Bronco Owner Pat Bowlen Is …

My wife, Jamie works for the company, Atria Senior Living.  They manage senior living communities… retirement and assisted living.  She is in sales, but also writes for the Atria blog.  This was her post from yesterday… it is fitting for this audience as well…

bowlen

On Wednesday, the Denver Broncos released a statement indicating the owner of their franchise, Pat Bowlen, is stepping down as a result of his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Bowlen has been living with the disease for a few years, but chose to keep this private.

As I listened to the reporters describe Mr. Bowlen, I was struck by the recurring use of the word “was.” Mr. Bowlen was this or was that.

In reality, Mr. Bowlen IS. He IS still very much alive. His family cares about him, loves him, and, I imagine, finds ways to adjust to his memory impairment on a daily basis.

Mr. Bowlen IS still the man who loves the Broncos, who established their winning tradition, who loves to bicycle. And, since his family lives with him, they will engage him daily by remembering for him that he loves all these things.

There will be days when Mr. Bowlen will feel a strong connection to his family because they encourage him to think about everything he loves: The Broncos, those Superbowls, the outdoors, bicycling, wearing cowboy boots, laughing at practical jokes and being part of the team. Mr. Bowlen IS. Let’s refer to him with the respect he and his family deserve.

Thanks to Jamie for her insight into this issue… you can read more of her posts dealing with a variety of topics at these links:

You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Two Birds With One Stone

All football coaches know and believe in the importance of conditioning.  Vince Lomardi’s classic axiom, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all” is just as true today as it was 50 years ago when he coined the phrase.  At the same time, coaches (and athletes) are always strapped for practice time, both in-season and off-season. Just “straight running ” for football conditioning (such as “wind sprints“) might be good, but probably is lacking in the area of creativity and efficiency.  Today I am sharing my favorite sport specific (football) conditioning drill called “Pattern Runs” that allow you to “kill two birds with one stone”  combining football drills and conditioning.

This “Pattern Run” conditioning workout is designed to help you improve your conditioning for football by performing different movements specific to the position you play. The Pattern Run workout was developed by strength coaches in the NFL, primarily Russ Ball (then of the Kansas City Chiefs now with the Green Bay Packers). While at the University of Central Missouri, our staff received permission from Coach Ball to use it with our players (Coach Ball is a graduate of the University of Central Missouri) and when members of our staff moved to William Jewell College, we used this workout, and had excellent results, with our players there, too.

RB patternsThere are different patterns for each football position group.  A description of the workout, as well as diagrams (including target times and distances) for each position can be downloaded at this link:  Pattern Run Workout

Keep in mind that the target times are for college athletes, and the pattern terminology is what we used at the University of Central Missouri and William Jewell College.  This workout could easily be adapted using your terminology and a adjusting the times to the targeted fitness level of your players.

If you have any questions about this workout, or anything else I have shared, leave a comment or email.

Remember – You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com