One of the things people think is especially cool about being a manager is that we get to travel with the team. As I explain to said people, not every manager is on every trip, but there are managers on every trip (did you follow that?). I also have to explain that while yes, it is pretty fun, we're also working and that no, I don't get paid for "sleeping time." We also miss class but are fortunate to be excused with the same policy which excuses varsity athletes. So far this season, not counting bus rides to Raleigh and Chapel Hill and a preseason scrimmage in South Carolina, I've traveled with the team twice. At the end of January I was on the trip to Tallahassee for our game against Florida State and this past weekend I was in Knoxville for our big game against Tennessee. Generally speaking, we travel there the day before our game and come home immediately after.
Like most big name programs (in men's and women's basketball), we usually fly charter. This means that we take a bus to the airport but instead of going to the commercial areas the bus takes us directly to our plane. When we get to our destination there is another bus waiting for us to take us to our hotel.
On our trip to Tallahassee I didn't actually miss any class because of how our travel schedule and my class schedule matched up. I also got to see a good friend's parents at the game. Unfortunately, we lost in overtime...
In Tennessee we got to play in front of a huge crowd and against an esteemed program. Say what you will about Tennessee not being up to par this season, that they're young and inexperienced...they're still Tennessee, they're coach is still Pat Summit and it's still a pretty big deal. We went to dinner at Coach Brown's house which was fun and really cute...and delicious! I video blogged the trip for the team/goduke.com, so as soon as I'm done editing it down I'll post a link here. Also, our hotel basically shared a parking lot with the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, so in a spare moment between shoot around and pre-game meal I wandered over there with our video coordinator (who is fabulous) to take a gander. Pretty neat stuff, I tell ya. Oh, and how could I forget to mention that we WON.
I'll likely travel next with the team to Winston Salem for our game against Wake Forest (next Wednesday) and will be in Greensboro helping with the ACC Tournament (in early March).
Until next time...Go Blue Devils!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Midterm Madness
At Duke, you've got to imagine that March Madness is a pretty big deal. But, before we even get to March us students have to weather a different sort of madness...midterms! Depending on the courses a student is taking some will experience a big crunch and others not so much. For me, last semester didn't have a crunch time until finals came around...and even that was pretty manageable. This semester is different though. Now that I've survived to tell about it (it finally calmed down on Monday), I had a pretty rough week and a half. All in all I had two exams, a first draft of a project, a paper and a final draft of a project. I guess it doesn't sound that bad...but when one exam is in math which at Duke is notorious for giving everyone a hard time, one exam is in a class with a HORRIBLE professor (yes, even at Duke they exist :/), my research project required a write up that turned out to be 8 pages and I had a paper on top of that (which is always nerve-wracking...especially the first one in a class) I was forced to manage my time, work for hours on end, stay up till at least 3am on four occassions (including a friday and saturday night!) and give up going to the gym (freshman fifteen?).
Things have finally calmed down, though, and I feel good about my performances on my exams and the quality of my paper and research assignment. Even so, I'm looking forward to having some time to myself again and time to hit the gym to work on my guns ;)
Things have finally calmed down, though, and I feel good about my performances on my exams and the quality of my paper and research assignment. Even so, I'm looking forward to having some time to myself again and time to hit the gym to work on my guns ;)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Inauguration Tales
Sorry it took me so long to get back and write about my 24 hours of adventure on inauguration day. I hope you enjoyed the pictures in the mean time.
On the night of January 19th I found myself running from commitment to commitment, as you might expect from me by now. We had a game that night at North Carolina State University...and what a game it was. Desperate for a win after opening conference play 0-3, being in the midst of a 4 game losing streak and trying to rally around their coach (the now late Kay Yow...another post on that later...and yes, I seem to say that a lot but one day it'll happen), the Wolfpack pushed us to our second overtime of the season. We won the game, went back to our locker room and immediately began writing cards of well wishes, thoughts and sentiment to Coach Yow.
Once we arrived back at Duke, I finished up my managing duties, came back to my dorm to squeeze in an hour or so of work, packed my "stuff" and was right back out the door to catch the bus to DC. I left the dorm wearing a pair of turquoise pantyhose, with gray stirrup pants (come on, you remember those from the 90s?) over them, a pair of black athletic leggings over top, and finally a pair of jeans. I also wore an under armor long sleeved shirt with a long sleeved t-shirt on top and my hiking books. With me I brought a fleece, a hoodie, a winter coat, ear warming head band, a hat (thanks Nicole!), a pair of hiking socks, a pair of cotton gloves and an old pair of my mom's driving gloves (from the 70s when she lived in NY!), and wind breaker pants. Can you say L-A-Y-E-R-S!?
