We don't do much talking in the 209 + Post No. 500!

You knew I was going to write about it. How could I be an A's fan in Stockton and not comment on this??!?!

First of all, I think Dallas Braden is kind of an idiot. That's just my personal opinion, I'm entitled to it. He's a pugnacious kid from Stockton (and if you don't know what my city's all about, it's kind of ghetto and parts are also rural agricultural areas with lots of immigrants. It's an interesting mix of folks), and went to high school the same year as one of the girls I work with. So he's only two years older than I am. And at 25, I still feel like I have the mentality of a kid sometimes.

Apparently, so does Dallas Braden. A few weeks ago, A-Rod stormed the mound when the A's played the Yankees (ew) and it was just handled so poorly. Braden was spouting about it and venting live on tv for hours that night. Now fast forward to a few days before his start this weekend and what does he say, "We don't do much talking in the 209 [Stockton's area code]." Seriously, he's an idiot.

But that set the scene for this weekend. When Braden tossed MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S 19th PERFECT GAME dating back to the 1800s. As in, no hits, no runs, no errors. Nothing. That is impressive.

We get DirecTV on the bus during road trips and this weekend drove back and forth an hour north to UC Davis. Our Division I collegiate baseball team completed a three-game sweep of UC Davis, and down in Santa Barbara our women's softball team also swept UC Santa Barbara. To the point where the Gauchos never even once scored... which kills me a little inside to write, since I graduated from there and all.

So on the bus back, all the guys could not stop talking about Braden's perfect game, saying how this was a great weekend for the 209. As we drove away from the baseball field, still on the campus of UC Davis, the trees lining the road kept interfering with the DirecTV signal. So on SportsCenter when Braden's teaser aired, we essentially missed the entire thing before it cut to commercial break. And all the guys on the bus kept screaming, "NOOOOOOOOO, NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOO," with every interference from the trees. It was almost akin to a record skipping. Classic.

It's always a very entertaining ride back when we win.

In other news, my new "boyfriend" as he's been dubbed - don't worry, still dating J.D. this is only a joke - and I didn't have any interaction whatsoever this weekend! I don't know why, this is silly actually, but I'd been super nervous about making the trip to UC Davis and having him remember me. I wished he'd forgotten and I guess this weekend he did just that! So crisis averted, I live to tell about another day. Too bad though, that could have made for some more comical blog posts.

If you're curious about the incident I'm referencing which led to this "new boyfriend," so delicately labeled by my female coworkers you're going to have to read about it here, on my sports-writing blog.

And I made it to 500 posts in under three years! Thanks to everyone who's been reading my blog and encouraging me to keep writing along the way. This was only meant to serve as means of updating my friends and family across the pond when I lived in France for a year. I'm glad I kept it going!

Now, I think it's time for me to pass out...... after running SEVEN MILES in about 66 minutes. I know, impressive right?!?! I couldn't even believe it.

Summer 2k10 Plans

This summer, J.D. and I already have some travel plans in the works.

As I've already blogged, we're going to be spending one week in June in the midwest for my first time on a trip that promises to be jam-packed with baseball at all levels: professional, minor leagues and college playoffs.

Then on the 4th of July weekend, there will be a CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Convention in San Francisco. Since J.D.'s a member, he'll be making the trip an hour west and I figured I'd come along for the ride :) We haven't really decided if we're going to stay in a hotel in SF (for the second time this year), or maybe just stay at my parents' house for the weekend and hang out in the East Bay as well as San Francisco.

And finally, I still have an itch for a beach weekend somewhere! San Diego, Orange County... who knows! Maybe we could find a dog-friendly hotel and bring little Woody along with us :)

But I haven't mentioned this yet. Our women's soccer team starts the year out in Hawaii this August. But a week before that, they're taking a trip to COSTA RICA! Which is one of the top 10 places I want to see in my life!! So if I am comfortable with shelling out the money.... I, too, could be on that trip. I'm too afraid to commit to spending that right now, but we'll see I guess.


As for next year, I think we're informally planning a big trip somewhere. Last summer both of us really wanted to go to Belize. Now I'm entertaining him with ideas of going to Sweden - homeland of his family! But above all, I really want to go on a tropical cruise somewhere :)

CRUISESWEDEN

What's your favorite summer travel destination? Do you prefer cruises, flights or road trips? Do you have any plans this summer??

Don't worry, I'm safe

I had a fun day today. I'll share more deets later, but it concluded with me, J.D., my boss and three other coworkers eating frozen yogurt on the baseball field on campus because it was one of two "safe zones" after campus police received an anonymous call saying a bomb would detonate on campus later tonight.

We made it back safely, in case you're wondering. Also, they think the whole ordeal was a hoax.

