North Carolina State University Athletics
WOLFPACK CONTINUES BOWL WORKOUTS
12/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 28, 2005
Wakeup call was a little later this morning, which pleased the Wolfpack players greatly after they have had later curfews for the past two nights. The team got up, dressed for breakfast and then went into segment meetings. A couple of the guys looked like they were dragging a little bit - John Bedics and Kalani Heppe have both been celebrating birthdays, and it looked like the offensive and defense linemen might have helped a little bit!
Coach Amato and six of the players took a break before practice for a visit to Levine Childen's Hospital. Fred Span, Jay Davis, Tramain Hall, Brian Clark, Chris Young and John Deraney loaded into a minibus to head to the hospital, carrying their helmets and pads for practice immediately after. On the way to the hospital, we pulled into another hotel to pick up the South Florida players as well. It was a tight squeeze, but a reunion for Jay Davis and Brian Clark, who seemed to know all of the Bulls' players. Coach Amato told the USF guys that he really thought they should get out and have fun today and not to worry too much about practice.
The hospital visit was very special. A "Wolfpack Room" was set up and the nurses brought in several children to visit with the players and take photos. The players made sure that no kid left without being able to do the "Wolfpack sign" with their hands, even two little boys who could barely talk yet! The players also went to the Pedriatric Intensive Care area to visit one little boy who couldn't get up, but specifically requested the NC State players. One of the kids who came to the Wolfpack room announced that a South Florida player had just promised that he would get four sacks on Saturday. Brian Clark relayed that to the team when they arrived back at practice.
The rest of the team dreaded the arrival of their teammates at practice, since practice seems to move up several notches in intensity when Coach Amato comes on the field. The team ended up doing special teams work after practice (since the placekicker/punter was at the hospital, it didn't make much sense to do it without him). Practice ended with one-minute drill and Tramain Hall scoring on a big throw from Marcus Stone.
The afternoon was off before more meetings at 6:00 p.m. and then the team will go to the Bobcats game at the new arena. Four players, Sterling Hicks, John Ritcher, John McKeon and Renaldo Moses, will represent the team at a reception for the bowl sponsors tonight.
Tomorrow, the team takes a visit to Lowe's Motor Speedway and every player that wants to will be able to take a trip around the track in a race car. Some are looking forward to that and others ... well, we'll see!
