Duck Softball Diary - Joanna Gail
February 27, 2008
Hi everyone!
They call them 'growing pains' for a reason.
Certainly, they hurt during the experience. But isn't it true that the pain of growth is unlike any other? It's a gamble, a risk. It means putting yourself and your pride on the line to test your limits. It's fighting to see how much more you can take, how much longer you can push yourself, how much better you can become.
But growth is also the most rewarding pain. It's the pain that subsides but never quite disappears. It's the residual ache left to remind you of where you are, and more importantly, of how far you've come.
Our two losses this weekend to #8 Baylor and #2 Northwestern were painful. Really, any loss is painful. But, we grew. We endured the painful those innings to ensure powerful growth spurts in victories over #6 Oklahoma and a 10-0, 5-inning, run-rule of Pacific.
In retrospect, we've come a long way in only 3 weekends of play. In our first outing in Palm Springs, we went 2-3. Last weekend in Vegas, we went 3-2. This weekend, we returned to Palm Springs and improved our showing to 4-2 against the top competition in the nation.
In order to keep moving forward, we need to ask ourselves:
- Have we faced our toughest challenges yet? Hardly.
- Could we make more mistakes and suffer more painful growth? Definitely.
- Will we face more adversity this year? Absolutely.
But the only question that truly matters is:
Will we be better equipped to handle that adversity because of the growth we've already endured?
And to that I say, without a doubt.
February 21, 2008
Hey everyone!
In a tremendous team effort, we evened up our record at .500 this past weekend in Las Vegas.
After an explosive start against Northwestern State, we stumbled against Kansas. In the first game of our doubleheader on Saturday, we suffered a particularly demoralizing loss to Bradley. In a post-game team meeting, we expressed our frustration with our performance and our hope for a better effort.
We needed to find some answers, and fast. More importantly, we needed action. The second game of our double-header loomed and our opponent was a familiar foe; the talented University of South Carolina Gamecocks. This was the very same South Carolina team that broke the heart of the 2007 Super-Regional hopeful Oregon Ducks.
I remember looking across the field, just before the game, and thinking, "This is a crucial game... This must be a turning point for us." I allowed myself to reopen the wound from the very last day of my junior season and to recall the pain of a season cut short. I needed to summon the bitter taste of defeat in order to fuel myself and push forward for our next game.
My teammates must have done the same.
In one of the best games I've seen my team play since I've been at Oregon, we triumphed over the Gamecocks, 3-0. We came out aggressive and confident, playing fearlessly. I'm proud of my team, not only for winning the most important game of our early season, but for rising to the challenge, for overcoming their personal struggles and coming together as one cohesive unit.
More than anything, we proved that we have it. We established we can play with any team.
That foundation will serve as a building block of confidence in our tests to come. I can't wait to see what else is in store.
February 13, 2008
Unfortunately, the Ducks didn’t get out to the start we were looking for last week.
Fortunately, the Women’s College World Series isn’t played in February. There’s a reason softball seasons run a span of 60 games. The 2008 season is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.
As a team, we adjusted to a dramatically different climate, unusual field conditions and our share of bad breaks from the officiating. The list of excuses is potentially endless. Truthfully though, every team competing in Palm Springs this weekend had to face the same challenges.
Our strength coach always says, “Talk is cheap.”
In our opening tournament, we identified exactly what we need to work on. What more could a growing team ask for? To expect perfection in our first games would be unrealistic.
Despite what the final results display, there were countless positives across the board. We laid down bunts, we stole bases, we hit homeruns, we made diving stops and struck out batters in late-inning jams. We only showed a mere fraction of our potential and we still won games this weekend.
What does that mean?
We have room to grow.
The teams that have battled and overcome the most adversity are teams that grow the most from February to June.
It looks like we’re off to a good start after all.
February 3rd, 2008
Hi everyone!
This will be the first blog in a series I'll be writing from the road for the 2008 season.
Entering this season; my last as a Duck, I'm struck with a completely foreign feeling. Urgency. No matter what others may say, the urgency of senior year is very real. The realization that this will be my last year to train, my last year to compete, and my last year to seize an opportunity to succeed at the highest level is a bittersweet understanding.
In my experience, I've seen the course of urgency run two basic paths. In the first, urgency slowly dawns on the athlete like a disease, paralyzing them, panicking them, disabling them, and resulting in a mediocre final year of performance. In the second, urgency shocks the athlete into action, spurs their desire, igniting a fire that burns hotter and brighter than ever before, resulting in an unforgettable conclusion.
I am the second athlete.
Like any senior, I want to leave my own mark on the University of Oregon softball program. Like any senior, I want to go out on top and leave nothing to be desired from my final year. But nothing that I do as an individual is worth anything unless my team is there to share it with me, to pick me up when I fail, to come through in the clutch when I possibly cannot. Is there any greater feeling than winning a game for your team? Seeing a teammate succeed in ways they never imagined possible, seeing their hard work pay off, coming together and realizing accomplishments. It's the absolute heart of all athletic competition.
I shared a video with my teammates earlier this year entitled, " The Extra Degree."
The opening lines states, "At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. One extra degree... Makes all the difference."
It's such a simple message that one degree or one inch can be the difference between a fair ball and a foul one, a single or a ground out, a homerun or a miraculous catch; a winning run or the final out. Such a simple message that resonates with powerful meaning.
One of the last frames in this movie flashes,"To get what we've never had, we must do, what we've never done."
My goal for this season is to create contagious urgency. I want every member of team to feel the fire burning inside. I will not accept contentment at 211 degrees.
For the 2008 Oregon Ducks to achieve what we've never achieved, there's only one option: It's time to turn up the heat.
