Getting her beauty sleep

Hello Everyone!!

I thought I would share something interesting some of my teammates and I are doing this quarter. Ash, Jill, Kayla and I are all participating in a sleep study for athletes. The goal is to see if increased sleep leads to increased athletic performance as well as overall alertness.

One of the requirements is that we get ten hours of sleep a night, which definitely gets tricky with our busy schedules! We also keep track of our daily alertness and take PVT reaction time tests twice a day. The times are supposed to decrease as we get more sleep. (Ash and I definitely have room for improvement!)

Another part of the study is that we are required to wear watches, called Actiwatch, which serve as motion sensors to track our sleep. They are quite stylish, all of our teammates are jealous. (Not really, they are actually quite unstylish, but we manage.)

All of us have weekly meetings with Cheri, the leader of the study, at the Sleep Center. She has us fill out questionnaires about how we are feeling and collects our sleep journals. Ash and I bike over together every Tuesday. I definitely enjoy our lovely bonding time as well as the scenery.

So far, I have noticed a difference in my alertness throughout the day with ten hours of sleep. I feel like I have more energy, especially at practice. I highly recommend sleeping as much as you can.

According to Dr. Dement, the Sleep and Dreams professor, "Drowsiness is red alert," which means people are in danger when they don't get enough sleep. So, get all the beauty sleep you need!

Hannah

P.S. I should also mention that the sleep study counts as a class. I've decided that sleeping is definitely the best way to get units!!

P.P.S. Save a tree! RECYCLE!!!!!

Oregon, a fantastic but underrated state

I just want to say that I went online to read the previous blog entries and am not sure if I can top the public display of headbands, which I think is an amazing topic (touché Ros, touché). I completely 100% agree that, “While they may not get all the game calls right, referees are serious about headband infractions.” I have already had my fair share of “serious headband infractions” and let me tell you, they are no joke!

Ok so now onto my topic: Oregon. I feel that Oregon is a very underrated state by everyone on the team (Jill excluded) and that people do not enjoy the full benefits of such a wonderful state. However, I do not claim to be associated with anywhere beyond, and including, Oregon City. AAU teams from all over the nation congregate in this little town and take this small part of a huge state as a representation of what the rest of the state must be like. Even my roommate believed that her mother, who is from this fantastic state, grew up in covered wagons, like in the computer game “The Oregon Trail.”

Let me set the record straight: where Jill and I are from, things are a little different. Especially Portland, where I usually find myself when I am looking for something to do. It is a big city and I am constantly discovering new restaurants and boutiques. However, it is not too big that you get overwhelmed. I always tell people that it is big enough where you can get lost, but if you take a second, you can usually figure out where you are. Plus, it is extremely clean, as far as cities go.

My usual cruising spot is NW 23rd St., where many of my favorite restaurants are. A place that I am particularly proud of knowing its location is Voodoo Doughnuts. This little hole-in-the-wall shop is now open 24 hours a day, but when I was in high school, it was open during the obscure hours of 10pm to 10am. The doughnuts here are very peculiar, for they have combinations you would not expect: a glazed doughnut with Captain Crunch or Fruit Loops on top and one that I have yet to try, and doubt I will, a maple bar with a strip of bacon. On any random Friday or Saturday night, when I have nothing to do, I may hit up Voodoo Doughnuts with my friends, which turns into a 20-minute car ride blasting old school Britney Spears songs.

As I sit here in my room writing this blog, Jillian is sprawled out on my couch, and for some reason I am reminded of high school basketball when Jillian was the best thing since sliced bread (and she still is!) and I was extremely intimidated by her. But that’s how every person on every other team should feel when they look at her. When she gets back on the court, expect greatness.

GO CARD!!!!

JJ Hones

The Coolest Pet Ever

So ... I know many of my teammates write their blogs about basketball and that’s really cool and all because I mean basketball is basically our life, but I would like to focus my blog on something else that is very special in my life ... Yes, if you guessed my desert tortoise Rocky you are 100% correct.

Some of you may be thinking, “Why in the world is she writing about her pet desert tortoise?” Well, I think first off he is really cool, and second, there are many things about desert tortoises that people don’t know, which I found out when Coach Kate was asking me a million questions about desert tortoises one day. In fact, she was the one that gave me this brilliant idea to write about Rocky because she was so intrigued.

So to continue with my blog ... one thing many people don’t know about desert tortoises is that they go into hibernation and sleep for almost 6 months. That is a very long time; I would love to be able to sleep that long!

At the end of the winter, Rocky usually wakes up and starts to move around again. Before hibernation though, my mom tries to feed him as much as possible so he stays healthy all winter. Around late October we put him in a box in the garage with newspaper so he’s nice and comfortable and my mom even puts a stuffed animal with him in there too. Haha! She also checks on him every now and then to make sure he is OK. So basically we only have a desert tortoise as a pet for half a year. It’s really weird.

