Easter Bunnies and Spring Break Honeys.

Pep- If that isn't the face of a catfish... I don't know what is.


Well here we are, spring break 2008... and Easter Weekend. I must say... as boring as spring break has been from an entertainment standpoint... I am incredibly sad to see it go. Unfortunately, the reality is that now I have 4 tests and a paper due this week, and even during spring break, school is killing me softly.

Monday afternoon, a bunch of us went out to "The Fly" (or the levee... basically just a big patch of grass by the river) and we had a good time. The sun wasn't really out, but we played some hacky sack, threw the football, and basically just killed time. We had practice Tuesday morning, followed by a trip to Baton Rouge Wednesday evening to play LSU. It turned out to be pretty dang cold, and we didn't have the foresight to bring jackets, our bad.

Today, after a Saturday victory, the parents provided an unbelievable barbecue at Rustin's place. There was pretty much every meat imaginable, ZERO vegetables, and some phenomenal dessert... sounds about right to me. Oh.. and Mrs. Rebowe's fruit pizza-- out of this world. Bottom line, thank you so much to the parents who helped set it up- it was awesome.

I really planned on having some fantastic update to post, with reports of great fun and other neat little chestnuts, but unfortunately... it's been pretty lame. The good news though, is that we are on the downhill for the semester. With about 6 more weeks of class and then finals, we are on the home stretch.

Since this update has been very much lacking in substance, I will leave you with a few more nicknames... some newly acquired, some that were neglected the first time, and some that only grayden uses... that I find funny:

Steve Moritz- "Steve the pirate", "Black Olive"
Nick Pepitone- "Catfish"
Josh Prince- "The principal"
Sam Honeck- "Sammy 2 times"
Rob Segedin- "Seggy T's"
Scott Powell- "Ronny New Year"
Matt Petiton- "Lib" or "Libby"


And finally, our quote of the week--
"Wow Tony, that was pretty Italian."
-G$ (After scelfo stretched a double into a triple up 14 in the 8th)

**Note- the title of this post is highly inaccurate, because to this point there have been no easter bunnies, and we have been surrounded by dudes for 7 days now.

Family.

1&2- Just some of the guys hanging out.


As we have established, the purpose of this blog is to give an inside look into what we are doing as a team... and for the most part, it is fun and games. It seems that if you are on campus it is virtually impossible run into a single Tulane baseball player. The reason for that? Where there is one of us, there are inevitably several more nearby. It seems like we are never alone, which, has its perks and its pitfalls. Some of the pitfalls include (but are not restricted to): No stupid act, comment, or question goes without being relayed to the entire team, secrets are virtually non-existent, and self-esteem must be checked at the door. We are always quick to make fun of one another, and an onlooker unfamiliar with our collective sarcasm might think we absolutely hate one another. This couldn't be further from the truth, and it brings me to the point of this post. We are a family.

Never has this been more evident than it was this weekend. In the midst of celebrating a big win on Friday night... we received news that Preston Claiborne's father had passed away earlier that evening. At that very moment, everything else became irrelevant. See, we are brothers. When something happens to one of your brothers... it feels like it has happened to you. Preston is without a doubt one of the most fun guys on the team. As roommates during our freshman year of college, I think we experienced just about everything. The one thing that I always noticed was that Preston, the same Preston that earned the nickname "Leeroy" for his antics and personality, had a unique respect and admiration for his father, that I could not begin to explain. Preston got the ball today and did one hell of a job on the mound, looking better than ever after his surgery. I have no doubt that Mr. C was pretty proud.

Although we dropped two tough games to UC-Irvine this weekend, I have no doubt that we will bounce back. Every family has its growing pains... and as long as we are there to pick each other back up nothing will keep us down.

This week's quote might not have been said by one of the guys, but I make the rules here:
"Two are better than one because they have good return for their work; If one falls down his friend can help him up."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Culture Shock

1- Theme park in the middle of the Mall of America. Sorry, lighting was awful
2- Mason, Dave Chappelle, and Jared Dyer
3- Fellas heading out to the bus from Airport. Welcome to Minnesota.
4- First thing we saw after getting off of the plane.

