How To Beat Georgia Tech

Clemson has struggled with this in recent years, including Saturday. They held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, destroying the effect of our up tempo offense. When we played them several years ago in the ACC Championship game there was not a single punt the entire game. If a team is not ready for them they will march down the field and wear out your defense. There are two well documented ways of supplanting this, and my secret 3rd strategy.

1) Have the ball last and keep scoring. This is what we tried in the ACC Championship game a few years ago. Last person to score wins.

2) Train up your defense to stop the triple option. Easier said than done. Teams have managed it before, Clemson was able to do it for one amazing half of a game in 2009, Iowa did it expertly a few years ago in the Orange Bowl, others have managed it as well.

3) With an offense that thrives on time of possession and tends to score every single drive why not directly attack their strategy. This is going to sound bold, perhaps crazy. But I say onside kick it to these guys every single kickoff. If they are scoring every time anyway giving them a short field will just mean that your defense is only on the field for 5 minutes instead of 10. Georgia Tech leads the nation in long plays, giving them a short field just makes your safeties need to cover less ground. The onside kicks potentially get you an extra 2-3 possessions a game while tiring out their defense.

I know it is crazy, but I honestly think it is crazy enough to work.

Clemson is not an elite team, I knew that before Saturday, but they do what they do very well. I just hope they can at least start acting like an ACC Championship team and pull things together for the rest of the season. There is a lot of young talent out there. I hope we can get em up to championship caliber for next year.

Weekend Update: October 29, 2011 - With Pictures

Highs:

A lot to cover here. Prior to mid-service Jenny came over and we made eggplant curry. The next morning the construction program at my vocational school built a mud stove.

That afternoon Britt joined us and we did life-skills with the kids at my school, including giving them the sex talk, a talk on how HIV is transmitted, and how to use a condom. Each week at life-skills we have a question box that students can ask any question in. Britt started going though the questions to see if anyone had written anything incredibly off the wall. (some of the people in our group have gotten questions about mermaids and unicorns) Britt pulled this question out of the jar and handed it to me...

Engineers Without Borders has accepted my Bio-Gas program and will allow a chapter in the US to adopt it. Still a long long long way to go but a major first step is out of the way.

We had our Mid-Service conference this week and had a Halloween party. My costume was a hit and had people in our group doing double takes all night long. I went as Cormac Molloy... that won't mean much to many of you but this picture may help explain things...

Jenny and two of our friends went as the McPoyles from Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

The night (morning here) of game 6 Jenny and I woke up to watch the game in the hotel lobby. It was a lot of fun, but see the Lows section for the rest of the story...

Lows:

Darn you Freese!!!

Was simply exhausted by the end of mid-service.

What I Did:

Covered a lot of this in the highs, but in brief, prior to mid-service I had a couple volunteers join me at site for mud-stove building and life-skills. Then it was off to our mid-service conference. I was one of the planners of the event (which happened in Masaka, my city) so I was pretty busy most of the week. Afterwards we made a much needed escape to Jinja.

What Is On The Agenda:

A few days back at site, analyzing the finances of my org, weekly life-skills, and then Camp BUILD (Boys of Uganda in Leadership and Development) training.

Sanity Meter:

Sane. I was working my butt off most of the week, which is my element. I'd rather be painfully exhausted by work than be relaxed and read 2 books a week. This week I was painfully exhausted and right now I'm relaxing as a reward. It feels great.

Ugandan Annoyance of the Week:

Not a strictly Ugandan thing but am just sick of cold showers. Have stayed in 2 hotels this week, taken 3 showers, and 2 of them have been cold.

What I'm Reading:

Kav and Clay is too big to travel with so right now I'm reading Cat's Cradle on my Kindle. I didn't read at all from Sunday until Saturday morning out of simply being busy the whole time. I'm hoping to knock out a good chunk of the book today.

I'm loving Vonnegut and will probably read several more of his books in the year I have left here.

Clemson Prediction of the Week:

Tigers continue to roll... Clemson 51, GT 35

Side note... the orange sports coat was a hit at mid-service... although it is obviously too big / not good enough quality for alumni events back home.

Weekend Update: October 21, 2011

Highs:

Spam and Cheese sandwich as I continue to cut into my stockpile of care package items.

Clemson continues to roll and is at home this week against UNC. The real high is I get to throw it in Matt Boddie's face next week at mid-service. Don't worry buddy, basketball season will be here soon.

Attempt 2 at the final piece of my Halloween costume was successful. I'll go into more detail of this venture and the mistake I made at a later time, with pictures and a great Jenny quote.

