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Dark clouds are gathering over the global economy. 'Double dip' recession is being discussed.
Standard and Poors are deeply concerned at how the USA will resolve its monster budget deficit.
Euro debt gets worse, with the so called PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) all struggling with excessive debt, high unemployments and who knows what is the true state of Euroland's banks.
China's giant investment fund head worries publically about the flood of western liquidity that has produced inflation is China and other emerging economies.
'Emerging economies are particularly concerned about the effects of the loose monetary policy in developed economies that is driving capital to their shores in search of higher returns, boosting inflation and creating volatility in commodities markets.
'Policymakers in these economies are struggling to balance the need to propel domestic growth amid an uncertain international environment against the dangers of mounting inflation'.
If any of this sounds familiar, it should do so. These disturbing trends and policies to improve matters are discussed in the author's Great Crises of Capitalism.
And in distant Australia ...
Australia, the so-called 'miracle economy', has been propped up by the China boom. Before long, even the Rudd/Gillard government's Treasurer Wayne Swan will wish so much money was not flushed away during the Keynesian panic of 2007-08.
Now Treasurer Swan has a massive budget deficit and is slicing and dicing government spending (including spending on medical research).
Clearly Treasury under the benign leadership of Great Helmsman Ken 'wombat' Henry lost its traditional role as guardian of Australia's fiscal probity.
Now Michael Stutchbury wages war on Wayne Swan's 'Keynsian fantasy', while athe global stormclouds gather.
If there is a 'double dip' global recession anytime soon, the reputations of Messrs Swan and Ken Henry will be trashed, along with the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Australians.
Also trashed will be the NBN, meaningful tax reform and great big new taxes of any variety.
Such is life, as someone once said. But we should have been capable of managing the first and second resource booms of the early twenty-first century so much better.
Political retribution will be severe - the government will change and Wayne Swan will no longer strut the global stage.
We must also hope that Treasury regains its traditional role of guarding Australia's financial independence.
The RBA board meets today and is widely expected to deliver a firm 'no change' outcome. With goods and services inflation under control, house prices taking a breather, economic forecasts having been revised down and the fierce debate over a modestly tough but badly explained budget, this is an acceptable outcome. This writer remains concerned, however, that there is a deep problem in how central banks respond to asset inflation and this is doubly concerning in a small open economy whose share price inflation comes 'made in America'.
Loads of research have proved that goods and services inflation is influenced, even determined, by the setting of monetary policy. With fixed exchange rates it is US monetary policy that matters most, and a floating dollar gives more weight to domestic monetary policy. There is a problem in defining monetary policy - is it cash rates, growth of money supply (with different definitions of money to play with) or 'Chairman's discretion', which can more respectfully be defined as 'the narrative'.
'The narrative' is the outcome of a diligent management group (the board of the RBA in Australia's case). This group, we know, considers the whole set of actual economic data, forecasts of key variables, especially goods and services inflation, growth of credit, behaviour of asset prices, the labor market, GDP, etc, etc. Such a group will take account of relationships established by economic research, such as that between growth of money and goods and services inflation, seeking to make allowance for known changes in these relationships. The clearest of these changes in this writer's direct experience was when the relationship between growth of M3 and goods and services inflation broke down and Australia had to abandon the 'conditional projections' for M3 growth. (This came as no great blow to the RBA governors at the time, as they were deeply suspicous about the supposed relationship - remember Goodhart's law.)
At the time, RBA's replacement of this relationship was called 'the checklist' which it is fair to say was not well received at the time by academics and journos. Naturally I regret that I did not propose 'the narrative', including with primary emphasis on actual and expected goods and services inflation. (A senior journo said recently that my views had not changed and finally I was in the right camp again.) However, confession of past inadequacies, while good for the soul perhaps, is no substitute for hard analysis.
My recent research investigates what Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz might have discovered if they had included share price inflation in their masterful A Monetary History of the United States, published in 1962. My analysis, with two colleagues, is available here. It shows that share price inflation usually moves in line with monetary growth, consistent with behaviour of goods and services inflation. But there are a number of key anomolies involving the war years but also times when monetary policy (as measured by money growth) was firm and under control, as was goods and services inflation, when massive share booms occurred. In US monetary history, these episodes were the 1920s, the 1950s, extending into the 1960s, and the 1990s. Japan in the 1980s is another similar 'aberrant' episode.
In three of the four aberrant episodes, the massive booms were followed by sickening crashes leading to depression or deep recession and slow recovery. The world is still recovering from the crash of 2000, despite the US Fed dropping interest rates to near zero, followed by a resumption of share inflation, another share crash, fresh near zero interest rates and slow recovery with US share prices again hovering at record highs. I fear this drama has not yet reached its finale.
Galbraith in his analysis of the Great Depression of the 1930s, hinted that with a separate policy, reducing allowable margin of bank lending for speculative purposes, the US Fed could have restrained the share boom of the 1920s without harning the general state of the economy. Such action, perhaps, might have limited the devastation after a (smaller) share crash in 1929.
Merely tightening monetary policy might have done the job, at the cost of creating a temporary check to growth, and seeing the Fed blamed for an (earlier, smaller) share crash, since 'Monetary policy cannot serve two masters'. Because the big, out-of-control share booms coincide with normal money growth and low goods and services inflation, tightening monetary policy to head of a share price boom would seem a very blunt instrument indeed. This logic is the basic cause of the 'Greenspan/ Bernanke put' - ie let the boom run and clean-up later (with very low interest rates).
I am happy to debate this matter with anyone, and have offered the following challenge, so far not accepted.
'Economic management needs flexible, ultimately automatic, variable bank asset ratios to lean into asset booms and to limit asset bubbles. Such an approach would leave variable cash rates to control overall economic conditions, with an ultimate focus on controlling goods and services inflation. Monetary policy would serve one master and bank prudential policy (as we might call variable bank lending ratios) would prevent runaway asset inflation.
'Tell me how I am wrong, central bankers, or stand condemned when you next bungle an asset boom and bust'.
More here.
For a small open economy, the exchange rate regime plays a large role in the narrative. For Australia to avoid catching share price fever from Wall Street, or perhaps in a decade or so, the Bund, I have concluded we need a variable tax on capital inflow.
I am aware of the standard way to handle dissidents in central banking circles - maintain a lofty silence, later make adverse comments about the dissident, and still later say 'we knew this all along'.
In the age of the internet, dissidents can go directly to the public - 'the great uwashed' in central banker speak - or to the politicians.
Read this and ponder, Joe Hockey, and friends from the G20.
Professor David Laidler comments: 'I don't have much to say that adds to your persuasive arguments. I agree that low and stable inflation is a good target for monetary policy, and that bitter experience shows that is it not sufficient to deliver asset market stability in a reliable way. I also agree that the best way to deal with this is to turn to regulatory tools to deal with the latter, but just what they should be, and who should be in charge - the central bank or some other agency - surely has to depend on local institutions and experience, which I think you'd also agree to'.
'Australian wages are too high and will have to come down'. Henry heard this heretical statement on, wait for it, ABC radio yesterday morning. 'I don't know if this will happen in one year, ten years or 50 years', Continued the voice, 'but it will have to happen'. After a bit more in this vein, the breathless young interviewer signed off and thanked Nobel Laureate economist, Sir James Mirrlees, for his views. Gor Blimey, comrades, this is pretty grim.
Shortly after, Henry was asked to discuss the state of a home renovation project with the relevant builder. Un-prompted, our conversation drifted to the state of the nation, as this particular builder is a bright bloke with a deep interest in that subject. 'Wages are going to have to fall', John said. 'In the end it is Chinese wages that will decide what we can pay ourselves'. I mentioned that a Noble Laureate agreed with this view. 'Most Australians know this, but they are hoping it does not happen too quickly or too savagely. The budget has made a start, but there is an awful long way to go'.
I was gob-smacked, comrades. I knew that John was a bright bloke running a superb small business, but to find he agreed with James Mirrlees, and for that matter Henry (one of whose statements on this matter is available here) was literally mind-blowing. If is it is true that most Australians understand the problem, and are resigned to the remedy, what a pity there is no way to have a sensible national discussion and agree on the least disruptive answer. The point made by Charles Dickens is relevant here, generalised as follows.
'National competitiveness strong, economic bliss. National competitiveness weak, economic hell'.
Being experts in fighting for lost causes, the Australian Labor party will do its best to ensure we achieve the latter outcome. The current government will get progressively braver, but will be distracted, naturally enough, by the need to get re-elected. As a start, Henry suggests that the pollsters find a way to begin asking relevant questions.
Global monetary policy
Last week, Henry strayed onto turf that is the responsibility of major central banks, with the RBA perhaps allowed a brief statement.
The relevant blogs are here and here.
The conclusion of part 2 is as follows: 'Friedman, curiously to this writer, says that the Fed could have nipped the 1920s share boom in the bud with a strategic rate hike, but this approach ignores his own 'two masters' advice.
Galbraith implies that in the 1920s, raising margins for share trading could have prevented the bubble and therefore made the share price crash less damaging. The same issue arose during the 1990s share boom, with The Economist saying the Fed should have raised interest rates sooner to prevent the share price bubble.
Raising margins for lending against shares, a seperate action to raising interest rates, could have prevented the bubble in the 1920s. An equivalent action in the 1990s, containing bank lending, could have reduced the extreme share price action in the 1990s, and the subsequent drop to near zero in Fed fund rates.
Let me be absolutely clear. Economic management needs flexible, ultimately automatic, variable bank asset ratios to lean into asset booms and to limit asset bubbles. Such an approach would leave variable cash rates to control overall economic conditions, with an ultimate focus on controlling goods and services inflation. Monetary policy would serve one master and bank prudential policy (as we might call variable bank lending ratios) would prevent runaway asset inflation.
