College Fall Season - 2011

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:
Prime9,

When our schedule came out about a month ago, one of the first things I checked was if we were playing you guys again( after what yall did to us last year, that might not be a good thing for us. ) Unfortunately I don't see yall on our schedule. So good luck to your son this season and maybe we'll meet in the playoffs! By the way, is your son working out at first or the outfield or a combination of both?

A combination of both; with older experienced players ahead in both spots. He needs to really hit!

They haven't posted our schedule yet, was hoping we would come your way. As you say, "hope to see you then in post season play and will follow your progress.

I, too, have somewhat strayed away from this and other baseball related websites since my son went away to play college ball in the fall of '10 but I have recently gotten that urge again to peek in on what people's thoughts are and what similar baseball fanatic's like me are chewing on these days. That lead me to this thread and I have to admit that many of the representations folks have shared are spot on with what we experienced with our son last year during his first year away and then again with what has gone on with him this year thus far. It's actually quite amazing how similar some of the various posters experiences are to our own sons'. We had a little additional twist to our individual experience which I don't believe I've seen written about thus far on the thread which I would like to share and that is dealing with having your son get injured during his first year away from home when he is simultaneously going through a boatload of "first's" in his life. As with most players, I'm sure, who are fortunate to go to college and are afforded the opportunity to play collegiate baseball, our son had experienced mostly success in his career up to that point and did very little (if any) bench-warming or "charting pitches" which, upon incurring a debilitating stress fracture to his lower back in fall ball of his Freshman year - unfortunately improperly diagnosed the first four weeks of fall ball which contributed to the coaching staff getting somewhat the impression that maybe he was not quite the player they had recruited which I guess we can say was thankfully was forgotten upon him having his meeting with the orthopedic physician who gave us all the bad news of his injury and made us aware he would need to be fitted with a custom made back brace which he would end up wearing night and day for 12 weeks - he got to do a ton of plus in addition to all the observing - probably for the first time in his life - having to do so in a place that was 1,700 miles from home. This all added up to an arduous first year and one that has provided lessons too numerous to count for him. I'll just mention a few key ones he learned - such as you shouldn't ever take anything for granted as things that are very important to you and you put an extraordinary amount of credence in and import can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. Another is that you need to learn to figure things out on your own in life and you grow up very fast as a result of being forced to do. As an injured player, you find yourself to be someone who understandably doesn't garner a whole lot of the coaching staff's attention as they are attempting to win games and deal with the myriad of issues that the healthy player's have and can't necessarily spend a lot of time coddling the injured players or making sure they are mentally progressing or know what they should be doing or focusing on and that they are still a viable part of the program and need to simply work on getting healthy so they can soon contribute as they were expected to when they were recruited. Those sound very simple but we're talking about 18 year old kids . . . who, three months earlier were putting their cereal bowls in the sink at home and asking Dad for gas money and money for Chipotle after practice . . . As a parent, I admit that it was so very tough to see our son standing there in his street clothes first then eventually his uniform just not being able to do anything about his situation other than to count the days, weeks or months it was going to take to allow his back to heal. Praying incessantly or wishing/wanting so badly just to be able to get out there and contribute doesn't help the healing process or speed things up in the least or I can guarantee you he wouldn't have missed a single inning of a single game! Nonetheless, it's a new year and (knock on wood) all of his hard work and rehab seems to have done the trick as he is poised to start to realize his potential and thus far, is getting rave reviews from the HC on down for his work the past month (bootcamp and now practice) and each day last year seems to get further and further in his rear-view mirror. By posting this, I guess I wanted folks to understand that your player might go through a similar type of thing while he is away from home and at college and knowing what we were faced with might allow you to maybe giving some thought in advance on how you might collectively deal with that were it to happen to your son. Things like flying out to be with him for various doctor's appointments or MRI's or X-rays are must do's as I can promise you attempting to get updates from your 18 year old about what was said or what needs to be done when you aren't in attendance can also be almost just as frustrating. Lastly, the one thing we didn't maybe do a good enough job of (looking back now through the lens after the fact reflection provides) was just appreciating what he was enduring and should have probably given him some space and not (while obviously well meant) asked him twice a day (mom once, dad once) "how's your back feeling?" as that probably only served to cause him as much frustration as not being able to play did! That's it for now and it's good to be back in the blogosphere! Thanks.

