I never thought this time would come. First of all, I never thought they would practice us so hard. They crammed more into the past 4 days than we covered in our whole season - including some conditioning. And my legs could tell you about it. I feel like a 30 year old in a 60 year old's body (no offense Dad).
When I left home last Saturday, I most dreaded the long flight over the ocean. Now I can't wait. There is no way they can make us run sprints, back peddle, tackle, punt, kick or hit on a plane. And it won't be 100 degrees either. It's just me, my playbook, and my restless legs.
A number of players and coaches have been doing phone interviews. Word is that they will be on ESPN radio at some point. I know that doesn't help, but USA Football is the one conducting the interviews, so there may be some stuff posted on their website as well. I saw that there was a little clip in the Des Moines Register about me making the team and upcoming tournament. Not sure who tipped them off, but that was nice.
I have now packed for Sweden for the second time. With all the gear that they gave us, I had to ship a piece of luggage home. $32 is cheaper than checking another bag full of stuff that I don't need in Sweden. Bus leaves at 6am tomorrow for our 10am flight out of here. It sounds like we'll have a decent group of fans since I've talked to quite a few players who are bringing teammates, girlfriends, coaches or family. Kez (owner of IWFL) thinks that the weekday games may have a decent local turnout. That would be a lot of fun and since we don't play Sweden, they may cheer for us (well, probably not). But that's okay.
I was looking like the starting free safety after the first day of practice, but on day 2, I got beat deep twice and lost it. So I probably won't start, but I'll be free safety and likely the punter. Emily Williams, from Dallas, is a much more consistent field goal kicker and so she'll be doing those and the kickoffs as well. These last two days, I've really gotten the hang of free safety. I learned that I was getting beat because I watch the QB instead of the receivers. I'd sort of back peddle in the direction she was looking, but by the time she threw it, the receiver was already even with me, but out wide. Now I watch the guard to see if it's a run or a pass. If it's a pass, I watch the receivers who are threatening my zone. Yeah, it's pretty basic, but I have very little practice at this stuff. We ran man coverage this year, so this is quite different. I've always understood the responsibilities in zone coverage, but I never had enough practice to get the hang of it. Another difference is that these QBs are amazing. They can throw 30-40 yards easy and it's right on the money.
Today we did a fun drill where Coach Stone had the ball and would throw it at a reciever about 10 yards away while a DB was supposed to close in on them, swipe for the ball in front and then club them in the kidneys with their opposite forarm. The most fun part of that drill was trying to catch the ball knowing someone was about to hit you. =)
Amy and Billy are coming to visit shortly, so I need to get some things organized.
This tells you how good I am with the computer... Here's Silas, Me, Amy, Billy and Savannah at "the beach" as Silas would say. We ate at Chuy's - a Mexican chain in Texas. It was really good. No matter what Billy thinks that salsa had a kick.
