Woodpecker - Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Woodpecker

The yellow bellied sapsucker was a frequent visitor to our backyard shed.  He regularly drilled holes and awakened us with hit rat-tat-tat hammering.   Just yesterday we heard a loud thump at the front door, which looking through the front glass you can see our Christmas tree.  When I went to the door, there was the beautiful red headed woodpecker lying on the ground.  For whatever reason, maybe he was being chased, the bird flew head first into the door. 

Coincidentally, our friend recently sent a picture of a woodpecker in their backyard and my good friend just sent an Audubon society Christmas card that had drawings of woodpeckers and a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson stating,

 "Nature always wears the colors of the spirit".

Godspeed my friend.

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

 

Heal Yourself

Healing

We have the amazing capacity to heal ourselves.  With some very simple changes we can restore our health and vitality without the damaging side affects of pills and drugs.  The first step is to acknowledge the miraculous machine known as your body.  

We have our bodies we are far superior than any car or machine, yet we often fill them with junk food and chemicals.  We let them sit around on the couch and rust away instead of taking them for a spin around the block.  We take them for granted instead of treating with the respect and dignity deserving of the divine you. 

Begin to look at yourself as the new car, dress, or pair of shoes you just purchased.  You baby the car or dress, you treat them with TLC.  Time to treat our bodies with a little Tender Loving Care. 

We have the incredible power with simple changes to shift our health and well being in a dramatic immediate way.  Simply increasing our intake of vegetables and fruits will improve our health, I started blending spinach, beets, apples, and carrots once a week as a way to try and eat better.  Replacing soda with water can eliminate diabetes and reduce the risk of cancer, and other debilitating diseases.  

Look to incorporate power foods or supplements into your daily nutrition. Inexpensive power foods like cod liver oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, coconut oil, and so many others can rejuvenate and restore your health.  Once you get started, the snowball simply grows with momentum.

Begin a simple exercise program.  Just walk whenever you can or do jumping jacks while you watch TV. Grab one of those inexpensive resistance bands to help build and maintain your muscle tone.  I am a big fan of the jump rope, and after jumping for 35 years can attest to the amazing power of helping me overcome asthma.  

Nutrition and exercise have amazing restorative healing powers.  Before you reach for those pills, give power foods and simple exercise a try.   You are your best doctor, no one cares more about your health than you.  

Begin today and give yourself the everlasting gift of good health.

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

A Life of Fitness

A Life of Fitness

What do you call yourself.   If you had to label yourself, what would you be.  Yes, we have many roles and responsibilities, work titles and such but the most important label you can give yourself is fit. 

Fitness carries no guarantees or health assurances, but we must do what we can, we must do our best. And it starts with us, it starts with saying yes I can, yes I am.  Begin with a walk or an apple and let today be the beginning.  For those of you that enjoy a fitness lifestyle, help your friends and family members get started. 

We see all these ads for drugs, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, and such.  We must resist the pills, and start with our food and activity levels.  Do we want a lifetime of a drug cocktail with it's lethal side effects, or do we want to enjoy healthy vibrant living by simply eating delicious healthy foods and getting outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.  

These simple powerful choices are important for us all to start living our best lives now.

I am fit, I am healthy, I am

ALIVE!

With Love,

Tom Kaufmann

Coach K

Floating Leaves

The weary leaves float

to the ground

riding the wind

without a sound

Fall is here

beauty abounds

reds yellows

browns

nature

astounds

Thank You

Gratitude

A simple yet powerful daily habit is to express gratitude for everything in your life.  An easy prayer, mantra, expression, or meditation is the words Thank You.  

We can begin each day by saying Thank You for another day on this beautiful planet, for the honor to participate in the wonderful dance called life.  Formality is not required just the quiet, constant expression of giving thanks. 

Simply, humbly, we say

Thank You.  Thank You. Thank You.

