Before I get to this week's topic, I have to take a second to brag about my hometown sports teams. There is no doubt that April is an incredible time for everyone who loves sports, with the Stanley Cup playoffs, the beginning of the MLB season, the NBA playoffs and the NFL Draft on the horizon. That said, it's an especially sweet time to be a Los Angeles sports fan.
The Kings are leading the number-one seeded Vancouver Canucks three games to none in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Dodgers opened the 2012 season an MLB-best record of 9-1 and the Lakers and Clippers are getting hot at the right time both have recent win streaks (four games for the Lakers and three for the Clippers).
So when my coaches asked me, "Where would I rather be?" last Friday night as I plowed my face into the turf in the midst of a set of up-downs, I thought to myself, "Murphy's, drinking a beer and watching the Kings, Dodgers and Lakers taking care of business." Smartly, I kept this desire to myself. For some reason, the Dartmouth football coaching staff prefers the response of, "Nowhere!" Weird, right?
Even though my last Friday night wasn't quite like Katy Perry's, it did signify something equally as crazy: the realization that this is my last spring football season. Yes, spring ball "officially" started on Tuesday, but it really begins to sink in when the team is grinding away on the weekends. I will never forget the response I overheard last year from a former teammate of mine, Eddie Smith '12, when a friend in line at the Hop asked him why we have practices on Saturdays when the season is so far away. Without hesitation, Eddie emphatically stated, "It's spring ball!"
Due to the D-Plan, upperclassmen are given the unique opportunity during Winter term to take some time away from the football program. We usually take that time to study abroad or seek out an internship. While it's nice to escape those notorious Hanover winters, especially for those of us originally from warmer climates, it also means the team is not all together.
As a result, Dartmouth is, without question, a step behind the rest of the Ivy League when the football team returns to campus as a whole for Spring term not in terms of athleticism, speed or strength, but rather in team cohesion, identity and togetherness. It is this void that makes spring ball for the Big Green that much more important. It is a time where we have to re-acclimate ourselves to the program, our teammates and the coaching staff.
And nothing defines re-acclimation quite like mat drills the prelude to spring ball, or as I like to call it, football purgatory. Basically, mat drills are non-stop agility drills with cones, tires and ropes where only the mentally strong survive. A lot of football experts equate mat drills to the toughest physical test a player will endure all season, but I like to think mat drills represent the biggest mental test a team will go through all season. Supposedly, the drills are designed for a player to want to give in, raise the white flag and then chuck up the deuce, meaning, "Hey coach, I'm out of here." But in practice, mat drills show you how tough a player really is. They show that player that he can push himself past his perceived limits and, most importantly, they build team chemistry and camaraderie.
The true beauty of spring ball lies in the notion of a rebirth for the team: a fresh start. It's a time when last year's season is relegated to the history books and the excitement of looking forward to a new season takes over. Every team thinks that it is their year that the only possible outcome is an Ivy League title. Every player thinks that this is his year, no matter how low he is on the depth chart. And with the seniors gone, there is a void in which new leaders can and must emerge.
With all the exciting things that are happening in the world of sports, I feel the unique joy of spring ball is lost on many players. So I am using this platform to remind you that Bobby Petrino's motorcycle mischief at the University of Arkansas is not the only thing that is currently happening in college football.
This is that rare time in Hanover where the weather is starting to heat up, and it becomes virtually impossible to withstand the heat in your dorm room. Actually, that would make for a good mat drill station. But with abundant sunshine, there's no reason not to get on the Green and toss the old pigskin around with your friends, because football is definitely back. It's time to get into the 12S mindset, and to steal a question from my coaches playbook: "Where would you rather be?"
