THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN NCAA SOFTBALL PLAYER (PARTS 8 & 9)

Part Eight Article and Video on espnW | Part Nine Article and Video on espnW

Part Eight
Familiar sights, familiar sounds, familiar feelings. Backpacks in tote, sneakers trudging toward a bus that awaits like a chariot, a feeling of anticipation in the air. We've done this countless times before, but this time it's a little different. This time, we're playing for a championship and the right to do this all again next week.

For the past 13 weeks of this season, and for countless weeks before that, we've been playing for these next four days at the University of Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. Countless mornings passed in the weight room, myriad grueling practices experienced through changing seasons, months spent living out of duffle bags, and enough miles accrued to cross the continental U.S. several times over, all for four days in May and a chance to hoist that massive, silver trophy on Saturday afternoon.

That's the great blessing and curse of these next four days, though. Teams across the country have the chance to start anew and either right the wrongs of these last 13 weeks and advance to the promised land of the NCAA tournament, or get their hearts broken by the unpredictable nature of this game and have the season come to an end.
We Fordham Rams are as battle-tested and experienced as they come, and we know what's at stake this week: a third straight Atlantic 10 Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament, or the end of our season and the completion of six softball careers, including my own.

As we head to UMass as the third seed in a six-team tournament, we are fully cognizant of the battles that lie ahead. While we have been humbled by this roller-coaster ride of a season, we possess a quiet confidence stemming from both our experiences in championship settings and from the way we have been playing lately.

When we step onto the field this week, it will all be familiar: the sights, sounds and feelings of a conference tournament, with nearly everything to gain and so much to lose. But the beauty of playing college softball in May is that no matter how familiar things may seem, the ordinary always gives way to the extraordinary when a championship is on the line. That alone is an exciting thought.

No matter what the end result is this weekend, I know extraordinary things are in store for the next four days on Sortino Field, and on fields just like it across the country. After all, next to Christmas, this is the most wonderful time of year.

Part Nine
I remember studying Aristotle's concept of synergy in my philosophical ethics class during my sophomore year. From a desk in Fordham's hallowed Keating Hall, I learned about this 2,000-year-old idea stating that the whole of something is greater than the sum of its parts.

Maybe Aristotle was a sportsman back in his day, because his profound thoughts reflect the ultimate metaphor for teamwork, which was on display for us this past week in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

Following a regular season that saw our team frequently competing as individuals rather than a cohesive whole, there were enough ups and downs to make even roller coaster enthusiasts queasy. But, we Rams finally discovered the synergy that had been lacking for many of the previous 50 games, and fortunately, it was found in the nick of time.

Just a handful of weeks ago, our erratic play had caused us to question whether or not we would even qualify for the conference tournament. We began to hear the whispers of outsiders and naysayers and had intermittently fallen into the trap of doubting our ability to capture a third straight championship. But, similar to how the trees seem barren one day and in full bloom the next, something suddenly and inexplicably began to blossom for us just recently between the white lines.

Entering the conference tournament as the third seed, we cruised through the six-team bracket during our stay in Amherst, Massachusetts. Like a well-oiled machine, we won four straight games, including victories over second-seeded St. Louis and top-seeded Dayton in the championship game, even though both teams had combined to beat us four times during the regular season. Against the odds and predictions, we became the first No. 3 seed in our conference's history to hoist the trophy on championship Saturday.

On paper, we weren't supposed to win the tournament this year. SLU had beat us on walk-offs twice during our first conference series of the season in March in devastating, come-from-behind fashion, and Dayton had mercied us on our home field during Easter weekend. Even though we had displayed dominance against every other team in the conference, there was a great disparity that existed between the top three squads in the Atlantic 10 and the rest of the teams this year. Thus, despite our impressive 17-5 conference record, we were still viewed as the third best team in the A-10. On paper, that is.

But as we had been reminding ourselves since the last time we played and lost to SLU and Dayton, championships aren't won in the chilly days of March and April; they are won in the heat of May. And, no matter how bumpy the ride may have felt earlier this season, the synergy that ensued last week was certainly worth the wait.

That's the great thing about sports. No matter what the prognosticators predict, the critics critique, or the numbers suggest, the one ineffable characteristic about competition is its human element. And with that, comes a whole slew of possibilities. Like the synergy that a team can kick into high gear at the most opportune of times, and go from performing as individuals to competing as a unified whole that is most definitely greater than the sum of its parts. That is the most beautiful of sights on a softball diamond, if you ask me.

So, fresh off the heels of our seemingly improbable Atlantic 10 championship, here's to hoping that our synergy persists in the upcoming NCAA regional at James Madison University, even if for just a few more days.