BELIEVE IN YOU

College students are like little kids when it comes to school being canceled TWO days in a row!!! The student workout place (HRC) is full of students lifting, running, or playing basketball games. Fraternity houses came to the West gym and had mini tournaments for a few hours and some of my friends worked on homework… overrated. Just kidding!

In everything we do we have to BELIEVE! Everyone may not agree with you, but we must surround ourselves with believers. During a time when the economy is almost as bad as the Great Depression, there are Fortune 500 companies like Wal-Mart and Apple who are still successful. They have employees who believe in the products they sell and believe that they are secure. The same principle applies for any athletic team to be successful; the coaches, administration, and players must believe in each other. For the Lady Bulldog family, we believe that we can still accomplish our goals.

After a rocky start at the beginning of the season, many teams and fans counted us out in the race for a Horizon League Championship. If they didn’t count us out, they questioned whether or not we would ever get the ball rolling. Honestly, it didn’t matter what anyone thought outside of our locker room. We knew things were not clicking the way they should or the way we wanted, but I don’t think we ever counted ourselves out of the race. We knew if we were going to be one of the two teams standing in March, something had to change. All of the hard work and meetings of trying to figure out what needed to be done paid off. We have finished the first half of league play 8-1, something that has not been done before under Coach Couture. Even though it was a disappointing loss to UW-Green Bay, I truly believe that there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that we could beat them. We made little mistakes that cost us the game, and against great teams you can’t have let downs.

Although we have done something no other Butler Women’s Basketball team has ever done, our journey is not finished. With school back in session, we have to make sure we stay focused and don’t lose sight of our goal. For us, the spring is very hard time because every other week we are missing classes for games on the road. So we not only have to believe we can be successful on the court, but have to work hard to do so off the court as well. I won’t say it’s the easiest thing to do when you miss a lot of Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday classes but we make it work. We have to be proactive, organized, and flexible.

WE BELIEVE IN US

The Dawg Show

Although it’s been some time since we last did one, on our road trip this weekend we brought back The Dawg Show! Great interviews with two of our freshman Jenna Cobb and Mandy McDivitt. You can see it on our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Butler-Womens-Basketball/94808279398. Check it out y’all!

Happy New Year!!… soon :)

Sorry Butler Family, I know I have not blogged recently, but these last few weeks have been so crazy. Every athlete in the world feels this way around this time. It’s the end of the semester and we are excited about our long break, but before that can happen we go through torment with exams, final projects, and presentations. Although we get a few days off from basketball, it feels like there is not enough time in the day to study for every exam. We begin to feel overwhelmed, nervous, tense, and tired at the same time. Around this time of the year, the library is the campus hangout spot. This could be good and bad. Personally, I cannot get any work done because it becomes a social event when you see people you have not seen for a while because your schedules are so different. As much as pulling all nighters really stinks, it’s an experience I would never trade.  Studying with a few friends, eating snacks, drinking red bull to stay awake and listening to music is priceless. It may not be a very healthy decision but it’s the college life. I’m not sure some of us Bulldogs would have survived if it wasn’t for our family supporting us and keeping our minds focused. Believe it or not, it is easy to lose focus because it feels impossible to study for everything in the short amount of time.

Whew! We all survived exams! After playing Coastal Carolina and University of South Carolina the Bulldogs were able to go home for a few days. For our team, Christmas is about being around our families and enjoying the time we are able to spend with them. Of course we all wished it wasn’t so short, but the thought of only having to think about basketball for two weeks is refreshing. It’s a tradition that we go around and everyone tells one gift they loved the most, and for most of us it was being with our families, and seeing our cousins and nieces. But for others this is what they said:

Chloe: a new car

Bri: a new Nikon camera

Sarah: a new ring

Coach Couture: buying her parents a new television

Coach Cherubini: a new ring

Coach Hill: a new puppy

Coach Webster: a new flip camera

With the New Year comes our second season for the Bulldog Family. With this comes a clean start and new results. The one thing we have to do to get those new results is to do things differently. New Year’s is a few days away. I wish everyone a Happy New Years!!!! Let’s not wait for New Year’s Resolution to make a change. Every day you should strive to be better than you were yesterday. Leave all your worries, doubts, and fears in 2010. Let 2011 bring you good health, happiness, and prosperity. Embrace the opportunity to see another year and remember the ones who were not able to.

Forgive quickly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you SMILE!

Bulldog Family has dreams

Sometimes in life we have disappointments. Whether it’s because we were inadequately prepared or life happened.  What really matters is what you do afterwards. No matter how many times you fall you have to get back up and start your day. Can you tell when that fear creeps in, forces you to think logically and numbs your passion and imagination or have you just gotten used to it? Often times we fall because of fear, and we chose to stay down to avoid falling again. I would rather fall knowing I gave everything I could possibly give. I wonder how different our lives would be if every day we were told our potential that could be reached for that day.

Our team never imagined that we would have started the regular season off the way that we did. Still to this day we wonder what was going on; we weren’t ourselves the whole first half but when we finally showed up and played our game things changed. We had dug ourselves into a deep hole and were never able to dig ourselves out of it. With this disappointing lose we could either sit back basing the rest of the season off of that one performance or we could get back in the gym and work harder.

