Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: March 1

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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.

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March 2, 2006

10:30am
Departure time from the hotel. All the players have filed down into the lobby to eat the continental breakfast before leaving for the three-plus hour drive to Indianola, Iowa. Jessica, her Dad and Cassidy are sitting in the lobby well before the timry and to leave. They are discussing Cassidy’s health as she has been feeling under the weather lately. When the team left Moorhead yesterday afternoon she was very pale and spent most of the drive resting in her seat. By the time practice rolled around she was feeling better and even had the strength to dribble the ball around. As dinner was served, she had gotten back most of her color and was on the way to recovery. This morning she is feeling even better. You can tell Jessica, the mother, is relieved to see her looking a lot better.

The assistant coach for the team Mark Askerooth is already sitting on the bus at 10:00am as I try and beg the bus driver to take me to Office Max to get game notes copied. He is reading the local paper and laments about the lack of having a Minneapolis Star and Tribune to read so that he can check out the high school basketball scores from the night before. Mark is the former boys’coach at Roseville High School and has brought a tremendous insight in is first year helping Jessica. I believe he is a key ingredient to the team's success as he has provided Jessica with another head coach on the bench. He has also developed the Cobber post players very well during the course of the season. Mark was one of the all-time leading scorers at Concordia and between him and Jessica, it is like a living history of Cobber basketball throughout the day.

Besides being a terrific coach, Mark has a terrific sense of humor. He also has a great way of letting the players know that there is more to life than just basketball and they don’t have to worry about the sport becoming life or death. He has a perfect perspective of all this considering the fact that he has his right arm in a sling following surgery to repair ligaments in his shoulder after he fell on the ice. If that wasn’t bad enough, he was dealt another “basketball is really not that important” moment when his wife fell while rollerskating and broke her leg earlier in the week. His wife works as a teacher and was taking a group of students on a field trip when she slipped and broke her leg. She is currently laid up in bed with her leg up while Mark is riding to Iowa with his arm in a sling.

12:05pm
One of the worst moments a coach faces on the road happens when you finally figure out that the time schedule you are supposed to be following might be a little off. Jessica and Mark start to get a little nervous after they realize that they might have needed to leave a little sooner. The road signs says 141 miles to Des Moines, and Indianola is another 15-miles past that.

They decide to save time by pulling off the road and having Paul Cullen, the trainer, get his bag from the storage compartments underneath the bus so he can tape players on the bus as they pull into town. They also figure that the players should get their practice gear out from under the bus as well so that when the bus pulls up to the gym, they can be ready to step on the floor and play.

At the next exit, the bus pulls to the top of the ramp and everyone gets off to get their bag. One of the freshman declares it to be just like a “Chinese Firedrill” and the team laughs as they sprint off the bus and wonder around at the top of the exit ramp.

With everyone back on the bus, the team heads off for the final leg to Indianola.

2:20pm
The bus stops at the gym with 10 minutes to spare. In the NCAA Tournament practice time is strictly enforced . You can only get on the floor at your designated time and must leave 90 minutes later.

The bus ride has been uneventful as the team watched the game tape from UW-Stout’s championship win over UW-Stevens Point. The thing that impressed me was the amount of talk in between the players as to what they were seeing and the things they could do to be successful. Most of the players never wavered in their viewing of the film.

After watching the game tape, Jessica pops in a tape of the 1988 NCAA Championship Game (in which the Cobbers defeated St. John Fisher). The part that Jessica wants them to watch is not the game but the team’s pep rally they had the night before. Two of Jessica’s teammates are shown impersonating the Hans and Frans characters from the Saturday Night Live skit. The players do a good job pulling off the skit as they are dressed in gray sweatpants stuffed with towels to simulate muscles. After several “I am here to PUMP (hand clap) you up” chants the tape ends. You can hear the roars of laughter in the background of the tape as the players on the 1988 team are rolling with joy. I can’t help but think how similar the two teams must be and how nice it is to know that Cobber women’s basketball is still in the hands of players that enjoy being with each other, acting up and having a great time together.

As the team files out of the bus, Annie Keeley grabs her camera and declares that she is going to take pictures of everything that the team does at Simpson. True to her word, she snaps pictures of the entry way into the gym, the hallway and then an NCAA sign. As the players pass under a giant “SC” logo, someone yells at Annie, “hey, get a picture of that.” Tori Ehlert then says, without missing a beat, “yeah, it stands for Strong Cobbers!” Another voice comes from the pack, how about Studly Cobbers!"