Tell me how I am wrong, central bankers, or stand condemned when you next bungle an asset boom and bust.
Geopolitical musings
Tiresias provides a splendid expose of the geoploitical consequences of the mad situation in the Ukraine.
On the potential costs to Australia: 'Make no mistake about it the Zhongnanhai will very quickly move to strengthen relations with their one-time friends and one-time rivals in the Kremlin. The hardliners in China, especially the officer corps of the Peoples Liberation Army, will be strengthened immensely, as will the Chinese secret services. Those elements inside the Chinese leadership that might have been sympathetic to seeking an accommodation with the US will now be greatly weakened. The potential cost of defence spending in Australia in the ensuing decades may well be colossal'.
Read on here.
The Swans, with their multimillionaire forward line, blew away a young Geelong team on Thursday night. This afternoon, Caaaarlton! struggled all day against bottom side Brisbane and then squandered a 16 point lead with a few minutes to go. Result - there goes the season. Sigh! Lots of time to attend to the garden, gentle readers. Offsiders waw speculating darkly about changes yet to come at Princes Park. Bring back Rats seems to be the cry.
The Futball team are in Brazil and were filmed attending a beach. Sun, surf and s*x, there could be no better preparation for an upset goal, even a scoreless draw or (gasp!) a win in the Group of Death. Trouble is, the Italian, probably a previous Australian immigrant with a chip on his shoulder, who ended our run at the last World Cup is probably still plying his trade.
Our two national hockey teams have hit form at the right time and are aiming for two world titles in Holland, or is it the Netherlands? Go girls and go boys.
Image of the week (And then there was this, demanding extra staff ... Did no one tell Mr Palmer the Age of Entitlement is over ... OVER.)
The longest and strongest boom in American share prices ended in two stages. Stage one was the peak in Tech stocks. In April 2000 the Nasdaq collapsed, losing one quarter of its value in a few days. Investors, previously exuberant, became cautious. The broader indices fell in sympathy, but by August, both the Dow and S&P were inching their way back toward their earlier peaks. Investors expected rates to stay on hold when The Fed met on 22 August.
Evidence for a slowdown was still not strong. First quarter growth was 5 %, and, while preliminary estimates of second quarter growth were similar, but mainly into inventories, it was widely believed that risks were still tilted toward inflation.
Complicating matters, healthy pay rises had not yet translated into increases in unit labor costs, and inflation seemed to have slowed.
The Economist asserted that the economic arguments were 'finely balanced'. The venerable mag added:
* Politics says do not hike rates during a (presidential ) election; however* Psychology suggests a 25 point rate hike investors think it is going to be no increase and absent a rate hike shares may surge, reigniting the powerful boom. Bob Shiller's book appeared, and presented some worrying arguments. The bottom line, the take-away message, was that every previous technological revolution had created a speculative bubble, and there is no reason it should be different now.
Shiller tracked the Price-earnings (Pe) ratio through 120 years, a period covering huge technological change.* Nineteenth century was a period of great invention, with prosperity helped along by massive gold discoveries, and these factors drove the Pe ratio to peak in 1900.* The 1920s were another time of rapid devlopment in which the Pe hit its peak in 1929, then tumbled by 80 % in next three years.* Ominously, share prices in 2000 were higher in relation to profits than in 1929.
A comment on the the Feds performance* If inflation (traditional indicator) is correct, Fed has done a superb job. Low inflation has combined with strong growth.* The Fed has argued that faster growth is due to strong productivity increases and has allowed economy to run faster. This has allowed share prices to rise further, into bubble territory.*Some say either higher productivity or higher share prices justifies rate hike, and so the Fed should have done more.
(From almost 10 % in 1989, the effective Fed Funds rate had fallen to a low of around 3 % in 1993, risen to a peak of 6.5 % in mid 1995. Subsequently, there was a fall to 4.8 % in early 1999 followed by a gradual rise toward 6.5 % in late 2000.)
In a powerful article in December 2000, The Economist pointed out that '
four years on, to the very day, and with stockmarkets considerably higher than in 1996, Mr Greenspan injected some irrational exuberance of his own. With a reassuring speech that was taken to imply that the next move in interest rates would be downwards, and that the Fed was ready to ease if the economy slowed too sharply. Mr Greenspan lifted shares by almost $600 billion in a single day. The Nasdaq rose by 10 %, its biggest-ever daily gain.
Markets were now discounting a half-point cut in interest rates in the first half of 2001. But that would only happen if consumer spending falls. If instead it rises, rates may need to rise.
History showed, The Economist asserted, that central banks very rarely steer economies to a soft landing. The borrowing binge that has taken place in America on the assumption of ever-rising profits and share prices may seem especially unwise as growth slows. And pessimism can be as contagious as exuberance.
In another end-year reflection, The Economist asserted that cutting rates in 1987 and after the 1998 LTCM affair may have created an enduring problem.
The risk is that the Fed has created a classic moral hazard problem: it has encouraged investors to take more risks in the belief that interest rates will always be cut if share prices slump or the economy slows. That may engineer a soft landing now, but it also runs the risk of an even harder landing in the future when the markets and the debt overhang have climbed even more.
The fate of the whole world hangs on America. The American economy may get its soft landing. But only a fool would take this for granted: the risk of a much bumpier downturn is real.
Alan Greenspan quickly cut Fed Funds rate to one percent. The Greenspan put was now firmly in place. The Economist's hard landing was avoided, for the moment. Yet within a decade, Greenspan's successor had cut Fed funds virtually to zero, banks had to be bailed out and 'quantitative easing' invented.
In this writer's view, there is a fundamental flaw that is inherent in almost every central bank's view of how to control an economy. Milton Friedman said that 'Monetary policy cannot serve two masters'. The 'Greenspan put', with Ben Bernanke's endorsement, agrees with this judgment in the booms but abandons that view when the share bubble bursts.
Friedman, curiously to this writer, says that the Fed could have nipped the 1920s share boom in the bud with a strategic rate hike, but this approach ignores his own 'two masters' advice.
Galbraith implies that in the 1920s, raising margins for share trading could have prevented the bubble and therefore made the share price crash less damaging. The same issue arose during the 1990s share boom, with The Economist saying the Fed should have raised interest rates sooner to prevent the share price bubble.
Let me be absolutely clear. Economic management needs flexible, ultimately automatic, variable bank asset ratios to lean into asset booms and to limit asset bubbles. Such an approach would leave variable cash rates to control overall economic conditions, with an ultimate focus on controlling goods and services inflation. Monetary policy would serve one master and bank prudential policy (as we might call variable bank lending ratios) would prevent runaway asset inflation.
After a severe global recession, the year 1993 provided new start and fresh hope. The economic outlook was for slow recovery for those OECD economies that were first into the recession (America, Britain, Canada), while some of the others continue to slow down (Germany, France, Italy).
Bond markets are usually a better guide than economists forecasts. Bond markets gave no support to the ideas of doomsters that the 1990s would be a rerun of the 1930s. ... If any of that was more than just talk, money would be rushing out of real assets (land, machinery, offices) and into government paper; bond yields would have collapsed. Despite three years of disinflation, yields in the worlds seventh largest economies had barely fallen.
The mood of most companies and many individuals in the 1980s was to borrow, spend and hope. It turned rather suddenly to repay, save, fear.
Average inflation in OECD countries had fallen to 2.5%, lowest in 30 years. The Economist said: 'The battle against inflation has been won: the industrial world has entered a golden age of stable prices'.
US GDP growth was just short of 6 % in the fourth qtr 1993, so the ball was in Chairman Greenspan's court. He had to act before inflation started to increase, so the US Fed was expected soon to begin raising cash interest rates. The first rate hike for five years came in early February of 1994. Instead of falling, bond yields rose, in Western Europe and Japan, sharply.
America kept growing fast, rapidly running out of spare capacity, unemployment was at levels that had sparked inflation in the past and another bond market rout followed a bigger than expected rise of employment in March. Kaufman - Dr Doom - said bond yields could easy reach 9-10 % from current 7.25 %. But inflation was not yet rising.
President Clinton's budget was described as 'verging on the miraculous'. There were no cuts to Education, Social Security and Medicare, but tax cuts were promised while the deficit was to be reduced. One expert said the budget 'raises the white flag at the red ink of government spending'. The budget was profoundly cynical, the president leaving budget cuts to Republicans.
There were fears Mexico will not be able to pay its debts and that Mexicos crisis would further swell Americas $150 billion CAD.
In Europe, the strength of the D-mark was producing 'renewed chaos' in Europes currency markets.
Gordon Brown, the UK's shadow Chancellor, promised tough targets on spending, borrowing and inflation. Good economics, a newspaper said, but would it prove good politics?
The US dollars 'dizzy descent' further unnerved the worlds currency markets. Chairman Greenspan (finally) said it was 'unwelcome and troublesome'. But Americans seemed untroubled. Market players predicted that interest rates would need to rise.
On April fools day of 1995, The Economist pontificated: It is no coincidence that the countries that have seen the biggest falls in their exchange rate in the past year, and the sharpest rise in bond yields, have been those that are the most heavily indebted.
Beyond a certain level', continued the venerable mag, 'indebtedness can cause a vicious circle: rising debt boosts interest payments, which leads to higher borrowing, and so on. This was a theme to worry many nations, but it did not seem to worry the mighty USA.
One of many discussions of US budgetary policy concluded in a manner Mr Abbott might recognise: 'Draft budgets of some courage have been put forward by the Republicans in Congress.
'Butchering corporate pork will not balance the budget, for the big cash is in middle class entitlements
A program of fundamental reform requires congressional courage, presidential vision and not to be forgotten considerable public sacrifice.
