"Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball."         - Phil Jackson

      The leaves are falling, the days are getting shorter, and the smell of basketball is in the air.  I’m not sure what basketball smells like, and no, I don’t mean the smell of Potlatch.  It has been business as usual in the Warrior den, preparing for a long winter.  We’ve been up to no good I tell you, well at least our opponent will believe we have been up to no good.  Usually, this upcoming weekend is the season opener, but this year we just want our fans to be so full of anticipation for our first game, that they will show up in full body paint with more enthusiasm than Jade in junior high at an N’Sync concert.  But seriously, we are ready to get things started! 

      I know that it has been such a dreadfully long time since my last entry, and I apologize sincerely.  I’m a writer, or at least I strive to be a somewhat decent writer, and therefore I can never make up my mind.  This is my fourth time writing this entry.  Most would think this journal business would be an easy task.  But don’t fool yourselves, it is daunting and so painful, I don’t even know how to put it into words.  Ok, so it’s not that terrible, but I never knew how hard it could be to write about yourself and the events of your own life.  Try it sometime, you might be surprised.  

      Anyway, enough babbling, down to serious business.  My last entry ended with 400’s.  That was some fun stuff, let me tell you!  There’s something else you might want to try sometime.  Maybe the most exciting day of September was the last day we had to run those bloody things.  Coach showed us some mercy, and we only had to run five sprints on the final day.  I’m pretty sure, any onlooker probably thought that we had just won the lottery based on our facial expressions.  Yes, it was a big deal. 

      Some other fun things we have been doing include, and are not limited to: the Warrior Cook-off, the Academy Awards, pictures, practice, pictures, practice, pictures, and did I mention pictures?  We have been in high demand around the valley.  It seems that anyone with a camera wants to take a picture of our lovely team.  We have had a lot of pictures taken for different media guides, posters, and recently our player-sponsor photo reception.  Our team met up with the scholarship club to snap some photos for our “wall of fame.”  Every year each player takes pictures with their sponsors, and the photos are posted in the south mezzanine hallway, in the athletic center.  Thank you to all of those that support us, and thank you for a lovely evening.  We may not say it as much as we would like to, but we really appreciate all that you do for us. 

      Aside from basketball, eating may be the next best talent we, as a team, possess.  In recognition of that fact, we have put on a Warrior cook-off.  We have split our team into three segments.  Team 1 includes Terri, Katie, and Jade, Team 2 includes myself, Janeen, and Mandy, and Team 3 consists of Ashley, Katya, Kim, Madison, and Aundrea.  We are mostly split up by household for convenience.  The first two teams have already prepared meals.  Team 1 went with a Mexican theme, complete with piñatas and some Mexican tunes.  Team 2, my team, went with a Chinese theme featuring my mamma’s sweet & sour chicken and fortune cookies.  Team 3 has yet to perform, but once they have demonstrated their culinary abilities the judges will weigh-in, and we will find out who is the cook-off champion. 

      Another fun team activity we do every year is the Academy Awards.  We are given a list that is similar to a scavenger hunt.  Our task is to take pictures doing the things listed.  Some tasks include doing something creative with toilet paper, taking a picture with Lewis & Clark, and pretending to be something we’re not.  For instance Katie might take a picture pretending she is tall.  Again, we are split into teams and it is expected that everyone in our group appear in every picture.  We have been told that the team that wins will receive a very BIG prize.