Spring football is in full swing and our team is looking great! The defense is adjusting nicely to a new scheme, the offense is perfecting and building on what they already have in place and new faces are starting to make themselves known. Personally, after surgery and learning a new position, my efforts have been geared towards learning the offense and understanding what coverage the defense is giving us. I have finally been cleared to catch and I owe that to our physical therapist, Brant, who has worked with me ever since my surgery. Anyways, the Africa trip is coming like a freight train and players are doing everything we can to prepare properly. Although it is not very fashionable, we have been wearing hiking boots all around campus in order to break in our hiking boots. This is actually a great strategy because our campus is not big enough to drive everywhere so we do a lot of walking. We are all also still gathering gear for the trip. You don't realize how much equipment you need until you actually sit down and make a list of it all for every possible situation. We need warm weather gear, cold weather gear and rain gear. What other trip would you need sun screen, a hat for shade and a 0 degree sleeping bag and two pairs of gloves? This is going to be an amazing opportunity. Something we haven't really addressed or maybe thought about very much that we will be meeting the team from Mexico that we just played days before when we reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Anyways, we will continue to prepare for this trip but will stay focused on spring ball and not lose sight of our main goal which is another Pioneer Football League Championship! Thanks for reading again and as always, GO BULLDOGS!
Jim Nelson, #13
Jim Nelson
Drake University
Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management
Drake Football
Pi Kappa Alpha
To say that the first week of spring football has been crazy for me would be putting it rather mildly. I have made the move from defensive tackle to linebacker and it has been quite the adventure: with a new coach, a new system, and a whole lot of new things to screw up. Showing up to the first spring practice on Wednesday I fully expected to be lining up in the same place I had been for the past 3 years and run the few plays I had learned in the new system against the same offensive line I had played scout team for in the previous season. But 20 minutes before practice started I became a linebacker. And I went out to the first practice with nothing but enthusiasm, with my head spinning with words I had never heard, trying to piece together anything I could to make sense of 20 minutes worth of learning. Today, a week superseded from the shift and I am not sure if everything is going smoothly but I am making progress. It helps to have the experience and leadership of the people in my position group, although we are a very young linebacking core. But I cannot say that I have enjoyed my springballs up to this point more, I just can’t wait till I can get past the mental spin and move into the “just play it” mode but I can feel that it is only right around the corner for all of us. As the group learns a little more each day we get further and further up our metaphorical mountain that we have pinned to our bulliten board in the locker room. Each step we take, each meeting we have is inching up closer and closer to the summit-that is all of our dreams, and vision for this team. We set our sights and goals high and the excitement in this group of young men is building into something special and the momentum is carrying us right through to and past the point where are legs feel heavy and hurt. When the weather is biting and fierce. This moved us into the classroom for our all football team class on leadership and emotional intelligence. Where we were given a photographic tour of our mountain, and discussed how we are going to develop and change to become the best group of leaders and the best team we can be by what we have set our goals on this trip and season. We are flying through this semester and our trip, that at one time felt so distant is now only a couple short months away.
Eugene “EJ” Walter 97
Spring ball has started off well with high intensity and lots of learning. This will be my last spring ball experience as a player, so I'm not going to let practices slip away and am going to enjoy the moment. The defense has been learning a new defense, and is picking it up quickly. It is always a challenge to learn a new system, and the defensive upperclass men have done well leading the under class men. The offense is trying to perfect our system, and the freshmen our improving everyday. The atmosphere has been upbeat. Last Sunday we were fortunate to have Dr.Clubb come talk to all the players. He talked about his climbing experience on Mt. Kilimanjaro, and provided us with a lot of information. It was good to hear from someone about climbing gear, climbing experience, and how your body feels. I'm getting so excited for our trip to Africa, and am so blessed to be able to go on this trip. I think this will be a life changing experience.
Thanks for reading
Pat Cashmore #30
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