We took a cab to the event. Came home via bus.

Still got in our swim practices too. That ended at 6:30 pm. Home by 7, on our bikes. into a quick jacket change. Good luck with the taxi. And we, all 6 of us, got to the stadium by pre-game to see the horses. Game began at 7:30.

Tickets for next week's game go on sale at 9 am on Tuesday. Tonight's game was NOT a sell out. The stadium holds 30,000 or so. Had about 22,000 in the place.

My take on the game -- being I hardly know the rules -- ball handling. The Crusaders just didn't make great passes nor handle the ball well. Too many fumbles and turnovers.

There were some big-time hits. One was right at our corner of the field. Ouch.

Next up, playoffs. The squad better do better talking care of the ball, if you ask me.

We'll cheer against the Chiefs tonight

Our squad is the Cruisaders -- black and red. They play against the Chiefs. Tonight's game is in Christchurch. We hope to attend.

Crusaders Home - Canterbury Rugby Football Union The Chiefs pose a real threat on Friday night as Jade Stadium hosts the final round of the Rebel Sport Super 14, with semi-final positions and home seedings on the line.

Viewing our clan before we dunk ourselves in the Pacific to swim with wild dolphins at Akaroa, New Zealand

Viewing BCAK705038294543 Daily Photos

Family photo is BCAK705038294543

Or, here it is at my Picasa site.

From NZ - dolphins

The Finance Coach, LLC

Travis has opened his new web site.

The Finance Coach, LLC: "The Finance Coach LLC"

NPR : Rethinking How Title IX Is Applied

NPR : Rethinking How Title IX Is Applied Column by Frank Deford: Sweetness and Light

Rethinking How Title IX Is Applied

Listen to this story...

Morning Edition, May 2, 2007 -- As more young women go to college, funding for some men's sports will be reduced to comply with Title IX. That's the federal law requiring schools to offer athletic programs in proportion to gender population. Should the law be tweaked to address inconsistencies?

My heart has been broken by the cutting of swim programs -- and of other teams -- at my ex-univeristy, Ohio U, -- and elsewhere. This is bad news for all of America.

Pittsburgh - City Council District 1 - Two challengers take on a controversial incumbent - Main Feature - Main Feature Extra - Pittsburgh City Paper

Pittsburgh - City Council District 1 - Two challengers take on a controversial incumbent - Main Feature - Main Feature Extra - Pittsburgh City Paper Another way to invest, she says, is to reach out to the 'braintrust' of university students who often leave the city after earning their degrees. 'We should be marketing our neighborhoods to the students,' she says, many of whom never leave campus or the immediate neighborhoods. 'If anyone had not been to the North Side, they'd never know about our parks -- you can buy a house on the North Side and live next to a mini version of Central Park.'

Hummm....

The Pittsburgh mini version of central park is but a nice place for you and your dog to walk while on a leash. What we've got isn't going to please those with brains. If you want to get to the 'braintrust' folks, you need to have something more than a green space for you and your dog.

You want to talk about city parks -- let's visit Christchurch. Oh my gosh.

Once again, Pittsburgh's problem isn't a hardware thing -- it is about the 'software.'

I'd like to see a robust race in November between the winner of the D primary (and I hope that isn't D. Harris) and David S.

A 'female Bob O'Connor' -- oh the things that get reported by the MSM.

Steelers Nation extends -- even behind bars

Talking Sports from Death Row with Kevin Cooper By Dave Zirin

Kevin Cooper is a sports fan. Kevin Cooper loves the Steelers. Kevin
Cooper makes his home on death row at the notorious San Quentin Penitentiary in California. Cooper awaits execution for a crime many observers are convinced he did not commit. He was to be injected with poison until his heart stopped on February 10th, 2004 but received a stay after massive public pressure was brought to bear. The holes in his murder conviction were that egregious, that shocking. As one federal judge put it days before the execution, "When the stakes are so high, when the evidence against Cooper is so weak, and when the newly discovered evidence of the state's malfeasance and misfeasance is so compelling, there is no reason to hurry and every reason to find out the truth."

Here I interview Kevin Cooper about his love of sports. There are two reasons why I wanted to hear Cooper's thoughts. The first quite simply is that I oppose the death penalty. Kevin Cooper's case exemplifies everything that makes my stomach turn about capital punishment: it's racially biased. It punishes the innocent. And every last person is on death row -- innocent or not -- because they couldn't afford the representation that would have saved their lives. As the saying goes, "Those without the capital get the punishment." When we actually read and hear the voices of those on the row, it makes it that much harder for executioners like Schwarzenegger to sell the idea that they are somehow less than human and should be put down like dogs.

