ESPN3 College Softball Regionals

This is how every weekend of

commentation starts:

a desk full of notes; pages

of information on the teams/

players I am covering, and

many hours of studying!

 This is how it looks when it's
game time!  I was able to
reunite with Cara Capuano
who works for ESPN.
We worked a Super
Regional together 4 years
ago and this was our first time
working together again.

 We had a beautiful view
from an amazing pressbox!
Kentucky has a new stadium
that is state of the art in
every aspect. 

 Our Regional Site was
very well matched!  We had
Kentucky, Virginia Tech,
Notre Dame and Marshall.
We had great games the
entire weekend.

 I enjoyed meeting with the
coaches to get more info
on their teams.  And I was
able to see the Hightower
family from West VA.

 After speaking in W.Va
in March, it was fun to
see the Marshall coach,
Shonda Stanton, and her
team.   They played very
well in the tournament and
it was their first appearance
in the post season.

I was most happy to cover
the Kentucky Regional
because that is where my
college Roommate and
one of my closest friends
lives!  Jenny (Dalton) Hill
and her family were all
at the game- and Jenny
announced the games on
the radio in the booth next
to me! 

 The Marshall coaching
staff and team:

 This view was amazing!

 Kentucky was the team to
win and advance to Super
Regionals in Tempe, AZ

 This is the ESPN crew who
does all the hard work behind
the scenes.

 VT coach Scot Thomas was
a pleasure to talk to and work
with.

 The trip home was full of
adventure- my flight was
delayed due to weather and
therefore I would miss my
connecting flight.  So I couldn't
get home til the next day.  But
I had to take a taxi to another
airport and ended up riding
with another passenger, Abby,
who was also heading back
to her family in LA.  It was
10pm at night and we were
getting close to our destination
when the car started slowing
down on the highway.  The
gas wasn't working and as
soon as we pulled off to
the shoulder, smoke started
rising out of the front hood
of the car.  We opened the
door and got out quickly.

 After waiting 20 min in the
dark and trying to explain
where we were stranded,
another taxi picked us up!
We still had smiles on our
faces and luckily the rest
of the trip went smoothly.
It was nice to not be alone
and to visit with Abby.