Thought people might be interested in fall update on this story:


Baseball America Article:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Nearly eight months after receiving a kidney from Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter, outfielder Kevin Jordan returned to the field for the first time during the Demon Deacons' first fall practice Sept. 27.

"This is a special day for me and for our program," Walter said. "I mean, to see Kevin out here running around and doing the things he's meant to do is pretty amazing."

Jordan needed a new kidney after developing a condition called antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody vasculitis during his senior year of high school.

After establishing himself as a marquee prospect as a high school junior, Jordan played sparingly and was not at 100 percent during his senior season but was still drafted in the 19th round by the Yankees.

Two days before classes began last year, a doctor's visit revealed that his kidney function was down to 8 percent and a transplant was recommended as soon as possible. When his mother and brother were ruled out as matching donors, Walter stepped up to the plate for the transplant, which took place Feb. 7.

Jordan said Walter offered to be tested as a potential match during Jordan's first visit to the doctor.

"Seeing as how I met him and talked to him just a couple times before all this, it means a lot," Jordan said. "I'll always know what kind of person he is, no matter what happens from here on out."

Walter said the transplant hasn't just brought he and Jordan closer together, it's bonded the entire team.

"It strengthened my relationship with all my guys," Walter said. "Through all this, we're a closer unit as a whole. I think the guys have a new appreciation of what coaches go through on a daily basis just because they watched a little more closely because of this. Not that it was sympathy or anything like that, it's just that they kind of had their eye on it a little more than they normally would. So I think all of our guys are closer because of this."

Jordan kept a positive attitude through the whole process.

"The whole time, I just felt like something good was going to happen," he said. "Even if I didn't play baseball at this level again, I wasn't going to be in that situation forever. Everything happened relatively quick, so I didn't have time to doubt myself."

Although he said he's not quite 100 percent yet, Jordan has been cleared to participate in all baseball activities.

One of the biggest challenges will be overcoming any tentativeness and getting back to his usual instinctive style of play—he hasn't had to dive for a ball yet or slide head-first into third base.

Jordan, who will be a redshirt freshman this year, was able to practice a little bit with his old high school team last spring. There is some rust to shake off, but he was in great shape considering all he's been though. After losing 30 pounds because of the sickness, the dialysis and the transplant, Jordan got the weight back quickly. He's back to 195 pounds now . . with just 6.3 percent body fat, he added with a smile.

"I thought he looked fantastic," Walter said. "I mean, he ran a 6.58(-second) 60-yard dash and he did it back-to-back times. One of the things we're kind of looking at is his stamina, and I thought that looked pretty good today. He's certainly not 100 percent yet, and the other thing is his timing. Anytime you take a year and a half away from baseball, it's going to take you a while to get your timing back. So he's going to take a little while in BP and in game situations to get caught back up, but he's such a good athlete that he should make that adjustment pretty easily."

Opening Day is still more than four months away, but Walter believes Jordan will be a key piece of Wake Forest's lineup this season.

"We're hoping that he's going to be a starting outfielder and hit in the two-hole," Walter said. "That's the current plan. He has the athletic ability and the baseball skills to do that. Whether it comes between now and February—the timing's all the way back and the stamina's all the way back—remains to be seen, but if we were opening up tomorrow, I'd put him in the lineup."

What a nice day for baseball. Got a call tonight from Bum, Jr. who said in fall ball he's thrown 9 innings, 10 k's, 2 bb's and 1 run.

