Road To The Playoffs

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: March 1

Note: This journal is being written by Jim Cella, the Concordia College Sports Information Director, who has the privilege to tag along with the Cobber women's basketball team and coaching staff as they make their way to the NCAA First and Second Round in Indianola, Iowa. The intent of this journal is to give readers an inside look as to what goes behind the scenes of an NCAA Division III athletic program. A different viewpoint than just the box scores and statistics as a group of athletes gets ready to compete on one of the most prestigious stages in all of college athletics - the NCAA Tournament.

The views written in this piece are entirely of the writer and not meant to harm or disrespect any of the athletes or school. It is merely an attempt to give the reader a greater understanding of what the coaches and athletes have to go through to get ready to perform at the highest level. I hope you enjoy the journal.

Playoff Journal Menu: March 2

March 1, 2006

Another trip to the NCAA Tournament.

It’s amazing that three of the Concordia athletic teams this season have earned trips to the NCAA Tournament. It’s a great testament to the type of athletes and coaches that make up the Concordia athletics department. It is also a reflection on athletics director Larry Papenfuss. Larry has carried on the torch lit by former AD Dr. Armin Pipho. Both Larry and Armin possess the calming influence that allow coaches to feel like they are being treated with respect and that their program is being well taken care of.

They also have the same nervous quality when watching a game. They always get anxious when watching one of the Cobber teams perform and have to constantly move around during the game.

In the Cobbers’ MIAC Championship win over Carleton, Larry was constantly moving around in the first half when the team was struggling on the court. In the second half, when the Cobbers staged their rally, he found a spot on the north end of the gym and stayed there until the game was secure. It’s not just with basketball games. He is the same way with football, soccer, hockey, baseball, etc. He cares about each and every athlete at Concordia and it shows in the way he works hard to give every student/athlete at Concordia the best experience possible.

It was a trying time thinking about who would replace Armin when he decided to retire, but, like most things in life, it worked out really well. Larry is a huge reason why Concordia has been able to place three teams in the national playoffs. He is not only the athletics director at Concordia, but is also the biggest fan of the Cobbers.

11:30 a.m.
The bus was supposed to leave at 11:00am but with school out of session for spring break and no real pressing time constraints, it was decided to push departure time back 30 minutes.

I was impressed to see that all the players were on the bus well before the 11:30 departure time. I know how hectic it can get for coaches and players right before leaving for a road trip. Especially one with so much at stake. Usually people are running around trying to get something done until the very last second. Not with this group. By 11:20, everyone but senior Tori Ehlert, was on the bus ready to go. Tori came moments later after finishing up her student-teaching assignment for the day. She is an Elementary Education major and is three weeks into her student-teaching assignment at a school in Fargo. You can tell by her serious demeanor that she is still in her mode of being a teacher. That will quickly change as she boards the bus and settles in with her teammates.

I was soon to find out that this team loves to laugh and loves to be around each other – no splinter groups, no individuals. Just a team together. That is what has brought them this far. That is what helped them pull off the unbelievable feat of winning the conference tournament (after being picked in the preseason poll to finish fourth), and that is what will carry them farther along this magical ride.

1:30 p.m.
After a near panic attack from head coach Jessica Rahman and the rest of the team after finding out the VCR in the bus was not working properly, the team rolls into the first stop in Sauk Centre. The stress about having to drive for 8-9 hours down to Iowa without the VCR was quickly replaced by relief after finding out that the DVD player was fully functional.

The first official movie of the trip is “The Wedding Date.” One of the nice things about getting to travel with the team is seeing movies that I haven’t had the chance to watch. After viewing the first 10-15 minutes I decide to catch up on some reading. Hopefully the selection of movies will get beter.

The mood on the bus is happy and joyful. Most of the team either sleeps or plays games in the back of the bus. The game of choice for the women’s basketball team is cribbage. The whoops and yelps from the back of the bus show that the team doesn’t only get excited when they play well on the court, but they also are very competitive off the court.

We pull over to pick up Jessica’s Dad. He is an unofficial assistant coach who does everything from helping out at practice, to doing advanced scouting, to preparing the scouting report for upcoming opponents. He is a long-time high school coach who coached Jessica when she played at that level. He is part of a coaching that staff that has an unbelievable wealth of basketball knowledge. I can’t help but think how lucky the players are to have three coaches that all bring an unbelievable knowledge of the game to each and every game and each and ever practice session. I always have the feeling that Jessica’s Dad is the walking example of the old coaching adage “he’s forgotten more about the game than most coaches know.”

He is the patriarch of the first family of Cobber women’s basketball. Also joining the trip to the national playoffs is Jessica’s daughter Cassidy. I think that Jessica was probably the same way growing up as Cassidy is now. Always in the gym, always around older athletes, Learning about the game, practicing and getting to be around some of the best role models there are. Cassidy is ever-present at all Concordia games. She sits on the end of the bench and is the little sister to all of the players on the team. The perfect example of what she means to the players came at the end of the celebration for the conference tournament title. The players saved the final piece of the net for Cassidy to cut down.

With all the Rahman’s in tow, the bus takes off for Mankato for the first overnight stop on the trip.

