Friday, March 22, 2013

Weathering the Weather

I hate to keep making blogs that deal with weather related issues, but when you play an outdoor sport like baseball, weather plays a huge role in your life.  Due to recent snow, rain, hail, ice, sleet, and basically everything else mother nature can throw at us our baseball team has now had games postponed on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, costing our team a total of 4 games this week.  Although I would love to be playing the game I love right now there definitely is one thing this horrid weather and these cancelled games are good for; homework completion!

One of the biggest issues for any student-athlete is finding the time to complete homework, while attempting to be the very best athlete they can be on the field of competition.  This week's bountiful amount of rain and snow outs, has allowed me to schedule out my time effectively and complete all of the homework, assigned to me for the next week.  This luxury of time afforded to me by this terrible weather has been a huge help, and has put me ahead of the game as far as my homework goes.

These postponed games may take away our chance to play on certain days, but they allow us to remember the key fact, that we are STUDENT-athletes and not the other way around.  Classes and schoolwork come first, and with this extra time off, I have found real success in the student portion of being a student-athlete.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Snow, Really?

Looking out the window this morning I really had to ask Mother Nature if this late March snow is necessary.  As a resident of Southern New Jersey, our snowstorms usually come to a hault around the end of February, with a freak winter blast coming from time to time every handful of years. 

This year, I have truly learned the meaning of being a resident of New England, as snow has impacted the area all winter long.  We even encountered a blizzard this year, which dumped 40 plus inches on the pristine Albertus campus. 

Usually I am an advocate of snow fall, as it provides me with days off from school, beautiful scenery, and perfect sledding conditions.  But when snow starts effecting baseball season, I draw the line.  Already this year, snow has postponed one game, and cancelled a doubleheader that would have been played against Eastern Connecticut State; now it is going after even more games.  After receiving 6 inches of snow, Mt. St. Mary's had to postpone our contest against them on Wednesday afternoon, and there is still no way to tell if the snow will affect our Thursday game at Westfield State. 

Nothing is better than snow in the winter, but nothing is worse than a game being "snowed" out.  So I ask Mother Nature to please take it easy on the snow, because the Falcons have some baseball games to win.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Spring Break?

Students and faculty at colleges all over the country celebrate the arrival of Spring Break each and every Spring Semester.  At Albertus Magnus College Spring Break will be taking place next week, as students return home for a week with friends and family, or possibly head off on vacations. 

But for baseball and softball players, there is no such thing as a Spring Break.  During the upcoming week both the baseball and softball teams will be heading down to sunny, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a week filled with games, to kick off their seasons. 

As a baseball player, I have been looking forward to this trip all year, and although game days are all business, after the games end, the team has an awesome time.  Our trip will begin on Saturday morning as we head to Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, New York for a doubleheader with in-state rival Eastern Connecticut State University.  The doubleheader should prove to be a tough test for our young team, as ECSU comes into the matchup ranked nationally, in the top 25 for Division III.

Following our Saturday games, we will be heading down to Myrtle Beach, where we will play doubleheaders on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  We expect nothing less than to leave South Carolina with a winning record, as we prepare ourselves for what looks to be a very promising 2013 campaign. 

Following our four day stay in Myrtle Beach, we will be hopping right back on the bus and heading north to Salisbury, Maryland for a nine inning game against nationally ranked Salisbury University.  Salisbury handed us a tough loss last season to end our spring trip and we will look to return the favor this year, with a very confident team. 

For any collegiate baseball player, spring break does not exist, but they know, that they wouldn't want it anyother way. 

Monday, March 4, 2013

MidTerms and Mini-All-Nighters?

As midterms have come, and midterm grades are soon due, students all over Albertus Magnus College are cramming and working hard to ensure they do their very best.  With my 4 online courses and one on-site class, I have found midterm week to be a very different experience than ever before. 
Although I still feel the stresses and pressure every college student encounters during this time, my online courses allow me to choose when and where to do my work.  I find this to be a very liberating experience, which takes a huge weight off my shoulders during such trying times.  Tonight following my baseball practice which ends at 5 PM, I will be pulling what I call a mini-all-nighter.  This work accomplishing strategy is something I have created in order to cope with my very busy 5 course schedule, mixed with blogging duties, athletic department work, and my baseball schedule, which has now become more hectic than ever since the season started this weekend. 
To begin my mini-all-nighter I will be getting a delicious meal from the school's dining hall, which will serve as my fuel keeping me awake throughout the process.  Next, I will make a short trip to Dunkin Donuts on Dixwell Avenue, to get some delicious Caramel coffee, to assist my dinner in keeping me awake.  After my quick trip off campus, I will return to the quiet sactitude of my dorm room in Mccauliffe, where the fun will all begin.  Some of the work I will be completing tonight includes a play review for Introduction to Theatre, work on my very own screenplay for my Screenwriting course, and a short paper discussing technology and the arts, for Technology and the Arts.  I find that the best way to keep working hard throughout a mini-all-nighter is to reward yourself for a job well done, so taking breaks in between assignment completion is vital to making this a successful academic experience. 
The key to making my experience a mini-all-nighter, is the fact that I have a course load that includes 4 online classes and only one on-site course which meets on Wednesday.  This means that no matter how late I stay up tonight to finish my homework, I won't wind up oversleeping a class on Tuesday, because I have no official class meetings!  This work completion strategy has paid dividends for me and will surely show up wonderfully on my midterm grades report, which I hope will be "swimming" in A's.