Coaching Little League

Well, I’m entering the second month as the coach for my son’s U9 select baseball team. We haven’t seen any diamond time yet, unless you count the makeshift one we put together on the soccer practice field. The kids look better, but we still work on simple things like throwing, base running, and catching. We’ll work on swing technique soon and emphasize contact.

The keys to productive practice are small groups, making everything a little game/competition, and keeping the kids engaged. You’d be surprised at how excited the kids get just racing around the bases.

I’ll try to share my insights and experiences throughout the season. In the meantime, I wanted to include two books that I have found to be invaluable.

• Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way – This book emphasizes the basics, has some great drills to teach the greenest of kids. I like their approach of teaching and fun. It’s important to stress doing things the proper way and not stress the end result.
• Youth Baseball Drills – The key to teaching is making repetition fun. There are plenty of drills in here to keep everyone happy and fresh.

SharePoint (MOSS): Error Starting Office SharePoint Server Search Service, and using one service account

When bringing up a SharePoint farm, I was starting the services on the main SharePoint box. I got the following error:

An unhandled exception occurred in the user interface.Exception Information: OSearch (svc-moss)

The quick solution is to enter the MOSS service account as DOMAINNAME\accountname when filling out the screens. Simple, hey? This post explains it further.

By the way, in every implementation, we’ve used only one service account, instead of the million (figurative number) accounts they recommend. That way you don’t have to guess what account and password to use. Be sure to make the account name and password tough to hack, though. Don’t be like King Roland of Druidia or President Skroob and make the password 12345.

Happy Birthday honey! Which horse do you like?

My daughter’s birthday is this week, and her birthday party is on Saturday. My dad likes horse racing, and it just so happens that the first Saturday in May is the day of Kentucky Derby. He used to complain about her party being on the same day.

Two things happened in 2005: I learned to appreciate bourbon, and I heard John Prine sing “My Old Kentucky Home.” So we turned lemons into lemonade, and made it one big party. The birthday party begins at noon, and we slowly transition into a Derby party. Mint juleps are flowing; we pick horses (the girls choose based on the names or silk colors), cheer, and have a great time as a family. This year, my mom is getting hats for the ladies. Ilsa requested a horse cake. This thing has taken on a life of its own.

There are times when I fear my kids will turn into (or marry) racetrack bums, but for the most part, the day is about tradition and pageantry. For those of you who wonder why Triple Crown winners are scarce these days, here is a great explanation by Frank Deford.