And now back to the fun stuff (teaser):

BASEBALL Vacation

For those of you who know, one of my life goals is to attend as many Major League ballparks as possible! I've currently seen: the Oakland Coliseum (Oakland A's), AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants), Angel Stadium (Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles... I hate that name, it's either LA or OC, figure it out!), Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers), Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles), Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), Arlington Ballpark (Texas Rangers) and the former Shea Stadium (NY Mets). That makes eight... out of 30 teams - I've got a lot more to go!

But this summer, I'll set food in another :)

J.D. went to college in Des Moines, Iowa, and he absolutely loves the midwest. My former boss at Pacific recently moved to Omaha, Nebraska. Cool, so how does this all fit in???

Well, the College World Series has forever been held at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha and is rich in history, stories and above all - college baseball playoffs. 2010 will be the final season the CWS is held at Rosenblatt so I guess they're going ALL OUT this year. I've been told to do so by about five different people, so this summer I will be volunteering at the College World Series in Omaha! I can't wait to be a part of all of this, make some baseball connections and see some new parts of the country.

J.D., who also does the same thing as I do for a living at Sacramento State University, is also extremely interested in volunteering! The CWS runs from June 18-27 so what we're planning on doing is flying out to Omaha on June 16.

The night we fly in, we'll find a hotel near the airport and explore Omaha. On the morning of the 17th, we'll rent a car (yay, I'm 25 now and can finally do so!!!!) and drive three hours south to Kansas City where we'll explore the city and also catch a KC Royals game at Kauffman Stadium (MLB park #9!) in the evening. Then the plan is to stay the night in KC, get up on the 18th and drive 3.5 hours north to Des Moines, Iowa, where J.D. gets to show me his old college stomping grounds for two days. Maybe we'll even fit in a minor league Iowa Cubs game....

On the morning of the 20th, we're hoping to make another 3.5 hour drive to Omaha in order to volunteer at the College World Series for a few days before flying back to California on the 24th.

Can't wait!! There's going to be so much baseball jam-packed into one week. We started pricing it out last night and are looking to purchase flights and reserve the rental car this weekend!

After this I should really consider making a weekend trip to San Diego to see the Padres play and essentially knock down the last remaining California ballpark :)

Oh and did I also mention J.D.'s fav team is the Mets??? So for his birthday next month, I got him tickets to see the Mets play in San Francisco this July. Third row behind the Mets' bullpen... what a good girlfriend I am :)

EEEEEEEK

I'm going to admit something I've been freaking out about a lot lately.

I'm having a blog identity crisis!!!!

You see, most blogs I read have cohesive themes and are all really neat and inspiring. As for me, I'm all over the place! I'm ADD and crazy (not really, but my blog is).

I'm envious of all you neat theme-y bloggers out there and to tell the truth, I've been trying to be like you :) It was easy when I started this blog back when I lived in France. My new life abroad and the painful struggles of a foreigner was mostly all I talked about. Then I tried to change the theme to life as a Californian and now my 60+ hour work weeks leave for some pretty boring entries.....

Oh well, I'm trying to figure out this book club thing. So expect something about that in my next entry :) But before that, I'm off to go for a mini run. We have another three-game set at No. 25 (in the country!!!) UC Irvine. So I'm down here in Orange County for several hours with really not a whole lot to do!

So maybe a little run, then exploring the mallish areas here.

And oh yeah.... I had dinner with and met Jim Abbott last night ;) Be jealous!! He's a really nice dude!

Let the rain come down

With all the rainouts we've been having at our baseball games here on campus, we filled time during Saturday's 46-minute rain delay in very interesting fashion.

While all the players hung out in the dugouts and the fans flocked underneath the umbrellas on the concourse, I played the following clip on my stat laptop, and we projected it with sound on the giant video board out in right field.



Such a fun day! (We ended up winning both games on Saturday even with the rain delay!)

Baseball Jobs

A media relations position recently opened up with the St. Louis Cardinals. I considered it, but really, I don't want to relocate to Missouri. I looked into it and I feel like the job is very low paying, intern-y crap. I think I've been working professionally in sports long enough at this point to not continue applying for intern positions. I know you have to start somewhere if you ever want to work in a professional sporting organization, but do I really want to be running copies and making coffee all day? How is that ever going to showcase my skills?

Plus, I can say this now because everyone I talk to already knows, but J.D. has been applying for a job in New Orleans that should be starting in a few weeks. I don't think I should make any future employment plans until his stuff is figured out.

...It would be nice to work for a MLB team though, especially since the team's coach, Tony LaRussa, lives in my city and Mark McGwire is going to be the hitting coach this year!!!

Done with media guides for the year!!!

I am FINISHED making media guides for the 2009-10 school year! And it is a good feeling. With that, baseball season is here in one week. Here's the cover of my guide as well as the interactive entire guide, designed, written and compiled by yours truly.

It feels nice to be done :) My days might be a little bit more free now....?

Love me some baseball

It's a busy Sunday full of cleaning. We're talking not only sweeping and mopping, but on hands and knees scrubbing baseboards, cleaning out heating/cooling vents, etc.

