Fun Weekend at Newk's

Two weeks ago I traveled with a group of twenty juniors to Newk's Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels for the HPTA Junior Gran Prix State Tennis Championships. Pictured here with me are three team members who also participate in the Columbia Lakes junior development program: Emily Dellinger, Jill Moss, and Ryan Beene.

It was a fun weekend. There was lots of good tennis and we had a great time at the Saturday night party. I'll be posting the video of our Karaoke Competition rendition of Village People's YMCA. (Jill was our leader, and she's great with a microphone!

I missed my family that weekend but it was still a good time and I enjoyed getting to know some of the kids and parents better.

On Tuesdays I typically write about someone who inspires me. I think I may have written about this person before but I've been thinking about him a lot lately and one of my favorite bible characters is the Apostle Paul. Paul lived such a remarkable life. To put it in a lyrical perspective 'he was running a hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction...' (Casting Crowns)

Before his life changed Paul was the greatest persecutor of Christians. Then God just knocked him to the ground and gave him a direct revelation about the error of his ways and then he became the most committed Christian and greatest Evangelist of all time. It is staggering to consider what all Paul went through for Christendom. He was beaten, stoned, flogged, imprisoned, left for dead, and shipwrecked not once, but three times. Ultimately, he was put to death but before he died he made a mark on this world that is still being felt today. He endured much for the Kingdom. I can't wait to meet Paul in person in Heaven one day!

Now what does the life of the Apostle Paul do for me...? Well, read any of his letters or books. They are over flowing with words of wisdom, insight, and inspiration.

I know I sort of got off track with my content today. You're thinking this sort of writing should be in my prayer journal. Well, it could have been, but I'm trying to blend the two blogs a bit these days.

The fact is on Tuesdays in 'Coach Sam's Life I write about people who have inspired me and today Saul of Tarsus, also known as the Apostle Paul gets the nod...!

Elijah's Tennis

Elijah loves hanging out at the tennis center. I will always have fond memories of Elijah running around the tennis courts with his racquet in his diapers....!

I'm fighting a bad sore throat today... I woudn't mind if it rained this afternoon. more later...sc

This is What Life's About...!

Ahh... The love of my sweet little boy...! Doesn't this photo just warm your heart...? What a beautiful gift from God...!

Elijah is really speaking a lot now. When he says 'I love You Daddy, or I love You, Mommy' it just makes us melt.

I love being a coach. I love interacting closely with others helping them learn to do things with their bodies and teaching them how to have confidence in themselves.

But the one thing I love the most is just spending time with my little baby boy, Elijah...!

Catching Up

Today is a 'catch up' day... Monica just loaded a bunch of photos onto my computer. To your left is a photo from Elijah's second birthday. We were just about to open presents and eat cake...

You have to check out some of the photos I posted on Elijah's Blog today, too. There is a really good one of Elijah and Monica.

So, as I wrote earlier, today I'm 'catching up' on stuff... I have so many little projects going on and events coming up that I hardly know where to begin. After I finish blogging here I'm going to go into the office this morning and work from my tennis shop. I have tons of paperwork to catch up on.

Depending on how Monica's feeling later today we might make a quick run into Houston to take care of a few errands...

I'm doing fairly well on my diet and exercise program. The weekend's are my biggest challenge. I'll weigh in on Sunday morning and give everyone a weight report then...!

More later... Bye for now... -Coach Sam

Missing the Boo Boo

I was gone all weekend to a junior tournament and was away from my family for over 48 hours... Boy that really stunk... I don't ever want to face that again...

I've got a very busy month ahead of me. But I do want to get back in to just working set hours and scheduling more time off. I was really good about that the previous few months. But here lately things have been getting out of control again.

Something has got to change. I can't keep living like this... I'm praying about it. I'm working on it. I know things will get better. -STARTING TODAY...!

OK, so my blog topic on Tuesdays is supposed to be Someone or Something that inspires me. Since I spent this past weekend at John Newcombe's Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels it is only fitting that I reminisce about my employment there when I was just breaking into the tennis profession.

Today's inspiration is Fast Phil Hendrie from John Newcombe's Tennis Ranch. I saw Phil this past weekend at Newk's. He was giving a private lesson on Sunday morning. It was the same old Phil as I remember him from the past 20 years. He was very energetic and very motivating. He knows how to get the best performance out of someone. I'm not nearly as talented as Phil is in that regard but I can definitely say that my association with Phil most definitely shaped and molded me as a professional coach. In fact, looking back on my stint at Newk's I have to say that overall it was a very rewarding experience that really influenced my career...!

