Former Southlake Carroll standout to enter coaching ranks
Posted: March 22, 2012 at 7:36 pm
By Brent Shirley
Riley Dodge knows a lot about Texas high school football.
As Southlake Carroll's quarterback, Dodge led the Dragons to a Class 5A state championship win against Austin Westlake in 2006.
Now Dodge, after finishing his college career, is returning to his home state to coach.
Dodge has accepted an assistant coaching position at Westlake, the team he beat in '06.
"I have a passion for football and coaching," Dodge said. "I have my whole life."
In an e-mail, Westlake head coach Darren Allman said he hopes to sign Dodge to a contract by the end of the school year, but the deal isn't official yet.
Dodge is finishing his secondary education degree at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., where he transferred after playing at North Texas for three years.
Dodge grew up around the game. His father, Todd, was Carroll's coach during its historic championship run of four 5A titles in five years, which ended with his son's state title. Todd Dodge became head coach this year at Class 4A Marble Falls, about 50 miles northwest of Austin.
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Former Southlake Carroll standout to enter coaching ranks
KEISSER: Ripley long ago found cozy home at LBCC
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Those who have never experienced life on a community college campus have little idea how enriching and comfortable it can be. Just ask Dan Ripley, who stepped on such a campus fresh out of high school and has basically never left.
The former Olympic and world-ranked pole vaulter is being honored Friday when he is inducted into the Long Beach City College Hall of Champions for his 15 years as head coach of the women's track and field program, where he led the Vikings to three state titles (1995, 1996, 1999), two state runner-up finishes, and seven first- or second-place finishes in the Southern California Championships.
The Vikings finished in the top four at the state meet every year from 1990 to 1999.
LBCC's rich history in track was male-heavy for decades before Ripley arrived and jump-started the women's program.
"When I arrived, Ron Allice's office had shelves of trophies lined up around the room from all of his championships," Ripley said of the legendary former Vikings and Long Beach State head coach, now the head track coach at USC. "You got one for finishing in the top three at the Southern California and State meets, and I remember thinking how great it would be to just have one."
By the time his coaching career ended, he had his own trophy stash. But Ripley is savvy enough about coaching and the community college experience to realize there's more to being a coach and teacher than winning, and that the two-year experience
It was for him. His two years at Cypress College launched his athletic career and set him on a path to eventually teach and coach, although at the time he thought it would be at the high school level.
His state title in the pole vault at Cypress earned him a scholarship to San Jose State.
Even while his athletic career as a pole vaulter was taking off, he was already coaching, returning to Cypress as an assistant in 1976.
He's remained on a community college campus ever since, save for one year when he went into private business with a pole vault manufacturer. He became the head coach at Mt. San Antonio College in 1980 for seven years before being hired at Long Beach City College. When he retired from coaching in 2002, he became a full-time professor in the Life Science Department.
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KEISSER: Ripley long ago found cozy home at LBCC
'Sydney FC has been the greatest coaching experience of my life'
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High Lavicka and Karol Kisel with the A-League grand final trophy. Photo: Getty Images
Vitezslav Lavicka is ready for an emotional farewell, writes Michael Cockerill.
Vitezslav Lavicka will say his goodbyes away from the spotlight, and before most of the crowd have settled into their seats for Sydney FC's final, and decisive, game of the season. It will take place perhaps 45 minutes before kick-off, when the players are just getting ready to warm-up and only the most devoted fans are inside Allianz Stadium. Lavicka will do a lap of the stadium, walking around the perimeter fence, chatting to those who are interested, perhaps posing for a photograph or signing an autograph. It is, what he describes as, his ''old-fashioned habit''. To engage the supporters, whether it be with former clubs such as Slovan Liberec or Sparta Prague, or, over the last three seasons, with Sydney FC.
Many coaches would not dream of putting themselves so close to the firing line. Football stadiums are, almost by definition, a refuge for malcontents. Fans are usually passionate, opinionated, and often quite vicious. But Lavicka - a polite, respectful, and patient man - generally manages to disarm them. True enough, one ''supporter'' midway through the low point of this season, charged down to the fence to yell abuse and throw his membership card at the Sky Blues coach. Lavicka barely flinched. Now, as he gets ready for his final appearance in the Allianz Stadium dugout, he has only kind words to say about the supporters. ''The Sydney FC fans, they are great, really great,'' he says. ''For me, it will be emotional when I do my walk around the stadium on Sunday. Usually it is just to say hello, and maybe speak a couple of words. But this time, it will be goodbye. It was the same at Slovan, and Sparta. I always leave part of my heart at the clubs where I work. And for me, Sydney FC has been the greatest coaching experience of my life.''
