Homework is Fun Sometimes!!!...(Sometimes being the operative word)

Here is a story I wrote about a couple of my swimmers for one of my classes. (I got a 97% on it!!)

GILBERT, Ariz., Learning to share with siblings is a very trying time in young children’s lives, so it stands to reason that it would be just as difficult learning how to share the spotlight with a sibling early in high school.  Gilbert brothers Luc and Cole Jordan would tell you that it is not as hard as you might think.

Luc Jordan, 15, is a sophomore at Campo Verde High School in Gilbert where he competes on the varsity swim team.  He joined the team last year as a freshman after a conversation with his mother.

“Once Luc entered high school I told him it was mandatory for him to do a sport and I suggested the swim team,” Brooke Jordan, Luc and Cole’s mother, said in an email.  “So the summer before starting as a freshman at Campo he did the swim camp and that was it.  He was hooked. Cole followed in his footsteps upon entering Campo as a freshman.”

Fourteen-year old Cole said that being on the same team as his older brother has some benefits, “Having Luc be on the swim team definitely motivates me.  He always pushes me to do better and just being in the same lane with him during practice helps me.  I try to keep up with him and even pass him so I give it my all.  I love having him on the team with me, it totally helps me out.”

Being on the same team does not always put the brothers in direct competition with each other as they can focus on different events.

“Even though competition is good for the kids, I want them to be excited and encourage each other to succeed and I feel that comes easier when they are not competing against each other in the same event,” Brooke said.

Luc focuses his energy on the sprint freestyle and breaststroke events, while Cole is one of the school’s top distance swimmers.

Even though they focus on different events they do sometimes end up swimming head to head on occasion, and the sibling rivalry comes into play for the brothers.

“Whenever we are in the same event I want to be in the same heat, in the lane right beside him just to make sure he does not creep ahead of me,” Luc said.

How would Luc react if Cole did creep ahead?

“Well it depends on which race, if it is something like the 500 (yard freestyle)…then it does not affect me too much.  On the other hand in something such as the breaststroke or the 50 (yard) freestyle, I may become addicted to finding a way to get back on top,” Luc said.

This past season Luc did not have to worry about “getting back on top” as he was busy setting the school record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.43 seconds and qualifying for state championship swim meet in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Cole came within two seconds of qualifying for the state meet as a freshman with an impressive time of 5:52.97 in the 500-yard freestyle.

While they might not be swimming against each other you can be sure that whoever is in the water is being cheered on from the deck by the other.

“I definitely cheer for my brother a lot, and I try to watch him swim every time.  I look up to him and I always yell a little louder when I’m cheering for him,” Cole said.

Even though the brothers have both been in the spotlight early on in their high school swimming careers jealousy has not become a factor in their relationship.

“Most of the time we help each other out with a lot of stuff and if I need help with anything he is the first person I talk to.  He is a great brother,” Cole said.

Kill it.....Jerk

Well my summer hiatus has ended and now I must begin a new semester and, in doing so, a new entry to my blog.

As many of you know I keep myself busy during the summer working for the Town of Gilbert in the Aquatics department.  This past summer I was the head swim coach at Williams Field pool.  Along with my coaching responsibilities I also taught swimming and diving lessons to children between the ages of six months and 14 years old.

During one of my diving classes this summer I had my class of five girls lined up behind the diving board getting ready to practice the skill I had just taught them.  I believe they were getting ready to do pike two and one-half front flips…. oh no wait they were about to do kneeling dives.  Anyway, I had just completed y demonstration and was swimming to the side of the pool when I heard a five-girl chorus of screams.  Now these were not screams of pain or of joy, these were screams of terror.

I jumped out of the pool and ran to where the girls were huddled together.  They pointed to the side of the diving board and one of them said “There is a killer bee next to the board.”

I went over to investigate and found this:

I used a flip-flop that was next to me on the ground and hit it as hard as I could.  It laid there still and I left it where it was and continued class. The little girl whose shoe I used was very unhappy with me for doing so, but other than that I was looked at as a hero by this group of five and six year-olds.

Class ended and I took the bug back into our guardroom where I took these pictures:

Some of the other male lifeguards came in and thought it was as cool as I did but then the female coworkers entered the room.  They freaked out screaming and frantically telling me to kill it, not knowing it was already dead.  I explained that it had already moved on to a better place, having been motionless for 30 minutes.  They convinced themselves that it was just stunned and was going to wake up seeking revenge any minute. 

After telling me to kill it several more times I decided that I would just pull off the wings.  I figured that by doing this the girls would be satisfied that the hornet would not be able to sting them to death, and I would get to continue examining my find.

Well that was a mistake.  I was not the hero I thought I would be, instead I became the greatest villain the guardroom had ever known.  I was called a jerk by more than one of the girls.  Apparently, killing the bug would have been considered heroic, but pulling off the wings was inhumane.

I admit that I do not support animal cruelty, but the thing was already dead and was heading for the trash can anyway.  Luckily, the whole thing was forgotten by the next day and I was not hated anymore.

