Blohowiak is back for his third season of blogging, while Porcaro gets his first go at it. Today is their seventh entry for the 2012 season.
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Baseball is such a tough game. It truly is a game of failure. I mean, a guy who fails seven out of 10 times is considered a good baseball player. No other sport is like that. The players and teams that refuse to give in to failure are the ones who are great. We’ve faced a lot of adversity so far this year and have put ourselves in a tough situation after this weekend. But, no way is this team going to back down from a challenge and give in - I can guarantee you that.
We are two weeks into conference play. There’s a lot of baseball left to be played. It’s important for us to continue to work hard and stick to the plan. It isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. The goal is to get better every day and when game time comes, it’s our job to execute plays and play harder than the other team. I think the key in sports; especially baseball because it’s so mental, is to stay positive. A lot easier said than done but it is crucial.
With that being said it’s time to start focusing on this coming up weekend. Home opener at THE HANK!!!!!!! I encourage all of you to come out and support us as we take on UIC. Big series for us and we appreciate all the support you guys give us.
It’s time for some more introductions. This week I’m going to introduce the corner infielders.
Yup, that’s sophomore third baseman Sam Koenig. The Sauk Prairie native is a big fan of Culvers as you can see. Sammy lives in the training room. I’m pretty sure he rented out a room and sleeps there overnight. He should be a certified trainer by now with how much time he spends in there. He is definitely one of the worst at "Draw Something". His drawings are on the level of 2nd-graders. Merrrr.
What up Al?! This is Alex Erdmann, a redshirt junior. Al is a third baseman and a reliever this year in the bullpen. As you can see from the picture, Al can rock pretty much anything. Is that shirt from the 1980’s? Does that shirt even come in men's? I’ve had the pleasure of rooming with Al on the road the last two weekends. He got me addicted to playing "Sporcle" on the Internet. We even created a quiz where you try to name every player on our roster.CLICK HERE and see if you can do it!
It was Al’s idea to create the quiz, he’s such a genius!
This is senior first baseman/catcher Paul Hoenecke enjoying a nice hot dog. Pauly is one-of-a-kind. He likes to be the instigator in getting guys riled up with his “You won’t, you won’t!” “Say something back, say something back” comments. Pauly is a great guy. He hits balls really far and gets good grades in the classroom. He’s always in class. It’s kind of unfortunate because he can never teach the little kids how to drop bombs on Monday and Wednesday nights. Hey Pauly can you do camp tonight? Paul responds, “Naaa, I got class.” Such a good student!
I know what you’re thinking. You think that’s MC Hammer in a UWM uniform. Nope, that’s just senior first baseman Phil Striggow. Phil doesn’t have a Facebook so this is the best photo I could find. 'Big Rig Strig' as we call him, spends a lot of time out on the farm back home on his Big Green tractor. That explains why he is “farmer strong”. Big Rig is a simple man. He enjoys hitting baseballs far, listening to country music and talking/skyping with his girlfriend on the phone. I saw him online looking at rings the other day. Wedding announcement could be coming soon!Next week I’ll move on to some of the outfielders.
I’m going to head out and let Blow take over…
Hope to see ya’ll out at the Hank this weekend!
Paco Thoughts… Brewers Baseball is less than a week away, how exciting… Noodles & Company followed by Cold Stone is a great combo… Dibble dabble is the greatest pool game ever. Shout out to our trainer Will for making the play of the year when he belly-flopped across the pool to get the straw… He definitely got robbed when he didn’t make SportCenters Top 10 plays… Tim Tebow will be the starter for the Jets by week 6… Heard it hear first!
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Hey there everybody! What an emotionally and physically draining past week. Here’s to recharging the batteries and being completely fresh for this HUGE series versus UIC at home. This upcoming series is actually the one I circled at the unveiling of our schedule. They are our bitter rivals and we are extremely amped up for the weekend. I’d expect to see a renewed focus and competitiveness against them, as most rivals will bring that out. It's going to be a fierce series and I hope you all take time out of your busy schedules and make your way to “The Hank” to take in a game or three.
