Oct. 5, 2005 Junior setter and tri-captain Courtney Thompson will be keeping a player diary throughout the 2005 volleyball season and will provide an inside look into the ins and outs of Husky Volleyball. Courtney's seventh installment is about playing in Bank of America Arena and classes starting. Oct. 5, 2005 It sure is great to be home. Playing in Hec Ed is like sleeping in your own bed. When you run out on the court you take a big sigh and just smile because you know you are where you're supposed to be. Our fans are great too. At the top of the list is our student section, the Dawg Pack, and then all the high schools (Kentlake, Tumwater, Kent-Meridian, Auburn Mountain View, the Wolves who are from somewhere I don't remember, Kentridge, Mt. Tahoma, and Selah, just to name a few), all the dedicated regulars, President Bush, our Pep Band, former coaches, my mom's crew from CTC, Brad Pitt, the Portugal's, the M&M's (Megan, Molly, and Margaret), and of course the infamous Morrison clan. When you get to share the experience of playing the game you love with all these great people it becomes more fun that I can tell you. Our team is very lucky to be able to play in the environment we have here in Seattle, and we are continually reminded of how great our home crowd is as we play in different arenas around the country. Playing at home is fun, but winning at home is the best. This is probably starting to sound redundant (maybe I should just use the copy and paste key), but as I have said beore, we transferred what we had worked on all week to game day, and it was successful. And, once again, it was really fun- and once again, we still have a lot of work to do. This was confirmed today, as it always is, when we watched film. When Jim says, "there are no little things," he really means it. I mean we're talking inches here, "we need to get our left hand three inches to the left, turn our feet two more inches to the right", and the list could go on. I love getting into such technical stuff, especially when you change something that previously seemed trivial and the result becomes this big thing. We talk so much about this "no little thing" quote and how much it transfers to everything you do. So, I was walking to class the other day thinking, what if we filmed every thing we did and dissected it like we do game film? For example, if I saw a cute guy on campus, we could see how friendly I really was. "Well ya see how your smile is somewhat lopsided here Courtney? I think if we slightly raise your lips on the right side of your mouth and put your left hand on your hip, you would probably raise the odds of getting a date next weekend by 10%." Not that I have trouble getting dates.... that was clearly just an example. So, this all happened as I was walking to class but then I got sidetracked by one of our freshman walking around in her uniform. We made all of the freshmen wear their uniforms on the first day of school, as well as announce to their classes that we had a game this Friday. When I say uniforms I mean it all- knee pads, ankle braces, spandex, etc. - it was awesome. Unfortunately for Dani and Lindsey their classes were in a lecture hall that was filled with 450 people- sometimes life just isn't fair. But they owned it and I am sure are stronger Huskies for it. Good work freshmen- we're all proud of ya. We fly out Thursday for a weekend in the Bay Area (Cal and Stanford), and after film today we have our task list for the week and are excited to begin our preparation. I really enjoy road trips and am excited, for more than the obvious reasons. This weekend we stay in my favorite hotel in the entire country... well, out of the hotels funded by the University I should say. The beds are really comfortable, with fluffy white blankets and ample amounts of pillows. The one draw back is that last year I couldn't find the remote- but I'm pretty sure that was one of my teammates so I'm not going to blame that on the hotel. Classes are going really well and it is, of course, more fun now that all the students are back on campus. It's also fun to come down to the team room and see your teammates studying before practice and just hanging out. After practice we shower and head to training table which is great for many reasons. The food rocks, it is already cooked, it is all you can eat, and you eat with your teammates as well as people from other teams. Our computer lab/study area is also right there, so it is convenient to practice, eat, and then study so that when you go home you can just relax. After relaxing for awhile it is amazing how good it feels to lay your head down on your pillow. It is kind of like the feeling of running out on the court for a home match...and that my friends, is a full circle, and thus I shall end. Our team has four days to study hard and practice hard, and then it's off for another challenging weekend in the Pac-10. Go Dawgs! |