My hands, back and neck are super sore so I'm taking my well-deserved break. I could be sitting here writing about my trips to the East Coast, Portland, or even Las Vegas for God's sake, but those are for another time I suppose.

Right now, I'm going to share with you all how excited I am about a summer opportunity I've applied for. For the first time ever, USA Baseball is opening up all of its Press Officer positions to collegiate baseball sports information directors, or SIDs (i.e., 1/3 of my current job position at Pacific).

That means, the traveling US National Baseball teams (levels: college, 18U, 16U and 14U) will all be in need of someone to travel with them over the summer and perform more or less the same duties I do every single day (scroll down past all this if you don't care about the job description):

• Log box scores and statistics for each game and work closely with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) and USA Baseball to post all information to USABaseball.com.

• Create and email post-game recaps for USABaseball.com, www.usocpressbox.org and to designated USA Baseball email distribution lists and social media outlets.

• File any photographs, video, blogs, video journals, etc. with USA Baseball and MLBAM.

• Compile pre- and post-game stats for team manager and coaches as needed.

• Provide necessary roster and statistics information in pressboxes at each game.

• Generate new story ideas and/or write feature stories for local, national and international press, players' hometown media outlets, and for USABaseball.com, www.teamusa.org and other USA Baseball publications.

• Facilitate all media requests -- print, web, radio, broadcast, press conferences.

• Review and compile daily clips featuring your respective team.

• Communicate with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) on behalf of USA Baseball to meet all in-hand deadlines for Athlete/Team of the Month votes, stat/roster information, www.usocpressbox.org postings, and other USOC needs.

• Assist in USA Baseball media and marketing efforts including local day-of-game responsibilities at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., and help build relationships with local media contacts in the Raleigh-Durham ("Triangle") area.

• Provide assistance when needed to your respective team's general manager in regards to miscellaneous team operational needs.

• Help facilitate on- and off-field, and baseball card-related photo shoots and autograph signings.

• Write an end-of-season wrap-up article and compile a book/annual featuring clips, final stats, pictures, etc. both for post to USABaseball.com and for USA Baseball's records.

• Update your respective team's history at the end of the season -- roster, stats, schedule/results and record book.

• Report back to and coordinate daily with Director, Media & Public Relations from the road as needed

• Position requires a positive, friendly and helpful attitude and exceptional writing and communication skills. Candidate must be self-motivated and able to generate creative, new and fresh story ideas. Individual MUST be available during the entirety of the required dates of the position for which you apply. Must also be prepared to work nights, weekends and holidays.

• Candidate must provide own laptop loaded with StatCrew's The Automated Scorebook Software and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel). Ownership of PDF creation and photo editing software preferred. If candidate does not own TAS or other preferred software, USA Baseball will work with candidate to explore alternatives. USA Baseball will also not provide candidate with a dedicated, portable printer. Printing options will be made available at each stadium to you through the home team or through your respective team's general manager.

Ok, I know that's a lot of crap as assigned. But like I said, it's essentially the same exact thing I'll be doing from February to May, once baseball season is in. I can't believe that it starts one month after we the students get back from Christmas break.

However, the aspect about this summer position that most appeals to me is the international travel entailed. The collegiate national team will travel within the Midwest, North Carolina and to Taiwan and Japan from July to early August. The 18U team travels through the North (think Minnesota, etc.) and "internationally" to Thunder Bay, Canada. On the upside, the Minnesota Twins will be playing at their new stadium this summer, so perhaps the national teams will play at the Metrodome this summer???

As for the 16U team, they trapeze through North Carolina and then "North and South America (outside the US)," which I'm guessing means Latin American locales. Finally, the 14U squad will spend its summer in North Carolina and Nicaragua; however, I did not apply for that position because it runs until September, so that would cut into my current job's time frame.

So, this sounds like a really sweet deal, something that I could have a lot of fun with. But the problem is that there are over 300 Division I universities. Then consider how many Division II and III schools there are, and I'm willing to bet that at least 70 percent of those programs have baseball. So I'm potentially competing against all other baseball (current and former) SIDs for one of three-to-four positions.

Which is why the day I received the e-mail notification about the position, I refined my resume, drafted a cover letter and sent off five different baseball writing samples to accompany my application. I'd guess it opened up on Monday, and the deadline is March 1, 2010.

Am I in over my head, here?? Well, at least if I don't get the job, I'm showing a great deal of motivation by applying within the first week, out of 12 possible weeks to apply.

Wish me luck!

One more for the day, then I'm out.

I've got a half day going at work today.... and this is what I've been up to:

2010 Baseball Media Guide Covers!!

Thanks to my good friend, Meghan for the photos! The season starts in less than three months, which means I've got about two months to tackle this project. All the player/coach biographies have been done for about a month now and I've made my design for the interior. At the end of last season I also updated all the records, etc.

So it shouldn't take me too much longer :) Just have to wait and see how big the final roster is going to be and then lay it all out.

