Offseason

Offseason usually consist of people working on their game. Working on their game means working on things that they aren't good at and things that they are good it. What many people seem not to realize is that the offseason is a time where you need to get stronger. A strong body can carry you along through the whole season than a weak body. If only everybody believed in this work ethic we could get so much better. Unfortunatelly there is only a couple people that believe in this work ethic and we all know a couple people won't win you games the whole team will win you games. If you want to win you have to sacrifice at times to get better and the offseason is the best way to get better.

My view on basketball

After, this season i honestly don't care as much as i did about it. I would rather coach it than play it especially after this season. This season made me realize some things. Things such as what to do and what not to do during the season. Basketball is a hard sport to coach especially at a college level. To be successful at a college level to me is to win unfortunately we weren't successful to me! As a basketball team we meaning coaches and players need to be on the same agenda and i believe this year we weren't. A team is suppose to be a family a family is suppose to lead towards a companionship and we did not meet this requirement. At a college level i feel like we play it to win it not to have fun.

Last Days

Well its exam week so we all know what that means school is soon to be over with. What a long year. A year that went through many trials and errors. A year that i learned from and regret and at times i cherish though. The funny part is i'm going back to the school that i came from. Will i ever come back and support mount st joesph lions basketball team honestly there isn't no way in the world that i would come back and support them. What i found interesting is when someone asked me what will i miss the most about the school. I told them i would miss the weight room because this is the place where i spent majority of time in. The last days oh what a year, oh what a school oh what a student!

Meeting with my advisor

I think this was the best meeting i ever had at the Mount St Joseph. I feel like my advisor really understood and cared about my situation. I think she actually realizes that our head coach can't really keep African American male students on the team. She gave me a helping hand by not only by listening but she also gave me her own personal cell phone number and said if i ever need her i can always call her for help. That made me feel so much better. Being a former coach i feel like she knew where i was coming from. Especially me being at a Division 3 school which isn't on athletic scholarship and my love for the game is going away she knew i needed to just focus on academics and do whatever i need to do to excel in my academics. For we all know academics is one of the most important things in college.

meeting about vacation

Not more than two weeks after the season we had a meeting dealing with the team vacation over the summer, job opportunities over the summer and rewards. I seriously don't know why i attented this meeting knowing that i wasn't coming back. All i could do is sit back and laugh at all the things that was going on. First thing first is we had to pick people for awards. One award that caught my eye and couple other people's eye was the best defensive on the team. The people who i thought had the best defensive didn't get enough playing time on varsity to receive this award. So i filled in no one because no one on the varsity level play defensive. The second agenda in this meeting was about summer vacation/tournament. He started giving outrageous prices on the trip which i found to be to much money for a trip. Then he started giving out ideas for fundraisers which i thought would never work.

Banquet

I guess after a year no matter how bad or how good we do the Mount st Joseph Lions have a basketball banquet. A banquet where you can enjoy your self, eat, give out rewards and reflect on the previous season and look forward towards the next. Common sense would tell you since i haven't got in contact with the coaches, or any of the other captains and since i been telling people i wasn't coming back i would not even want to attend this banquet. The banquet was held at the head Coach's house so that's a definite no to come. I just hate when people try to act all concern with you when you are face to face with you but when you aren't they are totally fake to you. In this situation one can email you so much but when they see you in the halls of the school they won't say one word to you or just act like they don't know you. I thought we all were suppose to be a team actually a team/ family. Exactly fakeness is what some, many people on my team consist of.

The first talk

While waiting for class to start i find one of my closest friends at Mount St Joseph and speak to him about our previous basketball season. We talk about all the the fun we had which wasn't alot, all the hard times we had and just in general all the things we didn't understand about coaching, coaches,players and plays. While talking we saw one of our assistant coaches. We found this funny because both us were trying to avoid all coaches because we both were not returning the next year. As the coach saw us i knew he found it necessary to conversate with us. So, he grabbed a chair and sat down right next to us and began a conversation. Before he could say anything i asked him "You know i'm not coming back next year!" his response was i know. I guess he could sense this during the middle of season towards the end when i started to get fed up with things. Then he started giving me all types of ideas why i shouldn't come back even though the ideas he mention were to pursue me to come back but, unfortunately they didn't.

