Code breaking games for team building

When Tyriq McCord joined NASCAR as a pit crew member a little more than three years ago, his knowledge of what made a car go fast stopped and started with the gas pedal. “I didn’t even know how to change the tire on my car,” he said. But he could bench-press 225 pounds and run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds and those were the kinds of skills Phil Horton was looking for. Advertisement A former athletic trainer in college football and with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, as the pit crew coach for stock-car racing’s Drive for Diversity development program Horton has recruited more than 100 former college and professional athletes, from lacrosse players to linebackers, to work as tire changers, tire carriers, jackmen — and women — and gasmen for teams in all three of NASCAR’s top three nationwide series. And while that has undoubtedly made NASCAR more diverse, it’s also made pit crews better and faster, which can mean millions of dollars in a sport where the average margin of … [Read more...] about NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity is transforming pit crews with college and pro athletes

MINNEAPOLIS THERE’S no escaping Scandinavian heritage in the Twin Cities. At every turn, there’s a billboard for Norwegian language-immersion camp or a “Drool if You’re Finnish” baby bib for sale. But in food terms, it’s long been easier to get an authentic taco al pastor, Thai green curry or a grass-fed beef slider than a good kanel snegl (cinnamon roll). There hasn’t been a successful Scandinavian restaurant here since 2003, when Aquavit, a slick expense-account-fueled import from Midtown Manhattan, closed after a lackluster run. “When I was growing up, if we wanted to have meatballs and lingonberries, we had to go to Ikea,” said Kathryn Anderson, a student at the University of Minnesota. “That’s how bad it was.” There are plenty of good restaurants in the Twin Cities: at least one great Mexican tamale joint (La Loma), several Vietnamese pho specialists and storefronts that cater to the cities’ large Somali and Hmong communities. Several upscale places, like Tilia, Heartland … [Read more...] about A Return to Nordic Roots

See the article in its original context from February 9, 1986 Section Page Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. THE ENGLISH department at Yale used to resemble a sort of English country estate. It included a great house of many wings and rooms (the Elizabethan Pavilion, the Metaphysical Poets Billiard Parlor, the T. S. Eliot Chapel and so forth) and, normally, one entered this house via certain well-marked paths and avenues that ran through a spacious park. The park looked as though Nature had … [Read more...] about THE TYRANNY OF THE YALE CRITICS

1 Community Corner Tinley Park social services agency will make sure toys, pajamas get to hundreds of south suburban children and teens for Christmas. Lauren Traut , Patch Staff Posted | Updated Reply TWC staffer Lena Dunn sorting some of the dolls that were donated to Together We Cope for Santa's Workshop, the agency's annual children's Christmas program. Toy donations roll in as staff prepares gift bags for hundreds of area children in need. TWC gives each child two toys, pajamas, and winter scarves/hats. TINLEY PARK, IL — Its home might be closed for the rest of the year following a fire last month, but the demands for Together We Cope's services are still great, and its staff have a long to-do list for the holiday season. The Tinley Park-based social services agency has relocated temporarily, and turned to its network of helping hands, to be able to carry out some of its work for … [Read more...] about Together We Cope ‘Elves’ Find Way Forward After Fire