Another thing people don’t really know is what desert tortoises eat. Rocky loves lots of different types of lettuce, carrots, fruit, squashes, and the occasional hibiscus flower, which desert tortoises love. My mom really gets into it and buys him a wide variety of food. It’s like a buffet! He eats better than I do.

Something really funny about Rocky is that he actually knows when people are around and if you call his name he will come to you, slowly but surely. He’s quicker than you think though, don’t let the rumors about turtles and tortoises fool you.

During the day when he’s not in hibernation, he stays on our front porch, which is a pretty big area for him and he can roam around. We are thinking about putting a camera out there to see what he actually does when we are not around. I think he throws parties with his tortoise friends but that’s just me.

He’s probably the coolest pet ever and sometimes he and my cat interact which is pretty funny. I like to think of Rocky as my little dinosaur.



On a basketball note, I just want to say how exciting this season has been so far and how truly blessed I am to be in such a great program with such amazing people.

GO CARD!!!

Jeanette Pohlen #23

Public Displays of Headbands

I’ve decided to use my blog to alert the masses about a controversial subject arising in women’s college basketball. First, a quick shout out to my mom and sister, and all the people who hold me down, "What’s up!"

There is a hot button topic that has become an issue of concern this year in women’s college basketball. Referees everywhere are cracking down on PDH’s this year. That’s right folks, I’m talking about public displays of headband.

Entire teams must wear the same color headband, and a color that matches the uniform. There cannot be too many logos or endorsements on the headband, and size is sometimes a touchy subject. Infuriated, players with lucky headbands tried to beat the system and wear them anyway but no player has succeeded. Stanford captains, Candice Wiggins and Jillian Harmon, are often sent back to their teammates to bear the bad news.

While they may not get all the game calls right, referees are serious about headband infractions. A few times, wild haired players like Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and Cissy Pierce play an entire game working tirelessly on defense to keep their player away from the basket and their hair away from their face.

So why the sudden fuss over head apparel you wonder? Some studies show this isn’t an overnight trend. Headwear and hairstyles are very conscious and strategic choices made by the Stanford players.


Sophomore JJ Hones always wears her hair in a neat bun in belief that a neat player plays a neat game. Center, Jayne Appel, better known for her versatile stash of drop steps and power slides, also keeps an arsenal of variations on buns, pony tails, braids, and twists. Personally, I have experimented with both braids and twists, and currently I wear a high ponytail with a broad white tie-on headband, sporty yet casual cute at the same time. Injured point guard, Melanie Murphy, another New Yorker with style, wore her headband thick and low over her ponytail. Even Jillian Harmon’s famous “woke up this morning with this bun” hairstyle is more planned than she lets on; reports claim she wears this style to both games and dress-up events.

Objective and sensible people agree, “Refs, leave the players alone!" If the players want to wear their hair and headbands a certain way, then so be it. Basketball was better when the players focused on themselves and the refs focused on their calls.

-Rosalyn Gold-Onwude

Tara's teammate

Arizona...

What a lovely trip to get out of the way! I wanted nothing more than to get to Arizona, win two games, and get out!

The team really pulled it together this weekend and showed a lot of fight in the second game. Jeannette making those two free throws to seal the deal vs. ASU really showed how our team expects contributions from the whole team to win a game. It took effort from everyone to pull together and get the wins that we needed. Of course, there were many other highlights of this road trip besides the two wins.

The seniors of last year told me stories about Tara that they said they would never forget. This weekend, Tara made a memory in my mind that I cannot imagine ever slipping away.

As we got to Arizona for our practice the day after our win most of the girls were still putting on their ankle braces when Cissy and I began to watch Kate and Tara play one on one. We decided to make it more interesting and join in on the game.

Now, I have never really seen the coaches truly play basketball, so this was a new sight for me. And what a sight it was. Tara and I were on one team versus Cissy and Kate. A little one-sided on the speed factor, if you ask me. We had been going full court and Tara got a couple of lay-ups but mostly was lobbing the ball inside. The final time down the court when Tara and I were down by a couple of baskets she said, "Next basket wins," as she lobbed it in the air. I made a lay-up and the game was over. Kate and Cissy still claim that they won the game. I guess it really is true that the head coach has the final say.

Being a teammate of Tara's is something that I will never forget. The best part about the game is that Bobbie video taped the whole thing. Expect it on you-tube soon.

I would say that this trip really defined our team as one that fights when we get down. We have lots to work on this week with the big game coming up on Saturday. Can't get my hopes up that Tara will be playing with us this week again as it will be back to business so we can get done what needs to be done.

