vendredi, avril 28, 2006
poverty stole your golden shoes but it didn't steal your laughter
On Wednesday night, I attended a football seminar with froo and one of our co-workers (Candice) put on by the Calgary Stampeders. It was a nifty event for the schmooze factor, but since they sold it as a "ladies only football seminar", I think we expected it to be a little more instructive than it was. If you really want to teach football at a beginner level, perhaps having these components taught by professional-level coaches and players isn't the best approach, unless these particular individuals have demonstrated a true teaching ability.
We were addressed by Coach Tom Higgins, quarterback Henry Burris, linebacker Scott Coe, and finally by one of the referees, a guy named Jim. The last two did a really great job, but the coach and quarterback were less impressive. With Henry, I felt like I was missing the joke a lot of the time. It seemed like a lot of his comments were directed at and appreciated by a bunch of people at the back of the room (Stampeders staff and volunteers?). And maybe a lot of the women in attendance signed up more to be around the players than to learn about football, so it was a bit of a fanfest, with people cheering with recognition of the names he threw out. I knew nothing about the Stampeders' roster, so it was all Greek to me.
They used a lot of video clips to demonstrate their lessons, but again, it was like they didn't get that they needed to explain precisely what we were looking at. In pretty much every clip, I didn't even know which team I was supposed to be watching, so I pretty much missed the lesson by the time I figured it out!
The good parts of the evening were the refreshments provided, including lots of appetizers upon arriving and later dessert, and also a free bar service. Also, the evening ended with a locker room tour - that was interesting. They asked for a volunteer and proceeded to dress her up in all the equipment a player wears (including jockstrap!). You can see the photos here. | ¶ 4:58 p.m.
We were addressed by Coach Tom Higgins, quarterback Henry Burris, linebacker Scott Coe, and finally by one of the referees, a guy named Jim. The last two did a really great job, but the coach and quarterback were less impressive. With Henry, I felt like I was missing the joke a lot of the time. It seemed like a lot of his comments were directed at and appreciated by a bunch of people at the back of the room (Stampeders staff and volunteers?). And maybe a lot of the women in attendance signed up more to be around the players than to learn about football, so it was a bit of a fanfest, with people cheering with recognition of the names he threw out. I knew nothing about the Stampeders' roster, so it was all Greek to me.
They used a lot of video clips to demonstrate their lessons, but again, it was like they didn't get that they needed to explain precisely what we were looking at. In pretty much every clip, I didn't even know which team I was supposed to be watching, so I pretty much missed the lesson by the time I figured it out!
The good parts of the evening were the refreshments provided, including lots of appetizers upon arriving and later dessert, and also a free bar service. Also, the evening ended with a locker room tour - that was interesting. They asked for a volunteer and proceeded to dress her up in all the equipment a player wears (including jockstrap!). You can see the photos here. | ¶ 4:58 p.m.
