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High Marks For Kyle Hines - Dec 21, 2007
posted by: Josh
Kyle Hines finished the semester with the highest GPA of his college career - 3.14. Kyle shares his pride about his academic success and the team's upcoming trip to New York City. When I left you guys last, I was living in the library -- typing final papers and studying for my final exams. Now finals are over and all of the late night studying has paid off. I finished the semester with a 3.14 GPA, which is the highest GPA I have had in my college career. My roommate (Dwayne Johnson) and I had a competition going to see who could receive the highest GPA. He ended barely beating me. But, if I can brag for a second – the entire athletics department staff were surprised to see this type of academic excellence from the two of us. Kwadjo Steele, one of our academic advisors, sent both of us e-mails saying that he didn’t believe what he was reading. In the past, we would be more likely to have gotten a 2.14. Our Athletic Director Nelson Bobb and our Associate Athletic Director Rod Wyatt personally congratulated us during a weightlifting session Thursday morning. I guess it just shows that with hard work and persistence anything can be accomplished. This semester was also a special accomplishment for me because it was my last one as a full-time student – at least by definition. Next semester, I will only need nine credit hours to graduate. I will be able to take a lighter load of classes, which will also let me pay a lot more attention to basketball. (One more reason I worked so hard this past semester!) This will be particularly helpful during the second semester when we will be into our conference schedule, the most vital part of our season. After playing two conference games, we step back outside into the non-conference portion of our schedule. Our first game has us traveling to New York City to play Fordham University on Saturday at 1 p.m. This game is supposed to be the homecoming game for the players from up north. We have four players, including myself, from the tri-state region. I’m from Sicklerville, N.J., which is a little less than two hours south. Kevin Oleksiak lives about 2 hours away in Abington, Pa. Pete Brown lives just across the bridge from the Big Apple in Emerson, N.J., and Dwayne Johnson is from Queens, N.Y. This is a great opportunity for us to play in front of our friends and family that aren’t able to see us play in person on a regular basis. I can’t wait to see how many people Dwayne has coming to the game. He’s been talking since we were freshmen that if we play a game in New York City, that he would have the entire borough of Queens at the game. Last year he had a bus full of people come all the way to Greensboro for a home game from New York City; so we are all expecting a huge Dwayne Johnson fan base on Saturday afternoon. It ought to be a blast. I think this game is a sort of a “trap game.” I feel this way because after the game is over is the beginning of our holiday break. It is a trend among teams that play these games right before holiday break – and right after exams – to lose focus on the game and start their holiday break a little early. Another reason I feel this way is that the game is New York City. This is the first time in New York City for many of our players. While it is a great experience for all of us, I just hope that they don’t turn into tourists and forget the real reason why we are there. As a team, we can’t afford not to be focused and be ready for this game against a pretty good Fordham team. A win can help our team gain momentum for the rest of the season and we will have a better holiday break. I would hate to celebrate the holidays with a loss clouding my mind and sprits. Before I go I would like the wish everybody a happy and safe holidays. Wish us luck during this weekend. PS - I also want to congratulate our Head Trainer James Shipp and his wife on the birth of their new baby. Way to go Cap.
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Sox-Yankees happens 18 times a year; this is Figgy's second major league start in four years. Always take the chance to see something you've never seen before.
- Adam
   
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