Then got an email from his younger brother (West Point cadet) who was at Yankee stadium for game 1 of the ALDS -- unfolding a huge American flag before the start of the game in center field. All I could see in the replay was his grey, shadowy figure amongst so many others. But that's okay. How fitting: "The long, grey line."

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
What a nice day for baseball. Got a call tonight from Bum, Jr. who said in fall ball he's thrown 9 innings, 10 k's, 2 bb's and 1 run.

Then got an email from his younger brother (West Point cadet) who was at Yankee stadium for game 1 of the ALDS -- unfolding a huge American flag before the start of the game in center field. All I could see in the replay was his grey, shadowy figure amongst so many others. But that's okay. How fitting: "The long, grey line."

Doesn't look like the boys have followed the old mans "moniker" name sake; as they certainly aren't "Bums!" A West Point cadet and a young stud pitcher! You are one lucky Bum!

Thanks, but my daughter is even a higher achiever. A National Merit Finalist who plans on becoming a reconstructive surgeon.

I'm counting on them to support my bumming ways.

You got room for another Bum, Bum? Your going to need someone to hang out with and take you fishing.

Absoulutely. But you'll have to be the designated boater.

OK quick update on Jr. We were in town to see him for the first time since we dropped him off in mid August. His words - “I am working very hard”. Now he has always been a very hard worker but has never used the “very” term, so my ears perked up with the addition.

When he took his shirt off to change to go out I could immediately see the “very”. They are continuing to lift, but now are transitioning to more running and explosive work, and you can see the impact of having a world class gym, a trainer who has developed a program and who is monitoring your progress while living 300 yds from it and doing it every day. He has increased his muscle mass, and you can see it in his body and how his clothes fit him and by how much he says he is lifting, but he has actually lost 3-5 lbs on the scale. My guess is that he has put on 5-7 ish pounds of muscle mass and lost 5-10ish pounds of fat. He has always been on the thin side also but when you see a really cut athlete you know what I mean. He says he feels much faster but they have not timed his 60 so I am not sure how much just yet. They have started their throwing program and will start official practices soon that will run up to Thanksgiving. He has also stopped eating anything other than very healthy food, but says he allows himself to eat desert once a week. They have redone the food program at his school so there are a lot more fresh options so it appears he is able to do what he wants as far as eating choices.

My point is simply that “the next level up” is just that. You can see it in the athletes and for my son it has only been 6 weeks. I cannot imagine what he is going to look like after 4 years of this. TPM told me she saw some pictures of her son recently when he was a freshmen and she said he looked like a baby and I can now see what she is talking about.

The thing that has struck me from this is: 1) For the top level programs in particular I can now see how freshmen better be something special if they think they are going to start or even play much. 2) The level of commitment is incredible when you look at how hard these kids are working even before they really step on the field.

One other comment, I asked him how the hitters were and how he fit in. He said EVERYBODY rakes here dad. They are only hitting BP right now, but he thinks the major difference will be the mental approach which will translate into in game success. (or not). He says he will be listening to his Steve Springer CD a bunch come intersquad time….

I enjoyed your update BOF, good stuff! As you know, I don't have to travel quite as far as you to visit my son, and he's only been gone for a couple weeks. However, we drove out Friday night to pick him up after practice and brought him home for the weekend. No, he didn't miss his mom and dad already...his girlfriend's college was having their Homecoming Dance and of course he was attending it with her, but we'll take the short visit.

I hadn't received too much information over the first couple weeks from him directly, more than likely due to the fact that our phone conversations were done while his roommate was in the dorm, so maybe he needed to be cool? Well, I learned a few things after picking him up and taking that Long 90 minute drive home.......

*He's really enjoying his freedom. As I said, he's only been gone a couple weeks...but it's evident that he has grown up some during this period.