The Last Game

The last game of our season, the last game for our seniors to play at the College of Mount St. Joseph the last long road trip until next year. The Bluffton Beavers that have made a great strive to make it to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. At one point they were last in the conference they ended a 15 game stretch 9-6. This road trip was about 3 and half hours away. It was a double header both females and males were playing so obviously we took the charter bus. For all players weren't allowed to go on the trip only the players that were selected to dress varsity but, it seemed as for the women all players went. When we first played Bluffton at our home court we beat them by one point by a game winning jump shot by our starting point guard Travis Huffman. At the end of the first half we had a comfortable lead 43-26 but, that lead wasn't to comfortable after teh second half started. Bluffton kept on chipping away point after point eventually with three minutes and thirty nine seconds left the Bluffton Beavers tied the game up. Since it was the Beavers senior night the crowd was going crazy rooting their friends and maybe even family members on. With 29 seconds left they took the lead. Coming down to the last seconds we had one opportunity to excel and win the game but unfortunately Travis misssed this time. So the game was won by the Beavers 69-68. What a hard fought game it was. It's sad to see two teams work as hard as they could and eventually one has to lose by only one point.

The Last practice

The last practice of our terrible season. A season that we all should be disappointed in. Our current standings in the HCAC is 2-13 dead last. We have no help to make the tournament. I guess this was a practice to have fun. We played many games such as knockout, shooting games and even dodge ball. The winning team of dodge ball were going to get a free bottle of gatorade. During practice people were laughing, playing around, it seemed as if everyone just gave up. Even though the coaches told us that they didn't give up but i got the idea that they actually did but, they couldn't tell us. I felt sad for the seniors because our previous game our head coach didn't play them at all. One of the seniors told me "that he felt like he gave up on me." More about our last practice or more about my last practice with the college of Mount St. Joseph. This practice was only a hour long if that. I guess he was trying to get us in and get us out as fast as he could.

Mental Practice

A mental practice... What is a mental practice, What is the purpose of a mental practice are just some of the questions that was going through my head. February 12, 2009 was a day of a mental practice. Mental practice was a practice according to coach was when we sit down and watch our previous game. The previous game that we lost to Defiance by 4. While watching we are suppose to go over all the wrong and right things that we did. A mental practice was a practice where we can rest our body's. A mental practice i find was pointless. While watching our previous game in the film room i look to my left, i look to my right and see have of our players asleep. Now how can we get better by falling asleep during this time. Some people look at is if they didn't play so they don't need to watch it. While others fall asleep just because they gave up on us this season. There was a few though that stayed up to watch and criticize what happened.

Senior Night

What a game to remember our last home game for both the JV squad and also the varsity squad. Unfortunately both squads didn't come up victorious. The JV squad pulled down a great victory over Franklin University while the Varsity was defeated. Junior Varsity won a close game by 4 points while Franklin Varsity unit defeated us by 13 points. We honored two seniors today before the game took place. Seniors Mitchell Goldschmidt (Ft. Loramie, OH/Ft. Loramie) and Chris Cioffi (Williamsport, PA/Loyalsock Twp.) who gave it their best in their last home game at the Mount.Visiting Franklin College shot 67 percent from the field today, and converted 24-of-31 free throws en route to a 91-78 victory over the Lions. The Mount, who has dropped seven straight games, falls to 6-17 overall, 2-12 in the HCAC while the Franklin Grizzlies go to 15-8, 12-2. In this game we were led by Michael Romes who contributed for 16 points while Travis Huffman chipped in with 13 points. We were led by game high rebounder Kyle McCord with 10 rebounds. I guess we have to look next year for our senior night while we will be honoring 5 seniors Travis Huffman, Michael Romes, Kyle McCord, Robby Lykes and Mike Mechler. Good luck in the future, future seniors!

Losing Streak

When will we ever win a game. It seems like we haven't one a game in years. We actually haven't won a game in nearly a month. I'm tired of losing, i hate losing, i just hate the feeling of losing. People ask me what our record is i'm embarrassed to even tell people about our record. We are an outstanding 6-15 to make it even worse we are 2-10 in our own conference. A conference by the way where i see no outstanding athletes or good teams. Why can't we win? Is it the players, coaches, or maybe is it just the referree's? My opinion i don't blame the coaches nor the officials. I blame the players if we are so called good enough like we say we are we can win majority of our games but, evidently this isn't true! We have lost 5 in a row and the chances of breaking this streak is going to be tougher because all the teams we play have beaten us already before. Unfortunately there is a chance we can end the season with a 10 game losing streak! By all means we need a win now or as soon as possible! Please someone help us!