Hey Athletes! I have your back too...

Isn't this weather a nice change from the heat? I am so excited to be pulling out sweaters and coats in preparation of the upcoming fall/winter season. I think I might try to get up to the slopes, try my hand at snowboarding.
This afternoon I was enjoying the change of weather at the soccer fields. Metro's Women's team played at 1:30 and the Men played after, at 4PM. I took a quick afternoon break to see the Women- I say quick because I walked out there, our squad was winning by 4 points, so I watched five minutes and came back to finish my work day. But after 5PM, I ventured back to the fields to enjoy the rest of the Men's game. And enjoy it, I did.
Even though our team lost 2-0 to Fort Lewis. Sorry guys.
But there was plenty of excitement on the sidelines. Three stupid fans from Fort Lewis decided that it would be so cool if they came over to the Metro bleachers and cheered for their team. Maybe that's what the kids in Durango do for fun but up here in the big city, we act our age, not our shoe size.
Naturally, our fans are telling these kids to go back to their side and leave us alone. So what do these guys do? Begin to talk trash, calling out to some of the players on the Women's team, saying that they are fat and need to diet- Hello!?!? The team just killed Coe College 10-0 (granted, in a non-conference game but if it is on the schedule, it counts). These women are not fat; they are strong athletes. What those boys said was rude and childish. If you are going to talk trash, at least make it interesting for the rest of us to hear.
Back to the story and the reasoning behind the title of this post: I was very impressed with the number of athletes I saw from other MSCD Varsity teams. The Men's Basketball team was in attendance (including their coaches- another plus!), the Women's Soccer team stayed to cheer on their male counterparts, I saw former MSCD athletes and..... me. Representing my office, my team and my favorite mascot, Rowdy, who is taking a well-needed vacation (at the cleaners).
As soon as these punk fans from Fort Lewis' side began moving their jaws, not only did the former players build a wall between the loser fans and our women's team BUT the basketball players joined.
I tell you all (y'all ?), once you join a Varsity Athletic team at a college (for example, let's use Metro), it is like you are joining a sacred fraternity/sorority. One complete with code words, secret whistles, hand shakes, clothing lines, family dinners and built-in security. Which is why everyone was looking out for the women's team, even though I think our ladies could have handled the guys themselves. Word of warning: Don't mess with my Women's Soccer team; not only do they have back-up (8 other teams) but they could kick your butt themselves.

With one hand behind their back.



And their shoelaces tied together.

Pet Peeves and a Dunlapism

Last night in my 3rd Year Conversation class, we were speaking about pet peeves. Pet peeves can be many different things; for example, certain people, slow drivers in the fast lane, blizzards- these are just a few examples.
I have two big pet peeves: 1) When people push the handicapped button to open a door when they can open the door just as easily; and 2) When people I know walk by me without saying hello or even acknowledging my presence.
The first one about pushing the handicapped button is quite simple: If you are able to freely open the door, but you are too lazy to do so, I don't think you should push the button. Now, I have seen many mothers carrying their children and their purses who have pushed the button or people with their hands full of books or boxes. To me, that is okay. I wouldn't want the mom to drop her child or a fellow student to drop their books and papers.
I have seen many people, especially on this campus, push the button to open a door. I even have had two co-workers do it repeatedly when entering my office!! When I asked them why they do it, they both mentioned that they were afraid of germs that are on door handles. One stated it was just convenient to open the door that way.
NOTE: I have since then convinced both to open the door using the handle, not the button.
Onto my second pet peeve: This is another Dunlapism (see last post for more on Coach Dunlap). Dunlap was well-known for teaching those around him to acknowledge everyone by looking into their eyes. I think you can notice the basketball players when you walk around campus- well, besides the fact that most of them are as tall as the trees lining 9th street park. These men look you in the eye; they don't walk around campus staring at their feet, unless they have on new shoes, but can you really blame them? We all stare at our feet when we have new shoes on.
In addition to teaching his players to look people in the eyes, Coach taught you to say hello and make friendly conversation with the people you know and not let them walk away. For example, I go jogging downtown a lot. One night as I was cooling down, I saw the Coach had finished his jog on the fields and was walking back towards the Events Center. I wasn't sure if he had seen me, so I kept walking- big mistake. Not only had he seen me, he caught up to me and after we shared greetings, he told me that I shouldn't walk past people I knew, that I should acknowledge them and ask about their day.
I already knew I should do this but right then, I decided that I would do this simple act everytime I run into someone I know. I have run into people when they are rushing off to class, I have run into people when I'm running off to class- still I say hello and ask about their day.

So, if you ever see me around campus, say hello to me and don't push the handicapped button unless your hands are full!