*His dorm room really smells bad! Okay, I'm a guy, I expect a little sloppiness....but it's pretty bad. On the bright side, they have a 47" Flat Screen TV that his roommate brought from home (utilized for X-Box games) that did not fit into the space for TV's, so it's on their Desk. I purchased them a 27" Flat screen (that fits) to watch TV, and oh yes, they have a fridge too. So apparently their room stays pretty occupied by other teammates, and I understand a few girls too?

*Social Life for baseball players at his school is no problem thus far. They've attended a couple Womens Volleyball games, and a Womens s****r game. And yes, they've been to a handful of Frat parties in Newport Beach. Baseball players aren't required to be members/brothers of the fraternities to attend, as the majority of the frats appreciate the females that the ball players bring in...atleast that's what my kid says!?

*The coaching staff encourages the incoming freshman to take a smaller load to acclimate themselves during the first quarter. Therefore, he only has three classes (12 units). He loves one class, is very bored in the other, and the jury is still out in the third class. I'm told that the quarterly system goes by fast, so he best not fall behind, and I've reminded him often. I said, have your fun, but you're there to work hard in the classroom and on the field. I'm pretty sure he gets it, if not, he'll learn fast.

*As for the baseball the first two weeks, he appears quite confident. They've had group and individual workouts thus far, but haven't practiced together as a full squad yet. Their first full squad practice was scheduled for today, but I didn't want to bother him right off the bat. So far, they have two separate times that they can choose to lift weights, and it's not too early in the morning...atleast so far. He's been throwing bullpens on Monday's and Thursday's (Fastballs & Changeups only), and breaking balls on flat ground. They've done tons of drills with the pitching staff (PFP, Pickoff moves, and there are plenty more signs to learn at this level), and of course plenty of running. He is the only pitcher that's swinging a bat in the Fall, so he joins the position players for BP, but hasn't had time to work any outfield drills. I believe that their first inter-squad game is on Friday? I'm not sure if I'll head up there to watch or not? It's my understanding that several parents come out to watch these scrimmages, but I'm going to hold off until that's confirmed...I don't want to be the only dad out there watching his kid, I'm sure it would embarrass him.

**Just received a text from my kid...he's pitching two innings on Saturday in a scrimmage. I have a strong feeling that I'll be driving out there to watch...we'll see?

Bum, Jr. says the frosh and the upper classmen can be distinguished by the number of times they puke during fall training.

quote:

Originally posted by bsbl247:
I believe that their first inter-squad game is on Friday? I'm not sure if I'll head up there to watch or not? It's my understanding that several parents come out to watch these scrimmages, but I'm going to hold off until that's confirmed...I don't want to be the only dad out there watching his kid, I'm sure it would embarrass him.

We get to watch our son quite a bit with him being local, my wife especially takes time to run down to the University for most fall scrimmages. As far as I'm concerned, I say forget about what other people think. Last year we provided some food after one of the scrimmages for the whole team, so maybe the rest of the team forgives us for being there because of that, and as far as our son being embarassed so far it has not been an issue. Some days there are 5 or 6 parents there, some days none. I don't think the players or coaches really pay any attention to who is in the stands. Summary - go as much as you can, this only lasts so long and then its over!!

asdf

quote:

Originally posted by bsbl247:
...I don't want to be the only dad out there watching his kid...

I go often, 99% of the time it's just me... all alone in a 4,500 seat stadium. But I agree, as long as Gun's ok with it, I'm good. The coaches don't even look up there as far as I know. One thing for sure, I'm invisible. No cellphone ringing, no clapping, no chasing down foul balls, not chit-chat, etc. I'm lucky to be in the same city, no doubt.

GED10DaD

As a parent whose son is playing 2500 miles away, I am very jealous and I encourage bsbl247 to go as often as he can (assuming his son approves). As far as possibly being only dad there, I have only been to the parent day games in the fall at my son's school, so that won't help; however, I have umpired fall D1 intersquad games here in the Bay Area, and on weekends, there are at least a dozen parent looking types in attendance. Based on a relatively small sample size, my guess is bsbl247 will not be alone. Even if he is - though - I'd still attend. The time passes way too quick to miss any opportunities of this nature.

