Chatting with Curtis: Feb. 4

Huskers.com has asked Curtis Ledbetter to keep a diary throughout the 2004 season. From the start of practice to the postseason, Ledbetter will take Husker fans through the life of a Division I student-athlete.

Last season, the junior from Lawrence, Kan., earned first-team All-Big 12 honors, hitting .348 with 13 homers and 54 RBIs. Ledbetter also is a news-editorial major with a 3.0 grade-point average.

In addition to his weekly updates, Ledbetter will also answer questions from fans about the Husker baseball program. If you have a question you would like to ask Curtis, email your questions to the following address cornhuskerbaseball@yahoo.com.

        

On being inside the last week of practice
"We’ve been working really hard inside and getting a lot of things done.  The first week of practice has gone really smooth.  I don’t know if that should come as a surprise or anything, but sometimes there are a few flaws that you have to work out in that first week.  There haven’t been a lot of flaws this year, and we look pretty good so far.  Obviously, we’re inside and everything, and you never know once you get outside, but, for the most part, everything is going real well."

On the captain’s practice the day before the first official practice began
"We did get one day outside so far.  It was the Friday before we started team practices, and our captains organized a practice at the ballpark. I think it helped a ton.  We haven’t done that until this year, and it shows you the leadership that we have on this team.  We have three captains who are seniors (Justin Pekarek, Jake Mullinax and John Groce) and they have done a great job of getting everyone on the same page before we started practice. The leadership on this team is unbelievable and that is something that people keep saying, but it’s the truth. It’s a really special team that we have this year."

On having a lot of returnees from 2003 team
"It is really important.  We’re able to take some of those younger guys under our wings and get them going a little bit, and we were able to do that in the fall.  We had some injuries that we had to overcome in the fall, and that set us back a bit, but everyone is getting healthy again.  Having all these guys back is great because we’ve been there and we know what it takes to get the job done - not only in the Big 12, but in the postseason.  Some of these guys have been to the College World Series and played there, and others have been to the postseason - to the Big 12 Tournament and everything.  It is really important to have that under your belt and really know what it takes to get the job done."

On the countdown to opening day on Feb. 20
"I was talking to one of my friends at New Mexico on Tuesday, and he couldn’t believe we had 18 inches of snow on the ground and that there was a possibility of us not getting out at all before we come down there.  I told him that that Thursday (Feb. 19) we go down might be the first time we’re outside.  And they’re just awestruck wondering what the heck’s going on up here. 

"We’re really excited about the opening weekend.  We’ve got two weeks left and we’ll see what we can do before we leave.  We’re working hard for that first game against Northwestern- that’s what we work for right now.  And then after that game, we work for the second against New Mexico on Saturday.  It’s going to be a test - all those guys are going to be ready for us.  They are going to throw their number one at us and be ready to knock heads with us.  But we’re going to be fighting back at the same time and it’s going to be a really exciting tournament down there.  It’s going to be a lot of fun."