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Matt and I discovered a cool, "it's a small-world" situation the other day. As it turns out, Matt's dad, Gail, a sports reporter for The Olympian, was going to interview my dad, the women's soccer coach at The Evergreen State College, for a pre-season article. Gail did a great job, so I'm including part of the article below. The Olympian can reprimand me for doing it, but I don't care. I'm a proud son! Way to go Dad! (BTW, Dad and I have the same name, so don't get confused.)

Committed to coaching
Evergreen's Mottola among new soccer coaches at South Sound's colleges
By Gail Wood

It turns out that cooking and coaching aren't all that different.

Just ask Paolo Mottola, who was weaned on both Italian soccer and Italian cooking. He's an entrepreneur with a kick.

After working 12 hours a day, six days a week for 20 years in a successful family restaurant business, Mottola sold a chain of four Seattle-area restaurants six years ago to do what he's always wanted to do -- coach soccer.

In 2000, Mottola changed careers and committed himself to coaching, beginning a fast rise up the ranks through youth, high school and college soccer. As the new women's soccer coach at The Evergreen State College, he's hoping he has the right recipes to get his team back into the playoffs.

"Soccer is my first love," Mottola said. "It was time for a change. I felt I had a lot to offer. My European background gives me a different edge."

Born in Seattle, Mottola lived in Naples, Italy, for three years, from when he was 10 to 13 years old in the early 1970s. He returned to Italy every summer through his high school years to play soccer, giving him an early insight to the sport.

That exposure, his commitment and his skill helped him develop into a player who made the Olympic Developmental Team, gaining all-region honors.

"I've been infatuated with the game since I first moved to Naples with my family," Mottola said. "I grew up playing in academy programs."

…Mottola brings an impressive resume as a player. Mixing time between winters in Seattle and summers in Naples, Italy, Mottola grew up playing soccer year around. But when it came time to choosing a career after graduating from Rainier Beach High School, Mottola chose business over a chance of playing college soccer, seeing the handwriting on the wall.

"By going into the family business, I knew I could make three times what I might have made playing professional soccer," said Mottola, who is married to his high school sweetheart, Vicki, and has three grown children.

Six years ago, Mottola threw himself into coaching. He's now the director of the South Hill Soccer Club, which has 1,000 participants ages 9 to 14 and has 94 teams. Mottola crossed the bridge to college coaching when he coached the last two years at Tacoma Community College, leading it to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges playoffs.

Besides his involvement at South Hill and Evergreen, Mottola also coaches soccer at Lakes High School, giving him a full plate. But that's how Mottola, who replaces Erik Snyder at Evergreen, likes it.

"I'm doing what I love to do," he said.

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I've begun my last work week at PRWeb, and the hunt begins for my Seattle job. Actually, I've applied to approximately 15 companies, to no avail, within the last couple weeks. While I'm not fresh out of college, I don't have the "preferred five years agency experience" that most places are looking for. I'm hoping by the end of September I'll have a job set up. If not, I'll be serving food, I'm sure.

I did get everything moved into the "Ballard Burrow" over the weekend. Moving is a bitch. I basically almost killed myself getting my furniture into the U-Haul on Friday. Thankfully, Nina was there to help with some of the larger items. I was suprised by how much she could lift. What a beast.

Moos drove the U-Haul after she loaded her furniture and I followed her to Seattle. Katrine, Matt and Wes helped us unpack late Friday night. I went on a late night walk with the guys to explore the neighborhood that night. What a location! A 24-7 QFC is just around the corner. Market Street, two blocks away, is loaded with restaurants, coffee shops, banks, gyms, a movie theater and lots of night spots. Katrine's new shop, Cafe Fiore, is within walking distance, too.

I spent most of the day Saturday unpacking and setting up. The Ballard Burrow will dominate.

Saturday night, focuspoint had a gig in Tacoma. We came. We played. We conquered.

I drove back to Ballard Sunday morning to unpack and hang out with KaMoos (Katrine and Moos). I'm really happy with how much we accomplished in such a short time. KaMoos are excellent interior decorators and our place looks like a rainforest with all of the plants they loaded into the place. Pictures will come soon, my dears. I'll be down in Ballard for good late Thursday night or Friday, just in time for Bumbershoot!

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The media jumps on and off stories like its playing hopscotch, and, just when I become interested in a story, it gets dropped. I'm left hanging like the storyline at the end of a "Lost" episode.

This leads me to ask, "Whatever happened with..."

  • ... the Avian Flu. Weren't we all supposed to be dead by now?
  • ... Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Aren't there people still living in FEMA trailers?
  • ... government wiretapping. Did I miss out on some prosecutions?
  • ... Valerie Plame and anonymous sources. Is is safe for me to publish an article yet?
  • ... Sadaam's trial. How does this receive less coverage than the O.J. Simpson trial?
  • ... Mexican immigration. Did anything happen with border security? Can we sing the national anthem in Spanish now?
  • ... Dick Cheney. Did he shoot another friend recently?

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The producers of "Survivor" are reintroducing a taboo that is rarely even discussed in history class: racial segregation. Call it bigotry or call it bait for record-ratings.

According to a hot AP story, "Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups."

In the past, "Survivor" has divided groups by age and gender, but those divisions don't controversy like race does today. Comedians Dave Chappelle and Carlos Mencia have earned attention poking fun at race, but that's much different than dividing competition by race. Success will be earned by the individual, but most likely and unfortunately be attributed to and measured by race. "Survivor" will instigate the debate, and America will tune in.

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I know that some people who check this blog actually don't like my band ("You sound like a bunch of fairies!") or might not even like me ("Keep your friends close and your enemies closer -- by reading their blogs"). Still, I'm obliged to inform the rest of you that my band, focuspoint, is playing a show this Saturday night at Shakabrah Java in Tacoma. The show starts 8 p.m. It's free and all-ages. Same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel.

I was planning on going to California this weekend to pick up a new car, but I decided that wasn't such a great idea in between jobs. Thanks to Scott for his availability and guidance in trying to make the trip happen. Special thanks to Dad for helping me focus financially. I hope to see you all on Saturday, or at the new apartment in Ballard soon.