Jayne #2

Ready to play!

Hey all!

When I decided to come to Stanford, I knew I was making a big sacrifice because I would barely be able to see my family for nine months out of the year. With my family living 3,000 miles away from campus, it isn’t very realistic for them to fly out every weekend for games, especially since I have been hurt. So I was extremely excited to get the opportunity to back home to Yarmouth, Maine for Christmas.

After our huge win against Tennessee, I rushed to the airport to catch my flight home and thirteen long hours later, I was back in Maine, just barely making it back before an impending snowstorm hit New England. While the constant sunshine and temperatures above sixty degrees are two things that I love about attending Stanford, it doesn’t feel completely like Christmas without snow. So while I was home, I spent as much time as I could enjoying the twenty degree temperatures and three feet of snow that covered my entire yard.

Once I got back from a short Christmas break, it was back to practice to get ready for Pac-10 play. And after a long month of rehab and working myself back into shape after back surgery, I was finally cleared to participate in practice. After five long months of not being able to play, it felt awesome to be back on the court with my teammates instead of being stuck on the sidelines. It is a great feeling knowing that I can make it through a whole practice without any pain!

I want to thank everyone who comes out and supports our team! Come out and watch us make our way through out Pac-10 schedule. It means a lot to all of us!

GO CARD!!

Ashley Cimino

Welding, drilling and tapping

I am currently writing this blog sitting in the hotel in New Mexico. We have just finished playing against UNM, and can I just say-wow. What a great place to play! It was an amazing environment to experience! Even if a majority of the fans were yelling against us, it was a fun and exciting place to play.

The trip itself was glorious in that it finally allowed me to catch up on some MUCH needed sleep. After two weeks of cramming and practice, I am more than a little sleep deprived.

Although, fortunately I think finals went pretty well. During dead and finals week, I spent a majority of the time trying to catch up on a project I was making for ME203-Engineering Manufacturing and Design. I had to create my own product from scratch, and I chose to make a basketball shooting aide. The basic concept was a guard that was raised about 3” above the rim that made you shoot with higher arc. The manufacturing was an interesting process. I had to bend steel using a torch and pliers into an 18” diameter ring (for those of you that don’t know- that is the size of the rim). It also included milling pieces from aluminum, heat forming poly-carb, welding, and drilling and tapping. If you don’t understand any of what this entails-before this class neither did I.

It’s amazing how much you can learn in 9 weeks! I am extremely glad to be done with that class. Although it was a fun experience, it was extremely stressful. After all, I can make up problem sets, missed lectures and readings on the road, but it is impossible to make up shop time. But I guess that is what I get for undertaking an engineering major.

But I’m hoping it will all pay off in the end. I want to be sure to get the best education I can-after all that’s why we go to Stanford.

Anyway, to conclude I’ll just say COME OUT AND WATCH US BEAT TENNESSEE!! We’ve been working our tails off, and you should definitely come see our efforts at work.

Step Up Your Game

One of the main reasons I got into coaching and chose to come back to Stanford was because of my experience as a member of the Stanford women’s basketball team. Playing at Stanford taught me so much about the game AND life and I have loved the opportunity to share some of those lessons with young people, specifically now with our Stanford team.

When I got word that I was charged the task of writing a blog for the Fastbreak Club, I admit my first thought was, “I’m going to suck at this.” But then I immediately thought of two of the biggest lessons I learned as a player at Stanford and now try to pass on to our team as a coach:

• Lesson #1: Good teammates work together to make each other look good.                   
  
  
• Lesson #2: If you invest everything in each other, your teammates will be your teammates for life. 

So my next thought was, “Yes, I would suck at writing a blog…but Va would be great!” So I texted Va and asked her to be my “Guest-Blogger.” She said as long as I proofread, she’d be happy to help me make the play…and, as usual, my teammate came through.  

So without further adieu…here’s The One, The Only, The Truly Incomparable, Vanessa Nygaard, coming straight to The Fastbreak Club from her coaching gig in the Da’ Bu…

STEP UP YOUR GAME!

So it has been a good long while since Stanford has been to the Final Four or won a National Championship. Cardinal fans, alumni, boosters and players don’t really need anyone else pointing that out.

As the years pass with heartbreaking losses and ridiculous charge calls, it is easy as a fan to sit back and say, “Well, wait till next year.” But instead of living in the past and hoping for the future, what about taking a good hard look at YOU, the fan of Stanford basketball. Have you ever considered that YOU might be the problem? Yes, YOU!

Maybe in the cosmic scheme of things you don’t just sit there and cheer, maybe you do have an effect on the game?

