Soonercuda
03-12-2007, 02:08 PM
Read and Enjoy!
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=518411
Posted by Courtney Paris | Date: Monday, March 12 | Paris Bio
Same excuse for why I haven’t blogged in almost forever—time— it’s so precious, there just never seems to be enough of it. And when you finally have enough you waste it all thinking about all the things you need to use it on instead of getting started. Then finally the moon awakens—the day ends and your back to pushing minutes, begging God for an extra hour in the day. But here in the middle of everything a half hour is available and I have time to share so I will, simply because I like to.
I am proud of my team for not just sitting around and thinking about what we could do with our time; yet instead making the most of it.
We won our conference and tournament championship and I don’t know six seniors who deserved it more. We’ve been through almost everything throughout this season. From being ranked in almost everyone’s preseason top three and being asked about things like National Championships to being thrown off every Final Four prediction list and deemed “unelite”.
That’s okay though because between—being great and being just good—I feel as though we are finding ourselves. The best thing about the whole process was that we didn’t panic. We realized it wasn’t too late to come together and reach our goals. We lost three out of four games in a week and a half span, yet we could still win our conference and do everything we had hoped for. A little bit lucky, a whole lot blessed! Thank goodness we embraced that time, and are choosing to make the most of it.
For most of this season we just needed a place to start and I think our last regular season game against Baylor was a great place; we celebrated everything in that game.
It’s amazing how much fun you can have in 40 minutes when everything you do is a reason to cheer. Leah dives out of bounds--we go crazy, Amanda grabs another rebound--we lose our minds, Erin hits a three from half court-- we get light headed in the celebration, everything from getting a defensive of touch, to a nice pass or a screen-- we were up.
And at the end of that game cutting down nets and winning another regular season conference title was great, but how much fun we had stuck out more. It reminded me of what set Oklahoma apart for me in the first place.
For me one of the most defining moments in my recruiting process was watching that 2004 team play Texas in the Big 12 Conference tournament championship game. They celebrated everything. Absolutely made basketball look like the most fun game on earth, I could not wait to play the game they were playing.
Basketball had never looked so pleasing to me, and the thought of being apart of it made signing a national letter of intent a no brainier. I think most times when you remember why you come you remember what you have to offer and you find in doing so that you’re most happy-- I came to Oklahoma because I love this game. Coach tells me all the time "Courtney just smile—enjoy it". Because it will end, whether it’s a season or a career, time does run out.
Out of all the things basketball is for me, the number one thing is fun! I’d be lying if I said I weren’t competitive and that I don’t love to win. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to win a national championship, I want to win so bad, the thought of it gets me through my worse days. But winning one would just be a cherry on top. Because the truth is everybody gets a sundae.
My ice cream is the people; without them there is no experience, chocolate is what I learn, nuts are my coaches (no pun intended), the whip cream is my teammates (my favorite part), and the cherry—the championships— it makes a sundae look a WHOLE lot better but the experience can be tasteful with or without.
I know this because I have watched mid-majors celebrate like crazy after winning a conference championship. A chance to go to the NCAA’s—it’s like their national championship.
Chances of them pulling a George Mason on the men’s side and sneaking into the Final Four are slim, but the joy of just being placed in a bracket on selection day is inevitable.
So as everything gets mad this March, I will choose to be happy because I am doing the thing I love with people I love, it just doesn’t get much better than that.
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=518411
Posted by Courtney Paris | Date: Monday, March 12 | Paris Bio
Same excuse for why I haven’t blogged in almost forever—time— it’s so precious, there just never seems to be enough of it. And when you finally have enough you waste it all thinking about all the things you need to use it on instead of getting started. Then finally the moon awakens—the day ends and your back to pushing minutes, begging God for an extra hour in the day. But here in the middle of everything a half hour is available and I have time to share so I will, simply because I like to.
I am proud of my team for not just sitting around and thinking about what we could do with our time; yet instead making the most of it.
We won our conference and tournament championship and I don’t know six seniors who deserved it more. We’ve been through almost everything throughout this season. From being ranked in almost everyone’s preseason top three and being asked about things like National Championships to being thrown off every Final Four prediction list and deemed “unelite”.
That’s okay though because between—being great and being just good—I feel as though we are finding ourselves. The best thing about the whole process was that we didn’t panic. We realized it wasn’t too late to come together and reach our goals. We lost three out of four games in a week and a half span, yet we could still win our conference and do everything we had hoped for. A little bit lucky, a whole lot blessed! Thank goodness we embraced that time, and are choosing to make the most of it.
For most of this season we just needed a place to start and I think our last regular season game against Baylor was a great place; we celebrated everything in that game.
It’s amazing how much fun you can have in 40 minutes when everything you do is a reason to cheer. Leah dives out of bounds--we go crazy, Amanda grabs another rebound--we lose our minds, Erin hits a three from half court-- we get light headed in the celebration, everything from getting a defensive of touch, to a nice pass or a screen-- we were up.
And at the end of that game cutting down nets and winning another regular season conference title was great, but how much fun we had stuck out more. It reminded me of what set Oklahoma apart for me in the first place.
For me one of the most defining moments in my recruiting process was watching that 2004 team play Texas in the Big 12 Conference tournament championship game. They celebrated everything. Absolutely made basketball look like the most fun game on earth, I could not wait to play the game they were playing.
Basketball had never looked so pleasing to me, and the thought of being apart of it made signing a national letter of intent a no brainier. I think most times when you remember why you come you remember what you have to offer and you find in doing so that you’re most happy-- I came to Oklahoma because I love this game. Coach tells me all the time "Courtney just smile—enjoy it". Because it will end, whether it’s a season or a career, time does run out.
Out of all the things basketball is for me, the number one thing is fun! I’d be lying if I said I weren’t competitive and that I don’t love to win. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to win a national championship, I want to win so bad, the thought of it gets me through my worse days. But winning one would just be a cherry on top. Because the truth is everybody gets a sundae.
My ice cream is the people; without them there is no experience, chocolate is what I learn, nuts are my coaches (no pun intended), the whip cream is my teammates (my favorite part), and the cherry—the championships— it makes a sundae look a WHOLE lot better but the experience can be tasteful with or without.
I know this because I have watched mid-majors celebrate like crazy after winning a conference championship. A chance to go to the NCAA’s—it’s like their national championship.
Chances of them pulling a George Mason on the men’s side and sneaking into the Final Four are slim, but the joy of just being placed in a bracket on selection day is inevitable.
So as everything gets mad this March, I will choose to be happy because I am doing the thing I love with people I love, it just doesn’t get much better than that.