"Palm Coast and Olympic Dreams"

Sam Vazquez, Olympic Hopeful,
Palm Coast, FL

   The crazy thing about dreams is that most of us never have the kind that take on a life of their own.  The "really big, heart thumping, adrenalin pumping, hyperventilation-inducing" kind that wake you up in the night in a cold sweat.  Too risky!  And if we do, we are reluctant to tell anyone, because then we're forced to either act... or look silly when we fail.  Like, how many people do you know personally, who have said, "I'm going to be an Olympic athlete!?"  Well, I did the math, and guess what?  If you are one of the 353,000,000 Americans on the planet, your chances of going, are one ten-thousandth of a %!  Yet there is one such individual in Palm Coast today, who says that is just what he is going to do...

If you've been in Palm Coast, FL for a while, you may know or remember  Sam Vazquez, Flagler Palm Coast High School, Class of 2003.  While a senior at FPC, Sam ran the Adidas High School Nationals Track Meet mile in 4:03!  Oh, so close to breaking the 4 minute barrier.  His time was the fastest prep mile time in the entire country that year (and faster than any college runner in Florida).  That made him a National Champion!  Since Jim Ryun broke 4 minutes in high school in 1964, only four others have done it (Marty Liquori, Tim Danielson, Alan Webb, and Lukas Verzbicas).  That, along with his 6 individual Florida State Championship titles in various 800m, 1500m, mile, and relay events, put him in some very rarefied air.  So much so, that he was recruited by legendary track coach, John McDonnel at the University of Arkansas... on a full-ride athletic scholarship in 2003.  That's the same John McDonnel who coached 42 NCAA National Champions and 23 Olympians.  More than any other track coach in history, by a wide margin.

The Good... and the Bad
happened here...

But here is where the story takes one of those turns that are hard to swallow.  One of those that has people ask, "How could he have messed that up so bad?"  I'm guessing that those people may have forgotten what it might be like to be 19, on your own for the first time, away from home, and living under the spotlight.  Now, to be sure, he ran fast and was on a National Championship middle distance relay team.  He earned his "NCAA All-American" status as a Freshman.  But that's where it all ended, as he - like so many before him - neglected to open his books.  At year's end, he was academically ineligible and sent packing...

Sam came back home to Palm Coast - his dream shattered - and experienced a letdown of major proportions.  He stopped running and went through a series of small, meaningless jobs.  He sat around, played video games, and pondered his future.  Now I'm lucky enough to be married to his Mom, and proud to be his step-Dad.  To save space, let's just say that three things happened to align Sam's stars and planets, to re-spark his Olympic Dream:

• His Mom stayed vigilant and continued to remind him that dreams don't die, unless you let them.
• He met Florencia - also a Flagler Palm Coast HS grad, and now his wife - who would have none of this "sitting around" stuff.
• He hooked back up with his high school coach, Peter Hopfe - now the assistant track coach at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.

Good Stuff happened here...

Florencia Silva Vazquez

Long story short, both he and Florencia applied for and received athletic scholarship assistance at ERAU.  They both ran fast and this time, thanks to Flo's relentless - let's call it  "encouragement," Sam became a terrific student as well.  They won races and athletic honors and both graduated with management degrees this past year.  Sam was a 7 time NAIA All-American in track and cross country and the 2011 NAIA Champion in the 1000m event at Nationals.  Upon graduation, Flo scored a terrific job at United Airlines Headquarters, and they moved to Chicago.

Now here's where things heat up again.  Sam has devoted himself to making the Olympic qualifying standard in the 800m and/or the 1500m events, and hopes to represent the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in London this coming summer.  He is staying with us now, here in Palm Coast, and has tackled a grizzly bear of a goal.  He has competed recently in the Central American & Caribbean Games in Mayaguez and also the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, as well as the American Miler Series in Indianapolis.  At an indoor meet in Arkansas last week, Sam ran into his old coach, John McDonnel (now retired to a cattle ranch in Oklahoma).  The old man recognized him, even though it had been over seven years since they parted ways.  "Vazquez!?" "I remember you... You had more potential than anyone."  Ouch!  Sam said it was such an honor to hear that... and also a spear through his heart.  But no time to lament over "what might have been"... Time to focus on the "here and now"... On the "what will be!"

Just this week, as an un-attached runner, he went back to his ERAU alma mater and broke his old school record in the mile.  Take that! 

