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