Spring is Near....

So good ol' Phil missed his shadow the other day in Gobbler's Knob of Punxsutawney, PA signaling that spring will come early...obviously good ol' Phil hasn't ventured to Philly at all lately! Come on bro, there is snow as high as an elephant's eye around here...and it's frozen...and full of smog (nice dirty frozen snow, the kind you would never want to make snow angels in...).

It makes for an interesting parking adventure as well. Apparently, I am learning that Philly parking in the winter is reminiscent of the California Gold Rush of 1849...back then "prospectors" used simple techniques such as panning to retrieve gold from the streams and river beds...here in Philly, "prospectors" use simple techniques of shoveling and plowing to retrieve their cars from the banks of snow; however they then add the sophisticated technique of "snow-coning" where a traffic cone is then placed in that spot claiming it as their own for the remainder of the snowy season (in most cases a cone is not handy, so a kitchen or dining room table chair is used..."sorry little Timmy, you can eat on the floor, Mommy needs her parking spot").

With the winter days we have had lately, it has been interesting in terms of what we needed to do in order to find ways to get our 8 hours in each week. Per the NCAA, we are allowed to participate in eight hours of activity per week during this segment of our season, but only two of those hours can actually be skill-related ball work activity. So we break it up with two, 1 hour sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights (outdoors so we can be exposed to the elements...I love that!), and spend the other six hours with lifting and doing soccer-related fitness. We have spent time on Vidas as well as indoors at the Armory, but the best moment had to be last week when the boys arrived at 6:30 am for our 7:00 am soccer fitness session.

Much to their amazement, there was a fresh inch or two on the ground and more falling. They sat in the locker room thriving with excitement...(cricket, cricket)... when assistant coach, Cory Robertson walked in with orders from the boss-man (that's me) to start shoveling paths around the outside of the field for our morning fitness. It was awesome and to the guys' credit, they fought through the tough conditions (with minor grumblings) and got it done. You need to check the video out (low level production I know, but it's my first go...quality will improve, I promise!), click the link on the side of the blog.

We could have easily given them the morning off, but mentality is not developed that way. It is a process of developing the mettle that we need to finish well and dealing with the elements is certainly a step in that process. So just like the US Postal Service, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these Dragons...."

Hope you are well and can make it back for the Alumni Soccer Gathering next weekend, February 12 @ 3:00 pm. We will have food and drinks in the Dragon Room of the D.A.C. followed by the men's basketball against William & Mary @ 4:00 pm. If interested, please drop me a line at dfh25@drexel.edu. Have a great week and stay in touch!

Regards,
Doug