Well just finishing up cleaning the basement and putting together my bags for my run down to Pennsylvania and work with the Greyhounds of Moravian College. I feel bad that I am showing up late to work with Jeff Puksyzn’s team…but it couldn’t be helped.
Perhaps had I been smart enough to remember my bag with the laptop, iPad and my football notebooks I could have gotten to Bethlehem in time. Unfortunately I don’t have them yet – they must be stuck somewhere between Zurich and Detroit I guess! (Next time I better not stay up to 2:00 in the morning with Heineken [that was the problem it wasn’t a Coors Light!] in hand telling stories with my pal Fulgi.
What a life! But paid the price by forgetting my carry on bag.
I have to clean the basement because it is where I hang out when I am home. It has everything I need – beer, bathroom, beer, computers, beer, TV, beer, treadmill, beer, recumbent bike, beer, min-itramp for rebounding, beer, microwave and also beer! I do allow it to get somewhat sloppy but it’s not real hard to clean up – throw out trash, tidy up my football books and vacuum.
Recurring theme there – don’t you think?
However, I waited as long as I could in hopes that the bags would arrive via carrier. But alas – they have not showed up.
Got to get moving. – tomorrow in the early AM will be my takeoff time. 9 and a half hours later should be near the end of the trip. It really isn’t that bad a drive – toughest part is around Detroit and then in Northwestern Pennsylvania as you battle the trucks on route 80 in those mountains.
It will be good to be back in the football world again. I am looking forward to seeing all of the coaches and spending time with the players. Moravian has become a big part of my life (and imagine I went to Muhlenberg!).
I am looking forward to seeing the team in person – to this point I have been able to watch all of the practice video on the HUDL app we all have. Looks like we may be on the verge of getting back on track this season.
Excellent news last night as my good friend Jared Devries was selected into his home Hall of Fame. A well deserved honor for someone who has given so much back to his community.
He spent thirteen years playing defensive line (not easy to do) in the NFL. He was a consensus All-American at Iowa and just a tremendous guy. 
What a teammate and a fantastic guy to have on the team.
I got to know he and his family very well in our years together and watched he and his wife Jamie raise two great young high school students. I truly was lucky to have been around him for all of those years.
He has done a tremendous job as a high school coach and it is a pleasure for me to see him in that role. His influence and guidance of those young guys on his team will be so 
rewarding for them. He is one of the several players I have had the luck to coach who have gone on to be successful coaches.
You cannot find enough guys like Jared….he brings so much to the table and shows the people around him the meaning of hard work and class!
What a great man!
We also continue to push on with our European (ad)ventures – looking forward to developing our second annual Sound Mind Sound Body Europe combination of player development, combine drills and coaching clinic. We learned a lot about what we need to do to keep driving our ideas forward.
The complex in Tenero, Switzerland was fantastic and they had everything you possibly need to conduct a larger and improved version of “SMSBE 2.0.” I am really looking forward to our revamped version.
Although we felt that our attendance lagged a little I think that we found out how we can really broaden that area. We have had many ideas and offers to help for our next (ad)venture. We also made some great connections to build the platform even bigger.
Plus, we made even more friends and really that is what this is all about anyway.
There are a few promising collaborations that we have looked into – one that is particularly intriguing is with the Torino Giaguari (Jaguars). This is a well organized team that is coached by Rico Merola.
Rico runs a camp for kids (more that 200) in conjunction with the University of California’s football staff. There is some interest in adding our SMSBE into the equation which would make for even more exposure.
I think that our platform has a lot to offer – especially with Curtis Blackwell operating a critical part of the venture. He has been doing this at a high level for more than 15 years. He is very charismatic and this coupled with his sincerity makes the SMSBE very appealing.
Plus, we have Terry Copacia operating his QB teaching and coaching. That in itself is something that all of Europe needs. For the football to continue to improve it is imperative to develop guys who can throw the ball effectively.
Trust me Terry can teach people how to pass the ball. Of all the comments I heard from our coaches in attendance was that the impact 
Terry had was tremendous. I have to say I am not surprised because I have seen him weave his magic for more that 25 years.
When he gets the QB training going in Europe you are going to see a rapid development of the game amongst the younger players. And, really that is what it is all about – improving coaching and player development at the youth level.
I get to stand around and watch all of these other guys do the work.
And not only did I make Terry and Curtis work….yup the Swiss connection of Giorgio Volpi and Fulgi Jorio had to make sure everything was OK when we got there.
No small task – arranging the complex, fighting to get publicity, setting up bank accounts. Not to mention that Fulgi was the caretaker of the crew and both he and Giorgio graciously housed us. (not a word of that house of Giorgio’s way up on the top of that mountain)
It truly was a great adventure established by five friends who learned that through honesty and great effort tremendous things can be accomplished.
Well, like I said – for me the next several weeks shape up like this. Football with the Hounds. Pizza, steak sandwiches, birch beer, Tastykakes, the sacred waters of the Lehigh River, going to the Hungarian Hall, visiting with my Dad and Judy, Steve and Wendy, Pat and Dann, hanging out with Tom (Leo) and the rest of the guys!
What else can you expect from the “Second Luckiest Man in the World!”