December 10, 2012

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  The Daily News

  1   Mondays.

  
  

  2   Is there anything on Earth that arrives faster than a Monday?

  
  

  3   It is the gunslinger of days of the week. 

  
  

  4   I let down my guard on Friday, having had meetings and school events gobbling up my entire week last week. I even relaxed a bit after school, watched a one-act play, and then watched the students put together this thing called Winterfest, which is a eupemism for Christmas-at-the-School. 

  
  

  5   Wonderful afternoon. The play, Las Nuevas Tamaleras by Alicia Mena, featured two of my students from last year who decided to join the crew of Grease, just to see what drama was like. 

  
  

  6   They both were a bit shy, but decided it might be fun. 

  
  

  7   I wound up spending a lot of time talking to them during rehearsals on that show. 

  
  

  8    On Friday, they came out on stage and did a wonderful job of acting in this short play. It began at 3:30 in the afternoon and was a perfect end to a hectic week. 

  
  

  9   Both girls did a powerful job of acting, and had me more proud than I’ve been in quite a while. Good to see. Another of my current students did a marvelous job on sound. It was good to see.
  

  
  

  10  After the play, I watched the school clubs decorate the entire school with a Winterfest theme. 

  
  

  11  It looked deliciously like a Christmas theme, only politically correct in name. 

  
  

  12  Food cooked, dancers practiced, lights twinkled, and the sun set. 

  
  

  13   What a break from all the tension of the week!

  
  

  14   I went home and didn’t touch any school work. The ultimate Friday.

  
  

  15   I then blinked, and it was 1 a.m. on a Monday morning. 

  
  

  16   That fast. 

  
  

  17    I understand that everybody seems to be going through the same things. 

  
  

  18    I love the holidays, but yeesh. All this relaxing gets hectic pretty fast. 

  
  

  19    I spent all day yesterday grading things and planning lessons. Saturday I spent hospital visiting.
  

  
  

  20    Monday has arrived in a flash.

  
  

  21    Moving on, Part the First: The Niners won the game despite their coach yesterday. 

  
  

  22   Harbaugh has a weakness. It showed. His contempt for referees was monstrous when we had the sub refs, and he kept throwing challenge flags, even though he didn’t have any more challenges, as some of you might remember. 

  
  

  23   Yesterday he almost challenged himself out of a football game. 

  
  

  24   His use of time outs was ridiculous. He acted like a madman. He didn’t trust his hot hand to get the plays off on time.
  

  
  

  25   We old-school football guys rolled our eyes. 

  
  

  26   Using up time outs is something that traditionally would come back to haunt. 

  
  

  27   He called time outs all day, and challenged plays that were, in my opinion, two close to waste a time out. 

  
  

  28   Fortunately, his guys got the job done despite some of those bonehead decisions.

  
  

  29   I still respect Harbaugh as a coach. He is clearly better than his two predecessors. 

  
  

  30   The past two weeks have shown that the guy is human, and prone to issues. 

  
  

  31   Is the honeymoon over?

  
  

  32   I think so. Just a bit. He has an immature streak that is difficult not to see.
  

  
  

  33   He must be kicking himself right now. 

  
  

  34   The bottom line is that the team won. 

  
  

  35   I don’t mean to criticize, but Bill Walsh would never have made the errors this guy did in two successive weeks. 

  
  

  36   But Bill Walsh is Bill Walsh, one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL. 

  
  

  37   They all make mistakes, although I can’t think of too many that Walsh made, and certainly not in successive weeks. 

  
  

  38   Right now, I’ll enjoy Harbaugh. I like almost everything I have seen about him, if you scratch these past two weeks. 

  
  

  39   He is also learning. He isn’t stupid. His loopy media stuff with the quarterback change was tad insulting to fans who wanted to know what he was doing. 

  
  

  40   Beyond that, I am just shy of pulling way away from second guessing most of his stuff. 

  
  

  41   But the boy clearly has issues. Setting the refs up for blame is almost shameless. I’d rather have these guys than those Boy Scouts we had at the beginning of the season. 

  
  

  42    Right now I have one eyebrow raised. I don’t mean to judge, but this is a guy who dares one to judge. I will judge based on common sense. 

  
  

  43   You don’t waste time outs and use the clock awkwardly in the NFL. You’ll get trounced. And the three-and-outs appear not to be the work of the quarterback, because they have happened with two different quarterbacks.
  

  
  

  44   Will this stuff come back to haunt the Niners in the playoffs?

  
  

  45   Big time. And that is only if they reach the playoffs.

  
  

  46   I assume they will, but I’m hoping the coach can coach himself out of those father issues. 

  
  

  47   Dude. 

  
  

  48   Don’t take that anger out on the refs. 

  
  

  49   Look in the mirror and coach yourself. 

  
  

  50   Someone needs to tell you. 

  
  

  51   We like you. But we are now a bit suspect. 

  
  

  52   Take care of that crap. 

  
  

  53   Moving On, Part the Second: When Frank Gore shot into the end zone in the third quarter, he matched Roger Craig and Joe Perry’s record of 50 career touchdowns. Those are some big Niner names, good company. Aldon Smith‘s 33 1/2 sacks his first two years is the most in the history of the league for a guy in his first two seasons.

  54   All good signs.
  

  
  

  55    Welp, Monday got here in a blur. I gotta wash up and get outta here. Love to stay but not today.

  56    Have a nice Monday. Fly low.
  

  
  

  57    See you again.  

  58    Peace.

  
  

  ~H~

   
  

  
  

  

  
  www.xanga.com/bharrington

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  • 9:48 am
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