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

Let There Be Peace

Peace

Yes, we see it every day in the news. It seems to come at us from everywhere.  What is the reason, why is it happening.  How do we stop it.  Well, it starts with the individual, with the family.  We must embrace peace, spirituality, goodness, kindness, and love. 

Our culture has adopted violence as a means to sell a product.  From television, to video games, to music, to movies, to sports we glorify violence. We must take another path for the well being of our children, families, ourselves, and our society. 

The same time the Oregon incident happens,  we see on ESPN a movie advertisement with a graphic commercial detailing the life of gangster Whitey Bulger.  Children see 100's of murders on TV before they are ten years old.  The top selling video games are Grand Theft Auto and Halo, Ultimate Fighter where men and women beat and hurt each other are treated as entertainment, the football games where multiple players are carted off the field with major injuries,  it appeals to our base emotions.

We know that as violence increases in our entertainment and sports, violence increases in our real lives.  Like the Romans gathering to watch the Gladiators duel to the death, or Christians being fed to the lions.  This increased violence leads to a degradation of society and unravelling of civilization. 

We have to remove ourselves and family from the gratuitous ubiquitous violence.  We have become numb and immune to tragedy.  It's everywhere, commonplace in our culture and society, and we have to make a conscious effort to disconnect from it to seek a place of love, light, and peace.  The idea that if we taught our children to pray and meditate for an hour each day that the world would be a more peaceful place. As St. Francis said, make me a channel of your peace, we need to start with ourselves and be more peaceful, understanding, and tolerant of ourselves and others. 

Don't be fooled by the media.  Most people are loving, caring, and peaceful.  We need to choose and focus on uplifting and positive experiences and entertainment. 

And as the saying goes 

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. 

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

You Are Not Alone

Loneliness

So many of us feel lonely, disenfranchised, or abandoned.  Even in these times of incredible social media, instant and constant contact, we often times feel isolated.

How do we banish loneliness. How do we feel a connectedness to life.  How do we feel we belong.

One of the answers may be to understand our divine nature and our part of human society.  We all have a role and a purpose.  We all have a contribution to make.  From simply loving someone, to helping someone, to sharing a talent, we have a unique ability to make the world a better place.

When we think of ourselves as part of the human race it's helpful to think of nature.  All the trees in the forest are connected, all the fish in the ocean is part of a larger ecosystem.  The air we breathe is circulated around the globe carried by a universal wind.

Nature is one large system.  And so is the human race,  we are connected, and it is important to know that you are loved.

When we see millions of people help flood, earthquake, and tsunami victims through generous donations, thoughts, and prayers for people that they don't even know we can begin to understand our human understanding and dignity that we are ONE.  One people, one love, one collective soul.

Yes, there a acts of human violence that try to fool us into thinking we are separate but just as nature as it's acts of violence, we must know that the underlying character is of beauty, energy, and grace.  Nature is to be respected, admired, and loved.  And so it is with us.

Start by loving yourself.  Yes, you are wonderful and worthy.  We love you.  It is natural to have bad days and bad times, but these will pass surely as the sun shines through the clouds and rain.

We all have a divine nature, a divine image.  Simply knowing that we are all part of God, part of this beautiful, wonderful, human experience is truly humbling and gratifying.  The simple prayer of saying Thank You for every day is a terrific way to start the day.

Know that you are loved.  Know that you are part of a larger human race that cares for you, that know you are valuable.  But most of all know that you are divine, that you were made in the image of God, that it is a blessing that you are indeed here on this wonderful place called Earth.

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann

FInd Your Purpose

Genius

Came across a great quote regarding the importance of a purpose and the label of genius.  When you look at those of great accomplishment, they have a purpose and they are dedicated to pursuing no matter the sacrifice or outcome.  They did it because they loved it, they had a passion that needed to be fulfilled. 

What men want is not talent, it is purpose; in other words, not the power to achieve it, but will to labor. I believe that labor judiciously and continuously applied becomes genius. 

