Sherri Coale Journal No. 2

This is the second installment of Sherri Coale's journal. Coach Coale is in her eighth season as head coach of the nationally-ranked women's basketball program.

Sherri Coale
Journal Entry No. 2 (Dec. 12, 2003)
We spent Thanksgiving on the beach with hundreds of sea gulls who couldn't seem to decide where they were supposed to be. Gladstones served us traditional turkey and dressing and we took a big family photo in the cool, California night air when we were done. I couldn't help thinking how it reminded me of a curtain call-not because it was an ending, but because it was a recognition of all those that make the show possible.

We had mom's and dad's and brothers, adopted parents, managers, radio personnel, nieces, nephews and even a boyfriend. And we each had those who were not with us physically, with us in our hearts. It all felt easy and right. A lot like our team.

Someone once asked me if it made me sad that we (as in my personal family) never had a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in our home. Answer is: (drumrollllllllllllllll) . . . NO! I'm actually elated. What's traditional for one is not always traditional for another. Our family Thanksgiving has always been a "vacation". We go to some fabulous location-generally sunny and warm with water nearby-and we are profoundly thankful for one another and life as we know it.

We try to win games; we hurry home and erect a Christmas tree, and never once do we have to deal with leftover stuffing and cranberries that look even scarier in Tupperware than they do in a plate shaped like a turkey. I figure if I work it right, I will never have to try to cook a bird in an oven I scarcely know how to turn on. And trust me, for that my family is thankful.

Through six games our team has scored 511 points, pulled down 256 rebounds and turned it over an impressive 116 times. Oh wait! It's not good for that last number to be so large! We've had that confused for the longest time now. Though we've not yet lost a game, I'm not sure how good we are. We opened the season by outrebounding Oral Roberts by 45-a statistic bloated by the ultimate offensive filibuster: 32 missed field goals.

In our second game we proceeded to outscore Southeast Missouri State, putting 83 points on the board in a game infested with 51 fouls. Lots of things come and go in women's basketball: the triangle offense . . . the match-up zone . . . but one thing you can always count on is a surreal number of stoppages in play. Unfortunately, some things never seem to change.

We swept the Pepperdine Classic, won ugly at SMU and beat a very good Utah team at home just a couple of days ago. I know a few things about our team at this point. We are capable of scoring a lot of points in forty minutes. We have a versatile, deep bench which enables us to wear down our opponents. And we are really good together. Not so much with timing and spacing yet, but in a general sense. Much the way a great athlete is at ease with his body, we are at ease together.

We're en route to Bozeman, Montana as I write. I know, I know, but the kids can't think that every place it takes a long time to get to from Norman looks like Malibu. Our players are awake-every one of them. If their fingers aren't on the keys of a lap top, they're wrapped around a highlighter or lodged within the pages of a textbook. Next week are final exams and though our student-athletes are publicly graded every time an official tosses up the opening tip, the results of next week lead to grades that will follow them for the rest of their lives. They are in the middle of a week that will stretch them.

It will be more uncomfortable for some than others, but they'll all come out on the other side a little more prepared for the real world-- which is, we often forget, the very definition of education. It's not just the facts, the knowledge, the rhetoric; it's the ability to process, the skill to balance, the poise to perform. One of the most significant lessons a person can ever learn is how to make the most important thing whatever it is you're doing while you're doing it.

That's where having "student-athlete" on a resume' sets you apart. Physical and mental immersion in the moment at hand is a skill you develop as a collegiate student-athlete or you don't survive. Don't tell me every business in America doesn't need a little more of that.

Just an hour ago, we left a drizzly, freezing-rain-mixed-with-snow Will Roger's World Airport only to zip above the hovering storm to a transparent sky. The thick, rippled clouds below looked like an endless ocean underneath the sherbert colored sunset. I've flown literally hundreds of times and yet I never cease to be amazed at the view.

Floating along somewhere above Boulder, day turned to night and fate selected us to be in both places at once. It was one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen. Out the window to the left was a neon sky that started out lemon yellow turning magenta in the middle and topping out at tangerine orange. Out the window to the right was a seamless navy sky pierced only by a full, white moon. Day. And night. And we were allowed to fly along in the middle. Be where you are, baby. What a travesty to miss the view.

- Sherri Coale
Head Women's Basketball Coach

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