So, last Thursday USU played its first game in the WAC tournament; which was in Reno, NV. My friend, Clark, and I joined a crowd at 3:30 to watch the game at Iggy's. We had plans to go to Reno but we decided not to at the last minute. Watching the game at Iggy's was fun. People were cheering every time USU made a good play. It was better then sitting at home watching it, but not quite like being there. So after we handed the other team an easy defeat we decided right there and then to drive to Reno 600 miles away. We left Logan at 7pm and got to Reno at about 3:30am. Motel 6 was a great place for us; clean and cheap.
The next day we went to see the house my mom lived in for a few years as a child. We then went and walked around Reno to pass the time. We ended up at Circus Circus where we played air hockey and a few arcade games. We won 321 tickets! We turned them in for yo-yos, matchbox cars, and candy. I've been playing with my yo-yo like a seven year-old with a new toy.
We then went to the games. First it was USU vs. NM State; the battle of the Aggies (of course we all know true Aggies bleed blue). This was a battle and a half! USU came out strong quickly gaining the upper hand. That didn't last long as NM State made every shot they threw up. They made 8 of 11 threes in the first half! We went into the half down 14. We came out of the half strong quickly coming within five, however, we never could get closer. That is until we got inside three minutes. We came within two and even one several times. We were down on with about 20 sconds left. We got the ball and played down the clock when Tyler Newbold mad a 12 footer leaving 3.1 secons left. USU wins 71-70.
The next day we decided to go to Lake Tahoe. Neither of us remeber going there, so we were suprised at how big the lake was. We walked along the windy and chilly beach for about 15 minutes and then we drove clear to the other side of the lake where we ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. This wa my first experience at a Hard Rock Cafe and I liked it alot, very good food! We then drove through Carson City and back to Reno.
We were both nervous about the final game of the tournament. We were playing the second seed, a very good Nevada team, on their home court. We had lost on that court to Neveda only a few weeks before. We came out on fire gaining a 21-4 lead. Nevada never came closer then three, and most of the time they were 9-15 points behind. Every time they had a run we would respond by having a run of our own. We ended the first half up five. The battering kept up in the second half. Our lead at one point was 19! They made a valiant effort to cut the lead but it was too big to overcome. We won the game by ten.
We are ranked 25 in the coaches poll and we will face number 24, Marquette, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at 10:30 am. Go aggies
UNC or Duke; that was the question. So after careful consideration I have chosen to attend Duke University. I chose Duke for two reasons. First, Duke is much smaller than UNC. I felt that I'd get more personal attention at Duke. The labs at UNC were large and I felt that it would be very easy to get pushed into some obscure corner by my PI (primary investigator; essentially my mentor). Second, the Richardson Lab. The Richardson's are to protein structure as Steven Spilsburgh is to film making. You simply can't beat their reputation! In this field there is such a thing as an academic pedagree. To have the Richardson's on my pedagree as my PhD PIs is something quite spectacular. Watch me go there and then decide to go into another lab after rotations, :).
