At the start of the season, everyone says you want to go up automatic because the play-offs are intense. But if you go up through the play-offs, it's the best feeling because it's Wembley. But to lose there, I would not like to be on the end of that.
I don't think I've changed very much. I think I'm the same kid that I was when I got here. When I came here all I wanted to do was win games. I wanted to play baseball for LSU and be the ultimate team player. That's all I want to do. If we don't end up being the last team to win the game at the end of the year then I won't be happy. That's all I'm worried about this year.
We have to be mentally prepared for every team we play. If we play a team who has a big name on their chests, then we are going to come out ready. But if we play a team who doesn't have a big name or a star player, we have a hard time coming out ready.
If you are not playing a player, any player, for two, three, four games, then you don't have to give a reason for that. But if it gets to eight or nine games, then you have to explain the situation. What's going on?
The more you play, the more you feel part of the squad, and then, in turn, you end up playing better. I think it's a psychological gap as well - if you don't think you're a first-team player, then you won't be.
Whenever you're playing in the Championship or League football, you know there are play-offs at the end of it. If you miss out on the top two, it's a great alternative to play in a play-off final.
If you want to be a top player you have to play well for the whole season and then ten more seasons, not just three or four games.
A player can have all the quality and everything it takes to play for a big-six team or to play for the best teams in the world but then sometimes it happens and it doesn't work out. It's not because of the player or the club, sometimes it's just the environment, it's the wrong timing.
I always talk about being a team player, I think I'm really good team player. I was a big voice in the changing room before games and nothing really changed for me.
You have so much fun playing games. We all love basketball, so we never want the season to end, 'cause then it's five months of sitting around and watching the playoffs.
No team can play really good in 50 games. During the season, you will not play that well all the time.
I do think some games are works of art, although their medium is visual rather than verbal. Both games and novels allow the reader/player to become a protagonist in the theater of the imagination. Both build worlds. In my opinion, the big difference between game and novel is in narrative structure. Communal role-playing games are open-plan without an end. A novel - at least the kind I write - has a closed structure with a beginning, a middle, and an end. I like that closed structure, and I feel I can say more with it.
I follow tennis, and I actually went to Wimbledon during the summer, and it was nice to get a day off during pre-season to watch it. Basketball as well - I don't have a team; it's just a casual interest - especially when the play-offs come around and the intensity rises.
Not only do you have 16 regular-season games, you also have four preseason games. Then if you make the playoffs, you can have four more games before you get to the Super Bowl. So you can already have 24 games without the 18-game season. And 24 games takes a real toll on somebody's body.
Growing up, I played every sport I could play, so I didn't have much time, but when I wasn't playing sports, I was definitely playing video games. But my mom used to tell me that I could only play video games for two hours a day and then they would turn off the Internet so I couldn't play online.
Most of our girls are accustomed to playing several games in a short time frame. As a coach and as a team, you want to play games. Plus, you might see a different brand of softball than you are accustomed to playing, and that can be beneficial as well.