Are you in a rooting rut? Do you do the same things before games that you did ten years ago? Park in the same spot? Buy the same churro? Wear the same Fastbreak club t-shirt over your button-up shirt you wore to work? Maybe it is time to change it up? If this is the year that the Card wins it all, are you really ready????

Change is good! Don’t hold onto your old traditions. As Pearl Jam so eloquently stated, “Sometimes the hand you hold is the hand that holds you down.”

RELEASE…. And be reborn as a new genetically advanced, twenty hundreds, Internet ready, UBER-BOOSTER!!!!

So you say, “Vanessa, I don’t know how to do that. I love my faded red polo shirt and Una Mas pregame?”

No fear, I am here to help! Trust and learn. Let’s go….

First, you need a fresh outlook. What is a fan to you? Someone that follows the team and goes to some games? Or someone with a true commitment and insufferable loyalty to their team of choice? You can’t just sit back anymore and watch - a real fan, an UBER-BOOSTER is a woman or man of action! Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Tailgate – set up the BBQ, pull out the lawn chairs and get ready to cheer on the home team in true America sports fan style.
   


2. Invade the Blogosphere! – Visit the East Coast blogs and fight the bias with some old fashion trash talk laced with west coast style. Example: You Huskies might have beat us this time, but at least our coach doesn’t look like a stunt double for French President, Nicolas SARKOZY!
   


3. A tattoo – nothing says commitment like flesh art.


4. Paint your car – make your transportation a mobile advertisement for your favorite team.


5. Creative and organized heckles – I used to love when the Maples fans chanted, “Sit down Chris!” I am sure that you can come up with something that rhymes with “Tia,” and “Boyle” is a heckler’s homerun


6. My personal favorite – name your next kid or pet something Stanford. Who wouldn’t want a bird named “Star” or a moose named “Carolyn”?

I hope these ideas get your booster juices flowing so STEP UP YOUR GAME, and I can’t wait to see the results. Who knows, maybe your new red Mohawk will push the Cardinal over the top?

GO STANFORD!

Frequent Flyer

HELLO!

This year our team has accumulated quite the collection of frequent flyer miles: 6,000 miles to and from New Jersey, 750 miles to Utah, and another 6,000 miles from Utah to the Virgin Islands and back! When the coaches recruited me to play basketball at Stanford they said we would travel, but I never imagined it would be this much. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to travel all over the country to play. This year alone I will have been to three new states if you count our upcoming trip to New Mexico, and in my first two years at Stanford I went to Minnesota, Tennessee, Georgia, and Massachusetts for the first time. That brings my total to seven new states in just three years!

I must say that our recent trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands has been the most memorable. What better way is there to spend Thanksgiving than in the Virgin Islands with my teammates and family? Since we got the week of Thanksgiving off from school, we traveled straight from Utah to St. Thomas. That gave us a full week to enjoy all that St. Thomas has to offer. If you know our coaches, then you know we spent much of our time watching film and getting as prepared as possible for each of our three opponents. However, we still found our way to the beach a couple of times. Let me tell you, I sure could get used to going from practice to the beach for a few hours! As simple as this sounds, my favorite part of the entire trip was sitting on my balcony overlooking the ocean and attempting the daily crossword from the New York Times.

Even though we just played yesterday, I am already anxious to play Baylor! However, these next two weeks will be a great opportunity to catch up on all of my homework that “I couldn’t seem to find” while I went to the beach. [Jillian wrote this blog on Dec 3.] Thank you to those of you who follow our team so closely and are so supportive! See you at home versus Baylor.

GO CARD!

Jillian Harmon

How time flies!

Hey everyone!

Let me start off by being cliche and saying that I can't believe that I'm a senior! But I don't mean that from a "how time flies" perspective alone (because the time has gone pretty fast). I really mean it when I think that only 3 years ago I was a freshman and a teenager, and now, in that short span of time, I am suddenly the oldest player on our team and one of the most experienced. The level of change and maturity in a short amount of time is unbelievable. And what really gets me is that this is my last year of playing organized, amateur basketball - after this, it's either play for money or play for fun (or have fun while you're playing for money).

I want to play professionally for a few years (overseas would be awesome!!!) and eventually go to veterinary school. Vet school is hard to get into, possibly harder than med school because there are so few vet schools nationally, but hopefully this Stanford diploma I'm about to receive will help me out a little. :)

We're into December now, which means finals for classes, the last of our preseason schedule, and then Christmas! So wish our team luck this year as we make another try at the Final Four and a National Championship. Especially come root for us against Baylor and Tennessee! We've never had such a competitive schedule before and we want our fans cheering us on through the whole thing!

Well I've got to go write some papers. Thanks for all the support and GO CARD!

Cissy