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Sophomore Annie McCarthy.
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Jan. 24, 2009
Wikipedia states that most of Florida has a humid subtropical climate. This statement is the exact reason why teachers inform you not to use Wikipedia--because it has the possibility of being false. When our entire team arrived in Fort Meyers, FL for a week of spring training, we were rudely awakened by what the Floridians referred to as a "cold front" which was certainly not the humid climate we were expecting. After we adjusted to the weather, and the tragic realization that we would not become bronze goddesses, we got on to a whole lot of tennis and a wee bit of fun.
Staying in two houses, the team was split apart five girls in one house with Dave, and four girls in another with Michelle and Amber (our athletic trainer). In the house with Michelle, we spent every second of our free time perfecting our golf games. I know you are probably thinking how could you possibly play golf in a house. It turns out that golf is actually a card game that Michelle taught us and we instantly became addicted. We also spent our time in the van rides discussing "if you were a car, what car would you be" which later turned into "what would your name be if you were a member of the opposite sex". Below is a list of what we came up with:
Name- What car they would be- Their name if they were of the opposite sex
Stine- Ford Expedition- Steve Tina- Monster Truck- Tony Mish- Landscaping truck- Mitch Annie- Red Mini Coop- Andrew...but you can call me Andy Megan- Volkswagen Bug- Melvin Leigh- Mercedes Benz CL 600- Luke Shivani- Cadillac- Somdev/Sanjay/Sheeva Chelcie- Station wagon and or PT Cruiser- Charlie Amy- Black BMW convertible- Amer Michelle- Jeep Wrangler- Michael Dave- Corvette with flames- Dion
Too tired to do much of anything, we spent most of our nights eating, and then lounging around our respective houses. However, one night after dinner, we made our way to Big Al's sports bar and grill to cheer on our fellow Illini Men's Basketball team who was exacting their revenge on Michigan. Full from stuffing our faces at dinner, we really had no intentions of ordering food, but soon found out that it was a must in order to sit in the restaurant and watch their TV. So we quickly remembered that there is always room in our stomachs for dessert. While at the restaurant, our trainer Amber decided to give us a riddle of sorts, where she pointed to a person per word saying "bang, bang, your, dead, who, did, I, kill?" Completely perplexed by this riddle, we spent hours trying to figure it out, and became so frustrated that we all ended up texting cha-cha to see if we could get the answer. We were very relieved when we received a text back saying "the first one to talk after being asked `who died' is the one that died". Amber was very upset that her fun was over by way of cha-cha, which she coincidentally introduced to us.
Once the cold front decided to hit the road and after a bunch of victories and two doubles points, we were invited to spend a day at Illini Tennis supporter David Mills' picture perfect waterfront resort home. With a heated pool and Jacuzzi, we were in heaven. It didn't take too long before Millsy suggested a relay race in the pool, during which we all found out that Michelle is hands down the worst swimmer alive. No one on her team stood a chance, it was rather amusing. Later, we decided to turn our attention to chicken fights in the water, which ended in a lot of laughing and Dave shedding some blood.
I guess I should mention the tennis portion of our trip (I know, how boring right?). Overall we went 20-2 in singles, and 8-2 in doubles, which I might add is not too shabby if you ask me. Winning two doubles points we all joked that it was more than we won all last season. Happy with our performances, we all spent the final night in one house, where the 4 of us from the other house were sent to stay in the unoccupied basement, or as we called it "the orphanage". It was a completely bare room with a whole bunch of bunk beds that must have been at least 20 years old. Even though we had a rousing chorus of "Hard-Knock Life" and made many Orphan Annie jokes, we were happy to be reunited with the whole team, all together again in one house.
Wow, I just realized how incredibly long this is, so I will leave you with the topic of our opening matches at home this weekend on Saturday and Sunday both at noon. We will be opening our season against Tennessee who ended our season last year, so we are all fired up, ready to get our revenge and we hope to see all of our fans out there supporting us!!
Here we go Illini! Annie Mac