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Exercise for the Soul - I Am

The I Am Principle - Exercise for the Soul

Tune into the nightly news and you will be inundated with all the bad news of the day.  If you didn't know any better, you would think the world is coming to an end.  The sun will never rise again.  We need to guard against the bombardment of negativity, even subconsciously and unknowingly from our friends and family.

One of the best defenses is AFFIRMATIONS.  We need to constantly remind ourselves and tell ourselves that we are wonderful, beautiful, and indeed divine.  We are made in God's image.  We know that it is good to exercise our bodies, that our body is meant to move.  The same is true for our psyche, our soul, and our spirit.  We must fill it will good "nutrition" just like our bodies.

Here is a simple exercise that is easy and we can do daily.

So we affirm

I am love
I am kindness
I am generous
I am divine
I am healthy
I am vibrant
I am abundant
I am radiant
I am confident
I am joyous
I am humble
I am wealthy
I am independent
I am courageous
I am gracious
I am goodness
I am strong
I am whole
I am not alone

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann
http://coachkaufmann.com/

The Race

The Race

My friend Dave who ran marathons used to tell me how his slower running friends would needle him after a race that he did not finish.  Dave would run marathons in under 3 hours, his times were world class.  His slower running friends would complete the race at a time that was often an hour or more slower than Dave's usual time.  Dave would be running the twenty six miles to achieve a personal record and would either run out of gas or would suffer an injury an not be able to complete the race. 

As his slower friends passed him on the course with a wry smile, they were excited to see him afterwards to tell him - 

The race does not always go to the swiftest but those that keep on running.  Just like the tortoise and the hare.  Sometimes all we have to do is just keep going. 

Yes you can,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

Dr. Wayne Dyer

Dr. Wayne Dyer

Dr. Dyer passed away the other day at the age of 75.  He is known as the father of motivation and talked of a spiritual approach to love that focused on universal love and kindness.  An orphan that was abandoned by his father went on to join the navy and graduate from Wayne St. university with his doctorate in educational psychology.  He was the father of 8 children and numerous self help books.  

He was a frequent lecturer and his positive approach to life focused on living your dreams and sharing your talents with the world.  He often said that a person can achieve any desire but first must believe that is was possible and more importantly think it was possible.  Everything begins with a thought.  Dr. Dyer taught us to love ourselves, be kind to ourselves, and accept ourselves, and with that self acceptance we can go out and share our light with the world.  He believed that the were no coincidences in life and it just so happens that he died on the same day as his father, that everything happened for a reason, and that adversity could be our greatest teacher.  He thought he was here to teach self sufficiency and that we should be independent of the good opinion of others.  We are here to live the life that we have imagined. 

Dr. Dyer introduced us to spirituality without connection to a particular religion or faith.  He asked us to know the divinity within all of us, and to use that power to help us on our journey.

Thank you Wayne for all your support and love.

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann

Cold Showers

Always on the lookout for health improvements,  I came across the cold shower.  The health benefits of cold showers include improving circulation, increasing metabolism,  improving scalp and skin since hot water dries out the skin, and a secondary benefit reduced energy consumption.

My recent experience is that a cold shower will definitely jump start your day!

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

Kaizen

Kaizen

The Japanese and Chinese term for continuous improvement.   What a great concept constant improvement.   Which is really a concept of nature, the universe is always expanding.  The Japanese economy adopted the quality and process improvement principles of american engineer and management consultant W. Edwards Deming.  Deming believed that overall quality could be improved by focusing on the process.  As a result of following Deming's process concepts, Japan built a car and electronic industry with the likes of Honda, Toyota, and Sony that has become a world standard.


We can adopt the principle of Kaizen in our personal lives.  Simple continual improvements can add up to life changing results.  When we look to make small incremental changes in areas of our lives whether it relationships, finances, fitness, career, or health we can shift our lives in ways we never imagined. 

