[Fruitacious B]

Al, building rocketships and time machines since 1981.

Very few people can easily be placed in the world of coaching greatness. Even fewer than that can there be a person who not only dwells in the world of coaching greatness, but also in the world of teaching greatness. Mr. Al Rhodes is one of those people. Despite my past personal experiences with Al, I have selected to base this review on a whole, instead of only pertaining to me. For Al has touched many. This is his review.

Al Rhodes has been a key part in the Warsaw element for quite some time. If you were to go the Flagpole for an ice cream cone, you would notice that on one of their tables there is a tiger basketball photo collage. Al is in more than thirty pictures on that table, for good reason too. I have been stuck at a crossroads as to where I should start this review, on the basketball/social side of Al Rhodes, or on the Math God side. I have decided however to start on the social side. Here you go.

Al went to Penn highschool, but that did not stop him from moving on to Warsaw greatness, oh no siree. Al took the head coaching position at Warsaw's glorious basketball program in the year 1981. Not only did he take a position in coaching, but he took a position in the hearts of many people throughout our suburbanite village of Warsaw, Indiana. When Al arrived, he changed the face of Tiger basketball, and in three years he coached the team to the 1984 State Championship, where Warsaw came home with it's first real basketball championship title. Many players traveled through Al's basketball dynasty throughout the 21 years that he was coaching. With that, many players left with a greater appreciation for the man that is Al Rhodes. With over 400 wins to his record, Al retired from coaching Warsaw basketball with one of the best win to loss ratios the state has ever seen. However, Al did not retire from the hearts of the great people of Warsaw, for he will always have a special position in the hearts of many for what he has done to our fine little Indiana establishment. He provided us with some of the most memorable basketball experiences ever, and for that we are all indebted to Al Rhodes, he was a coaching wizard that knew how to charm a town. We can all only hope that Logansport will give him as humble and appreciative home as Warsaw has. Al Rhodes, you will be missed.

Now we press on to probably the most important side of Al Rhodes, where he touched more people than he probably did through coaching. It's a shame that his teaching didn't get more publicity than his coaching. For Al Rhodes is God, when it comes to the world of Mathematics. I for one, got to experience this first-hand, as many nubblites probably have gotten the priviledge also. Even though I did not mix well with Al and his curriculum, I have been of decent enough mind to take a step back and look at what he's done through teaching. Many people will have long memories of Al phrases. Here are a few of them:

"We're building rocketships, not dog houses."

"We're building time machines, not rocket ships."

"I'm not good with numbers."

"Sometimes it hurts to be me."

"Things are going well for you, and that continues."

Do not be mistaken, Al was not just a bunch of funny comments, his class made you work. If you were lucky, he would take some time out of his class to give you an entertaining, yet insightful speech about life, and events that you may want some early information on. It was moments like those that made you truly appreciate Al Rhodes. He wants to actually give you something that you'll use after highschool, and that's cool. Not only that, Al has the posters. The posters are for everyone to use as guides and if done right, they can help you lead a better life. "Don't be a poster number three" that's what Al says, and you know what? He's right, don't be a poster number three, just don't, it's not worth it.
There is a method to things in Al Rhodes' class. This method is known as "The He-man She-ra Method". Not only does it seem to be effective, it also seems almost impossible to master. As a matter of fact, it is believed that Al is the only person to fully comprehend the He-man She-ra method. Sadly enough, however, I have been limited to only experiencing one year with Al Rhodes as a teacher, for our lives have taken diferent paths as of the end of last school year. That is sad, Al was probably one of the most intelligent people I've ever seen, he knows so much about numbers it almost makes me nauteous. I believe I am not the only one that would say this, but Al Rhodes = God. Simple enough. I got left in the dust whilst in his class, I was never able to keep up with the notebook or any of that, but I still appreciate what Al has done, and I wouldn't want to have had anyone else for math class last year. I'm proud to say that I had him as a teacher. Even if you didn't have Al, you are indebted to him in one way or another. Long live Al Rhodes, and best of luck to him at his new home as the head coach of the Logansport Berries Basketball team.

Al Rhodes has had a fantastic career and he therefore has earned himself five stars (*****) in my book.

Please post your feelings about Al, you owe it to him.