Too Busy...

Wow... Where did the week go...? It's already Thursday...? Oh my... Well, I've been too busy again.

But I am happy to report that I've managed to drop a few pounds this week. I weighed in at 222.4 lbs yesterday morning... And I haven't had an oportunity to weigh in yet today...

I've been watching the tv reality show the Biggest Loser and that has inspired me alot. I've done a good job so far of keeping my portions small and spreading out my eating eavenly throughout the day in order to keep my metabolism running 'hot'.

I didn't exercize too much yesterday because of my administrative workload, but today will be a full eight hours of lessons on the court so it's good that I'm starting off the day completely 'fresh'.

Well, I've sort of neglected my daily blog topics this week but that's going to happen from time to time.

The person I would like to write about this week who has greatly inspired me in my life is muscian Rich Mullins. Rich was one of Christian Music's greatest song writers and his life ended tragically a few years ago in an automobile accident. He ws a very strong Christian and lived his life and used his talents for the Glory of God. I still think about Rich and listen to his music all the time..

One of my favorite lyric lines from Rich was: 'The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all Good Things....'

I'm too busy these days. And I'm afraid my busyness stems mainly from 'the stuff of earth'.

Today I want my 'busyness' to be about 'God's Business'.

Coach Sam Working On a New Level of Fitness: STARTING TODAY...!

This photo was taken a couple of months ago. I'm not sure what I weighed there. Somewhere around 230 pounds... I actually got down to about 216 pounds last month, but last night I weighed in at 226 again. Of course, that was immediately after eating a big dinner meal.

I haven't weighed in this morning. I will in a few minutes.

But I am starting a new life style today. I have to. I can't live in this condition much longer. I'm just not healthy.

My feet hurt all the time. And my job requires me to be on my feet alot. I'm about to be 42 years old pretty soon. If I don't do something about my weight, I don't think I'll even be able to walk in the next few years...!

Because of my weight I snore very loud and it makes it difficult for my wife to get a good night's sleep. I see people around me dropping dead of heart attacks and they are in better shape than me. -God has spared me so far, but I don't want to take advantage of God's Grace in that regard any longer.

I've seen my Lord God and Savior work so many miracles in my life, there's no reason to believe that HE can't or won't help me with my weight.

So With God's Help: I will change my lifestyle. I will eat smaller portions. I will eat on a regular schedule. I will exercise more. I will drink more water. I will work on my flexibility.

Please understand that I am unable to accomplish this on my own. I've tried before, many times and have moderate success. a few years ago I got down to 200, but I've always balooned back up. This time it's different.

Praise the Lord: GOD IS IN CONTROL...!

I'm going to be writing about weight control for the next few days, weeks, months, -however long it takes to change my life. I think blogging about it every single day will help me get my mind set right. I normally blog first thing in the morning and I believe there's no better way to start my day than with a lifestyle pep talk...!

If there's anyone reading my journal who would also like to lose a few pounds, let's do it together. We can encourage each other and lose weight at the same time while giving glory to God...!

OK, today's weigh in is.... 225.8...!

-Ouch! No wonder my feet hurt...!

If I had time to embed a sound byte you would be able to hear the Darth Vader theme Music playing in the background...

OK, so there it is... Please Pray for me in this endeavor. I really do consider this a matter of life or death.

-Coach Sam

Remembering Henry the Cat

Today I remember my favorite Cat of all time: Henry. I don't have photo of Henry available this morning but will scan one in this evening.

He was a great cat. He was a stray I found at the tennis courts in Bay City back around 1992. I took him home and raised him from a starving Kitty into a robust, King of the Jungle. He ended up weighing over 20 lbs and was a big grey tabby with tiger stripes, such a beautiful cat! He lived with me until November of 2000. He disappeared around thanksgiving that year and I think that someone 'cat-napped' him...!

He was an extremely friendly cat with the best personality of any cat I have ever had. ( Although Peepers is pretty close....)

I have many, many, fond memories of Henry and he was a member of Windsor Court in Friendswood, and Bay Area Racquet Club in Clear Lake on two different occasions.

His nick-name was 'Henry Topspin'....!

Ahhh.... Pets bring so much happiness and joy into our lives. And Henry will live in my memory forever...!

A Big Inspiration to Me...

