August 10, 2004

THE CRITICAL 24-HOUR PERIOD

In homage to my good friend and past equipment manager of the National Team and CyberRays, Dainis Kalnins, I am going to call my notes on the night before a game "The Critical 24-Hour Period.” Dainis used to say this to the players when it came to crunch time on a project or game...it seems to make things all clear. It is the critical 24-hour period for multiple reasons. We have our pregame talk. Today it’s what Greece is good at, who their key players are, what their likely formation will be, as well as what we need to do to combat their design, offensively and defensively. We watch video, have a big dinner to begin loading up on pasta with tunafish sauce (no, just kidding, although that was a choice tonight).

We got a chance to train for exactly 45 minutes on the stadium pitch. Oh, is it glorious. There is something really truly special about going into a SOCCER stadium. You feel the energy of good combination play, a hard won tackle, a goal into the upper 90...you feel it in your bones, pumping through your veins, an adrenaline rush. It is the best 45 minutes of your life, and it only gets better when you are allowed to run out on to the field for warm up on game day.

It is also the night when I can't sleep very well. I put my head down and all I can do is have flashes of the game. An overlap, a long change of field pass, a ball slipped behind the defender with such touch that she thinks she can reach it only to find that it eludes her by the slightest of margins. It is important to get sleep, but this positive imagery has turned into a part of my pregame ritual. I see all the good things that I can accomplish in the game, on both sides of the ball, hear the crowd roar in approval of a good play, and I feel the crush of my teammates as they come together when one of us has placed the ball into the net. After I allow myself to be consumed by these moments, I close my eyes to hopefully get some rest. (I usually get 6 hours a night, pretty good I think.)

The second half of the critical 24-hour period begins when I wake up and it is time to have breakfast. Some people have a ritual about what they eat, Shannon Boxx likes banana pancakes (can hardly wait to see how that translates into Greek tomorrow morning), but me, I think I go mostly on how I am feeling that specific day. Toast for sure, maybe oatmeal and eggs (gotta have your protein, brain food, soccer just isn't a physical game).

As for now, it is time to say good night....See you in the morning for breakfast.

Brandi