Lows:

Friday morning I woke and found the loaf of bread I had purchased 36 hours earlier had molded over. I screamed, "I HATE UGANDA," and then proceeded to cut the moldy crust off and make toast.*

Don't judge.

*The picture is not my actual bread. It was just a little fuzz on the crust.

Don't judge.

What I Did:

Procured a bunch of sawdust from a sawmill in Masaka. Answered some follow up questions sent by Engineers Without Borders. Transferred our financial records for the quarter into excel. Started preparing the monthly report for next Tuesday's meeting. Followed up with the secondary school for on Camp Build and Glow applications. Taught my weekly lifeskills class. Played soccer with the kids at my school after they made me promise to at lifeskills.

What Is On The Agenda:

Busy busy Monday. On Monday I plan to construct a mud-stove at my site in our kitchen, teach a lifeskills lesson, and finalize all the info for my orgs monthly meeting which is on Tuesday.

Tuesday it is off to Masaka for my group's Mid-Service Conference.

I've been semi responsible for planning this conference but have been doing so over email with Ugandans so my success or failure is going to rely mostly on game time execution. Here, the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go awry, that is in the rare instances when they aren't ignored, lost, mis-understood, forgotten, circumvented, or sabotaged by a Ugandan.

Friday it is off to Jinja... my favorite place in this country.

Sanity Meter:

Sane. But I've got a monthly meeting coming up with my org, and even though I'm pretty steady lately my fuse is pretty short when it comes to dealing with them.

Ugandan Annoyance of the Month!!!

Deputy Headmaster Dan

He's getting his very own blog post in the near future. I hope I can get a picture of him.

What I'm Reading:

Finished Stieg Larson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I liked the first book best but enjoyed the series. I think the Stieg Larson books are all a bit overhyped, but they are decent reads.

Am trying to knock out the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" prior to mid-service but have just been too busy lately, which is really going to hurt my average. Also I don't want to lug the 600+ page book around the country for a week so I think I'll start some of my Vonnegut while at mid-service.

Clemson Prediction of the Week:

Clemson 42, UNC 31

also... Sammy Watkins reveals in the post game press conference that he can fly... but just hasn't needed to yet.

A Moment of Clarity

Though it is debatable whether or not this moment of clarity reveals improving or deteriorating sanity on my part it is was a moment of clarity regardless.

I had been planning to go into Masaka on Monday to buy saw dust to use for a mud stove at my site. While I was in the pit latrine I received a message that there would be protests in the city and that violence was expected. (side note: the revolution has to wait 2 more days!) So instead of going to Masaka I decided it would be a reading day. After a few chapters I got bored and was disappointed I wasn't accomplishing anything. That is when I had my moment of clarity.

The average Ugandan man is about 5' 6" tall. It is extremely rare to see a Ugandan over 6 feet, although it does happen from time to time. Because of all this the standard size of a Ugandan bed is 6' 1". I just so happen to be 6' 1". Of course sometimes I like to stretch and I also like to position my head about 4 inches from the headboard. None of this would be a problem if the standard Ugandan carpenter didn't put a headboard and footboard on every bed.

Anyhow, Monday morning I had pretty much had it. I pulled out the 3" saw on my Leatherman and commenced destroying the property of my organization. One hour later I was sitting on my bedroom floor, covered in sweat and saw dust, admiring my work.

I'm pretty proud of myself right now, and was certainly proud of myself as I stretched this morning and my feet went 6" over the edge of the bed.

Take that Uganda!!!

Weekend Update: October 15, 2011

Highs: Dinner with Jenny Friday night. Hamburgers, bacon and cheddar mashed potatoes (thanks for the bacon, Elaine!!!), and green beans. Power has been pretty consistent lately. Tahj Boyd is ok which means Clemson remains on a collision course with GT.

If Uganda goes 5 more days without a revolution occurring then I am eligible for Completion of Service should an evacuation happen!

Related Note: Am Now Officially a Junior!!! Congrats on swear in to the new Freshman class of Peace Corps Uganda.

Really enjoyed talking with my little sister, Shannon, one morning this week.

I redesigned my blog and like the way it looks. Also like that Mitt Romney is separating himself from other nominatable opponents. Herman Cain doesn't have staying power, in my opinion.

Lows:

Rainy season is dragging on and limiting work and movement. The death of my external hard drive. Complete failure on an attempt to buy some artificial hair for my Halloween costume. The orange sports coat is a partial fail. 4 Buttons, poorly made, and the tailor stained the color. It will be decent and fun enough to wear around Uganda but won't do for alumni and booster events back home.