Still America did not seem to care about the budget games. The Standard and Poors share index rose by 34 % in 1995 and experts concluded 1996 would be more subdued. After moderate falls in January, steep increases resumed, faster than in 1995. 'So far, the pundits have been gloriously wrong.
At the end of 1996, Greenspan 'fretted' about 'irrational exuberance' but thereafter went quiet on the issue of share price inflation. Ordinary inflation remained benign despite continued, suprising to many, strong real growth and low unemployment. As Galbraith said of the final stages of the share boom of the 1920s, when the Fed's feeble attempt at restoring sanity was defeated: 'For now, free at last from all threat of government reaction or retribution, the market sailed off into the wild blue yonder.'
President Clinton was reelected the budget still a big issue. Amazingly little discussion of highly favourable economic conditions in a time that became called the 'great moderation'. In early 1997, The Economist pointed out that there was great diversity in setting monetary policy.
The Bank of England uses an inflation target.The Bundesbank keeps its eyes on various measures of money. Others prefer growth of nominal GDP.
A paper from the Fed of New York suggests that heavy reliance on money-supply measures is a bad idea.
'Experience from Canada to New Zealand suggested inflation targets are best'.
The Asian crisis in 1998 raised in some minds the issue of 'moral hazard' - if debtor nations are bailed out, won't they be tempted again to get into the same trouble?
Americas continuing stock market boom created great wealth, and also discussion of the 'virtuous circle' - strong low-inflationary growth boosts share prices, which boosts investment and hence productivity. This, in turn, helps to sustain growth
But there could be too much of a good thing - an 'overheated' stock market could cause overheated economy and push up inflation.
The question was posed - perhaps the Fed should already have raised interest rates. But in a sentance that could have been recycled from Galbraith's The Great Crash, it was pointed out that if the Fed did this now, it would to be blamed. From about now, expert discussion spent less time and space on budgets and more time and space on the boom in share markets - was the boom in danger of becoming a 'bubble' and, since bubbles always end badly (think 1929), what could be done to head off bubbles?
A comment from 1928 was dug out and reproduced: 'There is no means of knowing beyond question how far this recent rise in stock prices represents excess speculation and how far a real adjustment of values to increased industrial efficiency
larger profits'. So far as we know, this was the sentiment that Chairman Greenspan adopted. Do nothing and cut interest rates after the crash to minimise the damage. This was later described as 'The Greenspan Put'.
The Economist added: 'The two big investment-led recoveries this century Americas in the 1920s and Japans in the late 1980s ended in deep recessions. The risk is that over-investment, encouraged by a booming sharemarket, could lead to overcapacity, declining profits and eventually to a nasty contraction. It knew what should be done - 'pop the bubble, now', a mantra repeated with some regularity and ignored with perfect regularity by Chairman Greenspan.
Mr Greenspan adopted the view there was a new age of IT driven productivity increases to explain low inflation, strong investment and strong growth generally with booming share prices. Experts said there were similar periods in the late nineteenth century, in the 1920s and the 1990s was a welcome action replay.
For a while in 1999 and 2000, demand ran well beyond any sensible estimate of enhanced product growth fuelled by productivity increases, and the Fed raised interest rates. Then there was a rabid debate about the possibility of recession.
Thomas Meyer, hawk from US Fed Open Market Committee, said with US unemployment only 4.1 % more rate hikes would be needed. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued a blistering warning of a global hard-landing led by the United States. There were articles about the possibility of bank failures.
Continued here.
What about debt asks one of Australia's leading businessman, Don Argus of NAB, BHP Billiton and Brambles fame.Don Argus is also concerned at the creation of asset bubbles, especially the stock price bubbles emerging from the USA, as the US Fed pumps money into a severely recessed economy. The money pumped in has gone dispropionately to raising share prices, not lifting the boats of a recessed real economy.
Debt and bubbles are two great risks to australia's economic well-being. In Henry's view, lack of competitiveness is an even larger problem, one that Don Argus recognises but does not seem to rate too highly as a risk to prosperity.
Here is a link to this important article.
A feature of Mr Argus' analysis is his focus on total (gross) debt - debt of governments, households and companies. Here is the table, which will repay study.
Don Argus says current debt levels will stifle growth: '... government debt is relatively low by global standards but total debt is quite high, and it is more skewed towards households than in the past. We cannot ignore household debt in our national discourse since the bulk of the Australian stockmarket and economy is exposed to the consumer wallet.
'At best this debt burden portends a long period of low growth for Australia because as you rack up debt you are bringing forward consumption'. Note Bob Hawke's bold attempt earlier this week to help Australia become seriously rich while helping the world to drown in its own pollution. Linked here.
A constant theme in political commentary since the budget concerns the government's poorly explained attempts to rein in a budget out of control, 'the narrative'.
Henry tried to get this point over - linked here - before the budget was locked in stone, but got a dusty reception from the economic advisor to Mr Hockey, while Mr Abbott's economic advisor was too busy to respond. Pollies really do need to interact with people like Don Argus with grey hair and battle scars. Was the Abbott-Hockey economic narrative even road-tested with John Howard, one is forced to ask?
We are where we are, and one hopes that the Australian people will give Tony Abbott a second term. It is worth recalling that we gave even Gough Whitlam and Rudd'n'Gillard'Rudd a second chance, so there is precedent.
Post-budget polling has emphatically confirmed a second major shift in public opinion since the election, the first being a strikingly early dip in the new governments fortunes in November, leaving the opposition with a narrow lead when the dust had settled.
The latest landslip looks even bigger than the first, says William Bowe, Crikey's polling analyst and The Poll Bludger blogger, and it sends the Coalition into territory that was all too familiar to Labor during its tumultuous second term in office.
See Image of the Week below, which shows opinion polls that look absolutely horrific for the Abbott government.
Fiona Prior finds Hidden Treasure from Kabul at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Gold, garnet, torquoise ... and treasures from 2200 BCE to 200 CE! Enjoy her overview here.
Footy'n'futball'n'other stuff
The socceroos are to have a young captain for the futball World Cup, and a bias to youth in team selection. Good luck to them, and if the team can survive the group of death many Aussies will be burning the midnight oil.
Caaaarlton! faces Adelaide this weekend, and we shall no doubt tune in to the telecast with limited expectations.
The competition seems to have settled down to the best - Hawthorn, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Freo - and the rest. The big improvers are the Goldcoast Suns, and the Giants are also looking good. Like Sydney in its day, it is always possible by offering extra help to boost a new team, and that has unbalanced the competition.
Melbournians with allegiances to their old suburban teams are beginning to wonder what is going on. Soon there will be two divisions and a new aim, to avoid relegation. Works for Futball in other places, so it is another way for the AFL to make money.
Image of the week
... says Australia's great reforming PM, Bob Hawke.
There was a special poignancy in the speech by RJ (Bob) Hawke at the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) conference this week. Here was the Prime Minister who introduced the CRC program on the advice of his Chief Scientist, Ralph Slatyer, just a week after the Abbott government slashed 12 % from the CRC program. This was done despite the proven effectiveness of the CRC program, as demonstrated by several rigorous reviews, most recently by the Allen consulting Group in 2012. The summary of that study is: 'Between 1991 and 2017 CRCs produced technologies, products and processes that were estimated to have a direct value of almost $14.5 billion'. And also: 'Relative to the funds committed to the CRC program by the Australian Government, the CRC program has generated a net economic benefit to the community, which has exceeded its costs by a factor of 3.1'.
(This latest of several studies of the CRC program is available here.)
In introducing Mr Hawke, CRC Association Chairman, Tony Staley described Mr Hawke as 'one of Australia's great Prime ministers'. He added that he knew his friend, John Howard, agreed with that evaluation. I can add here that, as a 'sherpa' at Mr Hawke's Economic Summit held shortly after the Hawke government was installed, I was greatly impressed with the political good sense of the summit, and (of course) even more impressed as the economic reforms began to flow, including the float of the Australian dollar. (This writer's account of that key reform is available here.)
At the CRCA conference, Mr Hawke delivered a dramatic speech, that so far has received only minor coverage by the mainstream press. (Here is a short example.)
The first part of the speech was about that formation and performance of the CRC program. Mr Hawke had appointed Australia's first Chief Scientist early in his time in government. Professor Ralph Slatyer was a former school friend of Mr Hawke, at the famous Perth Modern school. He was 'quiet, studious and obviously brilliant' and went on to have a brilliant scientific career. Hawke and Slatyer shared 'wonderment' at the pace of change in the modern world, and Mr Hawke quoted the economist Kenneth Boulding who said something like (my notes might be defective): 'The world today is as different to the world in which I was born as that world is to the world of Julius Caesar'.
Clearly, if Australia is to have any chance of being on the pace we have to be smart enough to understand, and contribute to, the driver of the world's rapid change, which is global Reaearch & Development (R&D). And to maintain our place at the table of leading nations, even mid-level nations, we shall have to be a whole lot better at turning R&D into commercial outcomes. That is the purpose of the CRC program, to provide taxpayer's cash to encourage scientists to work to solve real problems for end-users, be they companies or government agencies. This program is much admired by, and copied in, other countries, including China where this writer had some practical input to the relevant transfer of ideas.
The guts of Mr Hawke's speech was his announcement about the importance of nuclear power as a major way to solve the problem of global environmental pollution. (He said 'climate change' but I believe 'pollution' is both more general and equally important to the asserted problem of global warming that is so passionately believed by climate change activists.)
In short, Mr Hawke wants Australia to enrich our plentiful stocks of uranium (40 % of known global stocks in some estimates), sell it others to provide fuel for the many nuclear reactors now being built (notably in China, where pollution is a major issue) and then take back the waste for safe storage. Australia is the ideal place for such storage as it is geologically stable, and it was time for Australia to consider the idea with 'calm consideration of facts'.
