John Baylor's Blog: May 25

Dancing in Beijing.  Nearly the entire team spontaneously jumped up and danced to Shania Twain's 'Feel Like A Woman' tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe. Beneath the Elvis paintings and John Lennon Guitars, the happy Huskers entertained the entire clapping crowd. Seven days of training and travel required a little release.

The Beijing Pro Team earlier didn't give Nebraska much competition.  We played about 15 practice games to ten.  Nebraska won most of them before finally playing to 25, a true game the Big Red won by two.

Many players are measurably better than 2005-- most notably Rachel Schwartz and Amanda Gates.  Gates also has a new nickname-- Oolong, which is Chinese for black dragon.  The Columbus High grad says that last year was difficult at times because she hadn't been a reserve since getting cut from varsity her freshman year. She lost a bit of confidence in herself, and hopes this year she can make a statement to herself that she can really do this.  She also credits Ben Boldt, her former club team coach, largely for helping her get this far.  Ben is now an indispensible practice player with the team; he also takes care of all team filming with Bill Egbert.  Amanda is becoming a blocking and attacking force in the middle, her confidence and smiles growing on and off the court.

Amanda's mom works at the Columbus hospitable and her Dad at Becton Dickinson, easily one of Columbus' foremost employers. She is thinking about Communications as a major and then a career perhaps in business or coaching or broadcasting.  But she's just a sophomore, still deciding, and at this pace should be a key contributor this fall.

We spent the afternoon touring the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace for five centuries of Chinese Emperors.  The Forbidden City is nearly a kilometer by a kilometer, filled with temples and tourists.  The Emperor had it good.

The often dilapidated Beijing we saw six years ago has largely given way to gleaming aluminum and glass.  The financial district alone has sprung into a collection of dozens of skyscrapers. 

Friday morning brings a rematch with the Beijing Pro Team.