The second reason is that Kevin Cooper through his writings and public statements has proven himself to be a sharp and thoughtful observer of society. Often with writing, vantage point is everything. Cooper takes his status as "Dead Man Walking" and refuses to let his mind die. Spike Lee said, "If you want to learn about the world, start with the sports page." Here we learn about the world of sports by talking with
a man who refuses to be defined by death.

DZ: How able are you to keep up with sports? Are there particular teams or players that you follow?

I am able to keep up with sports by way of radio, TV, and newspapers. I follow the Pittsburgh Steelers football team because Pittsburgh, PA. is my hometown.

KC: What are your earliest sports memories? Are they positive?

All of my earliest sports memories are positive, and that's because during the 60s when I was growing up the only positive Black people who were seen in the media were sports stars. I looked up to black athletes, and not just black athletes; my earliest memories are trying to play baseball like Roberto Clemente.

DZ: How have you seen the world of sports change over the course of your life?

KC: The inclusion of women in just about all sports has changed the world of sports in my lifetime, as has the fact that Black men are no longer seen as "unintelligent" and therefore "unable" to be quarterbacks, head coaches, baseball managers, or front office people or any other job that requires them to think. AND that people have, for the most part, stopped calling Blacks "natural athletes."

DZ: What are your earliest memories of some of the most political athletes, like Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, or Billie Jean King?

KC: Some of my earliest thoughts about Jackie Robinson changed after I found out that he spoke out against Paul Robeson and others who were doing their part in their own way to fight for Black people. Doing their part in their own way just as he did in 1947 by not just going in to play pro baseball but signing an agreement saying that he wouldn't fight back or speak out when he was disrespected by white ball players. He signed that pledge in order to do his part to help Black people.

Concerning Muhammad Ali: he's simply the best and the greatest, and my thoughts and earliest memories of him have only gotten stronger after all of these years. In fact, I honestly use him to help keep myself strong and focused as I fight for my life and try to end the death penalty here from this cage on death row. Billie Jean King is someone I didn't really know about growing up, but I do know about her now. Her contribution to women's equality in tennis is truly a great thing. Because of her doing what she did back then, standing up for her rights, women today in tennis get paid a hell of a lot more respect than they did when she played. And of course they make more money, too.

DZ: Can sports be a site of resistance today, given how commercialized the culture has become?

KC: If the athletes of today had the same mindset that people like Ali had, or John Carlos and Timmy Smith had during the 1968 Olympics, then, yes, today's athletes could make sports a site of resistance. The only athlete that I know who is of the mindset of Ali, Carlos, and Smith is Etan Thomas, though there may be others. Sometimes it seems to me that today's athletes are too worried about getting paid for the most part, and in getting that they're losing out on what's really important. Especially since sports provides a platform for them to make positive change that not many other professions do.

DZ: Why has sports, in your mind, become such a central part of the Black experience in the United States?

KC: Throughout the history of America, white people have always loved to be entertained by Black people, especially Black men. The masters of certain slaves would put their slaves up against other slaves from another plantation and they would fight, sometimes to the death. Just as dogs or roosters did. This evolved into sports such as boxing and wrestling. As new sports were invented, and more white people wanted to be entertained, more Blacks were either forced to participate against their will, or they joined in because they found some type of respect if they were good at it. The master's prize fighter got good food, access to women, and was respected and treated pretty good -- That is until he lost.

As time went on, and the white man refused to give jobs -- at least good-paying jobs -- to Blacks because of racism, a Black man found that, through sports, he could make a decent living. Just look at Jack Johnson and the opportunities the Blacks had in society when he was alive. These same conditions exist today, in so much as that a Black person, male or female, knows that in this country if you can make it in sports, you can make it big, and can become rich. That is our collective experience in this country.

DZ: What do you think of NBA commish David Stern's efforts to impose a dress code on players?

Imposing a dress code on NBA players is stupid to me. It's not the outside of the players that matters, it's the inside. If anything needs to be changed, it's their mentality. The deadliest person of all is a police officer in a suit.

KC: In New Orleans, when Katrina hit, the only place available for emergency shelter was the stadium, the Superdome. What does that tell us about our world today?

After Hurricane Katrina hit and the poor people of New Orleans found themselves in the Superdome, it showed the world that, in this country, if you are poor then you are shit out of luck. Nobody will help you when and how you need help, and if you can't make it on your own you are in trouble.

