Scene from practice: Coaching STAFF

Kind of a recurring theme during the early going of cross country: The men have been finding walking sticks in the woods and giving them to me. I've got a nice collection going in the back of the gray van. Walking sticks. You know. Old guy. Prone to falling. Needs help walking on trails. Etc. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Well, on Tuesday afternoon, after a brutal Farm Lane workout, Hickey and friends returned with the Mother of All Walking Sticks -- really, a large branch from the woods. Palmer (in the background), never one to shy away from a pun, called me Teddy Roosevelt (you know, "speak softly and carry a big stick"). And Hogue, a freshman who already has sensed the need for interjecting bad puns into the conversation, asked me if that was my new coaching "staff" ... wow, good one, kid!