Lakers Trainer Hired to Teach P.E.

Let's carry on the tradition of me bringing you stuff you might not care about now, but might be forced to think about someday in the not too distant future. With the recession still weighting everyone down (I will not watch Cinderella Man. I will not watch Cinderella Man. I will not watch Cinderella Man.) and David Carradine (self?) asphyxiated in Thailand, you don't expect to hear news stories about people getting pay raises. Or hired to jobs that represent a 250 per cent increase in salary. How much do you make a year? Is it in the six figures? Many of the athletes we come to watch, adulate, and vilify make much more than that. Thus, we establish relevance. You can make the leaps of logic and significance yourself.

With this in mind, reading that a handful of "super teachers" will get $125,000 to teach at a new charter school served to effectively jolt and deform my perceptions regarding my day-to-day grind. Sigh. Here's the rundown. The Washington Heights, NY school will feature eight teachers selected from around the U.S. They will start with 120 5th graders (low income, majority Hispanic) and will grow to 480 students and 28 teachers for grades 5-8. The experimental school calls itself The Equity Project and looks to test whether a small group of highly qualified, highly paid teachers can do a better job than the average run-offs and last minute pick-ups can. (I should know, trying desperately not to be a run-off or pick-up. So why do you spend your time blogging about sports, Sean? Because I'm not there yet, not the kind of teacher I want to be. And this I can do. In these words I can find the lift that I hope teaching soon can become. Sorry, last day of school here.) Here's hoping.

And they are super teachers we're talking about here. Experience and enthusiasm, energizers and engagers all. Eligible for bonuses too. And here's the reason I wanted to share this today. The PE teacher for this school is Joe Carbone, former head of strength and conditioning for the Lakers. The NYTimes article notes that his biggest recommendation is on exhibit now, in the NBA Finals. “Developed Kobe from 185 lbs. to 225 lbs. of pure muscle over eight years,” is the line. Though he was only head trainer for four years, he worked with Kobe personally since Mamba decided to "take his talents to the NBA."

Apparently, Carbone has also been a nationally ranked Olympic weightlifter, champion amateur bodybuilder, and holds an MS in Exercise Physiology & Biomechanics, which of course prompts me to think, "Machine no tin man, need trainer Car-boney to make hair all oily, greasy. Machine getting ready for Axe hair wash commercial, hottie hair wash in big America mall." Seriously though, it's all Wikipedia stuff from here on out, so I'll stop.

I was going to title this differently, make some dig at the idea of equity occurring this way. Parallel it to what I see in the NBA, the sports world. But I'm just not strong enough. Laugh today, friends. Make the world a little brighter. That's my $125,000.

Posted in: cash money,education,Kobe Bryant,Los Angeles Lakers