Well obviously I haven't posted and article on this site for a few days... Life has been a blur since this past Thursday when the tropical storm did not come in... Wow... It seems that every day is HUGE. I mean I've always got something BIG that I need to get done or I'm behind schedule on. Of course, today is no exception... As soon as I get done here I've got to dive into the rest of my day.

I completely skipped blogging yesterday. ON PURPOSE... I just wasn't in a writing mood, nor did I have time...

I'm doing better today, though. Today is Tuesday and I write about someone who inspires me on Tuesdays.

I'd like to feature the Apostle Paul today. Besides Jesus, if there was one person I could go back in history and meet and spend time getting to know them better, it would be the apostle Paul.

Paul had an incredible, remarkable life. It was a life of dramatic changes from his old self as a persecutor of Christians to becoming God's chief evangelist to the gentiles.

Paul was a great writer. I love to read his letters to the early churches and those he was mentoring in the faith. Paul faced great hardship with grace. He was an man of earnest prayer. And Paul did not 'beat around the bush'. He told it like it was. He got straight to the point.

Any way, the Apostle Paul of the new testament bible is my featured source of inspiration today. If you'd like to know more about the Apostle Paul, email me for some of my favorite quotes from Paul. Or read the bible...!

Tomorrow: My Favorite Pet...!

Thursday:Tropical Storm Day..!

Well, today turned out to not be a tropical storm day after all... And I'm heading out to teach lessons in a few minutes so I'll post more this evening...!

more later.... sc

Two Turkeys

Here's a photo of either this past Thanksgiving or Christmas, I can't remember which...



I've been saving this photo on my desk top for some time now. I name it two turkeys which I think is very appropriate. I published this photo because on Wednesdays I'm supposed to write about a favorite of mine... I was just thinking recently how much I like smoked turkey and was wondering why I wait until the holidays to enjoy it...? I was going to smoke one last weekend, but instead I think I'll do it this weekend.... Mmmm.... I can't wait...!

By the way, this past Monday I was just too busy to publish a journal post so I'd like to record a childhood memory here this morning. I was recently checking out my old AOL Journal and noticed that at one time I was going through my school years one by one and chronicling some of the most notable events. I left off on Seventh Grade.

Seventh Grade was significant because it was my first year to go to public school after attending Holy Cross all my life. Over all I found seventh grade boring and not very challenging. I had nearly a 100 average in all my classes that year. I had my first crush that year on Kim Kennedy. My favorite teacher was Barbara Ryan, Social Studies/Texas History. She was very positive and encouraging. My least favorite teacher was Coach Claude Tice. He was rude and immature.

I'll come back soon and post links to my aol posts from the previous school years so they are all here on blogspot and easy to find...

Well, that's it for today... See You next time... Coach Sam

Thoughts on 911

Today I'm feeling a little under the weather emotionally. September 11 does that to me. I can't help but think about how all the lives that were lost and the veen greater number of lives that were forever altered by the trade center bombings.

I read in a news post today that Bin Laden made a video proclaiming the 'martyrs' of that event as patriotic heroes.... Sorry, but I can only see them as murderers. Isn't there a better way to disagree with someone than to fly an airplane into a crowded building...?

Wow..! What a Match Last Night...!

Andy Roddick puts away a volley in last night's match against World number one. Roger Federer.


Roddick didn;t budge one inch the first two sets.... But Federer prevailed in the end....

To be continued his evening...

My Favorite Way To Relax

Ten years ago if you had asked me how I liked to relax I would say it would be laying on the couch reading a good Michael Chrighton novel.

Now, I would have to say that my favorite way to relax during the week is my quiet time blogging early in the morning when the whole house is still asleep. And for sure one of my favorite ways to relax on the weekends is to spend quality time with the family.

ButNothing beats spending quality time with Elijah...!

Tennis Role Model: Bjorn Borg

One of my favorite players of all time is Bjorn Borg. He was/is truly an amazing tennis player. Since today is the day of the week that my blog topic is to be about someone who inspires me, Bjorn Bog was one of the leading players to really get me hooked on tennis.

When I was just getting interested in tennis, Bjorn Borg was the world's number one player. He dominated tennis for a number of years and is still regarded today as one of the greatest to ever play the game. Borg had a fierce rivalry with John McEnroe and their rivalry was one of the greatest tennis rivalries ever, much like Federer-Nadal today.

He was calm, quiet, and never showed emotion on the court. He was always in control. He was always a good sport. Whenever he lost a match, which wasn't often, He always gave credit to his opponent for playing well. He never made excuses, whined, or argued.

I really can't think of many better role models for sportsmanship on the the court than Bjorn Borg.

