One Sleep Away

Gaels fans - we are just one sleep away from the biggest game Queen's has played in since 1992!    Excitement is in the air as more and more Queen's fans start to arrive in Quebec City.

This morning the team got some much needed shuteye and the wake up call didn't come until 9:30am.  Pat and his crew attended the Coach of the Year festivites which was held at another hotel.

The team had a short work day - a bunch of meetings in the morning and then of course the usual pregame walk through which was held from 3:30 - 4:30pm  The walk through was held in the rain, but it didn't seem to bother the team that much.  They are in business mode right now and they know what needs to get done.

The one thing that has amazed me about this team since we started the playoffs four weeks ago is how incredibly loose they are.  This team has a quiet confidence about them.  While they are focused on the end goal and they are in business mode ... you get a sense that they are treating this like any other week.   Pat and the coaching staff have kept a pretty tight schedule all week.  Pat has also done an excellent job at ensuring the team keeps to a routine as much as possible. 

Now having said this - I'm sure there are some on the team who are nervous about tomorrow - how can there not be?  Regardless, this is a veteran team with a lot of seniors graduating. These guys know it's there last university football game tomorrow and they are determined to leave everything on the field.

A few other tidbits from today which deserve mentioning:

• Danny Brannagan was stopped in a Quebec restaurant at dinner with a child asking for his autographer.  Danny, one of the nicest athletes I've had a privilege of working (having worked in professional golf and skiing), took time to talk with the kid to make him special - regardless of the result tomorrow - Danny can say he's #1 in class!
  
• Upon return from supper - the hotel we are staying at, brought around a special desert for each player - delivered right to the door. - Classy!
• Rod Black and Duane Forde arrived today and spoke with a number of players in preparation for tomorrow's game - Danny, Shomari, Jimmy Allin and Scott Valberg
• We've been posting photos all week - documentary style... if you haven't seen them check them out at : http://www.gogaelsgo.com/photo_gallery.aspx

A parents reception is about to start in a few minutes.  I'm going to head over to check it out.

Michael Grobe
Communications & Sports Information

Practice Two

Well - things never go as planned and trying to get a blog post up during practice didn't happen.  I'll write quickly because the All-Canadian Banquet is starting at 6:30pm and we are set to leave at 6:15pm. (Yes I still need to get dressed...).

Practice today was good.  The players were greeted to some sun, but mostly cloudy weather with the temperature hovering around six degrees.  It was much nicer conditions to practice in than on Wednesday.

The media contingent is really starting to roll in.  TSN's John Lu was onsite and he wanted to speak to Danny and Shomari.  Shomari also got additional attention from theScore.   Osie, Matt Vickers and Scott Valberg each had a newspaper requests.  Nick Sirski and Frank Pankewich also were interviewed via my cell phone to their local news papers back home.

It's nice to see several members of the team getting media requests of late.  Danny has received a lot of attention this season (and deservedly so), but it's a treat to work with some of the other players who don't always get the media attention they sometimes deserve.

Next up is the All-Canadian Banquet.  The Gaels are headed over as a group 6:15.  Some of the players who haven't been to the gala dinner are asking the veteran guys what they can expect.  This will be my first appearance there and I'm told Laval is planning a decent evening.

I'll report more of the evenings highights when I return.  The big question on everyone's minds will be - who is the Hec Crighton award recipient this evening.  We'll know in a few hours.   Michael Faulds (Western), Erik Glavic (Calgary)   Gary Ross (Mount Allison) and Benoit Groulx (Laval) are all up for the award.

Michael Grobe
Communications & Sports Information