Senior Bobby Rasmussen will spend the 2006-07 season as the voice of the men's tennis team as he will provide a weekly blog about the program. Beginning with "Bronco Boot Camp" in the fall all the way through the WCC Championships and the Bronco Pro-Am in the spring, Rasmussen will serve as your guide to men's tennis.
The Greenwood Village, Colo. Resident has had three excellent seasons for the Broncos, posting 64 combined wins between singles and doubles. In singles dual competitions, he is 32-24 in his three seasons. Last spring, he was named WCC All-Academic and WCC honorable mention in doubles. He will be relied upon to provide leadership and strong play in both doubles and singles in 2006-07 as the Broncos attempt to climb to the top of the WCC.
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Posted: Feb. 27, 2007
Rain For The Broncos
Last week was one of the most rewarding for our team, as we really began to play some ball. However, our fun was cut short as we were denied the chance to close out the USF Dons. For everyone's information, rain delays are a major pain. For example, this past thursday, we had began to play our match, got delayed, squeeged, rain, squeege, finish. At the end of the day, our entire team was left with some acute lower back pain and not even a victory to show for it. Hopefully we can play some matches with sunny skies next week.
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Posted: Feb. 10, 2007
Big Win In the Desert
And I'm back, this time coming to you from probably the most barren landscape in the country, Arizona. Yesterday, we suffered a tough loss to a good Arizona State team, but today we knocked out the Wildcats of University of Arizona. It was great to get the road win, a first for us against a Pac-10 school. Jan Macek proved to us why he's back, clinching the match in an intense battle in the 3rd. All in all, it's been a pretty standard trip, the usual trips to Quizno's (aaahhhh!!!), doubles roommates, and team meetings. However, we have had the pleasure of gaining Nick Fustar, both to take the heat off the extra driver and provide some of his Fresneck insight to the matches. And for the most part, I would say it was a pretty solid acquisition, as he was most noted for his ape-like behavior at the end of Jan's match. He will not soon be forgotten as we will need many more ape-like performances in the days to come.. Hawaii on Wed --> The forecast is for some California sun with absolutely no rainbows.
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Posted: Feb. 2, 2007
La La Land
The Broncos are now in La La land, as we recently lost a hard fought battle against the PepperDINE Waves. As goes on most our trips to the south, we tend to invade the Crowne Plaza LAX for a few days, to bunker up for the competition. Interestingly enough, this trip had a somewhat rocky/accidental start. For the first time, I am finally taking the reigns on one of the team vans, alleviating some much unneeded stress and anxiety caused by the questionable driving practices of Jan Macek. George is usually tough enough to follow, but throw Jan in the mix and a potential disaster is in the making. So, I finally got behind the wheel, ready to show what I've got to the team when just as we are leaving Enterprise, I pull forward to show my contract. The security woman keeps motioning me forward, and to my confusion, I inch forward until she tells me to back up. By that time it was too late as the gate slammed down on the hood of the car, producing a significant scratch and forcing us to exchange cars. Not at all the way I wanted to prove myself. Looks like I'll be hearing about this for a while. Eaters tomorrow --> Go Broncos..
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Posted: Jan. 13, 2007
Back to Tennis
So Bronco Tennis is back!!! We are currently competing in sunny ?? San Diego where the temperature is a balmy 45. We have been competing against two pretty good teams, but have shown what Santa Clara Tennis is about. Brian Brogan continues to be in his own little world, as he strives for a new high score in Bubble, a game on his new phone/computer. Jay Wong is having a great time now that he actually has to do something for his freshmen duties. He seemed to be pretty talented but somewhat salty at unloading bags at the airport. Finally, our team knew Jan Macek was really back when he had asked for his 3rd let in 6 matches for inadvertent coins falling somewhere on the court. Let's Go Broncos!
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Posted: Dec. 26, 2006
The Answer Arrives
What's up everyone? I'm back from Detroit and as much as I complained about the snow, I think I prefer it to overcast skies and a bone chilling wet rain. However, both pale in comparison to the paradise that is Santa Clara. I finally got back on the court today, after being in Detroit and before being snowed in. Unfortunately, today may be the last time I can play for another couple days as we are preparing for another blizzard determined to keep us inside. It's been somewhat tragic for me, as a significant portion of my time has been spent simply unable to get out of the house. Luckily, my mom made some delicious potato soup to ease the pain. But now about the real news..... The Answer is here for the Nuggets!!! A.I. is in town and playing bball alongside Carmelo. Championship here we come, Golden State's got nothing on D-Town.
