Sleep, Practice, Class, Work, Class Practice, Library, Sleep...

The past few weeks I have been extremely busy with class projects and midterms. The quarter is in full swing. Since the last post, we traveled down to Claremont and played at the Claremont Convergence. We played Whittier, Pomona, Brown, and Cal Lutheran. We went 4-0 this weekend, which is always great, but it was awesome to play another east coast team and show that we are a better team now than when we came out to Princeton. Josh Early received WWPA player of the week for his great games down in LA, so congratulations. The next weekend we had a home game against Santa Cruz. I say this all the time but I really think we have the best home crowd in all of college water polo. We packed the house again, and we came out to play. Andrew Fitch had a great all around game, netting 4 goals.

After a week full of test and group meetings for projects, we had our Alumni Game. There was a lot of talking going on the weeks leading up to the game from recent alumni about how they were going to come out and beat us. Well that didn't happen. From the first whistle we were not about to allow our friends and teammates who had graduated in beating us. It was a really fun game and I am glad the Alumni Game is becoming such a important game. The support from the alumni has really helped our program in becoming a better team. After the game, we all enjoyed a great BBQ and were able to reconnect with friends who had graduated.

Next week we will be traveling down to LMU and playing them on Friday. We will have games on Saturday in Orange against Chapman and Concordia, then capping the weekend on Sunday against #2 Cal in Berkeley.

Until next time,

Mike

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So close.

After playing such a great game as a team it was hard to say that the lost was disappointing. We know that we can play with and give the #1 team in our conference a run for their money. In front of 300 Davis fans, we were able to beat them throughout the game until they had a late surge and we were not able to stop them. Everyone played so well so it was hard to be mad, but at the same time, it is great being able to be a spoiler.

On Sunday we played UCLA, who we had already faced this year at NorCals, and Fresno Pacific. We played UCLA a lot better than we did before. It is really awesome being able to track progress by being able to play teams you already have this season. We were able jump on Fresno Pacific and get some valuable playing time for the younger guys, some of them scoring their first collegiate goals.

The team has heard rumors of a new pool since the beginning of season but we were not supposed to talk about it. Well if the University made it public so can I. The Sullivan's donated money to help the school build a new pool, which is one of the things that our program has needed to make this team competitive with anyone in the nation. This will be a great not just for the polo teams but also for the university as a whole. I life guarded at the Malley Pool my freshman and sophomore years at the school and know that the demand for the pool has simply outgrown its size. Having a 30+ meter polo on campus means we will not have to travel to a local high school to practice 30 meters and we can host 30 meter games. So on behalf of the polo teams, and the University as a whole, thank you so much for your gracious donation and the new pool will serve the Santa Clara community for many years to come.

Until next time,

Mike

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School Week #2

Classes are in full swing... reading and homework is a daily occurrence. One nice thing about quarter system is that if you don't like a class it is over fast. One bad thing is that I have midterms starting next week. Last week we had a Fordham game where I guess that we had around 250 fans. The atmosphere was awesome and we gave them an exciting game to watch. In our pool, since it is only 25 yards, it is a game that does not lack offense. We had 3 players, Josh Early, Liam Farrell, and Tommy Hendrickson, all with 4 goals. The feeling in the air was just electrifying and it was great to come up on top.

This past weekend we had Slugfest. The first game of the tournament was against Redlands, a game that we needed to win for conference. We came out firing and played probably our best game, since I have been on the team, against Redlands. We ended up going 4-0 last weekend and really help boost our moral. Besides practice and class we have Davis at Davis on Saturday and UCLA and Fresno Pacific at Santa Cruz on Sunday. It will be great to have another chance at Davis.

On another note, Tommy Hendrickson was WWPA player of the week, so congratulations on a great week!

Until next time,

Mike

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School Starts

And just like that, we are back in school. After a summer wishing we had classes instead of work, the cycle of practice, class, eating, class, practice, homework and sleep has started up again. It is almost comforting having a `normal' schedule but there are many times walking back from morning weights seeing students walk to class where we ask ourselves what we would do if we didn't have polo. Almost all of us were scared of the thought of just being just a student.