DZ: The last one is all you, Kevin. Is there anything you want to share about sports and life?

KC: Sports and life are both full of contradictions because both have rules and sometimes the rules are broken and ignored. Mistakes are made but not admitted to. Certain people make calls in both, and for the most part it is the ordinary people who suffer because of the calls made by the leaders or owners. It's the people at the bottom who pay for the mistakes made by the people at the top. It's a dog eat dog world, the winner takes all, and too many people are set up to lose from the get-go.

In struggle from death row,
Kevin Cooper

For More Information on Kevin's case, visit freekevincooper.org

Dave Zirin is the author of the "The Muhammad Ali Handbook" (MQ Publications) and the forthcoming "Welcome to the Terrordome:" (Haymarket). You can receive his column Edge of Sports, every week by going to http://zirin.com/edgeofsports/?p=subscribe&id=1. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com

Nickers in a knot about a meeting at Peabody without many participants

The Principal at Peabody and Rick F. of the Bloomfield Garfield Corp, as well as others around town, have their nickers in a knot concerning a public meeting slated for 1 pm on Friday, May 4. at Peabody High School. The pow-wow is to talk about the planning for a larger community meeting about schools. Not many are signed up to attend. I think there is a planning meeting on May 4 and a big meeting slated for May 12th. I could be wrong.

Here at the University of Canterbury, students wanted to know if they should get their nickers in a knot about a pending quiz today in the course my wife is teaching.

I've posted two email follow-ups below that hope to drive more community members and parents to the meeting.

My angle of attack for Peabody and Westinghouse, to benefit the entire city and region, would be to kick-start a discussion to make both schools single gender. Pittsburgh should have an all boys public high school -- and an all girls public high school. Take one campus, either Peabody or Westinghouse, and devote it to one gender and, of course, the other to the other gender.

When I've talked about this in the past, the strong feeling from some is that the time to turn to same gender education should not be at 9th grade -- but sooner. Many have told me that they would like to see the single gender campus open for those in middle school as well as high school.

If the "excellence for all" had some 'red meat' visible -- such as a push to single gender schools -- then there would be standing only attendance at the meetings, perhaps.

Here is what they posted: R. Flanigan:

WE CAN SUCCEED--ALL WE NEED TO DO IS WORK HARD AT IT...

We agreed to hold ourselves accountable for turnout for the Excellence For All: East End Community Building Event. We agreed at out last planning meeting that we would have 200 registered by the May 4th (Friday) final planning meeting that begins at 1 p.m. at Peabody High School. The 200 number was not to include Peabody students.

If you take out the Peabody students we have about 60 people registered.

Few registrations have come in from the "Planning Agencies" that comprise the leadership group conducting the event. Are you registered?

All of us need to spend some quality time--lots of it--or we are going to fail.

RECRUITMENT IDEAS: (Personal Invites Are Critical)

1) Attached is a letter that you can change to meet your needs. Send the letter and brochure out to a targeted group you would like to recruit. Call everyone you send the letter to. Register the people that commit.

2) Take these same materials and email them out to as many people as you can.

3) Meet at my office (Youth Development Center, 5129 Penn Avenue) at 9 a.m. on this coming Saturday in order conduct door to door pass out of the brochure.

4) Have all your staff register and Board of Directors register.

5) Call all your program participants. Get their approval to register them.

6) Call everyone you know that could benefit by this event. Register them.....

PLEASE RECRUITMENT-- NO EXCUSES--WE NEED 500 PEOPLE AT THIS EVENT...

See you Friday.

Rick Flanagan (cell phone cut by blogmaster)

---

The next letter came from the Principal at Peabody:

Hello Valued Community Partners:

The 12th is almost upon us! We are progressing nicely. The only thing missing are participant registrations. I'm confident that with your help, we will meet our goal of 200 participants for tomorrow.

As you know, the final planning meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, May 4, at 1:00 P.M. here, at Peabody. We will devote much of our time to turn-out and last minute details and expectations of participating organizations. We will have all the procedures in place for drop-off and set-up of materials. Additionally, Breakout Rooms and procedures will be provided so everyone knows exactly what needs to be done.

We will be working feverishly at the school today and Saturday, calling the homes of all our students. Additionally, three of our office staff will be making an East End Business Blitz on Friday to garner last minute donations. Please call the school if you wish to join us.

Cle Sloan is scheduled to be on WAMO at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, May 11, 2007. Please tune in. We also have another addition to our program - the Frick Middle School Steel Band scheduled to perform during the 8-9:00 A.M. registration period. They will provide us with light background music in the gym prior to the 9:00 Kick Off.

