Jimmy Buffett said:
“I took off for a weekend last month just to try and recall the whole year. All of the faces and all of the places wonderin – where they all disappeared. I didn’t ponder the question too long. I was hungry and went out for a bite. Ran into a chum (Here’s where I change it)….he had a case of Coors Light hidden out of sight. We went back to his place and set a good pace to drink all night…”
Anyway, thought it would be interesting to take a look at the last year:
January:
Obviously built a few beeramyds! 
Used my new smoker and grill. Shoveled some snow here in Michigan …. our house and Norma next door. Spent some time with my good friend Terry Copacia and his All State Quarterback School. Some really great young players developing there with the help of Joe Youngblood and Taylor Copacia.
Love watching these guys train players! If anyone wants their son to be a QB – this is the place to go.
Thanks to Terry and Curtis Blackwell here in the states and Giorgio Volpi and
Fulgenzio Jioro we got our new enterprise off the ground (Sound Mind Sound Body Europe).
February:
Zipped down to Arizona with our friends the Fords….stayed in Gilbert, Arizona which is outside of the Phoenix and Tempe area. It used to be farmland when I 
coached at Arizona State in the early ‘80’s. Now it is a small city with a fantastic downtown. The boss (wife
Shawn) has her oldest brother Gary living there. He has a fantastic place with a great pool – a little cold to use it – but we jumped in anyway. (No scorpions, black widows or rattlesnakes spotted!)
Went over to watch our beloved Sun Devils play – and lose to the Mildcats from the U of A. TFord was happy – we were not.
Jumped on a jet and up to Albuquerque, New Mexico (Sadies Restaurant!) The Land of Enchantment! I will tell you – the finest food you can find! Beautiful country – it is not all desert by the way. In fact Albuquerque is over 5000 feet, Santa Fe 6000 and Taos nearly 7000 feet – guess what it snows (a lot) there! Just a note Denver is 5000 feet – Northern New Mexico is higher!
Honestly, there are people who live here in the US who do not realize that New Mexico is a state. Amazingly they think New Mexico belongs to the country of Mexico. Come on – study geology…. Whoops, I mean geography.
Kept working on our European project (Sound Mind Sound Body Europe)
March, April and May
“Your Call Football” beckoned me to Florida. Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida became my residence for the next six weeks. Working on an
interesting project called “Your Call Football.”
Very interesting concept….the fans call the plays and the teams that we trained run the plays. It is the brainchild of George Colony (Forrester Research) run by Julie Meringer was the president and Colin Vataha the director of football operations
Here’s how it worked. We had about 90 players who were basically free agent type players – mostly from solid division 1 programs. We trained them for several weeks then played a series of three games.
Fans got an app for their phones, iPad or computers which allowed you to stream the games live. It’s FREE! As the game went on each participant was offered a selection of three offensive plays on every down. You selected the play and it was instantaneously tabulated and the most popular was beamed to the head coach. He had to call the play no matter what he thought of the selection.
This all happened in about 25 seconds! Truly amazing! AND THE APP IS FREE!
So, actually the score had little bearing on how the fans picked plays. Each fan was in direct competition with the other fans (or a group of friends they could select) to pick the “winning” play. I honestly don’t know how all of this works. But, it is interesting because it allows the fans to be directly involved and run the game!
We had some great coaches involved in the project. Our head coaches were Mike Sherman and Merril Hodge. Assistants like Kurt Shottenheimer, Bob 
Slowick, Tom Rossley, Bert Hill, George Cortez, Chick Harris, Robert Ford, Martin Bayless, Chris Dishman, Jonas Jackson, Ben Sherman, Chris Mosley, Art Kehoe, Andre Barboza etc. Oh yeah – me too!
It was an interesting six-week period and made some new friends while reconnecting with some old pals. Football has always been a great way to meet people with shared interests.
By the way there was some beer put away in Dodgertown – we did keep the Vero Beach bar economy in the black!
Plus, the boss (wife) got a few vacation trips to Florida while the weather in Michigan was trying to figure out what to do.
June
We drive into the summer with really great weather here in Michigan. It seemed like most of the country was dealing with tough weather – but here in the “mitten” shaped state we really had some nice days.