During his time in government, Mr Hawke said, he had identified places in Western Australia and the Northern Territory that were ideal for safe long-term storage. Mr Hawke said that he had more recently spoken to relevant aboriginal groups, who were willing to consider the proposal provided only trhat they received their fair share of the fees involved. He also said that he had spoken with the Northern Territory's Chief minister, who was keen on the idea. Mr Hawke was also confident that Western Australia's premier would support the idea.
Enhancing uranium and storing waste would provide great wealth to Australia, and would solve the great fiscal constraints now causing such angst. More importantly, it would make Australia a 'responsible global citizen' and (I would add) make us easily able to provide for our defense. Mr Hawke added that the facilities for enrichment and storage should be owned and run by government, a proposition which this writer totally endorses.
Concerns of some, Mr Hawke asserted, about China's future as a global power were wrong. China has always been a peaceful power, and is deeply engaged in solving its own problems, including the massive problem of pollution. China is busy building modern nuclear power stations, and would regard Australia's involvement as proposed as a 'win-win'.
I think it is fair to say that the proposal was greeted by many present with shock, perhaps even shock and awe. Certainly the applause that accompanied the first part of Mr Hawke's speech dried up, and pins could be heard dropping in the vast lecture theatre. I was moved to say it might well be the most important of Mr Hawke's many contributions to Australia's welfare and place in the world. It deserves widespread discussion and deep consideration.
Mr Hawke's full address is available on the CRC Association website.
Disclosure: This writer is a former Chairman of the Federal government's CRC Committee, and a current Chair of CRC Care, a leader in remediation of polluted sites.
'Who'd of guessed it? Tony Abbott has taken the axe to every program he can find, even adding to the taxes paid by his rich Liberal mates. He's hit us battlers harder, of course, and the brothers at the local pub have all agreed to vote for Bill Shorten or Clive Palmer. Gary Morgan says the Libs are buggered, and even the Oz says Abbott and his mates are in their own world of pain. Dunno why, as all they're sufferin' is a wage freeze plus less free plane trips when they quit politics. Which looks like commin' sooner than they thought. Even the useless bloody State Premiers are whinging, and most of them are Liberals'.
Henry's roving reporter filed this missive from a battleground of the class war, the front bar of Balmain's most traditional pub. The newspapers, even Rupert's Australian, have not been kind. They point out that structural budget reforms will help taxpayers in the long run, when some of us will be safely dead. The AFR yesterday gleefully (in Henry's view) reported the massive hit to the Coalition's standing in the polls and in Tony Abbott's standing relative to the Opposition Leader.
Laura Tingle says that Messrs Abbott and Hockey 'have no choice but to go back and rethink the entire political and economic strategy on which this budget is built'. Alan Mitchell points out that Mr. Shorten if in government would be forced to replace Mr. Abbott's unpopular measures by tough ones of his own. But as Tony Abbott showed so brilliantly, an opposition does not actually have to present its own plan, just attack the plans of the government. One is irresistibly reminded that those who live by the sword are likely to die by the sword.
Henry spend yesterday in Adelaide with some up-market citizens, all baffled at the government's political strategy. 'Designed by someone whose never had a real job' was one comment. Another said they had no need to slice and dice the battlers - 'They could have fixed the budget by abolishing negative gearing, ending tax free super for the over sixties and killing Tony Abbott's fee kick for new mothers'. An economist in the group disputed this. 'The simplest solution is to broaden the GST and raise its rate to 15 %'. He pointed out that Tim Costello seemed to support that approach, and he added 'Tim is no Liberal thug'.
The theory that the government is playing a long game with the aim of getting the states to demand a GST upgrade may or may not be true, but adds to the 'mean and tricky' image that all pollies in Australia are already tarred with.
Sadly is seems the 'budget emergency' narrative has failed. Australia has a very low ratio of official debt to GDP and slow adjustment would keep Australia's position low on the international debt league table. What has only emerged now is the massive ramp up of Labor's programs in years 5 and 6, now that the previous five has become four. This is a complicated matter, and it would have been much better if the prebudget narrative had consistently stressed that 'the budget is much worse that we expected'. Even better if the pre-election attack had included the repeated suggestion that things would be a lot worse than Labor's numbers implied. How could you not have expected that, Mr hockey, when Swannie's predictions had been so excessively rosy?
Henry's view remains that Australia has a nasty budget problem to unravel, but the bigger problem is Australia's relatively high cost level, and there is almost nothing in this budget except austerity for battlers to help sort this problem. As advised on April 30, if the government had taken a 20 % cut in their own salaries until the budget and competitiveness emergency was over, and invited business leaders to do something similar (having privately persuaded a number of senior business leaders to match the offer), the whole package would look far fairer, and in addition would be better economics.
A splendid analysis of the 'narrative' issue is in The Oz for 22 May, by Niki Savva.
Like the galahs in the petshop, every economist has been saying 'Why not the GST, Messrs Abbott and Hockey?' 'We promised not to change the GST until after an election in which we said we would', say the boys from Riverview. Fair enough, but the people at large think you have already broken a whole lot of promises, and might well prefer one 'repair the budget' broken promise than a whole series of smaller promises that most people think are unfair, considering the lack of 'heavy lifting' by people on high (>180 K pa) incomes who lose a mere 2 % of income above $180 K.
As one wag put it:
if it ain't hurtingit ain't working
The elites (those who don't drop their haitches) tend to sneer at the Herald Sun, a newspaper that has the bravest stories and especially the best sporting coverage of them all. This newspaper yesterday was the first to come out for the GST. Its prominant story yesterday led off as follows: 'RAISING the GST to 12.5 per cent and applying it to fresh food, health and education would raise $25 billion a year.
'This would more than compensate state governments for federal budget cuts to hospitals and schools funding while also funding tax cuts for low and middle income families.
'According to Deloitte Access Economics modelling, lifting the GST rate from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent would raise $13 billion a year.
'Broadening the GST to apply to fresh food would raise another $6.5 billion. Applying the tax on health and education would raise another $3 billion each'.
The ex-Treasury man who provided these numbers, Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics, said state premiers would be wise to lead a national debate about lifting the GST to fund critical services. The conspiracy theorists have been saying all week Messrs Abbott and Hockey are extremely clever, instructed in the dark arts of politics at Riverview, and have planned such a horrible budget so that State Premiers, indeed all the galahs and most voters, will cry 'The GST, the GST, we want a broader GST at a higher rate'. Little New Zealand bit that particular bullet some time ago and now has a growing economy with (gasp!) a budget surplus.
Don't have a double dissolution, Mr Abbott, but instead a referendum like that Queensland ad, with more options.
Which option do you prefer (only one box can be ticked)
1. The budget's mix of spending cuts, asset sales and the temporary debt levy.
2. An across the board 10 % rise in every rate of tax except the GST.
3. A widening of the GST so there are no exemptions with the rate increased to 12.5 %.
4. The budget's spending cuts plus however much of options 2 and 3 that are needed to produce a balanced budget in 2014-15.
5. No action to fix the budget, continued growth of debt and a chronically weak economy.
Clearly Treasury would need to check the numbers, and it might be desirable to include the medical research fund in every option to lock in the academic vote.
Sorry folks, just joking, but the GST option is the fairest and most likely to fix the budget while improving the economy in the process.
Time to be totally serious.
The old master, Paul kelly, puts all this into serious perspective in the Oz.
On the GST debate, Kelly says: 'Abbott and Hockey have ignited a long reform fuse. By cutting $80 billion to the states from Labors fiscal expansion in schools and hospitals funding they are provoking a new debate about the federation including a bigger GST.
'This is a calculated move. Their intention is to provoke the states.
'Their message is that Labors financial centralisation requiring Canberra to meet greater funding shares for schools and public hospitals is untenable. The groundswell for a GST debate is apparent with the welfare sector, unions and business conceding the conversation is inevitable.
'The trade-offs are obvious: if we dont rely more on the GST, then benefits will be tightened further and personal income taxes will do more heavy lifting'.
Read on here. Ask yourself, as Paul Kelly does: 'Is Abbott crazy brave?' Or just a dedicated economic reformer.
Even some people prominent in the welfare sector accept the view that widening the GST would be the least harmful way to set the budget on a sustainable course., and perhaps in the end a majority in either the old or the new Senate will do so as well.
In conclusion, I must insist that in the great debate over the budget, fixing national competitiveness has been overlooked, or put aside for another day. My thoughts are summarised in terms of the narrative I would have preferred for the budget debate, or indeed the overall reform task.
There is respite this weekend as Caaarlton! is having a rest. Most of the better sides will be struttin' their stuff, with threat of ASADA 'show cause' letters hanging over 40 heads at Essendon high on the list of rumoured shocks. Even Henry, for whom Essendon is a tribal enemy, would not welcome such an outcome. Some teams just play harder for longer, presumably because of better recruiting, training and motivation, like some companies. If it becomes proven that some teams used some sort of jungle juice instead, or in addition, it will do great damage to Aussie rules, as happened with cycling and the Olympic 100 metres.
Courtesy The Oz
Crikey, the Raff has never before encountered so much hostility towards a budget. Not just from the opposition side of the fence but from all political divides. From the opposition side of the great divide the Liberals were just being bastards as they always are, mean, uncaring and more protective of the well-off. From the Liberal quarter there was a complete rubbishing of most of JHs budget items. The view all round is that TA and JH got it all wrong. But why?
It wouldnt have taken much of a survey in the streets to find out in advance what was going to be the general view of the public on JHs effort. JH and TA shouldnt shoulder all the blame, a large part of which is probably attributable to advisors in Treasury, Finance and the Prime Ministers office. We might well ponder the credentials of the advisors that have probably grown up in a cocoon masquerading as Canberra.
