Nique's Notes - Jan. 2

Hey Husker fans!

First of all I would like to apologize for how long it has taken me to keep you up to date with what is happening with us. The season is more than underway and when I am not practicing, I'm probably sleeping.

Since I last wrote we have played thirteen games and we are currently 9-4. We have enjoyed some off the court experiences this pre-season that I will never forget, on road trips to Denver, El Paso, Albuquerque and in Baton Rouge.

Our first road trip began in Denver, Colorado and was the start of a three game road trip. We played the University of Denver and won 76-55. The following morning we flew to Albuquerque, N.M., where we would spend Thanksgiving together on a five-day trip. Let's just say that it was one interesting trip!

The first two days we did not do that much. We shopped, which happens to be a hobby that the majority of the Huskers love to do, especially Kala, Tiny, Tay, KB, Vonnie and myself. I actually found a really cool pair of shoes that I have wanted forever and I finally got them. Of course we can't leave a mall without Tiny and Tay getting at least a couple pair of shoes, so they went home with some real treats as well. Surprisingly, Vonnie on the other hand didn't buy any!

We also practiced these two day and tried to adjust to the altitude and what it was like to play in the historical Pit. The Pit, happens to be one of the toughest places to play in the country and I was very excited to be playing there. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the environment is similar to that of Iowa State

The next day we played Butler, which was a very athletic team. It turned out to be a very good win four our team. Butler was a team that won 19 games the previous year and they had really good post players. The next night we took on the New Mexico Lobos, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year. They were the best team we had played up to that point. The first half we played very well, but out foul trouble enabled them to hang in the game with us. In the second half, they did a tremendous job of taking us out of what we wanted to do and we lost by 11 points. I did feel that it was a great learning experience for our team.

So for those of you who have not heard, we had an interesting tram experience while we were in New Mexico as well. We took a tram up the mountains, which if I remember correctly was about 10,000 feet up. The tram ride round trip was supposed to be about 30 minutes - 15 minutes each way. We got out walked around and took thousands of pictures, as well as watch Jess Periago model her 5 inch stilettos in the mountains! Let's just say Jess was walking rather slowly!

The ride up was rather smooth. The ride down was not. On the way up I happened to be sitting in the front so I couldn't see what was going on during the duration of the trip. On the way down, I was sitting in the back and I could see everything. We had probably been coming down for about four or five minutes when I felt the tram jerk and saw something spinning off the tram that was sparking. I thought, that was a little strange and didn't look normal. We continued moving and not much was said about it. About 30 seconds later, the same thing happened and this time the tram came to a stop. I saw another bearing type thing spin off the tram and it was sparking.

We sat pretty high in the air and waited for what was supposed to be 10 or 15 minutes for someone to come and give us the green light to move the tram, but it felt like it was forever. About 30 minutes later, a man came up and checked it out. It was getting dark outside and we were starting to get a little nervous. He checked it out and decided that it was OK to move.

There was a big problem, though. We were moving back up the mountain to the things that were sparking, rather than down the mountain. People got a little furious with the guy, who happened to be a younger kid probably my age. We told him that we were moving up and he repeatedly told us that we were moving down. Coach Yori, gave him the good ol' "Be assertive! Get on that phone and tell him that this thing is moving up."

The tram finally came to a stop and about 20 minutes later we were down on the ground. The funniest part is that we have a lot of people on our team who love to make others laugh. Right before we left, Coach Yori assured me that this was much safer than an airplane and a car. I threw that in her face and we both got a great kick out of it! And so ends the excitement of our Thanksgiving trip. Many of us felt as though we had a lot to be thankful for.