Lafayette College Athletics

Jan 14, 2003

EDITOR'S NOTE: In just two full seasons on College Hill, junior power forward Mike Farrell has turned in himself into the Leopards' most consistent player. Farrell, an American Studies major, has agreed to provide www.goleopards.com with a weekly journal entry, talking about his life as a student-athlete. Farrell came to Lafayette from DeLand, Fla. where he attended Father Lopez High School. He is the first non-senior team captain since 1997-98. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. It's that time of the year. When those few people who have the burning desire to get better in athletics or academics, or just need to get away from the family for a little bit, decide to spend their winter break hanging out up on College Hill. And there is so much to do. Practice is always a welcome adventure for those pursuing athletics - it gives us something to do for the day. Other than that, well, television is always nice - the new reality shows are great. Some guys have a preference towards video games.

I know that we have a couple guys trying to learn the guitar, with Drew Dawson and Chris Saunders well ahead of the rest of the field. They have each been playing for a couple of years. And then there are the rest of us who like to go out and buy, then eat food. Although, last night the big 7-footer whipped up some chicken on the grill, and I cooked up some pasta, and we had ourselves a nice little meal. We even got ourselves a salad (remember kids, a healthy diet is vital to being successful on the basketball court).

Mike Farrell's Journal Archive   2003-2004 Season  • April 14, 2004  • April 9, 2004  • February 23, 2004  • January 26, 2004  • January 5, 2004  • December 11, 2003  • November 20, 2003   2002-2003 Season  • February 21, 2003  • February 2, 2003  • January 23, 2003  • January 14, 2003  • December 31, 2002  • December 10, 2002 Mike Farrell

Despite the mundane surroundings the team has kept in good cheer. A team bowling night was declared, and I just have to say that the Leopards might be able to bowl with any team in the county. Andrew Pleick led all bowlers that evening rolling over an average of about 175. Sean Knitter was a close second, followed by a very tight run for third place between Justin DeBerry and Pat Betley. Drew Dawson dubbed himself Big Larry - apparently he thinks this is a clever bowling name - but the name did not help his game. He recorded the worst two consecutive games ever at the local bowling alley.

Now we all know that Jamie Hughes is a big, powerful guy, but his strength is probably showed best while bowling. He just takes the 16-pound balls, and hurtles them towards the pins. But as with most power players, Jamie lacked the finesse to completely dominate the lanes, and left himself with a couple nasty 7-10 splits. As for me, well, I neither added nor detracted from the team's efforts. I rolled a solid 141 in the first game, and followed it with a less inspired effort of 120. Now all we need is to get Big Larry into a bit of a rhythm, and we will be all set.

And then, of course, there are the games. Those keep us pretty busy. And now that we are into league play I don't think that we will have much more time to worry about picking up spares or throwing gutter balls. Now we have to concentrate in practice, avoiding the vaunted S-T-S. The lanes will just have to wait.

Peace