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Posted: Dec. 20, 2006
Snowblowing
Having been back in Colorado for a couple weeks, I am begging to appreciate the nice weather that we have out at SC. I've realized that it's kinda nice to be able to step outside in shorts and be able to hit the ball all year long. Currently, I am stuck inside my house, unable to get out due to a massive snow storm, a foreign thought to most Broncos. To pass the time and fulfill my daily work out, I am battling with a snow blower that has extreme difficulty even starting. We needed to tip the thing upside down to empty the gas and put in new gas. This of course took a long time to figure out due to my dad's lack of knowledge in machinery. Finally, after pull starting the thing about 200 times, it ran and I battled our driveway for about an hour digging us out of the 38 inches of snow. This task proved unfulfilling, as I could clear our driveway but not the streets needed to access any part of the outside world. I'll be inside for a while.
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Posted: Oct. 31, 2006
Class Time
One of our many duties as Bronco Tennis players is to participate in Pro-Am's, where we pair in doubles with an amateur to play doubles, raise money, and gain support for our team. This past weekend, we headed to Spanish Bay at Pebble Beach, a ridiculous resort next to the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course. From the start, we were treated great. The club gave us gift bags with a fleece, new hat, Gatorade, and official Pebble Beach moisturizer, sunscreen, and soaps (mainly for Aneal). As a team at Pro-Ams, we always mess around with our teammates, telling them that they are crossing and taking things way to hard and serious. However, Brian Brogan has perfected the skill by being a little sneaky out on the court. His tactics involve playing several balls back to the Pro, and then inconspicuously ripping the last and final ball at the amateur, thus taking the point for himself. Our team watched his semi and final as he executed his plan to a T and his team took home the crystal champions trophy, beating Kenzo and his partner in the final. In the end, the real victory came for Kevin McQuaid, a golf nut with a terrible drive, who happened to get a glimpse of Pebble Beach's famous #7 tee. If the course is lucky, that's as close as he'll ever get.. Till next week.
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Posted: Oct. 19, 2006
Fresno Road Trip
The past weekend, our team was competing in Fresno, at Fresno State. While we saw two tough days of competition, the real treat came on Saturday night. Our team was invited by some donors to raid their house, kitchen, and fridge for some great eats. First off, the house was ridiculous. Big yard, pool, covered outdoor fireplace, and a guest house. Maybe I should tell my parents to retire and take a pad in Fresno. Anyway, shortly after arriving, you could tell that Kenzo was chomping at the bit. Notorious for having a big appetite, you could tell that he was salivating at the upcoming enchilada feast. I'm not too sure how much he ate, but I think he threw down at least 4 of the big things when I could only take 1.5. Despite Kenzo's feat of accomplishment, the larger challenge would be arriving home successfully as we had a 3 hour drive awaiting us late on Saturday night. It was easy to tell that George and Jan were feeling the effects of 2 long days in fresno, and also the enchiladas. Luckily, Jani came to the rescue and kept us going by tossing George an emergency Red Bull somewhere around Los Banos. Having a wired coach was only a small price to pay for a safe arrival.
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Posted: Oct. 11, 2006
Class Time
Hey Everyone-
We're back this week after completing the Bronco Classic with a strong showing. On Sunday, I watched Jay Wong tear through two opponents on the way to his Flight B singles title. He showed his indoctrination into the Bronco system by throwing multiple fist pumps and COME ON's to his Stanford opponent. Currently, I am battling with some serious Advanced Accounting with Professor Ou. Gotta get back to class, 5 minute break is up...
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Posted: Oct. 1, 2006
Boot Camp
As every new year of school commences, Bronco Tennis begins with a week entitled "Bronco Boot Camp". Our team returns to the Mission Campus for a fun filled week of getting to know our new team and pushing our physical and mental limits.
This year was no different. After taking care of some administrative issues, our team loaded up the vans and headed up to Lake Tahoe, for the team's 9th annual trip. Of course, the beginning of the trip included some of our freshmen's help, but Steve, Jay, and Joe were definitely up to the challenge. This year's Bronco Squad also welcomed Robert Gallman from Texas Christian, as he would be making his first trip to the lake.
After a brief 4.5 hour drive, we arrived. The weekend is always meant for our team to find its identity and direction, in addition to all of the running. Thankfully, I completed the running and the team was strengthened for the upcoming year. After two short nights, the Broncos bid farewell to Tahoe and began practice with Midnight Madness, a Wednesday night practice from 10-12, another Bronco tradition.
Our coach George Husack mentioned that our goal would be to hit as many balls as possible, and we did. Practicing numerous consistency drills and movement work, we began to get acclimated and tested physically. The remaining practices for the rest of the week were tough, working 5 hours per day with perhaps the most difficult work coming at the end of the workouts from our strength trainer, Mike Salemi. He conditioned us through car pushes, sled pulls, and sandbag running, most of which none of us had done before. We capped off the week of hard work with 3 out of 5 set matches to push our mental and physical strength. All of the guys were pushed but each responded to the difficult test. Though this past week had been a week of challenges, our team persevered and is ready for any and all of the obstacles ahead. Go Broncos!
