Aug. 3, 2005
Throughout the Summer, Football Senior Captain Michael Ononibaku has written a weekly journal, filling us in on the progress of his and his team's training in preparation for the upcoming season. This is his final installment
Read past entries:
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
Week 4
August 3, 2005
Last Friday marked the end of more than 10 weeks of football workouts and overall, as I've mentioned before, this summer may have been the best of my four years. With training camp starting in about a week on August 9th, I'm confident that my teammates both in DC and at home are ready for this upcoming season. We began our last week of summer training on Monday with a 7-on-7 match-up with the University of Maryland. Then on Friday we finished with a trip to the "Exorcist stairs" one last time for a group picture and a final run through. I liked the idea of having a group picture because it lets us look back at the hard work that we all put in this summer, and what better place then at the Exorcist stairs, where we would sprint and sprint until our legs felt like cooked spaghetti. The intensity of our workouts tapered down during the week in order to allow us to rejuvenate and to get ready for preseason camp.
Monday's match-up against Maryland was a great experience for us all, we were able to get some good work in and improve our skills. Some of the guys from home that came up to play with us helped to fill a few holes in some areas of our defense and offense. We had just one quarterback playing for the whole game - Matt Bassuener - and he got a chance to work on his timing with receivers Steve Ekechuku, Jonathan Edwards, and Dominique Saunders. A couple of the tight ends also made some nice catches including Glenn Castergine and Harrison Beacher. On the defensive side of the ball, the defensive backs and linebackers got some good reps against Maryland's speedy receivers. Although Moe Banks was out for the game, Matt Barbiasz and Sheldon Epps provided strong support at the safety spots. Brian Tandy and Kevin Cherepski both played exceptionally well at the corner positions. Cherepski had two picks against Maryland's QB, and almost ran one back for a touchdown. There were a lot of linebackers rotating in and out, so unfortunately it was hard for everyone to get enough reps. Mehdi Hassan, Joe Kuhns, Jason Carter, Jackson Dismukes, Matt Calhoun, Mike Greene, and myself were the linebackers who rotated throughout the game. Taken as a whole, I believe our match-up with Maryland was successful because there has definitely been a marked improvement from the way we played in the beginning of the summer to the way we are playing now.
A few weeks of training have resulted in astounding improvements on our team, especially for the newer faces. Since the beginning of July a good number of incoming freshmen players have worked out with the team and have benefited tremendously with the one-on-one help that Augie has provided in the weight room. Typically, when coming out of high school most football players know how to bench or squat, but few come from programs that emphasize power cleaning and other Olympic movements. At most college football programs like Georgetown, Olympic lifts are considered important for improving strength and speed on the gridiron. However, it seems like every year a couple freshmen struggle with learning how to clean or snatch, because they aren't common ways to lift. Once they get the technique down, the lifts get a bit easier and it helps with their transition from high school to college football. Watching the freshmen progress in the weight room has been in some ways reminiscent of when we seniors were incoming freshman, and Augie was teaching all of us how to clean or snatch. Now, I see the younger guys more confident with the weights and lifting heavier, and I'm certain that they will be ready for what's in store for them this season and beyond.
Our last day of summer training this past Friday morning ended on a good note. We began the morning as we usually do at 6 am, and did our regular workout including a dynamic warm-up, some agility drills and then conditioning. We ran 12 100-yard sprints for conditioning, which, for most of us, wasn't bad at all. Comparing last Friday's conditioning to that of late May, when we first began summer workouts, our endurance and speed have certainly improved. What may been a sprint back then feels like a jog to us now. Furthermore, many of us have been able to put on some good weight, getting bigger and stronger while maintaining or improving our speed. After the conditioning, we all jogged to the Exorcist steps, for what we thought was going to be an intense 8 flights up and down the stairs. Instead, Augie had us take a group picture, and thanked us for all our dedication to training this summer. Before we broke, Augie made a short but powerful speech to us about continuing our work ethic throughout the season and resisting complacency. He mentioned that as hard as it may be to wake up early in the morning to train, there are a lot of other people out there who have it way harder. What we have to do is certainly not as bad as waking up in pain every morning, like some of our current or former teammates who have sustained serious football injuries or other types of injuries. In my opinion, that sentiment reiterates the fact that playing football should be looked upon as a privilege, because not everyone has the opportunity or physical capacities to play such an intense sport. For that reason, I embrace training as a necessary aspect of the game of football, and work myself to the brink. My belief is that if I'm going to invest my time and energy to this sport then I might as well work hard to be the best I can be, and I'm sure a lot of my teammates feel the same way. I'm very proud of the growth we have all made, and I am confident that the players at home have been working hard as well. It's been a great summer, and I have my teammates and Augie to thank for that. I also wanted to thank the other weight room staff who helped us out: Coach Mike and Matt as well as former players Dawon, Jordan, and Franken. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my journal entries throughout the summer, and I look forward to seeing you in the stands when we're winning games in our new stadium this season!
