The ladies had two chances last week to lock up a three seed in the conference tournament, and did so with a victory against Illinois on senior day. The saying "better late than never" applies here since they waited until their last game to ensure a Friday game this week. They could've done it against Sparty, but maybe it was my fault for that loss. There is an explanation for this. Last week before the matchup against Michigan State, I was told to grab a football pad and hit the post players as they were going up for layups. Now, this was at the beginning of practice, so I figured it would be a good idea to take it easy and let them warm up. My logic proved to be foolish as I hear Coach Versyp yelling from the other end of the gym at me to pound them with the pad. It caught me off guard, and quite honestly it scared me half to death. I panicked and just started hitting them with no regard for their safety. So I dearly apologize if I knocked one of them in the head a couple or ten times.
This week is likely one of the biggest weeks of the season for the team. So it seems like a perfect time to utilize an undefeated RIP Squad right? Truth is, we only practiced with them once this week so I suppose that paints a picture of how useful we really are (this is of course a joke considering the coaches and players get pumped when we show up). To sum up this practice, we prepared for both Wisconsin and Illinois (both possible matchups for Friday's game), felt extremely fatigued due to having three days off, and I was trapped by Taylor Manuel under the rim for what felt like hours. I'm sure the last thing on that list caught your attention so I'll explain. When I say trapped, I don't mean that I was on the ground and she had fallen on top of me. That sounds bad, but what really happened was even worse. Taylor is by far the widest post player on the team, and when she gets position on you on the block, there is no escape. I was just along for the ride when I switched off onto her and was stuck behind while she just laid the ball in for two. This same scenario has happened to many of our other practice guys. I believe we can now all attend the same therapy class and express our emotions.
As the three seed, it looks like the ladies will have to go
through the winner of Wisconsin and Illinois, then either Nebraska or Iowa to
reach the semi-finals. From there, Penn State looms on the lower half of the
bracket as the top seed and is apparently the favorite. The seeding
of a team doesn’t matter in any tournament. If it did, Butler wouldn’t have
become a national sensation and Lehigh and Norfolk State wouldn’t have
essentially ripped my bracket in half last year (there is a good percentage of
you who understand my pain). I won’t make any kind of predictions because I
could end up eating my words. I’ll just say I’d like to still be in Hoffman
Estates come Sunday evening celebrating. Last year
when they won the tournament, the players cut us a piece of the net and brought
it over to us in the front row. It was such a great moment for us; actually it
was probably the closest we’ll ever get to the playing floor. We would’ve been
on the court like everyone else but apparently saying “we practice with them
every day” isn’t a good enough reason for the security guards to let it slide.
We'll try again this weekend up in Hoffman Estates. The group of us going are really looking forward to paying our way through the toll roads to get there and watching the ladies chase another tournament championship. Next week will be dedicated to the NCAA tournament and what will inevitably our last few practices with the team this year. Tune in next time for the finale of RIP Squad pains for the 2012-2013 season.
No comments:
Post a Comment