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann

Infinite Patience

Infinite Patience

The saying goes infinite patience brings immediate results.  Say what.   In other words, when you set your goal and work towards it, be patient, be resolute, and know that you will accomplish your desire. 

This past Saturday the Temple University football team beat the Penn State nittany lions for the first time since 1941.  Temple had lost 35 straight games some of the games were close but many times Penn St.  simply dominated the owls.  As a someone that attended Penn St. and graduated from Temple, I had been watching the games since the early 1980's and attended many games in person. My two brothers graduated from Temple and our family has been life long fans. 

This past saturday's game was played at Lincoln Financial field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, where 70,000 fans filled the stadium.  I was planning to go but decided against because I didn't want to be disappointed yet again.  I watched the game with our family and jumped around the room when the clocked ticked down to 0.  Temple had finally beaten Penn St. something that many Temple alums never experienced in their lifetimes.  

During the jubilant celebration, I was overcome with a sense of regret and a tinge of sadness.   I should have been at the game to witness it in person, to celebrate with the community, but my lack of faith caused me not to go.  Ye of little faith. 

Temple football has struggled over the years some good teams but mostly bad, but on this one Saturday time stood still, the underdog won.  Stinky, lousy Temple beat the winner of several national championships,  the powerhouse Penn St and I could exhale

and smile. 

Go Owls!

With Love,

Tom Kaufmann

Coach K

You Can

CAN'T

We use this word in our everyday language without even noticing.  We hear this word in our daily conversations without so much as a passing thought.  I hear my children say I can't, I can't, I can't.  My response is how do you know.

When we use Can't we immediately limit ourselves, we cut off our options and our choices.  How do you know what is possible, what you are capable of?  The answer you really don't.  We have so many talents and skills that are untapped.  We've often been conditioned to hear you can't do this, or you're not good at that, that what you want to accomplish can't be done.  Your not good at math, you 're not athletic, you can't spell, you'll never be fit. Nonsense!

When we use the word Can't we are stopped.  Instead, just eliminate the word from your vocabulary or use it to your advantage.  I can't fail, I can't be stopped from my goal.

Keeping an open mind is important and all of man's achievements began with thinking that something was possible, that it could be done.  So, let that be the case with us.  Remove the negative Can't from our daily language.  When someone tells us it can't be done, simply smile and go about your business. Find someone that supports you and your dreams and don't limit yourself.

For many of us it's hard to overcome limiting thoughts and beliefs when we've been verbally abused with a stream of cant's.  Start with choosing to eliminate the word from you vocabulary no matter when you are starting from today.

Your present situation has no bearing on what you can do and accomplish. Yes, you can be healthy, wealthy, find your true love, or achieve whatever dream you have.

Simply removing one little letter can make all the difference.   I Can't becomes I CAN.  Some find it hard to make the leap from I can't to I can, that's OK.  Without moving to I can, we can just start by eliminating I can't.

We can do that right.

All the Best,

Tom Kaufmann
Coach K
CoachKaufmann.com

Young Folk Principles

The Youngster Good Life

1. Don't play house in high school and college.   Translation. Don't become involved in serious relationships where you become "married" at a young age.  The intense involvement with one person at such a young age limits and stunts your other formative life experiences. 
2. Don't do what you can undo.   Think pregnancy, tattoos, drunk driving, posting something dumb on social media, things that involve permanence.  You can undo being pregnant, a tattoo that looks cool at 18 become foolish when you're 30,  that underage drinking fine stays on your record for a long time.  A piercing, goofy haircut, or wild clothes can easily be undone.  You can remove an earring, or nose piercing, your hair will grow back but a baby is yours forever. 
3. Travel.  Before settling down with a career or partner, get out and see the world.  Once you start working and have responsibilities beyond yourself,  experience different cultures and varying ideas.  Understanding other ways of life, expands our own capabilities. 
4. Focus on lifestyle not material possessions.  The way you live is more important than what you have.  So many of us, particularly Americans,  choose materialism and consumerism which forces us to work at unfulfilling jobs.  When we limit our appetites, we have more freedom and more choice to follow our passion. 
5. 
   