My boss and I looked up pictures of the bug and decided that it was a European Hornet. Why it was so far from Europe the world may never know.

Words with Friends ... or Enemies??

Rod Works Arizona is opening soon!!!  Everyone should totally check out that link AFTER you finish this blog.  I bring this up because my fabulous in-laws are the owners of this franchise.  This means that they get to open a cell phone account for their employees, one of which is my beautiful wife.   Due to this, we found ourselves at the Verizon store last Friday where they were picking out their new “smart phones.”  Casey got a iphone 4, while my in-laws opted for the htc incredible. 

Now as many of you know the invention of smart phones led to the explosion of “apps.”  There are so many different types of “apps” for almost anything imaginable.   “Apps” can be used for news, weather, movies, jokes, pranks, killing egg-stealing pigs, and my favorite, word games!!!

You see I too am the proud owner of a smart phone (Droid 2) and a few weeks back I started playing a “scrabble-like” game called Words With Friends against my brother in Provo and various classmates at school.  I love it and so it was the first “app” I suggested for all of my in-laws.  They all downloaded it and we spent Easter weekend playing one another.  It was all fun and games until Sunday Night…

My wife and I were playing against each other and she was getting frustrated because I was only using short words, making it difficult for her to find places to play her letters.  I finally used a five-letter word so she would be able to start a new branch with a longer word and open up the game a little bit more.

So what does she do?? She plays a two-letter (QI) word that blocks any other potential moves off my long word!!!  I started joking with her about how she just did exactly what I was doing that got her so frustrated.  She responded by hurling a pillow at me that knocked the ipad I was holding out of my hands and into my face resulting in this:

This is a few hours after “the incident,” but you can still see the result.  Initially, it bled like crazy!  I thought I was going to need a transfusion… okay not really but it bled more than I thought it would.

Anyway, this incident set off a wave of emotions.  My wife felt horrible and was near tears.  I had to ensure her multiple times that it was an accident, and that I was not mad at her in any way.  I was a little mad that I had a gash in my face, but I did not blame her.  I blame apple for making their ipad cases so dang sharp! 

This was the first time either of us had actually physically hurt the other.  She felt bad until the next day when I accidently cut her toe shutting that stupid drawer most people have beneath their oven.  Then we were even.  It was a first in our marriage.  

I hope you all go out and get words with friends (my user name is jordanbrough ßjust like that).  Just beware of pillows and ipad cases if you do.

JB

PS Now go click on the Rod Works link above!!!

Pity the Fool

This Sunday while doing my hair to attend church I realized I was in dire need of a haircut.  My hair was beginning to look like Eric Foreman’s on “That 70’s Show.”

Luckily for me this past January I married a hairstylist and will now get my hair cut for free the rest of my life. (As long as I still have hair.)  I asked her when would work best and she said I could come in on Wednesday. 

Therefore, yesterday I found myself in my wife’s chair at Blossom Salon and Boutique.  As summer is fast approaching my preference was to buzz it all off; Michael Scofield style. 

Sadly, Casey was not a fan of the idea. (Even though she thinks he’s dreamy.)

We made a compromise to do a 2 on the sides and a 3 on top.  Midway through the 3 Casey said, “We should do a Mohawk!”  I agreed wholeheartedly.  Now I have a Mr. T/Puck hairdo!!

Here is a few pictures of my haircut and one of me and my super sexy hairstylist!!

JB

P.S. Casey now has feather hair extensions so if you are interested in getting them done comment below and I will put you in contact with her.

Pancakes and Kills

Volleyball is my new favorite sport.  I do not know how many of you have ever had the chance to attend a men’s volleyball game but I would highly recommend you do so soon.  They are exciting, and where else are you going to find pancakes (placing your hand flat on the floor so the ball pops up) and kills (hitting the ball and not having it returned by the opposition) at the same place? (Other than Saturday morning breakfast at a Halo convention)

I became a big fan a couple of years ago when Landon was the team manager for the Varsity and Dalton was on JV.  Since then I have not missed a game that I was available to attend. (School and Work sometimes interfere, and now that I’m and “adult” I have to prioritize my activities.)

The pace of the game is fast and the energy is electric.  Each team has a variety of chants it does when various aspects of the game happen.  For instance when a player on Mesquite’s team blocks an opposing player the players on the court, as well as the bench, chant “Rufio, Rufio, RUF, I, OOOO.” (You could say they stole it from Hook but most of these kids have never seen that movie.)  Another favorite is when the other team finds itself out of position and the ball drops to the floor for a point.  The entire Mesquite squad waves one of their palms in front of their face and says in a deep, drawn out voice, “CONFUSIOOON.”

My little brothers pretty good volleyball players. (They both start as of yesterday.) Dalton has also contributed in another way to the success of the team. You see Dalton had the flu about a week ago and found himself kneeling before the porcelain god a few times.  He noticed his eyes were burning after he finished and looked in the mirror and saw this:

Dalton Brough

Only it was worse because it had just happened and all the way around his eyes was bright red. (He popped blood vessels in both eyes while he was going “number 3”)  It provides a nice distraction initially to the opposing teams on game day.