The next practice was one of the most intense practices of the year so far. We as seniors took this loss personal because it is our responsibility to make sure we bring our game every night and in return our team will follow. Between the five of us we all talked about what we individually had to do so that we would never have another disappointment like that again. Monday in practice there was so much focus and effort in Hinkle Fieldhouse. We left the gym that night knowing we got better because we were able to endure that practice. I honestly felt sorry for the next team we had to play.

We had a really good start against a very talented St. Louis team and against Ohio Dominican. Coach Couture asked us what our team personality was going to be and we showed her and ourselves that we know how to bounce back. In saying that, we also know that we still need to improve; we have to really pay attention to detail. We are in the process of putting pieces of the puzzle together. Time is not in our favor right now so every day is important. We all have potential and we have a dream, as long as your dreams are backed up with a plan you have the right ingredients to succeed. It may not work out the way you want but stay encouraged. Don’t wait for something to happen—do something.

Bulldog Family has Dreams!

Give it your all!

The Start of a New Beginning

The unanticipated change in seasons is something that blows my mind every year. To walk the campus with sandals, tank tops, and shorts one day and the next day you wake up to a yard full of colorful leaves. It’s so refreshing and it’s a reminder of how beautiful life truly is. We all have our favorite season, but because of the different seasons and their predictability each season is cherished and appreciated.  If we lived in our favorite season all year around would we have a great appreciation for it? Although, every year a new season is expected there is an ongoing gratitude for each new season because it is a NEW START.

Last week we started our NEW SEASON. We started Wednesday with one practice and because of fall break we went twice a day Thursday and Friday. The first couple of practices were information overload for the freshman, but we all played very well. Saturday we had our annual kick-off where committed recruits, non-committed recruits, and our family and friends come and watch us practice and eat lunch with us.  We had a great time and the weather couldn’t have been better. Right now, we can forecast our “storms” and our “sunshine” in order to prepare for our three seasons: non-conference play, conference play, and post season play.

We realize that we won’t have all the ties together at this point, but we can’t afford to waste days. Every day we have to start putting things together and right now that is our defense. It is apparent that we will be able to score, but we have to be able to play our TEAM defense.  Coach Couture said, “Frustration at this point will only hurt our performance. “ Every day is valuable and we have to continue to fight through our “storms” and get better each and every day.

This journey is a long one, and if we lose sight of the bigger picture than it becomes even harder. Everything we do is not for ourselves but for each other so that we can accomplish the goals we have set out for our basketball family. Every day is vital.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is a process; working together is success.” –Henry Ford

Butler’s World

Change is good

The only sure thing in life is CHANGE! As a college student changes happens every day. So we have to learn how to embrace it. Changes happen even more for student athletes. Changes in the friends you have, the way you think, what you believe, how you feel, the position you play, your role on the team, and the major you study. It happens, it’s inevitable. More important is how you respond to change that really matters. Life is a journey full of ups and downs, but we have to learn how to take the bad and learn from it, and take the good and enjoy it. I’m learning that when things change it’s not the end of the world.  We all wish that everything would work out the way we dreamed it would, but reality is it won’t always happen that way.

For the BUTLER BULLDOGS we have to change the way we view things. The way we view criticism, the way we view practice, the way we view every opponent. The beauty in life is that we have some control over change and some we don’t. It’s obvious from being in our team workouts this week that our coaches are viewing things differently and are embracing the change in our team. The things that may have gone unsaid are now being said this year. If it was to go unsaid again then this year would be no different than last year. Second place okay, WNIT wasn’t bad, actually they are both pretty good considering how many college teams would love to be in those situations. But we are tired of second place and we want FIRST. We want the NCAA appearance not just for ourselves but for all the former Bulldogs who paved the way for us today.

This week has been full of changes in my life. It started when I was suppose to teach at Shortridge Monday, but it was canceled for a convocation they had. Then it was a test I thought was going to be on the 12^th of October, but it was moved to this week. Then I had a friend decide they didn’t want to talk to me anymore, and then it was my light bill was all messed up. And I could have easily got upset and mad but it wouldn’t have changed anything, so I got on my knees and prayed about it all and went on about my week. The final change that happened was one that I had TOTAL control over and that was cutting my hair.  Not just a trim but CUT its very short.

“When you breathe you inhale and you exhale, but every single time that you do that you’re a little bit different than the one before. We’re always changing. And it’s important to know that there are some changes you can’t control and that there are others you can.”

Till We Meet Again…

Change for the Better!!

October is here!

Hey Everybody!!!

I can’t believe it’s already October. During this month we are like kids in a candy store, when we walk in the locker room and see new shoes and sweats. Just a few weeks ago we were 8 weeks away from our first game, and I thought it would not come soon enough. We finished up with conditioning and I was really impressed with our freshman and their ability to mentally push themselves. As a team we all did very well and finished things the first time. I’m really excited about starting practice because I am ready to start traveling and playing. The one advantage we have right now is that we only have three newcomers and they learn very quickly. That means it’s time to turn up the heat and get focused on the task at hand. We start team workouts next week and our big focus is DEFENSE!