We got boarded the bus just after 12-midnight and were on our way to the nation's capitol! Some hours later we stopped briefly at a rest stop before arriving at RFK stadium. As we got off the bus, the Duke chaperones gave us hand warmers! I'd never heard of them before and didn't know anything about them. To a kid from Arizona they're kind of the opposite of those instant ice packs!
From RFK stadium we caught a shuttle which took us to just a few blocks from the National Mall. We got to the national mall and waited...and waited...and waited...and tried to stay warm in the process.
The children's choir was a really beautiful introduction to the day's events. Nothing like singing "America the Beautiful" or "My Country Tis of Thee" or "My Land is Your Land...Your Land is My Land" with 2million people on the national mall!
Everything after that is kind of a blur. Lots of flag waving, cheering, soulful amens and "mhms", chanting O-BA-MA and singing "na na na na hey hey hey good bye" to Bush.
Following the inauguration ceremony we went to go find a bite to eat. This proved to be a much more dramatic task then either of us could have ever predicted. Food options were limited, everything had crazy lines and we had no idea where to go! Literally hours later we wound up back at the national mall and got hotdogs before heading back to RFK stadium to catch our way "home" to Duke.
The whole thing was absolutely incredible. To witness and be a part of history like that is a pretty surreal experience. Arguably the best $20 (thats how much my bus ticket was) I ever spent in my life.
On the night of January 19th I found myself running from commitment to commitment, as you might expect from me by now. We had a game that night at North Carolina State University...and what a game it was. Desperate for a win after opening conference play 0-3, being in the midst of a 4 game losing streak and trying to rally around their coach (the now late Kay Yow...another post on that later...and yes, I seem to say that a lot but one day it'll happen), the Wolfpack pushed us to our second overtime of the season. We won the game, went back to our locker room and immediately began writing cards of well wishes, thoughts and sentiment to Coach Yow.
Once we arrived back at Duke, I finished up my managing duties, came back to my dorm to squeeze in an hour or so of work, packed my "stuff" and was right back out the door to catch the bus to DC. I left the dorm wearing a pair of turquoise pantyhose, with gray stirrup pants (come on, you remember those from the 90s?) over them, a pair of black athletic leggings over top, and finally a pair of jeans. I also wore an under armor long sleeved shirt with a long sleeved t-shirt on top and my hiking books. With me I brought a fleece, a hoodie, a winter coat, ear warming head band, a hat (thanks Nicole!), a pair of hiking socks, a pair of cotton gloves and an old pair of my mom's driving gloves (from the 70s when she lived in NY!), and wind breaker pants. Can you say L-A-Y-E-R-S!?
We got boarded the bus just after 12-midnight and were on our way to the nation's capitol! Some hours later we stopped briefly at a rest stop before arriving at RFK stadium. As we got off the bus, the Duke chaperones gave us hand warmers! I'd never heard of them before and didn't know anything about them. To a kid from Arizona they're kind of the opposite of those instant ice packs!
From RFK stadium we caught a shuttle which took us to just a few blocks from the National Mall. We got to the national mall and waited...and waited...and waited...and tried to stay warm in the process.
The children's choir was a really beautiful introduction to the day's events. Nothing like singing "America the Beautiful" or "My Country Tis of Thee" or "My Land is Your Land...Your Land is My Land" with 2million people on the national mall!
Everything after that is kind of a blur. Lots of flag waving, cheering, soulful amens and "mhms", chanting O-BA-MA and singing "na na na na hey hey hey good bye" to Bush.
Following the inauguration ceremony we went to go find a bite to eat. This proved to be a much more dramatic task then either of us could have ever predicted. Food options were limited, everything had crazy lines and we had no idea where to go! Literally hours later we wound up back at the national mall and got hotdogs before heading back to RFK stadium to catch our way "home" to Duke.
The whole thing was absolutely incredible. To witness and be a part of history like that is a pretty surreal experience. Arguably the best $20 (thats how much my bus ticket was) I ever spent in my life.
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