One thing is almost certain that most of the advisors, although probably well educated, have never worked in private industry, have never employed people and have never ever tried to run their own business. If you have a clodney or many of them responsible for providing advice to any government its a recipe for disaster. For Henrys readers not familiar with the term, a clodney is someone most suitable as a potato digger, perhaps Irish in origin.
With so much hostility towards the budget from every corner, its difficult to see JH seeing much of the budget passing the Senate. The States are crying poor because of cuts in funding and education. This is clearly the start of the process to get the States to agree to a hike in the GST. Whilst on this subject it is notable how well New Zealand is doing after increasing the GST from 12% to 15%.
Jeff Kennett got it right in a recent interview on ABCs Lateline that the procedure should have been TA saying I am going to break ONE promise to rectify the budget and that is I am going to hike the GST. By the way, pretty well all the Table of Knowledge participants thought that hiking the GST was the best option for the Libs. We might well ask ourselves how come TA and JH couldnt see same.
A worrying outcome from this mess is high probability of a double dissolution. If current sentiment exists into the next election the Libs will get wiped out, and they will only have themselves to blame. One view from a Labor stalwart was god forbid a continuation of Labor failures. A ghastly thought are Libs switching to The Greens or Palmers United Party. Its a nightmarish thought but the very worst imaginable outcome would be hello President Clive.
Ed: Roy Morgan Research reported: 'A special combined Roy Morgan Business Pulse and Roy Morgan Consumer Pulse survey conducted today (May 14, 2014) shows large majorities of both Australian consumers (88%) and businesses (74%) overwhelmingly feel last nights Federal Budget will not benefit them this is little changed from pre-Budget expectations measured by Roy Morgan last Friday'.
Budget week. What fun, when all the leaks, inventions and outright lies are put to rest. It will be tough, and it will be fair, with a deficit levy on the well-to-do, it seems, despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, implants rather than removable plates in these times of advanced dentistry.
Local Tea Party Libs, however, deserve their chance to let off steam. Here is a nice snippet from 1888, from Representative Thomas R Hudd of Wisconsin, when taxes were miniscule by today's standards..
Taxed on the coffin, taxed on the cribOn the old man's shroud, on the young baby's cribTo fatten the bigot and pamper the knaveWe are taxed from the cradle plumb into the grave.
Henry's efforts in this pre-budget week have focussed on the radical fix-it budgets of President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher. Desperate times, the dismal 1970s, produced strong, self-confident leaders. Henry's conclusion should give succor to Tea Party Libs.
'Despite the set-back in October 1987, the great asset boom of the 1980s was to continue until the Japanese crash in December 1989. In the USA and UK the October set-back was greater, but the 1990s were to produce one of the greatest share booms in history. Budget policy in both cases was non-standard, even totally at odds with conventional (Keynesian) standards. The question that must be answered is this: "Was it improved economic performance or simply the psychological effect of strong-minded, self-confident leaders willing to shake up entrenched economies?"
'Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey, over to you'.
A regular reader and occasional critic, Tiresias of Canberra, found Henry's question unconvincing or irrelevant.
'Your question on how best to account for the Great Recovery under Reagan and Thatcher (Was it improved economic performance or simply the psychological effect of strong-minded, self-confident leaders willing to shake up entrenched economies?) is a great conversation starter or examination topic
but real-life national economic policy is neither a dinner party or an exam. The thrilling days of the 80s are not about to return in time to rejuvenate those who remember them. Policy is a desperate struggle to get it right that takes place in the knowledge that even the best answer will turn out to be wrong after a while
which would make a great epitaph for either Reaganomics or Thatcherism'.
Read on here.
Another contribution this week also questioned another conventional wisdom. Craig Milne of the Australian Productivity Council accepts that freer trade has made us richer, but invites us to recognise the costs, which include: * unemployment now much higher than it was in the trade regulated era;* replacement of Australian manufactured goods with imports has been the main contributor to the deterioration of the nations external account; * as manufacturing contracted, the share of the economy commanded by government has grown in response; and * the loss of large numbers of manufacturing firms, and even entire industries, that has resulted from trade liberalisation, has substantially diminished Australias technological status and capability.
As an overall result, Milne says 'we have lost the mastery of the art and science that underpins this broad expertise that is, more than anything else, the measure and defining characteristic of a technical civilisation, the engine of its forward movement and the ground of its futurity'.
Here is the full article.
Thanks go to David Uren & the Oz for the nice overview of deficits on debt since Federation, along with the Prime Ministers who presided. The roll call includes Henry's favourite deficit crisis, the 'Banana Republic'.
The article is linked here, and its graphic clearly deserves to be image of the week, if not the year.
There are three tests for the budget which is to be presented next week;* Is it tough enough?* Is it fair enough? and* Does its narrative make sense, and include plans to reduce Australia's double-digit cost overhang?
Fiona Prior has visited the 19th Biennale of Sydney and her report can be accessed here.
Clearly a mind-blowing experience.
The Bump that stopped a nation, correction, footy lovers in that nation, has been resolved in accord with Australia's ANZAC tradition of bravery and strength under pressure in a lost cause. Melbourne's Jack Viney is free to play this weekend, a clearly stoopid decision by the AFL tribunal having been overturned.Last night's epic battle between a depleted Hawthorn and a revitalised Swans was one for the ages. The Swans now have not one but two superstar forwards, and it really isn't fair Andrew Demetriou.Sadly, Henry will be on a plane returning from Sydney when Caaaarlton! plays St Kilda on Monday in the late afternoon. If only we had one superstar forward, plus Cyril Rioli, Gary Ablett and that superstar ruckman we let go to Adelaide we'd be competitive. But we got crucified by the AFL for rorting the salary cap, another poor decision by Andrew Demitriou. (In the Thornton household, Mr Demetriou gets blamed for all things wrong with the AFL, just as Bill Shorten blames Tony Abbott for all things wrong with Australia.)
A highlight of Henry's week was a short conversation with legendary Beer and Jam mogol, John Elliot.
Henry. 'What's up with our footy team, John?John. 'We've got seven of our best players out injured. We lack depth'.Henry. 'How's Mick going?'John. 'Mick's doing fine. The players are right behind him!'Henry. 'Good. Enjoy your smoke, Comrade.'
Courtesy David Uren & the Oz


text:
|Women's Basketball Coaching Staff Blog
Members of the Charlotte 49ers women's basketball coaching staff updated the blog each week during the 2011-12 season. Every Tuesday a new blog was posted.
Monday, February 27, 2012
It's great to be able to talk to you again about what's been going on with team. A lot has gone on since we last made contact.
We ended up losing to Saint Joseph's on Breast Cancer awareness night. Although the girls started off well, we ended up allowing St. Joe's to pull away at the end to claim the win. St. Joe's has received the #5 seed in the Conference Tourney that will take place this weekend, Friday, March 2nd - Monday, March 5th.
Following the St. Joe's game, we took on Saint Louis (a familiar current and past conference foe). We played them at home the second game of the season and ended up pulling out a close win. Since we last saw them, they definitely had gotten even better. We started the game off pretty slow with four back to back to back to back turnovers. Nonetheless, we were able to battle back and keep the score close the entire game. The game ended up going into overtime where we blew a four point lead with roughly 20 seconds left in OT to lose by one measly point. If you can only imagine how devastated we were after the game.
Finally after a disappointing loss to Saint Louis, we had one game to prepare for - Richmond. Richmond has always been a consistent contender in our league. This year they played well throughout the conference season and their losses were all pretty much very close losses to the teams ahead of them. So we knew we were in for a battle. Surprisingly, we found the old 49er team and we came out of the gates ready. We lead the entire game only allowing them to get within three points one time. Then we pulled away again to claim the victory. Richmond still finished fourth in the conference claiming a first round bye. This was a very rewarding game to play. We've been through a lot of ups and downs this season with winning streaks then losing streaks and we really needed this win to get us going. It also happened to be Senior Night where we honored our two seniors, Katie Meador and Epiphany Woodson. So to get a win yesterday felt good. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into the Conference Tournament this Friday.
So we ended up finishing sixth in the league and will take on our very well known opponent, Saint Louis. Now the good thing is we are very familiar with them having played them less than a week ago. This will be our third meeting this season and we definitely shouldn't need any motivation to come out and compete. Hopefully we will have that Charlotte team that made an appearance yesterday show up to play them. We will need your support though to do that! Cick here for the bracket to help show you what road we will have to take to claim another championship. So please continue to support us and remember always WEAR GREEN and GO NINERS!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
By Assistant Coach Karen Lange
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY Niner Nation!!
I'm going to go with the Love theme for the day for my blog...yeah I know I'm not too original huh?
I'm a music lover. Music is always playing in my car, my office, my house...ALWAYS. What music I listen to depends on the day and what I'm feeling. Today ironically while I was working out "We All Want Love" by Rihanna shuffled through my playlist and so did "Bleed Red" by Ronnie Dunn. Music lyrics can describe exactly what you are going through sometimes....
"Everybody wants something. Better want something. What are you living for? Fighting for something. We all want the same thing....We all want the same thing"
"We all bleed red, we all taste rain. All fall down, lose our way. Sometimes we're strong, sometimes we're weak. -We all bleed red."
Our last week wasn't perfect by any means and we fell short of our goals and we know it. In moments like this you have to remind each other...."We all want the same thing. We are all fighting for something." We are still fighting for a bye in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament and we are in complete control of our destiny. We don't have to hope, wish, etc. as long as we control what we can control. That is still the positive and beauty in all of this. All you ever want is another chance and sports more so than anything in life gives you second and third chances to make things right. We have that opportunity over the next week and a half.