Before I get started, let me first apologize, I know it has been nearly a month since I posted, but like I said... life is busy. Anyhow, we just got back home from Minneapolis, MN sometime around 1 am this morning. I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a long weekend. Not to mention the fact that many of us had a lot of studying to do on the flight home.

Anyhow, before getting into the Minnesota trip, I will touch on opening weekend. This definitely deserved its own post, but things were SO hectic that I could not find time to update. Opening weekend was great. Our crowds were huge, student section active, and the life in the park was pretty electric. In fact, I would like to give a shout out to our student section who picked up a crucial assist in the Saturday game by getting inside the head of UIC's right fielder, causing him to drop a routine fly ball. This actually proved to be the difference in the game, so students... keep up the good work. We were all very proud and very excited to be the team to open up the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, and we did it in style with a 3-0 sweep of Illinois-Chicago.

On to Minnesota-- road trips always bring about mixed reviews. It is fun to go, play somewhere different, see a new city, and be with your teammates... however, it makes classwork pile up, you don't have your home crowd, and you live out of a suitcase. Nevertheless, we find ways to entertain ourselves with the free time we have. Thursday night, after flying all day, we arrived at the hotel at 6:50, and had to be on the bus ready for practice at 7 o clock. Let me first note, that upon arrival... it was snowing.... hard. We come from a land of 75 degree winters... gross. After practice, the Juniors and Seniors kept tradition alive with their "Jr./Sr. Dinner" and as a response to being left out we had a "Underclassmen Dinner" of our own. Only problem was that there were 2 restaurants in walking distance, the coaches were one, and the Jr's and Sr's at the other. So we had to play the role of the pesky younger sibling and go to the same place as the upperclassmen. They got over it.

Friday, we played at noon, and Shooter Hunt matched up with Pepperdine's Brett Hunter. Both are projected to go in the first round, and both guys threw well. Basically it came down to this... lots of 94-96 mph fastballs, and lots of "are these guys serious" looks in the dugout. After friday's game, the team loaded up on the bus, and we went to the Mall of America. I apologize to the state of Minnesota, but that place is ENTIRELY unnecessary. Never in my life will I need to pick something up at the mall and say "oh hey, while I am here, why not catch a few roller coasters!" Also, the all terrain putt putt course (which ran $10 a round... yeah right), multiple full service restaurants, bowling alley, 4 different "Lids", giant movie palace, 3 starbucks, etc... those were unnecessary features as well. I was also told by a local, that not only is it successful, but they are expanding it. Congratulations Minnesota, you have a mall that does more business than many small nations... cool.

Saturday and Sunday were really pretty uneventful. Saturday, Myself, Jonathan Garrett, Shooter, and Matt Petiton helped run a clinic at the Metrodome for young kids. We were in charge of teaching them proper pitching mechanics, and hey... we did our best. Sunday was pretty much just playing TCU at 11, followed by a shower at the dome, and a flight back home.

Oh yes... and one last thing... we had 2 celebrity sightings this weekend. In the DFW airport on the way to MN, we saw Dave Chappelle. Above is a photo of Mason Griffin and Jared Dyer talking to him, however, I had to pull a "paparazzi" and take it from a distance. Sunday night, on our flight to New Orleans was Criss Angel... yes... the MindFreak. He attempted to disguise himself, but Kirk Cunningham apparently saw right through his scraggly beard and highlighted hair (wig?) to make this sighting. I have photos of both, and both are very hard to decipher, but trust me... they are Dave and Criss Angel.

That's all for now, I will try to update more frequently now that the season is rolling. In the meantime, here's this week's quote:
"There's only one role you can have [in baseball] with a physique like that... you can either DH, or come out of the Bullpen."
-Aaron Loup... proposed math major