Tommy - A Love Story

Tommy

I met a wonderful woman while walking our dog Shay in the park the other day.  We were coming up the road, and a woman was standing next to her dog that was just sitting there watching the birds. 

Getting closer, I thought she was a dog trainer working on the sit command.   Our beautiful little Cavalier, Shay, could use a little training. We said hello and I asked about why her dog was just sitting there, she answered that since she was 14 years old she could do what she wanted.  I smiled in agreement. 

She went on to tell me that the lab/pit mix was named after her husband Tom.  I said you must really like your husband and she responded Tommy was named in honor of his passing 14 years ago (insert foot in mouth here). 

Tommy was a rescue dog that helped this nice woman through her grief and became a companion to replace the love of her life.  She went on to tell me how Tommy was now not in the best health, but it was clear from their long friendship....

that both of them had been rescued. 

With Love,

Tom Kaufmann

Coach K

CoachKaufmann.com

Do What You Love, Love What You Do

Do What You Love

We've all heard the expression to do what you love, but how about a little reality.  How do you do what you love when you have rent, mortgage, car, and cell phone bills.  You need a job in the real world that may not be too meaningful for you but pays the bills. 

But is there another way. 

Can you do what you truly love and meet your responsibilities.  Yes, but the road can be challenging. 

What's the point of taking a job that pays well if it makes you miserable or worse sick.  Better to be happy and enjoy what you do and forgo the material goodies.  Easier said than done I know.  Something magical happens when you do what you enjoy doing, somehow the money finds you.  Maybe it's the passion and joy that shine in your daily work which brings top performance and the required perseverance when the inevitable setbacks occur.  

Society is setup for conformity.  Follow along do what everyone else does.  Why not cut a new path and find a new frontier instead.  You are not alone, many others have chosen to live deliberately and pursue their passion. 

Our time on this earth is finite why not spending doing what you really love.

With Love,

Tom Kaufmann

Coach K

CoachKaufmann.com

Chemicals - Green Grass

Going Green - Chemicals

The use of chemicals has become an essential part of our lives.  Chemicals are beneficially used in all types of products from plastics to paints, but have we gone too far when we infuse our food with these chemical products so they have a longer shelf life or don't spoil rapidly.  Do we have any idea of the short and long term impacts on our health. 

It hit me the other day when I looked around our neighborhood and noticed the green spring grass.   The lawn service companies suggest you apply chemicals five times per year to keep the grass in top shape.  In the spring the grass is naturally green and grows just fine without any chemical stimulation. When we add chemicals the grass growth surges and now requires more cutting, then when the hot summer weather begins with higher temperatures and lower rainfalls the grass dries out.  The chemicals and weed killers dry out the grass quicker resulting in root stress and brown grass, but even worse when do all the chemicals go,  does in leach into the ground impact our water.  Do the chemical impact the soil's good organisms such as earthworms. 

One of the best weed deterrents is long grass which can choke out the weeds.  Treating your lawn once or twice is fine but 5 times a year or more is excessive.  Of course we are told that grubs are destroying our lawns and are sold another lawn treatment.  I recently learned that Milky Spore is a natural self propagating material that controls grubs without impacting beneficial organism such as earthworms.  

We can all take simple common sense approaches to cleaning up and protecting the environment starting right in our own backyards. 

All the Best,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

CoachKaufman.com

Overcoming Allergies - Pollen

Allergies

Every year the spring season brings allergies.  The tree and grass pollen coat everything with a green dust, filling everyone's lungs and eyes.  Fortunately, there is a solution for millions of allergy sufferers.  The answer is RAW HONEY. 