Labor Day...

This photo wasn't taken on Labor Day, but it is a photo of a couple of workers. As I recall, Elijah was helping me in the yard the day this photo was taken.

Today is Labor Day. You know I've almost 43 years old now and I've lived through quite a few Labor Days. But what is Labor Day...? What does it mean to me...?

I know it's a holiday. But what is the origin of Labor day...? Well, here's a quick link that explains it's history.....

Apparently it started back in 1882 and was a holiday created to honor the achievements of the American worker. It is also considered a symbolic end to summer. Hmmm.... I didn't know that. In fact, I found lots of other interesting information on the wickipedia link.

For me, I don't have too many specific memories of Labor Day. Since I make a living in the tennis industry it's always pretty much meant a day or weekend of tennis for me. I'm either working a tennis event, teaching lessons, or both.

I do have some fond memories of visiting the US Open Tennis Championships in New York on Labor Day. But that was many years ago. Now the USTA is so money hungry that it sells so many tickets to the open that a person can't even comfortably walk around any more.

Today, I'm teaching my regular lessons schedule at my club if the weather cooperates...

I'll probably grill some sausage for lunch and watch the Open on TV this afternoon before going back for lessons this evening.

That's my day today. And this is my life...!

-Coach Sam

Sunday Night and Chillin at the OPEN....

Well, today was a pretty decent day. Church this morning was outstanding. Then we went in to Houston for Lunch at one of our favorite Thai restaurants. It was Connor's turn to pick our Sunday family activity and he wanted to go bowling. That turned out to be pretty fun, except that bowling always makes my arm sore.

We came home and I cooked 'breakfast for dinner', one of my favorites. Now we're just hanging out watching the US Open on TV.

I can honestly say that it has been a relaxing day. Yay...!

My goal for next year though is to be in NEW YORK for the Open and experience it in person...!

Labor Day Weekend

This will be an ongoing post throughout the day. I was up most of the night cooking a brisket for my tennis event today. I'm about to head out the door for that social right now.

I did spend a good deal of time last night updating my website: chadwelltennis.com. That's my major project for the weekend, especially if the rain forecast holds true to prediction. But If it's not too rainy then I plan to work in the yard a bit, too...!

Well, that's it for now.... More later this afternoon! SC

The Weekend Outlook:

Today starts the Labor Day Weekend. I've got a lot of work to do at the tennis shop this morning. I may have a late afternoon lesson, but I'm going to try to not work all day. I want to spend some time with the family this afternoon. Later today I plan to start smoking a brisket for lunch tomorrow.

Saturday I have a tennis event in the morning and a few privates in the afternoon. Sunday is wide open, and although Monday is a holiday, I plan to teach a regular lesson schedule in the afternoon and evening.

I'll probably try to watch a little tennis on television this weekend. (The US Open).

I'm hoping for and looking forward to a nice family weekend. My Sweet Bride pictured with me above is a little under the weather right now with a sore throat. Hopefully she'll feel better as the weekend unfolds...

Friday is a day for me to write about 'Family'. -I love my family. There's nothing more important than the well-being of my wife and boys. Sometimes it's difficult to prioritize my time. And I think this is a problem that many a daddy has faced through out history.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in 'work' justifying that if I don't work more then my family's needs will not be met. This is not easy for me but I'm learning to spend less time working and spend more quality time with my family.

I don't want Elijah to have more 'things' and less daddy. I don't want Connor to grow up with only one parent.

Now I do respect that my dad provided an existence for the family as I was growing up. But in so doing, he did deny me any kind of quality relationship with him. Now that I'm a dad myself, I see very clearly the mistakes my daddy made. And there is good that has come from my dad's mistakes: they serve as an example to me to do things differently.

I don't know exactly how I'll get all the bills paid this coming month, but I'm leaving that up to God. God's in the miracle business.

Sam and Ken

Here's a photo from back in February 2007 during the TTA-TPTA Awards Banquet at the Woodlands Conference Center. The gentleman to my right is Ken Coulter. Ken is responsible for the founding of the Brazoria County Tennis Association.

Wow, look how full my face was back then... I've lost nearly 30 pounds since February.

to be continued....

Aug 30 Update: I got too tired to continue last night... I did decide to abandon my 'political' topic... -That's just not 'Me'.

Seeing that picture does encourage me to continue working hard on my weight loss. I've sort of plateaued in that area. I haven't gained a lot of weight back, but I've sort of been holding steady in the 'two-teens'....