North Carolina State University Athletics
Annabelle Vaughan's Gator Bowl Diary: Day Two
12/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 27, 2002
By Annabelle Vaughan
Today has been a busy day for the Wolfpack so far. Wake up calls for the players came at 7:00 a.m. (the coaches are up much earlier than that - I heard them ask for their breakfast to be delivered to their meeting room at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow!). After meetings and taping, the team headed back to Jacksonville University for a spirited two-hour practice. It was in the 30's when we got there, but with the bright sunshine, it was closer to 60 degrees when we left.
There was some good hitting going on today. During tackling drills, when the linebackers go against the tight ends and running backs, the linebackers decided to try to score and let the offensive guys stop them. Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay and Manny Lawson both crossed the goalline and received some enthusiastic applause from their teammates. Even though practice was tough, the guys seemed to be in high spirits. Greg Golden and Marcus Hudson (if you see one of those guys, you can bet the other is close nearby) were both picking on Coach Amato during a break. Coach always has the last laugh, though, because he can blow his whistle and make them go back to work! The new guys with us (Garland Heath, LaMart Barrette, Yomi Ojo, Mario Williams and Ernest Jones) aren't doing a lot of work right now, but they're getting used to the pace and rhythm of practice. It's pretty amazing to go from high school to a bowl trip in a week's time like Yomi, Mario and Ernest have done.
After practice, the guys had about 20 minutes to change and leave for the FCA luncheon at the fairgrounds. The speaker at the luncheon was Captain Jeff Streucker, who helped lead rescue attempts to retrieve crew members shot down in Somalia. He spoke about his faith in God and challenged those in attendance to give their lives to Christ. After he spoke, our own J.J. Washington, who has been called to the ministry, got up and gave a word of testimony. J.J.'s teammates gave him a standing ovation after he shared how God has changed his life.
The seniors left the luncheon and went to Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, where they visited different children who have different ailments. The group I went with made the rounds with some of Notre Dame's players. It was great to see the players from both teams trying to make these young folks days a little brighter. Shawn Price led the way into every room and was usually the last one to leave. Dantonio Burnette might be a tough guy on the field, but gentle enough for a darling little blue-eyed girl to go straight into his arms. Bryan Peterson, who is celebrating his 22nd birthday today, videotaped the whole visit.
The seniors weren't too excited about coming back to the hotel (evidently the meetings had already started without them and they were hoping to miss as much as possible). When we were headed over the river, they were about to raise the drawbridge. But our police escort raced ahead and got us through, much to the disappointment of those guys, who wanted the trip to last as long as possible!