Palm Coast, FL has reason to be proud of Sam and he is representing us well.  He is hungry, focused, and training hard.  He's doing what many of us wish we could do - he's living his dream.  He knows how difficult it will be to make this happen.  He also knows that win, lose, or draw, he's giving it all he has.  If you would be able to help support Sam's efforts, he would be very grateful for your donation, which will help defray his training, competing, living, and travel costs.  To help Sam chase his Olympic Dream, please visit:    

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Samuel-Vazquezs-Olympic-Endeavors/223364531086773

Train Hard, Alex (Sam)!
We are with you all the way!

"Mind Games" from Mike & Mike

So Sometimes inspiration comes from where you least expect it... like, for instance, from sports talk show hosts on satellite radio. Now, I'm not a long haul trucker, but I have burned up about 3,000 miles/month over the past two years. My SIRIUS subscription was a great gift... and my fingers dance deftly from FOX to CNN to ESPN.... and then from Classical to Blues to Reggae to Oldies to Comedy Central. Oh, wait, there's PBS and BBC and maybe a quick inquiry as to the weather in Denver. If you were in the car with me, you'd be driven quite mad by my "adult ADD" tendencies, but it works for me. I find myself singing along with Bob Marley and the Wailers... "Don't worry about a thing - Every little thing is gonna' be alright," and then yelling at a news commentator on MSNBC with an opposing view to mine. Don't get me started about Blue Collar Comedy. I do a lot of wondering about the state of the world, only I do it out loud (... Know what I mean, Vern?) Anyway, I'm checking out "Mike & Mike" this morning on ESPN. Mike Greenberg is a cheeky, irreverent, non-ex-pro athlete analyst and Mike Golic is an ex-NFL defensive lineman and sort of like the guys on your bowling team, only smarter. They were providing their take on yesterday's Masters drama. I, by the way, was in the car for nine hours... driving from Chattanooga, TN, back to Palm Coast - and missed it all! Angel Cabrera wins it, while Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell are left to wake in the night for years to come, conjuring up what might have been... if only! The point the two Mikes were making, is the critical nature of "mental toughness." When standing over a 15 foot putt on the 18th green, at Augusta, on Sunday... to win the Masters, can you imagine the banshees that were competing for calm in Perry's head? You know the sports scenarios:

• Down 4 points, 4th down, 3 seconds left in the Super Bowl, 30 yards from the end zone, last play of the game... Can the quarterback make the throw? Can the lineman make the block? Can the receiver make the catch? They've all done it before, under lesser circumstances.
• 7th game of the World Series, bottom of the ninth, down 1, man on first, the count at 3-2... Can the batter put the inside curve out of the park... for all the marbles? I mean, he did win the Home Run Derby at the All Star game.
• NBA Championship even at 3-3, down 91-89 in the 4th quarter, a three point attempt with 1 second on the clock... a foul! A slow walk to the line for 3 shots at victory... or despair? The guy has made 100 in a row at practice before, but what about now, in the surreal cacophony - for a place in sports history?

Golic and Greenberg were "right on" this morning. Was Michael Jordon more physically gifted than Scottie Pippin? Some would argue the opposite. How about those guys pedalling up the Pyrenees in the Tour de France? Minus the HGH and the lab-oxygenated blood, most of these athletes are merely marginally differentiated mountain climbing machines. Boxing, wrestling, MMA, tennis, rugby, hockey, track & field, skiing, swimming... any sport? The most compelling difference between the champions and the rest of the field is mental toughness. The "want to." The "need to." The ability to ignore the elephant in the room at the precise moment required.

I made myself a promise to go to school on this. My days of competitive sports are in the rear view mirror, but I do get up and go to work. And I do believe every aspect of our lives, including our response to this current economy, can be improved with a Golden Rule philosophy... and a dose of mental toughness! Thank you, Mike & Mike!

"Arizona Softball is "Nice", Indeed"

