Oct. 23, 2003
Most of the team got up very late this morning (and some missed breakfast). The sun, water, heat and humidity has definitely taken its toll on the team. There wasn’t a practice or any type of shoot around before the game because Coach Brey just wanted the players to relax and hang out by the beach and pool.
Most of the players spent about an hour in the water posing for the ESPN Magazine photographer, Naomi. She arrived on Tuesday afternoon so this was her first official day with the team, although she did spend some time with the players before the game against the Barbados National Team. Naomi and Peter Thamel, the writer from the magazine, are really nice people and the players and coaches like spending time with them.
The players enjoyed posing for pictures. Naomi even rented an underwater camera. She took pictures of them on the beach and in the water, as well as in the pool. Rick Cornett was caught doing a handstand in the pool with Erin and Shannon Kearney – Naomi captured that as well as some others traveling with the team. Hopefully, Irish fans will be able to see Rick at his finest – it certainly is going to make the photo gallery once the trip has ended.
The Irish played their final game on Tuesday night and lost a heartbreaker, 77-74. The team was very disappointed by its performance, but Coach Brey was proud of how they fought back after falling behind by eight points in the third quarter. He pointed out all the good things that the younger players – Colin, Rick and Chris Quinn have done and that this is a team that is only going to get better as the year goes on. It was nice to see the potential of this team and how much they enjoy playing with one another.
After the game, most of the team headed to Bubba’s to watch Game 4 of the World Series and to get something to eat. No one was left at the end of the game – with an early wake-up call (7:00 a.m.) and practice at 8:00 a.m., no one was going to risk being late for the team bus. Everyone is anxious to get back on the court and work on the things the team didn’t do so well in Wednesday night’s game.