I can get in writing funks; which isn’t very good for a blogger looking to maintain traffic. I’ve been pretty busy blogging over at The Columbus Dispatch site BuckeyeXtra and enjoying my time firing up the Buckeye faithful on my blog there.

So what’s been going on around Bedford?

School is back in session … thankful mothers and fathers abound in the township. I know my own wife is pleased to only have one child to worry about during most of the day. My oldest daughter started Community Ed Soccer yesterday; she’s never played. She’s got a  lot to learn but we got home yesterday and immediately began working on fundamentals and she promised she wanted to do that after I get home from work tonight.  I’m a proud dad and I want her to be the best that she can be (at everything).

The football season is in full swing and the Mules find themselves at 1-2. It’s going to take Coach Wood a season or two to get this program where it belongs. The thing I like seeing is that this offense is scoring points; something we’re not necessarily accustomed to.  I wonder what kind of contribution that Wallender and Messer could have brought this team but I am happy that they’re having successful seasons, respectively, at Central Catholic in Toledo (I am a bit biased in those regards seeing as how my nephew is a Sophomore there and on the football team).

Rezoning plans on the Whitman property are back in the news. Touchy, touchy subject. My thoughts are that I believe Jon Whitman should be able to do with his land whatever he wishes provided that it fit within the reaches of the Master Plan. My other thoughts on the meeting are this:

• Did Tom Covrett cost himself a spot on the Township Board? The meeting was highly unorganized, ran long, and had little to no leadership. As Chairman of that particular board Tom needed to take control and ensure that the meeting ran smoothly and efficiently; it did not.
• I appreciated board member, Debbie (last name?) and her commentary where she pointed out that, a) couldn’t a ‘big box’ store be built there as the zoning stands now (answer: yes) and b) is there anything that Mr. Whitman could do with this land that wouldn’t met the ire of the Bedford Watch group (answer: not sure).

I’ll have more thoughts on this once further meetings are completed and we know more about the finalized rezoning of this property.

In the next week or so, as I play catch up, I will be sending out e mails to school leaders, athletic coaches, business leaders, etc. in hopes of starting a new aspect of this blog here soon. I’ll give you more info on that as the idea comes to fruition.

It’s only September and I am already sick of politics although if Sarah Palin showed up on my doorstep I may be inclined to listen.

A recent entry on the Bedford Now Chatter section got me a bit riled up inside.  A commenter started a thread ripping apart the new football coach, Jeff Wood, and his first year squad. To save you from the unsavory details let’s just say this particular individual was none too kind to those who have put in long hours and a lot of hard work.

Coach Wood needs to be given the opportunity to grow this program. Not even the best of coaches can come in and immediately change things around. Especially more so at a program that hasn’t had a winning record since 2002 and hasn’t made the MHSAA playoffs since 1990. A complete change in culture needs to occur before this program will find it’s winning ways.

For those of you more inclined towards the understanding of college football take a quick glance at Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan. Rodriguez is a highly successful coach who has brought about a complete change in culture to an old stuffy program. Can Rodriguez find success immediately? After watching this past Saturday’s game I think the clear indication is no. But that is okay as some of today’s best coaches struggled in their first years just check Jim Tressel and Pete Carroll.

Coach Wood has brought in a near type of offense, the veer offense and some highly skilled coaches; his father, LeRoy Wood, is on the staff and is a Hall of Fame coach. The veer is an exciting offense but one that isn’t overwhelmingly easy to run. I am sure Coach Wood is working through all levels of Bedford football to ensure that the fundamentals of this offense are being taught from the earliest ages on.

Furthermore, football is a year long committment and the players need to make that committment to ensure that this program turns around. Perhaps Coach Wood can encourage these guys to join the wrestling program (this may pay dividends to guys that play the D line), run track (to keep conditioning levels high), or find other activities to participate in that will maintain their conditioning level and their athletic focus.

So please, before you’re ready to completely cast aside the progress Coach Wood has made or is making remember that this is a process. Patience is going to be a necessity in this endeavour - patience from us, the alumni and community, patience from parents, patience from the administration, and patience from the players and coaches.

Some random thoughts while I continue to work on broadening the scope of this blog by getting in touch with local leaders of all sectors of our township.

• I really, really, really (this could go on for a while) dislike there not being a gas station in Lambertville. To me it is positively disgusting that there is only one gas station in Bedford Township right now. 30k plus residents and one gas station (unless there is one of Telegraph right over the state line I am not thinking of)
• American Table has great breaksfast. Only drawback … no corned beef hash. Maggie’s has great corned beef hash. I know you probably don’t give two hoots about my eating habits but I love me some corned beef hash.
• Speaking of restaurants … does anyone know the hours of the place at Olde Schoolhouse Commons?! I publicly promised the owner on Bedford Now Chatter that I would check it out but I have failed to do so yet and would like to.
• I saw Coach Jeff Wood at the Toledo Central Catholic football game this past Friday. I wonder if he was there to fret over the loss of Dave Wallender and Zach Messer who have (legally) transferred to play at Central this year. Wallender has won the starting QB job there and Messer seems to always be on the field. I am excited to see what types of things Coach Wood will accomplish this year and into the future. First game is a very tough matchup with Airport.
• Does anyone wish we could annually rekindle the old rivalry with Whitmer?
• School starts back up in a little over a week. Any other parents out there excited for that?!? I know we are!

That’s about all I got right now. It’s slightly late on a Sunday and I could sure go to bed early tonight!