A few days ago, I posted an entry about "being nice" (see 06/03/07: "It's Nice To Be Nice") and I hope you don't mind if I go there again so soon. It's just that it's been on my mind a lot lately. And I'd bet, if you read the paper... or watch the news... or subscribe to a CNN podcast... you think about it a lot too. I'd wager that at least once this year you've either said - or at least thought - that "there's a lot of mean spirited people out there these days." Just in the past two days, I've seen it in spades, and it's unsettling. This morning, we came up the back stairs to our office and Sha-zam... our deck furniture was stolen during the night. One of our RE/MAX offices is blessed to be in Flagler Beach - upper level - with a deck and a great view of the ocean. We had some nice tables and chairs and benches. No more. Some folks think that's "OK"... that it's "No Big Deal." I disagree. Then, yesterday, two teenagers were out in the street screaming at each other and close to slugging it out. Both were shirtless and adorned in that adorable "My Swimsuit Is Halfway Down My Butt For All To See" style. Their language was hideous and both were letting the ethnic slurs fly. I wonder what their Mothers would think? I pick up the paper this morning and I see that a 24 year old nearly killed another fellow right in front of the Flagler Beach pier yesterday afternoon... in broad daylight. Apparently he knocked him out... and not being satisfied with that, he continued to kick and beat him while he was down. Not good. In my day, if the guy went down, you stopped. Today? You take your cues from the Ultimate Cage Fights and you just keep wailin' away. The clincher? A lady we had never met walked into our real estate office Tuesday morning and started giving the receptionist a hard time... demanding to see me. Maritssa (my partner) and I went downstairs to see what was going on and were confronted by this very large (maybe 250?), very hostile woman. It seems that she had purchased one of our listings, over a year ago, and was now making a stink over some "condition" issues. The seller had moved to Orlando and washed their hands of it all. (Please note that the house was purchased with an "As Is" contract... and this angry buyer had both a thorough pre-purchase home inspection, as well as a pre-occupancy "walk-through" inspection... all of which met with her approval.) So now a year has passed and she wants to fight. She's yelling and fuming and wagging her finger in Maritssa's face - Fun, yes indeedy. We finally got her to leave, but it sure got the office in a buzz for a while. Then we get home and decide to watch the NCAA Women's College Softball World Series. I'd seen a couple of the pre-lims, but the championship was between the Tennessee Lady Vols and the reigning Arizona Wildcats. It was an amazingly entertaining three game series, with Tennessee taking the first and Arizona winning the next two for the title. Why am I telling you this? What does this have to do with all the "nasty" stuff, above? Easy... In the heat of battle, under immense pressure, facing intense competition, on National TV... these girls were really... well... NICE. (And guys, by the way, half these girls could be in the Miss America pageant). The losers patiently waited while the winners had their "pile on the pitcher" celebration, then they all high-fived... actually chatted some with each other... and shared a few hugs. Good stuff. Guys need to take a lesson here. Watch the NBA. When a series is won, the winners ignore the losers and the losers stomp off sullenly with a "screw you" look on their face. Sad, sad, sad stuff. Anyway, congratulations to Arizona on their 8th softball title - and to both them and Tennessee - for showing us how to do things right...

Real Estate Lessons: "Junior & The Budweiser #8"

NASCAR? No, I was never really much of a fan. We didn't do that in Upstate New York when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's. Not too much in the way of "Moonshine Mystique" in our world. But then I joined the Army "to see the world." And after they let me see Viet Nam, I found myself at the University of Tampa, on a "bootstrap" scholarship. Now I'd heard of the "Daytona 500" before, but never dreamed I'd actually be in the stands. Being the adventurer, I scored tickets to the race in 1973 - Infield, no less. It was my gift to my father-in-law, a guy who actually co-owned an old Ferrari and rode shotgun in local road rallies. It was our privilege to see "The King," Richard Petty, wheel his #43 Dodge into the winner's circle that day. To say the day was exciting would be an understatement. The Army continued to let me see more of the world... and more car races. How about a Formula 1 race in Monaco? Very cool, indeed.

So, OK, I've got to tie real estate and NASCAR together, right? Here goes... My older (and only) brother is a Catholic priest - "Father Tom," as they all call him. He and I both inherited our father's unusual sense of humor... ( "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" "Gosh, I don't have any idea. How much?" "Two cords." "Two cords? Why?" "Well, it's just something you've got to know." ) We'll observe something and both start to laugh, while others stare vacantly, waiting to "get it." Back in the 198o's, a famous (or, perhaps infamous) bumper sticker popped up. It read: "Sh** Happens" Well, my brother, the Father, went nuts. After he saw it the first time, he could not stop being amazed by its simple, yet profound message. Surely, it must be of biblical derivation. We'd say it... then laugh for ten minutes... then say it again. We tried to clean it up, by substitution, but "Stuff Happens" just wasn't funny. To this day, some twenty years later, when anything goes awry... we know what to say.

So the buzz in NASCAR this week has been all about Junior (No, he hasn't gotten his real estate license, that we know of). All season it's been about his squabble with Dale Senior's wife - and how he wants at least a 51% interest in DEI Racing. Then he goes and announces he's leaving after the season's done. And does icing make the cake better? Yes. Yesterday revealed that Dale will be docked 100 points and his crew chief will be fined $100,000... for fiddlin' with the rear wing mounts on their Car of Tomorrow. Wow. Sh** Really Does Happen.

