tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34884618533882860562024-02-08T10:13:03.862-08:00The Old LessonsTravis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-90387145697286218632017-05-18T19:36:00.002-07:002017-05-19T06:13:54.037-07:00''To give the news impartially..."<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: #333333;">''To
give the news impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of
party, sect, or interests involved''</span> … <i>New York
Times</i></b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Thirty-six
people died in the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. You've seen the film
footage more than once, I'm sure. “Oh, the humanity!” became part
of our cultural history as a reporter commented on the horrific scene
in New Jersey.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">In
1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart. Cameras rolled as
seven people died. Every January, the footage is played again as the
nation remembers the event.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">On
September 11, 2001, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center.
Upwards of 3,000 people died on morning TV. The debate began about
whether the footage should ever be played again, with many people
posting every September 11 since that the video should be played to
remind us of that horrific day. Still, it was journalists who
recorded those horribly unforgettable images for posterity.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…………………<span style="font-size: 13pt;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Ahh,
that old, familiar scapegoat, the media. Whatever the story, whatever
the reality, the public feels justified in blaming the messenger.
These days, it's either the “liberal media” or the “alt-right”
media or the “fake news” media getting blamed for the ills of
America and the world.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">At
the local level, your friendly community newspaper isn't immune from
criticism.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Some
criticism is expected. Whether it's public officials squandering
money or bringing in tons of possibly toxic coal ash or proposing
some controversial piece of public policy, most journalists I know
expect to get some grief when they report these sorts of stories.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Let
a controversial story happen, though, and Heaven forbid if you don't
take an editorial stance. A simple retelling of what happens at a
city council meeting isn't simple at all. You see, you'd better
blatantly take someone's side or else you're against the other side.
The message? “Write the story we want, or else.” The consequences
are personal attacks and attempts at sabotaging your media outlet's
business.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…………………<span style="font-size: 13pt;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">That's
all old news for me, though. It's water under the bridge, over the
dam, and out to sea. As a grown person, you learn to take your lumps
and bumps, get used and abused, and soldier on.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Yet,
I'm still surprised by some people's reactions to other stories,
especially those involving human tragedy.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Perhaps
other newspapers and media outlets don't care about people, but I can
assure you we consider everyone involved in every story. We talk
about the tragedies involved. Our conversations are about the kids
and family members left behind and the loss to the community. You
never see that, and you may not believe me, but it happens
nonetheless.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Our
conversations are also about how to do the stories right. We're not
going to run pictures that show graphic scenes of blood and gore.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Instead,
we're going to tell the stories of accidents and fires and deaths and
murders in the same manner as law enforcement delivers them to us. We
will not sensationalize them.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">But,
the bottom line is this: we are going to report the news, and we are
going to print pictures and share videos that show the scenes of all
sorts of events, from fires to murders to horrific car crashes.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">This
is our job. We have an obligation to faithfully and accurately report
what happens in public life. I understand that if the story directly
affects you and your family that seeing coverage of your situation is
upsetting, and I am very sorry. I wish it could be otherwise. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">For
the rest of you, though, I have a question. Do such stories make you
uncomfortable? Good. Maybe you'll slow down and quit driving like a
maniac. Maybe you'll find a way to help a domestic violence survivor
or a homeless person or a fire victim.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Unfortunately,
my experience is that you'll instead attack us for telling the story.
You'll call our coverage “disgusting” and “cruel” and “mean.”
You'll talk about “hasn't the family suffered enough,” as though
us telling about it makes it any better or any worse for a family
going through the darkest of days. More than anything, though, you'll
talk. You can talk about it, you can gossip about it, you can
speculate and assign blame and victimhood, but, by God, the media had
better not tell the story.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Why?