The other thing you learn in these moments is that we all fall down. Even the best fall down but the best stand up a lot faster than everyone else. We all bleed red, we all are strong sometimes. Sometimes we're weak. You have to teach young people that things are never as bad as they seem and things are never as good as it seems so you have to stay balanced. And you FIGHT BACK, you BOUNCE BACK; you get back to being who you are. That's CHARLOTTE BASKETBALL!
On Saturday we play host to Saint Joseph's who we are tied with in the conference. It's our PINK game to honor those who are battling breast cancer or who have battled breast cancer. All of us have loved ones you have been affected by this disease. Show your love and support by coming to our game Saturday, wearing pink, and honoring some of the strongest people in life....cancer fighters!!! See you Saturday 49ers!!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
By Head Coach Cara Consuegra
Hey Niner
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Hey Niner Nation,
Greetings and happy 2012 from your Director of Operations; I hope you have not given up on your New Year's resolutions yet, you only have 11 more months to go. For this blog I want our fans to catch a small glimpse into traveling with the Niners... come on I'm the travel guy, I had to say something about it. Then at the end I'm going to attempt to be a salesman, you'll see.
On Wednesday January 25th we played Fordham at 7:00 pm... and won. But as you can imagine MUCH preparation and planning went into this victory. It first starts approximately three months in advance when Head Coach Cara Consuegra and I discuss flight options for the trip. We typically like to get to the city in which we play about 24 hours in advance, in Fordham's case, the Bronx, New York. After careful consideration of flight times, airfares, when we can practice, and the player's class schedule we chose a US Airways flight that departed Charlotte at 2:26 pm and arrived at LaGuardia airport in New York at 4:15 pm. Return flights are a bit more complicated. If it's a 2:00 game, typically we can get back the same day, but for 7:00 games, we have to fly out early the next morning. Missing class is something Coach Cara does not mess around with. She does everything to make sure the girls miss the least amount of class possible; this is a top priority of hers. After selecting the flight, everything else falls into place. I then book our hotel. We try and stay at full service hotels where we can have a full hot breakfast, meeting space for study hall and film, and a workout facility for rehab if necessary. Next, I schedule our charter bus needs. Most would think we need just one bus, in New York. However, we actually need three. Bus 1 is a shuttle that takes us from Halton Arena to Charlotte Douglas Airport, Bus 2 is our "local bus" that drives us while in New York, and Bus 3 is another shuttle that picks us up at Charlotte Douglas airport and returns us to campus. I then contact the opposing school to find out when we can have a shoot around time. The last major component is food. This is a HUGE component of our trip. Our student athletes can put some food away, and I mean A LOT... but, please remember, we burn well over 2,000 + calories per day.
For your viewing and curiosity pleasure, below this blog I have posted our Travel Itinerary for you. You will notice that it is VERY detailed. It has departure/arrival times, weather forecast, attire for each activity, and even what piece of luggage to use. On a side note, Darin Spease, Senior Associate Athletic Director in charge of the Business Department for Charlotte Athletics will be happy to know we save on average $300 per FLIGHT by using small carry-on bags instead of big pieces of luggage. I hope this will give each of you a look into how the Niners travel.
And lastly, let me end with a short marketing and sales pitch. There are two chances to see your Niners in action here at home. First come tomorrow night, Wednesday February 1st at 7:00 as we play the UMass Minutewomen. For those that are Fast Break Club Members only, our pregame reception will be at 6:00 pm in the SAC Salons. This looks to be a great game between the two teams.
And for the grand finale, on Saturday February 4th make sure you run all your weekend errands prior to 4:00 pm. Many of our alumni are coming back and playing in our annual Alumni Basketball game. Come and watch as your past Niners prove they still got it. This is always a fun event and allows Niner Nation to remember the many fond memories here at Halton and honor those who laced up their shoes for this great institution. The actual game vs. Rhode Island will start at 7:00 pm. This is also National Girls and Women in Sports Day and a kid's clinic will be held from 5:30-6:15 pm on the Recreation courts above the main court. Hopefully this will be a fun filled afternoon/evening for the entire family, and another slash for Charlotte in the win column.
Thanks so much for reading and being a loyal Niner.
As always, wear green and GO NINERS!!!!
Fordham itinerary
January 24th - 26th , 2012Tuesday January 24th
9:15 am Film
9:30-12:100 pm Practice
12:30 pm Depart campus for Charlotte Airport (Black jumpman, green LS dri-fit, nike travel shoes)
2:26 pm Depart on US Air flight 1182 for LaGuardia Airport
4:16 pm Arrive at LaGuardia Airport
5:30 pm Arrive at hotel
6:15 pm Depart hotel for dinner (same as the plane)
6:30 pm Dinner at Outback Steakhouse (60 S. Broadway)
8:30 pm Film (same as plane but NO jacket)
9:00-10:00 pm Study Hall (MANDATORY for those in study hall only)
11:00 pm Lights Out
Wednesday January 25th
9:30 am Breakfast at hotel (hoodie sweats PANTS only, green t-shirt, nike travel shoes)
10:00-11:00 am Study hall - (MANDATORY for ALL)
11:15 am Depart hotel for Shoot Around (same as breakfast with hoodie top)
12:00 pm Shoot Around at Lombardi Center
1:40 pm Arrive back to hotel
3:00 pm Pregame Meal (black jumpman pants, gray LS dri-fit, nike travel shoes)
5:10 pm Depart hotel for game (wear game warm-ups with away uniform underneath)
Bring everything you, we will not be returning to THIS hotel
7:00 pm Game Time - GO NINERS!!!!!
9:30 pm Depart arena for Courtyard Marriott hotel (hoodie sweats, nike travel shoes)
10:15 pm Arrive at Courtyard Marriott
11:00 pm Lights out
Thursday January 26th
6:30 am Depart hotel for LaGuardia airport (black jumpman suit, gray LS dri-fit, travel shoes)
6:40 am Arrive at LaGuardia airport
8:00 am Depart on US Air flight 1733 to Charlotte
10:12 am Arrive at Charlotte Douglas airport
11:00 am Arrive at campus
Friday, January 27, 2012
By Assistant Coach Angela Crosby
Hello Niner Nation,
On Saturday night, we hosted conference foe St. Bonaventure. They also came into Halton Arena undefeated and boy were we in for a fight! St. Bonaventure came in pretty confident as they had beaten some pretty tough teams in non-conference and in the Atlantic 10. Our players were really focused days prior to that game as they reminded each other that we would have to play extremely well to beat a team as solid as the Bonnies. We battled back and forth during the entire first half and went into the break up five. We knew we could not relax because they were known to have really strong second half performances. So we talked things over and prepared to go out and give it our best shot! Things went well for us early in the second half as we maintained our lead. But in the last five minutes of the game is when things got a little tough for us. They hit some tough shots and we could not stop them. We also struggled from the free throw line and could not buy a basket when we really needed one. It was a tough loss for us but we knew that we had to regroup for a tough Fordham team.
Fordham is known to be a very strong three-point shooting team and when that is the case you have to be very careful to contest all of their shots. They have a new coach and a lot of new players and they play extremely hard. After the loss to St. Bonaventure, it was important for us to bounce back with a win because every game means something different for your program and we did not want to lose two in a row. We practiced hard and focused on Fordham and also on things that would make us better as a team. (Ex. Free throws and layups) We had really good practices leading up to the Fordham game so we were ready to compete again. We started the game a little sluggish but as time went on we begin to play "Charlotte" basketball. A few fast break points as well as getting the ball inside always seems to get us on track. We also had several hustle plays in the first half that got us going...There is nothing like seeing the girls dive on the floor. After the break our defense picked up and we were able to pull away. I am always happy to see the girls get fired up and chest bump after a good play. Now that's a lot of fun! We finished the game with several people doing some good things although we had a lead....That's the sign of a good team getting ready for a nice run in A-10 play.
We will play Temple this Sunday at 2pm on CBS Sports Network. If you can't be there... cheer us on!
Thanks for your support!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Hey Niner Nation,
It's been a while since I've been able to speak to you, but I couldn't be more excited to fill you in on what the Charlotte 49ers Women's Basketball team has been up to lately! We just recently began Conference play on Saturday, January 7th. Since then, we have gone 3-0 with wins at Xavier, at home versus Saint Louis and at George Washington. I must say, we really are big on letting games go down to the wire.
We hosted Saint Louis last Wednesday, January 11th. As many of you may already know, we have the pleasure of playing Saint Louis twice every year. Every team gets to play an opponent in the conference twice and Saint Louis is our team. Here is a quick side note for you... Saint Louis used to be in Conference USA with us back in 2005. When the conference broke up, they headed to the A-10 with us. So we have a lot of history with them. On another note, we ended up barely getting the win. After having a reasonable lead earlier in the second half, we ended up allowing them back in the game. One of their guards proved to be difficult to handle for us. She was able to get her team back in the game by hitting huge shots down the stretch. But, we will take the win however we can get it.
Saturday was a similar story up in Washington, D.C. as we took on George Washington. If you guys don't know much about them, they used to rule the conference back when we first joined the A-10 in 2006. They haven't been that same team since they graduated that talented group. But they definitely are still extremely competitive. We saw that first hand this past weekend. It was a close game the entire way. At one point we pulled away, but not by much. It came down to two big plays by one of our freshman, Ayanna Holmes. She hit two big shots at the end of the game that gave us the win. That's always encouraging to watch your young kids grow. She definitely stepped up and showed us what type of player she is.
Now we have two big games this week. Tomorrow we take
on La Salle, who is also undefeated in league play. They are playing
great. And if you all remember, last year we went up there and got a
beating. So we definitely owe them, but it won't be easy. They have
some new faces this year that have been carrying the load of their team.