For whatever the reason we avoided the severe storms that were popping up all over the place. Michigan is one of the best kept secrets in the country. My prediction is that there will come a time when people will actually pick Michigan as a vacation spot.
Well, why not? It is a great place. If you are a golfer (I am not) – really a great number of courses that are spectacular. If you are an outdoorsman (I am not) – well great places to fish also water ski….water and lakes all over the place (Great Lakes State!)
July
We put the finishing touches on our “First Annual Sound Mind Sound Body Combine and Clinic” preparing for a kickoff on August 3rdin Tenero, 
Switzerland. I really was eager to get back to Switzerland and see many of my friends again.
Giorgio and Fulgi did a fantastic job in Europe lining up the fantastic facility in Tenero. They worked very hard to get everything prepared for our first (ad)venture overseas. Many hours and miles were put in by my friends on the other side of the Atlantic.
As the month ended we hopped on a jet for the day long trip to Milan and up into Switzerland.
August
Our first annual “Sound Mind Sound Body” was ready to roll on the first weekend of August in Tenero. I have to say that this area of Switzerland is a beautiful part of the Italian side of the country. What a beautiful place to have this football camp.
We didn’t get the numbers (in regards to athletes) that we were hoping. But, later we began to understand that our timing was probably not as good as it 
could have been. Apparently, this was a “Holiday” period and many people take their vacations at this point.
Regardless, we had a fantastic camp. Curtis and Terry were simply outstanding. Two very talented men who really know what they are doing and also have a great feel for people. I think the group of SMSB impressed the coaches and players who came to Tenero.
Cannot express how much we appreciated the efforts of Giorgio and Fulgi. Volunteering their time and efforts to make sure that we were comfortable. Just another step in learning more about another culture and how we need to learn to be better friends to our neighbors across the seas.
After spending a little more than a week in Switzerland we hopped on the jet 
back to the States. The trip is long …. but not necessarily the flights. It really gets long as you sit around in airports waiting for the next flight etc. But, remember airports do have bars!
Get back to Michigan – jump into my truck and head down to Bethlehem Pa. to crank up my coaching gig at Moravian College.
September and October
Return to my home – the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania. Great place to visit (live) for a few months. My Dad and his wife Judy, brother Steve, sister Pat and many, many friends are all there.
Get to eat some of the best pizza in the United States, real steak sandwiches, TastyKakes, Yoccos Hotdogs (Sorry Justin Potts), Birch beer, A-Treat soda (not pop), Wawa, and Carvel ice cream. What more can you want? I ask you?
Plus, get to work with the football team at Moravian College. The Greyhounds have a fantastic staff – and the players ….. well, lucky to be around them. Jeff Puksyzn and his staff do a great job always looking to help the athletes on the team first and foremost.
You couldn’t find a better person to lead a group of young men. Always trying to help the troops. Every coach at Moravian does a stellar job with their sports …. But Jeff – he deals with the most athletes and is constantly working with them to develop not only a good football team, but good students and great members of the Moravian community.
Well, the team….you could tell they were special guys. With the great leadership of our seniors and the outstanding junior players we had we managed to work our way through the first half of the season 3-2. Then
winning two more in a row placed us at 5-2.
Unfortunately, we faced some of the best teams in the conference towards the end of the year and we dropped to 5-5. I will say this…. For us to get to 5-5 is a great accomplishment. Moravian cannot even compare to the teams we play in the Centennial Conference in regards to resources.
Now…we will always aspire to be excellent at what we do. However, you learn early on in your coaching career to always be a pragmatic person. Now, that does not mean we don’t strive to attain the highest level. But although we are generally optimists – we also become realists!
Yup, I get it. Too bad! But, it is one of the things that Jeff faces as a football coach at Moravian. We have to play the games regardless of the advantages the other Centennial Conference schools have.
Despite the fact that others may not see our situation in regards to the disparity in the CC – In football you don’t have the luxury of seeing things through rose colored glasses. We have to line up each week and play against those guys
Fortunately, the coaches truly work hard during the recruiting season and they are able to find some really good players. They work hard to get students as well as athletes – all they can do is put them in front of admissions and financial aid and cross their fingers.