Because the people I'm talking about are a bunch of hypocrites. You
hide behind your supposed concern for families and your supposed
standards of morality to settle personal scores or make yourselves
feel better about a world you feel is out of control. You don't want
to face your own mortality. You want to imagine that nothing bad ever
happens where you live. Sure, you'll share stories about outrages
over there, or tragedies in that place, but surely nothing bad can
happen here. You'll share videos of supposed terrorist atrocities or
political hit pieces or other half-cracked information, too; that's a
given. These are the same people who slow down to rubberneck at
accidents and then criticize our coverage of those events. These are
the same people who ask a million questions on social media about a
fire or a trial or any number of things then ignore our coverage of
those events and then speculate publicly about “what really
happened.” They have no consequences to their actions, either.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Meanwhile,
I have a job to do: record and report the events of the day. And,
yes, we do have to “sell papers.” And, unfortunately, bad news
sells better than good news. Blame human nature for that, but know
that for me it gets difficult to report about the people who live
around me, so all I can do is try to be consistent. No matter how
rich or influential or poor or insignificant, if you get arrested, we
are going to report that. If you are found innocent and want that
published, we'll print that, too. If your kid wins the spelling bee,
well, that's even better. In fact, that's lots better. I wish I
never, ever had to report a bad story, ever again. I hate, hate, hate
writing about the people who live around me having bad things happen
to them. We are glad to help publicize for any sort of charitable
work to help anyone in our community, and we do that. Every week, we
publish information about ways you can help your community or ways
you can get help yourself. We also share your stories about your
kids' sports teams, your kids' school accomplishments, your church
events, and so much more.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Why?
Because we live here, too. Our kids go to school together. You see me
at ball games. You're probably even my friend on Facebook, even if I
do wonder why you feel it's OK to slam me and my newspaper online.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…………………<span style="font-size: 13pt;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Please
know this is not for all of my readers, nor is it an official
statement from the newspaper I work for. This is me venting to my
friends, and I hope if you disagree with anything I say, you would
have the courtesy to contact me directly. I'm easy to find.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">And,
to all those suffering from loss and heartache, please know you have
my deepest condolences. <span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">I
wish I could say something more profound or make things different for
you.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-73324240524669846872014-08-22T13:07:00.000-07:002014-08-22T13:07:04.376-07:00As football season starts...<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px; line-height: 22px;">“I tell young players who want to be coaches, who think they can put up with all the headaches and heartaches, can you live without it? If you can live without it, don’t get in it.” Paul W. Bryant</span>Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-69978397857516146162014-07-01T20:19:00.000-07:002014-07-01T20:19:03.194-07:00Force or Freedom...<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">1. Conservatives want to regulate most everything you do with your personal life by the standards of their sliding scale of morality but want to give you, and especially corporations, a great deal of freedom to do most anything you want to do economically, regardless of the consequences.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">2. Liberals want to regulate just some of what you want to do with your personal life by the standards of thei</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">r feelings of enforced “fairness” or “equality” or “environmental justice” or whatever is in fashion, while making sure the financial practices of individuals and corporations are regulated to be fair, equal, and just by the standards of their own opinions.<br /><br />And there, my friends, is the debate in this country: all we are doing is fighting over how much force is to be used by whom and against whom and to what ends.<br /><br />Does anyone ever make the case for freedom? What would the world be like if people stopped being obsessed with making others live and believe in certain ways?<br /><br />Force is force, whether good intentioned or not. Just societies are cautious with the use of force. Oppressive societies can’t exist without it.</span>Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-54030620708977612272014-06-23T15:46:00.000-07:002014-06-23T15:46:07.774-07:00Seasons and Wishful ThinkingI listened to Dr. Kevin Elko's "Monday Morning Cup of Inspiration" this morning, and the title was "Seasons". In case you don't know who Elko is, he's the sports psychologist Nick Saban relies on to help maintain the "Process" at Alabama. If you don't know what that is, well....go watch the World Cup.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Elko says our lives go through seasons, and many of our worst moments (depression and doubts, for example) happen when we are actively resisting the changes of life-seasons. He goes on to say we can tell when our seasons change when we realize we no longer have the grace we once had for that situation. In other words, time has moved on, we haven't moved on in our minds and hearts, but everyone else can tell we no longer fit where we've been.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, last week, my good buddy John Allan Clark wrote a column for the <i>Greensboro Watchman </i>about wishful thinking. In it, he says that him wishing that his porch ceiling fan worked was a good analogy for much of our experience in the Black Belt of Alabama; instead of doing the work ourselves, we just sit around and wish things were better. I told John Allan I liked his column. He did his usual aww-shucks routine, but I hope he knows how sincerely I appreciate his words.<br />