Losing some key players from last year and gaining new players and coaches’ things won’t be exactly the same. As a senior there were somethings that I thought I would be able to predict, but I haven’t and it’s not a bad thing. I think all of coaches are trying to push everyone to do more than what they think they can. As we all learn to accept being pushed outside of our “comfort zone” we will see a lot of growth not only individually but as a team. We have to continue to focus on the little things!!!

The crazy part about games about to start is that the school year flies. One goal I have for myself is to bring it to every practice. Our official practice will be on the 13^th and that weekend we will have family, friends, and recruits there to see us scrimmage against each other and eat lunch. Speaking of recruits this weekend our coaches were out on the road looking for future Bulldogs!

Reach For the Stars

Fabulous Blue World

For BU Hoops, last week was a great start for a new season!! We’ve had conditioning, individuals, and class. Conditioning is far from easy, but it really tests your mental strength. Mental strength is something we are working hard to develop and make our strength.  Watching us work together through these rough times makes me excited for this upcoming season. We have so many leaders and everyone is behind one another. Having a lot of leaders can be difficult, but we view it as a positive. All the seniors and Coach Couture met and made SURE we all started the year off on the same page and had the same goals.

We have early conditioning in the mornings, and it really does feel great to get workouts in before class. Around my second or third class, I can feel myself needing my “mini nap.” My individual workouts have been really intense with Coach Webster, and I’m working on a lot of different aspects of my game. I got frustrated Wednesday  because my back was killing me, but she was so encouraging that I could hardly concentrate on my back. I told you all last time that when conditioning started my Tuesdays and Thursdays would be long, and I had no idea how long until this past week. I start student teaching at Shortridge Middle School next week, and the craziness is really about to begin!!! Long nights writing lesson plans, loading video from my teaches, reflecting on my teaches, and reading for other classes means I have to really get SLEEP and MANGAGE MY TIME! Ugh…College life is the best. You make everything happen that you never thought you could, and manage to have fun with your friends.

We took our pictures this week. And if there is one thing BU girls are not afraid of that is the CAMERA!!!! Brittany Bowen (Bri) could have been our own photographer. Our photographer was MIA early on, and if you know anything about Coach Couture she doesn’t like people being late! So to ease the anxiety, Bri demanded to have all of the seniors take pictures by the rocks and waterfall by the bell tower in Holcomb Gardens!! Even though the underclassmen fought it for a while, Bri got them to come over too. Needless to say the pictures turned out great because we looked AMAZING and our great photographer Coach Hill. By that time, a back up camera man arrived thanks to Josh – our SID. He makes a lot of things happen. We love him!

For me, this weekend entailed a lot of homework and studying. Our football team won their home opener in the new incredible Butler Bowl!!! GOOOO DAWGS

Until next time!

Live with No Regrets…Bleed Blue

THE WORLD OF BU BLUE!!!

The last two weeks were HUGE for BU Hoops team. We started our school year off with our running test and lifting test. These tests should show how hard we worked in the summer. The twist was that we had the BIG DAWG challenge. The team was divided into two teams, with myself and Chloe Hamilton as the captains. To say the least it was similar to the tv show the BIGGEST LOSER; every pound over your max or every second faster than your times was plus that many points. There were 8 categories and the team that won the most categories got nice t-shirts, while the losing team had to start conditioning early. This was the first time we have ever done this, but it was a great motivator to work harder than what you thought you could.

Throughout these last two weeks, we have had team meetings at Coach Couture’s house, and several other meetings. One of the most important things for this team is to trust one another. We have new assistant coaches and new freshman and with new people comes new opportunity. So this year our motto is FAHRENHEIT 212 “THE EXTRA DEGREE”. In these meetings we get our individual schedules for the workouts for the next two months. Oh, by the way, at these meetings we always have FOOD!! Mrs. Cindy, our secretary makes a lot of the food and she made the best ribs!! Our team loves to eat.

Coach Couture stresses the importance of hard work not only on the court, but in the class as well. This year for me will definitely be a tough one because I am taking 19 credit hours!!!!! I changed my major Spring of my freshman year, but in my major certain classes are only offered in the Fall/Spring and not in the summer so I have been taking 18 credit hours for the last year. The first week of class wasn’t really bad because we started on a Wednesday. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I only have one class, but on Tuesday and Thursday I have four classes. As a senior you no longer get the first day to get to know each other because in my major, by this time they know who you are. You also no longer have 50 min classes. Now classes are either 75 min or 110 min classes. I’m actually kind of use to them because during the summer the classes are longer than that.

As for the workouts, this week starts our first individual workout with our specific coach. Coach Webster has a group of guards, Coach Cherubini has a group of guards, and Coach Hill has all the posts. There are two players going at the same time with all the coaches in the gym watching. We have open gym Sundays and Wednesdays. We lift Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Starting next week we will have four weeks of conditioning at 6:15am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So those days will be extremely long for me. Those mini naps between classes come in handy!!!! EATING RIGHT, REST and TIME MANAGEMENT is the KEY!

Time to hit the books!!!

BLEED BLUE…..