Last weekend we had NorCals, where the best teams in the county come to play. We played #3 UCLA and although playing pretty well (besides giving them a 3-0 lead in the first quarter). Next up was Davis. We put up a good fight and it was a back and forth game where we ended up losing by two. It was a tough loss but it was nice knowing we could play with the leader in WWPAs this year. On Sunday, we played Air Force and Santa Cruz. Lets not talk about the Air Force game. Needless to say we came fired up to play Santa Cruz after our poor effort we gave Air Force. We came out of the weekend 1-3 which was tough knowing we could have played better. We are all looking forward to our first home game Thursday against Fordham. We are expecting a great crowd and cannot wait. Well off to get some homework done.

Until next time,

Mike

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Jersey

Our trip out to the East Coast was relatively smooth with one lay over in Denver before we arrived in Philadelphia. We get cars to drive for the week and start heading towards Princeton, NJ. After arriving into the hotel we head to Princeton University to get a quick practice in and get used to playing indoors. Princeton's pool is very nice and you did not get the typically humidity and smell of the chlorine that usually comes with indoors pool. We head into downtown Princeton and get to explore the town. The first stop we make is at Hoagie Haven, which our coach could not stop talking about before our trip. To give you some examples from their specials "Fat Lady" (A philly with mozzarella sticks and something else), "Heart Stop" (A philly with bacon and eggs) and the "Sanchez" (chicken, mozzarella sticks, fries and for only 5 cents you could get it extra `dirty'). A few guys got the Heart Stop but no one was daring enough to try the Fat Lady or the Sanchez.

We had 5 games that weekend and played progressively better throughout the weekend. We had 2 tough losses to George Washington in overtime and a close game with Princeton when we lost in the 4th quarter. After our last game on Sunday, we had the night free since we did not travel until Monday afternoon. Some of the younger guys walked around the town of Princeton, but Luke Oda, Matt Martin, Charlie Moore and I made up our minds to go find a White Castle. We had a GPS unit and I do not think we would have made it without it. It was definitely worth the drive to say I had been to White Castle but I do not think I would drive 30 minutes through a bad part of Jersey again to eat a very, very dirty meal. Well upcoming this week we have NorCals and then school starts.

Until next time,

Mike

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Thursday, August 30th, 2007

Hello fans, I hope you are looking forward to our upcoming season as much as the team! I am entering my 4th season as a Bronco but I red shirted my freshmen year so I still have one more year of eligibility after this season. I look forward in trying to give you a closer look at Bronco Water Polo and a little insight into my life.

Most of our returning team was up here over summer practicing and playing on club teams and I think there was lots of improvement during this time. Since early August we have been in preseason. It seems like forever that we have been practicing, but the truth is it has only been 13 days. Up to this point has been mostly conditioning and trying to learn the best way for each freshman to contribute his most this season. With daily trips to the training room to see if our aches and pains are more serious than we think or just to ice after practice, our season has started off considerable well.

We have 9 new freshmen as we enter the 2007 season and with some of the returning players injured, some will have to step up and take on a larger role to help out the team. Although we do not start school for another 2 weeks our games starts in a little over a week. One of my teammates mom said that we were ranked 16th preseason, right where we finished off last year. This is motivation for me. I think that we have the talent and drive to improve on our successes last year and finish higher our preseason ranking.

Everyone is looking forward to our trip to Princeton and hoping to make up for our trip to the east coast in 2006. Coach Wilbur also must be looking forward to making a visiting his Alma Mater. I am looking forward for him to show us some good eating spots, he has already hyped up "Hoagie Haven" so I hope it doesn't disappoint. This upcoming weekend we have some scrimmages so that will be a good test to see how we are doing before our trip back East. That's it for now, its time to catch a nap before our next practice.

-Mike

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