Hey Pilot Fans,

 

First off and foremost I want to apologize for the extended delay. Many readers have commented on my lack of consistency and I know I’ve especially disappointed my Aussie-reader, Mr. Angel as well as Mr. Brown - Oh yeah, and my editor… Oops :) But nonetheless, finally, here is Blog # 13!  

 

Consequently due to my lack of consistency we have a lot of catching up to do.

 

Believe it or not, the 2010-2011 season has come to an end.  After six months of basketball we actually have a break – no school, no basketball. However, when we get back from Spring Break we’ll get right back at it with individual workouts, open gyms and weights… except for our senior girls…….

 

Senior Day/PinkZone was held at our last home game versus St. Mary’s. Parents traveled from afar, The Angel’s and Karolyte’s extremely far (Australia and Lithuania), to help us celebrate and honor our senior girls and Shane, our awesome manager, on their special day.

 

Congrats, Seniors! Thank you for all the memories!

 

We finished fourth in conference, which gave us a first-round bye at the WCC Tournament in Vegas.

 

 

We departed campus Thursday morning to catch our flight to Vegas. As we boarded the plane a sea of blue and red greeted us. Oh yes, our flight had come from Spokane and was packed with Zag fans.

 

I’m telling ya, those Zag fans are a peculiar breed, similar to the Cameron Crazies. I believe I am qualified to make this statement because I spent the duration of the plane flight attempting to convert my aisle-mates, both who were Zag fans, to jump on the Portland Pilot bandwagon. I entertained my aisle-mates with countless “what if” scenarios, but none of their responses to my drawn out scenarios disclosed any weakness in their Zag fan-ship.

 

Once we landed in Vegas we were free from the Gonzaga fans… but not for long. We gathered our luggage and headed off to our hotel. This year we stayed at the Palms. 

 

Granted, I haven’t traveled with the team for a year and had forgotten about the several perks of being on the road.

 

First off, the meals at the hotel were incredible! Each meal consisted of an extensive buffet (Also, our chef was super cool.). And if that meal did not satisfy your appetite another meal would be available three hours later. Spoiled, huh? I don’t believe anyone experienced the slightest symptom of hunger on this trip – well maybe Nikki, but nothing a quick Sonic trip could not fix. :)

 

Also, the hotel rooms were very nice: the beds were extremely comfy, the bathroom was big and we even had a doorbell!

 

In addition, in each room there was an assortment of snacks and goodies displayed for purchase. Now, I completely understand the marketing strategy hotels utilize when they arrange these displays in guests’ rooms, more or less suggesting that if you purchase these items your stay will be enhanced.

 

And sadly, Keisha and Nikki (both Business majors I might add) fell victim to the temptation of the snacks and goodies displayed in our hotel rooms. Not just any snack or goody, though. It was the assortment of colorful gummy bears that caught Keisha and Nikki’s attention.

 

I thought it was quite comical because this marketing strategy worked on me when I was six. I can still remember my parent’s dismay when they ended up paying $4.00 for a hotel room candy bar. However, Keisha and Nikki knew better and resisted the temptation to rip open the bag of gummy bears they so desperately craved. Instead they made a special visit to the candy shop downstairs. Which, by the way, both Kim Kardashian and Mike Tyson went to while we were there. I don’t know what Kim and Mike bought, but Keisha and Nikki’s choice was chocolate covered gummy bears.

 

By now, I am sure you are wondering about the basketball component of the trip. Like I said, we had a first-round bye and therefore we were slated to play the winner of the San Francisco-Santa Clara game.

 

Santa Clara beat San Francisco in a 62-58 victory, so we met the Broncos Saturday for our first WCC Tournament match-up. The Broncos actually knocked us out of the tournament last year therefore I think we approached this game with a bit of a chip on our shoulder. (vs. Santa Clara Recap)

 

As always, it was an intense game versus the Broncos and we had to remain focused and fight the entire game to pull out our ‘W’.  Not only were we excited about the win but, we were quite pleased with how we played. Coach agreed that it was a nice win for us, especially since we haven’t won at the WCC Tournament in a while.

 

Our celebration was short-lived because we needed to prepare for our next game the following day against the Bulldogs. Once we arrived back at the hotel we enjoyed yet another meal and then went immediately to watch film on Gonzaga.

 

Needless to say, since we had already played the Bulldogs twice this season we knew their personnel and plays relatively well, and were ready to have another shot at them!

 

Once we finished up with film we were informed that our curfew was 9 p.m. and lights needed to be off no later than 10 p.m. In addition, ice baths were mandatory for everyone – expect for me :) (Avoiding the ice bath is the ONLY perk to being injured and unable to play).

 

At 9 p.m. sharp our doorbell rang. Coach Turner and Coach Shay were checking in to make sure that Nikki and I were in our room and that Nikki had taken her ice bath…which she hadn’t yet. But it didn’t take long to fix that. We hauled buckets of ice from the ice machine down the hall into the bathtub and in no time we had a perfectly freezing ice bath ready for Nikki! 

  

Nikki loves ice baths!

 

Now, remember the relentless Zag fans on our flight to Vegas? Well, they all made an appearance at our game the next day, along with the rest of the Zag-fan army. The Orleans Arena was packed; mostly with Zag fans, but there was a solid section of purple in the midst of the blue and red.

 

I hate to play fan-favorites, but I instantly had a soft spot in my heart for Elyse Snyder’s little sister. She was rockin’ the Portland gear like a champ and I was rather impressed with her dance moves. Did she learn those from you, E? :)

 

Anyway, unfortunately, as much as we would have liked the season to last longer Gonzaga was our final game. (vs. Gonzaga Recap)

 

Even though ending the season with a WCC title would have been ideal, it was still a fun and memorable year - And next year we’ll be back to take the title! :) 

 

Once again, thank you for your patience - I really do appreciate it. I’d like to make a promise that Blog #14 will be available soon, but I know better. But seriously, I will do my best to catch up soon.

 

As for now, I am going to enjoy my Spring Break! (I’m so happy to spend some time with my brothers!) Girls, hope you are having a great time at home with your families! I miss you all but will be seeing you soon enough – safe travels back to Portland.

 

Hope y’all are doing well and I’d also like you thank you for your support! Portland Pilot Fans are the BEST!!!  

  

LET’S GOOOOO PILOTS!

 

~G