My son's fall season ended a little prematurely this past Saturday.

Practice started at 7:30 Saturday morning. He is at a local juco so he commutes. My phone rings and his name shows up on the phone...never a good thing when he's calling during practice time.
Me: what's up
Son: My baseball career is over, I don't think I'll ever play again.
Me: (as my legs weaken) what happened
Son: I was hit square in the eye with a ball and I'm blind in that eye.

Not the call you want to get as your settling down with the morning coffee.

After trips to the ER, an optomologist, and Wills Eye Hospital in Philly, all before noon, it turns out there is no long term damage but he is bedridden for a least a week and no baseball for a least two more weeks.

Luckily they were practicing indoors due to bad weather and the ball was a tennis ball, hit directly into his left eye from about 10' away. The batter really pulled the ball as my son was standing slightly ahead and to the left of the hitter. No broken bones, or retinal damage. He was temporarily blinded from the blood between the lense and the eyeball.

A very scary Saturday morning but it did show me how much he loves playing baseball. He realized for about 24 hours how empty his life would be without baseball. I don't think he'll be taking it for granted anymore.

Wow fillsfan,

Tough day over at your house. Very happy to hear that your son will be fine, but what a scary brush with tragedy!

Prayers on the way for your guys speedy recovery!

"Prayers on the way for your guys speedy recovery!"


Ditto!

Tennis balls are just the right size to sneak inside the eye socket and impact the eyeball with no bone to slow it.

I had that happen to me in a tennis match. The damage stayed with me and really hampered my vision in bright light for some time.

Glad to hear that surgery isn't required. Hope he gets back to baseball soon. Injuries are no fun for anyone.

fillsfan,

That had to be a scary phone call. As parents, we can hear it in our kids voice when something isn't right. I'm happy to hear that it's not quite as bad as you originally anticipated, but I know that you have a couple anxious weeks ahead of you. Best of luck to your son, I hope he heals quickly with no after effects.

filsfan,

My heart goes out to your kid and you and your family. I hope all goes well with his recovery.

I received a phone call from my son earlier this evening. It's ironic that it occurs when his roommate is gone, but I'll take it. He's fighting a head cold that began last week when we grabbed him from school, but he anticipates that he'll be ready to go for the two scrimmages this weekend.

As I said earlier in a post, bsbl247-son is scheduled to pitch a couple innings on Saturday in a team scrimmage. They're also playing on Friday afternoon and he thinks he'll receive a couple AB's, but he's not sure if he'll play the OF? The pitching rotation is posted on the website, so I assume that parents will be out there? We went to a couple Fall scrimmages last year (one during his visit) and there were several scouts scattered throughout the stadium looking at the draft eligible kids. Anyway, after I read the responses from Backstop-17, GED10, and especially GrabSomePine who has a son playing 2500 miles away, I've decided to take advantage of being 90 minutes away and check out the scrimmage(s). Besides, I picked up the okay from my kid tonight.

Good luck to him. My son is starting a scrimmage tommorow but even if I drove all night long (900 miles) I wouldn't get there in time.

Makes you miss h.s. ball.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
Good luck to him. My son is starting a scrimmage tommorow but even if I drove all night long (900 miles) I wouldn't get there in time.

Makes you miss h.s. ball.

Thanks Bum, same to your son. Statements like yours is the reason I'm going to the scrimmage. Besides, there's no guarantee that he'll get any playing time when spring comes around...I have to take advantage of watching him play while I can.

bsbl247,

Those are my sentiments precisely! That is why I am awake at 5:30 trying to persuade my husband to leave home at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning, drive 4 hours, stop and have a telephone interview about a job, get back in the car and continue driving for 3 hours. All of that to watch our son's college team play their final fall ball game. After all, who knows where dad and I will be in February when they start up again! Wish me luck, guys!

