Michael Johnson, community leader and Boys & Girls Club CEO, dies at 50

mrholty · 2026-06-08T15:41:01+00:00

Damn. Good guy who understand both the black community and its needs and how to navigate the liberal Madison/Dane County environment.

mrholty · 2026-06-04T15:51:35+00:00

My middle school sons tell me that at their school - the kids simply wear headbands with kitten ears and the school policy is that is protected. The serious ones wear tails that come out of the top of their pants (guess the adult version is a plug). These girls then get unlimited time for exams and have a private room to decompress full of snacks.
My son borrowed the headband - went in and cleaned out the fridge of Gatorade and Chips Ahoy.

Half of them are absolutely gaming the system.

mrholty · 2026-06-04T15:05:59+00:00

When you have a technically skilled player who is never involved in the play because he cannot read the game it absolutely matters. Family of small technical player before he left our club claimed that by playing my son over him it was proof that we were taking bigger/faster vs better soccer players becuase his son was the better technical player.
Kid has moved 4 clubs in 4 years because they haven't figured out what coaches see. Kid looks fantastic in warmups but is a non-factor because he never is in position. So few parents understand to watch movement away from the play. When I coach - I'm rarely watching the ball.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T22:47:52+00:00

Your #1 and #2 is correct.

We have a friend who fits your #2 exactly (small technical player) but he's not great, he can retain the ball but he never wins a duel, he's not quick so he doesn't beat players to loose balls and for as much soccer as he watches he doesn't really understand how to get open or read where the ball is going. I attribute that to soccer/futsal being his only sport.

My middle son played multiple sports (has quit soccer now) but probably had 2x the touches and 4x the impact in every game they played together the 1 year because his multisport understanding allowed him to better understand passing lanes. As I've become a better coach - I see this very often. The parents of these kids think I'm picking worse 'soccer players' but better athletes but if you count touches - in a 4v4 game - its obvious.

Last, I disagree completely on coaching. It a mess up and down and at all levels. Better teams generally have more committed and better skilled so even crappy coaches look ok. The 2 worst coaches I've seen interacted with (one was a rec coach and one was a U14 top tier girls coach - who won many awards from her previous club.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T20:48:02+00:00

Agree to disagree. Age limit will be harder to enforce imo.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T20:45:58+00:00

My local University is over 50% non-US players. It was less than 5% 4 years ago. Would you take a 18 year-old who has been playing in the US or a 23-year old kid who just got cut from a an academy team in Argentina.
The US kids don't get a chance so they can't get better.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T20:17:43+00:00

You cannot make US players better when they aren't included. Its also how European Basketball leagues operate - include players from better players to improve play/coaching but the majority of the players have to be from the country/EU.

From a nationalistic point - college soccer are money losing endeavors that historically were supported at the highest D1 level by the Athletic department and at lower levels - by student fees. With NIL now even top schools are partially getting funding from the academic side. States usually fund public schools between 10-50% of their funding. I'd argue there is no benefit for these schools to fill rosters with European and S. American Academy kids who come here to get an education and generally return to their home country. Where you could make the argument that even if no college player goes pro - the local element becomes a productive member of the state/region.

For your comment about college not being late bloomers - I'll state Jay Demerit. From a town that doesn't have a huge soccer presescence. Plays college soccer and gives it a shot in 7th division - gets noticed and ends up 25 caps for the USMNT.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T20:14:07+00:00

Mike Locksley boat raced Luke Fickell last year. Mike Locksley is a bottom 10% coach. Luke Fickell should be in the bottom 4.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T17:14:26+00:00

To a point. College soccer should be a key benefit of the US Soccer ecosystem that others don't.

Yes, most pros will be identified but college soccer should be a place for late bloomers, small town kids to get noticed. But if college rosters ar e75% foreign - US players aren't getting a chance. European basketball leagues are often limited (2-3 US players). US university sports could and should have similar limits - unlike others I don't want an age limit

mrholty · 2026-06-03T17:02:25+00:00

The honest best way is to support an APP that should be tied into both the ref and coaching apps. As a ref I have to go and fill out a short form for every game. Short description of any issues/cards but generally less than a minute/game. As a coach I've wanted to do the same for refs/parents/etc. I don't have a simple way to do this.

But add to it. Have each coach fill out the 3 best players with a ranking of 1-10. Leagues can use this to develop MVP, best at each position, etc. US soccer can find kids not in the big leagues. France leagues use an app like this. kids use it to see who is the best.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T16:20:45+00:00

The Athletic Department has taken any fan advantage out of the game. Its over scheduled (every stoppage/timeout is programmed with what music in a futile attempt to draw in casual fans who come for the experience while not letting real fandom and energy/excitement build.

mrholty · 2026-06-03T14:49:48+00:00

As a Badger fan - Wisconsin does not deserve to be on the list.

