Indiana University Athletics
Segal on Spring Break
3/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 12, 2006
The Indiana baseball team is in Bradenton, Fla., on its spring trip. IU will play seven games in seven days. Catcher Bobby Segal is on the trip and will keep a daily journal on IUHOOSIERS.com. Below is Segal's first entry.
DAY 1
I set my alarm clock for 8:30 and left my phone on for my friend Lesley to call and make sure I heard the first alarm. My brother Matt ended up calling me at 8:20 to wish me good luck and good travels. I just wanted to make sure that I was not left in Bloomington for Spring Break. I did not sleep that well because I was excited to get to Bradenton and get going with the week full of baseball.
It was raining when I woke up and had been raining the whole week in Bloomington, so I was ready to get on the bus and go to the airport to later fly south to 80 degrees and sunny weather. There were a lot of people that I knew from IU that were leaving for their Spring Break destination (my old roommate Stacie, the McNaught Family, and some sorority girls). The flight was short and sweet and the bus in Tampa was ready to drive us an hour to Bradenton. I had my IPod so I put on some Greg Mayo, put my shades on, and tilted the seat back for a short nap. We all wanted to get back in time for the IU basketball game. They played hard and just fell short to a good Ohio State team. I just heard that they got a six seed in the NCAA Tournament and with the momentum they had at the end of the season, I feel they will do really well.
We are staying at Shorewalk condominiums and the first thing we did was meet as a team at the clubhouse, where Tyler Tufts' family put on a great dinner for us. There was salad, different pastas with meatballs and a great dessert table. Some of the guys stuck around and played ping-pong and the rest of us went back to their condos before our team meeting. It had been a long day of traveling and everyone was pretty tired. My roommates on the trip are Chris Hervey, Trevor McConnell and Joe Vicini. It is good that I am with three freshmen, so I can clown around with the younger guys and hopefully be a good influence on the young minds. However, since I am the oldest, I had to take the queen in the master bedroom.
Joe gave me a nice little trim and line up around the edges to make sure I was looking clean for the trip. No need to worry dad, I am not bald. I figured the sun would get the best of my melon had I done that.
DAY 2
I set my alarm clock for 8:45, but thanks to Trevor, his annoying phone alarm went off in the living room at 8:15. Like he said, "I am glad it is annoying so that it will make sure I am up." I woke the youngsters up and we went walking down the road to look for a McDonalds. We didn't see a McDonalds, so we kept walking and then eventually turned around and went to the local supermarket to get cereal, milk, eggs, Gatorade and coffee drinks to wake us up. "Boom Boom" (Joe) was busy making eggs and the rest of us were eating cereal and power bars.
We got dressed for our first game and got in the vans to go play Eastern Illinois at Manatee Community College. It was a beautiful day for baseball, and it felt great to be playing in perfect baseball weather. We stretched and took batting practice on the field before pre-game infield. We started the game off with a first-run first inning, and I thought there was no way we were going to lose today. However, I do know that baseball is a crazy game that has more variables than you can even imagine. We fought, battled and produced for the majority of the game but just came up on the short end of the stick. It was a long day, and it seemed like a 14-inning game.
It was time to shower and go eat dinner at the IMG Academy dining room. This is where kids from all over the world come to train and go to school. I am pretty sure it was started for tennis players and golfers, but it has expanded to baseball, basketball, soccer and more. We will be eating there once a day with our meal cards. It was the first time in three years that I had eaten dinner there, and it was really good. I had a salad, some orange roughly, crab cakes, pasta with shrimp, mixed vegetables and pink lemonade to drink. I sat poolside with Andrew Means, David Trager, Jay Brant, Keith Haas, and Brad Davidson. Before the dinner was over, I was sure to go get some fruit to put in my pockets for the condo and pudding for everyone at the table.
We threw some towels and laundry in the washer before our team meeting. The bottom line is that we ARE going have a good season, and we are just inches away from having the chemistry a baseball team needs in order to be great. We are definitely a talented bunch and should have a very productive rest of the week. I was talking to my roommates Kevin and Dan last night, and I told them there is no reason that we should not be .500 by the time we return to Bloomington. There is no need for added pressure the rest of the week to win the remaining six games, but in preparation for the Big Ten season coming up, I feel that we are definitely capable and should keep that goal on our radar screen. I am probably going to watch some TV and call it a night. Oh yeah, and try to read half a chapter in my psychology book. Good night.