A great man and his beautiful family

I'm crying. It isn't my fault- it is the fault of a wonderful man. I and the Metro State community have lost an integral piece to this beautiful college: you know him as Coach Mike Dunlap.
Yes, this is the one and only Coach Dunlap that just signed a 5-year contract with MSCD just a few weeks ago. But then Coach got a phone call from George Karl, Denver Nuggets Head Coach, who asked him to join his staff. While I and many others are happy for Coach to have this opportunity, I don't mind being selfish when I say "Darn you Coach Karl."
So why the tears? I just returned home from Coach Dunlap's good-bye party. Ha. What an oxymoron- goodbye party. No one parties when they leave a job, unless they don't like the surroundings or people that they work with. We celebrated the upgrade that Coach Dunlap was able to obtain. Everyone knows that he and his family have worked their tails off to get to where they are today. About his family: this is a great group of people. Coach's wife, Molly and their three children are so kind; just by being around them once or twice, it is like you are their family.
I just want to tell you about my experiences with Coach. When I was a freshman in 2001-2002 season, the team won their second National Championship Title. I was so proud to be a Roadrunner, I taped handmade signs in the windows of the Volkswagen Rabbit. Coach saw these signs and smiled a little.
Since I live on campus, I see Coach at many different events. I saw him at Commencement the past three years, as he has graduated players and was coming to congratulate them. I have talked to him at various fundraisers and functions, the most celebrated one being the Plain & Fancy Ball this past March.
Coach has been there for me. He has noticed how much I have changed since I was a freshman. He left me travel with his team- twice. Can I just interrupt the mushiness of this post and tell you how excited I was to be traveling with the men's basketball team? That is another story in its self- ask me about it later.
I will tell you that the most amazing thing about Coach happened when I was leaving the Tivoli parking lot. As I was crying my eyes out, the cute parking attendant, seeing a female in despair, gave me a hug. All because of Coach Dunlap.
While this post doesn't even tough on everything that Coach, his family and his teams have done for me, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to see all that you do and become a better person.

Thank you and good luck Coach.

True life: I'm a mascot

Way back in June, I wrote about attending the Strawberry Daze parade in Glenwood Springs. As my alter-ego, Rowdy the Roadrunner. In that same post, I wrote about being grateful to have a place to talk about my mascot stories. Well, here I am again. So pull up a chair, get a beverage and read on while I entertain you with a couple of my favorite mascot tidbits.

1) I can remember my first mascot basketball game. It was March 2002 at the RMAC Basketball Championship. I had only been the mascot for about three weeks and was about to learn a very important lesson: When you are in character and something comes off (i.e. your head, shoe, glove, usw.), cover up quick. For Rowdy's character, the manufacturer made the costume so that you can wear your own shoes underneath Rowdy's shoes (basically, the big shoes cover your tennis shoes). I had forgotten to tighten the straps that kept Rowdy's shoes on, so I wasn't extremely surprised when I was running with the ball and Rowdy's shoe came off. In fact, I thought it was hilarious and I preceded to laugh. I laughed so hard, I had to lay on the ground.

2) This didn't happen to me but to a fellow mascot: Cam the Ram was running late to an event and was speeding along the highway when she was pulled over by the police. Not only was she able to get out of the ticket, but she was able to speed the entire way to the event. I guess the police officer was a CSU fan.

3) Regis does not have a mascot (one more reason why Metro is cooler, in my opinion). Every time I go to an event, the same mascots are in attendance: CU, CSU, Metro, UNC, School of Mines. All of the fans want to see CU and CSU duke it out; what about the rest of us? School of Mines, Marvin the Miner and I have decided that since we are in the same conference, we would act like rivals. When Marvin isn't around, my rival is Klawz the Bear from UNC. It works out pretty well and gives us something to do when Cam and Chip are fighting.

4) I remember in my first year that I tried to choreograph a half-time skit, using a couple of cheerleaders and Metro's #1 fan, Elaine. What started of as a great idea soon turned into something else. We were in the middle of this dance-off (Rowdy was pulling out all of his moves) when a young fan ran onto the court. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but Rowdy loves his fans, no matter when or where they seem to pop up. So, of course I bent down to embrace this little girl in a huge hug and was held down by her grip until the music ran out.


Really entertaining, right? But that's the life of a mascot. Always on your feet, always making the crowd go crazy with laughter.

More to come in the future.

Pep talks-helpful or just wasted breath?

Before I get into this post, I just want to say that I have calmed down from my last post. I have received a couple of comments from my fans who were surprised at the anger shown towards that bookstore employee a couple of days ago. I DO NOT feel bad for my actions, nor am I going to apologize to the person. I just want to let you know that I have taken my deep breaths and moved on from situation. Enough said.
Onto my topic for the evening- Pep talks. In the past couple of days I have received about 5 or 6 pep talks from assorted persons; the advice varied but the topic was the same- school. As I have said about 88 million times (according to my little sister Elizabeth- her favorite number is 88), I am graduating in December (there, 88 million and one times). Why I am picking this semester to freake aus, given that I am taking classes that I know I will be able to enjoy and pass with good grades, there should be no reason why I feel like my jaw is turning into cement and why my back has more knots than a Boy Scouts practice rope. Ha!
Which is why the people that are near and dear to me are slightly concerned. My co-workers Laura, Brandi and Augie are counting down the days to Commencement (laymen's terms= graduation), where I will rejoin the human race as the 'Amber' that they fell in love with (note to self: only 106 days remaining). In fact, after taking my Advanced German Grammar final this summer, Augie said it was great having the "old Amber" back.
So why am I freaking out? I honestly have no clue. I wonder if other seniors, in their final semesters have experienced this or are experiencing this phenomenon right now?
*crickets*
So far, I believe I am the only one.
Everyone that has offered advice seems to think that this semester is just like every other one I've taken. My mom says "you passed those classes and you will pass these also." But this semester feels different. It isn't like I am trying to hold onto my undergrad years- No Thanks! I want that diploma more than I want a bean burrito from Taco Bell (if you know me, then you know how much I love bean burritos from Taco Bell). But is wanting something ever enough?
No. It takes hard work, determination and luck. Now, my time here at Metro has been absolutely sacred. I have loved every minute I've spent on this campus- blood, sweat, tears, tests, papers, usw. There is only one thing missing from this chapter in my life right now- my diploma.
But on December 17th, the chapter will be complete. That's a promise. That's the statement that gets me up everyday. And every time my jaw begins to hurt or my back begins to knot up, that will be the statement that calms me down.
I will get my diploma.