Wait Who Me

First, this is not the guest blog, our guest writer is talking a big game about a great blog that he will write. Just one problem, he’s not typing it. Next I want to thank G num 41 and JT agent 0 for their contributions to the team this year. I realize they, along with everyone else would have hoped for more wins, but speaking for myself, I am learning so much more about life this year then basketball. So please come out and support your seniors in their last home game at the Buc Dome Thursday night at 7:30. This is also a very sad night for Glenn and I. We are sad to see them leave, but this also marks the last night of free Zaxby’s. Whoever came up with this idea, I hope that it is renewed next year, a truly novel idea.



As I promised before, I will talk about the day in the life of an average (well in my case below average) College Basketball Player. I picked a Tuesday to describe for you. It begins with my 6 alarm clocks going off from 8 52 to 8 55 waking me up for 9 am mandatory breakfast (punishment is dished out in the form of running). Yes I said 6 alarm clocks, I have 3 alarms set on my phone, one alarm next to my bed, a boom box that wakes up the whole hallway, and finally my ipod deck that I have across the room. I keep that across the room so I have to get out of bed to turn it off.(I guess you could say that I have phobia of oversleeping and missing a workout) It’s kind of a sickening feeling laying in bed hoping that I don’t oversleep. I would hate to be the first to miss a workout or anything because I was sleeping. This hasn’t happened to anyone on the team and being a walk- on I sure don’t want to be the first to mess up. I then brush my teeth put on my shoes and out the door headed for my bike. Yes, I cruise around campus on my bike. If you hear the horn, you know it’s me. Please go to the left so I can pass you without any confusion.



So I walk into breakfast at 8 59 and get my food. I then sit there and find a way to talk about how I don’t want to lift weight’s today (this is an everyday conversation that we engage in, I think it makes us feel better to say we don’t want to do it). Weights are at 9: 45, which isn’t a bad time but you don’t know who our weightlifting coach is. I’m going to take a stroll down memory lane to my first experience with Coach Jacobi. It was August and I was late (only because I had to be cleared by the Brad the trainer). So after working camp this summer at Clemson, Wake Forest, South Carolina, University of Penn, and the Citadel all of my clothes are camp related. Not having any CSU gear as of yet, I walk in wearing a South Carolina Shirt. That was mistake number two, mistake number 1 was walking in late. Mistake 3 was reaching my hand out to shake his, apparently he thought he wanted to start out on a power trip and told me to turn my shirt inside out. Needless to say he never shook my hand, but deep down he’s a big bear, you just have to get through all of his layers. After weights it’s a quick shower and off to class. I have a class from 11:00 to 12: 20 then from 12:30 to 1:50. That brings up another serious dilemma in my life, I love food. The cafeteria opens at eleven and closes at 1: 30. When is there time to eat in that ten minute window of going from class to class? Usually on a Tuesday I will have practice at 2:30, this means all I do is after my class is walk over to the gym and start to get ready. One of my favorite parts of my day is 15 minutes before practice when we pray in Coach Radebaugh’s office and anyone on the team is welcome. We usually have a steady 3 or so and a few different guys show up. We then have film at which I sit there preparing for a team that I know I’m not going to play against. Then practice from 3:00 to 5:00. Which two hours isn’t bad at all now that were late into the year. During the two hours of practice, I just try to hold my own the best I can and try to make coach not mad at me. Then it’s another shower and off to dinner ( another great meal in the cafeteria). Then after all of my exciting activities of the day it’s off to the Library at 7:00 for Study Hall for two hours. We usually get out at 9pm then it’s off to the room for some video games. Then off to bed and do it all over the next day. But for some reason I LOVE it and wouldn’t trade being a part of a Division 1 team for anything.



Now as some have filled up my inbox asking me what the good news is that I talked about in my last blog, I finally have the answer. It was a normal day of practice I was sitting on my stool preparing to watch film on a school that I knew I would never see the floor against. Then coach started talking about me. This caught me off guard (coach doesn’t talk about me in the meeting's to much); I thought for sure that I was in trouble. I had missed Study hall (first time I’ve ever missed study hall) that day because my dad was in town and I was a little nervous about that. Coach’s line was “Sean has been great but tomorrow is his last day”. In my head I was thinking wow, I miss one thing and they’re getting rid of me, not cool at all. But to my relief Coach said that he was just kidding and he was actually putting me on scholarship for the rest of the year and they had my books for me in the locker room. First I was in shock; I then thought it was some mistake. I went from playing Division 3 to earning a Divison 1 scholarship. I probably didn’t earn this because of my ability to knock down wide open 3’s. Nor was it for my killer crossover that I still haven’t developed. Nor for my defense or lack thereof. It was the luck of injuries that have made me the number 10 player in practice and valuable to the team. So basically my ability to show up and not get injured earned me a scholarship. For all of my faithful fans, don’t worry I will be back in my traditional role of” walk on” next year. But I do want to thank coach because he didn’t have to do that, and it is truly appreciated.



My last few closing comments, we played Presbyterian college at home. I know what you’re thinking, a home conference game probably a loss. Wrong! I was there and I got to taste the sweet victory of success. Did we have some secret game plan? Did we do something that we hadn’t done all year? No, we just went out and executed and played defense and believed that we could win. After the game it was great to get to jump up and down in the locker room celebrating a victory. It was also great because I was in the blue travel suit opposed to the shirt and tie. What a great change coach made to let everyone who is hurt or not eligible to wear the blue travel suit. It helps with the confusion of me being a manager and a player. Finally I was able to see the Liberty girls game against our girls. Wow they were fun to watch, they have triplets, and there all 6’3(what in the world did they feed these girls?). Being triplets and great at basketball, they then became my target of heckling. So I tried my best with my bike horn (the ref asked me twice to put the horn away) and dry erase board to get in their head with messages. But the one sister Megan, unshakable. You’re going to see her in the WNBA, mark my words. I also showed loved to the girl at the end of the bench, the only one that didn’t get to play. Liberty was up 25 with 40 sec, I yelled at the coach to ask him how she could mess up the game at this point. He then proceeded to finally send her to the scores table when I yelled how can you sleep at night knowing you’re not playing a senior? Unfortunately by the time he sent her to the scorer’s table there was not another stoppage in play and she didn’t get it. I’m going to have to talk to guys on my team to tell them to foul so I can get in the end of games like that next year. After the game I then got the triplets autographs, and facebooked them that night of course. Only to find out that they have a blog, sponsored by the NCAA, which is big time. To check that out you can go to http://www.ncaa.com/blog/liberty_wbk/. Lastly a shout out to my international readers, my boy Tyler in Iceland playing ball( Athletes in Action trip to Mauritius together) keep doing your thing, and my cousin Chuck and his wife Sam who live in Lithuania where chuck is playing ball.

yours truly,

Sweeney