Indiana University Athletics
Segal on Spring Break
3/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 18, 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 sixth and final entry.
DAY 7
Last night, I did my best to stay up and watch the Hoosiers on the Internet. The connection was not the best, but it was better than watching the scores at the top of the screen on CBS. However, it was getting late and I ended up taking what was supposed to be a cat nap on the small couch in the living room. To make a long story short, I missed the whole second half, but saw Robert Vaden hit a three-pointer to give us the lead and Roderick Wilmont seal the deal with a couple of free throws. I put my arm up in the air and walked straight to my bed. It was time to get some sleep.
We left the condos for breakfast at 7:30 a.m., where I had a piece of French toast, a pancake, hash browns, a bowl of raisin bran and an orange. I sat with Steve Head, and he had a huge cup of coffee that he was trying to get down before we went to the field to take batting practice. Our game today was against Vermont, and we were looking to turn things around from yesterday. Today we played good defense, executed pretty well offensively and got a great outing from relief pitcher David Trager. He came in a tough situation with the bases loaded and gave up a three-run double, but it was smooth sailing after that. The double bothered him enough to take the negative tension and turn it around into a successful day on the hill. From there, he was throwing ground balls and pop flies and showed a lot of poise. I am glad that he took the ball early in the game and someone determined as he is had a chance to help turn our week around.
The biggest thing about our week is that we do not look at our opponents and judge our wins and losses on who we played but whether or not we executed. We are keeping our goals focused on the Big Ten season and there are some positive things we are doing, but we also realize we need to get the small things taken care of before we have four-game series' against teams in our conference. It is important that we learn from every game and get our mental errors out of the way while stepping up the intensity and taking wins and losses more personal. The focus, team chemistry and feeling of getting a win needs to be with everyone wearing the Indiana jersey the entire game.
After the win, we came back to the condos, showered and went to Applebee's once again for lunch. I went with Joe Vicini, Trevor McConnell, Tyler Tufts, and Eric Wagner. We just got done watching Iowa lose a heartbreaker to Northwestern State. Did I mention yet that March Madness is my favorite time of year? It is all about starting over and winning until you get the final prize. It is about the Cinderella story, the buzzer-beaters and seeing college athletes put it on the line. I had the quesadilla burger again with fries and a glass of water. It was good, but the waiter had complimented on how polite and classy (if you will) we were. He asked us if it was because we were from Indiana, but only Trevor and I are from the state, so I concluded that it is because of our parents. So all of you parents out their reading, thank you for caring so much about us. You should feel comfortable that we handle ourselves well in public. That is also a big compliment to our coaching staff and baseball program as well.
On my way back from lunch, I saw Jack Smith throwing a baseball against the dumpster and he told me that he was throwing a bullpen. It was a great scene, but I grabbed a mitt and made it easier for him to visualize throwing to a catcher. He told me to give him signs, so I gave him some fastballs. His arm strength is pretty good, but he wanted to show me his curve ball, so he shook the fastball and threw me a couple of "hooks." Ty Smith came out, and I started throwing some pop flies that were a bit challenging to young Paco (Jack). I came back to the condo and watched some basketball, but Doug Fleenor called me and told me to come over.
I went to Doug's and what do you know? Yup, there he was playing Brad Davidson in none other than MarioKart. Did I mention that they brought the Nintendo 64 and only one game? So, this is how they have entertained themselves all week. It was certainly a competitive atmosphere over there as Doug called his championship belt the bath towel that draped over the bedroom door. Chris Hynes was racing against Doug and lost the series, so Doug of course, being the instigator he is, goes and grabs the towel (championship belt) and puts it around his neck. "And STILL Heavyweight Champion of the World," he said. Well, Mr. Hynes was pretty fired up. After chucking his controller, he grabbed "the belt" from Doug's neck and ran out the back patio door with it. Doug yells, "Don't disrespect the belt," but Chris decides to throw the towel in the pond with all of the Durkeys. Seconds later Doug comes running down the hill retrieving his pride and joy.
It was time for dinner and there was no way I was going back to Applebee's, so Tad Reida, Brad Davidson, Joe Vicini, Trevor McConnell and myself went to Outback Steakhouse. We each had 20 dollars to work with, so I did not hold back and ordered a 14 ounce New York Strip Steak with vegetables and a sweet potato. It was simply delicious. Remember how I told you Tad does not say a whole lot? Well, he looks at me from across the table and lips to me, "Watch this." So the waitress takes his order and he says, "Go ahead and put all this on one bill, I'm taking care of it." I looked at the waitress and said, "See, he is the big leaguer at this table so he can do things like that for us." It was pretty funny knowing that I had all of the money the coaches gave me in MY pocket. Tad, what a character. I went back to his place after dinner and watched some more NCAA Tournament games with Josh Richardson and Keith Haas. Then Doug called and told me to come over for "The Showdown."
Word on the streets is that Josh Lewis is pretty good at MarioKart and when I got there, Doug was instigating more as Josh had just lost games to Brad and Joe. Let's just say that Doug and Josh "duked it out" both with the game controllers, their mouths and fighting over the belt (bath towel). Hynes and I were both in shock that they were going crazy over a towel. The great thing about it is that they can be competitive, get at each other's throats and know everything is fine at the end of the night. Following the games, we sat around and talked about our season so far and how we will improve as the season goes on.
It is getting late now. I should get some sleep. Trevor just pulled out the couch sofa, so I know he is tired. We play the University of Chicago-Illinois Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium (where the Cincinnati Reds have spring training) and Lew will be on the hill. I am looking for a good last game of the trip before we leave this beautiful weather and head back to Bloomington. This will be my last journal, so I hope you had fun reading and will continue to follow us through the website for the remainder of the season. Take care and Go Hoosiers!