<br />
Change is scary, and as our seasons change, we have all sorts of reactions. Sometimes we wish for things to change and so we do nothing, as if that ceiling-fan repairman in the sky might come down and set our blades to turning in the right way again, with power and ease. Sometimes, we refuse to accept that our time has passed in a certain situation and we linger there, awkwardly clinging to what we have known.<br />
<br />
Our seasons change nonetheless. We see the cycle of birth, life, and death. We watch the summer heat fade to autumn, then see the winter come before spring warmth gives us a hint of the next summer. And so it goes, yet so often we fight change. We hold onto the "what might be" or the "this situation has so much potential" or the "why can't it just be this way forever?" or the "maybe one day again". And, meanwhile, we forget to be where we really are, and we neglect appreciating what really is. We live in fears or hopes of what could be and in memories or regrets of what once was. What a waste. Today's season is good enough. It's really all we have.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-84534624068769520662014-05-22T09:00:00.000-07:002014-05-22T09:00:42.930-07:00A Graduation Speech<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
It occurred to me this morning that if I had continued at my
previous job I would have had to write a graduation speech for this week. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This speech should be non-location-specific; it’s just as
appropriate for my location as for anywhere else across America. So, never one
to miss an occasion for speechifying, here’s what I really would want to say:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Friends, guests, and graduates, I’m here today to tell you
five things no one else has the guts to say to you. Know I say none of these
things out of malice but rather with an abundance of love and affection.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">No one outside your immediate circle gives a
royal rat’s ass about what you did in high school now. Congratulations, you
have a diploma. You did volunteer work. You were third captain on the
tiddlywinks team. You were an all-state basketball player. It’s all the same
now. You graduated high school. Now what can you do?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Most of you probably shouldn’t go to college.
Oh, I don’t mean necessarily you, or you. But, most of the graduating class of
2014 nationwide. Go learn a trade. Start a business. Travel. Go sit on the
beach. Do anything but go to college. There are too many people in college.
Your degree will likely make you qualified to do absolutely nothing. Oh, sure,
if you get a nursing degree or some other vocational degree. But, a liberal
arts degree? A business degree? Good luck, and have fun with the crushing
feeling of being thousands of dollars in debt with student loans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Get on the first thing smoking out of your
hometown. There may be many reasons you want to stay, but none of them are
likely good ones. Go figure out who you are, without your high school
sweetheart or mom or dad or grandma telling you who you are and how you should
be. Go have an adventure. Screw up, as responsibly as you can. Live. You’ll be
waiting for your twentieth high school reunion before you know it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">4.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Your life will likely be nothing like what you
think it will be. It will be better in some ways, much better in others, and
worse in yet others. Your teenaged self wouldn’t recognize your future selves,
and it probably wouldn’t like them. So, be flexible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">5.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The people who matter in your life will be an
ever-changing cast of characters. Oh, sure, some constants will remain, but
even many of the key players will change. That boyfriend or girlfriend of three
years or three months or three weeks will likely not be forever yours. Your
best friends will change, likely. And all of this is OK. We are always looking
for permanence in this ever-changing world. You’ll be OK.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, my dear people, go out, live life, make mistakes as responsibly as you can, don’t
hold on to situations that are hopeless, hold on to the good and proven things,
and remain hopeful. Hang in there. Roll Tide.</div>
</div>
Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-5800230786077946472014-04-25T15:17:00.005-07:002014-04-25T15:17:55.801-07:00"You listen to kids too much"<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"You listen to
kids too much."</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I've had this said
to me more than once. It's almost always been by fellow educators or parents of
the kids I have taught or coached. I've always thought it was the strangest criticism possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My response is
always the same. "If I don't listen to them, who will?"</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It's a response I
learned from my mother. Her mother, who was hell-on-wheels and far from being
mother of the year, once told her she listened to her children too much.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To be fair, my
mother believed in firm discipline, and her will was absolute iron. She demanded and commanded respect. Yet, she knew kids
need to be heard and listened to and respected.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She knew kids also
need to be able to communicate with people who have their best interests at
heart. These are people who will listen to them and tell them what the truth
is.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If that was true
years ago, when nuclear families were common, and supposed morality was
supposedly better, what does it mean now?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm sorry to burst
everyone's bubbles, but very few families are now run on strict discipline.