My neighbor with the sewing machine is continuing to fill orders for a large contract and tends to start work around 4 AM.

The applications from Camps BUILD and GLOW are horrible. See follow up post in near future.

What I Did:

Weekly lifeskills, worked on a proposal to improve Peace Corps training, re-designed the blog, tried to recruit kids for BUILD and GLOW, wasted a fair amount of time.

What Is On The Agenda:

Head into Masaka and visit the saw mill to obtain saw dust for a mud-stove project at the school. Talk with Grace and the tailoring instructor about starting one of Jenny's quilting groups at the school. Administrative stuff preparing for the Mid Service Conference. Try to finalize the BUILD / GLOW apps. Miscellaneous admin stuff around the school. Weekly life-skills.

Celebrate 1 Year Since Swear In on October 20th!!!

Sanity Meter:

Very sane right now. Football season is giving me something to look forward to once a week. There was a time when the things I was looking forward to were spaced 2 weeks to 1 month apart and the time in-between was tantamount to torture. The weeks are flying by right now and I think that I'll be in the US for Christmas in no time at all.

What I'm Reading:

Complete reading failure this last week after my ultra week. I'm about 2o% in to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest and will finally finish it this upcoming week, but 2 weeks to get through a 500 pg page-turner is pretty weak for me.

Clemson Prediction:

Fight Tigers, Fight Tigers, Fight Fight Fight!!!

Clemson 35, Maryland 21

Baby Ryani

So Jenny's neighbor was pregnant and Jenny solicited her neighbor to name the child after her. Jenny's middle name is Scott, so she felt well covered regardless of the sex.

I received a call one evening from Jenny asking me to guess what the baby was named. Not hearing any satisfaction in her voice, I begged into my phone, "Please not Ryan."

Baby Ryan or Ryani as most Bantu people will call him, (All Bantu syllables end with vowels), represents the completion of a milestone many Peace Corps Volunteers involuntarily achieve, having a child named after them.

For more details on the Baby Ryani affair check out Jenny's Blog.

New Look!!!

This morning I woke up early and wasn't sleepy, so I called my sister for an hour. Then I couldn't sleep so I read Time Magazine on my Kindle for an hour. Then I was getting sleepy just as the tailoring instructor started up the sewing machine at 4:30 in the morning.

There was a debate last night so I decided I'd get up and read the analysis since the sewing machine wasn't going to let me sleep.

I got to thinking about how I'd like a Mitt Romney banner add for my blog and ended up stealing the coding for one off the MittRomney.com website. It didn't fit my side bar correctly so I began the 4 hour task of completely re-designing my blog.

Voila!!!

Read Moneyball!!!

I am going to shamelessly use my blog to make a cheap plug that my 4 readers will ignore.

READ MONEYBALL!!!

Whenever a good movie comes out that I really enjoy, I am always mad at myself afterwards for not having read the book. I never go back and read the book after having seen the movie. So I want to make a big plug for people to read Moneyball before the movie comes out.

I've now read 37 books while here and Moneyball is my favorite thus far.

It's short and is simply an incredible story. As good a book as can possibly be made about a team that, everyone knows, ultimately did not go on to win anything.

Weekend Update: October 9, 2011

Highs:

Clemson is 6-0!!! I ran this week for the first time in a few weeks due to excessive traveling and the rainy season. My time was slow and I only kept up a jog through the first 6 miles but I'm hoping to be back to smoothly knocking out 8 in no time. I'm considering the half marathon at the Jinja Source of the Nile Marathon next May. Once I'm back to my 8 mile regular run I'll start researching and training more seriously.

Neutrals:

Neither a high or a low, but a very neutral and worthy compromise. I am no longer a fan of the New York Yankees in any way. I renounce them and am exclusively a supporter of the Texas Rangers. In Return... I will never have to listen to any positive comments or allegiance to the Dallas Cowboys from a certain North Texan, who is now a light supporter of the New York Giants.

Lows:

I can't stop picking at the callouses caused by my Chacos and as a result I have exposed flesh sores on the sides of my feet. I burned my finger lighting a cheap match the other day; cheap flint material stuck to my finger as I struck it and just burned there for about 2 seconds. Did not get to listen to Clemson dominate Boston College because of poor internet reception. I'll have to arrange to be in a big city for the North Carolina and GT games.

What I Did:

Read a lot, worked on some admin stuff for Peace Corps, and taught a LifeSkills class.

