This weekend (today) we're headed to New York States in Saratoga. My rowers have the chance to do really well, and although I don't usually savor spending my entire weekend with 40 teenage girls, these girls have real dedication and I'm excited to see what they can do. Plus the weather will be MUCH better than the fall, when it inevitably pours as if the monsoons had come. I also think it'll be fun watching the Sabres game together--they're all huge fans and devoted screamers for their team, so the spirit of sportsmanship will flourish.
I myself am fiercely competitive to the point of ridiculousness (I can recall one infamous game of Trivial Pursuit which I rarely admit to) but also try to champion good sportsmanship. I mention this because a number of schools row out of the same boathouse and someone stole all the bungee cords from our brand new boat. We need them to keep the seats in place when we travel. It's not as though someone drilled a hole in the boat or broke the rudder or something, but it's that sort of poor sport nature that I can't abide. At the competition this weekend, I plan to support our local competition loudly and fully if my team's not in that race. It's just what you do. We don't allow our rowers to badmouth our competition, ever, especially not while we're all together in the same place. Thus it upsets me when I see bush-league behavior from fellow teams. I just would never dream of committing such a heinous act, so it still surprises me when it happens.
So I plan to go into this weekend filled with good sportsmanship and good wishes. And I hope we kick butt in both rowing and hockey.
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