We also have St. Bonaventure coming in on Saturday. They too beat us at
their place last year on National television. St. Bonaventure is having a
great year. Right now they only have two losses and have beat some
significant teams. This will be a test for us. La Salle, St.
Bonaventure and Charlotte are the only three undefeated teams in conference
play right now. By the end of the week, there will be at least one of us
with a loss, if not two. So we need your support in Halton Arena!
Can we count on you?! We need you there on Wednesday at 12pm and Saturday
at 7pm. We'll be looking for you!!!!!
January 10, 2012
Hello Niner Nation and Happy New Year. I'm not big on New Year resolutions only because I'm a realist and I know that I will have good intentions but my follow through will be messed up just like it used to be with my shot. My ball always had a sideward spin to it. =)
We have started A-10 play and we are 1-0 with a big road win over Xavier this past Saturday. I know that we snapped all kinds of their crazy conference win streaks which I am happy about but now I want to focus on working to make Charlotte win streaks happen. It's important that we gain confidence and get a good bounce to our step with that road win but we have to stay focused on what's ahead and move on with the same intensity and effort for our next game vs. Saint Louis tomorrow. One game at a time. It's a long season and winning is an everyday process. I once was told the story of the bamboo tree and I a lot of times feel like I am a bamboo farmer since we began this season in September. The story goes like this....
When the Chinese plant bamboo, first they plant seeds, then water and fertilize them. The first year (first month for us) nothing happens. The second year (second month) they continue to water and fertilize the seeds, and still nothing happens. The farmer continues the process for a 3rd and 4th year (third and fourth month) with no visual results. Then sometime in the 5th year in a period of approx. 6 weeks, the Chinese bamboo grows 90 feet. If the farmer had given up when he didn't visually see any results and not kept watering and fertilizing the seeds there would be no bamboo.
It's the same way for us with our team. Everything can look like it's not working in the middle. Wins are often the result of persistence - of not giving up when everything seems to be difficult. We water and fertilize daily with discipline and hard work. We plant seeds of character and lessons. Our bamboo hasn't grown 90 feet yet but we know it's growing. Our players' persistence and consistency one day will have beautiful results. "Relentless consistency" is what we are striving for everyday. "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary." Galatians 6:9.
Come out and support your 49ers during A-10 conference play. See you in Halton.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
By Head Coach Cara Consuegra
Happy New Year from all of us here at Charlotte Women's Basketball. I hope that you had a wonderful Holiday season. For us, our time off was short. After a great win over North Carolina A&T on December 21, our players and staff were off for four days. Everyone was able to get home and spend time with family and friends. My husband and I spent our Christmas back in Milwaukee and it was my first time with his family during the holiday. It was great to go back to a place I called "home" for the previous seven years and we had a wonderful time and of course, ate very well!
All players and coaches reported back on December 26 and we got to work. We had several long practices, including a two-a-day, to get us back into playing mode and prepare for the upcoming tournament hosted by FIU in Miami. We got down to Miami and played Auburn first and unfortunately did not get off to a good start. We quickly found ourselves in a 19 point deficit, but we refused to quit. We battled all the way back to take the lead with four minutes to go in the game, but couldn't quite close it out. It was a disappointing defeat but I was pleased to see that our team is learning to battle. It takes a lot of toughness and heart to come back like that, so I am sure it will pay off down the road. We played Albany the next day and were able to get out of there with a victory.
Last night we finished out the non-conference portion of our schedule with a decisive win over Furman. I challenged the team before the game that everyone needed to play a complete game and I really thought we were close to doing that. We have now won 3 out of our last 4 games and plan to carry that momentum into the A10 season. We start off with a tough one at Xavier on Saturday, but I am confident that our tough schedule has prepared us for this.
Thanks for your continued support this season and I hope to see you in one week for our A10 home opener on January 11 vs. Saint Louis. Wear Green!
Go Niners!
Wednesday, December
14, 2011
Welcome to the Holiday Edition of the WBB Blog. I first want to say a HUGE congrats to our Men's Soccer team for an unbelievable run in the NCAA tournament. What an inspiration they are to all sports team's here at Charlotte and to this university as a whole. Truth be told, I got teary eyed watching the team walk into the stands and thank Niner Nation for their support. As an alum here at this great institution, it was a touching moment. If it wasn't clear before, then it should be now... Niner Nation is alive and strong.
The women's basketball student-athletes are hard at work right now, but not necessary with basketball. As you all know, this is exam week and the team is really focusing on being successful and finishing up strong in each of their classes. One small way to motivate the team to be successful in the class room is our academic competition. The three assistants and myself each have an academic team comprised of three to four players. The team with the highest GPA at the end wins a meal free of buying the groceries, preparing the food, and cleaning up. Team 3, my team, is looking good so far. But when all is said and done, you of course want all to succeed.
You'll be very happy to know the team has certainly gotten into the holiday season by giving. In over a week's time, the team took a few hours out of their day and visited the Levine Children's Hospital in downtown Charlotte. They made some crafts, gave out posters and put a big smile and some children who really needed. A new tradition that is being started is the Fox Charlotte Angel Tree. Our team broke up into two groups and selected one boy and one girl to give gifts to. They bought everything from a football, to a coat, an etch-a-sketch, gloves, a dippin' dots maker, remote control car and much more. And lastly, the team participated in the annual department wide Toys for Tots drive.
After exams, our next game will be against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, OH. Tip off will be Monday Dec 19th at 2:00 pm. But be sure to come out to Halton Arena and get your women's basketball fix just before Christmas we take on North Carolina A&T on Wednesday Dec. 21st at 7:00 pm. The support you have shown thus far has been incredible and we appreciate your enthusiasm. Keep it up Niner Nation!
Hope everyone has a joyful holiday season.
Wear Green (Niner or Christmas Green) and GO NINERS!!!!!
Tuesday, December 6,
It is hard to believe that the semester is coming to an end! We had a week off in regards to games so it gave us an opportunity to break things down in practice and film. And as we all know, film always tells the truth.
Off the court the girls were busy finishing up papers and getting organized for exams. It takes a lot of work this time of year to get everything done and fulfill all of their commitments. It is a very critical time of year and I am glad we work with young ladies who want to excel in all aspects of their lives.
On Saturday, we traveled to Florida to take on FSU on Sunday. What a hard fought game. From the tip our players competed and executed as well as we know they can. FSU had lost three in a row, so we made sure to match their intensity from the start. We battled back and forth with FSU throughout the entire game but unfortunately we were unable to come back with a win. But with that type of effort we are definitely a better team.
As we enjoy our holiday season, I encourage each of you to reach out to those who may not have very much during this time. I have been overly impressed with all the many ways we support our community here at Charlotte so let's make sure we reach out and do the same during the holiday season.
UNC Wilmington will be here on Wednesday Dec. 7th at 7pm so come out and wear "Green"!
Thanks for all your continued support,
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
By Assistant Coach Sabrina Gregory
Hey Niner Nation,
I hope you all enjoyed the holidays! The 49ers were on the road during the Thanksgiving break. We first headed to Richmond, VA to take on the VCU Rams. The Rams are in the CAA Conference where they compete against teams like JMU, Delaware, ODU, etc. Fortunately, we had a pretty good size crowd with support from Gabby Tyler's family (only being an hour or so away), Coach Cara's family, and other players' families - Epiphany Woodson, Ayanna Holmes, etc. It was great to have that kind of support on the road especially during the holidays.
The game turned out to be a battle. VCU went on a stretch where they either scored or went to the FT line consistently. However, we did not give up. Every time they scored, we would score. Eventually we won the battle. It was a good win to get on the road.
The next day we headed to Brooklyn, NY where we competed in the Long Island University tournament featuring Long Island, La Salle, and Florida. We arrived on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and headed straight to dinner. After dinner, we surprised the girls with tickets to the Broadway show - Spiderman. I have to admit, that was my first time at a Broadway show and I absolutely enjoyed it. The player that probably enjoyed it the most was Jai Forney #23. She is obsessed with Spiderman! After the show, we headed back to the hotel to get a good night's rest. The next day we practiced and ate Thanksgiving dinner as a team. It was nice to be able to have Thanksgiving dinner even though we were away from home.
Friday we began playing tournament games. We took on LIU. Not only was it their tournament, but it was also their first home contest. They played their first three games on the road. So we knew it would be a tough bout. We came out very slow and we weren't playing the way we were capable of playing. We ended up digging ourselves a hole that we were not being able to recover from. We lost that game and had to turn around and get prepared for Florida the very next day.
We were a little livelier the next day. The last time
we had faced Florida was at home in the Postseason WNIT. We ended their
season the previous year. This was the third time we were playing them in
less than a year. So we knew they would be ready. We started off
way better than the day before. The game was close pretty much the entire
time until we went on a run in the second half. Although we built a small
lead, Florida fought back. We ended up losing once again. It was a
tough weekend, but I think we learned a very valuable lesson. This week
we are off until Sunday when we travel to Florida State. This again will
be a tough match, but we will definitely be ready.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
November 15, 2011
Basketball season is officially underway and we are off to a 2-0 start after beating both Presbyterian and Arkansas State over the weekend. Friday night was a doubleheader with the men's team and my first official game as head coach of the 49ers! It was an incredible feeling to walk out of that tunnel and then win the first game ever of my career...that is something I will never forget.
Since it's the season, I thought I would give you an inside look at what a game day is like for our team...
5 HOURS TO TIP: Shoot Around. This is the first time we see our players on game day. Here we spend a lot of time doing what you expect...shooting. However, we also use the hour to go over any last minute game plan adjustments and always walk through our opponent's out of bounds plays. We finish with a shooting competition amongst the team and we pick the teams in a variety of ways. We've had upperclassmen vs. lowerclassmen, divided teams by where they are from or one day we had a draft. It's always a fun and exciting way to end shoot around.