Relationships between parents and children are just different somehow these
days in most instances. Kids don't know how to respond to authoritarian
tactics. If parents and grandparents aren't using such methods, why would
anyone think schools, teachers, and coaches are going to succeed in
implementing "when I say jump, you ask how high." </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here's the good news:
kids respond well to clear boundaries and also to the concept of mutual
respect. You know why it works? Because children are people, too. They get
you're in charge as the adult, but you still have to show them you deserve
their respect. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you show children
and young adults you care about them, that you want the best for them, that you
respect them as people, they will generally reciprocate. I can't imagine
working with young people and not actually valuing them, but there are many who
don't, unfortunately.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Football
coaches, in particular, walk a fine line. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Most coaches came up in an era when every youth coach
thought he had to imitate Bear Bryant or Tom Landry in the length and ferocity
of practices. Young people of today and their parents, for that matter, are
just not going to put up with long, drawn-out, abusive practices. There are too
many other things families can be doing, and mommas and daddies are less likely
to support your drill sergeant tendencies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, am I telling you to have “soft”
practices? Of course not. I am encouraging you, however, to think very
carefully about every minute of your practices and what it is you are trying to
accomplish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I hope your goal, in every practice
and in every game, is to get better. Complacency kills success in sports and,
for that matter, in other phases of life. If you cannot tell you are improving
every time your team gets together, you are doing something wrong. It’s that
simple. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"The football
coach has a captive audience and can teach these lessons because the
communication lines between himself and his players are more wide open than
between kids and parents." -Paul Bryant</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-16981954828285843332014-04-18T13:25:00.000-07:002014-04-18T13:25:15.782-07:00Snakes on (the same page as) a Train<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>“M’dville Council hears flooding brings snakes: ‘Snakes were
everywhere,’ said Bonner”<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>“Could train cars blocking M’dville streets cause death?”<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If those two headlines on a front page don’t grab you, nothing
will. But, we’ll get back to that in a minute.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Writer’s block is particularly fun when you make your living
largely by your ability to turn events into stories.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For example, the ol’ “please
kill me” feeling comes in when I have to make a BOOOORRRRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGG
governmental meeting into something at least somewhat interesting. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve written more about garbage than I care to
admit: coal ash, toxic waste, leachate, garbage routes, garbage carts. Some of
this has been interesting, both to me and evidently my readers, while most of
it is painfully boring. Painfully. Boring. Like a toothache during a bad play.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or, maybe my challenge is trying to write about a blow-out
loss by an area high school football team. I really want to write something
like this sometime:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“The XYZ Fierce Cats lost 56-0, embarrassing themselves,
their fans, and their mommas while failing to gain a single first down and
fumbling the football on every possession. This is the worst football team
anyone could imagine seeing.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead, this is what I might magically produce:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“The youthful XYZ Fierce Cats put up a tremendous effort but
had a rough night on the road, losing 56-0 in a hard-fought game.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The only “tremendous effort” put forth may have been them
trying to figure out how to get their pads on correctly, that’s true. The only
thing “hard-fought” may have been the Fierce Cats finally being able to break
through their run-through sign on their second effort. But, there’s no glory in
beating up kids in their local newspaper with such brutal truthfulness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
OK, back to snakes and trains. Those are the two headlines
my publisher came up with for this past week’s Moundville Times, and I love
them. Is it sensationalized news? I don’t think so. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our job is to get people in our area talking about the
issues. If the flooding brings snakes, and people are concerned about snakes,
then they’ll be concerned about flooding and what it takes to fix the problem.