As the years have unfolded, I've taken that standing joke and done some fiddlin' of my own. I've changed it to: "Sh** Happens. So What? Now What?" It's my way of acknowledging life's randomness... and then dealing with it. Try it - it works. Junior's crew was like that this week. The team president, Max Siegel, met with them and observed that "Nobody was freaking out. Everyone went into a "What do we do now" mode. It is what it is. It's unfortunate, but we'll move on." I guess DEI read my mind and simply paraphrased, "Sh** happens... So what?... Now what?" Hope it works for them.

Real estate is just like that... whether it's Palm Coast real estate, Flagler Beach real estate, Ski resort property, California, Virginia, or New York... Sh** happens. I've studied this, and on average, markets have cycled about every seven years in the sixty years since WWII. Now we're in a race to the bottom, price wise. Positive spin? The sooner we get there, the sooner we start the climb back up. So we should all do just like Dale Jr. and his crew: Don't freak out. It is what it is. It's unfortunate (if you're a seller) but we should move on...

"Want Local Flavor? High School Sports are Hot!"

Boy, have things changed since my high school days. I ran back then, because the basketball coach made all his players run cross-country for conditioning (it worked). We ran on cinder tracks in our low-cut Chuck Taylor All Stars. Not today! We went to the Region 1-4A track meet in Winter Park yesterday and it was loads of fun. Flagler Palm Coast High School again showed themselves to be a force on the local running scene, by finishing a close second (only a 2 point margin) to Mandarin HS. They had to qualify last week in their District meet and they did so handily, then they spanked seven very good schools yesterday, to qualify for the Florida State HS meet in their division. The State meet is again at Winter Park HS, next Saturday, 05/05/07. Tickets are only $6 for the day. If you go, take an umbrella to keep the sun off, as the stands are not covered. (Take I-4 to Fairbanks exit - Left. Pass Rollins College to right on Northlake. Left on Mizell. Right on Edinburgh to the school.) "But, Frank, I don't have a kid on the team, or any kid in school, for that matter." No problemo. You watch FSU play Georgia Tech... and UF play Tennessee, right? And you watch the Jags, Bucs, Fish, Giants and Jets, right? And you watch... OK, you get my drift. You don't need a kid on the team to enjoy the games. These track athletes are amazing folks. We were connected to two of them yesterday. Brandon Mott qualified for States in the 200m and Florencia Silva, although she didn't quite make States, ran her career personal best in the girl's 1600m. There is history at this school. Alex (Sammy) Vazquez, Justin Harbor, and Anthony Morales have dominated middle distance and cross country since 2003, with several State titles and many records among them. You could always count on either a victory or a solid "top 5" from those guys in the 800m, 4x800m relay, 1600m, 3200m, and cross country. This year, watching Jarius Cooper (see above photo) in hurdles and sophomore C.J. Lockhart in the 400m and the relays has been a treat. My son, Zach, graduated from FPC in 2005, yet some of my fondest recent memories are from chasing the baseball and football teams, when he played. I watched him all the way through the years with T-Ball, Little League, Basketball, Pop Warner football, Tae Kwon Do, Wrestling, and Bi-athlon. Wrestling was the worst! Otherwise a cool spectator, when he wrestled, I came unglued. There is something profoundly "testosterony" (new word!) about watching your kid in close combat with another, that elevates the heart rate like no other event. In his final match of his rookie PAL season, he was down in points in the closing seconds, when from the depths he summoned enough to reverse and pin the kid at the buzzer. He won the meet... and "rookie of the year" honors. I know I flat-lined more than once during that match. When you're in the stands at a high school football game, I guarantee you a personal trip to "back in the day." The cheerleaders, the band (God, I love the drums!), the smell of hot dogs, the comfortable grooved metal bleachers... all create an undeniable "home town" ambiance. Baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, weight lifting - all amazing. And girl's softball? Compared to boy's baseball, it's like the difference between a rock concert and a string quartet. The girls put on a show that will blow you away! I'm startled by the quantum leap in speed, strength, and athleticism that these kids display, compared to when I was a high school jock. So stop saying there's nothing to do around here. Get out and support your local high school teams. Next year, watch out. The Matanzas Pirates will have their first senior class and should start to shine. Already, they have shown some amazing talent and their potential is growing. I can't wait until a Friday night football game between cross-town rivals, Matanzas vs. FPC!