4 HOURS TO TIP: Pregame Meal. After shoot around we all wash up and walk over to the Student Union to eat together as a family before the game. We like to stay on campus for the meal because it's convenient but also because Gary at the Bistro takes such good care of us! A typical pregame meal includes chicken, salmon, mashed potatoes, veggies, salad, bread, fruit and Gatorade, water or lemonade. After we eat, the team has some downtime to relax and prepare for the game.
1 HOUR AND 5 MINUTES TO TIP: Warm Up Begins. Our players are required to be on the court and we start with stretching. We split up the guards and posts and one group stretches while the other shoots and then it is reversed. The team then completes a few more shooting drills.
35:00 ON THE GAME CLOCK: Pregame Talk. The 49ers report to the locker room and here I give last minute reminders about personnel, opponent tendencies and our keys to victory. All of this information has already been communicated to the team over the days leading up to the game, but for some reason, I always feel better telling them one last time.
22:00: Exit the Locker Room and Warm Up Continues.
10:00: Return to the Locker Room. Here the players receive their defensive matchups and then we allow them time to themselves for any last minute preparation they might need.
6:00: Final Exit from Locker Room. When each player leaves the locker room the last thing they do is slap a sign by the door on the way out. This sign has a huddle of our team and the following quote, "Toughness is in the Soul and Spirit, not in the Muscles." It is our goal to be the tougher team, every night.
5:00: Team Returns to Court.
From that point on, I know that most of you fans are in Halton and already on your feet and cheering on our team. We look forward to your continued support all season long and hope to see you on Saturday at 7 pm as we take on Elon.
Go Niners!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
By Director of Operations Eric McCombs
Greetings Niner Nation,
It is great to finally be back writing to you all. I knew there was something missing, something lacking in my life... finally it dawned on me what it is, I haven't blogged to everyone in well over six months. A lot has occurred since then, let's see... ground-breaking on the football field has commenced, Charlotte's baseball and golf teams secured A-10 Championships, the NBA is still in a lockout, the race for the Republican Nomination has heated up, Kim Kardashian got married AND divorced, and activists against corporate greed continue to gather and protest at Wall Street. But enough about all that, its basketball season so let's dive right into the good stuff.
As you all know there's a new sheriff in town, her name should not be new to you, but in case you were like the Chilean miners stuck underground for nearly 70 days, her name is Cara Consuegra. After reading her impressive bio you can clearly see she's a winner, not just as a player but as an assistant coach as well. NCAA tournaments are nothing new to her and she plans on making that a tradition here at Charlotte. Don't let her fool you though, despite not having played in quite some time, she's still got game J
We did have an exhibition game this past Saturday vs. Johnson C Smith. Charlotte came out victorious, however as everyone does in this business, it was an exhibition game and we have since moved on. Thank you to all those who came to BE PART OF IT!
Cara's era will OFFICIALLY begin on Friday November 11th, 2011 when Charlotte takes on Presbyterian at 5:00 pm; this will be a doubleheader with the Men's Basketball team as they play at 7:30. For those people who don't believe in numbers and coincidences, let me throw this out there for you. We play on 11/11/11, and Cara will be seeking win number 1... coincidence you might say? I'll let you be the judge.
Well Forty-Niner fans it's time to go back to work, because in this industry showing up does not guarantee a win. As many of you are aware, we have a challenging non-conference schedule. We of course want you at Halton Arena for our home games, but it is very uplifting for our players to have familiar Forty-Niner faces behind the bench when on the road. Join us in New York City or Miami for a tournament, or come to Ohio State or Florida State for some great non-conference basketball.
I hope to see you ALL this Friday night at 5:00 pm as we take on Presbyterian.
And I'll leave you with the always great quintessential sign off... Wear Green and GO NINERS!!!!!!!
Monday, October 31, 2011
This past week has been very productive for our team! We started out with one last day of 5:45 am practice on Monday and it went very well. Although we have had several good morning practices, I felt as if this was our best one! There was a lot of energy and execution of our plays so our staff walked away very pleased and excited about coming back Monday afternoon to do it again! We definitely showed a lot of discipline and H.E.A.R. T.
Later in the week we had a scrimmage against our practice players and it was so nice to see so many players get it done! There were several players who scored, rebounded and played great defense. This season will be a lot of fun for all of us associated with 49er Basketball!
We also received news this past week from the Atlantic 10 and their preseason predictions. We were picked to finished 4th in the Coaches Poll. Pip Woodson was named Preseason First-Team All Atlantic and Jennifer Hailey was named Second-Team Preseason All Atlantic 10 and also named to the All Defensive Team. We are very excited for these young ladies and our entire team! There are some very special pieces on this team and we can't wait for you to come out and see us!
Last but not least, I would like to say how excited I am to be a part of the 49er Family! My first few months have been very exciting and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know everyone associated with our program! There is a lot of support from the university as well as our community and that is exciting for our young ladies. I know they truly appreciate all the support!
In closing, please come out this Saturday night at 7pm as we play Johnson C. Smith in our exhibition game in Halton Arena. Admission is free so please come and support your 49ers! And as always "WEAR GREEN"!
With 49er Pride,
Monday, October 24, 2011
I hope you had a great weekend! Last week was a pretty busy week for the ladies. We started off our Monday with an early morning practice at 5:45am. It's always tough to wake up for those, but once we get going you don't even notice the time! We came back that afternoon and finished the day with another good practice.
Other than that we had a Team Building Workshop on Wednesday with Felicia Hall Allen. Mrs. Hall Allen is one of the best speakers I've heard speak. I've had the opportunity to do a team building workshop with her both as a player and a coach. Every year she does something different with the team depending on what that particular team needs. She is absolutely AMAZING! I think it was great to open up with each other, both coaches and players, and find out what each of us had going on in our lives, not just on the court, but off the court as well. The team really enjoyed it.
The following evening we had one of the highlights of the start of the season which was our Basketball Madness. Every year I think the marketing staff and everyone involved in putting this event together does a great job of trying to make it better. This year the highlight of the evening was the fact that we had a stage set up like All-Star weekend where the players and coaches came out on when they were introduced. I thought that was neat! The fun always begins in the locker room where the girls get all amped up for the evening. Take a look at the picture of the girls and some other staff members doing the wobble! Some other fun things we did was a dance with the some of the men's and women's players, a skills contest and of course the infamous dunk contest. The dance the girls did with some of the men's players was exciting to see. All in all, everything turned out great!
We finished the week off with Fan Day on Saturday. After both the men's and women's teams scrimmaged and signed autographs, we had a clinic for young kids. This is always a treat to do. The kids really seem to enjoy it! It's fun watching the players interact and impact these young lives. I don't think the girls know how much of an impact they have on these kids. They all did a great job.
Every day we are getting closer and closer to our opening day! Before you know it, our exhibition game will be here. And right after that, we will be playing our home opener, which is a double header with the men, against Presbyterian. Although the season is long, it seems to go by extremely fast.
So NINER NATION, we hope to see you soon
in HALTON ARENA to kickoff the
season! If you want to be exact, NOVEMBER 5th is the DATE to SAVE. Admission is free and
attendance is needed J So see you soon! And remember, wear GREEN and GO NINERS!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
By Assistant Coach Karen Lange
Practice is in full effect and the players have been working great. "Break to build" is probably what they feel like is happening to them sometimes but we are trying to continue to build Tradition. Tradition never graduates and it never changes. Everyone leaves a legacy the question is what is ours going to be. "Winning with HEART" is the first tradition Coach Cara started. HEART stands for Heart Effort Accountability Respect Toughness. These are the core values of our program that will never change. "Winning with HEART" is in her office, on our game board, on our wristbands, the cover of our team manual, EVERYWHERE!!
Ok enough with the serious stuff...since I'm one of the newbies here I thought I'd give you an inside look on my take of our players and staff. I'll start with the freshmen and end with the staff. Enjoy
Ayanna (I call her Ya-Ya she's not used to
that yet): Don't let her quietness fool you - -
she knows exactly what she wants she just might not tell you.
Madness this Thursday and 49er Fan Day this Saturday.....Green it out!!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
By Coach Cara Consuegra
Hello Niner Nation and welcome to my first blog as your head coach! I am writing you from the Philadelphia airport as I await my flight home after a productive weekend of recruiting. (The blog was written on Sunday, October 9). There is so much to update you on so here we go...
Most of the fall was spent on preseason workouts, conditioning and of course recruiting. Workouts were a combination of individuals and small groups and our goal was to work on basic fundamentals and begin to install basic principles of our program. Conditioning was tough as we worked to get into the best shape so that we can play an up-tempo style this season. Preseason ended with a four day Boot Camp that included things from flipping tires to players carrying teammates on their backs to just plain running a lot of sprints. I was proud that all of our team got stronger and "graduated" from Boot Camp.
We had several weekends with recruiting visits and we really tried to use that time for our team to bond and work on our chemistry. My favorite team activity was playing laser tag because of course as competitors, we really got into it. Our staff strategized (just like good coaches do) to control an entire area and we were racking up the points. But soon our team figured it out and ambushed us from all over. It was good to see them use teamwork off the court.
We started practice on October 2 so we already have a full week under our belts. Our rule changed two years ago so we can now start practice 40 days prior to our first competition. As a new staff you can be sure that we are happy about this rule. There is so much to learn for both the players and our staff as we get to know each other. It's very beneficial to have the extra time for all of us to get on the same page. It's still too early to tell a lot but I can tell you one thing, this season you will see a team that works hard and takes pride in being tough.
Well I'm off to catch my flight so that's all for now. Make sure you circle Nov. 11 on your calendar for our 5 pm regular-season opener against Presbyterian in Halton Arena. We hope to see you all there!

subset: commoncrawl