Beky Preston Online Journal: No. 3

NORMAN, Okla. -- Junior center Beky Preston scripts her own online journal for the 2004-05 women's basketball season at SoonerSports.com. Click on the "Sooner Journals" link at the bottom of this article for links to Preston's past journals.

I would best describe this trip as never ending. It seems like we have been on the road FOREVER! Everyone has fantasized about killing everyone else, at least once. We are certainly at a point were we need a break from school and each other. However, we all came in with a common goal in mind and we remain focused, and at least, courteous to one another.

Our trip has really been unbelievable. It is almost like a funny movie with Steve Martin where everything goes wrong. Except, this really hasn't been that funny to me. Call me crazy, but I really hate airports and malls during the holidays.

Our trip started off in Will Rogers Airport Friday at 12pm. We were all set to go on the only flight from OKC to Portland with a connection in Denver. Our flight was delayed to Denver causing us to miss our connecting flight to Oregon.

Our coaching staff hurriedly scrounged around to get a charter plane, bus, or teleportation booth to get us to Oregon. Hours rolled by and finally Nike helped us find an amazing charter plane, apparently the very one the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics fly on during their seasons (this plane was sick! It was like an airborne hotel). We waited until the plane could fly from Chicago to OKC to pick us up.

At about 9 p.m. we finally left the OKC airport to arrive in Portland Oregon at 2 a.m. (CST) and hop... stumble on a bus and drive two hours to Eugene. We arrived in our hotel rooms at about 4 a.m. (CST) in the mourning. (Lauren) Shoush, my roommate and I laid down our sleepy little heads to finally rest. But the darnedest thing happened.

Below our room had to be a class of about 1985 high school reunion. We listened for the next hour as Depeche Mode, AC/DC, Devil Went Down to Georgia, Poison, etc. blared underneath us. At that point I really would rather spoon my eyes out. It was really amazing how that all went. As my pillow vibrated with the resounding bass, I couldn't help but sing along in my head with the horribly catchy lyrics that, for some asinine reason, I know all the words to.

As crazy as that all was, the next day we were great. Everything went really well, we were incredibly focused during our shoot-around which transferred to the game. I was a little irritated to see the La Tech team yawning as they shuffled in to the gym AFTER our shoot around, “Oh, really? Are you tired? Long night?”

Oregon proved to be a really nice place to visit. We spent a lot of time shopping and finishing up our Christmas gifts. However, there was still the coveted Nike discount store for us to tackle. We were all set up to get some really nice discounted (50-70%) Nike gear. The only thing standing in our way was the gigantic sign in the front of the store, “If you are a NCAA student-athlete you need to leave NOW.” Apparently it is a violation for us to shop there. As inconspicuous as my 6'3 frame is, I thought they would probably notice a huge girl decked out in Oklahoma gear following a petite curly haired woman.

That whole escapade brings us to now. We are currently getting ready to play Utah. Our poor little managers have had a terrible time trying to get us clean laundry to play in. A certain University, not mentioning any names, told us to go find a laundry mat rather than customarily allowing the visiting team to use their machines. Bowing up, our managers, who are the best in the world, got us clean gear in plenty of time.

Well, that's if for now. At each other's throats and ready to kill someone, the Oklahoma women's basketball team wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays (and hopefully next time we talk I won't be too over weight)!

Until next time,

- #14 Beky Preston

Beky Preston Bio | Sooner Player Journals

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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