Is it spring yet?! (P.S. Obviously it's not, because I found CHRISTMAS RADIO STATIONS AT WORK ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

My Photogrophorial Debut

Not even sure if that's a word.

But here are some of the pictures I took during the Baseball Alumni game at our field last weekend and it was super fun!! If only we had a decent lens with better zoom...

Wrapping things up

Well graduation for all the undergrads was on Saturday, but that never hit me or mattered really since a.) I completed my time as an undergrad in March of 2007, b.) I'm essentially done with grad school for a bit (think about one year or more), c.) I was on the road with the baseball team in Northridge, Calif., and hanging out with Lisa in Santa Monica.

So while school is out, the athletics department at our university is still humming with activity. That includes yours truly, who has been quite busy. However, I only have one more week left of baseball! It's crazy to think that I'm almost through my first year here working in athletics. Even more crazy, I made it through baseball season with all kinds of compliments and requests for next year. Kind of related to that, I'm super ready for the summer! I'm going to be a back-up official scorer for the Ports here, who are the OAKLAND A'S Single-A minor league affiliate!!!

I start on Thursday night! This is big time, I'm semi-working in professional baseball now! How awesome is that?! Next up, Major League Baseball.

Also relating to work, I've officially started full time! Monday was my first day and I spent the majority of it moving from my three-way shared office into my own personal office alone! Let the decorating begin :) Well, my focus is going to be split between the new house and the new office. So it's going to be a busy summer, there is still much to do.

As for my class, I got an A! So I get to keep my all As streak alive from undergrad work. But again, I'm not sure how much this matters. Since I'm a full-time employee now and not a "graduate assistant" I'm actually getting a salary instead of tuition. And at a private university, tuition is NOT something I can afford to purchase all on my own right now. But on May 18, 2010, I will have been hired full-time for one full year, thus eligible for 90% tuition remission from the university. So that's like, what, $1,000 per semester if I take a full load? And I most likely won't be taking a full load ever, since I work three overlapping sports.

Which in 2009-01 are going to be (drumroll, please): soccer, women's basketball and baseball.

Bring it on!

French & Baseball: My two loves in life (Sorry J.D.)

Ah, French and baseball, two things I can't quite get enough of. And this weekend I got both!

It all started last week when I was messing around on facebook at work. I realized when I came back from the copy room that I had a couple of messages from my friend Ludo, who I went on a date or two with back in France. Anyways, it's been a while since I've spoken French really. But the entire time we messaged back and forth in a.) French slang and b.) shortened computer words. I nearly understood all of it, how easily it comes back.

Apparently Ludo's working in the Caribbean now and plans to come to the United States to practice his English, "since he knows someone living there." I thought he was joking and told him I planned to be living near a beach in California within the next two years. That's when he said, in French, "You better not be joking, I'm extremely serious about coming to visit." So apparently he wants to come hang out with la Californienne, practice his English, and continue my French education and get me back in the French-speaking groove for two weeks.

I'm really excited and hope he's serious! It'd be so fun to hang out for a few weeks and show him around my world, after he took me around his for a few months.

I would have had more French this weekend, because my family wanted to go to my favorite French crêperie out here in Stockton. It's owned by this recently-transplanted Breton, who always tries to get me to speak French with him. Since I'm always out with my boyfriend or coworkers, I get really nervous about speaking in French. I'm not sure why I've always been self-conscious about that, especially how everyone always complimented me on my French, even the administrators at my schools when I was living there, as well as my roommate and all her friends. Tant pis.... I'll get over it some day. But it's only open for Sunday brunch and since we had baseball until 4 p.m. last night, couldn't make it out in time to grab some crêpes. But I do have TONS of berries in the fridge, so maybe I'll make some of my own tonight! Those were the first thing I can recall learning how to cook, since my mémée (grandma) taught me how to make them when I was super young.

And while I briefly alluded to it, here comes the baseball part. We had a three-day home stand against the nation's No. 1 team this weekend: UC Irvine. It could have been better, could have been worse, but the best part for me was during Saturday's pre-game. I had just finished my radio broadcast for our softball game at noon (last game of the year, so it was my last broadcast of the year) and had everything in the press box/on the field set up and ready to go for the baseball game. Since it was three hours until go time, the players were starting to warm up before taking batting practice.

And I got to warm up and play catch out there!!! It was probably one of the best things ever. I felt so silly (being a girl playing out there with all the baseball boys), but I miss playing soooo bad. I'm really excited I got the chance to get a little catch and long-toss in before the game!

On moving, etc.

Well, I'm finally almost 100% moved into the condo in Stockton! And by that I mean, all my stuff is over there, not that I'm all situated and settled.

Far from it.

He has not yet moved his stuff in, so until that happens I'm in boxes awaiting the rest of the furniture before I can keep unpacking and start decorating. The kitchen and dining room are almost completely settled, however, so I've had some time to decorate there to distract me from the endless cleaning/unpacking that seems left to do.