Anything less than a win in the final match of the regular season against Newcastle Jets and the Sky Blues will miss out on the finals for the second year in a row. After the euphoria of winning the championship in 2010, his first season at the club, Lavicka is in danger of departing with, at best, mixed reviews. Barring a miraculous charge through the finals series, it may be he finishes his time at Moore Park in the red. Whatever the case, the former Czech international will be remembered with kindness, even fondness. There's been no burning of bridges, no trail of destruction in his wake. Lavicka is a nice guy, some might argue too nice for the cesspit of professional sport. But he's won a championship in both his homeland (Slovan Liberec) and in Australia. That's a record to be proud of. Not that he's in the business of self-promotion.
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Low Vitezslav Lavicka shortly after Sydney FC's 4-0 home defeat to Melbourne Heart in December. Photo: Anthony Johnson
Talk to Lavicka about his time with Sydney FC, and he has a habit of deflecting the credit. He talks about the ''great people'' behind the club, and the ''co-operation'' he has enjoyed with members of his coaching staff such as Tony Popovic, Steve Corica and Ian Crook. ''I am a democratic coach, and I like to co-operate with my coaches very closely,'' he says. Most European coaches would never acknowledge they have learnt from the Australian game. Not Lavicka. He readily concedes he is a better coach than when he arrived.
''This was my first overseas experience and many, many people in the Czech Republic ask me to make a comparison,'' he says. ''I always say it is a different style to Europe, there are many different styles in the A-League, and the quality is going up all the time. You see a team like Brisbane Roar, and you can see how the game here is growing up. It is a young league, and of course there are things to improve, but people here should be proud of the A-League. I know I am.''
Despite the roller-coaster ride which has followed the championship season, there has never been a moment when Lavicka has regretted his decision to come to Sydney. It's been hard since his family returned to Prague last year, and that is a factor in the parting of ways. But for Sydney FC's longest-serving coach, the overwhelming impression has been a positive one. Both personally and professionally. In his office, there is a DVD collection of every game. All 88 of them. He can't take them all back to Prague, but one tape will definitely be in his luggage. The grand final win over the Victory in Melbourne. ''This is one of the best moments of my career, it is staying in my mind, in my heart, forever.''
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'Sydney FC has been the greatest coaching experience of my life'
Kick off Health and Fitness – Video
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Kick off Health and Fitness - Video
Dr. Dirk Burkhardt speaks about new Clinic at Mitchell’s Health and Fitness – Video
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Dr. Dirk Burkhardt speaks about new Clinic at Mitchell's Health and Fitness - Video
Health and wellness in Tweed
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Health and wellness in Tweed
Retiring Sens. Snowe, Bingaman: Political Center Is Disappearing – Video
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Retiring Sens. Snowe, Bingaman: Political Center Is Disappearing - Video
Fernando Gonzalez Retirement Tribute Video – Video
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Fernando Gonzalez Retirement Tribute Video - Video
ReadyForZero Helps Americans Pay Down $12.5 Million in Personal Debt in its First Year
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SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ReadyForZero (www.readyforzero.com), the leading online platform for controlling and reducing personal debt, today announced that it has helped Americans to pay down more than $12.5 million in personal debt in just over one year of operation. The free service creates a customized plan using personalized financial data that helps Americans better stay in control and accelerate their repayment. Regular users repay debts twice as fast using ReadyForZero. This increases the likelihood that they will repay their debts, thereby preventing difficult financial situations like bankruptcies and defaults.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110202/SF40934LOGO)
As a testament to its efficacy, ReadyForZero has experienced an average organic growth of 13 percent each month, and now has nearly $200 million of its user's debt under management.
"ReadyForZero is incredibly proud to have helped our users reach this $12.5 million milestone in just over a year. This milestone proves that both our technology and our methodology work, as thousands of ReadyForZero users can attest," said Rod Ebrahimi, CEO of ReadyForZero. "We're expanding our mandate beyond helping people pay down their debts by offering financial products that provide real savings through trusted partners that are uniquely tailored to people's situations. Given recent regulatory and economic changes, we believe this is how banks and their customers will need to work together in the future."
To this end, ReadyForZero has introduced a sophisticated and 'intelligent' savings platform where ReadyForZero users can receive financial offers that are tailored to their specific financial situations directly from financial institutions, and decide whether or not to accept the terms with minimal effort.