The solution is similar to the antidote to a snake bite being venom or to nut allergies is to introduce the person to small amounts of nuts until the sensitivity is eliminated.   The antidote to pollen is raw honey which of course comes from the bee. 

Start with introducing raw honey into your nutrition regimen.  The honey should be raw and local, since the allergies come from local bee pollination, the antidote is honey from local bees.  I have noticed less sensitivity to spring allergies. 

Honey has some excellent nutritional qualities but make sure the honey is RAW and LOCAL.  Honey that is processed or heated loses its effectiveness.  Instead of popping the pills in response to seasonal allergies, give local raw honey a try. 

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

CoachKaufmann.com

What You Think About Expands

Good Thoughts

We all heard of positive thinking,  having a good attitude, and trying to think good thoughts, but do we really know how powerful thought control can be. 

What we think about EXPANDS.   We have so many external forces working on us in our daily lives.  The hustle and bustle of raising children and work can wear on our thought process and attitudes.  When we turn on the news, or try and relax with entertainment and music we are often bombarded with negativity which affects or thought process and attitudes.   The latest war, terror attack, or crisis is broadcast daily and impacts us both passively and actively.  

We have a choice.  It's critical that we limit our external influences,  we need to turn off and tune out the constant negative bombardment.  You listen to the news and you think everyday the world is coming to an end.  But life goes on.  We need to take control, empower ourselves, and choose our inputs.  We do this with the food we eat and drink, if I eat junk food and drink soda my body knows it and feels it.   The same with the food we take into our minds.   Limit the junk we allow into our thoughts and emotions.   Choose good empowering influences. 

Think of the wonderful things you would like to do, accomplish, achieve.  Seek out examples and mentors that have accomplished what you would like to do.  Envision and see yourself achieving your desires.  Begin by writing it down and watch your accomplishments began to take shape and get done.  

Pay attention to your daily thinking  and attitude.  If you know experiencing the life you want, begin to make changes, and start with your thoughts, attitude, and Expectations.  

Begin to expect good things.  Continue to focus on those things that you want in your life no matter what is happening in your current circumstances.  Try and experiment for a week or month where you focus on positive outcomes, you turn off negative news and talk,  you sit quietly and imagine all the wonderful things you will accomplish.  See if you notice a difference in your life, it's a free and easy way to make an immediate dramatic impact on the life you want and deserve. 

What you focus on expands, so focus on the things you want in life. 

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

CoachKaufmann.com

Right or Wrong Choose Kindness

Kindness

When faced between being right and being kind, choose kindness.   Instead of spending our energy arguing our point in an effort to prove how smart we are and how wrong the other person may be, we can simply each have our point of view.

Keep the peace.  Keep the friend.

Choose Kindness.

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann

Discipline - A Higher Form of Intellect

Discipline

I heard the great Temple basketball coach John Chaney say that "Discipline is a higher form of intellect." I love the concept.  While we are are blessed with varying mental gifts, any one can learn to discipline themselves and earn success. 

Tell a child how disciplined they are and let that fuel them to greatness. 

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

CoachKaufmann.com

NCAA College - Coaches

NCAA College Coaches

We see another major university that has violated NCAA rules and has been excluded from participating in post season tournaments, which is a goal for many of the teams and players.  We see this recurring theme where universities are placed on probation for violating the rules at the expense of the players, the fans, and the university, but how about the Coach?

We see the Coach move on to another university without penalty.  John Calipari had violations at UMass and Memphis leaving the schools to fend with the outcomes, while he moved to a mulit-milion dollar position as coach of the University of Kentucky basketball program.  Larry Brown current coach of SMU has a history of violations at UCLA and Kansas, and now SMU has just been hit a postseason suspension and scholarship reduction.  Often the cheating coaches head for the hills or the pros.   Both Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly violated the rules at USC and Oregon before heading to the pros. 