I'm really excited to have my first place all to myself! Everyone keeps telling me it's like I'm finally a real adult :) Or something like that. Definitely far from it, that's for sure.

But I proooomise I'll put all kinds of pictures up once everything's all settled. I'm so excited! I come home every night and have to pinch myself because I can't believe that I'M the person who actually lives there.

Oh yeah, I'll be at USF (the University of San Francisco, not Southern Florida) all afternoon traveling with the Pacific baseball team to do radio and write the game story. I've never been to USF, despite frequenting the city of San Francisco at least 3-5 times a year, so I'm certainly looking forward to checking out the campus. And then instead of riding home on the bus with the team, I'm sticking around in the Bay Area and making my way towards Oakland, where I'll get to see the A's-Angels game.... my first A's game of 2009! Well, technically that's not true, I did go to a Stockton Ports game, the Single-A minor league affiliate of the Oakland A's. And I did get to see the Giants-Brewers game on opening night in San Francisco.

Lots to look forward to and keep me going/busy. Stay tuned for more!

Oops!

I can't believe I forgot to post about this yesterday.

Points to the first person that can tell me what's wrong with this baseball jersey ;)


Way to go, Majestic!

Some of my FAVORITES!

I'm still on this really high "I love baseball" kick. And since I just finished my final in my only grad class this afternoon, I'm not quite ready to do work yet.

So on my lunch break, here are some of my favorite photos from this spring, of my favorite boys with whom I am fortunate to travel across the state every other week!

#2 Ben Gorang

#5 Jake Sylvester

#7 J.B. Brown

#15 Nick Longmire

#23 Joey Centanni

#40 Tye Davis

The 2009 Pacific Baseball Team:

And credit where credit is due.... special thanks to Matt Brown, Meghan Camino and George Steckler for their dedication behind the lens this year! Without whom, none of these photos would exist.

"Work Trip"

This last weekend was such a blast! I'm so grateful my final paper was moved back a week, otherwise I would not have been able to have had the opportunity to go down to Orange County this weekend!

First of all, I've always wanted to go down to Cal State Fullerton because that baseball team's almost like a legend among all D1 collegiate teams. They just have so much history, and for an A's fan, have had a lot of players go professional. The field was beautiful, it was extremely hot all weekend long, culminating with a 95-degree day game on Sunday. It almost had a minor league feel, so again, I'm really excited I got to see the park!

But that's not entirely the whole story.... I sort of got to see history in the making! See my article and read the PDF I made to understand what I'm talking about :)

Other than that, get ready for a brief recap of the weekend.

THURSDAY: My sister came and picked me up and I got to check out her house in Newport Beach for the first time. I'm really jealous of where she gets to live! Only one block from the ocean she lives and to kill time while we were waiting for our friend Gianna, we walked a couple of blocks down the street to this small dive bar on the ocean. It was a neat little sports bar with a Mexican theme, so of course we each had a margarita to start things off. While waiting, this group of guys from Jersey (just imagine the accents already...) stopped at our table and "had to find out who we were." Small world, one of them went to UCSB. But a cute awkward and tall guy started talking to me since I was getting so heated with the Angel's game on tv. In the land of the Angels, I was actually cheering when they started getting pounded!

Long story short, they invited us to come over and take shots in Huntington Beach (where we were ironically headed for dinner), but to our better judgment we turned down the offer from what would have been a drunken chauffeur. Then Gi finally arrived and we headed out to a delicious Mediterranean hole in the wall restaurant in downtown Huntington. We stayed there for hours, as the waiter flirted with us all night and gave us free appetizers and baklava after dinner. The baklava, he said, was a gift after I correctly guessed that he was originally from Turkey, and not Greece, as my sister surmised.

This is where it gets weird, "Max," he said his name was, started to develop a little crush on my sister and then he started showing us pictures of Istanbul, saying we should go visit soon. While it is much prettier than I'd ever imagined, his next suggestion was proposterous. He told us to go and his parents would pick us up from the airport, house and feed us the entire time. Wow..... As the night began to dwindle away, he suggested we go to bars with him. Instead we booked out of there and went to a bar where I met my friend Chris, who works at our athletic conference office and who I have almost daily contact with, but I had never met up until that point. It was a good night made that much better when our friend Max randomly showed up. Needless to say, Aimee was quite unhappy about the whole thing, especially after I kept saying she'd dance with him.

FRIDAY: Oh yeah, did I mention I was on a work trip? We didn't have to be at the field until 4ish, with game time set for 7 p.m. So Aimee and I took our time waking up, then quickly showered and hopped on bikes and rode around Newport all afternoon. About lunchtime, I decided I wanted to go to a little diner and find some kind of brunch food, so we found this cute little surf shop-inspired diner and got egg white omelets with all kinds of fruit and veggies. And I indulged my inner child by ordering a tall, cold glass of chocolate milk.


