One of my three older brothers used to blast Tom Petty and AC/DC growing up, and this Petty song stuck with me. I am a baseball player who has found a job as a college baseball coach up here in Albany, N.Y.

It is beginning to warm up to a balmy 30 degrees today. We have just begun to pull off the layers of a cold spell where it did not get above 32 for 21 consecutive days. Not ideal baseball weather for some, but in the deep Northeast, this is the time of the season.

One of the more challenging things for coaches this time of year is indoor space and gym availability. Some programs have luxurious facilities to help prepare their guys for the upcoming battles; some programs have none.

Six years ago, I was promoted to head coach, and I decided to practice at 6 a.m. I stole this idea from John Cheney, and it was really the only slot when we would not be disturbed. Although we have instrumented a more aggressive warm-up routine this year, we are still able to finish around 8:30. This leaves the remainder of the day to tend to all of our other responsibilities. This also solves any conflicts with our other athletic programs.

During the dark rides into work at around 4:15, the mind begins to race about the upcoming season. You think about how hard the staff recruited, how hard you pushed your team in the weight room, how difficult it was last year to battle your conference enemies.

Then all of a sudden you realize you left your mud at home. (Mud is slang for coffee).

The car is barking something fierce at this time of the day, and the fluids in your joints could use some WD-40, but your focus is on the task ahead. How do we get into the NCAA tournament this year? Will we find a way to beat that team that has manhandled us in the past? Will we sustain our stranglehold over those other teams in the conference? Will we fall flat on our backs this year? Will we have a season that will leave a mark on the record books? We all want that.

At this point, we have been at it pretty good for two weeks. The week in the near future is when “cabin fever” takes hold of your group. This is when the team is tired of running bunt defense until perfection. When the baseballs become hairy and the covers create wings. When the picks and rundowns become a little bit too aggressive, and guys are starting to jam fingers and hands during the individual defensive stations.

It is also when the years of BP start trying to break down your mental ability to work with the hitters. You just want to get on the bus, pop in a movie and commiserate with the guys on the team. This is college baseball for the teams in parts of the country dominated by the weather.

The bus rides bring our team closer together, bring our staff closer together and even allow for the bus driver to become part of the journey.

Three weeks until we leave for Philly. Hope the field is clear of snow. Groundhog never got blindfolded, so looks like six more weeks of weather…Again

When the snow melts, our journey begins. Boy, “The waiting is the hardest part..”

JM

(photo courtesy of Albany Media Relations Office)