Northwestern University Athletics
Peace, Love and NUSB: Entry 5
10/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Oct. 21, 2010
Happy Thursday `Cat fans and welcome back to the blog! We will start posting our player interviews next week so tune in then for some hilarious footage of the 2011 purple team. Until then, I thought I would give you a little inside scoop on what the `Cats are doing day in and day out of Phase II.
Our team runs our years through phases and we are about two weeks into Phase II- most commonly described as the toughest, most grueling phase of the entire year. Take a moment and picture this: It's 6:15 Monday morning and you're peacefully snoozing, dreaming about becoming famous or flying or something like that, nice and toasty in your bed, warm and cozy under your down comforter, snuggled with your pillows, stuffed animals, what have you, and all the sudden BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!! Frantically, you leap out of bed falling as you try to turn off the alarm, which at this point sounds worse than a fire alarm. Your eyes are still half closed, your legs aren't fully functioning yet and your brain has little to no idea what is going on. Then, suddenly, it hits you; its Monday morning and you have to be at the stadium for a 7 a.m. run. With your eyes still half closed you pull on your sweat pants and hoodie, shivering and longing for the warmth of your bed. You sleep walk yourself to the kitchen and somehow throw a peanut butter and jelly English muffin in the toaster, make sure the rest of your teammates are out of bed, and drag yourselves out of the house duly noting that it is, in fact, still dark outside.
As you slide into the car you think, why? Why oh why is this happening to me? And then you remember, Phase II. He is the culprit, fully to blame for the unbelievably sore muscles and tired eyes. He is the one who makes me get up and run 20's at such a wicked hour. He is the one who makes walking up and down the stairs an impossible feat and the one who makes sleeping in seem like a far off fantasy. You start to tighten your fists, getting angry with Phase II wanting to destroy him and his evil dream interrupting ways. Then, just as suddenly as you jumped out of bed, you realize, something new. Phase II is not a monster, he's a genius. He pushes you, he challenges you, and he makes you work harder than you've ever worked in your life. He is the reason you win -- and keep winning -- all the way through June.
This is what the `Cats realize each day. Every Monday and Friday morning when all we want to do is sleep in, every Tuesday when more and more weight gets added to the squat bar, and every Thursday as we scratch and claw our way up and down every stair of the massive football stadium. Everyday we realize how much we want to win. The purple team has been working tirelessly day in and day out to push their limits -- and come June all we will be able to do is thank crazy Phase II for instilling in us the passion and drive it takes to win and making us that much better every single day.
But hey! It's not hard to figure out that these `Cats know how to unwind after a tough day at the office. And seeing as it's October and we are quickly approaching one of my favorite holidays - HALLOWEEN -- the `Cats have been very busy planning and plotting all of our spooky activities. NUSB has a tradition of spending weeks, and sometimes months leading up to Halloween deciding on our team theme. Each year we try to out do the past themes, we create lists, we have votes, its quite the ordeal. Now, before I announce the winner, just know that picking a theme that allows for 19 different costumes is very, very, challenging. Some years we get very creative, some years we get goofy, but this year we went classic. Disney classic to be exact. The NUSB 2011 `Cats will be gracing Halloween night with fairytales in full force. Everyone from princesses, to super heroes, to evil Dalmatian stealing ladies will be in attendance. This group of felines is not a shy bunch and Halloween is the perfect place for us to shine.
So even after we sweat through our most challenging workouts, the `Cats always find ways to have tons of fun on the side. We've got a few more weeks of Phase II and each and every one of these `Cats are ready to give it all they've got. And get excited because starting next week the individual player interviews will be posted on the blog for an even more up close and personal look at NUSB 2011!
So keep tuning in to the blog to get to know all the `Cats! (And to be privy to NUSB Halloween photos!)
Peace, Love and NUSB
GO `CATS!
Wheels