After riding around a bit, we stopped at the harbor and then made our way back to her house, packed up and watched tv at my hotel suite in Brea before it was time to head back to the field. That was an exciting night, as my Tigers defeated Cal State Fullerton, the NO. 6 TEAM IN THE NATION!!! 5-4 in the top of the ninth inning, after we put up four runs in that inning! It was also my first time on radio since all the broadcasts prior were broadcast solely on the Internet, and the person working in the studio for the radio station had nothing but good things to say about my broadcast. So that was an exciting moment for me.

SATURDAY: Taking our time waking up again, we headed down to the lobby and had breakfast with Ben, my co-worker since the softball team was also playing at Fullerton last weekend. After breakfast, Aimee and I met our student team manager, Antonio, and headed to Downtown Disneyland! It's been about five-six years since I last went to Disneyland, so that was fun to come back to the area again. We first went novelty shopping and then found ourselves in the ESPN Zone. Antonio treated us to a game card and we played sports/arcade games for the better part of an hour. My favorite part was actually striking out Alex Rodriguez of the NY Yankees in a pitching simulation. But I won't tell you that my fastball only clocked at 43 mph. Embarrassing.... the gun must have been off. That's ok though, because I get bragging rights since Aimee walked A-Rod on four-straight pitches and Antonio gave up a home run ot Jason Bay. After we ran out of points, we headed to the House of Blues for lunch and then drove back to campus to catch some of the softball game that afternoon. About an hour later, it was back to work for me, so I went up the concourse and on the other side to the baseball diamond, where I got to broadcast another win for Pacific!!! This time it was 14-10, after we posted four runs in the sixth, seven in the seventh and two in the eighth for our FIRST series win EVER against the Titans. Super exciting.


SUNDAY: Wasn't all that exciting, as we woke up and went straight to the field for the only day game of the weekend. Actually, scratch that. Baseball games always make for a fun day. Can't win 'em all though, but we fought hard and almost pulled out the sweep with a 4-3 loss before making the 6.5 hour bus ride back up to Stockton.

Again, it was a great weekend and I'm so glad I got to go! There's nothing better than baseball, except maybe baseball in warm weather, no, how about baseball in warm weather in Southern California on the beach?

Heaven.

Sick at home again....

I'm really tired of this not being able to function thing. So while I'm sick at home (when I'm not sleeping) I've been searching Central Valley newspapers for possible housing situations and doing a bit of work from home, where I can't infect anyone else with my diseases. Though, that means I won't be able to go to UCSB this weekend with the baseball team because I don't want to risk getting any of the players sick :( That means I won't get to have my mini-undergrad reunion with the 10ish people who are still down in Santa Barbara.

I wish that was an April Fool's joke, but it's not. So instead I'm going to try to rest up from home, call the doctor again and hopefully get better.

Until then, here's a bit of what I've been working on:

Perfect Tigers Continue Big West Play Down at UC Santa Barbara This Weekend

Pacific starts out 2009 with the best mark since 1999, after going 3-0 last weekend

Senior catcher Kurt Wideman is leading the way for Pacific, as his .403 batting average ranks fifth in the Big West. His .68 doubles per game is also the best in the nation.

April 1, 2009

Stockton, Calif. - Off to its best conference start in a decade, the Pacific baseball team looks to improve on its 3-0 Big West Conference mark after sweeping UC Davis last weekend. The Tigers will have some work to do when they head south to take on UC Santa Barbara, who after dropping last weekend's series to Cal State Northridge 2-1, has fallen out of the national polls.

Pacific enters the week with a 10-13 overall record and a perfect 3-0 record in Big West Conference play. The Gauchos are 14-8 overall, with a 1-2 conference record.

All games during the 2009 season will be broadcast for free on pacifictigers.com. You can also follow every game in 2009 on Gametracker. Big West Conference games on the road can also be heard on KSTN 1420 AM.

Complete Release in PDF Format

Pacific Tiger Baseball This Week
Monday, March 30 - vs. Stanford, L 10-2
Friday, April 3 - at UC Santa Barbara, 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 4 - at UC Santa Barbara, 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 5 - at UC Santa Barbara, 1 p.m.

Pacific Tiger Baseball Last Week: 3-0
Friday, March 27 - vs. UC Davis, W 8-4
Saturday, March 28 - vs. UC Davis, W 11-7
Sunday, March 29 - vs. UC Davis, W 15-9

PROBABLE FRIDAY STARTERS:
LHP Joey Centanni (3-2, 2.16 ERA) vs. LHP Mario Hollands (2-2, 3.69 ERA)

PROBABLE SATURDAY STARTERS:
RHP Cole Akins (2-0, 5.02 ERA) vs. RHP Mike Ford (3-2, 4.86 ERA)

PROBABLE SUNDAY STARTERS:
RHP Hunter Carnevale (1-3, 6.23 ERA) vs. TBA

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
All of Pacific's 2009 contests will be broadcast online at the newly-redesigned Pacific Athletics site: www.pacifictigers.com. But now with the start of road Big West Conference series, all the action can be heard locally on KSTN 1420 AM in the Central Valley. This week's contest at UC Santa Barbara kicks off the Tigers' first true radio broadcast of 2009. Pacific Baseball can also be heard on 1420 AM for the following three-game series: at Cal State Fullerton (April 17-19), at UC Riverside (May 1-3) and at Cal State Northridge (May 15-17).

RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCES
During the last homestand, Pacific set a few new records as a team and with individual performances. On Saturday, March 28, the Tigers' crowd of 934 fans in attendance at Klein Family Field broke Pacific's previous record of 881 on opening day last season, Feb. 27 against Santa Clara. One of the driving forces behind the record crowd was a joint effort with the United Way of San Joaquin County who gave out over 600 tickets to fans in the local community.

Individually, senior Kurt Wideman and Nick Longmire muscled their way into Pacific's all-time record books with their performances at the plate last weekend. After going 5-for-5 with three doubles against UC Davis on Sunday, March 29, Wideman compiled 15 doubles on the season and 35 for his career in three years with the Tigers. Wideman's 35 doubles ties him for eighth in Pacific history with Vince Brigman (1984-87). By moving up the ranks, Kurt pushed Jason Walker's (1999-2001) 34 doubles to 10th overall, knocking off Stan Rogers (1976-79) from the all-time top-10, who currently sits at 11 with 33 doubles.

Longmire's fourth triple of the season also came during that Sunday game against UC Davis, making his career total reach nine in two seasons with the Tigers. Those nine triples tie Longmire for seventh in Pacific history with David Boer (1974-75), Terry Maple (1965-68) and Pat Tobin (1978-81). Out of the top 10 fell Scott Boras (1972-74), Frank Halvorson (1976-78), Keith Johnson (1990-92) and Chip Sell (1991-94), who are each tied for 11th overall with eight three-baggers.

FIRST TIME'S A CHARM
Behind an impressive three-game sweep of UC Davis to start out Big West Conference play, the Pacific Tigers are off to their best start in conference action since 1999, when they also swept the first three conference contests of the season. Pacific's three-game sweep of the Aggies was also only the Tigers' second sweep in conference since 2006, when they defeated Cal State Northridge in three-straight from May 26-28, 2006. Finally, the sweep over UC Davis marked the second sweep in 2009 after Pacific defeated Houston in three contests at home mid-March. The Tigers have not recorded two sweeps in one season since 2005, when they swept Northern California rivals Sacramento State and UC Davis to finish out the 2005 season.

THE NATION'S FINEST
One week into Big West Conference play, the Tigers are making their way up the rankings. Senior Kurt Wideman headlines the entire country, as he is recording .68 doubles per game, which is good for fourth overall with 15 total doubles in 2009. He is joined by teammate sophomore Nick Longmire, who has also been a force for extra-bases this season. Longmire's four triples ties him for 10th in the nation this year.

For the second-straight week, Pacific is in the top 20 for double plays, as the Tigers rank 16th among all Division I schools for their 1.23 double plays turned this season and are 29th overall with 27 double plays.

Wideman is also making waves in conference play after Pacific's 3-0 sweep of UC Davis. Kurt's .403 batting average is good enough to put him at fifth overall in the Big West. His .740 slugging percentage is only bettered by one player in eight other universities, as Wideman holds the second-best slugging percentage in the conference. And his 15 doubles in 2009 are tops in the entire conference.

Again, Longmire is right there with Wideman in the rankings. His four triples in 2009 are the most from any player in the Big West Conference. He is also tied for fourth in walks drawn, as Longmire's patience at the plate has resulted in 14 walks this season.

From the mound, Pacific is also up among the Big West's finest. Senior Joey Centanni's 2.16 ERA is the second best in the conference, and batters against him are hitting the 10th lowest, with a .260 average. In relief, senior Mark McCain's 14 appearances out of the 'pen are good for the most amount of appearnces overall and as a reliever in the Big West Conference. McCain's one save this season ties him for 10th in conference, as sophomore Thomas Berolzheimer's four saves are the second best in Big West play.

Long Day

The last time I rode a plane was when I came back from Europe in April 2008.
The last time I rode a plane was Sunday night.

Boy was it a long day. For some reason I woke up at 6:30 a.m. on my own without the help of my alarm, phone or wake-up call from the front desk. The athletic trainer and I happened to both be up obscenely early and met up in the hotel restaurant where we enjoyed our final breakfast of the weekend, mine was the granola supreme. Granola gondola is what it should have been called seeing as how I was served a boat-sized bowl filled to the brim with at least three servings of granola layered with mixed berries, sauce and vanilla yogurt. So essentially five bites into the damn thing, I had enough. From there, I went down into the lobby to print out stats for my coaches who were also enjoying their breakfasts before 8:30 a.m.

