Dear Diary: Random Thoughts by Jamie Thornton
12/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OK fellow Bobcat fans, sorry it has been so long since I last wrote, but life has been crazy!
Since I last wrote in late November we have tallied four more wins, including our most recent win against Montana Western. Not only have we played six games in the last month, but we have also had to finish up classes and take finals. You could definitely say that we are in the full swing of the college-athlete life.
While most students only have to think about finals, we also have to prepare for a basketball game. Most people might think that we just go out and play, but the truth is that a lot of planning and preparation goes into every game we play. Our coaches do a great job of preparing scouting reports for us that spells out everything we need to know about our opponent. The day before a game we will spend about half an hour looking over the scouting report and watching some film. Sometimes we don’t enjoy scouting, because it does take a lot of mental focus, but on the other hand it is half an hour of practice that doesn’t involve running, so it’s not all bad.
I actually really enjoy pre-game shoot-around. As you might expect, we are all really competitive, so when we get the chance to play a few fun games, we tend to take it to the extreme. Whether we are split up by hair color, age, or birthday the two teams always go at it. It doesn’t matter who wins, we just like to compete. The best part is when you are so close to winning that you can taste it, but because you get so excited you just can’t make that last shot.
We always end our shoot-around by shooting half-court shots. Sometimes it takes just a few to get a make, and sometimes it takes 20 shots to get a make, but we always end with a make.
Whenever we get together as a team, we can’t help but have fun. Whether we are in the locker room or at the hotel we always find a way to have a good time. It seems like we spend a lot of time just sitting around together, but when you spend two plus hours a day running around you need a little down time.
In the hotels we will get together and rent a movie or just watch the NBA game that is on that night. Whenever we are getting ready for practice in the locker room we like to have our TV on too. We usually just watch MTV or an occasional episode of CSI: Miami. I think our favorite show is Rob & Big on MTV, which follows the life of a professional skateboarder and his body guard, it’s a really funny show.
The travel vans are another place we like to have fun. We always rent four mini-vans, which might seem like a lot of space for just 12 players, but when you add in the four coaches, our trainer Heather, our radio announcer Mark, and assorted family members of the coaches that come with us, four vans are just about right.
The funny part is that we are very un-evenly spaced out in the vans. On our first road trip, nine players piled into the first two vans, which left only Erica, Rebecca, and me in the third van. So while the first two vans are chocked-full of players and bags, my van is wide open with plenty of leg room.
Now I might be a little bias, but I think my van is the best. Coach Scanson is my driver and I definitely think he is the best. Not that the other drivers are bad, but only Scanson will crank the tunes and carry on entire conversations about the best fast food on the west coast. Scanson thinks In-n-Out has the best burger, but I know that Cougar Country in Pullman has the best burger anywhere.
Since I last wrote in late November we have tallied four more wins, including our most recent win against Montana Western. Not only have we played six games in the last month, but we have also had to finish up classes and take finals. You could definitely say that we are in the full swing of the college-athlete life.
While most students only have to think about finals, we also have to prepare for a basketball game. Most people might think that we just go out and play, but the truth is that a lot of planning and preparation goes into every game we play. Our coaches do a great job of preparing scouting reports for us that spells out everything we need to know about our opponent. The day before a game we will spend about half an hour looking over the scouting report and watching some film. Sometimes we don’t enjoy scouting, because it does take a lot of mental focus, but on the other hand it is half an hour of practice that doesn’t involve running, so it’s not all bad.
I actually really enjoy pre-game shoot-around. As you might expect, we are all really competitive, so when we get the chance to play a few fun games, we tend to take it to the extreme. Whether we are split up by hair color, age, or birthday the two teams always go at it. It doesn’t matter who wins, we just like to compete. The best part is when you are so close to winning that you can taste it, but because you get so excited you just can’t make that last shot.
We always end our shoot-around by shooting half-court shots. Sometimes it takes just a few to get a make, and sometimes it takes 20 shots to get a make, but we always end with a make.
Whenever we get together as a team, we can’t help but have fun. Whether we are in the locker room or at the hotel we always find a way to have a good time. It seems like we spend a lot of time just sitting around together, but when you spend two plus hours a day running around you need a little down time.
In the hotels we will get together and rent a movie or just watch the NBA game that is on that night. Whenever we are getting ready for practice in the locker room we like to have our TV on too. We usually just watch MTV or an occasional episode of CSI: Miami. I think our favorite show is Rob & Big on MTV, which follows the life of a professional skateboarder and his body guard, it’s a really funny show.
The travel vans are another place we like to have fun. We always rent four mini-vans, which might seem like a lot of space for just 12 players, but when you add in the four coaches, our trainer Heather, our radio announcer Mark, and assorted family members of the coaches that come with us, four vans are just about right.
The funny part is that we are very un-evenly spaced out in the vans. On our first road trip, nine players piled into the first two vans, which left only Erica, Rebecca, and me in the third van. So while the first two vans are chocked-full of players and bags, my van is wide open with plenty of leg room.
Now I might be a little bias, but I think my van is the best. Coach Scanson is my driver and I definitely think he is the best. Not that the other drivers are bad, but only Scanson will crank the tunes and carry on entire conversations about the best fast food on the west coast. Scanson thinks In-n-Out has the best burger, but I know that Cougar Country in Pullman has the best burger anywhere.
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
