1. Ballard Field house director in Seattle, WN. 1951
6. California Western University/ United States International U.
7. Point Loma Nazarene University - 1975-1994
Expanded Bio for Website:
It is only fair that the author be identified in order that some form of credibility might be established, prior to you taking the time to read anything found in this website. However, even though you may learn something about “the voice”, you still must make personal judgments on the contents herein.
When it comes to giving advice, a teacher, coach and father has had plenty of experience . Whether or not you accept the materials found in this website, as credible, you still need to be open to the suggestions and directions which the author elaborates upon in a variety of genres. In the booklet: “The Perfect Child: How to make your kid make you look good”, the thoughts and ideas shared are direct and to the point. However, the treatises on ethics, poems, training tips, aging guides etc. should be interpreted as they apply to you as an individual, not as a statistic or a generality.
The brief bio found earlier in this website, lists the facts about the author’s early education and vocational experiences. However, it does not honestly describe who he really is. Perhaps the following items may help to do that:
High school days in a small Oregon town were crowded with two main themes (sports and music). He participated on teams of football, basketball, baseball and tennis; was Sport’s Editor of the H.S. paper; president of the A Capella Choir; and entertained at student assemblies with piano and vocal duets. Active in many non-academic affairs but not a political mover/shaker type.
When starting graduate work at the University of Oregon he had the good fortune of obtaining a “teaching assistantship” under the mentoring of U.S. Olympic Coach Bill Bowerman during which time he helped coach the freshman track team and began gathering data for his doctoral dissertation “ An Analysis of Anatomical, Physiological and Psychological Differences of Distance Runners of Varying Abilities”.A number of Olympic participants were subjects in this research project.
Crakes’ thirty-five year university coaching career in cross country and track and field, included the following:
Coaching staff for U.S.A. team at World University Games in Sofia, Bulgaria.(1977)
. Leading tours and conducting clinics in conjunction with the U.S. State Department in: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Libya, Cyprus, Syria, U.K.; Sweden and Switzerland between 1969 and 1982.
Attended and photographed Olympic Games in : Helsinki ’52; Melbourne “56; Munich ’72; Montreal ’76; Los Angeles ‘84’ and Barcelona ’92
Inducted into the NAIA Track and Field Hall of Fame as Coach (1990)
Selected NAIA Co-Coach of the Year in track and field (1992)
In conclusion, to demonstrate the authors adventuresome spirit: He canoed 300 miles down the Willamette River to the Columbia and to the Pacific Ocean in 1955 and again in 1992.
Was part of an expedition to the Sierra Madre mountains in central Mexico to study the Tarahumara Indians, famed for their extraordinary feats of long distance running.(1974)
Enter The Home Page Content Here>
Guilt and Shame (Ethics)
In his famous hymn/ballad “He Touched Me”, Bill Gaither said it all. You remember the lines, “Shackled by a heavy burden, neath a load of guilt and shame…”. Then his next line, “:then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I am no longer the same”.
I love that song and have played and sung in many times. Nevertheless, the more I think about the reality of those words, the more I’m convinced that virtually no society can exist in a rational manner if its members have no feelings of either guilt or shame.
Perhaps, carrying a load of guilt and shame is different than “feeling guilt or shame for something you have done contrary to the will of God”. In an effort to raise “mentally healthy children” many parents and teachers give these two terms wide berth in their efforts to enhance that magical word of the day, “self-esteem”. I’m confused. Can self-esteem (or feeling good about yourself) be something that is taught, or rather is it a personality characteristic which a child earns through a series of graduated accomplishments, organized to also include small failures. I don’t know I have ever heard of a successful person (one who has realized their full potential) who didn’t have to overcome obstacles or adversity during the growing process.
We recognize that every culture in the world has a set of standards by which its members are judged. Stealing (one of God’s Ten Commandments) is one of those basic elements of every social group which is not condoned. If fact, the more primitive the culture, the more harsh the punishment for those who don’t abide by those standards.
It is perhaps a sad commentary on the social order of modern societies in which only certain kinds of stealing are condemned. The higher on the social/political ladder one stands, the more acceptable stealing becomes. And when the transgressors are apprehended, their shame appears to be primarily that “of getting caught”.
Does political power in some way inoculate the members of that class, from having any feelings of guilt or shame. And if that is the case, should we merely accept their errors because, as we are wont to say, “well, after all, they are just human”. It doesn’t matter their political stripes, whether they be of sexual or financial excess, our leaders have fallen short on their promises and have thus given public credence to immoral and illegal behavior.
Having now beaten around the bush unnecessarily, I would like to return to my premise, that both guilt and shame, are two essential factors in the human personality which are needed to maintain a health social framework in all communities. These two words, guilt and shame, carry with them negative responses, which in reality should be accepted as part and parcel of a functional society.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
6:25:53 PM
An Introduction to “crakestimes.com” approach to Parenting:
Our society may be different now, than it was 50 years ago, but people are inherently the same as they were 5000 years ago.
Even though each individual on earth is unique, we all have similar basic needs which we try to meet or handle in the best way we know. We still need to eat (but most of us don’t have to run down a deer or rabbit in order to satisfy our hunger); we all want to be recognized (but often struggle to use the appropriate means to achieve that goal); and we all want to be liked and respected, regardless of whether we admit it or not. If we don’t get respect
in normal ways, such as doing our best, being a nice, etc. then we go out of our way to find someone or group where we can get that basic need met.
I once presented a paper at a national convention which I thought was well received. In a discussion with a highly respected professional the field afterward, I was surprised when he said, rather matter-of-factly, “Jim, you didn’t say anything new”…and then, “but you did say it differently”.
The old adage, “there’s nothing new under the sun”, speaks well to this issue. The “truths” are all out there to be had…and are available to a new and different interpretation. You may have heard your mother say something a hundred times, and it never made any sense. Then suddenly someone else, a teacher or coach said
virtually the same thing, and BANG, you got it.
Another axiom which relates here is, “we need to be reminded more than we need to be informed”. Most of us resist listening if someone is “telling us what to
do”. However, if we will just realize, that although we already know what to
do under most circumstances, we just forget to apply our knowledge. It’s
a sad fact of the human condition, that before we can integrate something
into our behavior, we need to be reminded, over and over again.
Next week I’d like to share with you exactly where I’m coming from,
and why you might even profit from reading this blog and/or, picking
up my book “The Perfect Child”.
Resolutely,
Jim (crakestimes.com)