5:15 p.m.
The team gets back on the bus after spending about an hour at the hotel. They are getting ready to head to practice at Gustavus and then spend the night in Mankato, before making the rest of the journey on Thursday.

The team is all ready to leave for practice, however three players are still missing. Tori Ehlert and freshmen Ashley King and Jenna Freudenberg are 10 minutes late and the team wants the bus driver to pull around the corner so they will think the bus has left them behind. Junior Leanne White then calls Tori on her cell phone, and does a great job acting like the coaching staff is really mad and that they better get down to the bus right away. Immediately after hanging up the phone, the team breaks out in laughter.

The three finally make the bus and the team heads off to practice. It is later found out that the reason the three were late is because one of the characters on the team, Ashley King, was pretending to put out Tori with the comforter from the bed as if Tori was on fire. I am told that this happens often, and that it is about as much trouble as the group ever gets into.

5:40 p.m.
The team walks into Gustavus to begin their practice session. They are all dressed in their maroon and gold practice clothes that have Concordia written on them. The team might have as well been aliens riding monkeys as they walked through the athletic center at Gustavus. The students working out and milling around the complex stared as though they had never seen a women’s basketball team before. It is a stare that says they can’t believe that on of the MIAC opponents is about to practice in their arena.

The team settles down to the job of getting ready for practice and going about the business of preparing for first round opponent UW-Stout. You can tell the team’s persona changes once they step on the court. They go from fun-loving, pranksters to confident and talented conference champions. This is a trait they get directly from their coach. Jessica is very easy to work with and layed back – until she gets on the court. I never had the chance to see her play but I know that she would have been a player that everyone wants as a teammate and no one wants to play against.

One of the strangest sights at practice is the bag that freshman guard Jesca Heintz brings. Having seen it at all practices throughout the season, I know that it is a constant companion. It’s not unusual for a player to bring a gym-type bag to practice to carry extra clothes, inhaler, water bottle, etc. but it is very unusual to see someone bring those items in a bag that looks like a purse that you would see at a night club. The bag is a silver, glittery thing that looks about as much in place in a gym as a pair of tennis shoes would be at a formal gala. I find out that it is just the purse she uses to carry all her things in and has used it throughout the season. Last year she was picked on for bringing an over-sized duffle bag to all practices. Now it is a silver disco purse. One wonders what it will be next year!!

As the players warm up and get taped for practice, junior guard Annie Keeley is busy warming up in her stocking feet. It is pointed out by one of the players that she has no arch in her foot. She hustles off the court and makes a joke about her feet, hair and upper body strength. She is the hands-down, team leader when it comes to laughter, cracking jokes and being genuinely hilarious.

Annie is one of those rare athletes that can turn the switch to go from laughing one moment to being game-ready the next. She is a huge part of the team’s success. She routinely puts herself in position to make a game-changing basket or defensive stop and rarely fails. She is the type of person/player that every coach desperately wants to have on the team. Someone who is an awesome team person that gets everyone involved off the court, and on the court she can step up when the pressure is on and calmly make the play.

Her laugh is as contagious as it is loud - and whenever she cracks up, most of the team follows suit. She is the reason that coaches continue to put up with all the ever-increasing demands of the position, the over-bearing parents and the sleepless nights worrying about all that can go wrong. One bus ride and practice session spent with Annie Keeley and it is easy to understand what makes coaching such a great profession.

7:25 p.m.
The practice session ends. During the course of the training session, Gustavus head coach Mickey Haller stops by to wish Jessica and the team well. She arranged for the team to practice at the facility and wanted to make sure everything is ok. She was named the MIAC Coach of theYear and has done a great job with the Gustavus program. It is a case of good things happening to good people. Mickey is one of the nicest and classiest people in the MIAC and she always is in a good mood. There are some opposing coaches that it is easy to root against, but it is always nice to see Gustavus do well because of the coach they have.

The coaching staff spends the short ride to the restaurant dissecting the practice and the different areas that the team will continue to have to work on before the first round game. The consensus is that it was a very productive practice, and except for the expected glitch here or there, the team is right where it needs to be.

The team heads into the restaurant and is told they can spend a little more on the meal than they are normally used to. Immediately plans are being hatched to have people pool their allotted money so they can get more food. That is one thing that is constant from team-to-team-to-team. When it comes to food, college student/athletes will always be hungry and always find a way to get as much as they can. It doesn’t matter if it is the volleyball team, football team or women’s basketball team – getting the best dining experience from every meal on a road trip is a key to success.

9:05 p.m.
The bus pulls back into the hotel parking lot and a group of content and tired-looking athletes slowly gets off the bus. The itinerary shows that lights out is supposed to be at 11:00am, but I don’t think too many of the players will make it to that point.

The journey has started. And like the 62 other teams that are still alive, they will all fall asleep tonight and think about what if. What if, they catch lightning in a bottle for six games and come away with a national championship. Every player on every team believes they have a chance. The dream is even more real for Concordia because every time they see their coach, they know that someone has actually done the unthinkable and captured the dream. They have a walking reminder of just how real those thoughts can be.