They’ll stay around to read about the rest of the city council meeting, too. Attention-grabbers are good things for the
bottom line of a newspaper, no doubt, but they also help us spread the good or
not-so-good news in a community.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Part of the charm of a community, weekly newspaper is the
ability to have a little fun with the news, but we have to remember to be
respectful of people. Stories about deadly situations or circumstances are not
the place for bad puns or clever headlines. <i><b>“10 Dead Near Kellogg’s Factory; ‘Cereal
Killer’ Feared”</b></i> is great for a cheap laugh but not much else. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, if being too clever is a danger, what if you can’t seem
to produce anything? What if you stare at your notes and your screen and
nothing happens? It’s an impotent, stupid feeling. Writer’s block is a horrible feeling. Part of
it comes from fear. What if I say something stupid? What if I misunderstood
what happened? What if someone think I’m a horrible writer? What if someone
complains? And, part of writer’s block comes from writers taking themselves too
seriously. I figure somewhere around 10,000 people pick up our newspapers every
week. Is what I’m producing good enough? Shouldn’t it be better? Why can’t I be
perfect? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I finally got over the worst of my writer’s block by
realizing what I write doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s ok to screw up a word
or a grammar rule on occasion. It’s fine if I don’t have perfect parallel structure
or if I let my participle dangle from time to time. Haha. Ha. Snicker. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While I take my job seriously in that I really feel a heavy
burden to accurately record the area’s history and to tell stories well and
impartially, copies of the newspaper are recycled in gardens and used as puppy
pads and bird cage liners. That’s humbling.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, write. Lose your fear of expressing yourself. Just
write.</div>
Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-37600669817378140442014-04-15T08:41:00.001-07:002014-04-15T08:41:43.881-07:00Grief<div class="MsoNormal">
“There's no way around grief and loss: you can dodge all you
want, but sooner or later you just have to go into it, through it, and,
hopefully, come out the other side. The world you find there will never be the
same as the world you left.” </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
― Johnny Cash</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3488461853388286056.post-28674594664532628202014-04-14T12:18:00.001-07:002014-04-14T12:18:34.935-07:00Why "The Old Lessons"?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>“The old lessons (work,
self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve) aren’t being taught
by many people other than football coaches these days. The football coach has a
captive audience and can teach these lessons because the communication lines
between himself and his players are more wide open than between kids and
parents. We better teach these lessons or else the country’s future population
will be made up of a majority of crooks, drug addicts, or people on relief.” Coach Paul W. Bryant</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;">You can't swing the proverbial dead cat without hitting something about Paul Bryant in the state of Alabama. You can't coach football in Alabama without somebody mentioning him, usually in the sense of "who the hell does this guy think he is--Bear Bryant?". Still, I'll risk the cliche of being a former coach who starts his new blog with a Bryant quote.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;">"The old lessons" aren't about being "old-fashioned." I'm not really concerned about some outdated sense of Victorian-era morality, and I certainly don't think morality enforced at gunpoint or with a badge is worth a damn. The old lessons are about what works, about what endures, about what's worth fighting for. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;">Work, self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve....these are things bigger than the self, but they involve the self. They are neither selfish nor selfless. The individual has value in and of himself (or herself), and the individual brings that value into the associations he or she voluntarily enters.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;">Sometimes, this blog will be about politics (Alabama or national or international), or policy, or a funny something I saw, or lessons I learned from someone. Sometimes, it will just be a place to share a story. This is my outlet to share what's on my mind, so I really don't know where this might go. And, yes, sometimes it might be about football.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;">So, back to football: the relationships between me and my players have always been meaningful to me, and I take great pride in the things we have been able to accomplish. The teams I was an assistant with (Marion Military Institute, "Marion Schools", and Marion Academy) never saw a great deal of success as far as wins and losses, but I remember the trips and practices and individual moments with great fondness. Those young men and my coaching buddies taught me more than I ever taught them. More recently, as head coach and principal at Marion Academy, our teams saw more success on the field, but we learned lessons from each other throughout the process of establishing a new program, learning how to win, and also how to try to overcome distractions and obstacles. So, this blog exists to honor them in some small way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;">But, the old lessons mean most when I consider what they mean to the most important young man I'll ever have the honor of coaching: my son. I'm proud to say I was his first coach and even prouder to be his father. He is a wonderful young man, and I learn from him every day. "The Child is father of the man," wrote Wordsworth, as Dr. Kevin Elko often quotes, and I think I'm beginning to get it. My memories of the old lessons I learned as a child, the things that made me who I am, are reawakened every day with my awesome son. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #5d5d5d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.933334350585938px;"><br /></span></span></div>
Travis Vaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08942409118183618971noreply@blogger.com0