Thanks for the well wishes. He has to go to the doctor's daily this week and the doc sees improvement each day.

My son was playing in North Carolina last fall and I drove the 6 hours twice to see fall ball games. He came home for the second semester which wasn't our plan but it was great to watch him play every weekend. If at all possible make the trip to see your kids play. Under the best of conditions this baseball "heaven" we've all been lucky to enjoy will only last a few more years. There is not one thing that I would rather do than watch my son play baseball and I intend to make every effort to watch as many games as I can while it lasts. I'm sure you all feel the same way.

Good luck to all your sons this fall and spring.

fillsfan,
Wow! Very sorry to hear about your son's injury. Prayers for a speedy recovery. He is very fortunate that he will heal without permanent damage. Scary moments, very glad to hear he will heal and be able to return to baseball.


1B has his last two scrimmages this weekend, supposed to be good weather, I am so looking forward to it. We saw some of his game last weekend, but it was cold and rainy and looonggg.
Hoping he has some better at bats this weekend.

Ohhhh it's going to be a long winter....

Get better soon FillsFanSon! GED10DaD

Fillsfan,

That's one scary phone call. Best of luck to your son with his recovery.

We will be headed 900 miles south at the end of the month to see our freshman son. Can't wait to see him

fillsfan,
Sorry to hear about jr. taking a tennis ball shot to the eye, but its good to hear its not serious and he's progressing along the road to full recovery!

My son is a pitcher. Every "pitcher parent" out there harbors a concern over a "come backer" accident on the hill. I've witnessed several over the years but can count ourselves lucky my son's reflexes have been good enough thus far to fend them off. (knock on wood)

My son has an inner squad scrimmage today and will be given two innings on the hill. Thus far I've dropped by to watch him play in two fall scrimmages against other outside teams but have stayed away from the inner squad games for all the reasons previously mentioned in this thread. I think my son knew that I'm going through baseball withdraws right now so he invited to come watch the inner squad today. After reading the comments in this thread, my mind is made up -- I'm knocking off early and dropping by to take in that scrimmage!

Wish my son luck!!

-ltf

From my door to my boys' campus is probably about 5,750 miles and about 13 hours of travel overall, and that includes a 9.5 hour flight. I probably won't get to see them play at all this year, though I will try every way I can think of to wangle a few days to get there. One is a senior, one is a freshman, on the same team, so it would be really special to be able to go, but I just don't know if I can swing it.

So, all of you, if you can go watch your kid, do it. Make the most of it. It's easy to think, "got plenty of time, plenty of opps coming up" -- no.....do it now. Take it all in. Just sit and relax and absorb it all in.

fills, sorry to hear about the accident. Tough kid! Hope he's back in action quickly.

Son's team had their final intrasquad scrimmage. Coaches had a draft and son was second pitcher on his tram. Pitched 4 innings. He did fine. Got the win when his catcher hit a Grand slam walk off. Was a good weekend.
He got some time in right filed at the end of the game.
I am fortunate, I will probabl be able to see most of his games.

Going down to Houston in the morning to watch my first practice and then the teams first scrimmage on Sunday against University of Houston. I can't even tell you how excited I am.

Laissez les bon temps roulez. Enjoy Stanwood....

Fillsfan, my heart skipped a beat reading your post. Thank the Lord he will recover and play again soon!

I learned a little bit about diehard college baseball fans today. Son says they use high school umpires for their fall intra-squad games. I guess it gives them some good experience as they wish to move up and work NCAA games.

Last week a fan was ejected for yelling at one of the umpires!

