North Carolina State University Athletics
Spring break fun (3/11/09)
3/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
Editor's note: Drew Martin is a senior third baseman for the Wolfpack baseball team.
When my final season as an NC State baseball player began, I knew one thing was for sure: Opening weekend would be cold.
What do you expect for the first week of February? Sure enough, we had frigid weather for the Summit Hospitality Invitational Tournament. Luckily, I had been through it before, so I knew how to prepare.
Playing in cold weather, in my opinion, is all mental. If you let your mind believe that you are cold then you’re going to be cold. No one likes hitting in cold weather but if you let it affect your concentration in the batter’s box then you will not be successful.
When it is really cold like it was on the final day of the tournament against the Santa Clara University some guys like to carry hand warmers in their back pockets just to have something warm to touch so they can keep feeling in their fingers.
But there’s a big problem with hand warmers that I know from personal experience when they burst open, it is not a good feeling having the hot powder burning your backside when you are standing on the field.
This has been an interesting year so far for me. I am juggling class, an internship in the NC State marketing department and baseball all at once. It gets to be difficult in the spring, because of all the games we play. All I need for my degree in Sports Management is the internship, which is not exactly easy since I have to complete 400 hours of work this semester. I have been fortunate to be able to work under Associate Athletic Director Dick Christy, who is in charge of external relations.
I also am enrolled in two classes this semester. One of them is step aerobics. I know what everyone is thinking right now, but let me tell everyone out there that this is one hour of intense physical training. I am also the only male in the class and trying to keep up with all the females in the class is pretty close to impossible. Going into the class I thought I was going to be fine because I was an athlete, but, boy was I wrong. After the first three weeks I was not feeling very good about my athleticism. The other class I am taking this semester is PRT 486 Senior Seminar. This class is very challenging too but not in the same way as step aerobics, it’s a little more challenging in the mental category rather than the physical category.
A normal week for me, if all five games are at home, goes something like this:
- Monday, is usually our NCAA-mandated day off. I concentrate on my internship from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Mondays. After my internship I go workout because Monday is an optional lift day for the team and depending on how my body feels I normally go to the baseball field and get some work done either offensively or defensively.
- Tuesday, I go to my internship from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and have class from 10:15 a.m. until 1 p.m. After class, if we have a 3 p.m. game, I go straight to the field. If it is a 6:30 p.m. game, I will go home maybe to grab a quick nap, then return to the field by 3 for our pre-game meal.
- Wednesday and Friday I have my internship from 8 a.m. till whenever I have to be at the field for practice, lifting or work-outs.
- Thursday is pretty much the same as Tuesday except for, instead of a game we have a light practice preparing for the weekend series.
- Saturday and Sunday are the fun part of the week, because all I have to worry about is playing baseball. No school, no internship. Just baseball.
- Sunday night, I try and get my school work that is due for the next week completed.
Things are different when we are traveling because we travel on Thursdays for our road trips. Getting school work done on the road is extremely difficult for me, because I like to focus on baseball and not school work. But my teammates and I all have to just make ourselves do the work whenever we are not playing.
I like to get the work done before we leave on Thursday afternoons, but that’s not always possible. The great thing is that the older you get, the fewer classes you have, and the easier it is to manage your semester. (Fortunately, I don’t have to worry too much about step aerobics homework over the weekend.)
I know the younger guys have more classes that involve more effort and time so they do not fall behind in class. It’s also easier, as you get older to find a way to handle your time more efficiently.
If all my schoolwork is done, road trips can be a lot of fun. We play cards, find a nearby mall to walk around and generally just hang out. Usually, there is a lot of free time to relax, which is something all college students enjoy.
When I have spare time on the road, I usually use it to catch up on my sleep. There is nothing better than a hotel with a good bed; I look forward to seeing how nice the bed is when I get to whatever destination we are at that certain weekend. Fortunately, the bed in Miami was pretty good, not the best I have experienced in my four years of road trips but nothing to complain about at all. I am very thankful that the bed was nice in Miami because we were there from Tuesday through Sunday and as most of you know nothing is worse then an uncomfortable hotel bed, especially when you are sleeping in it for almost a full week.
The week in Miami was a good time for us; this was the first spring break I have not been in Raleigh playing baseball. For the past three years we have had home games the week of spring break but this year we got to travel to Miami, which was a nice change of scenery. Most would think being in Miami for spring break would be a little crazy with all the students in town for spring break. That’s not really the case for us when we were there, it was more of just a week to play baseball and not have to worry about class for us.
When we are on the road it is all business for us, we enjoy getting away sometimes but we also know that we have to handle it like professionals because the only reason we are there is to win baseball games. I really enjoy being on the road because it is a time to bond with my teammates and just goof around in our rooms when we are just relaxing.
Pretty much every road trip we go on someone always does something ridiculous and I would have to say that Russell Wilson won the contest this week in Miami. Pat Ferguson and I had purchased mini water guns for the bus just in case someone decided to mess with us while we were sleeping. That was just a side note for why we had a water gun in our room. Anyways, Mr. Wilson decided that it would be funny to mess around and try to squirt me with my own water gun while we were just hanging out in my room. Russell takes the water gun, pumps it up as much as it would go. He proceeds to threaten me and then fires... the only problem is he was holding the water gun the wrong way, which in return sprayed him right in the chest. Needless to say Pat Ferguson and I were in tears because we were laughing so hard. I have never seen such a smart kid do something so dumb. That’s my most ridiculous story for the Miami trip and I will keep informed with whatever happens during the year.
Hopefully, this blog gives readers a glimpse inside the life of a college baseball player. I look forward to writing it throughout the season, all the way through the College World Series. See you at Doak Field at Dail Park.
DM#7