In the middle of the season I had to get back to Michigan – my son Scot (named after Scot Dapp by the way) got married to the fabulous Sarah. What started out to be a cold rainy October day turned into a wonderful day.
Despite the fact that the sun hid all of the day. It turned out to be perfect day for pictures and it was a great experience for everyone. Oh yeah, there was a few beers consumed by the way. But, what a wonderful venue at the golf course in Lake Orion. (Plus the Hounds beat Susquehanna!)
Immediately after the wedding the boss (wife) and I climbed into a jet and flew to Switzerland for a two-week vacation-coaching experience. What a great time for both of us!
Worked two camps while in Switzerland (Growth of the Game in Lucerne for two days and a camp in Willesau for the National teams of Switzerland). Other than that – we traveled through the beautiful countryside in my adopted country!
I love Switzerland – the beauty of the place is truly amazing. But, more 
importantly the people are just so friendly and happy to welcome people like me. (By the way, the chocolate is unbelievable!)
Between and after the camps the boss (wife) and I visited several beautiful cities. We started on Lugano (Italian side) visited Lucerne – twice- Zurich, Bern, Fribourg and Interlaken. I can’t tell you how wonderful the visit was for me.
By the way there is a Hooters in Interlaken!
We headed back home – it is a long day. But, as I said earlier – well worth the extra hours you spend going back and forth.
When I got back to Detroit climbed into my truck to get back to Bethlehem and Moravian to finish up the season. Unfortunately we got caught up in the grinder as Franklin and Marshall beat us up. Then we gave up a game as Dickinson beat us. (They are certainly an improving team … but we should have been able to win this game.)
Muhlenberg (like Hopkins) is a team that is going to be very difficult for us to defeat. They have a very strong team. Again, we are fighting a school with many advantages in regards to their policies and facilities.
There is a reason the Mules advanced three rounds in the national playoffs. A good team.
But, finishing 5-5 really gave me a sense of accomplishment. Jeff and the staff should be excited about our record and the players we have coming back. Hopefully, we can add a freshman class that will make our team even stronger. If we can get everyone on campus aimed in the same direction we should continue to get better.
November and December
As we slipped into November we finished the season and I hung around the valley because I wanted to watch my beloved Konkrete Kids play on Thanksgiving Day. Also on the plus side of staying around I got to have a great Turkey Day at Wendy and Steve’s (Brother and Sister and Law) house.
Have to also mention the stops at the Hungarian Hall. Watching my pals throw darts then the over the top party on Thanksgiving Eve! What a great time that always is!
Only problem is staying at my pal Tom Denardo’s house before the Thanksgiving game versus Catasaqua. He doesn’t believe in heating his house. Just doesn’t use his heat! There are times when you can literally see 
your breath. Well – if you go to bed with two sweatshirts, sweatpants, socks, a hat and two quilts it isn’t that bad.
After a Northampton win head up to Wendy and Steve’s house for the “feast”!
What an awesome spread Wendy puts out for us. Turkey was unbelievable …. Also, everything else was great as well. Went to bed stuffed.
Next morning – hopped in my truck and headed home to the boss (wife) in Michigan. Just a nine and a half hour trip.
Set up the Christmas lights and here we are!
Son Corey and Taylor home from Atlanta…Scot and Sarah up from Centerline … the Fords visit … Sarah’s parents over. Great Christmas day.
Like I said … I took off for a weekend last month just to try and recall the whole year. All of the faces and all of the places wonderin – where they all disappeared. I didn’t ponder the question too long. I was hungry and went out for a bite. Ran into a chum (Here’s where I change it)….he had a case of Coors Light hidden out of sight. We went back to his place and set a good pace to drink all night…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Again, we wander around the restaurant area along the river Reuss. We decided to return to our favorite Italian restaurant on the broad cobblestone walkway along the river.
The boss (wife) and I wandered along
described by Mark Twain as “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.”
back to Lugano and then down into Milan.
But, the trips over and back are well worth it. Having the chance to make more friends, see more sights and learn so much more about our world and the
