Walking out of Bryant Denny Stadium Saturday after witnessing such an intense and invigorating football game, I was overwhelmed with this incredible sense of pride and excitment. I realized how glad and fortunate I am to call Alabama home and be at such an outstanding university that has so much support generated throughout the community. Even though we had just suffered a heartbreaking loss to LSU, I was still excited and thankful. I guess when you're slowly dragging your feet out of the stadium along with 92,138 other die-hard fans it becomes obvious that this isn't the norm. Not many people get to enjoy the unity of this eternal Alabama family. As disappointing as the loss was, every single fan knew that our football team was out there giving it 110%. Those boys were fighting their hearts out for their university, for their fans, and for their family.
This realization I came to seems so obvious, but it honestly becomes quite easy to take all these amazing opportunities and everything that seems to come with being an athlete here at Alabama for granted. And for that, I want to take the time to thank all of our fans and all of our readers across the country, and perhaps even the world. You have no idea how appreciative we are of your support and dedication to our university and Alabama Gymnastics. Without ya'll, we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are today. I know I'm a little biased, but I truly believe that our fans, the 15,000 that come to our meets in addition to the rest of our loyal supporters, are the nation's best!
I know I kind of got off on a tangent there, but I just want everyone to know how amazing it is to be part of the Alabama family. So, moving on to the past week's events...
On Monday night, all the student athletes gathered at the indoor football facility for the Halloween Extravaganza. The event provides a fun and safe entertaining evening for the kids of coaches and staff, as well as other kids from throughout the community. Each athletic team led a game of some sort and handed out candy and prizes to all the kids. Our team lucked out and was put in charge of the moon bounce. It was so much fun seeing all the kids dressed up in such adorable and creative costumes. I think our station was definitely the highlight of most kids' night. It was absolutley priceless seeing those 1000 watt smiles plastered across their faces. I'm not sure who had more fun though; the kids, or Kayla, Megan, Cassie, and I who kind of overtook the moon bounce:) Ha ha...We just couldn't resist. But the event was a success and definitely was a great start to a very busy week.
Wednesday night our team had dinner over at Terin's apartment. As a Ghosts and Goblins tradition, each year the losing team prepares dinner for the winners. So the Goblins went over early and prepared a delicious Mexican feast for the Ghosts...and the managers and student coach:) And they did not disappoint! We had tacos and all sorts of Mexican staples. We all had a great time just hanging out, of course taking pictures, and watching America's Next Top Model.
Practice this week went really well. Everybody is getting more and more consistent and confidence is building with every additional repitition. It really is remarkable how far this team has come in the past month. It's so exciting to see the progress we've made and I think everyone feels really good about where they are in the gym. Each year the coaches tell us that wherever you are in your preparation before Thanksgiving is basically where you'll start the season off at. Of course my freshman year I didn't believe them, thinking I would go home and come back even better at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, throw in two pretty slow weeks with "Dead Week" and exam week, and they were right on. There's nothing better than going into this time of year feeling prepared and right on schedule, which is about where everyone is finding themself right now.
One other highlight from the week was going to a swim meet as a team after practice on Friday. I hate to admit it, but it was the first one I'd ever been to in the past two years. It was lots of fun to go out and support them. I really admire them and respect them for what they do. I can't even imagine swimming forty laps like they do, or flipping four and a half times INWARDS and going into the water 10 meters below you HEAD FIRST. And people say what we do is crazy!
Well, after another long entry, yet again, I'm going to call it quits. I hope ya'll are getting as excited as we are about the upcoming season! The journey begins in just two months...
ROLL TIDE!!!
