Springfield Spirit Practice Session
Suffield, CT- 4/2/03

 

As the VIP season tickets holder, my friend and I had the opportunity to attend one of the Spirit's practice at Suffield Academy in Connecticut. I got so busy at work that I could not leave on time and the weather was not being kind as it was raining quite heavily. The thought of not going came across my mind through out the day, but my boss was in such a good mood. I was able to leave a little early than usual despite of so much work I had to finish.

Since the practice schedule was written as 6:30 - 8:30, we were not too worry about getting there late. It was certainly quite a ride! We had no idea where Suffield was, but manage to get there without getting lost. But, guess what? We got lost once we arrived to our destination. None of us printed the map of Suffield Academy, so we walked around trying to figure out where we were going. Luckily we saw a man with his daughters getting out from their and they seemed to know their way around. We decided to follow their lead. All of a sudden, they stopped, turned around and we realized that they were lost as well. We all started laughing at each other for not knowing where we were going and the fact that they led the way despite of their cluelessness.

Finally we found the gymnasium, which looks the same as the other buildings. Five of us ran down the stairs only to find locked doors. We then have to walk around to get in from the back door. It's a small gym with few people watching from the sidelines and some sitting on the bleachers. The players were in the middle of their practice session. I noticed that Stacy, Cindy and Shea were not there; Swin was not taking part of the scrimmage and Sue still looked shorter than 5 9' (I can't get over the fact that Sue looks so small in person).

I greeted Steve Fox, exchanged few words and headed to the bleachers. No matter how much I like watching basketball, I am still a novice. I can sit through tennis matches or practices while analyzing what's going on with my eyes closed, well maybe a little exaggerating, but the point is that I am still trying to educate myself with the rules, strategies and different aspects of basketball game.

I could not hear what the coach was saying because of the echos, but I kind of had an idea of what went on through out their practice session. What I heard clearly from coach Eileen was " Boxed out!!!" She said it so many times! I totally agree with her, but they have not taken advantage of their heights all season long. As we all know that Kara Wolter has not been able to utilize her 6 7' on the gym floor. I had no clue why, but at some point of the practice, Kara started complaining about her teammates. I can't repeat what she was saying word by word, but basically she claimed that her teammates don't know what they are doing out there. I was like, "Huh?" I really don't want to make further comments about that.

Anyhow, I'm not sure whether it was just me, but I thought
that Sue wasn't into the practice at all. She looked bored at times and she joked around with few players. Toward the end of the practice, Eileen was giving some pointers while Sue was talking to Beth. I guess the pointers did not effect the two of them, I had no idea. It was just funny to me. I am sure that it is quite different during UConn or WNBA practices. If you see on the picture where Sue and Beth were talking to each other while their coach facing the other way. At times, Sue kept playing around with her jersey, pulling it up over her head and so on. I wanted to take more pictures, but we got the late in the first place and the practice was not as long as written on the schedule.

Rebecca Lobo walked toward us to grab her gym bag, and one of the lady in front of us asked for her autograph. I asked her when her wedding will be and she answered "in few weeks." Because I heard that she's going to miss the playoffs. Anyway, we congratulated her and that was the end of it. Unlike the other players, Sue only had to gather few things she left on the sideline and then took off quickly. So, we did not even make attempts to greet the other players. However, I had a chance to hold the ball that's being used in the women's league for the first time. It is small! All this time, I've been playing with cheap college size basketball for fun, which is bigger and made of different material, where it is so hard to get a grip on the ball. I think I am going to get a new basketball for my summer workout.

I've been staying up late, trying to catch up with some taped UConn games that I missed. DT rocks! I hope they can go all the way! I am thinking to create another site for Diana when she gets to the WNBA. Hopefully that her injuries will not be blocking her way to a successful season at UConn as well as her future Career at the Pro Level.

I am looking forward to the Final Four and the NWBL Playoffs! Good luck to all!