North Carolina State University Athletics
Annabelle Vaughan's Gator Bowl Diary: Day Three
12/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 28, 2002
Today the Pack took care of business in the morning and then had some fun in the afternoon. The buses left the hotel at 8:40 for practice at Jacksonville University, where once again it was sunny but chilly. After 30 minutes of kicking, the team went through a 1-1/2 hour practice and ended with agilities. The guys are working hard, but seem to be having a good time on the practice field. You can tell that they are really excited about playing this game.
Board drills and tackling drills are lively, and the team got after each other pretty good in 11-on-11 drills today. Julius Patterson missed workouts this morning with the flu and Corrie Dawson will be back tomorrow from an ankle problem. Rod Johnson is practicing, but is mourning the death of his grandfather. Sean Berton (hand) and Sterling Hicks (ribs) are both practicing now.
After practice, Coach Amato had the team sing Happy Birthday to Doc Holliday's son Cody. The players weren't sure which of Doc's three sons it was, so they just sang "... happy birthday Doc Junior ..."
A quick shower back at the hotel and the team was back on the buses and headed to Outback Steakhouse for lunch. They shut the restaurant down for the Wolfpack group, so the entire team and staff chowed down on ribs and chicken and lots of sweet tea. There wasn't an empty seat in that whole restaurant once the Pack came in.
After that, the group went to Adventure Landing for rides and video games. Our group got there before the players from Notre Dame, which meant little standing in line. It was pretty funny watching Mario Williams trying to scrunch his long legs into a go-cart. Oliver Hoyte got in a wreck before he even got around the first turn and Austin Herbert was a demon out there, weaving in and out of traffic and moving ahead of the other carts.
The other popular activity outdoors were the batting cages. Marcus Hudson (or "Polo" as he's known to his teammates) was probably the best batter, although Tramain Hall and Terrence Holt showed some prowess as well. Greg Golden missed so many times swinging, you could probably feel the breeze back in Raleigh!
Inside, a virtual boxing game seemed to be the game of choice. Shawn Price worked up quite a sweat knocking out his opponent, while long, lanky Manny Lawson looked like a prizefighter out there. Whenever Tramain Hall knocked down his opponent on-screen, he'd throw his gloves to the floor in victory. There was also a video dancing game that T.J. Williams was determined to master, but after several tries, he still couldn't quite master the footwork. Brian Clark and Marcus Hudson tried the dance machine as well, but a young fellow with the Notre Dame contingent put them all to shame (he did admit that he'd been playing for three years!).
Little Halle Rivers watched all the excitement from the comfort of her stroller. She has been a willing participant in many of the Pack's activities this week. Athletics Director Lee Fowler also seemed to be having a good time watching his players antics.
Tomorrow, the team will go to church together in the morning and then practice in the afternoon.
Annabelle Vaughan is NC State's Assistant Director of Athletics for Media Relations