“Adversity has ever been considered the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself.” - Samuel Johnson
That quote above carries weight in each and every one of us. This quote is especially true when it comes to the game we play. We always talk about adversity and overcoming it and how that overcoming adversity is one of our teams strengths. Adversity brings out character and I think that our teams character is something you can be proud of thus far. Playing a ton of games on the road to start the year, battling bus rides and long travel days, and not necessarily playing the best of late are all examples of some adversity we’re facing.
Nonetheless, our team has found a way to stay together and believe it or not, get closer as a team along the way. Our character is something that we pride ourselves on, how we handle ourselves and treat one another. Strong character will breed success and overcoming adversity breeds character. I am proud of the team thus far as we continue to pull for one another and grind day-in and day-out to put forth our best performance on the field. Thanks for supporting us thus far and we look forward to seeing all your bright faces as the season progresses.
This past week or so has taught us alot about ourselves and we have taken note, all we can do is do that and move forward. There is no use in carrying that baggage forward and as far as I’m concerned, this Friday is the start to a new season, one pitch at a time.
All seriousness aside, here we go with some more introductions. This week I’ll focus on two more of the relievers, redshirt junior Jake Long and sophomore Gunnar Eastman.
It's pretty hard to find a picture that completely exemplifies someones personality such as Jake's, but this picture does it very well. Jake loves to have fun, no matter what. He will always be the first one down by the pool on roadtrips to play dibble-dabble (best pool game ever invented) or he’ll be on the bus having his fun with his crush Alex Erdmann. Jake is probably the biggest gamer (video games) on our team, and with that being said, he is probably the best at those games. Just ask Jimmy or Spurley about his NHL game and they’ll tell you. He is a redshirt junior who has had terrible luck when it comes to injury. He is the ultimate teammate who just shows up and gets his work done, such a great mentality especially considering his injury history. He is the younger brother of Ben Long, an alumni of Panther Baseball, and they both share the same fun-loving, hard-working mentality.
I still don’t know where he stands though with me, because he told me freshmen year that he hated me following a heated game of 'Call of Duty', but I guess that speaks to his competitiveness. Just a warning though, if you are down by the pool with him, or just at practice or on the bus, you always have to watch your back as you can surely expect a gentle push, poke, tickle (in Erdmann's case) or punch.
Gunnar “Gunshow” Eastman, as shown on the right in the picture, is a true hick at heart. Coming from the tough streets of Green Bay (920 represent), he had to find a way to differentiate himself, and I think dressing like this regularly helped shed his “ghetto, thug” reputation, although he would still list either Lil Wayne or Eminem as his favorite artists. Gunnar is a unique cut, as he was completely silent his freshmen year. It was a miracle if you got him to speak up about anything and coming into this year our whole team was hit with a wall of Gunnar. He is one of the more outspoken members of the team and on a regular basis you can bet you’ll hear his “oohhhhh duuddeeee, sweetttt duuuddeeee” sarcastic rhetoric. He is apart of the Cramer house (not the famous Mustard House) with the dude on his left and Cale Tassi. On his free nights he likes to cuddle up in his bed and watch a good chick flick with his best friend Josh Uhen. He is a third-tier grill master but is a first-tier consumer of food. His favorite, and I mean FAVORITE, meal to make is Hormel chili with cream cheese in a casserole. He is a man with a mystery and we are all trying to discover this mystery.
I told you he was a thug. Unbelievable Gunnar.
I don’t have much time for thoughts so I just have two.....Soap Operas are something my parents pride themselves on..their trivia savvy for them is unreal....Dibble Dabble...clear drinking straw...cut it in three equal pieces...throw one of the pieces in the pool...try to find it...good luck.. Hi Cale hahaha
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