"Spring" Training...Day 1 (of 1)

The day I have been waiting for has finally arrived. The team is in Athens, and we are hours away from the beginning of the 2009 Copperheads season. I am thrilled to begin a second year of covering the Copperheads. Last summer was such a blast for me, and I am ready to bring all of the action to the listeners, the readers, the Tweet-ers, and the bloggers. 

Until we get to the real action, here are a few notes from the day:

• The team arrived at 1:30 p.m. and had a team meeting at Bob Wren Stadium. From there, the guys moved into their apartments and got settled. Another team meeting, the first practice and some pizza rounded out the day.
• The two coaches who have arrived (Mike Florak and Chris Moore) stressed that this first week, with seven games in five days, will be used to simply see what "everyone's got."
• The other coach (Tim Culver) will arrive early Tuesday morning. In fact, Culver will be landing in Columbus at 1:38 a.m. from Phoenix. He will join the squad tomorrow. 
• In speaking with Moore after practice, he claimed that the '09 team looks better after one day than the '08 team did. While that doesn't mean anything, Moore noted, it is better than the other way around.
• Three players who caught Moore's eye Monday at practice: David Starn, Cameron Hobson and Jake Plata.
• An interview with returning shortstop Chad Geier is on our podcast (copperheads.mypodcast.com). Interviews with Florak, Moore and the other returner (Corey Harness) will follow soon.
• We will have the blog, the Twitter page and the podcast linked to our website very soon.
• The team will take team and individual pictures tomorrow, prior to the Green and Gold Scrimmage.

The season is almost here. Stay tuned.

- Brian