2:30pm
The team takes the floor to start practice – right on time. As they step on the floor, I am amazed at how they can go from sitting in a bus for three hours to practicing at full tilt in less than 20 minutes. They take time to get used to the new court and baskets. Junior forward Sarah Krabbenhoft comments about the way the basket shakes after the ball hits the rim. Jessica smiles and tells her they are shooters rims – soft to the touch and more forgiving. You can almost see it in her eyes, she would like one more shot to step on the court and knock down a few more shots during the game.

The scoreboard clock is set for 90 minutes. At the end, the team will have to leave the court and allow host Simpson to take the floor for their practice. The practice moves smoothly as they go through offensive sets that they want to use in the game. Each coach steps in and makes teaching points as the players practice their half court and transition offense.

The highlight of the practice is watching senior Tori Ehlert stretch in front of the NCAA Championship Banner that is hung from the scorer’s table. It is a perfect moment for the player that has come so far in her career as an athlete and a person. She has lived through the death of a very close friend and has carried on with a dignity and maturity that is rarely found in adults, not to mention a college student.

She will make a terrific teach and any student will be fortunate to have Tori as a mentor. The team is very lucky to have her as their captain.

With time running down in the practice and the team getting in a few last shots, they count out loud as the final seconds tick off the clock. As the buzzer sounds, Annie Keeley makes the remark that they need to get off the court before it blows up. The practice has ended and the comedienne is back.

The players gather their things and leave the arena. They head up to a room where they can buy NCAA Championship t-shirts, hats, etc. It is one of the ways the players have to remember their trip to the playoffs. They will have at least one keepsake that they can have that will always remind them of their season achievement.

5:40pm
The coaching staff decides to check into the hotel and then go immediately to the restaurant that is attached to the building. No one has had anything to eat since breakfast and they are all ready to have another big meal. Jessica is feeling the effects of having not eaten for over seven hours and can’t wait to eat. Little do people realize how much coaching takes out of a person. The time spent in preparation, coaching and making everything goes according to plan really wears on a person. Jessica remarks that she has a perfect diet plan, just start the season and lose the weight. Most coaches will lose weight during the season as the long days and endless hours take their toll on a person’s ability to eat at least two good meals per day.

Of course Jessica as the head coach is the last one to join the team for the meal. She finally enters with Cassidy after everyone else has started to look over the menu. Everyone is seated at one table and they immediately start asking about the budget for the meal. After much discussion, it is decided that since is the only team meal of the day they can once again go above the usual limit.

The meals are served and the lasting impression will be of sophomore all-conference player Melanie Hageman watching as everyone else gets served. She is the last one to get her meal, and with each passing serving, she looks like a kid on Christmas day when all the other children are being givenpresents and she is left out. Her look as every meal gets passed around is priceless. She finally gets her meal and takes it from the waitress with one hand on the plate as the other clutches a fork.

At the end of the meal, several players share a trio of desserts. It is a deal where you get three different desserts with the order. The players thoroughly enjoy each and every bite and after they leave the table, the plates look like they have been scraped with a spatula as no drop of chocolate has been left behind.

The team will have a meeting later on tonight to discuss goals for the next few games. They did it at the beginning of the season but have reached their goals they set forth and need to reset their sights. The meeting will be part goal setting, part personal affirmation as players will write down on a piece of paper what the other players bring to the team. This team-building exercise is a tool for keeping team unity and it also helps everyone deal with the individual confidence they will need to take the next step.

You can tell that the players are ready to get to the day of the game. It will be a week since they have played a game, and at this time of the season is a departure from the normal routine. Usually they play at least one game during the week and one on the weekend. Having an extended break between games only builds up the tension to go out and play against another team.

11:00pm
The team leaves the meeting in Jessica’s room and heads off to their own rooms. One more day down on the road to the tournament. Game day is just around the corner and everyone is ready.

Highlight of the bus ride down - the "out of this world" bars that former Cobber manager Julie Bauer baked and sent along on the trip. Julie was the manager on the 1988 championship team. She is a good friend of Jessica's and also her former roomate in college. She is ever-present at the women's games and is always looking out forn the best interest of the team. She is a typical Concordia grad - once a Cobber, always a Cobber!

She has given the team a pan full of Rice Krispie/Caramel Sandwich bars. Picture two pieces of rice krispie bars stuck together by a layer of caramel. I though I had tried most bars, but these are unbelievably good. Jessica says that Julie used to bake them for her all the time in college. I can't help but wonder why Jessica doesn't weight over 300 pounds after having the chance to eat those bars all the time!