These coaches teach their players about discipline, teamwork, responsibility, and accountability.  It's time we held these coaches to the same standards as the players.  If a coach is leading a program that continually abuses the system and breaks the rules, the time has come to suspend the coach without pay, to place them on probation, and suspend where appropriate.

John Calipari was just elected into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame, Larry Brown is a member.  Seems hypocritical to punish the players and schools yet reward the coaches who seem to get rewarded with million dollar salaries and busts in the hall-of-fame. 

Time to ban the coaches and remove them from the HOF.  Build the program and they will come.

Let's hold the coaches to the same standards as the players and universities. 

All the Best,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

CoachKaufmann.com

George C. Scott - Patton

George C. Scott

George C. Scott was a terrific actor most famously known for his role as General Patton in the movie Patton.  Mr Scott was not a fan of the Academy awards and the Oscar commenting that it was nothing more than a meat market for actors. 

The movie Patton is a 3 hour biopic but George C. Scott's performance is so outstanding that times flies. He seems to be made for the role.  Scott asked the Academy not to nominate him for Best Actor, not only was he nominated he went on to win.  He did not show up to accept the award, another person associated with the movie, collected the Oscar on his behalf.  The next day Scott sent the award back to the Academy.   

Patton was a stubborn, determined general who was known for advancing and driving the enemy back.  His nickname was "Old Blood and Guts".  George C. Scott exhibited that same type of stubbornness when it came to the acting profession. 

Worth watching.  Best Picture, Best Actor.  Patton and George C. Scott.

With Love,

Coach K

Tom Kaufmann

CoachKaufmann.com

Interceptions - NFL

NFL Interceptions

Time for a rules change in the NFL on the way we measure interceptions.  Today, interceptions are charged to quarterback whether the pass is a bad pass or a good pass that was dropped by a receiver and caught by a defender.  We have errors in baseball that preserve a no hitter, and now it's time to update the way we track interceptions in football. 

When a pass is thrown to a receiver and the ball is one that clearly should be caught, but is dropped or deflected and then intercepted, that pass should be charged as an interception against the receiver. Similar to how dropped passes are tracked, balls that are dropped an intercepted can now be charged to the receiver instead of the quarterback. 

The NFC championship game Seattle vs Green Bay saw the Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson charged with four interceptions where clearly two passes were ones that should have been caught by the receivers.  Those passes would be charged as respective interceptions to each receiver, and Wilson would have been charged with two interceptions where the result was a bad pass. 

Time for a simple effective update to NFL quarterback statistics that will provide a more accurate representation of a quarterback's passing effectiveness. 

With Love,

Coach K

Liquify Your Vitamins

Vitamins

Many of us take vitamins to make up for the lack of nutrition we get in our daily meals.  When I experienced pain in my lower back one day, I thought it was food poisoning.  After the pain went on for several days,  I knew it was something else. 

The pain was so severe that I wound up in the emergency room.  As I stood hunched, the admitting nurse diagnosed my problem immediately, kidney stones.  One of the first questions, I was asked was whether I take vitamins.  Since I do take supplements,  I learned that digesting the vitamins can stress your kidneys and digestive system. 

I wanted to continue to enjoy the benefits of supplementation, but wanted to avoid the side affects. Today, when I take a supplement I either dissolve it in water or if it's a gel will bite down on the gel releasing the fish oil or other product.  Same with capsules, just separate the capsule and add to your water.  Whether its cinnamon or other product just add to your water, juice, or smoothie. 

This takes some getting used to, but once you start your tastes will adapt to the "earthy" flavor of the various supplements you use.  By aiding in the digestive process and eliminating these tablets, capsules, and pills from just sitting in your stomach, you hasten their ability to enter your bloodstream.  Hot water will aid in dissolving. 

Give it a try. Simply add you vitamin or supplement to your water, juice, or smoothie and enjoy the benefits of healthier supplementation.

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann
CoachK