Because of the ever-present drizzle that kept falling since 11 p.m. Saturday night, both teams decided to forgo batting practice, as Gonzaga left the tarp over the diamond up until about 10 minutes before game time. The rain kept steadily falling when we arrived at 10:30 a.m., and Gonzaga staff frantically ran around worried because the Doppler maps showed dense patches of rain storm headed our way.

But the show went on as originally scheduled with a 12:00 first pitch and lots of rain.

I don’t feel like talking about the game much, mainly because I broadcast the whole damn thing and then wrote about it so if you’re looking you can find it on the website. Not a pretty weekend in short.

So we pack up around 4 p.m. and get to the airport on time for a 5:50 departure from Spokane to Seattle to Sacramento. Much to our long-awaited surprise, who should be on the same flight as us but three more high school girls’ volleyball teams?

Remind me never to be around high schoolers again. Lots of excited talk, general disregard for everyone else on the plane, high-pitched giggling and craziness. Glad it’s over. But I can’t really talk, because I was part of a different “annoying” crowd as I was with my suited baseball boys. So instead of being super loud shrill and obnoxious, we were telling dirty jokes and being rude/sarcastic/witty to one another. Just how I’d like it.

Oh, I feel like I should mention that for the second time, I traveled on a Southwest flight with a comedian crew again. As we start to take off, the pilot flips on “Danger Zone.” It was really bizarre and the first time I’d ever heard something like that happen. The only thought racing through my head was if someone was afraid of flying, this is a really twisted joke. But two of the guys next to me took my mind off that thought quickly when the started reenacting scenes from Top-Gun. Well worth it.



As the flight attendants started going through the safety measures, the PA announcer started explaining where to stow baggage, both emotional and physical. Then she went over the flotation device protocol, and I quote, “Should your Southwest flight become a Southwest CRUISE.”

Sick. Cole apparently didn’t approve either.

But the male flight attendant was nice enough to come back and greet the boys, giving them pairs of wings to take home and brag about to all their friends on the playground.

As amused as I was with the whole travel experience, I’m still exhausted. We hopped on the bus in Sacramento with all 80+ pieces of luggage and made the hour drive back to Stockton. By the time we arrived, it was well past 10 p.m. and I still had work to do.

All-in-all, I’m really glad I got to make the trip up to Gonzaga. I’m having an absolute blast with this team and coaching staff, but am still not sleeping enough.

I’ll probably get more sleep now that J.D. is on the road with his baseball team to University of Oregon this week. Now when I get off work, I’ll have nothing to do all night, since we pretty much have dinner and go out and do something every other day. Maybe I’ll catch up on the homework and research I’ve been neglecting.

Oh well, summer’s just around the corner…..

It does get a little better, however. I tried to finish all my homework yesterday and somehow ended up with food poisoning, vomiting for nearly two hours in the middle of the day. Then I passed out for five, woke up very late into the evening, finished my homework and couldn't sleep or eat since I'd been sick and sleeping all day. This just keeps getting better and better!

Addressing a request for more :)

Alright, to be honest, I haven't been blogging much lately because I really haven't been doing that much. I'm a fairly boring gal these days with work, class and the boyfriend. Sometimes I can't find enough hours in the day for all three!

Priorities I guess :)

But we arrived in Spokane last night and this is my first trip to Washington. It was about 50 degrees when we landed, me in my pinstripe dress and all the players/coaches in their suits. Someone walked past us and asked if we were going to a CIA convention. Surprisingly enough, for how different the weather is from California, I really wasn't cold at all with my bare legs.

We were all seated in the back of the plane near a high school girls' club volleyball team that will be playing at the convention center right next to our hotel. So not only did that make for an interesting plane ride, but the flight attendants got all into it cheering for both teams. As we made our final descent, the head flight attendant wished the Pacific Baseball Team good luck, and then she proceeded to go on by saying score a touchdown! That created a huge uproar of laughter from all the other passengers, except for the guys. Not so amused I guess. But honestly, they were joking all flight... think it's the first time I've ever flown with a crew of comedians. Then I topped my day of travel off when I went with the coaches and staff to a bar/restaurant called Shenanigan's last night, yup, just like in Super Troopers.



Anyways, I have most of the day off as we don't play at Gonzaga until 6:30 tonight. Word on the street is I don't have a spot in the press box, so the possibility exists that I may have to spend four hours outside in 30-degree weather. Fingers crossed I get a spot in that press box! Otherwise my radio broadcast's going to be difficult to hear over the teeth chatter. I do have boots, jackets and a scarf just in case.

As I've done all year, this is where I'm writing all of the Pacific Baseball information. Definitely am enjoying this a ton!

Also, since I'll be in Stockton for at least another year (maybe longer?) it's time to start house-hunting since my lease is up in May. Craigslist here I come....

Wish me luck!