Mr. Flanagan has also sent out emails detailing strategies that have been proven successful for recruitment. Please take advantage of this advice. Let's make this a truly memorable Event because of the excellent turn-out, not a disappointment because we had a wonderful program but limited participation. WE NEED YOUR HELP!

John Vater, Principal, Peabody High School

515 North Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15206
email: jvater1@pghboe.net
phone: (412) 665-2050
fax: (412) 665-2077

Let me know what's going on. And, most of all, let me know what they think about two single-gender schools in Pittsburgh's mix of schools.

Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic do well, it seems to me. How about if we had public-school options to match those Catholic schools.

City Police Officer Uses "Ignorant Of Law" Card In Residency Sting

What in God’s name is going on here? Philip Dacey, 54, the former acting commander of the East Liberty police station, believes he is entitled to a $35,000 annual pension, even after quitting a job he was patently unqualified for in the first place.
You see Dacey got caught with a phony “home” city address, all the while commuting to the posh northern suburbs. Ignorance, he said on television. “Everyone else is doing it.”
What a goof-ball, dishonest answer from a police officer who has heard that same argument from criminals on the street, presumably for his entire career. Arrogance is more spot-on.
Pittsburgh requires that municipal employees reside full-time within city limits, just like the Mayor, city council, and other elected officials. The same is true for fire fighters. Somehow a few years ago the city schoolteachers union used its vast, hulking leverage and had their residency requirement waived. As a result, they pulled up stakes faster than a senior citizen will yank on the “one armed bandit” at any casino in the country.
Statistics prove that all of these professionals receive extravagant pay, especially firefighters. How else can you explain all of the expensive homes? That being said, firefighters explain that they are “the good guys” who save people from burning homes and everyone wants to be their neighbor. Cops say that neighbors always have an eye on them. Who knows about teachers, as most of them need the highway to get to their desks each morning.
Rumor had it that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who presumably lives somewhere on the North Side and not in an expansive Butler County farm as former Mayor Tom Murphy was often accused, had plans to fire 100 city workers with the unmitigated audacity to receive city tax monies in the form of paychecks, all the while digging their financial resources in far-off, sidewalk-less lands.
If Ravenstahl has any pluck whatsoever—and why should he since everyone with any influence whatsoever has paved his way to sit in the fifth-floor Grant Street West Wing for at least 10 years—he would immediately terminate anyone who sets foot across city lines five minutes after clocking out. He won’t.
Now Dacey finds himself playing the victim. Favoritism, he says, has disallowed him from a fancy new promotion. Perhaps one paying him enough to sell his squalor in one of Allegheny County’s nicest digs for a Joe Hardy-worthy castle in tax-light Washington County. That, and not being embarrassed by a residency sting operation, has forced him to turn in his badge.
Perhaps Dacey can move onto his life’s work as a small-town detective making $9 an hour. A 27-year veteran, it would be curious to see how long Dacey has been perpetrating fraud on the city payers within the city of Pittsburgh and, in essence, cashing illegal paychecks?
I’ve heard from numerous city police officers who don’t want to run into people they’ve locked up while grabbing ice cream with their family on the South Side, catching a movie off of Carson Street, or digging into a lobster on top of Mt. Washington. As if those same criminals don’t attend the latest Adam Sandler flick in groovy Pleasant Hills, grab a coffee along cosmopolitan McKnight Road, or swing by the Barnes and Noble bookseller near George Romero’s Monroeville Mall.
Dacey deserves to have his pension revoked. He’s lived deceitfully on the city dime for long enough. So have at least 99 others. We’ll see if anyone has the political might to do what’s right. In Pittsburgh, where city officials blatantly shell out thousands upon thousands of dollars to family friends for plagiarized white papers and barely register a blip on the newsmaker radar screen, I sincerely doubt it.

We swam with the wild dolphis today -- and it was great

Big day. Too much to post about. But, we had a wonderful day and got to swim with the hector dolphins. Wow. More photos and insights later.

Ron Paul to mix it up with others on the debate stage

The first debate among the candidates for the Republican nomination for president will take place on Thursday, May 3rd at 8:00 pm EDT.

Congressman Ron Paul will be on stage standing between Senator John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. The 90-minute debate will be broadcast live on MSNBC, and streamed live on politico.com. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library will host the event.

First swim practice at Wharenui

From NZ Wharenui pool

Can you pick out Erik in the water? We can blend in a bit more with the locals on this trip, until we open our mouths.

Some photos from our house in Christchurch

From NZ home