I can't believe I was worried about being the only parent's at my son's scrimmage. I'm happy to report that other parents enjoy watching their kid's play in the fall as well, so we were not alone. In fact, there were a handful of scouts at the park too, obviously scouting the draft eligible kids. I would have felt terrible had I missed his first AB's on Friday, or his two innings on the mound on Saturday. Thank you to those on our site that reminded me how fortunate I am that my son is close to home, and to take advantage of it! I'm not going to be able to make every scrimmage, but driving 90 minutes to see him once or twice a week will definitely be a part of my schedule.

We knew that he was pitching a couple innings on Saturday, but we weren't sure if he would be playing on Friday? We were pleasantly surprised that he started in the outfield on Friday afternoon's scrimmage, and looked like he belonged on the field. I was proud of him. Although he was a little nervous during his first AB. He took a FB for a strike on pitch one; pitch two barely missed outside; pitch three was fouled to the right (late); he took pitch four just off the plate; and struckout looking on pitch five on a FB right down the middle...he admitted later that his nerves were a little unsettled. He flew out to CF, and walked in his other two AB's.

He pitched two innings on Saturday. He struckout four, walked none, gave up one INF hit in his short stint with fastballs and changeups only. He didn't play the outfield today, but he received two AB's going 1-2. I realize it's only the Fall, but this was a big confidence builder for him and it showed that he belonged on a D1 baseball field with some pretty good ballplayers. There's no doubt it's going to be a grind for the rest of the fall/winter, but he may just have a chance to get a little playing time when spring rolls around? Only time will tell...but I think it's pretty cool that he has a chance.

That is great that you chose to head over to watch your sons scrimmages! I am sure you were able to enjoy a meal together as well.

I think I have missed maybe a total of 10 games since my son began playing ball, including scrimmages!

I learned early on when he was in Babe Ruth as a 10 year old and hit his 1st home run when I was not there to see it.

He is 22 now and I am looking forward to scrimmages begining next week. I don't think I will let myself miss much more, this being his last collegiate year.

FF,

Yes. We had dinner together after Friday's scrimmage. My daughter was able to make it out for the game, so the four of us had a nice time. She wanted to stay and hang out in his dorm for the night, knowing that mom and dad were coming back on Saturday. She's a senior in HS, and I think she's trying to get an early jump on college life? We didn't allow it...but maybe next time?

We took off immediately after Saturday's game, but I called him later that night to congratulate him on his day. He understood, as the pitchers have to run after practices/scrimmages, and he's one of the last one's out of the clubhouse. Besides, his girlfriend was there to hang out with him...so my wife and I took off and spent some time by the beach for the rest of the day.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but I thought it was funny. On Friday, we were waiting on my son as he was running his poles, and handling his field duty etc...we noticed that as the players were leaving the clubhouse, they all jogged across the outside of the field with their backpacks with them. My wife looked at me and said, "wow, there seems to be a number of kids that are running late for their Friday class?" Well, after watching every single player jog from one side of the field to the other, we figured out that not only do you hustle in between the lines when you're in uniform...You hustle Anytime you step foot Anywhere on the field...I Love it! So, my son jogs over and we walk to my car a couple minutes away, when he realizes that he left his bike outside the clubhouse. After all that, he had to run back and get it, we ended up meeting him at his dorm room. I've always preached it, and his coaches feel the same...Hustle never has a Bad Day!

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
Just thought of something... this thread is open to all college players and parents and players and parents who have moved on. For players and parents who have been here before, let us know how the experience has changed if at all from the freshman season... thanks

Hey ClevelandDad, its me: Grandpop Bob...just getting into Jamie's 2nd Fall Season...things are going good...he had a great summer, played some summer Semi Pro ball, finished up with 7 & 2 record...he's looking forward to his Soph year...hope he can match, (or better) his Frosh year, if not, its not the end of the world...he knows that school is FIRST!!! Here's a critique of his Freshman year: http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1155

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1144

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1141

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1135

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1113

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1110

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1103

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1088

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1041

http://www.wilmu.edu/athletics...cle.aspx?newsID=1021

Will keep in touch, your the BEST!

Grandpop Bob