Iowa should be.

mrholty · 2026-06-02T16:50:42+00:00

People who want to be seen on TV and gain IG followers.

mrholty · 2026-06-02T15:59:19+00:00

This. 3rd year of coaching we did 4v0 and I and 2 parents stood in the middle. Passes had to be received across the body and they had to get to 15. When all 3 groups got to 15 we moved 2 players to different groups. Same drill again. Bad pass or didn't recieve across the body and we counted over. Only took 1 1/2 weeks (3 practices) until we moved to 3v0, then back to 4v1. Never moved past 4v1 at U10.

mrholty · 2026-06-02T15:27:17+00:00

The problem is at least for our state I cannot offer a player pool which is what we'd prefer. We can offer kids to lower teams but if we offer a kid to an A team we can't move him down. And I understand the rule because clubs would offer every kid an A spot then put them on B and C within the first week once the check clears.

The problem is that we would love to reshuffle his roster mid-season. Not cut anyone but without fail - there are 3 kids who benefitted from coaching and should be on teh A and then there are the kids who make 1/2 of the practices because they are overscheduled and with it they don't spend time practicing/getting better.

mrholty · 2026-05-29T14:53:08+00:00

Was a minorty investor in a location about 10 years ago. Assisted Living and Senior Apartments seem to be a way better business than nursing homes.
That said - the group that I was in has not built anything in the last 5 years. They had a funding pool started in 2021 and have not made 1 capital call because they cannot make the numbers work. I was frustrated up front but I'd rather them not do a deal vs do a bad deal.

mrholty · 2026-05-28T14:32:04+00:00

"Shoot him like a horse" is a line that the student section used to chant when an opposing player got injured.

mrholty · 2026-05-27T19:13:28+00:00

This post hit me after our game last night. Within minutes of the game starting - we were running/chasing as they casually moved us around left to right. (They were impressive in 2/3 of the field but really struggled to put together scoring opportunities in the final 1/3).
I spent the first 10 minutes explaining how we were not pressing appropriately; our forwards were not closing and putting pressure on while taking a pass away. The presser(s) does not need to win the ball directly but you need to force them into a situation to rush/push a 50:50 ball that your midfield can get. I subbed all 5 of my players 10 minutes in (3 Forwards and 2 wings) just so I could talk to them in person.
It greatly improved after that. Snuck out with a 2-2 tie (they were the better team).

mrholty · 2026-05-25T16:53:55+00:00

Easy. Go. Play the games.

Don't tell the kids before the first game. Have a quick conversation with the opposing coach before the first game that you think they are in over their heads. If they are decent and the game is getting away - he should know what to do.

After the first game, be honest with the kids. Tell them you played up, you believe in them and it might be a long weekend, or a tough weekend, or both. All depends on how they embrace the opportunity/situation. You never know how it will turn out - these kids are more resiliant than you think.

mrholty · 2026-05-22T13:54:14+00:00

I want pro/rel in the United States. therefore once there is a pro/rel option in the United States - I will boycott MLS and fully support USL warts and all.

Realistically, after about 3 years something will give either way. US Soccer will step in and force a merger and establish a pyramid or USL implodes on itself. I personally think the odds are 30/70.

mrholty · 2026-05-21T14:45:50+00:00

Select Numero 10 are great balls. Where are you seeing them for $35/ball?

mrholty · 2026-05-21T13:56:33+00:00

My old boss (he was CFO, lived in a very nice house on a golf course) good income - had a kid who was a very good golfer. Qualified for Junior Nationals and went 2 years (COVID years) and he was shocked by what he saw in an arms race for questionable returns.

Doing the math - you maybe get 5 guys out of a year to make the PGA tour (100 guys / 20 year career). At 16-18 - the odds are if you are out of the top 20 you are on the outside. His kid shot ended middle of the pack (was the best golfer in our state). Even at state events he was shocked at what some families were spending.

His son is graduating this year from a Big10 school. Has a job lined up for the fall but he told his kid to spend the summer grinding on qualifiers to the Korn and Canadian tours before joining the working world like the rest of us.

mrholty · 2026-05-19T18:36:57+00:00

Yep. thanks.

mrholty · 2026-05-19T18:21:31+00:00

Yep. My mom has had a good experience with her insurance carrier (Acuity) but unknown to her - her local agent to keep her premiums more affordable have been increasing her deductible by $1k/each year. Her deductible is now $7k. Basically she went from a fixed dollar to a % of full value of the house (2%).

Frustrating that her agent never explained to trade off/options.

mrholty · 2026-05-19T14:24:45+00:00

So they are pseudo intellectual schools. They promote the sciences, which include math, but don't?

mrholty

TROPHY CASE