What Is On The Agenda:

More lifeskills, rolling out some new project ideas with my org, trying to push forward on the mudstoves at my school, and more admin stuff for Peace Corps. I'm working on an application for a training committee for Peace Corps. It is a complete waste of time because like everything Peace Corps does they just keep trying to re-invent the wheel over and over instead of just greasing the perfectly good wheel they have. I'm missing working in a structured environment where there are procedures that everyone is aware of. It took years just to get a feel for basic procedures at my old company, but I and everyone else is only here two years. That structure and logical order just never gets formed here.

Ugandan Annoyance of the Week:

"Master? Master?"

One of the teachers lives in the unit next to mine and I hear people coming in all the time saying "Master? Master?" looking for him. Apart from the obvious cultural uncomfortableness created from having Africans saying "Master" all the time is the annoyance that comes from Ugandans repeating things unending until they are answered. The other day a girl sat in the room for 3-5 minutes and must of said "Master" 20 to 30 times.

Reflection:

I was walking to the secondary school this week to pick up applications for Boys and Girls leadership camps Peace Corps volunteers are hosting in December. A man approached me saying "treatment" over and over. He pointed to his feet and I saw that he had no toe-nails. I told him "I don't have" and continued on. The incident just reinforced how pissed off I am at the Peace Corps. I'm a health volunteer assigned to orphanage / vocational school. I have no responsibilities and my organization has no aspirations other than to receive more money. Peace Corps Uganda has no Wat San program but brings in volunteers anyway. From a work standpoint I just wish the assholes in the office had taken another Health Volunteer and let me go to a country that has a Wat San program.

What I'm Reading:

This week I read two short stories and a novel. Early in the week I knocked out Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. It was decent, but left me with the same impression I had of Hemingway in high school when I read A Farewell to Arms, 'this guy is over-rated.'

Mid week I knocked out the third installment of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, The Waste Lands. I'm really enjoying Dark Tower but am going to be walking away from it for a little while. Many of King's other works crossover and touch the Dark Tower series and I want to get a better appreciation for what is going to happen in the later part of the series, so I'm delving into a couple other King works, namely, The Stand and Salem's Lot. It won't give me the appreciation of a fan who read Dark Tower and King over the 30 years it was being published but will, I believe, enhance the reading experience.

After knocking out DT3 I decided to take on another short story and pad my finished list a bit. I read Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. I'm really enjoying re-discovering Steinbeck and will probably end up reading some more of him while here. His foreshadowing is both obvious and beautiful. I enjoyed the characters and story development in East of Eden a lot more, but East of Eden is a 25 hour read, Of Mice and Men is an easy 4 hours!!!

I've knocked out the first chapter of Stieg Larson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest and am going to start reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay along with it. Kav and Clay is a physical book and is large so I won't travel with it, but will read it at site.

Weekend Update: October 2, 2011

Highs:

It's OCTOBER!!! Clemson is undefeated and will be in the top 10 by the end of the day. I took a great nap yesterday. I stayed relatively busy this week at work. And in the past week I have finished 2 books and found a copy of book I've been wanting to read at the Volunteer Resource Center!!! Got my cool phone working and I love it.

Lows:

None to be had. I'm pretty darn happy right now.

What I Did:

Finished my Bio Gas program application for Engineers Without Borders and submitted it. Gave my organization a tounge lashing about how they use the development fund... Cooking oil for the staff and buying a private hire for the staff to go shopping are not development!!! After that had a few reading days in the village and caught up with some emails for VAC and planning the mid service conference.

What Is On The Agenda:

Tie up the loose ends on VAC and Mid Service stuff. Get back into weekly lifeskills and spend some time on stuff with my org so I don't feel bad about taking a little me time this upcoming month.

Sanity Meter:

The lack of work gets to me still but my extracurricular right now are making up for everything else. Very happy.

What I'm Reading:

Finished The Reason for God by Timothy Keller and Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor. Debt of Honor is a good Tom Clancy read kicking off the back end of the Jack Ryan story line, has a ton of legacy characters from the previous books which makes it fun. The ending is a little cheesy (I also knew what happened because it received some national publicity and CNN gave it away), but overall a great special ops / modern warfare read.

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller was a good read, but I prefer my C.S. Lewis. (Keller's greatest influence)

I picked up The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay at the PC Resource Center and am excited to be reading that soon. I think I also read The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway and Dark Tower Book 3, The Waste Lands, by Stephen King in the next few weeks.

Just for the Heck of It:

Fight Tigers, Fight Tigers, Fight Fight Fight!!!