Here are a couple more pictures courtesy of www.steinophoto.com:

Dalton Brough warming up

Caleb Brough v. Red Mountain

Dalton Brough v. Brophy 1

Dalton Brough v. Brophy 2

If you want to see them bigger, and less blurry, click the link and look in the Sports Galleries in the Men’s Volleyball section.

JB

Thrust Capacity

At Life Time I coach three different levels of swimming.  I coach a beginning group, advanced group and a Jr. Masters group.  In my advanced group I have a seven-year-old boy named Andrew.  The other day I realized he was doing his breaststroke kick incorrectly.  I stopped him and explained to him the correct kick and sent him on his way.

Now the kick he was using is known as a scissor kick and is faster than the traditional breaststroke kick.  Thus, he was swimming significantly slower and got passed by one of the older boys.  When he finished his lap I noticed he was crying and talking under his breathe.  I assumed that he was angry that he got passed so I told him it was not a big deal; that is was normal for older kids to be faster.  He looked up at me and said, “I don’t care that he passed me.  I hate this new kick you are making me do.  It does not have the same thrust that my old kick did, and my potential speed is much slower.” 

The kid is seven-years-old and has a better vocabulary and understanding of physics than most of my high school age kids.  I had to explain to him that his potential speed would be slower, but that by doing the kick correctly he would not be disqualified for using an illegal kick at meets.  He responded, “So by doing the kick your way it eliminates the possibility of me being DQ’d?”  I explained that he could be disqualified for other things but not for his kick if he did it the correct way.   He asked what other things he could do to be disqualified and I had to explain them all.  The kid is sharp.

JB

Mattress Stamp

Riding the light rail is the greatest!!!  I have to admit that I enjoy eavesdropping on my fellow commuters, and do so almost every time I ride the light rail.  The other day I was riding home from ASU and a man got on and sat a couple rows ahead of me.  He was on the phone and ended his call by saying, “I love you, tell the boys I love them, and I can’t wait to see them tonight.”  

I was touched.  I had immediately judged this book by its cover.  You see the man had a shaved head and was wearing baggy pants.  He had tattoos over at least 50% of his body and just looked like someone I would never want to wrong.  As I was thinking all of these things and chastising myself for my haste in judging the man, another man got on the train and sat right next to the scary looking, loving father.

This man also had a scary look about him.  He had a tattoo of the devil on his shaved head.  He wore a shirt condemning police officers, and had tattoos over most of his visible skin.  I decided that I should not judge him and waited to see if the men would begin talking to one each other. 

It started out as a simple introduction.  The scary looking, loving father turned, held out his hand, and said, “Hi I’m John. *” The “man with the devil tattoo” replied, “How is it going, I’m Michael.”  As they were shaking hands Michael apparently saw one of the tattoos that John had and informed him he had just done a similar one.  Michael then talked about his profession as a tattoo artist.  This was interesting, as he told stories of famous people he had tattooed and strange places he had inked.

I lost interest for a moment as I received a text from my beautiful wife.  When I came back I heard John say, “Man, federal prison is like a resort.  I loved my time with the feds.”  John replied, “I know man.  I didn’t feel like I was being punished.  It was more like a break from my (girlfriend.)” 

Apparently, both men have done time in the federal prison system.  They also have logged time in various different states.  John has a warrant for his arrest in California, and Michael is wanted in Pennsylvania for violating his parole. (Apparently he is not their number 1 priority as he recounted a story of being pulled over.  He was not arrested because the “system” in Pennsylvania did not want to foot the bill for his extradition.)

Anyway, John asked Michael about his time in the PA system.  He asked if he wanted to hear about his first time when he was 18, or the second time when he was 23.  John elected to hear about his second stint.  Michael told the story about being booked and walking into the cell.

“I walked into the cell and this big (man) started looking me up and down.  He asked if I had had my ‘mattress stamped’?  I told him to (back) off; that this wasn’t my first go round and I already had friends in the pen who had my back.  He told me to give him one name and he would back off.  I gave him the name of the head of my gang and he didn’t give me (crap) after that.”

Apparently this was a very funny story because John got a good chuckle out of the whole experience.  Now, I am not sure I really want to know, but I cannot find anything about having one’s “mattress stamped.”  I assume it is some sort of initiation into prison, but who knows.

Michael got off at the next stop and my entertainment went with him.  John and I got off at the same stop and, I have to say, I was more than a little intimidated.  I could not help but think that my initial judgment of the man was correct.   Then I saw a car pull up and two little boys jump out and run to him.  They were ecstatic to see him, and called out “daddy” as he wrapped them up.

I guess even though my initial judgments of John were true it did not mean he was not a loving father too.  His kids obviously adored him, and the “scary man” I saw on the light rail was not present as he was holding them in his arms.

JB

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.