Northwestern University Athletics
Erin and Kelly: THE DYER BLOG
3/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Blog Entry #6
February 23, 2009
Hello again Cats!!
Happy Monday everyone! Monday may be one of my favorite days of the week (other than game days) during our travel season because it is the day I get to catch up on most of my sleep, and simply relax. I am looking forward to it!
As for this past weekend in Palm Springs, it was not our best. Most of it the team and I have already decided to put behind us and move forward. We had a couple tough losses that really hit the team hard. Saturday was out toughest day. Afterwards the team got together for a meeting to talk about where we would go from the results of the day. We usually call team meetings "phase meetings". These meetings are always held with all members of our team, and usually occur at specific points within our season. Whether they are planned or unplanned, I always love them! It is a time for all members of our team to sit down and talk with one another about anything concerning the team. They are essentially meetings that constantly make our team stronger on and off the field. As we leave these meetings, there is always a definite plan of action that the team will take from that point on. During this specific meeting, the team decided to stop over-analyzing every play and at-bat and simply play the game! When we start to do this, we will be able to lean on our experience and team chemistry to help us through tough moments. In all, it was a great meeting, leaving the team feeling much better going to sleep that night.
Sunday morning came real fast as we had the first game of the day around 8 a.m. The team was up and the bus was packed by 6 a.m. to take on our last game of the weekend versus Nebraska. Early on in the game, Nebraska hit a three-run homer to go up 3-0. Instead of getting down, the team showed a lot of fight. In the latter innings, our offense came alive as one after the other reached base. After we tied it up with a hit from Nicole Pauly, we quickly went ahead 5-3 with a shot from Adrienne Monka. After going ahead, we had another half an inning in order to close out the game. As Nebraska put the pressure on our defense, we were able to close the game out winning 5-4. It was a great feeling! We finished the tournament with a good win and got to leave feeling good about it. And let me tell you, there is a big difference in going on a two-hour bus ride to the airport, a four-hour plane ride to Chicago, and another one-hour bus ride back to Evanston when you've just won a big game versus losing one! Moral of the story, it's always great to win on Sunday!
Although we had some tough games this past weekend, there were a couple fun things that happened. As many of you may know, for all away games the team travels in a coach bus. About 15 minutes before we reach the fields we always play our team CD. From year-to-year, certain songs remain the same like our fight song for example. However, every year, the team always chooses a "team song" that will be incorporated into the CD. This year, we had not found a song, so our designated CD maker, Tori Nyberg, decided to play a "mystery song" before all the other concrete songs and it has so far been a ton of fun among the team. I'm still waiting to be surprised with a country song, but I might have to send a couple Tori's way seeing as I know she only listens to Kelly Clarkson and Jack Johnson. Haha, it's ok Tori, I like Kelly Clarkson too! Also, this weekend was particularly fun because my roommate was none other than Michelle Batts. I'll have you know that although Michelle thinks I'm small and occasionally likes to remind me, she knows I'd win in a wrestling match any day!!
Finally, I cannot wrap up the weekend without telling you about our plane ride back to Chicago. If anyone has ever been on Southwest and encountered a female stewardess that likes to sing show tunes about EVERYTHING please contact me. Not only am I afraid of flying, but when you add someone constantly butting in over the PA singing about the plane ride turning into a cruise, it does NOT help with my anxiety!! Thankfully, we landed safely and are flying a different airline next weekend!
That's all for now, have a great week everyone!
-little guy