Whereas most financial offers use a single filter like a credit score to estimate whether users might qualify for an offer, and then recommend products that generate the largest referral bonus for their companies, the ReadyForZero savings platform analyzes actual performance criteria such as payment history, cash flow, debt-to-income ratio, behavioral data and other financial triggers and delivers only those financial products that would have a positive impact for an individual's situation. ReadyForZero pre-qualifies each user for each offer, and empowers users to decide which ones to pursue. This prevents the unnecessary sharing of sensitive financial data or personal information with banks or other third-parties, no data is exchanged.
The ReadyForZero savings platform API (application programming interface) allows financial institutions to easily integrate with ReadyForZero to set up triggers for each offer and track its performance. In the first week of testing, ReadyForZero's savings platform delivered more than $330,000 in targeted offers with an average potential savings of $770 per person, and consolidated over $100,000 in high interest debt.
Ebrahimi continues, "When we find a way to save our users money, we present the offer directly to them so that they can decide what to do - without sharing any personal data. If the offer makes sense, given their specific situation, they can accept it and connect with that financial provider. Until then, the provider doesn't know a thing about you or your account with ReadyForZero. We're confident that this new savings platform will open up more ways for us to use our technology to help people improve their financial lives and reach their goals."
About ReadyForZero
ReadyForZero is a free, online program that helps the more than 100 million Americans with debt and challenging financial situations better control their debts and credit reputations. Launched in February 2011, ReadyForZero users are paying off debt twice as fast as people not using the program. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information visit http://www.readyforzero.com. Visit our blog http://blog.readyforzero.com/ to check out real product success stories.
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ReadyForZero Helps Americans Pay Down $12.5 Million in Personal Debt in its First Year
Tagetik Launches New Corporate Identity: 'Performance With Passion'
Posted: at 7:35 pm
LUCCA, Italy, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
New tag-line, website, video, and awareness campaign for the most specialized, innovative, leading-edge vendor in the Performance Management market
Tagetik, a global provider of enterprise software solutions for Performance Management, Enterprise Governance, Risk & Compliance and Business Intelligence, today announced its new corporate identity 'Performance with Passion' and in conjunction unveiled a completely revamped website (http://www.tagetik.com), a 'performance with passion' themed video,and an extensive awareness campaign. The focal point of the company's restyled image and messaging is customers' and partners' signatures as validation that Tagetik's dedication, innovation and unrivaled passion is a proven recipe for success.
"It all stems from our passion for doing things well," says Manuel Vellutini, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at Tagetik(http://www.tagetik.com/about/company/management/manuel-vellutini). "In a supermarket-like sector full of standardized products, homogenized, complex solutions, and weak personal relationships, Tagetik acts as a 'global boutique' (or say: a specialized craftsman) focused on only one thing, performance management software, and doing it well. Our specialization and 'one-to-one' service enable us to satisfy specific needs through an ever-changing, simplifying, performance management product. This specialization and passion is something we firmly believe are key differentiators in the market, which is why we selected 'Performance with Passion' as the new foundation of our corporate identity."
"Our philosophy is that mutual success is merely the first point of commitment, because a signed agreement with Tagetik goes far beyond the contract," he continues. "The signature represents a unique bond and dedication to success that we have forged with our customers and partners. Many customers such as Panalpina, Grontmij, Bobrick, OCLC, M+W Group, Peuterey, Unieco, Bolton and partners like PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Alper & Schetter have contributed their signatures and are sharing their success stories to help us communicate the value 'Performance with Passion' brings to the performance management market."
Dave Kasabian, Corporate Vice President, Product Marketing at Tagetik (http://www.tagetik.com/about/company/management/dave-kasabian), adds: "Customers and partners choose us because of the quality of our software solution, our ability to quickly understand and address their needs, and the dedication of the company to their success. Our decision to exclusively focus on Finance processes and finding innovative ways to address the specific challenges of the Office of the CFO in a single unified product has created a strong passion in our customer base for what we do and how we do it. 'Performance with Passion' and the signature campaign give us the opportunity to share the passion and success of our customers and partners with the performance management software marketplace. In our opinion there is no better way to communicate this than through the words and signatures of our customers and partners."
Related content: 'Tagetik re-asserts its passion for Performance Management' by Gary Simon, FSN.
To learn more, browse: http://www.tagetik.com
About Tagetik
Tagetik is 100% dedicated to simplifying and streamlining business processes for the Office of Finance to accelerate informed decisions that achieve strategic goals. Our award-winning Tagetik 4.0 Performance Management software is the ideal solution for global companies that seek a clearly superior level of financial expertise in a single unified solution for planning, forecasting, consolidation, close, reporting, profitability management, disclosure, governance, risk, compliance, and analysis.
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Tagetik Launches New Corporate Identity: 'Performance With Passion'